2002-05-21
Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, an actuarial review of the Legislative Assembly Superannuation Fund at the end of the 2000-01 financial year recommended an increase in the Territory’s annual contributions to the fund from 50% to 70% of members’ salaries. In response to this substantial increase in the cost of the Northern Territory Members’ Superannuation Scheme, the Territory government has commissioned a review of the scheme, including options for future arrangements.
The objective of the review is to provide, for the government’s consideration, options for a revised benefits structure for LAMS which results in reduced costs for Territory taxpayers, is comparable with standards in other jurisdictions, takes into account national policies on superannuation and, very importantly, has regard for community expectations. The terms of reference have been developed so that a broad range of views can be taken into account. I would like to table a copy of the terms of reference.
Members of the Legislative Assembly, including the Leader of the Opposition and the Independent members, have been consulted. Accordingly, the inquiry will consider the 20 June 2001 actuarial review which estimated that the cost of the scheme had increased from 50% to 70% of salaries; the benefits and levels of contribution for parliamentary schemes in other jurisdictions; benefit design including comparisons of pensions and lump sums, offset provisions from previous superannuation arrangements, age profile of members, and salary sacrifice options; and the extent to which a changed benefit structure could be applied to existing members and, in doing so, the implications for superannuation entitlements. During the consultation process, two parties sought to remove the reference to whether a changed benefit structure could apply to existing members, and wanted the reference to apply only to future members.
I believe it is appropriate that this issue is fully explored by the review. It may be that legal considerations prevent any changes for existing members of the scheme, but let’s get that expert legal opinion and have that out in the open so that everybody, including the public, knows what can and cannot be done. After all, the public is being asked to provide $2m a year to keep the scheme viable under the current benefit arrangements. At a time when the rest of government is being asked to tighten its belt, when funds are scarce to address real needs within our community, the public may view with dismay the exclusion from the review as to whether there is any potential for existing members’ benefits to be altered.
The review will consult with members of the Legislative Assembly and will seek written submissions from interested parties including business, non-government organisations and members of the Territory community. It was also suggested during the consultation process that the review report be delivered to the trustees of the superannuation fund. That is not something the previous government had established any kind of precedent for. The trustees’ function is to implement the policies as determined by government, not to set those policies. Any changes to the scheme resulting from the review would, in any event, need to be passed by the Assembly. There would be ample opportunity for vigorous debate about any potential changes to the scheme when the time comes.
The review is to be undertaken by Ken Clarke, the former Under Treasurer, after consultation with the Remuneration Tribunal to allow regard to be given to the total level of benefits payable to members. Mr Clarke already has extensive knowledge of the scheme, and engaging him to undertake this review is anticipated to save Territorians many tens of thousands of dollars, in comparison to engaging a large accounting or actuarial firm to undertake the review. The review report is to be submitted by 30 September 2002.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the members’ superannuation scheme is a scheme that is maturing as the Northern Territory parliament has matured since self-government. It has always been a scheme that has been operated in a bipartisan manner. As you yourself would know, Madam Speaker, it has a supervisory board consisting of yourself, myself and the Chief Minister. I would remind members that it is a scheme that exists for all members of this House. It would be a great pity if this scheme and initiative of the Chief Minister’s fell on party lines. It seems to me that we need to consider not only the remuneration for members and public expectations, as the Chief Minister said, but also those who benefit directly and indirectly from any changes to the scheme. I am talking about widows or the children of members in the unfortunate event of deceased members; those who have left this parliament; or, as too often occurs nowadays, when marriages dissolve. We need to ensure that the scheme is one that is operating for all of those who benefit.
Can I say to you, Madam Speaker, that I was disappointed that the review was initiated by the Chief Minister with scant reference to both yourself or myself. We received a letter with the terms of reference. I was given a couple of hours to reply to the terms of reference.
It is the prerogative of the government, that it can change the superannuation provisions as it sees fit because it is an act of parliament. I simply make the point that I hope any review uses the expertise and the true functions of the board; that the board is consulted throughout; that we are kept well and truly informed as to any proposed changes; and that we, as a board, agree as to how those changes are brought into this Assembly.
With those comments, Madam Speaker, I am quite happy to support the review taking place.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): In noting the Leader of the Opposition’s comments, I point out that the trustees are there to implement what this parliament agrees to. I thinks there is a very clear distinction there. What I would expect from members of this parliament are very well thought through submissions to the review. As the Opposition Leader said, this was something that was initiated by government. We made it very clear last year in the run-up to the election - and I have made it very clear in my time as Opposition Leader - that we believed that our scheme did need review. I doubt whether it would have come as any surprise to anyone in here that we were actually going to follow through with that commitment. We made a commitment; we’re going to keep it.
I want the superannuation scheme for members of this House to be both in line with our community expectation and, also with some of the changes that have been introduced into other parliaments to meet their community expectations. When you are looking at $2m a year, we have to be accountable and we have to be in line with community expectation. That is what I hope this review will do.
Madam SPEAKER: I trust that the consultant, Ken Clarke, will consult with the individual members of the parliament.
Ms Martin: Absolutely.
Madam SPEAKER: I am sure he has the background knowledge of the scheme and the way the board works, anyway. I hope you have my information that I sent you last week.
Mr AH KIT (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I rise to give a ministerial report on Tiwi Islands local government operational and financial issues.
As we know, the establishment of the new Tiwi Islands local government arrangements in July last year has been accompanied by significant problems. Not least of these was that people were being pushed too fast without adequate financial and operational arrangements properly bedded down. It appeared, very clearly, that the structures and the mechanisms weren’t in place. It was another obvious indication of the previous government’s concept of fleshing that out with senior bureaucrats very quickly, and running around and consulting with Aboriginal people in respect of local government reforms in a very rushed manner. Obviously, people still had concerns.
However, the desire of Tiwi Islands Local Government members to make the new organisation work has remained very strong, and this has been a particularly positive aspect of the process. Tiwi Islanders instigated remedial action to resolve operational and financial management problems. At times, those problems led to severe cash flow difficulties at individual community management level, such as with the Bathurst Island Housing Association. These, I am glad to report, have now been largely resolved.
Mr John Cleary has commenced duties as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Tiwi Islands Local Government and he will be based at Nguiu on Bathurst Island. The former interim CEO, Mr Gary Tillman, resigned with effect from 10 May 2002. In fact, John Cleary was a community development and local government minister in the former Tasmanian conservative government so, no doubt, he brings a lot of experience to the position.
I have met with members of the executive of the Tiwi Islands Local Government, the new CEO and the member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour. It is clear that there are still problems to be overcome, but sound progress is being made. The chartered accountants, Nair & Watkins, were appointed Grant Controller in February 2002. The firm has since been able to establish the accounts to the end of March 2002. It has been contracted to provide annual financial reporting for the current financial year. The Grant Controller has been able to address financial compliance issues relating to ATSIC, and also to my Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs.
Just as importantly, community management boards now have access to regular financial reporting data. It was a concern in that transition stage, because all the order, invoice and cheque books for all those accounts had to be rounded up and put in a central place, such as at Nguiu. There was concern initially, and for some months thereafter, about bills being paid and individual community relationships with creditors in communities at Milikapiti, Warrangku, Pirlangimpi and also the Nguiu Community Government Council.
A meeting took place at Bathurst on 2 May with the newly appointed CEO, John Cleary, and operational issues were addressed relating to staff, financial administration reports, human resources, financial delegations and the community board reports. The role of the community management boards will be critical, especially as a training ground for Tiwi Islanders in continuing training towards taking over from current, non-indigenous administrators. In fact, a number of Tiwi Islanders have partly completed local government training through the Tiwi Education and Training Board. As promised when the Tiwi Islands Local Government was first established, a review of the body was to take place at the end of 12 months of operations. Draft terms of reference are currently being developed by the department for a review of the Tiwi Islands Local Government, in consultation with the new CEO of the TILG and other stakeholders.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, it is no wonder it has taken me up to over a month to get a briefing from the minister’s office on the Tiwi Islands Local Government. I didn’t expect the minister to provide a report today.
I recall, several months ago, the minister on the front page in the NT News saying that the Tiwi Islands Local Government had something like $600 000 missing, and I was very concerned about that. What it turned out to be is that, obviously, some financial structures had fallen over since the amalgamation of the Tiwi Islands Local Government. That is how it came about.
The minister would recall that, at the time when a financial advisor was put in place at Bathurst Island, there were very loud praises sung about this man who was to bring in a good process. Unfortunately, that did not occur. The man was supported by the former CEO, Gary Tillman, and by Bernie McCarthy himself. Anyway, that was the cause of the problems. It also shows that the Tiwi Island Local Government structures were well founded. It has been put in place well and that is why the whole system has continued to function despite the difficulties they’ve had financially. I see that, with progress over the next few weeks under the new CEO, things will come good and the TILG will continue to prosper for the people of the Tiwi Islands.
The minister will also recall that it was, in fact, the Tiwi Islanders who sought discussions with the Northern Territory government under the CLP, to get TILG going in the first place. So, it was not that was pushed upon them, but something that they had asked for themselves. It is one indication of Aboriginal people determining their own political future, and their own political and financial management.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, obviously I do not agree with the member for Greatorex, having been involved in some of these discussions. The Tiwi Islands Local Government and the problems it is having at the moment reflect on a system of government that, I believe, was rushed. It was also partly political and tried to set it up a role model for other local governments, you might say. Because of that, I think it was doomed to fail. Perhaps one of the issues that we learned from the Tiwi Islands Local Government is that we should be providing Aboriginal people with options - options delivered by an independent body, not by a body which wants to promote its particular point of view.
Having worked on Nguiu for a number of years, I always found that, if you gave people options where they knew the pluses and minuses, the Tiwi people were quite capable of making decisions themselves. I have some concerns that council is following this path because there are other councils where they are talking about taking on similar assembly-type functions as the Tiwi Island. I think we have to lay down some basic guidelines, and any form of local government must be democratic. I have said before that one of the problems I see with the system in the Tiwi Islands is that management boards are only given functions provided by the Tiwi Islands Local Government at the top. So, you elect your management board but the management board is not directly responsible for the provision of local government functions. I think that area has to be looked at.
The other difficulty with amalgamation of councils is not to make it so complex that Aboriginal people cannot control their own lives. It has become more complex. We already mentioned that you have some accountancy group in to help with Bathurst Island. That is showing that the level of competency required to run the Tiwi Islands Local Government is much higher and, therefore, it is much harder for Tiwis to access the control of their own lives.
Mr AH KIT (Local Government): Madam Speaker, the idea of the Tiwi people amalgamating government structures is sound. The trouble is the previous government imposed the idea rather than taking people with them. I heard the former minister trying to take some credit. It was a mess, and I was charged with the responsibility of sorting that mess out. The member for Nelson has hit the nail on the head - it was rushed. We are about consulting with people properly. The member for Nelson has some concerns and I would like to talk to him further about those. But, we got it back on track and we are moving forward.
I am also keen to talk to the Tiwis further about training for their community management boards, and in respect of the new CEO, John Cleary, and somebody moving and working with the Tiwi Islands Local Government Board as such.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing): Madam Speaker, I rise to provide a report on the outcomes of the successful Racing Minister’s Conference held in Adelaide last Friday, 17 May.
Members would be aware the Northern Territory government has copped some criticism over the years in relation to the licensing of corporate bookmakers. In recent months, the criticism has resurfaced from other jurisdictions and elements of the Australian racing industry over the decision to bring onshore the large corporate sports bookmaker, Sportingbet, from Vanuatu.
I am pleased to report the Northern Territory government stood firmly behind the decision at the conference. We emphasised the fact that bringing Sportingbet onshore was a good thing for Australian racing. We pointed out that by bringing them onshore, we are not only bringing back to Australia the $500m bet by Australasian punters every year, we are also bringing the bookmaker under regulatory control within an Australian jurisdiction for the first time.
This was my first ministerial council meeting, and I was very impressed by the excellent spirit of cooperation between all the ministers of states and territories. It was attended by every minister with the exception of the Western Australian Minister for Racing who was represented by his director.
As a result of the meeting, there was unanimous decision to establish a national task force to objectively examine the issue of cross-border betting and its impact upon the Australian racing industry. The task force will be made up of a government representative and a racing industry representative from each state and territory, and will report to the Racing ministers by 31 October of this year at the ministerial council in early November.
Apart from examining the current taxation and distribution regimes in place in all states and territories, the issues to be considered by the task force include: implications of national competition policy; minimum bet levels applying to telephone and Internet betting; the practice of bookmakers basing payouts on totalisator dividends; cross-border advertising restrictions; the relative competitiveness of the Australian wager market in the context of the global market; and the decision by the ministers to look at cross-border betting issues in a constructive and objective way. I think it is one of the best things to happen for both Territory and Australian racing for many years.
We expect the review will clear up many of the misconceptions that have existed, particularly in the southern states, about the role and impact on corporate sports bookmakers and cross-border betting flows. The review will also consider recommendations as to how these cross-border betting flows can be properly regulated for the future growth of the Australian racing industry.
Madam Speaker, it is a first for Australian Racing ministers. I commend the ministers from all states and territories for their foresight and commitment to the industry in setting up this task force.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report from his first Ministerial Council on Racing.
The Darwin Cup now faces the same fate thanks to Minister Baldwin over-reaching himself, and he has to
tell us what he is going to do to get the Darwin Cup on SKY.
This is a press release from the minister when he was shadow spokesman, back on 11 May 2001. That is the question on everybody’s lips this May 2002 as we approach the Darwin Cup Carnival, and the minister has not made one mention of it. He went away to the ministerial council last week saying that he hoped to have fruitful discussions with his Labor colleagues with a view to resolving the problem of SKY. My understanding of SKY is that it is not about money this time, it is about the fact that they are just saying they are too busy elsewhere and they are not going to come to cover the Darwin Cup at all.
It would behove the minister to come in to this House and let Territorians know what he is doing with regards to SKY. Perhaps there will be question on it later today, if I pick up the smile on the minister’s face. He might be able to explain what he and his colleagues - particularly the minister from New South Wales, Mr Richard Face - have done to resolve the question of SKY. What resources have they, this Labor government, provided, as the CLP did, to make sure Territorians can enjoy the Darwin Cup Carnival that is so economically important to Darwin and the Northern Territory? Are they to deliver the coverage that is warranted of the Darwin Cup Carnival? Perhaps you could reply now.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing): Madam Speaker, I thank the shadow minister for his comments. I certainly did put out that press release last year. In some ways, I do not know that we are all that far removed from the situation that was fronting our predecessors with SKY last year.
A number of things have happened that are different. Unlike my predecessor, I was able to meet with Minister Face from New South Wales, one of the prime protagonists. I want to go further than that because I am proud of the fact that, from opposition, we managed to keep pretty much a bipartisan relationship with the government on matters relating to racing, gaming, poker machines and across the board. I hope that that would continue.
In relation to SKY, all ministers were very supportive of the situation we have confronting us with SKY Channel. It is the premier racing day on the calendar, the first Monday in August. Last year, New South Wales turned over $1m-plus and Victorian TAB $1.3m, on our turnover in which we had to put in $100 000 to get the product up. I have not given up hope. I am more optimistic now about SKY than when I went down there on Friday morning.
Mr STIRLING (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I wish to report to the House that on 28 March 2002, Commissioner Paul White announced the selection of Assistant Commissioner Bruce Wernham for the position of Deputy Commissioner. The appointment makes a well rounded executive team for the Northern Territory Police, bringing a sound combination of experience and freshness together.
Bruce Wernham joined the Northern Territory Police in 1974, from New South Wales. Throughout his 28-year career, Mr Wernham has worked in general duties, task force, now Territory Response Group, and as Superintendant of both Northern and Southern Commands. He was promoted to Commander of Professional Responsibility in 1997 and, later the same year, became Assistant Commissioner. During his career, Mr Wernham has completed a number of senior police management courses including the Northern Territory Police Officer Development Program, the International Police Management Course and the Police Management Development Program at the Australian Institute of Police Management.
As head of Operations Command, Mr Wernham has been the driving force behind the creation of the Domestic Violence Unit and public place trail bike and bicycle patrols. The Stolen Motor Vehicles Unit was originated on Mr Wernham’s suggestion. He was responsible for the development and use of victim impact statements and the back-to-basics strategy aimed at reducing antisocial behaviour.
Assistant Commissioner Wernham was awarded the Australian Police Medal for distinguished service as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2000. I congratulate Assistant Commissioner Wernham on his well deserved selection and believe his appointment augers well for the future of Northern Territory Police.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition thanks the Deputy Chief Minister for his announcement in this House of an appointment we are well aware of. We believe that Bruce Wernham is an excellent choice for Deputy Commissioner and we wish him every success in his new appointment. I believe he will be an outstanding success in that position.
I might also give the minister an opportunity to reflect on the fact that it does worry Territorians that the new Commissioner for Police is receiving such criticism in the community with regard to the withholding of Neighbourhood Watch figures. I am interested in the government’s position on this matter. It seems to me that the criticism being directed at the Commissioner - and him facing that criticism on his own - is surprising. The fact that government, in opposition, relied on those figures as authoritative figures for not only gauging the rate of property crime in the Northern Territory, but also to bring into this House to point to concerns amongst ordinary Territorians about crime in their own community.
I am surprised that the government, particularly through the Police minister, hasn’t given a position on this matter in this House. It is one thing to say that, from a statistical point of view and from a trend analysis point of view, these figures may not be entirely accurate. Territorians do not like to be told they are incapable of interpreting these figures. Many Territorians would see those monthly figures of crime rates in different suburbs as an indication of whether or not they might want to build a house, buy a house or whatever, in that particular suburb. Also I believe that they have been an indication to various Neighbourhood Watch groups as to how different month-by-month reflections of crime might point to initiatives that are being conducted by individual Neighbourhood Watch organisations. These can be used by others as an indication of how they might need to be more energetic in their efforts.
I ask the police minister: what is the government’s position on these Neighbourhood Watch figures? Is it something they intend to stay mute on or can they give an indication to this House that those figures will be produced for Territorians in the future?
Mr STIRLING (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his comments in relation to Bruce Wernham.
On the matter of statistics, the Leader of the Opposition is quite right that it hasn’t been raised in this House. We have a very clear view: this was an operational matter; it was a decision for the Commissioner of Police. He discussed it with me the week before it was to occur. He put forward his reasons to me as he has done publicly. I have supported him publicly, on radio and wherever the need has arisen in the media, to point out very clearly that it is an operational matter. We expect him to make those decisions in the interests of the job that he has at hand, and that is, of course, getting on top of crime.
In relation to future statistical release, of course, at one point there where we, as opposition, were desperately trying to get statistics after the advent of mandatory sentencing, we couldn’t get any statistics at all for about an 18 month period, I recall. There is still work going on within the Office of Crime Prevention and the police as to how, and how often and what form, statistical release on crime matters will come out.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
Madam SPEAKER: Honorable members, it is with deep regret that I advise of the death on 19 May of the Right Honourable Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH, Prime Minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971, Senator for Victoria from 1949 to 1968, and a Member of the House of Representatives from 1968 to 1975. I will ask honourable members on completion of the debate to stand in silence for one minute as a mark of respect.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that this Assembly express its deep regret at the death of the Right Honourable Sir John Grey Gorton GCMG, AC, CH, Prime Minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971, Senator for Victoria from 1949 to 1968, and a member of the House of Representatives from 1968 to 1975, and place on record its appreciation of his long and distinguished service to the people of Australia, and tenders its profound sympathy to his family.
Madam Speaker, Sir John Gorton was a larger than life figure in national politics and won friends on all sides of the political spectrum for his fearlessness, his larrikin spirit, and his very Australian outlook. As my Labor colleague, Simon Crean, said about the former Liberal Prime Minister:
Sir John was undoubtedly a man ahead of his time in many areas, and sought to make both his party and
the nation more in tune with the times.
Sir John had a proud war record and loved his country, our country, deeply. As leader of this country during a time of transition in society and politics, he tried to carve out a more independent foreign policy and to project Australian ownership of industry. He recognised the importance of protecting our natural heritage and promoting our own arts and culture. He was not always popular with his own side of politics and, in fact, ended his parliamentary career as an Independent, after many fights within his own Liberal Party. His trademark song was ‘I did it my way’.
John Grey Gorton was born 9 September 1911 in Melbourne, Victoria, the second child of John Rose Gorton and Alice Sinn. His father was an immigrant from England, via South Africa. He was educated at Headford Preparatory School of Sydney Church of England Grammar School, and then Geelong Grammar. He finished his education at Oxford University.
He married his first wife, Bettina, in 1935 and they subsequently had three children. After graduating, he returned to Australia to manage his father’s orchard at Kerang in Victoria. After the outbreak of the war, he enlisted in the RAAF in November 1940 and trained as a fighter pilot. He served in the UK, Singapore, Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, and in Darwin. Flying Officer John Gorton’s war service was brief, but very nearly fatal. He was severely wounded in a plane crash and his face always bore the scars of reconstructive surgery.
The accident came about after a mechanical failure saw him attempt a crash landing on an island off Singapore. His aircraft hit a wall on landing, and he was thrown from the wreckage suffering severe head and facial injuries. His colleagues gave him very little chance of survival but his indomitable spirit pulled him through this ordeal, as so many others in his long life. He very nearly lost his life in another incident when he was sailing for Australia from Palembang. Japanese aircraft attacked the convoy and his ship was torpedoed and sunk, and he was very lucky to be found and rescued.
Sir John visited Darwin in 1994 for the opening of the new parliament, and very much enjoyed his visit to the Aviation Museum. He relived his days flying KittyHawks, although he said he found his time in Darwin during the war fairly uneventful compared to his later war experiences.
After the war, he entered local government and joined the Country Party, but later switched to the Liberals. He successfully stood as a Senate candidate at the general election in December 1949, and retained his seat through the next four Senate elections. He was minister for the Navy in Menzies’ Coalition government, formed in 1958, and kept that position until 1963. He served in many other portfolios, including Minister for the Interior, Minister for Works, Minister for Education and Science, and was Leader of Government in the Senate from 1967 to 1968.
After the disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt off a Victorian beach in 1967, Sir John became Prime Minister, a surprise choice after William McMahon was forced to pull out of the race because of political enemies in the Country Party. He was the first Prime Minister to be elected while holding a Senate seat, and he had to quickly find a seat in the Lower House, successfully contesting Holt’s former seat of Higgins, which he held for three elections. Sir John retained the Prime Ministership for three controversial years until March 1971, when he voted against himself in a tied party room ballot.
Sir John was knighted in 1977, and appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1988. He retired from politics in 1975, and lived quietly in Canberra for many years, mostly enjoying good health until his recent illness. He was 90 years old when he died at the weekend. Our thoughts are with his second wife Nancy, Lady Gorton, and his family at this time.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, John Grey Gorton came to the Prime Ministership of Australia by accident and he left by self-execution. During his brief reign he changed Australia forever. No longer were we tied to the mother country of Menzies’ Britain; no longer were we all the way with LBJ, a US satellite that Harold Holt proclaimed. Under Gorton, it was okay to be simply Australian and the cultural cringe began to fade. Our art, films, and culture were encouraged and began to flower. The changes many now attribute to the Whitlam era began under Gorton. As Phillip Adams - no lover of the Liberal Party - writes in today’s The Australian newspaper:
Whitlam, sharing our affection and respect for Sir John, always insisted on inviting him to official functions
concerning the film industry, where Whitlam would share the kudos with his craggy, somewhat daggy, predecessor.
But he made an unforgettable contribution. So I’ll never forget him.
Adams concludes in his obituary. And nor should we.
A handsome young bastard, he was the illegitimate son of a very wealthy Melbourne businessman when illegitimacy was a stigma that usually precluded you from rising very far in life. Gorton’s life was dramatically changed by the injuries he suffered during World War II. Gone were the good looks; instead there was a battered, smashed-in face hurriedly put back together by wartime plastic surgery. But, after experiencing some self-pity, he threw it aside and jumped into life with both feet.
Entering parliament in the Menzies’ and the Liberal Party’s first victory in 1949, Gorton was a backbench Senator from Victoria for almost 10 years before getting his first job in government as Minister for the Navy in 1958. Then followed a series of portfolios, gradually moving up the ladder until he was Leader of the Government in the Senate, and Minister for Education and Science when the shattering events of Christmas 1967 took place. The Prime Minister of Australia, Harold Holt, disappeared in the savage waters off the Portsea back beach, and Australia was left without a leader. Of the six or seven senior Liberals who jostled to fill the vacuum, Gorton was the less likely, the least experienced and the least known. He was not even a member of the House of Representatives, but he got the job and became the first Senator to become Prime Minister and then, briefly, the first Prime Minister who was not a member of parliament. He had to resign from the Senate and contest Holt’s old seat in order to get into the House of Representatives.
For just on two years, he led Australia in his way. He was just as much a shock to his conservative colleagues as he was to the Australian people. If it was in the interests of Australia and Australians, Sir John was for it, irrespective of whether it fitted with conservative philosophy or ideology, or a Labor viewpoint. He was a nationalist in all things: economic, cultural and social. He liked being an Australian and being with Australians. He liked to drink, just as many of his predecessors and successors, but Sir John Grey Gorton did not care who knew that he liked to drink.
The Clerk will tell you Sir John’s favourite tipple was the Famous Grouse, a piece of information he found out when Sir John was here for the opening of Parliament House, and was seeking something stronger than a light beer. For Sir John there was John Gorton, Prime Minister, and there was John Gorton, private citizen, who enjoyed a gregarious lifestyle. He saw no conflict between the two, and did not expect one John Gorton to be judged against another John Gorton.
He even ended his Prime Ministership in his own way, by voting against himself. When the challenge from his deputy, William McMahon, resulted in a tied vote in the party room, Gorton used his casting vote to depose himself but, in typical fashion, he then stood for the deputy’s job, won it and served briefly as Minister for Defence before retiring to the backbench, still as Deputy Leader of the ruling party. He was always his own man; he always did it his way.
His legacy is our belief in ourselves as Australians and, no matter how brief his term, we should never forget he was the one who made it okay to believe in our abilities, talents and culture. Others have built on it and embraced it, but he began the process. John Gorton was an Australian Prime Minister, not just Prime Minister of Australia. I commend the motion.
Mr REED (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to Sir John Grey Gorton. He was a man who clearly spent most of his life in service to Australia. Indeed, we should reflect today on the fact that there was a period in his life when he was defending the very skies above us. It is on poignant occasions like this that we should take note of services of that kind and the commitment that he and, of course, many of his colleagues - and he would not want to be shining, I do not think, in any glory in relation to this matter - made in defending the nation at a time of a very great threat. Of course, as we have heard, he also served elsewhere. Apart from the KittyHawkes out of here, he flew Hawker Hurricanes out of Singapore. He flew in New Guinea and prior to that, I think, in Europe. He gave very extensive and distinguished service as a RAAF pilot. Indeed, some of that service directly impacted on the Northern Territory.
He was a man ahead of his time in terms of his Prime Ministership. I have always been a follower of politics, at a time when there were not many people in my workplace who followed politics. I remember when we did overtime Tuesdays and Thursday nights, I used to have a little radio where I would listen to parliamentary Question Time. Everyone thought I was nuts.
At the time of the death of Harold Holt, in my observations - to the surprise of many, including myself when it happened - I predicted that it would be John Gorton who would become the Prime Minister. I simply judged that on the basis that there were not many others who would be able to fill the job. Paul Hasluck was a lovely man, but I did not think he was a particularly strong man in terms of being a Prime Minister. It was evident before it happened that ‘Black Jack’ McEwen, Sir John McEwen, would not tolerate McMahon as a Prime Minister, and someone would come through the pack and up to the winning post. It happened to be - as I say, to my surprise - John Gorton.
He was certainly a Prime Minister ahead of his time. He was the one who looked at natural assets in terms of the Great Barrier Reef and said: ‘This should be under the control of the Commonwealth government. It is an international environmental area of great significance’. He had great difficulty with Premier Bjelke-Petersen, wrestling that off the Queensland government. But he did so to the benefit of the Great Barrier Reef and to the relief of conservation movements of the day. Indeed, he gave them a great fillip to be able to pursue other issues of a similar kind, of which there have been similar advances over the years.
Similarly, with the arts. It was not Gough Whitlam - notwithstanding that he put his brand on it – who started championing the arts and bringing them forward and providing all sorts of assistance. It was Prime Minister Gorton who embarked on those moves and put those processes in place. Again, the arts community and the film industry in Australia have benefited over the decades since his innovative approach to that.
As the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have indicated, he was here in 1994. He was here subsequent to that. I notice in the newspaper today that he was last here, reportedly, in 1994. I met him in 1994, introduced myself to him and had a great chat to him. I had the opportunity to again do so when he attended a function a few years ago. I do not remember what the occasion was, but it was at Government House and the Administrator, Dr Conn, had invited me. I had received an invitation to the function and walking in ahead of me was Sir John Gorton. I caught up to him and re-introduced myself and he said: ‘Come over here’. He was a real Aussie. ‘Come over here, we will get a drink and we will sit down over here’. We sat on a brick surround around the garden and had a chat for some time about his political career and other matters in regard to his experiences in the war. I clearly took too much of his time because after a great conversation, he said: ‘Look, I had better go and have a chat to some other folks here’.
That was the nature of John Gorton. You could sit down and have a chat to him, Aussie to Aussie. He was prepared to share his experiences; a man who shattered the foundations of the Liberal Party in taking them into new arenas; in looking beyond the ‘liberalism’ and embarking on new political aspirations and ideals; and to completely broaden their outlook. If you look back and reflect on that now, it was his actions in that regard that changed the outlook of the Liberal Party. I do not think it has been the same since. They have had a broader view, a broader church if you like, and he, I think, can take credit for that. Of course, his strong personality was reflected in the very unusual act of him voting himself out of office. That speaks for itself.
I look forward to reading the biography on John Gorton. He did it his way, and I think it will be a book that will give me a further insight into a man that I met, had discussions with on two occasions, and grew to appreciate in terms of his contribution to the country both during the war and during his service as Prime Minister, minister and backbencher in parliament for many, many years.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I thank you for your sincere tributes to a most colourful Prime Minister who we will remember. I ask you to observe one minute of silence.
I thank honourable members.
Continued from 7 March 2002.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, the opposition has considered this bill and will be supporting it. The bill varies several Northern Territory laws, as the Attorney-General quite properly said, none of which reflect a substantial change in policy. Most amendments are of a very minor nature and are generally self-explanatory. Some amendments are consequential on the passing of the new Fines and Penalties Recovery Act and some relate to the changes in the names of some disciplinary bodies, including the Northern Territory Law Society. The opposition, as I indicated, will be supporting the bill.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for its support of what is a pretty uncontentious bill. It simply tidies up areas of current legislation where there may be some change, such as a repeal of a Commonwealth act that is referred to in one of our acts and, therefore, we need to remove those references. With those thanks, I move that the bill be read a second time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of representatives of Aboriginal Health Services, Aboriginal Medical Service Association of the Northern Territory, and the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum. On behalf of honourable members, I issue a warm welcome to our visitors.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services): Madam Speaker, I speak to you today as someone who feels a great sense of urgency about indigenous health. The Territory cannot be allowed to exist with one part of its population largely healthy and the other part largely sick. The danger is that we have become far too used to it. Statements about disparities between health in indigenous and non-indigenous Territorians are all too common. The gaps are so familiar we know them by rote.
Because it is so constant and so large, we start to think that is just the way it is: changes will take a long time, they will be incremental; we should not look for short-term results. I want to say the opposite. Improvements in indigenous health and education outcomes are amongst this government’s highest priorities. Yet, at the same time, while I have this urgent desire to turn things around - a desire I hope is shared by all members of this Assembly - I do not believe indigenous people deserve more rhetoric or artfully worded statements of intent. What we do need are positive actions and practical approaches.
I have met the people who represent the face of the future of indigenous health in the Northern Territory: members of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory, or AMSANT. Since its establishment in the mid-1990s, AMSANT has grown to represent 13 community controlled Aboriginal medical services in the Northern Territory. AMSANT’s activities were critical in forcing both levels of government to accept its responsibilities for resourcing indigenous health through the framework agreement.
As an advocacy group, AMSANT has also directed the Territory and Commonwealth towards new approaches to tackling indigenous health issues in the Northern Territory, particularly through the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum. The forum, made up of the Northern Territory government, ATSIC, AMSANT and the Commonwealth, is a partnership in the true sense of the word and one to which the government is wholly committed.
The Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum is engaged in developing a resource mechanism for indigenous health that is unique in the world. While the development of the Primary Health Care Access Program, PHCAP, has been strongly supported by the previous minister, the member for Drysdale, it has to be said that indigenous organisations and committed departmental staff sparked and pursued the innovative directions we are witnessing today.
I have spoken in this House on previous occasions about this government’s commitment to the implementation of the Primary Health Care Access Program across the Territory. What I am not sure that my fellow members are fully informed of, is the sea change in indigenous service delivery that PHCAP and the health zones actually represent. Indigenous people will finally have full control over how primary health care funds are to be allocated in their regions. Through PHCAP, we envisage rolling out, across 21 zones in the Northern Territory, a series of community-controlled health boards which will harness and integrate the inputs of the many different players in the health field. This network of health zones forms the cornerstone of this reform. The health zones are groups of communities who can work together, share resources and provide efficiencies in the system that communities working alone, or governments working centrally, cannot. Each zone will dictate the level of decision-making and the load of service responsibility it wishes to take on; with their health board then taking on that level of responsibility. The end result will be the outsourcing to community-controlled organisations of the vast majority of primary health care service provision.
The indigenous health reform agenda thus embodies the vision expressed recently in this House by the Minister for Community Development when he called for regional partnerships with Aboriginal organisations and communities, and for the pooling of resources of Commonwealth and Territory governments. Above all, he called for governments and Aboriginal people to look for solutions together. This is what the primary health care reforms are delivering.
An integral component of PHCAP will be the extensive training that will become available to the boards of each PHCAP zone. Unlike the ad hoc approach of the old grant-in-aid clinics established in the past, the new boards will, over time, be empowered and skilled to achieve the reality of community control. In turn, the Northern Territory government undertakes to maintain its current commitment and effort in primary health care.
The real breakthrough, however, is that for the first time anywhere, indigenous health will be funded to a needs-based formula. The Commonwealth will be giving people in remote parts of the Northern Territory access to Medicare benefits equivalent to that of other Australians. For the Northern Territory health system it is, in effect, new money. For our remote citizens, it is access to the rights that other Australians have enjoyed for a quarter of a century.
For the first 10 zones to be rolled out, this will mean between $25m and $35m per annum additional funds flowing into remote health services. This new money will be pooled with Northern Territory funds and administered by community-controlled health boards. What is being attempted here has happened nowhere else in the world with respect to indigenous minorities, and there is a real sense that the world will be watching us. However, we should not suppose that we are flying blindly. It is not an innovation for innovation’s sake, nor is it something that is being created on a whim. It is based on local, national and international research. More importantly, it is located within local experience.
A few weeks ago, following two-and-a-half years of developmental negotiations, the green light was given for the Sunrise Coordinated Care Trial to control health services for up to 3800 residents of the communities on the east side of the highway. With the Borroloola area recently approved as one of the first two new Top End zones to attract PHCAP support, the building blocks of the reform agenda for the entire district of Katherine are in place. The development of the Sunrise Health Service, as well as moves to establish a health board in the Borroloola region, will mean a major milestone has already been achieved. Within the next year, we are likely to see the entire Katherine health district under community-controlled primary health care. However, these reforms will succeed only if we, as a government, commit to the detail of supporting its continuing evolution. There is still much to do to ensure that the course of health zones and the reform agenda run smoothly.
I recently asked the department to do some intensive internal work to ensure that it is adequately equipped to deal with these exciting new directions. With the deliberate policy of devolving primary health care servicing to non-government organisations, the department needs to be well prepared for a major transformation in its own role. It is moving from the familiar, albeit challenging role of provider, to that of funding, regulation and coordination.
We need to focus on ensuring we further develop our capacity in three key areas. Firstly, in common with our federal counterparts, the Northern Territory government will retain its overall statutory responsibility for the effectiveness of the health care system. The focus of this work will be informed by comprehensive risk analysis and contingency planning. Improvements in health services and health outcomes will be monitored and evaluated, and fund-holding organisations will be required to account for the resources they control. For these reasons, the government is funding a project run by the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health, to develop a system of performance management, including performance indicators, that meet Commonwealth and Territory government requirements. This is being done in the spirit of collaboration by all partners. The commitment to outcomes and accountability from Aboriginal health services has been outstanding. Our processes are also strengthened by the resolve of AMSANT to support responsibility and accountability from their member organisations.
A second area in which the department is building up its skills is in partnerships. I believe that there is still a way to go before all of our staff fully embrace the transitions. For so many years, departmental staff have worked above and beyond the call of duty, in a completely under-resourced system, to improve Aboriginal health in isolated areas. Now they’re being asked to assume a critical role in supporting local health leaders and emerging organisations to take on this work for themselves. Change of this magnitude is challenging for everyone. I admit there is uncertainty. I have asked the department to assist operational staff to fully understand and feel part of the process. This means departmental staff need to feel comfortable about relinquishing control and sharing the information - the data, the facts and figures - that will be critical for all the new health boards. In consultation with staff and unions, the department’s Top End and Central Australian services networks are in the process of realignment, to be better prepared structurally for the future.
A third area of focus for the department is associated with health centre infrastructure in remote areas. As I have travelled through Territory communities, I have been struck by the powerful difference between health services in places where non-Aboriginal people may be part of the clientele, from those further from tourist view. It has left me with a great feeling of shame that this should be the case in a society that prides itself on notions of equality and fairness. If we allowed health services in any urban area to degenerate to the standard of some clinics, there would be vehement public outrage.
A great deal of work is required to ensure that, when health centre management transfers to a health board, health centres are in good condition. The department is auditing all remote area health centres, comparing their status to established standards for client care, occupational health and safety, gender access, and required levels of services. This audit will result in a strategic plan for the upgrading of bush health centres, which will greatly assist in the smooth transfer of management to emerging health boards. With critical capital works upgrades thus properly prioritised, we will then be putting our money where our mouth is.
I am also sending a clear message that we will not be satisfied with any residual second-rate services in our remaining areas of acute care. The improvements we are currently seeking within our hospital network require closer integration with primary health care services, and a greater ability to respond to the directions being set by the community control sector. For instance, I expect the department’s renal mapping project to provide me with relevant social and biomedical data to support the development, in partnership with the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum, of a strategic plan for best practice renal health services across the Northern Territory. We want to know what it would take to be able to offer remote area renal options that are on par with mainstream services in other jurisdictions, such as self-care dialysis and transplants. In this context, let me add that I have been impressed with such independent initiatives as the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal. I am confident that, with this government’s emphasis on partnerships, in future our hospital improvements will assume a greater community orientation.
I might also add that I think the non-government sector needs to have a greater presence in remote Northern Territory. The Hollows Foundation work currently underway in the Katherine region, is drawing on an internationally tested expertise that I am committed to seeing more of in the Territory. In a similar vein, corporate Australia has often taken interest in social issues as part of their community responsibility. I am pleased to be in discussion with Westpac and Alcan Gove (Nabalco), on specific indigenous health projects in remote areas, and look forward to saying more about these in coming weeks.
This represents a powerful strategy for improving primary health care in communities. Investment in this area is long overdue. I still find myself surprised at how long Aboriginal people and health workers have tolerated, over the years, an awful system: stretched, under-funded and, too often, unsafe. If all of this was not challenge enough, just add to the mix communicable disease, the explosion of chronic diseases of all kinds, malnutrition, the toll of injuries and family violence, mental health problems, poverty and illiteracy - diseases which do not just take a marginal view, but some of the finest people that this parliament has seen.
If that is still not enough to make people surrender, add a problem causing more deaths and renal failure: not a problem of germs or of infrastructure, but of people willing to cause suffering in order to make a profit through promoting their toxic mix of rubbish food, tobacco, cannabis and alcohol. You end up with a disease problem complex, the tragic intermarriage of conditions of poverty and affluence that few in the world can even comprehend.
Under PHCAP, communities will be able to determine their way of approaching the social determinants of ill health. The experience to date has been that, with properly resourced community control, Aboriginal health workers - in so many ways the key to health improvements - are more valued and can play a greater role in moving outside the clinic to truly tackle prevention. Community control means that something like obesity - a silent killer that is not taken as seriously as it should be - or tobacco use - with up to 83% of indigenous men and 73% of women being smokers - can be tackled under the direction of Aboriginal people.
For instance, it is as a result of health care services being under Aboriginal control that heavily sugared drinks, lollies and fatty foods are being banned as part of a prohibition on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands in Central Australia. The stores are being seen as a health resource, not just an enterprise. This is an approach public health workers have tried to foster for years through processes of cajoling and encouraging. Yet, while institutionalised versions of holism and community development meet many barriers, under local control actions can be more direct. Our actions in the area of smoking, through the review of the Tobacco Act, will undoubtedly have an impact through restricting availability but, with tobacco playing such a key role in the systems of ceremonial exchange within the indigenous economy, can government, which barely knows how this works, possibly disrupt it? That is where local knowledge and local control kicks in.
This government is doing the detailed work to make these reforms succeed. We will undertake to strengthen the role and authority of the Northern Territory Health Forum as a principal partnership in indigenous health in the Territory; to maintain our support for the works of AMSANT and its membership as representatives of the indigenous comprehensive health care sector; to prioritise the filling of key primary health care positions; to put in place a comprehensive risk management strategy for backing up at-risk health services; and to continue to devolve the Department of Health and Community Services primary health care functions to community control, where this is desired, through funds pooling mechanisms in conjunction with the Commonwealth.
By no stretch of the imagination do the health zone arrangements reduce government’s overall responsibilities. Not only will we be overseeing the massive change in risk management processes associated with outsourcing primary health care on a scale never before witnessed, we also retain overall responsibility for the quality of the services and the regulation of standards for disaster management and the like. Because we will be operating as a bureau service to health zones, we need to provide a repository of expertise to help all communities treat outbreaks and manage the essential follow-up.
This is not a light responsibility. Communicable diseases like tuberculosis should be diseases of the past, but are not. TB is a global political problem and is a disease of the poor. 90% of cases occur in the developing world. It should not exist at all in the Territory, yet each year we hear of new cases.
Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease are, likewise, diseases of disadvantage which have all but disappeared from the southern states. Yet, research by the Menzies School of Health Research demonstrated that the Northern Territory has among the highest published rates of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in the world. Rheumatic fever occurs mainly in children and young adults. Recurrences of rheumatic fever lead to cumulative heart damage. On average, 20 Aboriginal people die from such heart attacks every year. Many of these are young adults. The mean age is 36 years, making it the chronic disease of young people. The tragic thing is, these deaths could be almost completely prevented by strict follow-up and monthly injections of penicillin after the first attack of rheumatic fever. These are not the chronic lifestyle related diseases with no cures, but magic bullet diseases - things that can and should be fixed and that are totally treatable and curable.
In 1997, the Centre for Disease Control established a coordinated Rheumatic Heart Disease Control Program in the Top End of the Northern Territory, jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory governments. We have just signed a further agreement with the Commonwealth to jointly fund the continuation of the program in the Top End and an extension of it to Central Australia. I will be seeking the support of my colleagues in future years to ensure our vigilance on these and other communicable diseases is not allowed to falter.
In the explanations for why such things as TB and rheumatic disease can exist in a first world country, people often point to the surrounding environmental conditions: the poor housing, the inadequate amenities, the overcrowding, the poor diets and lack of exercise, and unemployment and its correlate, poor education. This government has listened to this message and has responded. We are the government that is giving real support to the implementation of the Collins’ review, Learning Lessons. It works both ways: many things in health would be resolved if education levels lifted, but education levels would also be lifted if we were more effective in delivering school-age children without any health damage.
Health is supporting the full implementation of Learning Lessons by taking concerted action to help ensure that when children first go to school, they are fit and able to learn. Again, this will take the form of practical measures. For instance, we know that persistent ear infections lead to intermittent deafness among children in remote communities. We also know that if ear disease can be prevented before two years of age, then it is unlikely to develop into chronic ear disease with perforation. Prevention and early intervention are critical.
The World Health Organisation states that, in a population where 4% or more children have perforations with discharge, there is a massive public health problem requiring urgent attention. Yet, in a recent Menzies survey of 29 communities throughout the Northern Territory, only 7% of children had normal middle ears. An overall average of 25% of young Aboriginal children had perforated ear drums; 31% had middle ear fluid in both ears; and five communities had perforation rates greater than 40%. In this context, it is alarming to learn how poorly resourced hearing services in the Northern Territory have been. There is only one dedicated Aboriginal health worker who operates Northern Territory wide, and one dedicated audiologist employed by the department to work in Aboriginal communities, focussed in the Top End exclusively. Compounding the problem, these services have only focussed on school-age children, not the early childhood period where hearing problems may be averted. Not only will we be increasing the attention paid to hearing programs and disease prevention, we are maintaining our election commitments of running school breakfast programs, and directing of the child health teams to address the precursors of disease in early childhood.
I have deliberately prepared this statement in the spirit of looking forward, and giving credit where credit is due, but I pause here for a moment to make one very clear distinction between the efforts of the previous CLP government and this government. The previous government oversaw the identification of a number of key interventions that would form the backbone of the very clever and sound Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy. These interventions, particularly around maternal and child health, are identified as best practice in remote areas. I congratulate the previous government for that work but, having identified what would make a difference, they didn’t fund those interventions.
This government has dedicated $2.2m per year to implement the child health interventions, identified as the backbone of the Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy. This new funding will enable the employment of 25 additional staff in remote area child health. It will ensure that the growth assessment and promotion initiatives that are providing startling results in Central Australia, will finally be fully implemented in the Top End. The additional positions will ensure that the Healthy School Aged Kids program, which is carried out in only some Top End communities, and has only been piloted in Central Australia, can be implemented across remote Northern Territory.
Through mechanisms such as the Indigenous Housing Authority of the Northern Territory, IHANT, this government has supported the Community Housing Management Program, in which locally recruited indigenous coordinators assist their local regions with a range of housing management issues, including the coordination of a home care program. We have established a closer working relationship with ATSIC on the National Aboriginal Health Strategy Program, with a view to pooling our housing and infrastructure efforts. We are also continuing the second year of an environmental health analysis that has been beneficial in developing an ongoing picture of the state of indigenous health in remote communities.
Beyond these initiatives, there is something else we need to put a name to, and that is the dysfunction caused by widespread alcohol and substance abuse, family breakdown, neglect of children, youth suicide, violence and the sexual abuse of women and children. We will build the houses and try to ensure they are well built and designed to last. We will strive to ensure power and water and waste disposal facilities are of the highest standards; that the water is clean and so on. But we have to come to terms with the fact that other things ruin houses and lives. By being passive about the social epidemics ripping through communities, we are condemning babies and children, young men and women, and people growing old too quickly, to the task of having to seek life meaning out of conditions of fear and instability. I freely admit to not having quick remedies at hand; to having more questions than I have answers.
The work of the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community is needed now like never before. Let me raise some of the questions I hope the committee will consider in the cause of their investigations. Many indigenous and non-indigenous leaders are now saying alcohol lies at the heart of many of the problems they face. Alcohol abuse means violence; murder; sexual abuse; wrecked houses; no money for good food; and sleepless, hungry children who cannot complete a day of school, will not listen to authority figures, grow up seeing no future, and end up in gaol, or taking their own lives, or themselves turning to substances such as fly spray, paint, and petrol.
How does society balance having alcohol available for responsible use when, at the same time, we are dealing every day with the costs of endemic alcohol abuse? If we have the highest estimated rates of alcohol-induced assault leading to hospitalisation in the country, and if our per capita consumption of alcohol is 50% higher than the rest of Australia, then what are our collective responsibilities as a society and as individuals to get the balance right? Why has petrol sniffing been allowed to remain the big no-go area for government for so long - the ultimate impossibility with the solutions always pointing beyond the issues to prior causes? Can we afford to consign young people to the real risk of brain damage, uncontrollable violence, and permanent disability? I will pledge to support the select committee and to work seriously to achieve real outcomes out of their work. We must also acknowledge government needs to act now for the interests of babies, children and young people - today’s next generation.
Beyond the community control introduced by the PHCAP program, it remains the case that many specialty programs in indigenous health - the mental health services, school programs, early childhood initiatives, family violence and substance abuse - contend with an overly complex and uncoordinated maze of government funding. Any one remote community or health professional usually has to deal with numerous overlapping government departments and multiple funding schemes to try to piece together a complete service. This funding maze makes it almost impossible for a community and supporting professionals to rationally plan its health and wellbeing services. This is where being real about a partnership approach is essential. Under this government, AMSANT is regarded as a peak body, the Northern Territory Health Forum as a key alliance, and my relationship with the federal Minister for Health as a key asset.
At the end of April, I spent two days with the Federal Health Minister, Hon Senator Kay Patterson, travelling to a series of communities in the Northern Territory. From the outset, we enjoyed a positive relationship that crosses political lines. Senator Patterson and I both see improvements in this area as high priorities for our portfolios. Streamlining the funding arrangements and having a joint approach to key initiatives are on my agenda for the future. It is a sign of how seriously my commitment to indigenous health is regarded, that I am Australia’s lead minister for the indigenous health component of the new Australian Health Care Agreement negotiations, which will consider national health funding for the period 2003 to 2007.
In conclusion, our collective job as community leaders is to make sure no one gets used to the idea that indigenous people should carry the disease burden they do well into the future, before we can expect any turnaround. Our job is to ensure that we all see premature death, preventable disease, poverty and illiteracy as unacceptable for any part of our community. What we do in the next few years will be pivotal to the health of indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory; the first people of this land.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the minister has brought this statement forward. I do not think she would be surprised at all to find that much of what has been said in this statement strikes a very strong chord with those of us on this side of the House. We are all faced with a situation that is unacceptable; with grappling for solutions; and with what the minister called a seeming acceptance of some of the data and statistics that come forward. With few exceptions, this side of the House would strongly applaud the minister because this is one of her priority tasks. The Health minister in the Northern Territory - and I have worked for three of them and been one myself - have ‘Aboriginal health’ virtually tattooed on their inner eyelids because it is something that affects us in an economic, social, and community interest sense. In many of the battles we face with our partners and players - and I put the Commonwealth in that category primarily - this is the big issue.
It could be elicited from the minister’s statement that this is a new push, a brand new initiative that has hit the parliament, and that the minister has authorship of some radical new change of direction. That is patently not the case. This government is to be applauded for continuing much of the work that has already been put in place but, it should do so in a way that recognises that a significant amount of effort has been put in place, and has come from people who remain in this House.
For mine, one of the biggest changes in Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory over the last 20 years has been directly attributable to a man named Dr Wooldridge. That may surprise some members, but I had the fortune in my career to work in an area where Dr Brian Howe, Graham Richardson, Carmen Lawrence - also a doctor, non-medical again – and Dr Michael Wooldridge were all federal Health Ministers. I can tell you that the legacy of this man, for the Territory and for Aboriginal people, should be recognised in this parliament every time we speak about Aboriginal health. He came here on many occasions, as the shadow minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and was very knowledgeable about the Territory. He made many visits. I accompanied him on a couple of them. They were swag trips out bush where he saw the people first hand, without a big entourage. He worked as a medical practitioner in the Ntaria Clinic, which is a pretty rare thing for any health minister in Australia, federal or otherwise, to have done. He is a man of great honour who brought immense additional resources to the Territory.
It is easy to say that we are going to do all these wonderful things. You can have all the goodwill in the world, but this is a very expensive business we are involved in. If you look at the things that Michael Wooldridge did with untying the grants; and having grants that were more focussed towards encouraging partnerships, as we do - the big dollars we talk about that are embedded in this minister’s speech – they have their heritage out of his time. I am happy to put on the record my great admiration for the work he did and I think that, in years to come, many commentators will see that this is when we broke the back of it.
I have told this House before that, regarding independent health services, I was working for Health Minister Reed when we went down to Perth and we were talking to all the Health ministers from around Australia, and particularly Graham Richardson. We were trying to find a way of getting some more money into the Territory using this parliament’s report which argued that the shortcoming in federal health monies flowing to this place came about because there was a shortfall of doctors and pharmacists. We were not getting our right and proper share of medical benefits scheduled funds or pharmaceutical benefit funds.
We mounted this case and I can remember at one particular breakfast, there was a ‘light on the road to Damascus’ that fell over these minders for the federal minister. They said: ‘I know, we will fund independent health services’. We said: ‘Good, that is a good initiative; a great initiative. You have four, and we have 30’. It came as a great shock to them that this model they had invented of having Aboriginal people running their own health services was, in fact, in place. I will not say it was running particularly well, and I go back to the issues of money and resources. But we had an undertaking from Richo that he was keen to look at this matter. Why was he keen? He had been to the Territory on a trip, and most of us can remember the pink-legged Richo in his short pants going out to Bulman, I think, and to Katherine. He put a tap on in Katherine. He went to an illegal camp there with Mayor, Jimmy Forscutt, and he said: ‘This is terrible, no running water. We will put a tap there’. That was his big health intervention. I hope that tap is still there. I hope it still has a plaque on it because this is a man who had no concept of Aboriginal health - he had no concept of the realities of it.
It was pretty difficult to talk to him, I have tell you. He only came to Katherine for two days but could only afford about an hour with the local Health minister whose electorate he was in. Anyway, we talked to him and he said: ‘Look mate, cobber …’ - I do not know if you know Richo but that is how he used to talk - ‘… what we’re trying to do is get the spotlight on this because my colleagues do not understand what’s going on; Canberra is too far away. What we’re trying to do is help you by taking this situation to people, putting it in the public realm and showing people just how bad it is’.
Some would argue that is a pretty destructive way of running an argument but we accepted that was what he was trying to do. In the case of Darwin, there were some commentators in the independent health services - Barbara Flick one of them - who were greatly encouraged by his words because they were looking to have matters relating to Aboriginal health come out of ATSIC and, through health departments or whatever, more directly to health services. That is a point of view you could well support. Certainly, we supported it because we had already mainstreamed our health services so that, here in the Territory, we had not run our operational departments on a racial line like the Commonwealth, were they said: ‘We have ATSIC dispensing all these services, and Education doesn’t have to worry about Aboriginal people and Health doesn’t have to worry about Aboriginal people’. What we said here is that each of these instrumentalities has to worry about its major core clientele and, in every one of them, issues relating to Aboriginal people should be at the fore of your policies and priorities. We had already mainstreamed - a word which is offensive to some people - Aboriginal health into our mainstream Health Department. We saw there was some benefit in talking to the Commonwealth along those lines.
It subsequently did happen under Carmen Lawrence, I believe, that ATSIC was relieved of its duties to provide funding and other support to Aboriginal health, and it became an instrumentality aside. We think that was a good move. It should be noted that a lot of energy can be expended in debating issues like mainstreaming and community control, and all those sorts of labels when, at the end of the day, if we all sat down in a room people would be surprised to find they were all pointing in the same direction.
We had the now conservative minister, Brendan Nelson, visit. He wore a hat as the boss of the Australian Medical Association and ran a similar line to Richo. He said: ‘Look, I am up here to tell everybody how bad it is because, in this way, you are going to get more money’. We have had various media outlets do exactly the same thing. I think what has happened is that a lot of commentators have whipped themselves into a frenzy about looking at how terrible the NT is.
I do not think our history is all that bad. There have certainly been a lot of things that we have invented and trialled here, that have been used elsewhere, and I take pride in that. You have to look at some of the work that has been done here. The statement refers to indigenous health coming from the moves and the agitation, if you like, of AMSANT and other peak groups. But it goes well before that, and it goes to practitioners who were in the field. It probably goes as far back as people like the man who set up the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Dr Flynn; the real flying doctor if you like, Dr Clyde Fenton; and other people who came to this place many years ago. Some of those who came here decades ago are still around, and I have mentioned in this House before Dr Hargreaves and Dr Walker, our paediatrician. These are people who we can meet over lunch and a glass of wine, and they can talk about what things were like here 40 years ago. It is absolutely astonishing how much change has taken place.
I agree wholeheartedly with the minister, and I do not say that we should therefore take a breather, have a rest, things are hunky-dory; they are not. There is still a sense of urgency here and that came through in the minister’s statement today. I give her some credit. In this case, I believe that she does see this is a priority and an urgent issue.
Some of the statement deals with things like a world first. On page five of the minister’s statement she says:
… what is being attempted here has happened nowhere else in the world with respect to indigenous minorities,
and there is a real sense in which the world will be watching us.
There is some truth in that. It has to be a unique solution that affects us and we should be very careful not to borrow or plagiarise solutions that do not fit us well. But it is a bit of a long shot, and I think there are many indigenous health services around the world we should look at. Indeed, several former ministers did and were criticised for doing so. I remember Denis Burke’s trip to America was seen as some sort of a joke; people saw it as a jaunt. But nonetheless, I do recall it informed him largely on matters relating to - for instance, another issue in the minister’s speech - renal services, particularly those that can be appropriately run at a lower level of medicalisation and professionalism but, still nonetheless safely and appropriately for the community’s needs. These are things that can be viewed in some of the Indian health services. They do not have the same high levels, but the same tragic over-representation of some of this health data, including end stage renal failure.
The minister talked about the money being needs based:
The real breakthrough, however, is that for the first time anywhere, indigenous health will be funded to a needs based formula.
I caution the House again to look at this money that is flowing from the Commonwealth. While I do not want to appear churlish, it is a lot of money, and it is no more than our due. This money that is coming to the Northern Territory is not based on needs; it is based on a formula: ‘We will give you about the same as the call on MBS elsewhere’. That is not needs based. That is an accountant saying: ‘The average call is this, and we will give you that’. Our need is higher than that and we should take no solace from the Commonwealth giving us many millions and saying: ‘Well, therefore you are off the hook’.
I would still argue that the needs evident here in the Northern Territory, particularly amongst Aboriginal people in remote communities, are higher than in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, etcetera. So, while the Commonwealth might cunningly say: ‘Well, that is a needs based formula’, it still does not address our need. That need was quantified in 1996 or 1997 in the Public Accounts Committee report to this parliament that said it was $50m, at that time. So thanks for your $25m to $35m per annum and thanks for saying that it has to be distributed on the basis of need, but we will be coming back to bang on your door. You do not get off that lightly.
I am interested in the discussion about communities taking control. The minister says:
… the boards will, over time, be empowered and skilled to achieve the reality of community control.
That is a good ambition, a good thing to continue to push, and a good thing to aim for. Where I have some concern is the caveats. So what we are saying is: ‘Look you mob, you can run your health, its all your business’. But then the minister goes on to say: ‘… but we will retain overall responsibility for the quality of services and the regulation of standards …’, ‘… we’re going to maintain our election commitment for running school breakfast programs …’, and ‘… by being passive about social epidemics ripping through communities, we are condemning babies, children, young people and women …’. The opposite of being passive is being active. The government is saying: ‘We are going to feed the kids through a government program, we are going to be active about social epidemics …’, and they talking about, in another part of the statement, levels of funding. Now, those who are more jaundiced about dealing with federal and Territory governments about funding levels, know this is a skit that can be used: ‘The level of funding, here’s your money. By the way, the roads money has got to fund this black spot’. Or: ‘Here’s your money, but you have to introduce road limits’. We have known for a long time that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Along with the cash sometimes comes a little caveat saying: ‘But you have to do this policy because it is what we want and we think it is good for you’.
When these negotiations are underway, I ask that the minister be very transparent with the communities. In the matters relating to under-nourished children, the easy and ready solution is: why don’t we just feed them? Why don’t we go to a community, find out which kids are skinny and feed them - it is fixed. That is pretty much what the missionaries did, and they are pilloried often for that approach of feeding people. I would say that there are some bigger issues in relation to child malnutrition. Some were touched on in the minister’s speech where she talked about alcohol and other drugs and substance abuse. They are issues that should be affected by a preventative measure rather than a treatment measure. Feeding school kids is a treatment measure. Get the skinny kid, give them the vegemite sandwich - problem fixed. The problem is not fixed. While I did hear some mutterings and back patting over there when that passage was read out, I would caution those opposite to look beyond the rhetoric and to look at the issue of true community control. If you are offended by something in that community, do you intervene? On what basis do you intervene? If you are not prepared to take a ‘passive role’, what is your active role? How are you going to actively intervene? These matters will flow to some of the issues of the caveats on self-management.
We once had the member for Nhulunbuy stand and talk about how terrible it was that at Yirrkala you had big mobs of white people working on the council. Okay, that is probably not a good thing either. There should be more Aboriginal people employed in places like that, particularly where there aren’t many job opportunities. But whose problem is it? If it is a problem for the member for Nhulunbuy, he can say to his Minister for Local Government: ‘Next time you give them the money, put a little note in there saying: “If you keep employing white fellas we’re not going to give you so much money”.’ You can do it; you can fix it. The same with health - you have to look at whether this is rhetoric or whether you are actually going to allow true community control.
The minister talks about the rollout of programs, and how she is going to bring staff on board. I hope she does because, only last week, she talked about the communication from her department being poor. She talked about some staff, in this particular area we are talking about, being ‘in fear’. These are indicators maybe of speed; poor communication; that sometimes there is a mistrust from parties about the actual impacts, or what is actually being determined. They are symptoms that should be heeded, because the symptoms of poor communication and fear is telling you something. Whatever that message is, it should be analysed, heard and something should be done about it.
I agree with the clinic upgrade. We spent over the last 10 years, many millions upgrading clinics. I agree that, prior to that, they were in poor circumstances. If you also look at the minister’s comment that she wanted to introduce the non-government sector into this area; I reckon that is a great idea. She did mention the Fred Hollows Foundation, but there are many others. I can remember the furore that was caused when World Vision were going to go to Papunya. Those opposite said: ‘This is terrible because World Vision goes to poor African countries. For them to go to Papunya means that we are on a par with poor African countries and, in a country like Australia, this should not be the case’. My position was: ‘Look, we will take help from anybody, we do not care. If somebody wants to come on board and they are genuine about their capacity to help, we do not care’.
We have had a long history of missions providing services in communities - in fact, they still do in many communities - and that is a good thing; not a bad thing. There is enough work out here that, if somebody is keen enough to have a go, let’s have them on board. I do not have any problem with the Fred Hollows Foundation, World Vision, Freedom from Hunger. I really do not care who comes on board because, so long as they are pointing the same way as this parliament and the people of the Territory, that is a really good thing.
I want to touch quickly on the business of the newness of all these policies because there is a significant amount of work that has been done. For instance, in Aboriginal health over the last four or five years, I have a list of some of them here. We implemented the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Policy and the Aboriginal Public Health Strategy and Implementation Guide was launched. Fifteen Aboriginal Health Promotion Officers were awarded a certificate and qualification to help promotion of health principles; in fact, I had the great privilege and pleasure of doing that. A hands-on database of public health and education training was available and was NT developed. The Public Health Bush Book I have talked about in this House before; this is an excellent book. This is a practitioner’s guide to life in the bush, some of the resources that are available and, if I have time I will come back to that. But a great book; it is the third in a generation of them, and they are a great guide for people. The Aboriginal Career Development and Employment Strategy was implemented; the Environmental Health Standards for Remote Communities in the Northern Territory were developed; the outcomes of the NT Food and Nutrition Policy have been related to the growth assessment and action program; the role of the remote community-based alcohol and other drug work has been developed; Tiwi and Katherine coordinated care trials were talked about; the Sunrise trial was talked about also.
The framework agreement of Aboriginal health was talked about by the minister and was signed by the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Family Services, the Chairperson of ATSIC and the NT Minister for Health, Family and Children’s Services on 8 April 1998 - which I also had the pleasure in being involved with. There was the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Planning Study and the Top End Indigenous Planning Study. I could also talk about the Preventable Chronic Diseases Strategy because, again, while hoping to fulsomely support this statement, that is something that should be talked about. We have talked about the Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy in this parliament many times. Certainly, it is something we are proud of; it is something I am proud of. There is this line that has been run out: ‘Yes, you invented it, you set it up, but you didn’t fund it. What a terrible pack you are’.
There are two points. Point one: what the minister is talking about here is changing people’s attitudes, bringing in a new style, and refocussing staff. She often talks about the change policy in her department, how people are worried. The Preventable Chronic Diseases Strategy was partly that. What we said was that, if you look at what you do, as a health practitioner, an educator, a doctor, a clinician, or mental health worker, there are some broad units of work that you could agree are generic across areas. We could look, for instance, at the preventable chronic diseases of advanced stage renal failure, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and we could look at how maybe 50 players in the department are working on the same disease. So we could say: ‘Diabetes, okay, let’s have a look at that. There is a bit of work being done by a schoolteacher, a little done in the clinic, we have somebody in Darwin doing it, and we have Diabetes Australia. Gosh, look at all that effort out there’.
Now, what you could do, particularly if you work on this ‘let’s treat rather than prevent’, is muster some of that resource. The first thing we did was say: ‘You are not here just as the tuberculosis worker in Maningrida’. And that was another topical debate. We said: ‘All of these people in this clinic - Aboriginal health workers, nurses, visiting doctors - have to look at all their patients and look at the diseases impacting on them, including TB’. You cannot say: ‘Look, I have this bloke here. He has a cut leg. He might have a grog problem and I think his family have a history of heart problems, but he is presenting because of TB. Crook - there you go, you go and see that tuberculosis person’, because it is a nonsense. Certainly, most of our clients who are in the Aboriginal health area have a disease status beyond the norm, if you like. On many occasions, they have many, many problems to deal with. So the first cut, preventable chronic disease strategy. Work out what you are doing, muster your resources so that you are all doing it within a strategic framework.
The second part is the $1.4m. When the minister says: ‘They did not fund those interventions’, I would have thought $1.4m was pretty good. Okay, maybe it is not all the way there, but the first cut was to say: ‘We already have a resource deployed, now let’s deploy it in accordance with the ‘s’ in the Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy – strategy’. So our first call was to be strategic, our second call was to fund it, and I am glad there is more money going to it. Great idea!
I actually launched the Healthy School Aged Children book talked about by the minister. I also, in conjunction with the previous Education minister, visited schools and clinics together, and I hope that continues. I hope the current Health minister goes out with the Education minister when they are on the ground together for Cabinet or whatever and has a look at the clinic and the school.
One of the sad things - and it is something that has to be addressed other than by programs and funding or whatever - is often the expatriate staff in those two areas do not get on. Often the chalkies do not get on with the clinic sister and vice versa. I can remember going to a community that I will not name, that had a clinic sister with women lined up outside, treating two or three people inside, calling for an evac at the same time, and in the back paddock there were probably 25 kids kicking a football around which is probably a good thing, except that it was school time. I went over to the school and it was like a morgue, almost empty. I went in and there was everybody in the staff room with a cup of tea and the airconditioner on, saying: ‘Oh, well, you know, it is a bit light today because the bloomin’ kids didn’t turn up’.
Well, I would have thought, like the preventable chronic diseases strategy, you could say: ‘Hey, look, busy resource, quiet resource. Now, shucks, what about we use some of this mob to do some of that mob’s work?’ What you have to do is say that some of the educative and other things that are really imperative issues in health, maybe they could be done in a school setting. Now, Bob found that too. Bob said maybe if our education program is to teach people the skills so they can get a job, there are some big failures in an Aboriginal community because there are not enough jobs to go around. However, if we are educating people for life, one of the things they are going to have to know is how to have a healthy and happy life, and that can take place in the classroom. They do not have to front the clinic to understand what happens if you drink too much kava, beer, smoke or do not exercise. It is exactly the same message that should come to me, standing here a bit overweight.
I think that bond came through in the minister’s statement. I hope it is more than just: ‘Well, here’s the Bob Collins report. It is a blueprint. We will follow that and it’ll all be fixed’. It is more than that. There are attitudinal issues, and issues of marrying ideas of these people in a shotgun wedding. There is an issue of choice of appropriate staff, and the issue of risk assessment. There is the issue of violence against staff that seems to be topical at the moment and, I believe, not adequately addressed. All of these things have to be bound up into one.
In this health universe, the clients are very important and should drive it. The Commonwealth, too, should be almost like a Siamese twin; we should have them so close to us on these things that we think the same, talk the same, go the same places. The living conditions issues and education we’ve talked about here - all very powerful bonds - all have to be things that come through loud and clear.
The minister talked about the suave clinics that the tourists could see and the not-so-suave ones that are over the next couple of sand dues or whatever. She also talks about community control. Can I say that the issue of community control is that the clinics should be available for all the community, so when she says: ‘… the entire Katherine health district is under community-controlled primary health care …’, there has to be some scope for non-indigenous people to participate …
Ms Scrymgour: They’re included.
Mr DUNHAM: Well, I know the member for Arafura has some role in this and I look forward …
Madam SPEAKER: The member’s time has expired.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I move that so much that standing orders be suspended as would allow the member for Drysdale to complete his remarks.
Leave granted.
Mr DUNHAM: I shall be very brief, Madam Speaker, just to finish that point. I am saying we should collaborate on it because we have found in the case of Ti Tree and other places, where there are recipients of services who are non-Aboriginal, that when we say we’re going out with a community-controlled health service – and by ‘community control’ we mean ‘Aboriginal community control’ - it does leave some people with concerns.
They are not concerns that cannot be addressed or met. On many occasions it would be a great alleviator if these matters were dealt with in conjunction with local members, with those opposite because, at the end of the day, it is a better service, it is a better funded service and hopefully, it can reach the needs of everybody. All I am saying is that when you apply the label ‘community controlled’ over and over again, just be aware that in some communities there has to be a capacity for non-indigenous people to be participants.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, we will adjourn for lunch now.
Mr STIRLING: I was only going to be a few minutes. It is not very long.
Madam SPEAKER: All right. See how you go.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, it is only 11.55. I listened with interest to the shadow minister. I will not take a long time with my remarks. He is worth listening to when he comes to the subject with some positive contribution as he did today. It is too rare that we see the shadow minister in that frame of mind.
I, too, have visited communities and have seen more children out and about in the community on my way from the airstrip up into the communities, than I have seen within the classrooms. I have seen that for 12 years and right across different schools throughout the Territory. So, it is refreshing to see the shadow minister make those sorts of points in here where, of course, we never had that acknowledgement from that side of the House when they were in government.
We acknowledge those very real concerns and ask ourselves the question: how can we expect education to be effective when the kids are not in school in the first place? It is something that Collins very much concentrated upon, with measures to ensure that we get children not just to school, but we get them there in a healthy shape. I want to make it clear that, in relation to the comments he made about cooperation between the minister for Health and minister for Education, it is very much the reason why I am on my feet here at the moment.
I cannot overemphasise the importance of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Community Services’ statement from two perspectives, both as a member for Nhulunbuy and as minister for Education. Even the previous government was able to see how critical partnerships are between health and education. In their words, they acknowledged it, but we never saw the action to match the words.
In contrast, both in health and education, this government has moved purposely beyond comforting rhetoric to actual implementation. My colleague, Minister Aagaard, has outlined how health is taking care of the detail of properly implementing the Primary Health Care Access Program with Aboriginal community management.
In Education, we plan to learn from the experience of Health as we move to put in place four self-managing indigenous education school pilots. These pilots will give effect to key recommendations from the Collins’ review; namely, that the education system should provide for community control over education decision-making processes, while establishing clear benchmarks for expected improvements. In effect, the pilot schools will, under the direction of local area education boards, give school principals every opportunity to do what it takes to improve education outcomes and prove that that turnaround is possible.
The Learning Lessons Implementation Steering Committee is about to call for expressions of interest from communities who wish to participate. As proof of this government’s partnership approach, we already have a commitment from Health to give full support to these pilots. The Department of Health and Community Services will give priority to early childhood and school-age health programs in the four selected communities. As the minister indicated, they aim to pull out all stops to get those children to school healthy and fit to learn. Depending on the school community and the health needs, this could translate as a specific focus on early childhood health programs, hearing, nutrition and the like.
We believe the three-way partnership between the two agencies, together with the local community and Aboriginal people, will multiply the effectiveness of any one of the parties in isolation. I commend the minister for her practical and realistic statement on the future face of indigenous health. It gives us all a picture of the way forward in what is unquestionably a huge challenge for the government and the people of the Northern Territory. I thank the shadow minister for his remarks, most of which were positive in nature, and I have reiterated his concerns about partnerships in health and education. It is very much a focus of where we want to go in the implementation of Collins’ Learning Lessons.
Members: Hear, hear!
Continued from earlier this day.
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I was expecting an opposition speaker next but that is okay. I welcome and very much support the statement on indigenous health by our Minister for Health and Community Services. It is both a timely reminder to this parliament of the urgency of the issues that are still out there in terms of the health of our indigenous people. It is also a good opportunity to start to give indications as to which way our government is going in tackling those issues.
The statement begins by looking at the new philosophy of service delivery that will be embodied in the approach to health delivery by our government. It is very much based on the idea of regional groupings: a whole new level of decision-making which occurs at regional level rather than purely locally within a single remote community, or purely centrally with the main offices of the government agencies concerned.
This approach is not only very important in the future delivery of health services in the form of the health zones that are intended to be rolled out but, as the statement refers, it is also very important to other areas of our government policy development; namely that of the regional partnerships being flagged by the Minister for Community Development, and also, in my portfolio area, in the Regional Crime Prevention Councils that are to be established under the Office of Crime Prevention. Similarly, in the area of education, the Collins implementation also conceives of regional education-cum-health councils carrying a lot of the service delivery agreements on behalf of different areas of the Territory.
We have a very consistent approach across the main areas of our social policy development, to the creation of these regional decision-making bodies. For our government as a whole, we have to look for synergies between the programs and structures of governance that the health, community development and the crime prevention areas, and the educational implementation, are rolling out. It would be crazy to go out bush and waste scarce resources on parallel structures, when that one development could perhaps looks at all four of those areas. We are certainly going to be looking at the whole coordination of these different initiatives across the agencies.
In our view, that new level of decision-making at the regional level gives some very big advantages to the effective implementation of programs. A regional level provides for more power to go into the decision-making and the implementation of programs than can be achieved in individual communities. The important feature of the implementation of these types of bodies for governance is that it is a voluntary self-identifying group of people or group of communities. There couldn’t be a greater contrast to the previous government and its approach - particularly in the area of local government - to the development of regional forms of governance. In that case, it was a shotgun wedding, and there was very little choice left to, particularly, smaller communities as to whether they were going to be amalgamated with other nearby communities or not.
There was also a very simplistic approach to the identification of working groupings within remote communities. It is not as simple as just looking at the linguistic report on what language a particular groups speaks, because anyone who’s lived and worked out bush for a considerable period of time would know that there are much more complex dynamics as to which people would choose to come together in such a combined approach to the handling of their affairs.
There are many reasons why a group might get together. There are many reasons why they may want to stay apart. There are very good examples of where groups speaking the same language do not want to work together; other times where groups speaking different languages do want to work together. There is a whole history of, for example, in the pastoral industry with the missions, the actual family relationships and relationships of different groups around the Territory which have defined a whole lot of attitudes one to the other. Whatever is done in each of the four areas I have identified for the development of regional governance, we have to be very patient and undertake consultation extremely thoroughly if we’re going to get a stable grouping that is capable of carrying service delivery agreements over a longer period of time.
Luckily, for the sake of the success of this enterprise - which is a great enterprise - when the member for Arnhem made his keynote statement on indigenous affairs in the last sittings, we all put forward just how big a challenge our government is taking in confronting these dysfunctions head on. We can hedge round the current situation out there all we like. It might be politically unpalatable at times to go in and say exactly and honestly what is going wrong with the current arrangements. We are not going to do that. The member for Arnhem’s speech in the last sittings made it very clear as to how we are going to approach this: we are going to be very honest with indigenous groups around the Territory; we are going to be honest about their current activities, attitudes towards government and government service delivery, and to each other; and we are going to be honest with ourselves about how defective or otherwise the areas for which we have responsibility are being carried to the interests of those people.
The starting point for these new developments is always going to be local initiatives that either exist or have been contemplated by one group or another around the Territory. One of the main areas of encouragement is that even though, as the minister for Health pointed out, there are ongoing and extraordinarily serious areas of dysfunction and ill health around the Territory’s indigenous population, there are some glowing examples of where groups have got together and said: ‘We have to take the responsibility for this for ourselves; we have to try and take an initiative. We can ask the government to help us but it is not for us to sit here and say the government has to do everything’.
I will give a few examples, some of which were referred to in the minister’s statement, and on which I will elaborate a little further. In terms of renal health areas, the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal, of which I was an active member, continues to provide a very encouraging example of where communities and families who have really decided that there is such a critical situation existing themselves have to go off and start to see what they can do to contribute to a solution. Those Western Desert communities went to the art market, of which they had a very long-standing and mature relationship, after the fame of Papunya Tula painting, and they formed a partnership with the art market to establish the basis of a renal program in those communities.
The fact that $1m-plus has been put into the development of those programs by private sponsorship must tell us something about the untapped potential of value adding to the things that the Territory government can do through the efforts of the communities themselves, where they have their own network of supporters. I believe that the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal not only deserves strong support from our government, but provides a very useful example of where communities can take the initiative with the support of government.
The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Council store policy is also referred to in the statement. Certainly, going out to one of the AP communities and seeing the attitude of the council and the health services to their stores, shows that you can view a community facility like a store in many different ways - some ways providing a much better service to the people than others. The fact that AP is now starting to look at their store as a vital component in the health delivery strategies is a real step forward conceptually as to how the various facilities in a community may be fitted together.
There is no point in spending huge amounts of money on primary and tertiary health care if we are ignoring the fact that one of the major precursors to all the ill health that is being encountered is the diets of people who are living there. That, in turn, comes directly from the pricing and stocking policy that goes into a remote store. We have to have stores operating where good, healthy food, is not only prominent, but prominently marketed to the community members.
Recently, in a visit by Cabinet to Mutitjulu, we saw the health service there as a community construction project fully done by local labour, has established quite a high-level audio testing facility. Alongside that, a tin shed has been fitted out very innovatively as a physiotherapy centre. This is a perfect example of local decisions that have been made about the need for such specialist services at a regional basis, and can value-add the health delivery that is going on in that area.
The enormous incidence of otitis media around remote communities has been well known for many, many years. One of the hardest things to do, if you are going to take some practical action against it, is to continually test the hearing of particularly young kids involved in school. At any one time, as the minister’s statement points out, there is a high incidence - something like 40% - of kids who will have an active otitis media condition, which is directly affecting their ability to learn in school and discomforting them at some stages of the process, generally, with ear pain and so on.
The audio testing and physiotherapy facilities at Mutitjulu would not only be ones that would make the health services there more effective, but it would also be available as regional facilities, meaning that testing could be done relatively easily from nearby communities, if they bring people into those facilities. Otherwise, the nearest place where that can be done is Alice Springs, and the logistics of getting large numbers of kids up there on a regular basis for testing in Alice Springs are just horrific. That is a very good example of what will happen from the community end once we get into effective working partnerships.
Yet another example is the child nutrition program at Larumba community. I was very pleased to be able to go to Larumba a year or so ago now, to celebrate the achievements of that child nutrition program. That community established a very effective vegetable garden and orchard. They’d linked that directly to the school and to the clinic in terms of nutritional advice for families, and the nutritional or feeding program for the school kids. I must say that in all my years of living out bush, I have never seen a healthier and better presented group of school children than the kids who came along to help us celebrate those achievements on that particular day. It is the sort of thing that you dream about seeing if you are putting a long stint in, working in remote communities and with their affairs, when you see something like this that has tangibly presented so much benefit to those kids. You have to say that that is the way we should be going in general. They’re about very simple things, such as what sort of breakfast and lunch is provided for the kids on a daily basis, and getting fresh food and other produce into the program; preferably grown locally.
The last area I’d like to talk about is the alcohol, drugs and petrol sniffing area. The minister’s statement quite rightly points out the enormous impact that alcohol abuse has on the health profile of these communities just as ignoring the stocking and pricing policy of a store negates a lot of the more critical health care that you might have to provide in a community, and the enormous expense of doing that once problems have become that severe. Similarly, if you ignore the incidence of petrol sniffing, alcohol abuse and, increasingly, the heavy use of drugs such as cannabis in remote communities, then you are ignoring a lot of the antecedents of the health profile that you are actually trying to address. If you do not try to wind the influence of those practices back, then it will simply be a case of treading water backwards. We have seen that over many years now.
It is quite fair, as the statement says, to characterise the current situation with indigenous health in remote communities as in crisis and at a critical level where we could literally fail to redeem the next generation of kids coming into those communities. They may have almost no chance of going through living in that environment and bringing together, for themselves, a viable and successful lifestyle. That would be unconscionable for any responsible government to allow those trends to continue. We have to stand our ground, draw the line, and basically be prepared to work shoulder to shoulder with the community groups that are showing equal concern. That is why we need these partnerships. That is why we have to give an absolutely unqualified commitment to go into partnership with Aboriginal people in these different zones or regions, and work with them to make some impact on this, particularly for the younger people who are coming into the populations of these communities. Otherwise, we are just going to be tolling off the increasing numbers of people who will die at ridiculously and tragically young ages, tolling off the fact that we are going to have people living in the Northern Territory who will know very little good health for part of their life. They will always be impaired by some condition or another. That is not a way to guarantee them any real chance of fulfilling their lives.
I believe this challenge that we have given ourselves across health, education, regional governance and crime prevention is an enormous challenge. As we have said in the previous sittings, we are fully and publicly committing, in front of witnesses, to this work. We are certainly inviting all members of this House to contribute; this is a hard enough job if only the government side is working on it. We all need to be working on it on behalf of our local constituencies. I do not think, from what I have seen of the opposition’s position on this, that we are that far away - certainly not in terms of the feelings we have towards this problem - and I do not think we are even that far away in the broader approaches that we are commending to this House. I hope we can work together, and let’s make a difference.
Mr AH KIT (Community Development): Madam Speaker, this, more than anything else, is an issue on which there should be support from all sides of this Chamber. For that reason, I am sure all of us would congratulate the Minister for Health and Community Services on today’s statement.
The blunt reality of the ill health of our indigenous citizens here in the Northern Territory is the reality of the early grave. Our people are dying in numbers too great, at ages too early, for reasons that should be preventable. In a statement I made in this place in March, I warned against pessimism. I said then: we must not allow the scale of the problems in indigenous affairs to lead us to become numb to reality or blind to the needs which must be met if we are to regard ourselves as living in a civilised society. We must act.
I would like to tell a story of action from my own seat of Arnhem. It is a part of the growing story of indigenous Territorians taking control of their own health destiny. At the beginning of 1999, along with too many others in a region where the third world disease still occurs with depressing regularity, the Executive Director of the Jawoyn Association, Robert Lee, contracted tuberculosis. It was touch and go for a while, and he was over two months in hospital, often running the affairs of the association from the verandah at Katherine Hospital.
While Robert was there, he learnt the full truth: that his brother, Bangardi, had died of complications of TB a decade earlier. Robert had succeeded his brother in responsibilities within the Jawoyn nation, somewhat reluctantly. He didn’t want the burden and strains of leadership, but the old people had told him that it was something that he had to do. Now, Robert was being touched by the same disease that had killed his brother, Bangardi. Robert noticed other things: he saw so many of his countrymen and women coming in and out of hospital, some on their third and fourth admission inside weeks. They were leaving with little, if any, idea what was really wrong with them; what direction their post-hospital treatment should take; or what they might do to improve their health. He realised that his own illness with TB was just a symptom of something he had not thought deeply enough about; his people were sick. They were born sick to mothers whose health wasn’t even par to the health of the third world. These sick kids could not learn at school through deafness, hunger and disease. They gave way in their teens to young men and women whose lack of education, combined with high rates of substance abuse, did not allow for a chance for decent training and jobs. This, in turn, led to his people dying from diseases and conditions barely known in the cities he had visited elsewhere in Australia, at ages 10, 20 and 30 years younger.
However, Robert Lee and the Jawoyn people he represents have not succumbed to pessimism. Since that time three years ago, although they were not a health organisation, the Jawoyn Association has taken on aged care packages, formalising and getting government support for the considerable outlays they undertake every year looking after their old people. Starting from a meeting in March 1999, the association developed links with the Fred Hollows Foundation. Sharing the same vision of the urgent need for indigenous health advancement, Jawoyn and Hollows, just three weeks ago, celebrated the second anniversary of a memorandum of understanding between the two organisations, which has led to the establishment of a major child and mothers nutrition program at Wugularr and Barunga.
At Wugularr in particular, the kids’ feeding program run by women in the community along with a full time nutritionist, Sue Wellings, has led to increased school attendance and significantly lower rates of anaemia among the kids. Madam Speaker, as you would know from your previous employment, anaemia is closely related to retarded brain development in little children. You can see how important this is. On 1 May this year, the Hollows Foundation backed women’s centre was opened at Barunga. I am sure all members of this Chamber would congratulate the foundation in continuing the legacy and work of the late great Fred Hollows in their current endeavours in partnership with the Jawoyn.
In August 1999, the Annual General Meeting of the Jawoyn Association recognised the growing crisis in the health of its membership. It passed a unanimous resolution calling on its executive to move towards the establishment of an Aboriginal-controlled health service in the region east of Katherine. For two-and-a-half years, the Jawoyn Association worked on researching and designing a new health service, through the mechanism of the coordinated care trials outlined by my colleague, the Minister for Health and Community Services. I am told that it involved many hundreds of hours of work. I am also told that the former minister for Health, the member for Drysdale, supported that work for which all of us here are grateful.
The staff of Katherine West supplied great assistance to the development of the coordinated care trial for the Katherine East region. As the Health minister has pointed out, it is this local experience that has already supplied the evidence in favour of community-controlled health services. Figures supplied by the department have shown that the combined Tiwi and Katherine West Health Boards have contributed to a 12.9% drop in hospital admissions, and a 20.4% reduction in the length of stay for patients. This is an extraordinary success story.
I seek leave to table and have incorporated into Hansard the details of these statistics on the impact of coordinated care trials in the Northern Territory.
Leave granted.
[Editor’s Note: see Appendix A following page 1449]
Mr AH KIT: I have to confess a certain level of jealousy that previous engagements meant I was not able to attend the meeting with Minister Aagaard at Nitmiluk where the federal Health Minister, Senator Kay Patterson, formally announced funding of the Sunrise Health Service for the Katherine East region. Nitmiluk was an appropriate venue as it was the first land won back by the Jawoyn people through the land claim process. It was an equally appropriate venue to announce such a landmark in the enhancement of Aboriginal health for the region’s 3800 indigenous and non-indigenous people. Over 12 language groups, including English, I should add, will benefit.
Why the name Sunrise Health Service, you might ask. For once, ‘Sunrise’ in this context doesn’t refer to gas fields in the Timor Sea. The name ‘Sunrise’ refers to a custom of the region to describe those living east of the Stuart Highway as ‘Sunrise’ or ‘Sun come up mob’ and those west of the highway as ‘Sun go down mob’. It is a term that is culturally inclusive. As well as expressing a lot of the hopes that are held for the new health service, it represents, as Robert Lee said the other week, ‘a brand new day for indigenous health of the region’. The Sunrise Health Service will control the coordinated care trial with initial assistance for this new health service under the auspices of the Jawoyn Association. As soon as the Sunrise Health Service board is established and develops capacity, it will take over all functions of the service on behalf of the communities of the region. The region itself covers at least 12 communities across an area of about 75 000 km.
An important feature of the trial will be significantly expanded health services to the non-indigenous population of the region, especially for those on remote pastoral properties and the citizens of the Mataranka region. In the latter case particularly, increased health services will be a boost to the tourist industry, for both workers in the industry as well as visitors. The key features of the trial, which will last three years, are:
Resources for the Sunrise Health Service are to be supplied by means of a funding pool. The pool combines a current primary health care effort at local and regional levels, of the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services with that of the Commonwealth contribution of a per capita calculation based on the Australian average usage of medical and pharmaceutical benefits.
The Commonwealth funds are effectively new dollars to indigenous and remote area health in the Northern Territory, and will be worth $4.8m to $7.8m over the three year period of the trial. In addition, there will be $3.4m of Commonwealth funds available as establishment costs. Current Northern Territory primary health care effort in the region is estimated to be $2m per annum. Thus, the entire service will be managing somewhere between $14m and $20m over the course of the trial. $8.2m to $11.2m will be new money to indigenous and remote area health in the Northern Territory.
As Robert Lee said: ‘Jawoyn has only facilitated this process. Now the Aboriginal people of the region will be able to take on the big tasks ahead and there is a lot to do’. There will be a lot for the Martin Labor government to do in support of the Sunrise Health Service.
Madam Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement on our government’s commitment to Aboriginal-controlled comprehensive primary health care organisations, of which Sunrise is the newest on the horizon.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I also rise to make a few brief comments in relation to Aboriginal health. I cannot recall the number of times that we have come into this Chamber and discussed issues of Aboriginal health. Certainly, even since the new government has been in place, it has been discussed repeatedly. So often one hears the litany of pain and damage that is suffered by Aboriginal people, both in remote communities and here in urban centres. Being a member for a very large bush electorate myself, one cannot help notice that health outcomes for Aboriginal people are very poor, to say the least.
In recent times, I have also stood in this House when the debate was predominantly about violence against Aboriginal women - another tragedy that is played out so often in our community. I made some comments in relation to why the systems were failing, and why I feel that the past government of the Northern Territory has not been able to succeed, and perhaps one of the reasons why I think the current government is going to run into the same problem. It is not because of political flavour, or because the CLP was all evil and did not want to do anything about it. I believe - in fact, I know - the CLP genuinely wanted better outcomes for Aboriginal health, as I do believe the ALP does. No problem with that. I think there is barely a Territorian who would draw breath who would be at odds with that particular point of view.
The question is not us and them; the question is: what are we actually going to do? The minister has come into this House with a program, a new structure on how to deal with issues surrounding Aboriginal health. If she succeeds, good luck to the ALP. Once again, for the same reasons that governments have been failing to succeed across the board in terms of Aboriginal health, the new ALP government will find itself in exactly the same position.
Basically, the issue comes down to what I have learned, gleaned and seen in not only my own electorate, but throughout the rest of the Northern Territory. I hark back to a time when, in the Northern Territory before the establishment of ATSIC - and even before the time of other government Aboriginal departments or inter-government departments - there was a place where other organisations picked up the issues of Aboriginal health or Aboriginal management. In my own electorate, Hermannsburg is a classic example where a community was run by a non-government organisation, as they’d be termed nowadays, the Lutheran Church, dating back to the late 1800s. Aboriginal people were drawn to the Hermannsburg area for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that there was a concerted push from another Aboriginal group for these people to be in the care and protection, if you like, of the Lutheran Church.
The point I am trying to make is that even way back then, Aboriginal people were employed gainfully in their own existence and their own health. So much so, that they had a tannery and a carpentry shop built there, they grew their own vegetables, and they still engaged in the traditional activity of hunting. The Hermannsburg community essentially provided for itself with very small grants flowing from both the church and government coffers. I find it curious that the health outcomes of today, with millions upon millions of dollars having been spent on those outcomes, are not really achieving anything better for the Aboriginal people who live in those sorts of communities.
The Hermannsburg example can be repeated across any number of communities in the Northern Territory. The reason that is a problem is because we are getting different government departments doing different things at different levels of government. We have a government department here, through the Minister for Health and Community Services, which is working quite hard - spending, doubtlessly, lots and lots of money more than the former CLP government did - on trying to create programs and finding different solutions to the Aboriginal health problem. One of the major problems that has been going on for decades is there is another level of government, in this case the federal government - and I am not having a go at a Liberal or a Labor government - with a welfare mentality.
What you have is the federal government pouring in umpteen millions of dollars into Aboriginal communities which is totally non-accountable. It goes to individual people who then expend it as they see fit. That income is disposed of quite regularly in the fashion that it is meant to; it is supposed to support people and support families. Unfortunately, all too often, that income is also disposed of in very destructive manner. We talked about ganja, alcohol abuse and petrol sniffing in this House, and a lot of those funds go to that. If you wanted to see an example of those funds at work, go down the mall in Alice Springs on pay day and see the number of people who go straight from the bank to the local liquor outlet so they can go down the river and get on the turps - and then you get all of those dreadful health outcomes. Because these folk aren’t really into looking after themselves, what’s their diet? Well, their diet is high fat foods, no fibre, no real vitamins and minerals, so their defences drop down and the effects of the alcohol makes it even worse. We have talked about this ad nauseum in this House as well. I confess that I get a little frustrated with it because we have one tier of government doing one thing, another tier of government doing something else entirely. You have a lot of money being poured into communities from different directions, with different outcomes attached to them. I find that is a very, very destructive process.
Welfare, in its current state, is killing many Aboriginal people, and I am not the only person who is saying this; I am not the only voice in the wilderness. Indeed, I believe - in fact, I know - the Minister for Community Development has stood up and effectively said the same things: Aboriginal people have to be responsible for their own actions. If the comments by Mr Noel Pearson, who is an advisor to the Cape York Land Council, has any reputation in relation to this matter, he is extremely critical of the way that the welfare system and alcohol are killing Aboriginal people. I agree with him; they are killing Aboriginal people. I do not think that there is way you can beat around the bush on that issue. I only had to walk through the park this morning to see people who are basically destroying themselves by being engaged in destructive behaviour. That is evidenced by the fact they seem to have no way out of the corner that they have been painted into.
When the great social change of the late 1960s and early 1970s came along, I have often looked at it and wondered if a lot of babies were thrown out with the bath water when the great social readjustment, if you like - the moving in of the welfare agencies into these communities, the other issue of equal pay for Aboriginal workers on cattle stations, which ultimately meant that they ended up unemployed and living in these communities - wasn’t a very, very destructive process.
I am at the stage where my frustration leads me to try and find conclusions which are different from the mantra of: ‘Well, if we just do this everything else will be better. If we just tweak around the edges everything will be better’. The changes that have to be made are structural and profound. They have to be so profound and structural that they have to go right across the raft of government and non-government services. There has to be a general agreement as to what the yardstick is - not where outcomes are concerned, but what your inputs are going to be. What are you going to achieve?
I think that the traditional people, as I know them - and I have experienced them in my own electorate - often think about the good old days when they used to work for a living. Despite the fact that they were treated badly or weren’t paid particularly well for their efforts, there still seemed to be an innate dignity to the idea of work. I have said, on repeated occasions in this House, that I support that idea of dignity. I believe that there is a certain element of virtue in labour. To that end, I think that this government in this House should be lobbying the federal government and saying: ‘Let’s find ways in which that welfare dollar can be made more productive’. Frankly, there is no gentle way to hedge around this topic. At the end of the day, programs like CDEP and Work For the Dole should, throughout the whole Northern Territory, be programs that are compulsory.
There is a dignity that flows from work, which is simply not found in welfare recipients; there is no other way to express it. I hope to see a day when government programs are directed and targeted at making people productive in every sense of the word: health programs to make people productive; education programs to make people productive; the return of land to traditional people with an eye of making those people productive - not for my sake, but for their own. I would be well pleased if the minister could today stand up in this Chamber and say: ‘Yes, we are going to approach the federal government and ask them to change the way that they provide welfare into the Northern Territory, so that we can get more productive outcomes’.
There will be exceptions to this idea. The old and the infirm, certainly, should not be subject to these sorts of rules. But, at the end of the day, I see so many healthy people sitting around idle and destroying themselves and their families in the process, I think it is time that drastic action be taken. If drastic action needs to be taken in the area of welfare reform so that better outcomes can be achieved in a shorter period of time, then so be it.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I’ll openly admit that I am not an expert or a health professional, but speak from life experience. Throughout my life and work experience, in a short period, I have seen a change in urban youth and their likelihood of achieving healthy lifestyles.
I have grown up in the Territory with my eyes open; I have participated in everyday activities that youth in the Northern Territory have enjoyed. I have been educated through Rapid Creek Primary School, Nightcliff High School and the Northern Territory University where I gained a law degree. I have also mixed and mingled with the youth of the Territory through sport, whether it be Australian Rules football, basketball, touch rugby or rugby league. I have also participated in the night life of the Northern Territory. Over the years, Darby’s Nightclub, The Joint, 1990s the Vic, Dix, the Time, Beachcombers, Hippy Club, Kitty O’Shea’s, Rorke’s Drift, Shenannigans, and the newly developed Lost Ark and Discovery Nightclubs. On my trips to Katherine, Kirby’s and, of course, in Alice Springs, Bojangles.
Mr Mills: The Voodoo Lounge in Palmerston?
Mr BONSON: And the Voodoo Lounge in Palmerston, and the Hub. Over the years, it has become quite clear that the culture …
Ms Lawrie: Expensive research.
Mr BONSON: Yes, of course. Over the years it has become quite clear that the culture of youth has changed. Youth in the Territory, though unique in cultural diversity, has suffered from problems other jurisdictions currently face. I believe that the problems facing indigenous youth also face non-indigenous youth. However, it has become accepted by all that, for many reasons, these problems are magnified for indigenous people.
The minister should be commended for her clear statement:
… there is something else we need to put a name to, and that is the dysfunction caused by widespread
alcohol and substance abuse, family breakdowns, neglect of children, youth suicide, violence and sexual
abuse of women and children.
These are problems that non-health professionals like myself can easily identify with. I have seen friends and family affected by all of these issues.
The minister and the member for Barkly have outlined the story of indigenous health that could be seen as a horror movie. In conversations with the member for Barkly, a man I have great respect for, he stated that the aim for any government is to achieve community accepted standards for health. Twenty-six percent of the population happens to be of indigenous descent. The indigenous people as a whole have, in the past, been denied community accepted standards. Any government should be asked: would the health services provided to indigenous communities be accepted by the rest of the country? The answer is simple: no.
How do we achieve community accepted standards? This statement is critical because it states how differently this government treats the community-controlled health sector, as opposed to the previous government. Under the CLP, negotiations with community-controlled health organisations were like the negotiations held with the land councils, ATSIC, for native title issues in general. They dragged the chain of a reluctant party. It seemed like political games were being played with people. I am proud that the minister, with the assistance of the health professionals in our government - the members for Barkly, Johnston and Arafura - have taken up leadership roles. Leadership is a quality few people ever have the opportunity to show but, as members of parliament, the community has put us in the position to show real leadership.
As the minister has said today, strong partnerships between government and indigenous communities are crucial to the health reform agenda, as well as greater coordination between essential services such as health, education, infrastructure and housing. The minister has also recognised the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum. The forum is made up of the Northern Territory government, ATSIC, the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance of the NT, and the Commonwealth. What an important role they will play in the new partnerships.
This Labor government has provided an additional $25m to $35m in funding for remote health services. To me, it seems common sense to provide extra funds for the reason that, at present, a portion of the Northern Territory population is not operating effectively within the Northern Territory. If you are the owner of a business, or coaching a sporting team, and 25% of your players are not performing, your team or business would suffer. At present, a large percentage of Northern Territory indigenous and non-indigenous people are not performing due to poor health. It is up to us to show the leadership to deal with the problem. It is up to us to give indigenous people an opportunity to perform, not like the last CLP government, that hid from the real issues. I have been reliably informed by the member for Arafura that, in her experience, the CLP dealt with health issues in a hostile manner.
I am proud to say that the minister has recognised that many indigenous and non-indigenous leaders are now saying alcohol lies at the heart of the problem. In her words:
… alcohol abuse means violence, murder, sexual abuse, wrecked houses, no money for good food,
and sleepless, hungry children.
The support the minister has offered to the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community is fantastic. I fully support the minister’s pledge to tackle head-on needs, to act in the interest of babies, children and people of the next generation. I thank you on behalf of all the local families for committing to running school breakfast programs and directing the child health terms to address the precursors of disease in early childhood. This is a simple concept that, unfortunately, the member for Drysdale, the former CLP Health minister, felt it necessary to criticise. This simply shows the CLP’s past meanness in regards to this issue.
As a young Territorian, I feel ashamed that indigenous health is currently suffering to this extent. However, I am not so ashamed as to pretend it does not exist. I am proud that this government has taken steps to implement a new phase on indigenous health.
I would like to address some of the issues that the member for Macdonnell spoke about in his commentary on debates in the past in the Northern Territory. The view he expressed sounded to me like it was a very tired one - a tired view of ‘our hands are up in the air, the problem’s too big, no one is going to solve it whether you are Labor, Liberal, Democrats, etcetera and maybe you should be giving up’. All I can say to that is that we have an opportunity with a new group of people with new ideas. I think everyone, including indigenous people in remote areas - of course, the whole of the Northern Territory - should be given the opportunity to take that up. I look forward to the next three years with the Health minister, the honourable member for Nightcliff, and I sincerely hope that we are very successful.
I would finally like to briefly recognise the following people’s commitment to improving indigenous health. In September 1991, Danila Dilba Health Service opened its door as Darwin’s Aboriginal Controlled Health Service. It had been a long time in coming, despite evidence from other parts of the Territory and the nation of the efficiency of such organisations. Danila Dilba is named after the Larrakia term for the medical dilly bags used for bush medicine. It is a reflection of the roots Aboriginal people have in Darwin, and for the respect they have shown for the traditional owners of the city.
Another indication of that sense of respect was shown last year when its administration building was named after Vai Stanton, a Kungarankayn woman, a person who knows my family quite well, who has great standing with Aboriginal families of Darwin and the Northern Territory. It was established, in part at the instigation and inspiration of the late Sally Ross, one of the Territory’s best known Aboriginal health workers. She helped establish Wurli - and I must apologise; I cannot really say my Ls - in Katherine, and also established Congress in Tennant Creek to which she would return when it was experiencing difficulties later in the 1990s. It was Sally who did so much, but she would also acknowledge that it would not have been possible without the strong support of locals, from the very early community meetings at Bagot in my electorate, to its final successful establishment in the CBD of Darwin.
While it is perhaps dangerous to single out individuals, it is worth mentioning Barbara Cummings, Danila Dilba’s first patient and founding committee member. Then there is Maxine Hill, the first receptionist; Suttie Ah Mat, founding member and longest serving Chairperson; early lobbyists Peg Havenen and May Katona; and Josephine Brinjen, Danila Dilba’s first Aboriginal health worker. The list could go on.
What Danila Dilba achieved in those early days was incredible, given the scant resources allocated to the health of indigenous people in Darwin at the time. From its small beginnings in McLaughlin Street, it now has well established men’s and women’s clinical practices, as well as a mobile service. In addition, its emotional and social wellbeing centre provides great support, especially to people from the Stolen Generations.
Madam Speaker, finally, I would like to thank the minister for her more than overdue and welcome statement.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would also like to speak about the ministerial statement, The New Face of Indigenous Health. I thank the minister for her statement and hope that more statements like this come to parliament, especially those which update this House on the failures and successes being achieved in this most important area. The minister is right when she says indigenous people deserve more than rhetoric or artfully worded statements of intent. I suppose you could apply this same principle to education as well. I certainly hope that, from this report, we do get real results and not just rhetoric.
Time does not allow me to comment on everything in the report. It would probably take a genius to speak on everything that could be commented upon when it comes to the issue of indigenous health.
I feel the statement is perhaps lacking in some aspects. The statement does deal with local knowledge and control and I could not agree more. As one who has, for years, wanted local control over planning, I know how important that aspect is for successful outcomes. I pick up on one point, where there is mention of AMSANT - which is the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory - the Northern Territory Health Forum and the Primary Health Care Access Program. There is talk about 21 zones over the Territory and a series of community-controlled boards. I thought perhaps it might be of benefit, Minister, for the House to be given a diagrammatical representation of how these boards, bodies and programs fit into the big picture. One sometimes looks as the number of organisations involved and wonders if the complexity of the system can stifle the objectives we are trying to achieve.
Whilst local control is important, individual responsibility is a key to improvements in health, and this does not appear to be mentioned in the statement. The government definitely has a role in providing sufficient health resources, but it is up to individuals to avail themselves of these services and to help themselves. I can only reinforce this when I look at the recent passing of my wife’s two brothers, one older and one younger. Both suffered from diabetes, and although active when younger, became sedentary. I know one brother stopped taking his medicine, the medicine that would have helped him live a longer life. I do not say any of this to be derogatory to my brothers-in-law - I discussed this with my wife before I raised the matter today. They needed to take control of their lifestyle: weight control, less sugar and fatty foods, reduction of alcohol, exercise. Sadly, this did not happen. For these two men to die in their 40s and 50s is tragic. They did not have poor housing, water and sewerage; they lived at Daly River. The sad thing is they just did not look after themselves. I believe that sometimes not enough emphasis is placed on individual responsibility.
Again, the statement refers to an election commitment of maintaining the school breakfast program. Whilst there is a problem with children turning up for school with empty stomachs, we have to find a balance between the welfare of the child and the responsibility of parents or a parent in providing a breakfast for their own children. Once again, for years my wife provided a breakfast service for many Aboriginal children at Sacred Heart School at Palmerston. Whilst it is not a rural school, the same problems that are found in rural schools still occurred. I ran a small poultry farm, so breakfast at Sacred Heart for these Aboriginal students was made of egg sandwiches which my wife prepared every morning. One of the problems with this program is the danger of reliance on such a program, instead of an emphasis on the role and individual responsibility of the parent. In some schools, I suppose, there could be the problem of unforeseen discrimination, in that you will get non-indigenous children turning up at a school who had breakfast, where others roll up and get breakfast at school. The intention, of course, is not to have that but sometimes that is what happens.
I am pleased that the minister has mentioned the diet problems: heavily sugared drinks, lollies and fatty foods. Diet and diet problems are not just an issue for indigenous people, but also non-indigenous people. It is sad that the traditional food sources which did not have the side effect of manufactured foods are not resourced as well as they should be. I remember my friend, John O’Sullivan, used to pick up Aboriginal long grassers or itinerants in Darwin on the weekends in his own vehicle and later, in a vehicle provided by the government. He took them to the mangroves around the Middle Arm Peninsula - one good reason for saving them - where they could go hunting for crabs, long bums, mangrove worms and fish. They were at least able to have an opportunity to access some good food even though they had a much poorer diet for the rest of the week.
Diet also means the production of food sources on communities. Having spent much of my time on communities involved in market gardening and poultry production, I know that there have been many attempts to have permanent supplies of food grown in local communities. I have seen many attempts to do this fail, start up and fail again. I think most people who have lived in the Northern Territory could recount plenty of stories about failures and successes, and more failures.
I do not believe that such ventures will succeed until Aboriginal people are educated in the horticultural or agricultural sciences. I know there are communities that are training their people and running successful gardens. I do believe if you want long-term, reliable, consistent food production projects, then you need Aboriginal agricultural or horticultural science graduates. It is good that Aboriginal people are being trained in horticultural skills, but there needs to be opportunities for Aboriginal people to advance in these areas. These areas can be not just horticulture, but animal production as well. Perhaps we should even be looking at developing indigenous foods - on a broad scale - like the billy goat plum, yams, and even wallabies. That may sound a bit strange, but there have certainly been a number of studies done about the effects of cattle and sheep on desert lands, and a possible move to harvesting some of our wallabies and kangaroos.
The minister also mentions alcohol, and there is no doubt that alcohol is one of our biggest problems. It is a major contributor to individual health, but is also a problem where those people who depend on money for food find that it is being used for the purchase of alcohol. I do not think there needs to be any more said on that today.
One area that perhaps is not a health problem in itself but causes health problems indirectly, is excessive gambling. There is no doubt that playing cards is a form of recreation for many Aboriginal people but, where it means a child is being neglected because a parent is spending too much time playing cards or money meant for food and clothing is disappearing due to gambling, then it is a real issue. Diarrhoea, ears full of puss, runny noses, hunger, absence from school, no breakfast because someone is too tied up playing cards: how do you fix it? Individual responsibility.
I should also comment on the statement of how Aboriginal people and health workers have tolerated an ‘awful, awful system’. I do not believe this is always a fair statement. Whilst it may be, or has been the case in some communities, it certainly is not in all. The clinics at Daly River and Bathurst Island were first class. They were run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and, I believe, run very well. Two of my daughters were born at the Nguiu Hospital. The health clinic at Daly River was always spotless and provided good quality health care for both indigenous and non-indigenous residents. Maybe not perfect by today’s standards, but certainly not awful.
I would also like to mention an important scheme which I recently raised with the Health minister on behalf of the Litchfield Palmerston Rotary Club. I seek leave, Madam Speaker, to table the document.
Leave granted.
Mr WOOD: South Australian Rotary raises money for indigenous students wanting to study medicine. The South Australian government matches the money raised by clubs, and scholarships are provided for the successful applicants. The graduates are then bonded to work in an indigenous community in South Australia for a set period. This scheme is now opening up opportunities for indigenous people to take up medicine and work in their own communities. I believe the Territory government should look at the scheme for the NT which, if successful, would certainly put a new face to indigenous health.
My last point is an issue that may or may not be a problem. I know that the focus is on Aboriginal health issues, but I hope that we do not get to a situation where access to health clinics is based on whether it is one group of people or another. I know Aboriginal people are sometimes more comfortable going to their own health clinics, but I would hope that the health system does not entrench a system that separates health on the basis of race. In the short term, there may be advantages; in the long term, proper health care should be for all, and race should not be an issue.
The minister’s statement is a worthwhile one. I have added a number of comments not to be negative but to be constructive, because I know that we all want all citizens of the Northern Territory, especially Aboriginal Territorians, to enjoy good health and long, productive lives. When you listen to the issues the minister mentioned, you know that will not be easy, but that is the challenge. I believe there should be two objectives: one is to provide good health services and the other is to educate people in their individual responsibility for their own health.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in support of the statement. I agree with the minister that, generally, Aboriginal health is appalling; the statistics, of course, show that. Whether it be acute health problems such as those caused by traumatic injuries, or chronic health problems such as renal and cardiac disease, the health of Aboriginal people here in the Northern Territory - and I would argue, through most remote areas of Australia - is in a very poor state.
I would just like to draw your attention to - I know you cannot see it but I will table a copy of it for the record – a photograph of some Aboriginal men in the Borroloola area taken approximately 100 years ago. Nowhere in this country, amongst black or white, would you find specimens - and I use that term very reservedly - of masculine physical health better than that. Not even a football club in Victoria could have better looking men than these men 100 years ago. I believe this is a testament to the way that health, for many of us, has deteriorated over the last 100 years, and for Aboriginal people in particular. I seek leave to table a photocopy of page 119 of the Aboriginal Photographs of Baldwin Spencer, published by Viking O’Neil in 1987.
Leave granted.
Ms CARTER: We have seen over the past 100 years a sorry deterioration of health, in Aboriginal people in particular, caused often by lifestyle diseases. The minister’s statement, which supports the concept of primary health care, moves in a very positive direction. To my mind that is certainly the way to go. At the moment, we have a very strong concentration on the tertiary level of health care which is hospitals, whereas primary health care goes right back to the roots and the causes of problems, and deals with problems at a community level with community involvement. For many people, by the time they get to a hospital situation, it is too late. The heart or renal disease has already set in and, as I say, for many it is too late.
Community control is the key issue of primary health care, and to move towards the control going to Aboriginal people is certainly to be applauded. It is not going to be an easy process. However, it is one that we have been working towards in the Northern Territory for quite some time. In my experience in the Katherine area in the early 1990s, primary health care was definitely a buzz word, something that we were discussing, having education sessions on, and gaining a better understanding of what it meant. I believe the minister’s statement today is a continuation of this process; that people are now understanding the concept of primary health care, and we are seeing a very strong effort to implement primary health care in a very real and concrete manner.
One of the comments the minister made was with regards to the Medicare benefits system. It has been long awaited that Medicare benefits are able to be accessed by the people living in remote areas. The lack of a Medicare system in remote communities has meant that the Northern Territory government has had to pay millions of dollars more to provide a service which, normally, if you were in an urban setting, you would go to your doctor, GP or whomever it might be for a service, and be able to pay for it and claim it on Medicare. To be able to do that in remote communities - to gain federal funding through the Medicare process directly - is going to be of real benefit to the remote communities and the health services that are developed in order to deliver services out there.
However, as I say, Aboriginal control of the primary health care system is a key factor, but achieving it is not going to be easy. To do it comprehensively across the districts that are going to be chosen is going to require the development and utilisation of appropriate skills. Obviously, those skills at a community development level will be skills such as communication and community development: how to get the community behind you, how to get the community involved and how to make sure - one of the key problems with community development activities is that, if you are lucky, you will often have one or two key movers and they have to carry the bulk of the work. I have had experience with this in the urban setting. If either of them falls by the wayside, then a lot of the system falls down. There will need to be significant support for the people in the community who are going to be involved with this process.
On a more basic level, though, people working on the communities - for example the Aboriginal health workers - are going to have to develop and maintain skills in various areas. I worked for a short period of time at the Batchelor College training Aboriginal health workers. One of the concerns that I had there was the generally low literacy and numeracy level of the students. This has been picked up in the Collins report - and I am speaking of the early 1990s. It is a very concerning issue that Aboriginal people must have the basic literacy and numeracy skills in order to be able to deliver the services that they will be delivering. Whether it as a health worker, a nurse, a doctor, or as the manager of a community clinic, those skills are going to be essential.
The development of skills comes back to this key concern that we have here: education of people on remote communities. From the Collins report Learning Lessons, we know very well that attendance at school is a primary issue in order to be able to gain the education that delivers literacy and numeracy skills. However, these skills are vital and will enable the people to contribute to the economy or the health management in their community, as Aboriginal health workers with the basic skills. There is a real need for education to improve in the communities.
When we’re talking about Aboriginal health, we need not only education, but basic environmental support. I know that successive governments have been working towards this over the years, and I am sure the current government will be doing the same. Support is needed with things such as roads. Dusty, over-used roads in a community create huge problems with air pollution, causing eye and breathing problems, particularly for young children. Other problems revolve around water and sewerage provision. Of course, we are well familiar with the over-crowding that occurs in houses on some communities. These are all huge issues. Governments across Australia have been working on them and trying to tackle them for decades, often with limited success. I wish this government well in their work towards dealing with these problems. I believe that primary health care and community development are good ways of going about trying to tackle these problems.
When we talk about Aboriginal health, many of the problems that are raised - as I said before and in other circumstances - are lifestyle diseases such as cardiac disease often caused by smoking and obesity; respiratory diseases caused by smoking; and various other problems. I’d exclude renal disease as one of the causes of that is often an environmental health problem. However, lifestyle diseases are a very serious concern on communities. In order to change that situation, there is going to have to be significant personal desire by the people participating in certain activities, or in young people contemplating participation in those activities. It will not be easy to do that. There will be a need for people to change their behaviour; there will be a need for the community to decide that that is where they’re going to put an effort into helping people change those behaviours. What we need to do is make the behaviour that we want people to take - a healthy lifestyle - the easy choice for them to make. Significant changes have to occur there.
There is also, of course, the discipline required in gaining an education. I am sure many of us, as children, would never have gone to school, if we had been given the choice. I would not have. It wasn’t a place where I ever received much positive reinforcement, not being great at academic studies. I can understand why many young kids would not want to go to school. However, that is where parents and other seniors in the community come in; to insist that children must attend school. That discipline will need to happen.
As I have said, changing lifestyle behaviours can be difficult, and it is driven by individual desire. I worked for a period of time in the Quit Smoking area and learnt from that that nobody can change another person’s desire to smoke, only they themselves. No amount of begging from the family or pressure from the media or doctors can change your desire to give up something that is either enjoyable or prevents cravings, a consequence that you do not like. It would be very difficult for people to give up on some of the things that they desire such as their diet, alcohol consumption, drugs and smoking.
But the community can achieve things, and this is where community development and primary health care can come to the fore. For example, the community shop can be directed not to sell certain goods, and subsidised to promote products such as fresh fruit and vegetables which are good things to eat. With alcohol, they could restrict the trading hours in the clubs so that people still have a choice to enjoy the social activities that having a drink gives, and through that they also can learn or practice responsible drinking activities, without actually taking away from them what many of us see as a right - the right to be able to go and have a drink with your friends.
Another thing is the need for recreation. I believe that the key focus of all these policies must be on young people. Obviously, very young five and six-year-olds going into school are important, but so are the upper primary, lower high school kids. This is where the emphasis has to go; this is where I believe you have the strongest chance of success. For young people on communities, the need for recreation is important. Often it is very limited, and I think that there is room there for communities to make decisions to put in various activities that the young people want. Skate parks are a popular example locally; why not on Aboriginal communities?
The main thing that will help the health of Aboriginal people will be their involvement in the economy. This is a key area and it gives children, particularly, a hope for the future when they see that there is a purpose for going to school - with good role models in their community - and that there is a reason for the discipline they might be subjected to in having to go to school: in fact, what they are doing is not living for today, but living for the future. Health is a vital component of that. The process that is all fairly intertwined is that you need to have a good education, you need to be able to participate in the broad economic environment, rather than be constrained to any local activity. You need to be able to have the choice to either work on the community you were born into or to be able to travel outside of it and to participate, wherever in the world you might choose to. Also intertwined with that would be improved health. We know from all sorts of studies and history that, as you improve the health, particularly of women, you will improve the health of children and the community. So, education and health link in all of these things.
Once you have education and health - perhaps even at the same time - there needs to be a desire to exploit what resources are available on a community. Those resources may be the people, and/or they may also include the local environment. For example, a community like Gunbalunya, where my husband was a nurse for quite a few years, is a fabulous physical environment. It has many magnificent water holes a few kilometres from the community area, and there is no doubt that tourists would love the opportunity to access some of those places - and more than just access, to be introduced to them by local Aboriginal people. These are the things that could be exploited quite easily, and give Aboriginal people in those remote areas an opportunity to participate in the economy.
What happens as a result of that, of course - and this is all part of the cycle of good health – is that once you are working and involved - be it in paid employment or voluntary work, whatever that might be - you feel useful and self-esteem rises. Young children then see happy parents, people involved in the community, and they see that for themselves in the future as well. They see that there are rewards for hard work and they want it too. Health, education, economic activity, all link together to improve self-esteem and make people want to get on with things.
The statement that the minister gave certainly implies some very high expectations and, I guess, we are all sharing those today. I believe that evaluation of the programs will be essential. From that evaluation, the department and the people implementing it will be able to gauge the success of various areas, and be able to make timely changes to the way things are being done in order to improve them. The evaluation will also enable a feedback into the community as to how their program is going.
I did notice from the statement that there are no time frames being set in it and, in order to evaluate, we will need some. Perhaps it might be something the minister might comment on when she makes her final comments on this statement. An example of things that do not have a time frame are the comments in the statement about the need to audit community health centres prior to the handover to community control.
In closing, it is a very welcome and ambitious statement. It involves some significant changes, particularly I would note, to the long-term staff - I might cite nurses in particular, but there will be doctors as well and others - who have worked under the current system and will now need to move over into a new system where the management of their work changes to another group. They will naturally feel somewhat anxious about this. They will be worried whether or not one group of people will be making decisions about how they are going to operate; but will then step back if anything goes wrong and blame the nurses and the doctors for the outcomes. That is a group that is going to need support during this process.
Also, of course, I suspect significant funding is needed for the various activities that are going to be part of this. I expect the stakeholders will have expectations that the funding will be very substantial to allow them to introduce the programs that they will see as important. I believe the statement is a step in the right direction; it is moving control from bureaucracies often very distant from communities into the communities, which I believe is going to increase the chances of behavioural changes at the community level. Also, local people living in the area are going to see this as a very welcome process and something for them to be involved in and excited about.
As I said before, I hope that in her response, the minister will be able to give us some time frames as to when audits might be completed and when handovers of control to various agencies is expected. I would like to wish the minister and her staff well; all the best for this strategy that you are introducing. I support the statement.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, I welcome and commend the Minister for Health and Community Services for her comprehensive statement on indigenous health. In particular, I welcome her pledge to support the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community, of which I am the Chair, and to work seriously to achieve outcomes for our work. She has highlighted issues relating to the abuse of alcohol and sniffing of petrol. The select committee has already, in fact, chosen these areas as the primary focus of our inquiries.
At the last sittings, the member for Arnhem delivered a ministerial statement that did not pull punches, in relation to acknowledging the extent of dysfunction in Aboriginal communities in the Territory. Certainly, other members before me have highlighted that as well, in the same spirit of telling it like it is and not pussy-footing around the hard issues within Health that need to be confronted in order for us to move forward. The truth is that within Aboriginal communities there is often a struggle that is played out between indigenous people themselves. On the one hand, there are those in the community with vision and concern for the future of their children and, on the other, the forces within the community that seek to defend and even further entrench the position of licensed clubs and drinking permit regimes.
This phenomena is not unique to the Territory and has, most recently, been the subject of intense debate and attention in Queensland. It is a problem that Aboriginal people in communities need to take direct responsibility for. I make no secret of my desire to do everything I can to support and encourage the efforts of those community members who are fighting to prevent and minimise the poisonous affect that alcohol has had, and continues to have, in our communities. I have seen with my own eyes the damage that has been caused to innocent women and children from the minimally controlled and regulated distribution of alcohol. It is no surprise that grog-fuelled abandonment of parental responsibility is the primary cause of the increase in cannabis usage, truancy and suicide amongst our children and teenagers. If we are going to get tough on drugs like cannabis, we need to move just as comprehensively and effectively to get tough on alcohol.
Often on communities, decision-making is concentrated in the hands of few, but where the majority of community members - many of whom in the past have been reluctant to voice their views - want to have a total prohibition on alcohol enforced, they need to be supported. In ascertaining the views of Aboriginal communities, the views of the politically weak or less influential need to be taken into account.
With regard to petrol sniffing, the dilemma is not so much one of a difference of opinion between factions within Aboriginal communities but, rather, a universal despair in relation to the extent and severity of the scourge that they face. Just as our zero tolerance approach to the distribution of cannabis and other drugs is to be married - sympathetic initiatives calculated to rehabilitate those who are addicted or habituated to such drugs - there is a need to develop a multifaceted strategy in relation to petrol sniffing. This strategy should combine denying access to the ingredient for abuse with the allocation of sufficient resources to effectively address the treatment and rehabilitation of our young people at risk. Once again, where dysfunctional communities suffer from both petrol sniffing and the range of other social problems that come with alcohol abuse, we need to be looking into ways that the root cause of alcohol consumption and distribution can be fundamentally addressed.
It is clear that the strategies of the past only marginally recognised and included indigenous communities as owners of, and participants in, the health service delivery process. It is hardly surprising that there was a failure to improve the health of the indigenous population. We hear - and statistics and numbers are constantly quoted and thrown about – that research project after research project clearly shows, instead of showing improvements, indigenous health is still a long way from the better health outcomes enjoyed by non-indigenous people.
Historically, health business has been predominantly confined within the local clinic. Tackling the social conditions which underlie poor health has, therefore, been generally beyond the capacity of clinics to respond to - clinics that in the main have been chronically under-resourced and have not been seen as an integral part of the community; and where staff morale has been perpetually low. The rolling out of PHCAP has the potential to significantly reorient service delivery so that clinics become more functionally attuned and responsive to the needs of the community.
In apportioning credit for the commitment of PHCAP to the Northern Territory, I too wish to acknowledge the role of AMSANT in its endeavours and hard work in the negotiations with the former federal Health Minister, Michael Wooldridge. Putting aside party politics and what might have occurred in deals that have been negotiated after the federal election, I wish to take this time to acknowledge, along with the member for Drysdale, the role of Michael Wooldridge in his endeavours in indigenous health in the Northern Territory.
AMSANT, as the peak health body, will no doubt continue to play a pivotal role in the roll-out of PHCAP. Our minister has defined her relationship with the federal Minister for Health as a key asset, and both ministers have committed to a strong working relationship in respect of Health and Community Services, particularly with regard to indigenous health. This can only have a positive outcome for indigenous Territorians.
One area that I feel I have to talk on is that, to date in the Northern Territory, the health system has failed to address appropriately the area of men’s health. Life expectancy rates for Northern Territory indigenous males, for example, are still some 15 to 20 years behind those of non-indigenous males. If we look at morbidity figures in areas such as communicable diseases, chronic disease, malnutrition, injury and self-harming behaviour, family violence, social and emotional health, poverty and illiteracy, indigenous males are concentrated towards the top of each cohort. There is an undeniable need for more indigenous males to participate across the board in health. Whilst indigenous males make up approximately 15% of the Territory’s population, their representation in the health sector work force is less than 1%. This alienation of many, if not most, Aboriginal males from the institutions and agencies which define their core business as health care, remains a major barrier to improved health outcomes. An increased utilisation and empowerment of male Aboriginal health workers to effectively case manage other men, many of whom have multiple chronic diseases, could have a major impact. Aboriginal health workers should be central to any multi-disciplinary team working with communities to develop and implement appropriate, preventable health strategies.
As I have previously alluded to in this place, the role that Aboriginal health workers play is central to the reform of the health system. Apart from their considerable clinical workload, they play a cultural brokerage role between the community and the non-Aboriginal staff. When issues arise, they are normally the ones called upon to work through them with the families involved. This can often be a time of great social and emotional stress, not to mention the physical intimidation that can arise during the process. The declining numbers of Aboriginal health workers is a matter of great concern to me, and is one that I want to join the Minister for Health and Community Services in addressing.
The shift of emphasis away from crisis management of old in favour of strategic decision-making has been needed for a long time. For far too long, the health of Territorians - in particular those in my electorate - have suffered as a result of short-term and short-sighted programs and policies - programs and policies in which the right hand of the health service delivery bureaucracy and administration is frequently unaware of what the left hand is doing. The challenge ahead to which our minister stated her commitment will be to embrace the coordination of different levels, sections and agencies both within the Department of Health and Community Services and between other governmental departments and non-governmental agencies, to untangle the maze of bureaucracy and deliver a more effective and efficient coordination of services to our remote indigenous communities. This is the challenge that the Minister for Health and Community Services and the Martin Labor government will not back away from.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to add my words of support to this very important statement. I preface this by saying that I am, by no means, anywhere near experienced enough to be able to speak at great depth on different health initiatives, but I have experience in how change is effected and the role that education plays in change management.
I do believe that there is a new wind blowing across our nation in the sense of a greater unity in recognising this issue of indigenous health as being of national concern. That is an easy thing to say, but once a problem is identified, we then come close to setting about a strategy that can make a difference. I cannot, for a moment, take away the good intentions of those who have gone before. If we are to place the words that have been spoken today on the position of the current government to spend a little too much time, perhaps, in looking at the path and saying: ‘Oh my goodness, they could have done a heck of a lot better, and this is what we’re going to do; we’re going to make a huge difference’, I get a little concerned. I think that is under-estimating the complexity and the nature of this problem. Even in this Chamber, people would agree with me that nobody likes politics; politics is not going to make one spot of difference to those who are suffering the most.
I emphasise the role that education plays in this, probably from a higher level in the sense that many of us, as Australians, need to now claim greater ownership and greater understanding of these issues. Many people in our country would, perhaps - and I am talking nationally, as well as the Northern Territory specifically - hold the position with regards to the plight of indigenous health and beat their breasts and say: ‘This is terrible’. But, that is just the very beginning. To come close to understanding the issue is a monumental movement forward.
I took my first visit to Port Keats last year, and I must say that I was genuinely challenged by what I saw. I received an education through my experience in visiting that community. I had heard a lot about that community, but I cannot take a position until I actually know and understand the situation personally.
I must say, Minister, that, in the responsibility you have taken on, you have the support of the Northern Territory and the best wishes of everybody in this Chamber. I can tell you that bipartisan support is genuinely there. Nationally, I think the will of our country is turning to the point that we do have to make a difference. We want to get to the end of the day and know that we’ve actually made a difference. From that point, you have complete support. I want nothing more than to see reports coming back to this Chamber that there has been a difference made. I take no delight for one moment - it would be just so dishonourable to even consider we want anything less.
I offer a few points in terms of how important education is. One is cross-cultural communication: the understanding of other cultures is critical. For those who have partaken in cross-cultural training, they are converted. They begin to understand the influence and the role that your own culture plays in discerning a particular situation. Those who have not undertaken any kind of cross-cultural training really cannot even begin to understand and make progress in implementing some of these strategies. I would emphasise the very critical role of cross-cultural training.
It is wonderful to see broad brush forms of initiatives and innovations, and the rejigging and reinforcing of directions. But, it is absolutely critical in terms of effecting real systemic change that proper resourcing is made to the key elements - and that is the leaders and the instruments of that change. Unless we change people, we’re not doing anything. We can change every policy, rejig it, rename it, become re-enthused about the words contained in it but, unless there is an actual change in people, we have done nothing. I do not believe, in fact, that governments fix problems at all. Governments just set the ground rules. It is only people who actually change their behaviour. We have to get much closer. The issue is far closer and far more complex and more real - it is actually making a change to people, and it is not changing policies as much. Once again, I say that it is resourcing the empowerment of the agents of change: that is the managers, the community leaders, the teachers and the nurses, and those who are involved in any kind of leadership. We must make sure that those who have influential roles are properly resourced in terms of their education.
I have no more to say - because so much has been said in this Chamber - other than if we can tie all this together, I can once again offer, particularly from a point of view of education and the intricate role that education plays in the delivery or the making of changes to health - they are one and the same, they belong together - on behalf of the opposition, my genuine support to the minister. You can be very well assured that we from this side of the House will be watching, as we are required to do, to see that we now have a broad-brush approach with an identification of a direction. We will be with you all the way and be looking for the actual change.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for her statement; in particular her call for a bipartisan approach to the issue of indigenous health in the Northern Territory. I would hope that there is similar bipartisan support for what I want to talk about: foundation of health in the bush for the Aboriginal health worker.
The next few years will see the making or breaking of the Northern Territory. Unless we can make genuine advances in the health status of indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory, all of us will be facing a society on the brink of social and economic collapse. I say this not to be an alarmist, but as the simple truth. As was pointed out in this place during the last sittings, the cost of acute medical care alone will bankrupt our fragile and small economy, quite apart from the effect it will have on our people unless we take urgent action.
The great myth about health is that it is all about new drugs and advanced technology, the sort of ‘gee whiz’ stuff that is constantly trumpeted in the media, from gene splicing to keyhole surgery. Health is about people and the culture in which health care is delivered. It is my view that the reason we are facing such an appalling situation with regards to indigenous health is that, over the last 25 years, the culture of the health care system in the Northern Territory has been corrupted by ignorance, neglect and self-deception. While we can all point to individuals in the system - Aboriginal health workers, nurses, doctors and administrators - who have all worked heroically against these great odds, we can also point to many others who have chosen to turn a blind eye to the growing crisis. A case in point is witnessed by the declining status of Aboriginal health workers within the Northern Territory.
Twenty years ago, it could be fairly said that the Territory’s Aboriginal health workers were the focus of the future of indigenous health. They were seen as critical components in health care service delivery, and work was being done to develop and advance career paths for Aboriginal health workers. They, along with indigenous and environmental health workers, aged care workers and nutritionists, were seen as a fundamental part of any health team. Now, in too many places and ways, Aboriginal health workers are left out of the loop.
Until August last year, they had stopped being seen as part of the health team. People who were once seen as central to the delivery of services because of their linguistic and cultural knowledge had become marginalised. Unlike any other jurisdiction in Australia, our Aboriginal health workers are classed as clinical practitioners. Through competency-based training, they can take on major clinical roles within remote health centres and, with their cultural and linguistic skills and grounded understanding of the tactics and approaches that make sense locally, they can contribute enormously to the health of our remote citizens.
The success of two simultaneous coordinator care trials to date shows the importance of prevention, but also the indifference of the former administration towards fully entrusting Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal health workers with the powers to govern their own services beyond the trial locations. How else can we explain the number of Aboriginal health workers who operate not on full award wages, but on CDEP payments. They are placed in desperation by communities who could see the value of their work, but had to be paid through the only means available, CDEP? As a related point, there were fully trained Aboriginal health workers graduating from training only to face a severely limited number of positions. By way of example, a total of 152 trained and in-training environmental health workers are distributed throughout the Northern Territory, but the department only funds 11 communities for indigenous environmental health programs. Again, a worthwhile program that was left to stay in permanent pilot mode. It is as if the former administration had sold a message to the Aboriginal people that getting involved in primary health care was critical to their future, yet kept their fingers crossed that somehow Aboriginal people would be able to find the money for recruitment themselves.
This government believes it is time that we unlock the potential of Aboriginal health workers, but this will only happen if there is a massive cultural change within the Department of Health and Community Services; and that is to drop the blinkers of the last quarter of a century. Already we are seeing signs of change. The department is now prioritising the continued development of the Aboriginal Health Worker Program and, specifically, turning around the decrease over the past decade of Aboriginal health worker manager positions out in the regions. For example, I note that the Director of the Aboriginal Health Worker position in East Arnhem has recently been advertised. I know that this position has been vacant for a very long time, and had been slowly filled one by one by non-Aboriginal health workers, turning it into a non-Aboriginal position.
Exploring ways to have Aboriginal environmental health worker positions funded by other agencies such as Power and Water - who have an interest in their valuable work as well - Aboriginal staff have been asking for support that goes beyond the normal performance management processes. A culturally appropriate mentoring program for all indigenous staff has been developed which will include Aboriginal health workers, as well as other Aboriginal staff. For the first time in eight years, the department is supporting the Territory’s Aboriginal health worker conference. These conferences used to be held annually since 1979, but ceased in 1994. Aboriginal health workers throughout the Territory believe that these forums provide a critical exchange of information and play a pivotal role in their professional development. The Territory remains the only jurisdiction that registers its Aboriginal health workers, and this conference will recognise Aboriginal health workers as a professional group in their own right with their own specialised professional development needs. Part of this process must be in opening this local potential to careers beyond Aboriginal health workers: towards nursing and becoming doctors. This means a commitment of the sort presently being undertaken by the Martin Labor government: a whole-of-government approach, a whole-of-community partnership between education and health.
We have to nurture and grow our own talent and not rely forever on importing skills from interstate or overseas. This means we have to operate with high expectations of the potential of indigenous people, rather than assuming deficits and the overall lack of ability. It means we have to stop teaching indigenous kids to expect a second-rate education and a second-rate place in their own communities. Thirty years ago, the Northern Territory had the highest number of Aboriginal nurses working in the system of anywhere in this country. Only a few weeks ago, we lost one of the first of their number, the late Daisy Ruddick.
The shift from workplace nursing training to tertiary training has placed an artificial ceiling on the aspirations of Aboriginal health workers in the bush, deprived by successive CLP governments of access to decent education. Belittled and marginalised within the health delivery context and locked out of proper career paths, Aboriginal health workers have little chance of climbing the ladder into the nursing and other professions within Territory Health. This is a monstrous waste of untapped talent and can do little to advance the status of indigenous health within the Northern Territory.
I spoke before on the need to change the culture that operates within the system here in the Territory. For too long an ‘us and them’ philosophy has prevailed, a culture of knowing what’s best and locking people out of the information they need to run their own health care. As a matter of urgency, what we need is a health system that is prepared to cede its control mentality; a system that moves away from defending itself against the outside world towards one that openly embraces partnerships with the people of the Northern Territory. We need a system that allows local control of what are, effectively, the really remote communities for the original Territorians, rather than control from the communities of Darwin and Alice Springs.
I am concerned the signs of the response of the Department as Health’s as health zones are rolled out, is to transfer local management positions back to Alice Springs and Darwin rather than localising management where it belongs: whether as a departmental support bureau for the local health zones or, preferably, located within community-run hub organisations. The minister, through her statement to the House today, has sent a very clear signal that opposition to community control and community management is not an attitude that this government will tolerate.
In this context, it is worth noting the considerable potential of the Katherine Regional Aboriginal Health and Related Services Association - a grouping of the Katherine West Health Board, the Kalano Association, the Jawoyn Association and Wurli Wurlinjang - as the beginning of such a hub. Already, this grouping has captured resources that will provide a huge boost to allied health care services across their combined regions. I would hope encouragement is given to Tennant Creek and Borroloola in developing a similar direction, given the existing capacity of local communities and people to assume leadership for primary health care.
I said that health was not about technology and drugs, but about people. The vision outlined by the Minister for Health and Community Services is going to have a huge impact on people, not least on those with vested interests in opposing changes she outlines. The changes to come will have to be managed carefully, and we must help people in facing and coping with these changes. However, we must not be frightened of taking hard decisions that are necessary to turn around the ongoing tragedy of indigenous health outcomes in the Territory. All of us, from all sides of politics, must support these changes.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues on both sides of the House in congratulating the minister for her wide-ranging statement on indigenous health. I believe that everybody in the Territory - in fact, everybody in the world - would like see better health outcomes for everybody in the Northern Territory, in particular our Aboriginal people who have suffered significant poor health outcomes for many, many years.
When I read through the minister’s statement, my first concern was nomination that she proposed to roll out what she called ‘health zones’ across 21 areas in the Territory - or dividing the Northern Territory into 21 areas. Inherent in that statement is the issue of the government forcing sections of the Territory into particular groups. The members for Stuart and Nelson mentioned that, and even the member Arnhem spoke about his concerns in local government and other forums about forcing groups of people into any single group. It is important for the minister to recognise that the moment she nominates that there will be 21 health zones, that is going to pose a problem. I believe she should start with one or two health zones, as she is starting with Sunrise and so on; that is a good way to start. It is not the first time it has happened.
Coordinated care trials are precisely that. The Tiwi Islands had one, the Katherine people have another, and there will be more. I think it is a good thing. It is money contributed by the federal government; money justifiably ours in the Northern Territory. If you recall - the minister’s advisors might be able to give advice on this - the PAC some years ago, did a study on this issue and estimated that the Northern Territory was some $25m to $30m short every year from the lack of our sharing in Medicare and pharmaceutical benefits because we do not have the numbers of private general practitioners or pharmacies there to provide Territorians access to the health benefits. It is not a new thing; it is something that had been trialled before with the encouragement and contribution by the Northern Territory government under the CLP and, also with the commitment from the federal government.
I look forward to more of these trials because, obviously, they will allow significant local control over their own needs and health outcomes. However, with local control there is a prerequisite that people must be trained well enough to understand how to manage these coordinated care units. Without the necessary training, they will not be able to do it properly, and all we are doing is building them up to fail. It is also important for the minister to take into recognition that she does not bite off more than she can chew, and to encourage, with great expectations, that people will take over this management very easily. If it is difficult enough for people to manage local government; I suggest to you that trying to manage local health boards will be equally as difficult. Health is a very complicated, complex issue at the best of times, and to try and run a health board to satisfy the differing needs of people in a particular region can be quite daunting. If you do not have the training with which to do it, then it will obviously be bound to fail.
The minister also spoke about not being satisfied with second-rate services of acute care, and that there should be good integration between primary health care services in our hospital networks. I support that statement; I think that is a very positive statement to make. I have always endeavoured to encourage all the general practitioners in Alice Springs to be intimately involved with the hospital. Unfortunately, that has not come to pass. It has been a very difficult thing to encourage the general practitioners to do, because of the poor remuneration they would receive providing their services to the Alice Springs Hospital while their own consulting offices remain vacant. Hence, there is none of that cross-fertilisation between the private practice and the Alice Springs Hospital.
It also applies to Congress. For decades in Alice Springs, Congress and the Alice Springs Hospital have not got on. Obviously, there are differing groups of people those two organisations provide health services for. If the minister can be a facilitator to enable Congress to work cooperatively with the Alice Springs Hospital, it will be a very significant advance.
With regard to the renal mapping project, we on this side of the House have complained for quite some time now about the lack of services of a medical specialist in renal medicine in Alice Springs. I have here a letter from the minister to my colleague, the member for Araluen, where she tried to reassure, first of all by admitting that Dr Kirubakaran will be on long service leave until 20 December this year, although she did not write that he might not come back. That is common knowledge in Alice Springs, that he is very unlikely to come back. So, it looks like we have now lost a renal specialist. Hopefully, there are processes in place to recruit a renal specialist as soon as we possibly can. A locum Registrar is but a Registrar, and you need a specialist to do the work that has to be done.
A specialist visiting from Darwin comes in on a Monday and he leaves on a Wednesday the week following. He will do that three times between now and September. That is not adequate. The relationship that the Alice Springs Hospital had with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide was fantastic. I think that should be recultivated so that we can at least get Dr Pugsley, who would love to come back to Alice Springs at the drop of a hat. Ask him to come back and provide us with specialist cover in between the visits from the Royal Darwin Hospital specialists. That, to me, would be a logical thing to do.
Dr Brady, for all his clinical acumen and training, is not a renal physician. He is not a renal physician and you need somebody there who is. You need a renal physician. There is no renal physician …
Dr Burns: Dr Lawton is a renal physician and you know that quite well.
Dr LIM: There is no renal physician in Alice Springs; we have a renal Registrar. We do not have a renal specialist and you need to have one. There are too many renal patients in Alice Springs to go without a renal physician. If you want to try and extend your services all the way to Tennant Creek as well, then this renal physician from Darwin is going to be worked pretty thin.
Ms Lawrie: So you say.
Dr LIM: Well, he will be worked pretty thing. I know what it is like to work in health care in Central Australia; it is not an easy task. What would the member for Karama know about renal medicine, as she whines as normal? Probably next to nothing.
The minister then spoke about the toxic mix of rubbish food, tobacco, cannabis and alcohol. Those are the things that have been said by this side of the House many times before, but each time we spoke about it, we would be labelled as blaming the patient, blaming the victim. When they speak about it, it is done in such a holy manner that it is all right for them. But it is not all right for this side of the House to say it.
Mr Henderson: You did nothing.
Dr LIM: We did a lot for Aboriginal health. The amount of money that was spent on Aboriginal health alone under the CLP government was very significant, more than was spent in any other manner.
Dr Burns: It wasn’t hitting the ground.
Ms Lawrie: How much?
Dr LIM: The members opposite obviously do not agree. That is fine, they can disagree as much as they like. It does not matter. For instance, we talk about health care for Aboriginal people. We spoke at another time about the doctor at Ntaria and Tjuwanpa. The minister is really not doing very much to help that person. Now she talks about health zones. The quicker she can establish a health zone, the better it will be. She must guarantee that by 30 June when Dr Gillett finishes her work in Hermannsburg, there is some other process in place that will keep a full-time doctor providing health care for the Ntaria region. If not, then it makes her whole statement pretty hollow, because there is nothing there. There are about 1400 people living in that region in Central Australia and they do not have the full-time service of a doctor to rely on. That is a real tragedy.
The Minister for Local Government lauded Professor Fred Hollows for what he has done for Northern Territorians. I cannot but agree with what he said about Fred Hollows. I think what he did with ophthalmology for people in the desert is terrific. However, remember what Fred Hollows said to everybody in the Aboriginal ‘industry’ - if I might use that word the ‘industry’ – ‘Do not lead our Aboriginal people into an Aborigine cul de sac’. Those were his words. Do not lead them into a blind alley where they go nowhere. Some of the things that have been said, especially by government members today, have been, in my opinion, rather patronising.
Members interjecting.
Dr LIM: You patronise in a sense that – you have to look at health from both aspects. You have to look at the preventative and the treatment parts of it. You cannot provide all the care in the world, from your soul, and stand there and say: ‘Look, I care and I want to do everything I can’. All you are doing is picking up the pieces. You have to start with prevention. As the member for Nelson himself said, we have to take responsibility; the patient has to take responsibility for themselves also.
Education is so very important: with education comes understanding of disease processes. It is no longer a mystical thing, about spirits and black magic; it is about bacteria and things causing ill health. Sure, psychological aspects of it come into consideration, but education will bring that understanding so that you can really understand how ill health comes about. Then, when you can understand how ill health comes about, you can actually prevent yourself from falling ill.
Health and education alone might provide you with well educated, fit, young people. However, what do they do? They need homes to live in, so that has to be part of the holistic way of dealing with the problem. Even with good homes to live in, what are you going to do there, out in the middle of nowhere? This is where regional development then has to come in so that there is meaningful and gainful employment with income coming in to the community, good housing, education that is valued, and good health that will come about as a result. Without doing all those things together, you are not going to get very far.
I think that giving children breakfast is good, but do not do it in such a way that ultimately it becomes: ‘It is your responsibility, not ours. We will not have to feed our children. You can feed them every morning when they go to school’. I think that takes away the responsibility from the parents and it is important to ensure that does not happen.
Ms Lawrie: Let’s make them starve.
Dr LIM: I have grown up in a third world country. I was subject to this sort of culture as well. I understand what I am talking about. The member for Karama thinks she know everything. She knows nothing because she is a white person living in a country dominated by white people. That is what it is about. She walks out of the Chamber in anger …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, there is a point of order. Member for Greatorex, you will withdraw the reference to …
Dr LIM: She gets up in anger …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex.
Dr LIM: That is fine. She gets up in anger and that is her way to react to what I have to say. That is okay. We talked about those persistent ear infections and how the causes of otitis media and perforations of ear drums developed …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! The member for Greatorex didn’t withdraw.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I didn’t ask him to withdraw. He knows the rules …
Ms LAWRIE: Well, there is a standing order of parliament that says there should be no reference made …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I haven’t asked him to withdraw in terms of what he’d said simply because he hasn’t used any unparliamentary language. The reference to whether you are in or out of the Chamber will be deleted, I presume, by Hansard at the appropriate juncture.
Ms LAWRIE: They will be withdrawn. Sorry?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you.
Dr LIM: With regard to persistent ear infections such as otitis media or otitis externa, perforation of the ear drums, they have a lot of causes. One of the major reasons is personal hygiene. I can hear the chuckles across the floor again. It seems that hygiene is not something that I can mention. What’s the problem with hygiene?
Mr Henderson: Wash your hands.
Dr LIM: How many parents among you would actually shoo away a fly from your child’s face when it is in a pram exposed to the elements? How many of you would? Now tell me, how many children do you see out bush that are exposed to the flies, that are not being sheltered from the flies? Don’t you think that a parent should do that to prevent their children from contracting illnesses? Would you at least not try and ensure that the child does not sit in the dirt? You pick the child up, dust it off and teach it not to sit in the dirt. You think that I am being culturally inappropriate. I say to you that if the child is going to get ill sitting in the dirt, then you have to take the child off the dirt to prevent it from getting ill. That to me goes across all cultures, and if you cannot see that then there is nothing more I can add to it. Obviously, that is the way you feel.
As I said earlier, it is important that we approach this whole thing as holistically as we possibly can. However, by aiming to be holistic we can sometimes end up biting off more than we can chew. What happens then is we make the job so much harder for ourselves and the health worker that it is impossible for the health worker to achieve any outcomes. All will be bogged down into process and nothing comes out of it.
The member for Arafura spoke about the alienation of Aboriginal people, particularly men, from health care. I do not know whether that is really what it is. I believe the problem is that there are many people who would aspire to be health workers, nurses and doctors but are not prepared to put in the hard yards to get the education to do it. It is important that educational organisations or institutions do not fast-track students so that they come out with a qualification which really means nothing more than the paper it is written on. It is important that they come out with real qualifications that will enable them to achieve the work that they are supposed to be trained to do.
I told a story about medical graduates back in Malaysia where I grew up. Many indigenous students were fast-tracked through university courses. What happened was they were graduating with their medical degrees like other non-indigenous students, but the local indigenous people were not prepared to go to them. They knew that the indigenous students were fast-tracked through university and were coming out with qualifications that were not necessarily of a level that is adequate to provide good care. They preferred to go and see non-indigenous doctors because they knew that the knowledge of these doctors was subject to rigour in their training.
It is important to do that. If you do that, then I believe that Aboriginal people will be successful in obtaining the jobs that they justifiably should have. Because it is time that they Aboriginalised lots of jobs that are in health care and in education. People in communities will respond to these Aboriginal workers a lot better than they would to any other non-indigenous person working in their communities.
The statement is worthwhile. I think it is too wide ranging, too ambitious. I caution the minister to be a little more careful and do a little at a time.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, first of all I welcome the statement made by the Health minister and congratulate her for what is a comprehensive statement on something that both sides of the House have acknowledged is a very important and serious problem. There was a sense of urgency in what the Health minister had to say to this House. All of us on this side of the House - and I am glad to hear that those on the other side of the House - are, in general, supportive of it.
It is very interesting that the member for Drysdale seems to have changed his tune a little since last week when he was full of recrimination, sometimes at a personal level I felt, against the member for Nightcliff and the Health minister. I thought to myself: ‘What could possibly change his attitude in one week?’. Well, it does not take much to work it out: one editorial in the NT News, banging him up. That had an effect, didn’t it? He decided to back off and be a bit pleasant instead of sitting in his chair sniping, grizzling, growling and complaining all the time. Nonetheless, in his presentation he did not really go to the core of the issue: why he did not address this problem substantially during his term as Health minister. I will leave that behind; I have had my little say about the editorial.
His comments were constructive and supportive to a large degree. That is welcome. It is about time a few members such as the member for Drysdale started doing a bit of work and getting behind things and supporting improvement. Someone said he has minder’s disease: it is ‘no’ or negative to everything. It is about time he started coming out of it. He talked about cosmology the other day. Yes, yes!
In particular, I’d like to respond to the member for Greatorex. I welcome a lot of what the member had to say; it was also very positive. I would like to pick up on a couple of things. There were some questions asked in this place last week about renal specialists in Alice Springs. I happened to bump into Dr Paul Lawton, probably the week before last. I asked him: ‘How are things going, Paul?’ He told me about all the work he’d been doing in Alice Springs. He is a renal physician working in Alice Springs who is very well recognised. He did mention that the current renal physician in Alice Springs was on long service leave, and it was probably unlikely that he would return - it was no secret. Dr Lawton paid tribute to the long service given by that renal physician in Alice Springs for many years. However, as he said, sometimes it might be time to have new blood. He told me that there had been substantial progress through the college, in terms of recruiting a new renal physician in Alice Springs. I was very heartened by that, because I know that the Australian Kidney Foundation and the college are very supportive of Aboriginal health. People like Dr Lawton, Paul Snelling and Wendy Hoy have done tremendous work in this regard. I also name David Pugsley who is a fantastic renal physician.
I believe that we’re well along the way to recruiting a renal physician for Central Australia, and I applaud that. I am a bit dismayed at the way questions were presented to this House last week because I thought there was a little bit of confabulation - is that an unparliamentary word? - a bit of confabulation in the way the question was formulated. I know the member for Greatorex would be well aware of the situation down there in terms of recruitment of a renal physician.
The member for Greatorex mentioned spiritual beliefs in health and how people really have to come to a realisation about the biomedical model of the causation of disease. There is a lot of truth in that, but I’d also remind the member for Greatorex that the biomedical model doesn’t explain everything. For instance, with heart disease there has been a fantastic amount of research done on the aetiology and causes, but at least 40% of the cause of heart disease is unknown. Social fabric and impact of things like stress, poverty, belief and psychology is thought to comprise a lot of that 40%. Therefore, we should not be belittling people’s beliefs. People have different beliefs, even about illness. Even if something happens to the most committed scientist or their family, when someone’s struck down with a disease, they say: ‘Why us? Why us?’ People look heavenwards; the cosmologists look heavenward and say: ‘Why me? Why us? Why did it happen?’ So, we should not be too hung up about causation.
I agreed with the member for Greatorex when he talked about employment, income and education. I’ll come back to the Collins report once again. That is something that this government is doing - we’re doing it. Bob Collins is there; he is absolutely committed, and this government is committed to the implementation of the Collins report. Education, employment and income - yes, we are.
I had a briefing today from people from tourism talking about developments in the indigenous tourist front. Some exciting things are happening around the Jabiru region and elsewhere; it is exciting. There are a lot of people who want to come to the Territory. Fair enough, they want to see the icons - the Ulurus and Kakadus - but they also want to meet Aboriginal people; they want to find out more about Aboriginal culture. That is very important, and that is something this government is doing. There have now been very high level talks between the Tourist Commission and the land councils - probably would have been taboo with the other mob.
The member for Greatorex talked about hygiene, and I have heard him talk about it before. No one doubts the importance of hygiene and environmental health in preventing disease. There is no argument there. However, I just ask the member for Greatorex to remember how hard it is to keep a place clean when you have 30 people overcrowding it; when you have just one toilet for 30 people; when people are crammed into bedrooms. I think it was at the Learning Lessons conference that was hosted by the AMA and the Northern Territory government, when the member for Greatorex raised this. He was rebuked by a couple of his colleagues who said: ‘How can you stop this? The environment is so full of disease because of these environmental health problems that it is just jumping out of the walls at people. How can you resist it?’
There is no doubt that hygiene is important, but I’d also suggest that many parents in this modern day and age - because hygiene’s become less important because of immunisation and a whole range of things - probably let our hygiene standards slip a bit in terms of teaching our children about those things. There is no apparent need or incentive because there is no polio that is evident here today. There are no epidemics of polio as there were, tragically, in previous generations. There are no epidemics of diphtheria. The incentive regarding hygiene for even non-Aboriginal people has diminished. It is important and I think it is something that we should not shy away from because of political correctness. We should be very direct with people about these issues.
The point made by the member for Greatorex about indigenous versus non-indigenous health professionals is very important. Most people in the House today would be very aware of Aboriginal health worker programs in the Territory. The Territory has a lot to be proud of in that regard. I know Dr ‘DD’ Devanesen was a prime mover in that. At the time, it was revolutionary. Those who know Dr Devanesen well know that he is very passionate about respecting people’s spiritual and cultural beliefs about illness. He is very firm about that. He was one of the prime movers with the Aboriginal health worker movement in the Northern Territory. When we were hearing the condolence motion for the member for Millner’s grandmother, it was interesting that, back in the 1930s, Mrs Ruddick had been a trained nurse. There are other Aboriginal people I know who trained with Dr Hargreaves. There are other people who subsequently were nurses as well. However, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of Aboriginal nurses and doctors nowadays, unfortunately. We, as a government, need to be encouraging Aboriginal people not to have a second-rate medical or nursing education - as the member for Greatorex alluded to in his place of birth - but to be on the same basis as other graduates. That might take some support from both Territory and federal governments. We know there are some sections of the community that become very jealous when one particular group gets something they do not. In a bipartisan way, as a government and opposition, we should support those initiatives. We know in New Zealand that there are many Maori health professionals there: doctors and nurses.
I was privileged to attend a talk at the Menzies School of Health the other day where a visiting American professor talked about the Indian health service. He said that the Surgeon General of the Indian health service is a native American, and there are many working as health professionals within the Indian medical service in the United States. I was very glad to hear that from Dr Kunitz. I commend the Menzies School of Health for their series of seminars on social inequalities in health. When I have been able to get there, I have found it very enlightening, and I commend it to other members. I believe that proceedings will be published.
We have to do a lot of work in terms of supporting Aboriginal people and encouraging them to take their rightful place as health professionals; to take their rightful place in terms of the economic and social contribution that they can make to this great Northern Territory of ours.
In closing, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend this statement by the Health minister. I welcome, by and large, the contribution of members opposite and, of course, I accord with the contributions made by my own side.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: For members’ information, in terms of the use of unparliamentary language, I will only rule if a point of order is called.
Dr BURNS: I beg your pardon, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: You asked during your speech as to whether the word ‘confabulation’ was unparliamentary.
Dr BURNS: Oh, I see.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I shall only rule on that if a point of order is called.
Dr BURNS: Thank you for that clarification, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker.
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all speakers for their very valuable contributions to the debate. In this House, 12 speakers on an indigenous health statement must be a record. It is a very exciting prospect that we have complete support for indigenous health in the Northern Territory. So, I thank very much honourable members for their support.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge that the work we are undertaking to build community capacity to undertake full control of the health directions in their regions, builds on the work of many, many people who have dedicated themselves to primary health care reform over the years. I include here Dr Michael Wooldridge, the former federal Health Minister, whom the member for Drysdale rightly identified as being a key architect of the Commonwealth’s new approach in the 1990s. I would also draw attention to the health professionals, the Aboriginal people, the bureaucrats and government members whose dedication through intense negotiations were certainly critical.
The member for Drysdale raised a few issues that I should take a moment to briefly respond to. The member gave a good account of the history of the program and raised the question of whether or not it was a world first. To my understanding, what makes this a world first is not the community control, regionalisation, or even funds pooling, but the combination of all these things. It is needs based, perhaps crudely, in that PHCAP allocations are calculated on a ‘cashed out’ pegged to the Medicare rate with a disability factor of times two for recognised needs associated with morbidity and then times two again for remoteness. Therefore, for remote communities, this is a needs based allocation of MBS by four.
My colleague, the minister for Education, spoke of our joint commitment to collaboration while the member for Macdonnell talked about the devastating impact of welfare dependency on Aboriginal autonomy. I would like to say to the minister for Education that we have a strong commitment that health and education will be working together. The member for Blain raised this issue as well. The clear links between these two, which have been brought up in the Collins report, cannot be ignored. We will be working to make sure that the recommendations of the Collins report are met.
The member for Nelson spoke about the need for Aboriginal people to take responsibility for their own health and, in relation to the school breakfast program, cautioned that parents may become reliant on this measure. The member for Drysdale also expressed his concern, warning of missionary style approaches. It is important to understand that community control and self-determination means being able to say to government what people think is needed, and have that message taken seriously and not judged by us as too patronising or dependency creating to put in place.
Indigenous people have said that they need help in the dysfunctional circumstances in which many are striving to keep their families together. Getting children to school with enough food in their bellies is certainly very important. Perhaps this is actually an ideological point but we on this side believe that the community has a responsibility for all Territorians, as opposed to perhaps a more liberal approach that individuals must take total responsibility for themselves. This is actually an ideological issue.
The Minister for Community Development drew attention to the Sunrise Coordinated Care Trial, the third such trial for the Northern Territory. I agree that this is a very exciting initiative. We have precedents in the Tiwi and Katherine West coordinated care trials. Both of these have shown that quick turnarounds on health outcomes are possible. The short-term evidence is that both emergency evacuations and length of stays in hospital are reduced. These are vital indicators that the redirection of primary health care funds to community control - however elaborate the process for setting up boards and reorganising health services turns out to be - is a much more successful strategy than anything that has been done in the past.
I very much appreciated the personal comments that the Minister for Community Development brought to our attention. I, too, feel very saddened by the morbidity rates of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. It is a commitment that we will work as hard as we can to turn these situations around.
The member for Port Darwin rightly pointed out the need for Aboriginal people to receive the right level of support and training, to be able to run complex health functions in a sophisticated way. Like the member for Greatorex, she is concerned about the training boards will receive. I too believe that Aboriginal control of primary health care is critical and that the way ahead will not be easy. That is why it is important not to second guess when the zones will be fully operational. The boards need to receive training; it took Katherine West two years before people external to the trial could see action, and it was a necessary wait.
As part of this ministry, I have ensured that there is a team of people who are going to be working with boards. There has been a doctor mentioned, Dr ‘DD’ Devanesen, who is, in fact, coordinating the training of boards and providing support to them. I can assure honourable members that this is a priority. We do not want the boards to fail; we want this whole trial, this whole program for the Northern Territory, to work. We will be putting whatever we can in place to ensure that that happens.
The member for Port Darwin also raised an issue in relation to auditing of clinics in remote areas. The department either funds or manages 80 community managed health centres in the Northern Territory, and many of these health centres are now 20 or 30 years old. Over the past few months, there has been a desktop audit of Category 1 health centres conducted against the standards across the Northern Territory. Key remote management staff in each region met and the audit was conducted using their knowledge of health facilities, together with Transport and Work site maps. Category 1 health centres provide primary health care services in the Territory’s largest remote communities, where approximately 43% of the remote Aboriginal people live. The audit is designed to quickly establish the practical application of the new standards; provide a basis for further development of standards for remaining health centre categories; for the first time provide reliable information on the extent of the infrastructure deficit in Category 1 health centres; provide an indication of the costs of making up the infrastructure deficit; and prioritise health infrastructure needs for health centres that do not meet the standards.
So far, analysis of the desktop audit information suggests that there is a very significant health infrastructure deficit in Category 1 health centres. I am expecting to receive the full report over the next few weeks, and this will be the basis for prioritising budgets in relation to building up infrastructure in communities. I can assure the member for Port Darwin this is absolutely a priority. I know that the honourable member is particularly concerned about nurses in remote communities. It is certainly part of this, as well.
With the Sunrise trial a well established organisation, the Jawoyn Association, is auspicing the new health board until such time as the board builds its own capacity in budget management, decision making, policy setting and infrastructure, and can assume full control. As part of a legal agreement between the Commonwealth and the government, a comprehensive and legally enforceful risk management and accountability process has been established. The government has no intention of forcing people into new arrangements at a pace that risks failure. We have learnt from the problems that the grants-in-aids clinic suffered, and I am sure that honourable members will be very pleased to hear that.
Of the 10 zones currently being rolled out, there are five Central Australian zones awaiting Commonwealth approval for the employment of planning consultants. They have three months to develop community health plans, and then funding will be released. Katherine West NT will convert from trial to PHCAP funding. This process is already underway. I have already described the Jawoyn, which leaves Borroloola and Darwin Urban, which are about six months behind the Central Australian zones. Some are expected to be rolled out within 12 months. The final 11 depend on whether further Commonwealth allocations will be negotiated. I am very hopeful, having spoken most recently with the federal minister, that this will certainly happen.
The member for Arafura made a very powerful statement from the heart about the need to really hear the voice of the powerless in communities. For too long, we have only listened to the loud, the well connected and the articulate. I will reiterate my support for the work of the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community. I have listened with great interest to her statements in the last couple of days regarding cannabis in remote communities, particularly in Maningrida. The member for Arafura and I travelled to Maningrida recently, and I must say that we were both alarmed by the stories we heard in relation to cannabis in that community. It is a very significant issue. I have been discussing it with the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. It is something which we take very seriously, and we hope that we can find a solution to as soon as possible.
I’d also like to thank the member for Barkly for his comments. In particular, I note the comments that he made in relation to Aboriginal health workers. I, too, believe that Aboriginal health workers are people who have been undervalued in the past. At the moment, there is a review of the role of Aboriginal health workers. I am hoping that, in the coming years, we will be able to see that Aboriginal health workers will be able to take their rightful place in communities.
I accept that the member for Greatorex has an interest in indigenous health, and I take the comments on board in relation to his bipartisan support for this statement. I’d like to assure him that in relation to renal services in the Centre, there is an absolute commitment by this government. I can assure him that with regard to the doctor who is on long service leave, we are doing all that we can to attract a renal specialist to the Centre. We are, in fact, trying to attract more than one renal specialist because we are hoping that we can extend renal services throughout the Northern Territory.
I thank the member for Johnston very much for his passionate support, and his comments regarding renal services, particularly Dr Lawton, and Dr ‘DD’ as well who, I think, would appreciate the kind of support that you have given in recognising his excellent skills in this House today. I’ll pass that on to him. There have also been comments made regarding Aboriginal nurses and doctors and the importance of trying to attract them to study medicine and become nurses. I think this is a very important thing, as well. So, thank you very much to the member for Johnston for his support.
Once again, I’d like to say it is remarkable to have so many people speak on this issue. As a government, we are absolutely committed to making the outcomes in indigenous health much better. I am looking forward to reporting to this House in the future on wonderful new outcomes for people in indigenous areas.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
I’d like to raise, in my adjournment period, a couple of issues from within the Stuart electorate. The first is ongoing attempts to fully recover the community processes at Willowra. I have spoken before on this, and I will not dwell on the earlier history of the collapse of the community council in Willowra, some couple of years ago now. Under the current arrangement, the Willowra community is under a joint management arrangement with the Yuendumu Community Government Council, and there is a continuing, but very slow, recovery of community functions. We’ve all found that you cannot rush these processes, because a lot of the difficulties that the community got into were due to lack of real understanding or expectation of the role of the council, and lack of proper accounting or auditing of the activities of support staff who were being employed by that community.
At a recent meeting attended by myself, local government, the Yuendumu Community Government Council, the Central Land Council and ATSIC, the community agreed to remain under the administrative auspices of Yuendumu for another 12 months. It also agreed to implement measures to safeguard the community store from financial collapse. Another problem has reared its head out there, and that was a run of book-up at the store that had driven it very close to extinction. At that meeting, there was also an agreement to hold elections for an advisory committee which would then act as a body to work with the Yuendemu Community Government Council to make decisions about service delivery.
The new community advisory committee has been elected along family lines and it gives representation for the five family groups in the community. This advisory group will keep Yuendemu informed of the needs within the community, and work with other organisations, such as CLC and ATSIC, in preparing for incorporation and development of the new community government council some time into the future.
The committee members nominated from within the family groupings were: Maisie Kitson, Lady Morton, Clarke Martin, Marjorie Brown, Chrissie Fry, Molly Presley, Charlie Morris, Elyn Jurrah, Barbara Walker and Freddie Williams. The reintroduction of the CDEP to the community via Yuendemu has also seen the resumption of basic services such as rubbish collection, tip and airstrip maintenance, and grass slashing around the community. I would like to make a special mention of Clarke Martin, who voluntarily collected rubbish for quite some time prior to the resumption of the CDEP. It is great to see the community spirit and commitment that Clarke showed in doing that.
Additional funds were made to enable the ESO to assist the clinic with emergency evacuations and to repair the night lights at the airstrip. We now have a fully functional airstrip for emergency evacuations. Repairs to housing has occurred under our government, and now people have a basic security in their housing. The housing is now functional and safe in terms of its plumbing and power supplies. We are getting there slowly. We have a fair way to go yet before we can really say that the Willowra community has returned to full functionality.
What has come out of it is the absolute commitment of those people to the location of Willowra. For all the misdeeds that have happened there in the last couple of years, there is no doubt that the Warlpiri people, with their traditional association with Willowra, are very determined to stay in that location and make that community strong and functional again.
On the bright side of Willowra, as well as the ongoing repair work done on the local government arrangements, is the fact that it continues to have a very strong and supportive health staff at the clinic. The school is also functioning extremely well at the moment, with a full staff and very good attendance. If we can keep those areas of the service delivery strong into the future, we will see a far better result in terms of the community affairs. The school has been very much instrumental in seeing the rash of vandalism and mayhem that was going on in the community some six months ago brought down to a much lower level. We are now seeing a community that can build, step by step, towards a much better situation.
The other situation I would like to talk about is that of the Anmatjere people based around the Ti Tree township. I was contacted by Big Billie Mbitjana, who is the traditional owner of that particular area, there was a meeting organised for me to attend with Jasper Haines to look at the current critical situation that has occurred since the collapse of the Ti Tree Station store, the Nturiya Store, and the problems that have been occurring at Willowra. What has happened is that a fairly substantial number of people have moved in to camp on the creek adjacent to the Ti Tree township within the declared town area. Those people have no water supply or toilets. They have very rudimentary shelter in the form of humpy camps and old caravans. The people called me in to see what could be done to actually recover this situation.
I think the troubles in the Nturiya Store have been well known for quite some time. I’d like to take this opportunity to pledge, first of all, whatever intervention we can make at the Northern Territory government level to provide some support to these people, but also to call on ATSIC to be a bit more creative and constructive in terms of addressing this situation. It is quite clear why those people have come there; it is a problem that has been foreseen for some time. You cannot leave old people and kids living in conditions where there is simply no water supply or any sort of hygienic arrangements such as toilets and garbage disposal.
At the moment, those people are living in conditions that remind me a lot of when I first went out bush in the early 1970s to visit my brother, and when I first started working out bush in the early 1980s. In those days, it was quite common to see unserviced humpy camps providing lodgings for a large number of people. But, heavens! This is the year 2002 and we should not be seeing people living in these conditions.
To me, it is a very short-sighted decision by ATSIC not to intervene to resume some store operation at the Nturiya community, even if it is in the form of an addition to one of the existing stores where they take regular runs of provisions out there to allow people to buy off the back of a truck. Anything would be better than seeing them sitting in a creek bed with no service provision.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to say that some of the residents of the Ti Tree township - probably out of frustration with all their new neighbours and the fact that this looks extremely rustic when there is a degree of civic pride in that community - let fly about the fact that I was intervening with this group. Well, I do not resile from that. We have an absolutely basic responsibility in government to provide fundamental support to every Territorian. It doesn’t matter who they are or where they are; we need to make sure that they have access to the fundamental supports for their life: a water supply, some decent hygiene and some shelter. They have been the requirements since the beginning of mankind - probably a million and a half years ago - and it hasn’t changed one iota.
To be in a civilised and affluent country and see a group living the way this group is living is simply not good enough. I will be working through my electorate office in Alice Springs, to approach ATSIC - and we want to get some action on this - to get these people back to their communities with some functioning supply arrangement. Not all these people have cars, they cannot walk 13 km into the Ti Tree township, buy their supplies and walk 13 km back out again. We have to find a better solution than what is happening there at the moment.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it is very difficult sometimes when you are sitting in the Chair to bite your tongue on some debate that occurs. The one on the Neighbourhood Watch statistics has really annoyed me over the last few weeks. All I can say is that both the government and the opposition are hypocritical in the remarks that have been made about publishing Neighbourhood Watch stats. Let me say that the Neighbourhood Watch newsletter in Alice Springs has always published the crimes in the nine areas. The table was very comprehensive; it lists the property involved, the type of offence, the date, the street, whether or not force was used and the value of the property stolen, as well as the value of the damage caused. I’ll ask to table all these when I have finished. There is an example in February 1999 of the stats for houses in The Gap showing all the break-ins that have occurred. In March 1999, there was a little item in the Neighbourhood Watch magazine that said:
We have changed the format on the way we produce statistics for our monthly newsletter. You will see the
new format in this issue which is similar in style to what Neighbourhood Watch produces in Darwin.
Then we go on a little bit further when all we end up getting is the residential break-ins in all the areas. It is listed like this. This was at the time of the CLP government. This was the CLP government restricting the information to people in the Neighbourhood Watch. The Leader of the Opposition has said it is a disgrace, a conflict of interest and manipulative, but it was he leading the government in March 1999, that changed the format of recording crime in the Neighbourhood Watch newsletters in Alice Springs from a very comprehensive list of offences: where they happened, what the value of the goods were, and what damage occurred. Now he was saying: ‘What a disaster, you should be publishing those results’. Yet, it was his government that stopped them in Alice Springs.
On the other hand, at the same time, the member for Stuart was very supportive of those statistics in the Neighbourhood Watch. He said things like:
Providing details of crime must be a starting point in deciding appropriate action. A key function of
the Neighbourhood Watch is to promote informed debate and to propose action including on mandatory
sentencing. Not only should Neighbourhood Watch get the full range of police stats but also sentencing
and correctional service details.
How hypocritical now, that both sides of the House have a different point of view to what they had in 1999. In 1999, the CLP government said: ‘We will start to dilute the stats we are providing you’. In 1999, the member for Stuart and the opposition were saying: ‘We need them, they’re a good thing.’ What is happening now? I hear nothing from the member for Stuart asking about it; nothing from him supporting Neighbourhood Watch. This was all done without consultation with the Neighbourhood Watch committees who work in a voluntary capacity, do a lot of hard work and to my knowledge have never, in Alice Springs, abused the knowledge that they have received in the Neighbourhood Watch committee. So, what’s going on? Who is afraid of being open and telling us what is happening in our neighbourhoods? At the moment in Alice Springs we seem to have a crime wave. Right across all suburbs are break and enters, windows being smashed, cars being stolen, you name it. But we are not going to be allowed to have those stats.
The police in Alice Springs provide, week by week, a very detailed report to Darwin on what happens in Alice: all the apprehensions, whether they were alcohol related, domestic violence, forced break and enter. If you ask for it, it is all there and simple to produce. I am saying to the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services: how about talking to the Neighbourhood Watch committees? They are the ones that do all the work for you. Why produce a fancy graph and have it on the front page of the NT News when, obviously, the only places you are worried about are Darwin and Palmerston?
I have contacted the Police Commissioner’s office and asked him for the stats for Alice Springs. Let’s see a similar graph outlining what’s happening in Alice Springs. As yet, I haven’t received it but I am hopeful that we will, because I think the new Police Commissioner needs to get out and start talking to some of those committees, and realising that these people are the good people of our community. They are there to serve the community and the last thing you want to do is get them offside.
An interesting debate, and one that both sides of the House should be looking at and saying: ‘Whoops, why have we done this?’ Why did the CLP government reduce those stats back in 1999, and why did the opposition at that time support so strongly the publication of those but now are saying: ‘No, no, no, no, you cannot have them’. Let’s see if we can get an answer from the minister on that.
I also want us to look briefly about the grog restrictions in Alice Springs. The feedback I am getting is, quite frankly after a short time, that they are not working. They are not working and I am calling on the Liquor Commissioner to make sure he has a review after three months. Not at the end of 12 months, because I am quite sure that by then, it will be such a disaster, it will be too hard to correct.
There are various reasons why grog restrictions were introduced into Alice Springs. One of them was a concern about the amount of alcohol being consumed. It is true; the amount of alcohol that is being sold at the moment may not have increased, but the strength of the alcohol being sold is much greater and having different effects. We are having port, mixed drinks, Jim Beam, VB, you name it, now being consumed by the drinkers. These types of drinks that have a high alcohol content are making people more aggressive, drunker more quickly, and very nasty. For instance, one of the people who sells alcohol said to me: ‘In the past, when they came in and said: “I want some more grog”, you could say: “No, no, you have had enough”, they would accept it and walk away. Now, the fists and voices are being raised, and it is becoming a very angry confrontation’.
They were also hoping to lessen admissions to the hospitals. Well, admissions to the emergency section haven’t increased but what’s happening is the injuries are more violent, more severe, because the aggression that this stronger alcohol is bringing out is causing people to do far more violent things than they did when they got silly drunk on moselle or the other cask they had. Therefore, even though you might be able to say yes, the amount of alcohol that has been sold has not increased, and yes, the admissions to the emergency department have not increased, there is a difference.
If the aim of the inquiry was also to improve the visual image of the town - because people worried about what the tourists saw in the CBD during the day – well, yes, we have probably achieved something. Business during the day in the CBD is quieter; people are not drinking in the Todd before 2 pm because the liquor outlets do not open until 2 pm. So, of course, we have a quieter CBD; the business people are not getting hassled as much during the day. However, what happens later in the evening? That is a problem. It is far worse and much harder for the police to arrest people in the dark. The Night Patrol is doing things in the dark. The Day Patrol has almost become unnecessary. It is harder in the dark for the police trying to control the amount of alcohol in the Todd. What’s happening is the whole timing of consumption has changed. Therefore, we may have less drunken behaviour in daylight hours that may upset the business people, but at night, the CBD, the parks and neighbourhoods, are far worse and far more dangerous. At a Neighbourhood Watch meeting the other night, the reports of misbehaviour and antisocial behaviour, disturbing residents late at night in the parks, was an issue they raised over and over again.
There is also a noticeable increase in people in major shopping centres waiting for liquor outlets to open. They are hanging around until 2 pm, waiting for the doors to be opened. What is happening is causing concern to traders and customers because there is restless behaviour; shoplifting of food; blocking of entrances to the shops, and aggression appearing. We never had that before. In a place like Yeperenye, which is an enclosed shopping centre, it is even harder. At least in Coles or in the Ford Plaza, they can ask them to wait outside. But, when you get a large group of people internally, waiting for the 2 pm opening, it is terrible. I have to admit it is happening in many places. You only need to go around to Millner Road to see what is happening there. I notice Millner Road has put on extra security at night because of this delayed drinking that is occurring. It is that delay that is causing problems. It is not improving the drinking habits; it is not meaning fewer people are drinking; it is not meaning there are fewer drunks on our street. All we have done is change the alcohol they are consuming, changed the time in which they are consuming it, and changed some of the noticeable effects.
As well as that, we have a lot of glass and litter. It is the glass litter that has suddenly appeared because of the amount of port and other bottled alcohol that is being consumed. Of course, with the use of bottles, as you may have seen in the paper recently when the bottle was smashed and was put to the throat of a person, it is causing horrific injuries.
Unfortunately, at night time in Alice Springs, there are a lot of people who haven’t returned to their communities, for various reasons. There are a lot of people from the Pitjantjatjara lands at the moment, and they seem to be trapped in this grog cycle and unable to go home. What we need is to make sure the minister really supports the Back to Country Program. I have to admit, a troop carrier going out bush twice a week is not enough; you are not moving the quantity of people you should be getting back to the communities.
We also should be saying to Centrelink again: ‘Do not give cheques in town. Make sure people can only access their welfare payments out on their communities’. Perhaps if that was introduced as a federal government policy, that would help families who are back in the communities who do not get the money because it is being gobbled up in town. That is something I think we should be looking at, and the minister for Health could perhaps again try to get the federal government to agree to.
What concerns me a little bit, with some of the feedback I had, is that there seems to be an attitude in Alice Springs that if you are against the grog restrictions: say nothing, belt up, you are not allowed to do that. In Katherine and Tennant Creek, the interesting thing was that the communities came together as a whole; everyone across the community worked towards it. In Alice Springs, if you are a hotelier and you say anything against grog restrictions, you are then branded. I’ll probably be branded as racist tomorrow because I am saying they are not working. What we have to do is get away from that mentality. We have to say this is a whole community problem, it is not the province of a very few dedicated PAAG people. It is ours as a community, and if you want to speak up, you should feel free to do so and not be gagged by these people who say you do not have a right.
I am urging all members of the community to write into the licensing committee, or get on to the web site and feed in their comments. I have had a lot of people come into my office with their concerns. As with a lot of people, they are unwilling to put their name on something because they do not want to be branded. I think we are at the stage now that we really need to get people to be open and honest and give that feedback, otherwise the only people who will give feedback are the pro-restriction people. To be honest, they are perhaps not the ones who are suffering as much as the people living out in the suburbs. I say to people: get your comments in.
I say to the Liquor Commissioner: please can we have a review in three months? Do not wait any longer, the damage is already occurring. We cannot afford to have this damage continue. We need to make sure the Back to Country Program is supported strongly. We need to get Centrelink to be thinking about how they are issuing cheques. We need to commend the police. Just in one week before I came up, the police tipped out 300 litres of alcohol. They are doing so much: they took 223 people into police custody; they attended 400 incidents - of these, 272 were alcohol related. So, it is still a problem, it is not reducing our problem. All I can say is please get your comments in and, Liquor Commissioner, let’s have another review quickly.
Mr STIRLING (Nhulunbuy): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, in relation to the comments made by the member for Braitling, we did touch on these statistics earlier in the day. I certainly do not direct the Commissioner of Police on what to do with his statistics; they are police statistics. I do not direct him whether or not they should be in Neighbourhood Watch, what form or where they should appear. There is a process whereon we have policy position very clear, that the responsibility for statistics would come through the Office of Crime Prevention located within the Ministry of Justice. The police are continuing toward the whole question of statistics: handover, release, what format, how often through the year. There are, of course, other releases during the year. There are the ABS statistics during the year, and also the Productivity Commission crime statistics on top of the Police, Fire and Emergency Services annual report, in addition to anything else that we bring out as a result of policy decisions made.
Mrs Braham: But not Territory-wide stats. Let’s have them broken up into different regions.
Mr STIRLING: I take on board what the member for Braitling is saying. I’ll see that those remarks get through to the Ministry of Justice and the police in terms of their decision-making processes further on.
Regarding the alcohol restrictions and how effective they’re proving, I would hope that the member for Braitling will get a copy of her remarks across to the Liquor Commissioner. That is another area that, as minister, you do not have decision-making responsibility over. Whilst we are, overall, responsible for it, we certainly do not direct the commissioner in anything that he or she takes on. I am sure he would be interested in the member for Braitling’s comments, given her knowledge of the local area.
Late next month, Darwin will witness an historic and nostalgic event: the arrival over our skies of one of the last three Catalina flying boats left in the world. Discovered as a near wreck in Portugal, the Catalina has been flown back to remain in Australia as a tribute to the men and machines who flew in defence of Australia. The reason I raise this tonight is because the Catalina has a critical role in the history of the Territory, with particular resonance for Darwin, Nhulunbuy and Groote Eylandt, which were major bases for this mighty craft. I raise it because, coincidentally, a Northern Territory writer, Andrew McMillan, has just had a book published on the story of the Catalina over Top End skies entitled Catalina Dreaming.
The Catalina was one of the great war horses of the Australian effort in Top End skies. They were capable of flying up to 32 hours in the air on a single load of fuel, could carry bombs, people, depth charges and mines. Andrew’s book, launched at the beginning of May by Deputy Commander Operational Support at Northern Command, Group Captain John Oddie. Appropriately, it was launched at Doctor’s Gully, the Darwin base for Catalinas. Group Captain Oddie had high praise for the author and book, finding it difficult to imagine that McMillan had not been in a Catalina, let alone on a long range battle flight. It says much for Andrew, who has written extensively about parts of my own electorate in his recent Intruders Guide to Arnhem Land, and his status as one of the Territory’s great writers.
As Group Captain Oddie put it, the story of the Catalina is one of men and their machines which he said that Andrew McMillan had honoured. To quote Oddie:
They got up there and they flew. And their mates died. And they flew. And their mates died again, and they flew ... Their job was to make the best of warfare, to defend Australia, to make the Catalina the tool it had to be to defend the things that were important at the time, and that was freedom. Today we enjoy the fruits of that freedom, and I think that freedom can only be tasted in its true flavour if we look through the eyes of people like Andrew. This book does that.
When the Catalina arrives in Darwin next month, I hope it reminds people of the Northern Territory of a vital chapter in our history. The restoration project is being carried out by a group of aircraft restoration enthusiasts, and while they’ve raised the funds through some philanthropist to purchase the Catalina, further funds are required to keep it as a flying part of Australia’s heritage. During its visit to Darwin the Catalina will be restored in original battle livery, in black paint to become a ‘Black Cat’. I understand they’re looking for volunteers locally to help in this project, and I am sure there’ll be many in Darwin willing to lend a hand.
Yirrkala Business Enterprises, a Nabalco operated training school better known as YNOTS, is now in its second year. It has just completed its second intake of 24 new trainees and they start work on 29 April this year. There are two female trainees in the program. Its first year has been significant. Since its inauguration, YNOTS has moved from a training program to a nationally recognised new apprentice scheme. This is a major achievement for the staff of YNOTS and bodes well for the future. The training program integrates a component from NTU. The course is workplace education, a program providing basic workplace related skills. Two new trainers have joined the group from last year’s program. Michael Marawili and Richard Zagigi have completed the Certificate in Training Small Groups and Workplace Assessment. Craig Bonney is administrator for YNOTS. His efforts and those of his team have seen the advancement of the program, and they should be congratulated.
Last month I asked the member for Arafura to present a National Service Medal to Corporal Robert Oakes, nicknamed ‘Shakey’, of NORFORCE Arnhem Squadron. I was disappointed in being called to Melbourne and missing the opportunity to make the presentation myself. ‘Shakey’ started with the Army in October 1968; this is his 34th year as a soldier, a great achievement by any measure. He spent two years in Vietnam from July 1969 to May 1971. One of his officers at the time was Lt Gen Peter Cosgrove. It was difficult time for the Australian Defence Forces, and particularly for the soldiers serving there. ‘Shakey’ has broad experience within the Army. He served in the 5th, 7th, 6th and 9th Battalions, Royal Australian Regiment, 1 Commando Company, Army Transport School, Single Range Control, Greenbank Range Control, 10/27 Royal South Australian Regiment, South Queensland Logistics Group, Base Administrative Support Company Enoggera, and various tours of Rifle Company Butterworth in Malaya. Of course, let’s not forget his current posting in the Arnhem Squadron of NORFORCE.
The award is in recognition of his time as a national serviceman. He now has over 30 years’ of service after an initial National Service term, a truly impressive record. He is a credit to his squadron, to the Army itself, and of course, to Australia.
Cheryl Ross has been a teacher for 28 years. She started as a bilingual teacher on Groote Eylandt in 1974. She transferred to Ludmilla Primary in 1977. She also worked at Wagaman and, finally, at Moil Primary. She enjoyed the status as a teacher of exemplary practice. She was recognised for her commitment to teaching with an honours award from a school council and the Teacher of Excellence Award.
Cheryl was keen on sports. Her commitment to athletics has benefited school sports, zone sports, Pacific School Sports and the Arafura Games. The Heart Foundation was another of Cheryl’s passions. She gave generously of her time and responded to many crises within Australia and internationally by organising fundraising activities. Cheryl also made her mark in the area of environmental issues through her involvement in Greening Australia, Landcare and Keep Australia Beautiful. Cheryl Ross deserves to be congratulated for her 28-year career as a teacher; it is not an easy job. She has done it well. I wish her well in her retirement.
It was 30 years ago that Gove Country Golf Club opened the first three holes of its course. It was a serious challenge to the golfing public with local rules demanding that each player collect three tree roots during each game. The intrepid golfers of Gove soon produced a complete nine hole course carved from virgin bushland. Like many new courses, it was pretty rough. However, after many working bees and enthusiastic support, the Gove Country Golf Club was moved from oiled, scrape ‘greens’ and rubber mat tees to very presentable grass fairways, tees and greens.
The club was founded in September 1970. The works committee was given the task of designing and planning the course. The committee consulted with Nabalco’s architectural department and received technical advice from several golf clubs. Local contractors generously donated the plant and equipment and work started within 18 months. The club has come a long way in 30 years; it employs a full-time greenkeeper and apprentice. It has a bar, provides meals, has occasional entertainment and poker machines. It is hosting a range of golfing events, not the least being the Gulf Amateur Open, a 54 hole event held annually for Territory golfers. The club has a junior program with 25 participants. The big plan for the club is renewal of the club house. That is seen as important for the future of the club to facilitate and improve fundraising capacity. It is a credit to the members of the club, past and present, that this facility has continued to improve over the years. The Gove Country Golf Club continues to be an important social centre for many of the people of Nhulunbuy.
Harmony Day was held on 21 March, as it has been since 1999. Harmony Day provides an opportunity for Australians to think about our community’s success as a multicultural society. This year, the Scouts played a leadership role in promoting Harmony Day in Nhulunbuy by constructing a large banner at the swimming pool. They used bright orange tape to spell out ‘You + Me = Us’, the theme for this year’s day. Both the Scout and the Cub Troops were involved. The Joey Scouts also participated in a multicultural program led by Carol Dodd. The message of reconciliation is an important part of the Harmony Day spirit and this was apparent in the efforts of the Scouts on this day. Harmony Day is also the United Nations Day for the elimination of racial discrimination .
For the last seven years, the Country Women’s Association has provided the Meals on Wheels service in Nhulunbuy. The service is critical for elderly pensioners, the disabled and families in need. Some require meals on a routine basis, while others only require the service on an occasional basis. The daily roster varies from 14 to 25 meals. The CWA provides one meal a day to those on the roster. The meals are delivered by volunteers who are an important point of contact for the clients. Glenda Schmidt is the local coordinator. The CWA is funded by the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services, and the funding means that meals can be provided at a nominal cost to the clients. Meals on Wheels is an important service in any community and often goes unsung. The volunteers do a fabulous job and I take this opportunity to congratulate them on their efforts.
In April, the member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour, attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Nhulunbuy which aims to improve education and training outcomes for Yolgnu people. Ms Scrymgour represented me as the Minister for Employment, Education and Training at the ceremony. The memorandum of understanding has been in the development stages for over 12 months with the involvement and input from Miwatj Regional Council, ATSIC, Centrelink, the Northern Territory government and the Commonwealth government.
The government believes that to succeed in turning around the low outcomes in indigenous education, we need to work in real partnership with indigenous parents, community service providers and industry. The MOU represents a model for collaboration between the community, education, and other agencies, and will give the community a role in determining aspects of education and training programs for its young people including technical and vocational training, distance education and cross-cultural training. It will also enable the development of joint training programs which will lead to structured and effective school-to-work pathways for students.
The Miwatj Regional Council and ATSIC will now convene a Miwatj Education and Training Forum twice a year to discuss education, training and learning outcomes. I missed the signing ceremony but did sign the MOU a few days later.
The MV Frances Bay, the Perkins barge, had its 700th voyage into Gove in April this year. The vessel has not missed a voyage in its 15 years of service, a record of which Perkins Shipping can be justly proud. It is a major lifeline for Nhulunbuy. It is the only coastal vessel that has a roll-on roll-off capacity of up to 250 tonnes through her bow door. The total carrying capacity is 1400 tonnes, up to 80 containers, and 1.7 million litres of bulk fuel. Perkins Shipping is a privately owned company with considerable investments in the Gove terminal. The company has invested over $3m and employs 11 local residents. Perkins are in Gove for the long haul, as they have already demonstrated. They have actively contributed to sporting and social organisations including the Gove AFL, Expo 2002, Nhulunbuy Community Centre, Gove Country Gold Club, Gove Surf Lifesaving Club, among others. Perkins have proven themselves to be a great corporate citizen in Gove for a long time. The MV Frances Bay is very much a part of living in Gove.
On the May Day long weekend, the people of Katherine hosted the Katherine Country Music Muster. Paul Dewhurst, from Nhulunbuy, with band, the Spangled Emperors, trooped off to join the muster. The Spangled Emperors include Paul on guitar, Phil McDonald on bass, Steve Chandler on harmonica, and Trevor Hayes on drums. Paul shot to prominence at the event with his entry in a nationwide song writing contest. His song Cane Toad Avenue made it to the top five entries. Paul, with the band, apparently made quite a splash at the muster. A CD featuring the song Cane Toad Avenue will be released later this month or early in June.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise today to commemorate an event that took place 61 years ago and to pay tribute to the Anzacs. I think this week that the last of our Gallipoli Anzacs is going to be buried.
The Germans called it Operation Mercury. We know it today as the Battle of Crete. Of all the military campaigns fought in Greece during the World War II, the battle of Crete will be remembered as one of the strongest acts of defiance against the Nazis. Although the German troops eventually overran Crete, it was also the first time in the war that the Nazis were not infallible. Many Australian, British and New Zealand troops fought side by side with the Greeks; a great battle forging a special bond between the island’s people and the ANZAC troops.
The strategic position of Crete was of paramount importance for Hitler to gain a strong foothold in south-eastern Europe, to allow his troops to continue their campaign to the Middle East to secure the oil fields and to prepare for a new attack on the Russian front. On 20 May 1941, the sky over Crete was filled with German paratroopers. Thousands of troops from various parachute and mountain divisions were dropped in the air raid. Most of the allied anti-aircraft were destroyed by heavy bombing, but the allied troops delayed their firing and began shooting at the paratroopers as they descended. Many Cretans using older, self-loading guns, aimed and attacked the enemy.
With limited ammunition and manpower, the Cretan villagers and the Anzacs fought gallantly together, eventually containing the German paratroopers to three main areas of the island. Despite the heavy toll, after seven days of continuous fighting, the Germans deployed more air power and managed to override the island, capturing strategic military positions near Khania and Rethimnon on the west of the island, and Iraklion on the eastern flank. Many ANZAC troops and Cretans continued fighting, even though defeat was inevitable. By 1 June 1941, the battle of Crete was over. However, its eventual occupation came at a heavy price to both sides. During the 10 days of fighting, 781 Australians and New Zealanders were killed, and more than 3000 were captured.
During the occupation, Cretan villagers risked their own lives providing food and shelter for many ANZAC troops who remained on the island, hiding them from the Nazi forces. Some of these ANZAC troops managed to cross the island from the north to the south, and waited on the coastline for the allied ships to arrive to take them to safety to Egypt in Africa. Some of these boats came and they left loaded, but many of the ANZAC troops remained on the island. The penalty for hiding or harbouring an ANZAC soldier from the Germans was death, and many Cretan villagers died: executed in front of their children and their families because the Germans discovered troops in their houses.
I was very moved when I came to Australia and I went to south Western Australia and found one place called Prevaley. I was very surprised why a south Australian area would have such a Greek name. I was even more surprised when, in this particular area, I found a small Greek church built in the Cretan style of architecture. I asked a few questions and then I found out that the owner of the area was an ANZAC trooper who fought in Crete. He escaped capture by the Germans, crossed the mountains that in Crete are very, very high. It was near winter time, and he suffered hunger and thirst until the monks of the monastery of Prevaley found him and hid him for days until eventually he found the way to Egypt.
When he was hiding, he was very unsure if he would survive the ordeal, and he promised that if he ever returned to Australia, and made money, he was going to buy a piece of land and build a church and call it Prevaley. Years later, he returned to Australia and made money. He went to Western Australia and bought hectares of land in a place that looks surprisingly like Crete - undulating land that goes down to the sea. If you forget the eucalyptus, banksia and blackboy trees, you would actually think you were in Greece. He built a church and he donated it to the Greek people in Western Australia and the Greek Archdiocese in Australia, as a thank you present for his rescue.
The courageous efforts of the ANZAC troops in Crete together, particularly, with the brave Cretan people, dealt a severe blow to the Nazis. They never recovered; they never used paratroopers or parachutists again, and delayed their invasion of Russia, with the result we know today. They delayed so much that winter arrived and most of the German soldiers died from frost as a result of the heavy winter.
However, the Cretans never forgot the sacrifice of the Australian and New Zealand boys, and they erected a monument in memory of the people who drew their last breath on the island. Last year, John Anictomatis, our Administrator, went to Crete with a large contingent of people who fought in the war there. He took with him one of the soldiers who actually lives in the Territory now, Mr Charlie Parrott. When he came back, he described to me the arrival of the people, now in their 60s and 70s. They were still remembered by the people in Iraklion, Rethimnon and Khania. Some of them, after so many years, found old friends. Of course, today is 61 years and one day after the battle of Crete, and the message is: Lest We Forget.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to add my comments to those of the member for Braitling about the alcohol issue in Alice Springs. It has been a month, probably five weeks, since the trial began. It started on 1 April, so it is more than five weeks. It is six or seven weeks since the trial began, and at first blush, it appears that the restrictions have probably caused more problems than anticipated.
While the drinking has started later each day, the mingling around alcohol outlets until 2 pm has increased. That has caused some shopkeepers, particularly those in the bigger shopping centres, some degree of concern. However, unlike the member for Braitling, I am prepared to wait a little longer to see how the restrictions pan out. Six weeks is too early. While there has been a lot of product substitution, and switching from paper wine casks to bottles - hence a lot of broken glass - I am prepared to wait a bit longer to see what happens.
I also share the member for Braitling’s concerns that people who speak out against the restrictions are being bullied by the pro-restriction people to such an extent that even when the chairman of the reference group spoke out, he was chastised by one of his own members who happened to be one of the pro-restriction persons. It is a pity that this open conflict within the reference group is being aired throughout the media. It is important for the reference group to continue to monitor and ensure that the restriction is given a fair go. I would await the assessment of the trial by the reference group before deciding for myself whether this is going to be good for Alice Springs or not. In the short term, it has not appeared to be a good move, but who knows what happens in a few months time?
I rise tonight primarily to speak about Cawood Court. The minister, in response to a question this morning, spoke about Cawood Court and how the advertisement never spoke about the demolition of the units at Cawood Court. That is, indeed, not true. When builders and project managers in Alice Springs responded to the advertisement in the local papers, they all received a document, and I seek leave to table the front cover of the document.
Leave granted.
Dr LIM: The front page of the document reads, under the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment:
Expressions of interest are sought for the refurbishment or demolition and redevelopment of Lot 1832,
Cawood Court Flats, Nicker Crescent, Town of Alice Springs.
The closing date for that was 6 February 2002. Demolition was definitely contemplated on the front cover of the proposal. I heard through the grapevine through many builders who sought to put expressions of interest for this development, that they were advised from persons unknown, working in this building, that they were not to put in a proposal for demolition because that would not be considered. If that were the case, then this front cover really misleads everybody in Alice Springs, especially the people who put in proposals. I think that is just not on. It is government doing things …
A member: By stealth.
Dr LIM: More than by stealth. They advertised one thing, verbally advised another thing and then, when it comes to the assessment, a different set of rules apply. I think that is a real concern.
I had a briefing from the CEO of the department the week before last, and canvassed the issues with him. He felt that the successful proposer provided the best option of the nine that were received. I am not going to go into the issues of whether the proposer is the right person for the job or not. I know that he has a lot of dealings with the Northern Territory; owns lots of property; has redeveloped many properties in Central Australia as well as in the Top End; and he is a very good businessman. Good luck to him that he is successful.
What I was concerned about was the process that this government took. Not only did the expressions of interest have to be submitted by 6 February 2002, it took the government months to come to a decision. They wanted the proposals to come in fairly quickly, and then they sat on their hands. I was inundated with calls from people to find out what was happening.
Mr Henderson: All two of them.
Dr LIM: There were nine proposers in Alice Springs. One I will call an Alice Springs person, he is really a local. They had nine proposals from nine people, and it took the government months and months to come to a decision. Now, the government also undertook - or it promised the people in Alice Springs - that the money gained from the sale of this property would be dedicated to Alice Springs. That was only after a lot of objections from Alice Springs and from the opposition to ensure that money does not get put into general revenue and then disappear into thin air. The minister did promise that the money would be spent in Alice Springs but when I questioned where the money would be put, I could not get any answer. It may be put into repairs and maintenance of properties of Territory Housing in Alice Springs.
I think Alice Springs needs more than just that. Sure, we have Gillen House now being demolished, and that land is going to be turned into a retirement or seniors village. That is not enough. We need more than that. We need land, we need more housing for senior Territorians and needy families in Central Australia. We need to be advised by government as to where they are going to spend the money. The government is obviously not prepared to give us the information and all we can do in opposition is to continue to ask and to pester for an answer. I hope the minister will get his department to look into the issue and ensure that some information is forthcoming soon.
With this decision, Alice Springs is still faced with a shortage of R1 land: very, very desperately short of R1 land. The Head Street blocks are now being developed and, once those blocks are built, that is it, there is nothing else - absolutely nothing else left in Alice Springs. The minister’s staff asked the question during the briefing: what would I do? I said that if I were him, I would get the minister to act on Larapinta stage 4, as soon as he possibly can; get moving on it because if we do not do that, then the town is absolutely at a standstill and the building industry will start to wind down very quickly. The Convention Centre and the Centre for Remote Health are now complete. There are really no other major projects going on in town. That is important.
A member: What about the railway?
Dr LIM: I will pick up that interjection about the railway. In my opinion, the railway is not going to ensure any impact for Alice Springs for at least six, if not 12 months. It is a pity the people from the Top End do not understand what is happening with the railway. There is significant activity in Katherine and Tennant Creek but, in Alice Springs we are seeing very little activity.
The other issue that I want to come to is about Owen Springs and the way that the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure dealt with it recently when his department found that the Alice Springs Aero Club had developed a one kilometre landing strip at Owen Springs. In his radio interview on the ABC with the well-known Fred McCue on 9 May, the minister said, and I quote here from the transcript of that interview on the ABC:
People have to wait for the government to make a final decision what do we do with Owen Springs Station.
I say to the minister: people have been waiting for a long, long time for a decision from the government. He said last year in October he was waiting for people to put submissions in. Well, people have put their submissions in already. They have been with the department since October last year and yet this government, six months later, has not made a decision at all. It is time they got their act together and did something about it.
On Fred McCue’s radio program, Stuart Brash was the interviewer. He asked the minister: ‘Have you spoken to the Aero Club yourself and what have they said to you?’ The minister responded: ‘Well, I haven’t, and they haven’t spoken to me; they haven’t approached my office’. In fact, the minister or someone in his office did speak with the people from the Aero Club. I spoke with the Aero Club people and they assured me that they had spoken to the minister or his office in November of last year. They told him what they wanted to do and what they needed, and explained to him their circumstances, their financial difficulties, and the cost they are bearing at the Alice Springs Airport.
It is a small volunteer organisation, a small community group running an aero club. They are not opening any other commercial operation, only ‘touch and goes’ which is student pilots practising landings, rolling on the tarmac and taking off again without coming to a full stop.
Mr Elferink: Seven bucks a go.
Dr LIM: It is a very expensive. ‘$7 a go’, says the member for Macdonnell, and he is a student pilot himself. That is what it costs. It is a very expensive exercise. The aero club, being a very small group, cannot afford that. The aero club needed the government to make a decision. They’ve put a proposal in, just like every other group. I know the hot air balloon industry have put proposals in; I know there are others. The motor sports industry have put their proposal in; I know two other operatives have …
Mr Elferink: Tourist operators, cattlemen.
Dr LIM: Yes, cattlemen have put their proposals in. They are all there, so the government has to get off its collective backside to make some decisions. It is not that difficult. The CLP bought Owen Springs Station at a market price; it was a good price …
Mr Henderson: You never said what you were going to do with it.
Dr LIM: It was to reserve that land so that Alice Springs would have unfettered growth but also to provide land that Alice Springs people can have for their future entertainment, tourism growth, and community growth. That was what it was all about.
However, this government cannot come to a decision. Why? Is there a hidden agenda there somewhere; are they going to try and sell the land to other parties and lock up Alice Springs?
Ms Lawrie: Ah, fantasy.
Mr Henderson: Weren’t you listening to Question Time this morning?
Mr Kiely: Yeah. Look at Hansard.
Dr LIM: Well, the members across the Chamber chortle. They should at least ensure that the government provides an answer. Tell us what they are doing, not just sit there and say: ‘Look, we are still thinking about it’.
Alice Springs needs to have unfettered land where it can grow into the future and by growth I mean for the unforeseeable future. In 100 years from now, who knows what Alice Springs will be like? That is what is important; it could be a town twice its size. It has to have land that has no boundaries, otherwise we will be locked in, and Alice Springs will be forever disadvantaged because it will be ringed around with private land that you cannot expand to. The only way to expand then is to buy land back, and it is a stupid way to go about doing things.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I’d like to start my adjournment debate with some notes on schools in my electorate. Honourable members may be aware that there are four schools in the Johnston electorate: Jingili, Moil, Wagaman, and I am very proud to say the Casuarina Senior College is also in the Johnston electorate.
In relation to Casuarina Senior College, they will be represented at the Future Indigenous Leaders Conference to be held in Adelaide from 10 to 15 July. Their representatives will be Selina Uibo, Gemma Benn, Wiyana Tyeague-Suradi and Andreas Vorst-Hoptkins. The college has four teams in the intra-school debating this year, with over 20 students involved. The competition runs for eight weeks and three teams can still make the finals. ‘Cas 1’ debating team is on top of the ladder at present, and is made up of Deevya Desai, Mary Ann Oecker, Cienna Turpie, Nadia Foti, and Sulifa Tonga. Sid Vemuri, Rachelle Griffin and Lauren Clarke have been chosen for the NT squad in debating, with a final decision on the team to compete in Adelaide in August, being made in the next couple of weeks.
Twelve students and two teachers will be visiting Sumyoshi High School in Osaka, Japan, in June with a return visit to Darwin in August 2002. This exchange has been going on for some time, and is greatly enjoyed by both the Japanese students and the students in Casuarina Senior College.
In March 2002, Janice Bell and Michaela Mihailou were chosen to represent the Northern Territory in the Australian Hockey League, and I’ll wish both of them the best of luck.
Casuarina College has three representatives in the Lions Youth of the Year competition: Dev Tilakaratne, David Hevey and Sidarth Vemuri. Each of the students gave a wonderful account of themselves, and they are all excellent ambassadors for Casuarina Senior College. The competition was particularly close and Sid was selected as the NT representative. Congratulations Sid, and well done, Deb and David, on your performance in this demanding competition.
In March, David Hevey and Selena Uibo attended interstate workshops in order to prepare for the first two meetings of the Prime Minister’s National Youth Round Table to be held in Canberra. The round table is a forum for our youth between 15 and 24 at which they can discuss their views.
I would like to warmly welcome Brian Bennett, the new Principal of Moil Primary School, who started at the school this week after leaving the winter climes of Tasmania. Brian made himself known to me at my stall at Rapid Creek on Sunday, and I will be meeting Brian in the next week or so and offering my support for the Moil Primary School.
During the weekend of 9 and 10 March at the NT Age Open Swimming Championships, Christopher Frew had a very big win and achievement in coming third overall for the eight years old group. Congratulations Chris, it is a fantastic achievement. Seven more primary school students were selected to play in the Aussie Rules City Cluster Training Squad later this year. Congratulations to Travis Thorne, Ryan Pantic, Darren Peckham, Michael Jones, Anthony Downes, Rhys Higgins and Matt Toogood. I wish them all the best of luck.
Congratulations also to Tellie Geranis, who represented the NT in Sydney at the Australian Chungdokwan Tae kwon do Championships in late March. Congratulations also to Millicent Crowe, Stephanie Allen, Mackinlay Stirrat and Puanna Kapi for their selection in the City Cluster Netball Team to participate in the NT Netball Exchange in Darwin in June. Mackinlay Stirrat also competed in the City Cluster Cross Country Zone held recently. Mackinlay came third; fantastic result and congratulations to Mackinlay.
There sure are some talented kids at Moil, and here are some more! At the Eisteddfod 2002, Moil entered 12 performers. The competition began last Tuesday and the results to hand are: Year 6/7 choir, second out of fifteen schools; Year 4/5 choir, third out of eight schools; Year 2/3 choir, second out of nine schools; chorale group of 12, highly commended second; Year 4 folk dance, first with Jingili Primary School sharing the Margaret Walker Award; and Year 2/3 recorders, first. I also thank the member for Sanderson for bringing to my attention some of these wonderful results at the Eisteddfod.
We have heard of Chris Frew as a sportsman before, but Chris is also a pianist, and individually, he obtained exceptional results playing the piano: first in the 8-year-old Australian composer; first in the 8-year-old duet; highly commended for 8 years; and first in the 9-year-olds. What an outstanding achievement!
Moil still have three more groups participating on Thursday of this week and I will be keen to hear their results.
Congratulations to Ross Vasic of Jingili Primary School, who was selected in April to the Darwin City Cluster Basketball Team for the mini day competition, and to Luke Eggins who has been selected to the NT School Sports Swimming Team and who will participate in the Australian combined swimming event in September. That is a fantastic achievement.
Congratulations to the year 3/4/5 Falkenberg class at Wagaman Primary School, who were awarded a highly commended for their performance of The Sorting Hat by J K Rowling, and The Wind by Robert Louis Stevenson. I am speaking once again of the Eisteddfod.
Twenty students from 1/2 Hew class and 2/3 Beale class performed The Galopede in the 8 years and under Australian folk dancing and won first prize for their energy and joyfulness, even though they managed to collide on several occasions. Adam Pulford recited The Three Little Pigs by Roald Dahl and was awarded a highly commended. Adam was also highly commended in the Year 7 and under impromptu reading. It is reported that all students from Wagaman Primary School behaved beautifully, both on and off the stage, and they are all to be commended for that.
From the preschool, Sabrina Ciubal was highly commended for her piano playing at the Eisteddfod. I should not forget the teachers at the Eisteddfod: Lisa Bacskar of Jingili took the first prize for Scottish dancing; and Ms Jane Anlezark from Wagaman and Ms Janine Sutter from Moil competed.
I would like to move on to other community events I have attended. During the last sittings on 2 March, I attended the Darwin Symphony Orchestra’s A Night of Gilbert and Sullivan conducted by Martin Jarvis, with special guest vocalists from the Darwin Chorale. I noted the wonderful contribution made by the member for Nelson who, if I recall, was a policeman who had a great big baton in his hand.
Mr Elferink: A policeman’s lot is not an ‘appy one.
Dr BURNS: That’s the one! The program featured many favourites including the Pirates of Penzance and the Mikado in Miniature. I particularly enjoyed the Mikado. The costumery for the Mikado was absolutely fantastic and there were some great performances - a fantastic night.
I represented the Chief Minister when I attended a reception on the USS Blue Ridge at Stokes Hill Wharf on 8 March. It was my pleasure to cut the commemorative cake with Vice Admiral Metzger and Brigadier Silverstone. I was given the opportunity to make a short speech on that evening, and in part of that speech I talked about the tremendous partnership between the United States of America and Australia, and the special significance Darwin has in that. We do not need to revisit the bombing of Darwin in February 1942, but we all know that many American servicemen lost their lives in the harbour defending Australia. They showed great heroism and that is a great link between America and Australia. I think my words were warmly received.
On 9 March, I went to the Irish St Patrick’s Day celebration at the Golf Club at Marrara and had a fantastic night. There was a lot of Irish dancing, and I noticed that the member for Drysdale was also there having a great time, as was the member for Sanderson. I am sorry if I have missed anyone else; there were others. I had a good chat with the member for Drysdale and a couple of beers with the member for Sanderson, so it was a great night.
I also represented the Chief Minister at the Cancer Council luncheon on 12 March, and the theme for this gathering was the Ides of March, and was a dress-up in Roman style; namely togas and tunic. It was great to see so many people involved. Many people went to the trouble of having great costumery once again, and it was a great fundraiser for the Cancer Council. Mr Deputy Speaker, I know you are a great supporter of the Cancer Council. They do a great job in our community and make a contribution to the families of those who are afflicted by cancer, and also those people who have cancer. I have immense respect for the Cancer Council and the work that they do, both here in the Territory and Australia-wide.
Around this time, I also undertook to put together a team of volunteers to assist the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal doorknock, which is coming up this weekend. I urge everyone to dig deep and to give, give, give.
Through the good offices of a constituent, Mr Barry Lavarde, I, along with the member for Arafura, met with Mr Michael Stock. He has this group that is called the Volunteers for Isolated Student Education, and is visiting Darwin to discuss with interested parties the value of getting volunteer teachers into Aboriginal communities to tutor kids. I really commend that, and have commended that to the minister for Education as well.
On 15 March, I attended the ceremony here at Parliament House to mark National Harmony Day which is celebrated on 21 March. Harmony Day coincides with the United Nations International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It provides a day for all Australians to reflect on and celebrate our success as a harmonious and culturally diverse nation. It was also my privilege to attend events at Jingili and Wagaman Schools - Jingili for Harmony Day. Jingili School had a theme of different costumes and the kids really got into the spirit of that. Wagaman had their unique way of doing it: the kids and teachers actually spoke the motto of Harmony Day in their native tongues, so that was fantastic, and good to see.
Along with others here in the House, I also attended the Islamic Society Open Day on 23 March. Their objectives were to try and clarify many misconceptions that are often held amongst the wider community about Islam, and to provide an opportunity to have a get together in a frank, open informational activity. I’d like to thank Mr Asad Mohsin for his kind invitation and his dedication to involving the wider community in understanding the Islamic culture and having links with the local Islamic community.
On 17 March, I went to Hellenic Architectural and Musical Expressions night at the Darwin Entertainment Centre. This was very interesting. The architecture was interesting and I noted that the member for Casuarina, who spoke there, had many pictures of train stations that had been influenced by Greek architecture. I do not know whether there is something going on there in terms of the train stations for the Darwin to Alice Springs line, but we will have to wait and see. I was very impressed by the musicians that night. Greek musicians are very accomplished musicians and it was fantastic. Everyone really enjoyed that night, and I commend the Greek community.
On 23 March, I was proud to represent the Chief Minister at the stage adaptation of Nick Enright and Justin Monjo’s Cloudstreet based on the novel by Tim Winton. I was particularly impressed by the way in which the cast and producer dealt with Cloudstreet. I believe it is a very difficult piece to perform; it went over many hours. I know the member for Sanderson went on a later evening, but it was great production.
As members are aware, the Northern Territory University, in conjunction with the Speaker, runs an internship program which involves a small number of final year politics students working with individual members. These students gain credit points towards their degree for this. I am fortunate enough to have gained the services of Mr Rhys Michie, who is currently undertaking a review of alcohol treatment services in Darwin - or looking at proactive grassroots community-based strategies for providing pathways to rehabilitate Darwin’s long grassers and repatriate them, I guess. Rhys presents me with updates on his research. He has written a document on the public order legislation and associated issues in Darwin. I am finding Rhys’ approach to his research task both refreshing and comprehensive. I look forward to his final research paper.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to make a few comments tonight. Before I start speaking about what I intended to speak about, I do wish to pick up on a couple of issues that have been raised here this evening during the adjournment debate. The first one is the more mirthful issue of how those on the opposite side of the House were saying the same thing from the other side of the House. I raised it last week and made several observations about how the change of government has made us change either side of the House, but the comments seem to come the same side of the House. I was interested to hear that Madam Speaker was making the same sort of observation.
I heard the member for Braitling raise the issue of liquor restrictions in Alice Springs. I have generally been supportive - in fact downright proactive historically - in relation to the issue of liquor restrictions in Alice Springs. Indeed, I have worked with the member for Stuart and ATSIC in an effort to bring about some restrictions. However, I have also been making the same observations as the member for Braitling, especially in terms of litter. I have been hearing around the traps many of the complaints that the member for Braitling has been hearing, about the nature of violence and those sorts of things.
I originally stood up in this House and supported liquor restrictions in Alice Springs. When the Attorney-General came in here and said: ‘This is what is going to happen’, I once again stood up and said: ‘Yes, this is something that needs to happen in Alice Springs’. But I also said it is not going to work in a vacuum or in isolation but, rather, it is going to require all sorts of other efforts on behalf of government. Once again, at getting close to a three-month period, I again urge the Attorney-General to revisit that debate, and look at the suggestions I made at the time as to what extra measures are going to have to be taken. I am concerned that so little has occurred since that debate, that he has not followed up on those particular issues that I raised at the time and, as a consequence of that, these restrictions are going to fall well short of expectations. It would be a tragedy that the restrictions did fall well short of expectations. I would hope that the government takes a very, very serious view of all of this. There are no prizes for going over the harm and the damage that liquor causes in our community.
I rise to also speak about a gentleman by the name of Armin Hubert, whom I had a meeting with. I met with Mr Hubert a few days ago in relation to an idea he had for the Roper River. The area around the south of the Roper River is soon to be earmarked as a national park. The Roper River is an important waterway in the Northern Territory and is well fished and well used by many Territorians. At this stage, I have certainly no objections to the concept of turning that area into a national park.
However, I do wish to raise a concern, I suppose you’d call it, in relation to an idea for tourism development in the Roper River area. Mr Hubert has proposed, effectively, a floating shop. Mr Hubert currently works on the Adelaide River Queen, and that vessel is soon to be replaced. Mr Hubert is in a position to purchase the said vessel, and he wishes to remove it from the Adelaide River and take it to the Roper River area for the purposes of setting up a floating shop. It will require a small jetty and a small area for car parking, but the very principle behind the idea of this floating shop is that it sits on the Roper River and makes or leaves no environmental impact on that area at all. Indeed, the road that currently exists heading past the Roper River is very close to the river in some areas and is regularly used by Territorians who use a multitude of camping sites along that river for the purposes of going fishing. Where you have people moving, unfortunately, you have things such as litter and the like.
The Conservation Commission has written back to Mr Hubert, and I wish to quote an important part of the letter to members present today:
The Parks and Wildlife Commission has reviewed your letter and believe that the proposed tourism
development would contravene the deed of management by which the commission currently manage
the area. Under this agreement, the commission is required to protect and conserve wildlife, and
protect the natural features of the area. The commission is required to carry out these duties under
the guidance of the Pastoral Lands Act and such proposed tourism development would not be appropriate
at this point of time.
I draw the minister’s attention to the Northern Territory Parks Masterplan, Towards Sustainability. What hasn’t changed in Territory parks over recent years is the sensible commercial use of them in an effort to create jobs - for Aboriginal people and in general. Under chapter 5 of the management plan, the issue of tourism is raised. In paragraph 4 of that chapter, the Conservation Commission points out how much money is actually raised in the Northern Territory from tourism in Territory parks. For example, tourism from expenditure for the Watarrka National Park has been estimated at over $19m in 1995. This is evidently a good source of income for Territorians, and Mr Hubert has suggested that, if possible, he would certainly employ Aboriginal people in his floating shop. Therefore, that is a good argument for the shop being there.
The reason I specifically dealt with, or raised Watarrka, is that it is my understanding that Voyager Hotels, who currently run the Kings Canyon Resort, now actually have some sort of canteen. I haven’t seen it there myself. They have a canteen in the carpark of King’s Canyon itself, and from that they serve all manner of drinks and snacks.
Considering that that is the case, I am drawn to the masterplan’s tourism related concessions paragraph on page 35, where the masterplan outlines that there are concessions available in Territory parks for this type of tourism operations. Indeed, if you go to Appendix 3 of the report, those concessions are outlined. Licences, leases and permits are available in various parts. The Telegraph Station has, under negotiation, a kiosk as well as a permit for horse and trail and camel rides and the like. Watarrka, once again, has adjacent commercial activity and permits for cultural tours in the area of Watarrka National Park. Indeed, the Western MacDonnell National Park, once again, also has permits for guided bushwalking tours and horse and camel trips.
I understand that the letter from the Parks and Wildlife Commission refers to the deed of management under which the commission should manage the area. I am not certain what the entire terms of that deed of management are. However, I will say that what they rely on is their requirement, under the Pastoral Lands Act, to look after the area. Ultimately, it will become a national park; that is the intended use of that particular area.
I have already spoken to the minister about this briefly in the Chamber today, and I would urge him to revisit the application by Mr Hubert, because I am somewhat attracted to the low impact nature that such a floating shop would have. The other aspect of it is that, should that area become a national park and such concession be given to Mr Hubert to run his floating shop, he also becomes an extra set of eyes and ears in the area, for Parks and Wildlife. I think that this is a very important thing that members and the minister should turn their mind to, because extra eyes and ears normally do not come cheap. In this instance, however, Mr Hubert will be there trying to make an income for himself, and possibly some of the local people. To that end, the government may even enter into some sort of lease arrangement, so his presence there may be paid for by himself, rather than vice versa: having an extra Parks and Wildlife officer working the area.
In any instance, the man has a great deal of experience in these types of tourism ventures: he certainly has a great deal of experience in tourism. I am quite attracted to giving people a go. I have no idea what the commercial viability of such a shop is, but nor is that of great interest to me. Suffice to say, if he is prepared to put in all the effort and to take the risks, I think it is incumbent on government to try and develop an environment whereby those people who are prepared to put in the risk capital, the hurt time, the hurt dollars, should be given a go.
The joy of this particular proposal is that if, for whatever reason, it does not succeed, the whole thing can be packed up and moved on, or simply floated down the river. Should a small part be cleared, that can be very quickly revegetated, and a small jetty could easily be removed. It is not as though we are talking about actually erecting something like a massive building on site. Consequently, I shall be writing to the minister about this particular issue, as I said during the speech. I told him I would be raising the issue in parliament here today, and he was happy about that. I hope he pays some personal attention to what strikes me, prima facie at least, as a good suggestion and idea, and importantly, if needs be, a reversible idea.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, in speaking in the adjournment debate tonight, I would like to report back to the House on the visit I made with the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to the East Timor Independence celebrations a couple of nights ago in Dili.
I was very proud and humbled to actually be amongst the East Timorese people after their years of struggle for independence, to see that dream come to fruition. The East Timorese people certainly have struggled long and hard since the Indonesian invasion back in 1975, but the road to their independence formally commenced when the East Timorese people voted for independence on 30 August 1999.
I’d like to provide honourable members a report of the evening. The evening commenced with a Mass at the site of the independence celebrations at Taci Tolo. This is a significant place in East Timorese history. Its lakes were once graveyards. In 1989, Pope John Paul II celebrated a Mass attended by 100 000 at the site. Taci Tolo in East Timor’s national language Tetum means ‘three seas’. Today, for the Timorese people those seas signify sorrow, commemoration and celebration.
The road to independence, as I stated, officially commenced on 30 August. Following on from that date, after nearly two years of significant upheaval - to put it mildly - in that country, the first Constituent Assembly was elected on 30 August 2001. Those first 88 member were sworn in to the first official East Timorese parliament on 15 November 2001 at a ceremony which the Chief Minister and I were again honoured to attend.
Then in March 2002, the Assembly adopted its Constitution, a constitution that was drafted from scratch by those 88 members of the East Timorese parliament in consultation with the broader community. Amongst a range of things, I table a copy of that constitution here for the records in the Parliamentary Library. It is in Portuguese, but it is a significant document. An English version of it will be available, and I will make that available to the Parliamentary Library as well. In April 2002, Xanana Gusmao was elected President of the new Democratic Republic of East Timor.
After the Mass, a range of events took place throughout the evening. For honourable members who may have been here, I believe that there was a live cross from the ceremony that we had outside Parliament House here on Sunday evening, and that did reflect what was happening there in East Timor. It was a very, very moving evening. Despite the great pyrotechnics at the end from the $US250 000 fireworks display, the most symbolic and moving parts of the evening was the parade of the Falintil fighters, those men and women who had taken on the resistance during those dark years up in the hills and mountains of East Timor. With a significant number of women amongst them, they marched into the arena and, with the candles that were representing the thousands of people who have died over the last 25 years, it was a very moving moment.
Following that were numerous songs and anthems. A magnificent rendition of Cry Freedom was sung, and a poem read which really did reflect the mood of the evening. It wasn’t a mood of wondrous national celebration of great excitement; it was really a quiet reflection of what had happened in the past, hope for the future, and a remembrance of the deeds and the issues of the previous 25 years. I’d like to read into Hansard the poem that was commissioned for the evening because I think it really does sum up the mood of the crowd on that evening. I quote A Minute of Silence, a poem by Francisco Boeta Da Costa:
Following that, we had the raising of the new East Timorese flag, which really was a very special moment for that nation of 750 000 people who had fought so long and so hard for their independence. One could only wonder, watching Xanana Gusmao as the flag went up the flag pole, what was going through his mind at that particular time, given everything that he and others had endured: much loved by the community over there; seven years as a political prisoner. I would like to read from the commemorative handbook provided for the evening, quoting Xanana Gusmao:
The East Timorese people have navigated successfully through the tempestuous seas of the past. East Timor now embarks on a fresh expedition as our proud nation sets sail on its inaugural voyage launched in celebration of our freedom and sovereignty. Supported by the international community and with strong leadership at the helm, the boundless faith of the East Timorese people has justly given us the anchor of independence.
I suppose when Xanana Gusmao’s biography is finally written either by himself or with a ghost writer, it will tell of greatness in a leader. If honourable members have read Nelson Mandela’s significant work Long Walk to Freedom, it shows how true leadership is embodied in Mandela and Gusmao having personally suffered for so very many years with their people. They were the elected and nominated representatives through the years of darkness and struggle and finally come to power as presidents in those countries. In both, not to seek vengeance or retribution, is truly a sign of greatness. Xanana Gusmao will certainly be remembered in history as a great leader.
We then moved forward in the brochure to Dr Mari Alkatiri, the new Chief Minister of the nation. A man who also spent many, many years in exile in Mozambique, planning for the day that he would return to his country. He is a quiet man, not a charismatic leader. However, he has the steel, determination and resolve for his primary mission as the new Chief Minister: to turn around poverty and improve education and health. Quoting from Mari Alkatiri’s piece in the same brochure:
The East Timorese people reject war and embrace peace. Repudiate oppression and defend liberty, combat totalitarianism and promote equality. With the continued support of many friends around the world, we have built a solid bridge over difference, publicly sign posting the road to unity. East Timor is a nation of peace, where only battles against poverty and corruption are waged.
Again, a great leader of his people. I am pleased to say, and am very proud, that we are establishing a firm friendship with Mari Alkatiri - the government of the Northern Territory and the new government of East Timor.
I also met Dr Jose Ramos Horta on the night. I have met Dr Jose Ramos Horta on a number of occasions over the years. As members would know, he is a winner, with Archbishop Belo, of the Nobel Peace Prize and a sole voice at the United Nations and around the globe for many, many years. He has been a regular visitor to Darwin. Many friends in Darwin and I have been at the Northern Territory University on a number of occasions during those wilderness years where Ramos Horta was holding the torch for independence so capably and for so long. Independence is, in a large part I think, a result of the diplomatic work that Jose Ramos Horta conducted in the UN for those many years. I quote from Ramos Horta’s words in this document:
Our warmest appreciation and heartfelt thanks go to our many friends in the international community with an indefatigable commitment to human rights. Particularly those who have bestowed their continued generosity and support to a small nation as we travel the long road to freedom. Together with all my East Timorese friends around the world today, we stand proudly united as one. With one voice we extend our gratitude to each and every individual who has contributed in whatever way, to enable our dreams to become a reality, for supporting us in our hopes for peace, democracy and above all, for independence.
We spoke in debate last Thursday in this House of the East Timorese people in Darwin - Territorians for all of those years. Those words from Ramos Horta are heartfelt, I believe. It is a also tribute to the people of Darwin, who supported East Timor for all those years in their quest for independence.
It really was a very heart-rending commemorative independence day. It wasn’t great joyous celebrations; those celebrations came with the fireworks and the parties that happened afterwards. The actually formal independence day celebrations were really a mixture of joy and reflection. It was a tribute to the leadership there on the night, and also to the tens of thousands of East Timorese who were present. When Xanana Gusmao walked in with the Indonesian President, Megawati Soekarnoputri, there was not one voice, there was not one whistle; there was nothing but applause for the Indonesian President. Again, that augers well for both of those countries as they reconcile those years of conflict.
I’d like to table, for the record, a number of official documents of those events a couple of days ago. The following day, the Chief Minister and I were privileged to be at the inaugural session of the National Parliament, where a formal resolution to ratify the charter of the United Nations was handed over to Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, with a request for East Timor to join the brotherhood of nations and the United Nations. There was an address by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to formally state that he would take that request to the Security Council, also indicating there would likely be significant support for that. We then attended the Independence Day march where, again, all of the children and the Falintil fighters walked past and took the salute; a very moving time. Then, finally, we were welcomed at the signing of the Timor Sea treaty, that was signed - as the Chief Minister said in question time this morning - by our Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, and Ramos Horta; and also our Prime Minister, John Howard and Mari Alkatiri.
All in all, the Chief Minister and I were very proud to represent the people of the Northern Territory. We were accorded a very special and significant place in the scheme of things, given we are a small population of a couple of hundred thousand people. Nonetheless, there is absolutely no doubt that the people of the Northern Territory have a very unique relationship with the people of East Timor. I am sure we will look forward to working with East Timor to contribute to their independence and the rebuilding of that country.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I wish to speak tonight on the issue of safety in the city. This, of course, is of significant concern to many people living in the CBD area in the electorate of Port Darwin. In response to those concerns, a number of things have occurred over the last 12 months.
The first was the development of the Esplanade Action Group. This is a group that has been put together by local residents, business operators and land owners in the area. As we developed the group which meets in my office each month, we had the help of the Northern Territory police to help guide us in what we were going to be doing. The group is headed very capably by Mr Robert Parker, who is a land and property owner in the area. He is quite a dynamic fellow and does a great job in bringing the group together and inspiring us.
Shortly after the group was established, an audit was conducted on the Esplanade, both in the day time and in the night time, to look at safety issues. The key ones that emerged were the issues of lighting, or the lack of it; sight lines; the need to attract people to dispel a feeling of loneliness and, particularly in the night time, that it is a dark area. If we had more people visiting the Esplanade for various functions, it would make people feel safer.
Another group that has been established and met is a Mitchell Street Action Group, dealing with the same issues of the feelings of safety for people utilising the area. The Mitchell Street group was initially started off by a fellow named Bob Monckton, who has a business in the bussing area. Bob has had a massive amount of work to be doing lately, and he has recently relinquished chairmanship of our Mitchell Street Action Group to David Bornmann, who is the Manager of Rydges Plaza.
Both groups attract a lot of active people to them. The Mitchell Street group recently, about two weeks ago, conducted a day time and a night time audit of Mitchell Street, helped very capably by the police as well. Darwin City Council are also involved, as the aldermen need to know what’s going on in their neck of the woods as well. For Mitchell Street, the issues once again came up as lighting, also the issue of road/pedestrian interface. It can be quite difficult at times to cross the road in Mitchell Street. Often it is an entertainment area and sometimes the drivers are looking at what’s going on, on the side of the streets rather than the pedestrians walking in front of them, so that can be a bit tricky. Also in Mitchell Street, we recently had some concerns with regard to a reduction in funding to Guardian Security. Fortunately the government, I guess as a result of the efforts of the group and the fact that we were starting to get mobilised by calling a public meeting, has now brought in an increase in the police foot patrols in the area. This has been welcomed lately, particularly by the retailers of the Mitchell Street area.
As I mentioned, for both of these groups the key finding for them has been the issue of lighting. People need to feel that they can see what’s coming. There are significant dark areas in Mitchell Street and on the Esplanade where people fear that evildoers are lurking. Therefore, it reduces the desire of people to utilise the area after dark, particularly on the Esplanade. Of course, there are many city dwellers who would love to go for an evening walk along the beautiful Esplanade, and also visitors to Darwin who stay on the hotels located on the Esplanade. Lighting is definitely a concern.
I feel like I am starting to turn into someone who is obsessed by street lighting. On a similar note, over the last month, I guess, I have been noticing in the Darwin CBD area and the approaches to it, that a significant number of street lights appear to be out. I made contact with PAWA and asked when a routine survey audit was going to be done by them of the area, and was advised that I would need to do it myself. I then contacted the minister’s office and essentially got the same advice. On that advice, I went out on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago and, within an hour, I recorded 71 street lights out on major arterial roads …
A member: Seventy-one?
Ms CARTER: Seventy-one.
A member: Unbelievable.
Ms CARTER: They are on major arterial roads, not little roads tucked up the back of Larrakeyah, but on the fairly significant feeder and arterial roads of the area. I have some particular concerns. One of them is the light at Harriet Place shops. There is only one street light there and, without it, the place is in darkness. It is a dodgy area at the best of times, there are quite a number of itinerants who utilise the area. I know that people are quite concerned about going there from time to time, and I would think having it in darkness would add to those concerns.
However, I did report all the addresses to PAWA. I noticed that a number - not a lot of them, but a couple of them - have been fixed. I was particularly pleased to see that the one over the pedestrian school crossing at Darwin High School has been fixed, and I am glad that one has been done. However, if anyone from PAWA is listening at the moment, it would be great if you could do the one at the Harriet Place shops - that one’s a particular concern.
But lighting, of course, is an issue not only for the safety of individuals, but for traffic as well. I’d like to make a recommendation to the member for Fannie Bay. I know that she is very busy in her new job, but it does appear that, unfortunately, local members will be required, from time to time, to go out and do the audits themselves as, for some reason, the PAWA system doesn’t seem to be keeping up with demand. I notice with significant concern that the light on the intersection between East Point Road and Ross Smith Avenue is out. I believe it is really causing some problems there. That intersection is a very tricky one, as you turn off to go into East Point Road. I think the member for Fannie Bay will need to report that one. There are also quite a few lights out along Ross Smith Avenue and along the Fannie Bay shops area, and then of course up Dick Ward Drive. The member for Millner may like to note that as well, and get those addresses into PAWA.
Obviously I am being a little sarcastic there, because I do feel that it would be far more appropriate to have PAWA people doing the audits. It didn’t take me long to do it and I hope that they’ll be able to find the resources to increase their regular auditing of these major arterial roads that are so vital for our travel and the need for safety on them.
Lighting, as I said, was an issue for the Mitchell Street and the Esplanade Action Groups. I guess one of the reasons why people want to see what’s going on is the fact that, unfortunately, both of those areas suffer from what we know nicely as antisocial behaviour. In the area, antisocial behaviour is caused by three different groups. The first group I’ll mention - and they’re in no order of volume - is juveniles. What we’re seeing in the CBD at night - naturally it is like moths to a flame - is a very attractive, interesting, exciting place, and like young people, or people anywhere, it is an attractive place to go to. What I believe is happening is that young people from outside the electorate of Port Darwin are coming into the CBD in the night time, and some of them - not all but some of them - are forming into groups and are then, from time to time, going on a rampage.
I stood outside McDonalds at midnight, quite a few months ago now, talking to some security people. I went there specifically for that purpose, to ask them how things were. Right then and there, a significant brawl broke out and travelled up the street. It definitely does happen and the end result is I have had a constituent visit me in my office who is a member of the armed services, with a significant black eye. He was under the weather at the time and was attacked by some youths because of the fact that, essentially, he was a big guy who was a bit drunk. He was attacked and sustained quite marked injuries. People are concerned about the behaviour of juveniles in the CBD and that is one group that are engaging in what we call antisocial behaviour.
Another group, of course, are the nightclubbers who do get drunk, then come out, spew out of the licensed premises …
Mr Dunham: Literally and physically.
Ms CARTER: Literally and metaphorically speaking at certain times of the night. From time to time significant brawls occur on the street.
Another group that causes problems with antisocial behaviour are, of course, itinerants. I know that many of us in the urban constituencies are having problems with what appears to be a growing number of itinerants in our community. I personally have no problem at all with people from remote communities, regardless of what colour they might be, coming in and living in the CBD. My problem is the behaviour that some of them exhibit. The reason I find out about that is that my constituents complain to me about it. It is the most common complaint that I receive as a member of parliament. Therefore, I must speak out on the issue of itinerant behaviour. I stress again that it is some, not all. As you would know, the behaviour includes noise 24 hours a day, the creation of unacceptable levels of rubbish, violence in public, and a general humbugging, as we call it, of the community, seeking money, for example. I had a woman ring me a couple of days ago who had been to one of our local shopping centres, and an itinerant man had asked her for money. She said no. She said she said it politely. He chased her to the car. When she got into the car he then banged on the windows of the car. For any of us that would be a frightening experience, and she was quite upset by it. This is the type of behaviour that some people exhibit and it really has to stop.
We have just recently had the release of the itinerants report, and I welcome that document and hope that it will be the beginnings of some changes in our community. I note that the tone of it is very supportive of itinerants. That does not surprise me, given the people listed on page 3 who have had input into the report. I note with interest there were no resident and business groups appearing on that page. Both of those groups would have some significant comment on some of the things that are in there.
As I close, there definitely are some good recommendations in the report that I support. In particular, a strengthening of the Night Patrol. It also talks about the introduction of a warden system which would see, I gather, Aboriginal people working to help itinerants return, perhaps, to their home or to move to somewhere more appropriate, and also the establishment of an Aboriginal agency to run programs dealing with antisocial behaviour. Of course, it supports the involvement of the Larrakia people in various strategies, and certainly that would be very appropriate.
Safety in the city is vitally important to all of us. For some of us, it is where we live. For many of us, it is where we play. We work here, we live here, we play here. There are many issues involving safety, as I have said, ranging from lighting, the simple things to fix - and I would put to you that lighting would be a simple thing to fix - right through to the complex and difficult things such as the behaviour of visitors to our community, drunks in our community - by that I particularly mean nightclubbers - the issues of alcohol in our community, and the behaviours of young juveniles in our community. We need to work together on this and hopefully see some improvement.
Mr AH KIT (Arnhem): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I had no intention of adjourning tonight, but whilst doing some work in my office I always keep an eye on the monitor and, once again, the member for Greatorex was raising issues as he usually does late of an evening when parliament is almost ready to adjourn. He relishes at sniping at ministers from time to time.
Ms Carter interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: I have worked out his game for some time, but I thought maybe that it is best to come and comment and try to straighten up a few issues that he continues to get wrong. I see the member for Port Darwin come to his rescue. Let me say to the member for Port Darwin on the issues she raises in respect of the itinerants: it took a long time for the department to get the stakeholders together and to work through the issues and get the report done. It was a report that was commissioned by the former CLP government.
Ms Carter: Good.
Mr AH KIT: And that is good, yes. If you have concerns about the business community and the residents not having the opportunity to provide comments, then go back and have a look at that and start slapping the wrist of some of the ministers who were responsible for local government at the time.
With regards to Cawood Court, I want to reiterate to the members from Alice Springs that I did make it very clear today in my statement that yes, the department had it wrong in respect of the advertising that was done for the refurbishment or demolition and redevelopment of Cawood Court. I did say very clearly that I have discussed this with the Acting CEO of my department and requested that he ensure that there are improved and appropriate quality control measures implemented in the department. I also made it very clear that the selection process was conducted by my department. It was the department that had carriage for making the final decision, not I as the minister. I made very clear today, but it is obvious that the members for Greatorex and Macdonnell quite often take the privilege …
Mr Dunham: Reflecting on the Chair.
Mr AH KIT: You know as well as I do, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, that I am speaking the truth here - they take the opportunity of sniping at some of this stuff and, on most occasions, they do not seek briefings.
In fact, I received a letter from the member for Greatorex in respect of the Tiwi Island local government. I wrote back to him, got him to get in touch with my staff; he did. There was a meeting on 13 May, scheduled for 1.30 pm for his briefing. He declined; he refused to accept. Yet, he came in here last week, and he said: ‘I didn’t get a briefing; it is not on’. Well, he has to understand that we are very busy in government, as ministers, and we want to do the right thing and ensure that members opposite do receive briefings on either their electorate concerns or shadow portfolio responsibilities. They must understand that the briefing will take place when either my staff or I are available, not when they are available.
Next year, I am looking forward to the sittings in Alice Springs in May, because it will be the first time that people from his electorate will be able to come and judge his performance in parliament. Many of them, I suppose, are not able to get up here to watch his performance. I think what he is doing when he raises issues by correspondence or in this House - I do not have a problem with that, but I do get concerned when he tends to play personal politics with people’s genuine needs. That can be done at a certain level – and I do not have a problem with that - but when that is moved forward and he requests things that are not in the program then, obviously, he doesn’t understand what his government did, and he didn’t understand fully what his responsibilities were when he was say, for instance, the Minister for Local Government, Housing or Aboriginal Development. The member for Greatorex quite often shows his misunderstanding of what ministerial responsibilities are in respect of the department’s programs.
Another example is the one that the member for Macdonnell raised about Ntaria. Let’s look at Ntaria. I wrote back and explained that, because it is an ongoing event, it is not a project that can be funded. Those are the guidelines that are set out in the department; those are the guidelines that were put together by the former CLP government and former Ministers for Sport and Recreation. It really is a concern, when the member for Macdonnell stated last Thursday, on 16 May, in his adjournment debate, and I quote:
On the subject of football, I rise tonight to speak of the Hermannsburg football carnival that went ahead
in spite of the minister’s …
And that is me:
… decision not to throw any money at it.
There is that mentality ‘throwing money at it’ once again. Well, that is what the former government did once too often; they tended to throw money at too many things and were not able to budget properly.
If there is a genuine concern for a briefing, I am sure, as are my ministerial colleagues, that briefing will be organised. I find it disappointing that shadow ministers opposite are not taking the time to seek briefings. They jump up, they do not listen when answers are being given in Question Time, they do not understand the issues, they do not seek too many briefings, and they have this know-it-all attitude. Many people in the public hold them in disregard because they are performing very poorly in opposition.
In terms of briefings and how we conduct business, I will leave that with the Chamber. I certainly hope that the rapport that has been developed with some of the other shadow ministers who have genuine concern to get responses back to areas of interest they have either in their shadow portfolio or in their electorate, will continue. I am quite happy to continue to deal with them in a fair and responsible manner.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I was interested that the Minister for Local Government was offended by people playing politics with people’s personal needs. It was a strange accusation you made against my colleague, the member for Greatorex. My contribution tonight will be about that; it will be about playing politics with people. It comes from a question this morning, where I asked a question of the Business minister about some very serious allegations he made in this parliament - allegations that still stand on the permanent public record; which are echoed in the federal parliament, and which were picked up by the media and run substantially, including on the front page, for instance, of the NT News.
At the time of the censure motion, we suggested to the shadow health spokesman, the now Business minister, that it would probably be best to leave this thing go to its natural conclusions. It was on foot, it was before authoritative and competent investigating authorities, a matter which, I might add, is now in dispute with this particular person because it would seem that some of it has been very poorly handled. But nonetheless, when given the opportunity to say ‘sorry’ this morning, there were three things of note in the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development’s answer.
The first thing was that he had not read the report of the Nursing Board. He is saying that even though this was a significant issue, he was able to pillory and virtually ruin the career of the person, he had not read the outcomes some months later. The second thing he talked about was that he had extensive consultation with over a dozen nurses from around Australia. Ergo, he is saying: ‘I haven’t read it, but do not worry, I talked to people who told me what was going on and I do not need to read it because they obviously must have told me the right thing’. Then he concluded by saying: ‘I stand by the comments I made in the House at the time’. These are pretty significant comments. Some of them were read out this morning. It is probably worth looking at some of them again. He made allegations, as I read out this morning, about a climate of fear and intimidation.
It was a significant debate and one where that particular member was actually castigated because he read from a report. He made an allegation that former Chief Minister Stone and former Chief Minister Burke had received letters and then, when called on to produce the evidence, was unable to do so. He changed his story to one of: ‘Oh well, I am told they were copied pieces of information’. Right from the outset, he ran this on very shaky grounds. It is a pity he ran things such as, and I quote from the Hansard record of the day, which is June 2001:
As well as numerous allegations of intimidation, verbal and emotional abuse of staff and threats of
reprisals to anyone who dared speak out, there are significant allegations of abuse of residents - frail
and aged Territorians …’
He talked about a variety of cases: somebody who had some mobility impairment being denied a wheel
chair, schedule 8 drugs being handed out like lollies, etcetera. The issue is not whether we can say those
things in parliament; we know we can say them. We know we can stand up and say pretty much anything
about anybody and get away with it. The issue really goes to whether he should stand by those comments,
given that there is a significant report by a competent authority that is available to him, and that report
says that the substance of his allegations are untrue; they are defamatory and they have hurt people.
We should be big in this House about apologising in circumstances like that. I would have thought, on asking the question of the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development, he would have apologised, given that only a mere few months - June, July, August, September, October, four months later, so we are talking 24 October 2001 debates here - he stood up in this parliament and, in the debate against his name on page 267 - so you can see we were pretty new into our parliament - said:
Madam Speaker, to say sorry is difficult. It requires courage and principle, empathy and understanding. We usually say sorry with the benefit of hindsight. It’s not often that we deliberately make mistakes. To know that you have made a mistake, to admit it to yourself and others, and to offer an apology is the right thing to do. It’s the mature thing to do …
The question this morning was asking the minister to show some of that courage, principle, empathy, understanding and, definitely, maturity. He closed that debate on 24 October with these words:
The best chance for the Northern Territory, and all of us who live here, lies in our working together. Today, saying
sorry costs us nothing, but it has real substance for the people who were affected.
These words will ring hollow unless we actually do what we are saying we are doing. We can stand up in this parliament and talk about all sorts of things: what we are going to do, our great commitment to certain things, our passion, our integrity, our courage, principle, empathy, understanding and maturity. But it counts for naught if, when confronted with an issue such as this, it seems there is no capability within that particular member to apologise for his actions.
Those actions are substantial. There are many of us who know Tracy Lodge Nursing Home, and who have visited there. There are some of us who probably even had relations there. I know that, given the letters that were being written to the paper at the time, there are many people from both sides of parliament - and I am sure the names will be recognised well and truly by some of those opposite - who are offended that this action took place in such a way that the person was named and charged as guilty on the basis of some evidence which was later proved untrue. It is difficult to retrieve that. It is difficult for her to retrieve her honour in this matter. It is difficult for her to retrieve her job. In fact, she doesn’t have that job anymore. She was offered one at a lesser level and chose not to take it up. Her career path is probably in tatters, or certainly in a cul de sac. Her reputation has certainly suffered a battering.
I would venture to say her financial circumstances and income have changed as a result of this member’s vicious attack in this parliament. We know, too, it can have an impact and we often are on the receiving end of these attacks, being politicians, and it is fair game for us. I think it is just one of those things that we have to accept with the job. Every now and then someone will say nasty things about me or the members for Brennan or Fannie Bay. We have to pretty much understand that that is the environment we are in. Not this particular person. Not this person running a nursing hostel - not a nursing home, a nursing hostel - for many years, doing it with great accolades, being the subject of a number of pre-accreditation audits and other audits that took place. She then had this attack on her. I think it would have had an impact on her health, family, relationships and friends who would have seen some of these reports and would have reacted to them as if they were truthful, when we know that, in fact, they were not.
How do we recover this? There are a couple of things we could do. We could go, for instance, to some of the words that have been spoken by those opposite. The most fundamental one is to say ‘sorry’ - for the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development to stand up in this parliament and say: ‘Well, I really should not have made an attack like that’. Senator Trish Crossin has a similar responsibility on her shoulders to say ‘sorry’ and apologise fulsomely, and I think the Chief Minister also has a role. She has been quite vocal in this parliament about the whole business of saying ‘sorry’, and I quote from the debates of Wednesday, 14 June 2000, at page 5848:
… this parliament two years ago, the other side of the House rejected saying ‘sorry’. I was reading back
through the debates of that time. I find it extraordinary, because I think predominantly we are of Christian
background, that the importance of saying ‘sorry’ wasn’t recognised. Here we are, of a religion that had a
man who said ‘sorry’ for so many things, and it cost him his life. He did it for the symbolism.
While her theology is a bit deficient, and I think it would be debatable in many quarters, it is quite clear that what the Chief Minister is saying there is that this is something that should be in the realms of not just the words and all that sort of stuff, but in the realms of our hearts and our passions and the things we do in here that should go to giving some comfort to people we harm.
It was interesting too, because she alluded to a debate of a couple of years earlier. I think that is a beauty because, in that debate of Wednesday, 18 February 1998, at page 631, the now Chief Minister said:
To look at it on a really simple level, we teach our children to apologise. When they do things to their brother,
their sister, whatever, we tell them to apologise because apologising, rather than making any other kind of restitution,
is the key to it. If there is some injustice done to my children at school or in an organisation that they’re involved
with - maybe an adult treats them badly - I will apologise on behalf of that adult. As another adult, I will apologise and
say, I am sorry that adult has treated you so badly’, because I feel a collective sense that we as grown-ups should behave
better. When constituents come into my office who have been badly treated by a government agency - I will not name
any particular one - I say, ‘I am sorry you have been treated like that’. This is the same thing as our saying: ‘We, as a
parliament, are sorry’. I am not individually guilty of badly treating a Housing Commission tenant, but I will say sorry.
Perhaps she could do that. Perhaps she could talk to her recalcitrant minister, ask him to read the findings, to compare them with the record of what he said both in this place and in public outside, and perhaps to offer an apology. I think the Chief Minister has another function too; and that is to chide, however gently, this minister because there is some difficulty with the words he says reflecting on other members of that side.
If you go to the debates of 4 July 2001, the current Chief Minister showed great leadership in sacking the then Minerals spokesman. I quote from the parliament of the day under Opposition Administrative Arrangements:
Mr Speaker, I’d like to inform the House of new administrative arrangements for the opposition. The shadow portfolio of Resource Development will now be with the member for Wanguri; the shadow portfolio of Regional Development with the member for Stuart; and the shadow portfolio of Transport and Infrastructure Development and Territory Ports with myself as leader of the opposition.
Some extremely inaccurate comments were made by the member for Arnhem last night in the debate on the Mining Management Bill. Those remarks were not representative of the views of the opposition and we reject them entirely. The opposition has a very strong regard and support for the Territory’s mining companies. They provide Territory jobs and exports and work hard to be strong community players and good corporate citizens. The opposition values our miners and strongly supports the Mining Management Bill that was passed in this House last night.
I would like to see some support for our seniors. I would like to see some support for people who call Tracy Lodge their home. I would like to see some support for their carers and their families. I would like to see some support for nurses and many of the people who have been subject to this round of vilification. I call on the Chief Minister to remove this minister from his portfolio area until such time as he apologies and if, in the event he doesn’t, does she believe that the offence caused to mining companies by the few words said by the member for Arnhem is even close to the shocking comments that were made by this person when debating a censure motion in this House? There are some paths open to them here; I hope they look at them.
Dr Burns interjecting.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker: Order!
Mr DUNHAM: I hope they look at them in such a way as to afford some restitution to the people they have harmed and damaged.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, last Friday, I had the honour and pleasure of representing the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs at the hand-back, under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, of Urapunga Station near Roper Bar. It was a particular honour to witness the carrying out of a simple piece of justice; the return of land to its traditional owners. Urapunga is a beautiful piece of country running north of the Roper Bar along the Wilton River. The former pastoral lease covers an area of 1833 km2, close to the regional centre of Ngukurr on the Roper River.
Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European explorer to travel through the region in 1845, naming the Roper River after his assistant, John Roper. Subsequent exploration led to the Roper Valley becoming firmly fixed in the minds of many intending settlers and developers as an area containing good pasturage with reliable water supply. A permanent European presence in the region dates from the 1870s, when the Roper River supply depot was established. The name Urapunga is derived from the Ngalakan site named Yutpundji, given by Europeans to the site of a planned town in the area proclaimed in 1887. Although the townsite never developed, by the early 20th century, Paddy’s Lagoon Station had come to be called Urapunga Station.
Traditional owners’ links to the station were maintained right through the pastoral area due to the employment of local Aboriginal people as stockmen, housekeepers and police trackers, as well as the residence of their families on the station. However, the 1965 equal pay decision for NT cattle station workers saw the numbers of indigenous workers at Urapunga severely reduced, and the wholesale movement of Aboriginal people off the Urapunga pastoral lands. The history of land claims in this region goes back over 20 years, when a number of the old people from this country fought the Yutpundji-Djindiwirritj land claim, which was heard back in 1982. This land claim was successful.
On 15 October 1996, Urapunga Station was purchased with funds provided by ATSIC and transferred to the NLC, to be held on trust for the traditional owners. Part of the arrangement was that the NLC would lodge and run a land claim on behalf of the traditional owners. The land claim was lodged with the Land Commissioner on 12 November 1996. Prior to the claim, the NLC asked the Northern Territory government to consider settling the claim by scheduling the land, particularly as it was already owned by the traditional owners, and there was no detriment of any substance to any other parties.
The Roper Bar and Urapunga land claims were both fought by the old CLP government. They consistently opposed Aboriginal land claims. The then government was not willing to settle on the basis of granting it as Aboriginal land. The government did offer to convert it to Northern Territory freehold, but the NLC continued to pursue the land claim, given it would result in and Aboriginal land grant conferring stronger title than freehold.
The land claim hearing proceeded in November 2000 at Urapunga, with site visits to various parts of the station. In June 2001, Land Commissioner, Justice Olney, published his report recommending to Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Phillip Ruddock, that all of the pastoral lease be granted to the traditional owners. The commissioner found more than 1200 people were traditional owners, and it was acknowledged that numerous other people, such as non-claimant spouses and children, would also be advantaged by the grant. The primary advantage of the grant is that the traditional owners have secure inalienable title. Other advantages include: enhanced ability to protect sites; a say in any future mining and exploration; and the ability to control access.
The Martin Labor government has a new approach to the issues of Aboriginal land rights and native title. Even while the Ngalakan and their guests of the day were celebrating their success, Chief Minister Clare Martin was meeting with the land councils in Darwin to move ahead on this new approach. It is an approach that will be built on respect and trust. It will be a move away from the fighting and hostility of years gone by. The Martin Labor government wants to give Aboriginal people a freedom of choice, to use the lands won back to provide a secure future for their children and grandchildren; not to have it locked up the way the CLP used to do in their delaying tactics over land and native title claims.
The Roper River region is home to many language and clan groups from Mataranka to the Gulf. The Northern Land Council, along with Indigenous Land Corporation and the Labor government in Darwin, are looking hard at ways in which economic development can occur through this whole region; working together to secure the future I spoke about. It is for this reason that I was happy to attend last Friday’s celebrations. I could see that the Ngalakan had been able to maintain their traditional links to their country, despite a history that has tried to drive them away from the lands of their ancestors. It has been difficult, but they managed to win this land claim. According to Land Commissioner and Federal Court Judge Olney, who also attended the hand-back, over 1200 will benefit from the land returning to its traditional owners.
Some of the senior leaders who attended last week, were Tex Camfoo, Mildren and Doreen Ponto, Dawson Daniels, Peter Wood and David Daniels. We were hosted on the day by the Urapunga School, and its Principal, Charlotte Thompson, a teacher who has devoted 20 years to remote area teaching. The school is a credit to the community, with an active involvement by senior community members in cultural and language studies.
Interestingly, the Urapunga hand-back saw the federal Attorney-General present the title deeds to members of the Urapunga Land Trust. It was the first time this has occurred. It was fitting that the nation’s first law officer was able to participate in such a fundamentally important act of justice.
After last Friday, the world would know what the Ngalakan have always known: Urapunga always was and always will be Aboriginal land. I would like to congratulate the traditional owners. I wish them and their families the best of health, and the best of hope for the future.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Legislative Assembly Superannuation Fund – Review
Legislative Assembly Superannuation Fund – Review
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, an actuarial review of the Legislative Assembly Superannuation Fund at the end of the 2000-01 financial year recommended an increase in the Territory’s annual contributions to the fund from 50% to 70% of members’ salaries. In response to this substantial increase in the cost of the Northern Territory Members’ Superannuation Scheme, the Territory government has commissioned a review of the scheme, including options for future arrangements.
The objective of the review is to provide, for the government’s consideration, options for a revised benefits structure for LAMS which results in reduced costs for Territory taxpayers, is comparable with standards in other jurisdictions, takes into account national policies on superannuation and, very importantly, has regard for community expectations. The terms of reference have been developed so that a broad range of views can be taken into account. I would like to table a copy of the terms of reference.
Members of the Legislative Assembly, including the Leader of the Opposition and the Independent members, have been consulted. Accordingly, the inquiry will consider the 20 June 2001 actuarial review which estimated that the cost of the scheme had increased from 50% to 70% of salaries; the benefits and levels of contribution for parliamentary schemes in other jurisdictions; benefit design including comparisons of pensions and lump sums, offset provisions from previous superannuation arrangements, age profile of members, and salary sacrifice options; and the extent to which a changed benefit structure could be applied to existing members and, in doing so, the implications for superannuation entitlements. During the consultation process, two parties sought to remove the reference to whether a changed benefit structure could apply to existing members, and wanted the reference to apply only to future members.
I believe it is appropriate that this issue is fully explored by the review. It may be that legal considerations prevent any changes for existing members of the scheme, but let’s get that expert legal opinion and have that out in the open so that everybody, including the public, knows what can and cannot be done. After all, the public is being asked to provide $2m a year to keep the scheme viable under the current benefit arrangements. At a time when the rest of government is being asked to tighten its belt, when funds are scarce to address real needs within our community, the public may view with dismay the exclusion from the review as to whether there is any potential for existing members’ benefits to be altered.
The review will consult with members of the Legislative Assembly and will seek written submissions from interested parties including business, non-government organisations and members of the Territory community. It was also suggested during the consultation process that the review report be delivered to the trustees of the superannuation fund. That is not something the previous government had established any kind of precedent for. The trustees’ function is to implement the policies as determined by government, not to set those policies. Any changes to the scheme resulting from the review would, in any event, need to be passed by the Assembly. There would be ample opportunity for vigorous debate about any potential changes to the scheme when the time comes.
The review is to be undertaken by Ken Clarke, the former Under Treasurer, after consultation with the Remuneration Tribunal to allow regard to be given to the total level of benefits payable to members. Mr Clarke already has extensive knowledge of the scheme, and engaging him to undertake this review is anticipated to save Territorians many tens of thousands of dollars, in comparison to engaging a large accounting or actuarial firm to undertake the review. The review report is to be submitted by 30 September 2002.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the members’ superannuation scheme is a scheme that is maturing as the Northern Territory parliament has matured since self-government. It has always been a scheme that has been operated in a bipartisan manner. As you yourself would know, Madam Speaker, it has a supervisory board consisting of yourself, myself and the Chief Minister. I would remind members that it is a scheme that exists for all members of this House. It would be a great pity if this scheme and initiative of the Chief Minister’s fell on party lines. It seems to me that we need to consider not only the remuneration for members and public expectations, as the Chief Minister said, but also those who benefit directly and indirectly from any changes to the scheme. I am talking about widows or the children of members in the unfortunate event of deceased members; those who have left this parliament; or, as too often occurs nowadays, when marriages dissolve. We need to ensure that the scheme is one that is operating for all of those who benefit.
Can I say to you, Madam Speaker, that I was disappointed that the review was initiated by the Chief Minister with scant reference to both yourself or myself. We received a letter with the terms of reference. I was given a couple of hours to reply to the terms of reference.
It is the prerogative of the government, that it can change the superannuation provisions as it sees fit because it is an act of parliament. I simply make the point that I hope any review uses the expertise and the true functions of the board; that the board is consulted throughout; that we are kept well and truly informed as to any proposed changes; and that we, as a board, agree as to how those changes are brought into this Assembly.
With those comments, Madam Speaker, I am quite happy to support the review taking place.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): In noting the Leader of the Opposition’s comments, I point out that the trustees are there to implement what this parliament agrees to. I thinks there is a very clear distinction there. What I would expect from members of this parliament are very well thought through submissions to the review. As the Opposition Leader said, this was something that was initiated by government. We made it very clear last year in the run-up to the election - and I have made it very clear in my time as Opposition Leader - that we believed that our scheme did need review. I doubt whether it would have come as any surprise to anyone in here that we were actually going to follow through with that commitment. We made a commitment; we’re going to keep it.
I want the superannuation scheme for members of this House to be both in line with our community expectation and, also with some of the changes that have been introduced into other parliaments to meet their community expectations. When you are looking at $2m a year, we have to be accountable and we have to be in line with community expectation. That is what I hope this review will do.
Madam SPEAKER: I trust that the consultant, Ken Clarke, will consult with the individual members of the parliament.
Ms Martin: Absolutely.
Madam SPEAKER: I am sure he has the background knowledge of the scheme and the way the board works, anyway. I hope you have my information that I sent you last week.
Tiwi Islands Local Government
Mr AH KIT (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I rise to give a ministerial report on Tiwi Islands local government operational and financial issues.
As we know, the establishment of the new Tiwi Islands local government arrangements in July last year has been accompanied by significant problems. Not least of these was that people were being pushed too fast without adequate financial and operational arrangements properly bedded down. It appeared, very clearly, that the structures and the mechanisms weren’t in place. It was another obvious indication of the previous government’s concept of fleshing that out with senior bureaucrats very quickly, and running around and consulting with Aboriginal people in respect of local government reforms in a very rushed manner. Obviously, people still had concerns.
However, the desire of Tiwi Islands Local Government members to make the new organisation work has remained very strong, and this has been a particularly positive aspect of the process. Tiwi Islanders instigated remedial action to resolve operational and financial management problems. At times, those problems led to severe cash flow difficulties at individual community management level, such as with the Bathurst Island Housing Association. These, I am glad to report, have now been largely resolved.
Mr John Cleary has commenced duties as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Tiwi Islands Local Government and he will be based at Nguiu on Bathurst Island. The former interim CEO, Mr Gary Tillman, resigned with effect from 10 May 2002. In fact, John Cleary was a community development and local government minister in the former Tasmanian conservative government so, no doubt, he brings a lot of experience to the position.
I have met with members of the executive of the Tiwi Islands Local Government, the new CEO and the member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour. It is clear that there are still problems to be overcome, but sound progress is being made. The chartered accountants, Nair & Watkins, were appointed Grant Controller in February 2002. The firm has since been able to establish the accounts to the end of March 2002. It has been contracted to provide annual financial reporting for the current financial year. The Grant Controller has been able to address financial compliance issues relating to ATSIC, and also to my Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs.
Just as importantly, community management boards now have access to regular financial reporting data. It was a concern in that transition stage, because all the order, invoice and cheque books for all those accounts had to be rounded up and put in a central place, such as at Nguiu. There was concern initially, and for some months thereafter, about bills being paid and individual community relationships with creditors in communities at Milikapiti, Warrangku, Pirlangimpi and also the Nguiu Community Government Council.
A meeting took place at Bathurst on 2 May with the newly appointed CEO, John Cleary, and operational issues were addressed relating to staff, financial administration reports, human resources, financial delegations and the community board reports. The role of the community management boards will be critical, especially as a training ground for Tiwi Islanders in continuing training towards taking over from current, non-indigenous administrators. In fact, a number of Tiwi Islanders have partly completed local government training through the Tiwi Education and Training Board. As promised when the Tiwi Islands Local Government was first established, a review of the body was to take place at the end of 12 months of operations. Draft terms of reference are currently being developed by the department for a review of the Tiwi Islands Local Government, in consultation with the new CEO of the TILG and other stakeholders.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, it is no wonder it has taken me up to over a month to get a briefing from the minister’s office on the Tiwi Islands Local Government. I didn’t expect the minister to provide a report today.
I recall, several months ago, the minister on the front page in the NT News saying that the Tiwi Islands Local Government had something like $600 000 missing, and I was very concerned about that. What it turned out to be is that, obviously, some financial structures had fallen over since the amalgamation of the Tiwi Islands Local Government. That is how it came about.
The minister would recall that, at the time when a financial advisor was put in place at Bathurst Island, there were very loud praises sung about this man who was to bring in a good process. Unfortunately, that did not occur. The man was supported by the former CEO, Gary Tillman, and by Bernie McCarthy himself. Anyway, that was the cause of the problems. It also shows that the Tiwi Island Local Government structures were well founded. It has been put in place well and that is why the whole system has continued to function despite the difficulties they’ve had financially. I see that, with progress over the next few weeks under the new CEO, things will come good and the TILG will continue to prosper for the people of the Tiwi Islands.
The minister will also recall that it was, in fact, the Tiwi Islanders who sought discussions with the Northern Territory government under the CLP, to get TILG going in the first place. So, it was not that was pushed upon them, but something that they had asked for themselves. It is one indication of Aboriginal people determining their own political future, and their own political and financial management.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, obviously I do not agree with the member for Greatorex, having been involved in some of these discussions. The Tiwi Islands Local Government and the problems it is having at the moment reflect on a system of government that, I believe, was rushed. It was also partly political and tried to set it up a role model for other local governments, you might say. Because of that, I think it was doomed to fail. Perhaps one of the issues that we learned from the Tiwi Islands Local Government is that we should be providing Aboriginal people with options - options delivered by an independent body, not by a body which wants to promote its particular point of view.
Having worked on Nguiu for a number of years, I always found that, if you gave people options where they knew the pluses and minuses, the Tiwi people were quite capable of making decisions themselves. I have some concerns that council is following this path because there are other councils where they are talking about taking on similar assembly-type functions as the Tiwi Island. I think we have to lay down some basic guidelines, and any form of local government must be democratic. I have said before that one of the problems I see with the system in the Tiwi Islands is that management boards are only given functions provided by the Tiwi Islands Local Government at the top. So, you elect your management board but the management board is not directly responsible for the provision of local government functions. I think that area has to be looked at.
The other difficulty with amalgamation of councils is not to make it so complex that Aboriginal people cannot control their own lives. It has become more complex. We already mentioned that you have some accountancy group in to help with Bathurst Island. That is showing that the level of competency required to run the Tiwi Islands Local Government is much higher and, therefore, it is much harder for Tiwis to access the control of their own lives.
Mr AH KIT (Local Government): Madam Speaker, the idea of the Tiwi people amalgamating government structures is sound. The trouble is the previous government imposed the idea rather than taking people with them. I heard the former minister trying to take some credit. It was a mess, and I was charged with the responsibility of sorting that mess out. The member for Nelson has hit the nail on the head - it was rushed. We are about consulting with people properly. The member for Nelson has some concerns and I would like to talk to him further about those. But, we got it back on track and we are moving forward.
I am also keen to talk to the Tiwis further about training for their community management boards, and in respect of the new CEO, John Cleary, and somebody moving and working with the Tiwi Islands Local Government Board as such.
Racing Ministers Conference
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing): Madam Speaker, I rise to provide a report on the outcomes of the successful Racing Minister’s Conference held in Adelaide last Friday, 17 May.
Members would be aware the Northern Territory government has copped some criticism over the years in relation to the licensing of corporate bookmakers. In recent months, the criticism has resurfaced from other jurisdictions and elements of the Australian racing industry over the decision to bring onshore the large corporate sports bookmaker, Sportingbet, from Vanuatu.
I am pleased to report the Northern Territory government stood firmly behind the decision at the conference. We emphasised the fact that bringing Sportingbet onshore was a good thing for Australian racing. We pointed out that by bringing them onshore, we are not only bringing back to Australia the $500m bet by Australasian punters every year, we are also bringing the bookmaker under regulatory control within an Australian jurisdiction for the first time.
This was my first ministerial council meeting, and I was very impressed by the excellent spirit of cooperation between all the ministers of states and territories. It was attended by every minister with the exception of the Western Australian Minister for Racing who was represented by his director.
As a result of the meeting, there was unanimous decision to establish a national task force to objectively examine the issue of cross-border betting and its impact upon the Australian racing industry. The task force will be made up of a government representative and a racing industry representative from each state and territory, and will report to the Racing ministers by 31 October of this year at the ministerial council in early November.
Apart from examining the current taxation and distribution regimes in place in all states and territories, the issues to be considered by the task force include: implications of national competition policy; minimum bet levels applying to telephone and Internet betting; the practice of bookmakers basing payouts on totalisator dividends; cross-border advertising restrictions; the relative competitiveness of the Australian wager market in the context of the global market; and the decision by the ministers to look at cross-border betting issues in a constructive and objective way. I think it is one of the best things to happen for both Territory and Australian racing for many years.
We expect the review will clear up many of the misconceptions that have existed, particularly in the southern states, about the role and impact on corporate sports bookmakers and cross-border betting flows. The review will also consider recommendations as to how these cross-border betting flows can be properly regulated for the future growth of the Australian racing industry.
Madam Speaker, it is a first for Australian Racing ministers. I commend the ministers from all states and territories for their foresight and commitment to the industry in setting up this task force.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for his report from his first Ministerial Council on Racing.
The Darwin Cup now faces the same fate thanks to Minister Baldwin over-reaching himself, and he has to
tell us what he is going to do to get the Darwin Cup on SKY.
This is a press release from the minister when he was shadow spokesman, back on 11 May 2001. That is the question on everybody’s lips this May 2002 as we approach the Darwin Cup Carnival, and the minister has not made one mention of it. He went away to the ministerial council last week saying that he hoped to have fruitful discussions with his Labor colleagues with a view to resolving the problem of SKY. My understanding of SKY is that it is not about money this time, it is about the fact that they are just saying they are too busy elsewhere and they are not going to come to cover the Darwin Cup at all.
It would behove the minister to come in to this House and let Territorians know what he is doing with regards to SKY. Perhaps there will be question on it later today, if I pick up the smile on the minister’s face. He might be able to explain what he and his colleagues - particularly the minister from New South Wales, Mr Richard Face - have done to resolve the question of SKY. What resources have they, this Labor government, provided, as the CLP did, to make sure Territorians can enjoy the Darwin Cup Carnival that is so economically important to Darwin and the Northern Territory? Are they to deliver the coverage that is warranted of the Darwin Cup Carnival? Perhaps you could reply now.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing): Madam Speaker, I thank the shadow minister for his comments. I certainly did put out that press release last year. In some ways, I do not know that we are all that far removed from the situation that was fronting our predecessors with SKY last year.
A number of things have happened that are different. Unlike my predecessor, I was able to meet with Minister Face from New South Wales, one of the prime protagonists. I want to go further than that because I am proud of the fact that, from opposition, we managed to keep pretty much a bipartisan relationship with the government on matters relating to racing, gaming, poker machines and across the board. I hope that that would continue.
In relation to SKY, all ministers were very supportive of the situation we have confronting us with SKY Channel. It is the premier racing day on the calendar, the first Monday in August. Last year, New South Wales turned over $1m-plus and Victorian TAB $1.3m, on our turnover in which we had to put in $100 000 to get the product up. I have not given up hope. I am more optimistic now about SKY than when I went down there on Friday morning.
Appointment of Deputy Commissioner of Police
Mr STIRLING (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I wish to report to the House that on 28 March 2002, Commissioner Paul White announced the selection of Assistant Commissioner Bruce Wernham for the position of Deputy Commissioner. The appointment makes a well rounded executive team for the Northern Territory Police, bringing a sound combination of experience and freshness together.
Bruce Wernham joined the Northern Territory Police in 1974, from New South Wales. Throughout his 28-year career, Mr Wernham has worked in general duties, task force, now Territory Response Group, and as Superintendant of both Northern and Southern Commands. He was promoted to Commander of Professional Responsibility in 1997 and, later the same year, became Assistant Commissioner. During his career, Mr Wernham has completed a number of senior police management courses including the Northern Territory Police Officer Development Program, the International Police Management Course and the Police Management Development Program at the Australian Institute of Police Management.
As head of Operations Command, Mr Wernham has been the driving force behind the creation of the Domestic Violence Unit and public place trail bike and bicycle patrols. The Stolen Motor Vehicles Unit was originated on Mr Wernham’s suggestion. He was responsible for the development and use of victim impact statements and the back-to-basics strategy aimed at reducing antisocial behaviour.
Assistant Commissioner Wernham was awarded the Australian Police Medal for distinguished service as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2000. I congratulate Assistant Commissioner Wernham on his well deserved selection and believe his appointment augers well for the future of Northern Territory Police.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition thanks the Deputy Chief Minister for his announcement in this House of an appointment we are well aware of. We believe that Bruce Wernham is an excellent choice for Deputy Commissioner and we wish him every success in his new appointment. I believe he will be an outstanding success in that position.
I might also give the minister an opportunity to reflect on the fact that it does worry Territorians that the new Commissioner for Police is receiving such criticism in the community with regard to the withholding of Neighbourhood Watch figures. I am interested in the government’s position on this matter. It seems to me that the criticism being directed at the Commissioner - and him facing that criticism on his own - is surprising. The fact that government, in opposition, relied on those figures as authoritative figures for not only gauging the rate of property crime in the Northern Territory, but also to bring into this House to point to concerns amongst ordinary Territorians about crime in their own community.
I am surprised that the government, particularly through the Police minister, hasn’t given a position on this matter in this House. It is one thing to say that, from a statistical point of view and from a trend analysis point of view, these figures may not be entirely accurate. Territorians do not like to be told they are incapable of interpreting these figures. Many Territorians would see those monthly figures of crime rates in different suburbs as an indication of whether or not they might want to build a house, buy a house or whatever, in that particular suburb. Also I believe that they have been an indication to various Neighbourhood Watch groups as to how different month-by-month reflections of crime might point to initiatives that are being conducted by individual Neighbourhood Watch organisations. These can be used by others as an indication of how they might need to be more energetic in their efforts.
I ask the police minister: what is the government’s position on these Neighbourhood Watch figures? Is it something they intend to stay mute on or can they give an indication to this House that those figures will be produced for Territorians in the future?
Mr STIRLING (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his comments in relation to Bruce Wernham.
On the matter of statistics, the Leader of the Opposition is quite right that it hasn’t been raised in this House. We have a very clear view: this was an operational matter; it was a decision for the Commissioner of Police. He discussed it with me the week before it was to occur. He put forward his reasons to me as he has done publicly. I have supported him publicly, on radio and wherever the need has arisen in the media, to point out very clearly that it is an operational matter. We expect him to make those decisions in the interests of the job that he has at hand, and that is, of course, getting on top of crime.
In relation to future statistical release, of course, at one point there where we, as opposition, were desperately trying to get statistics after the advent of mandatory sentencing, we couldn’t get any statistics at all for about an 18 month period, I recall. There is still work going on within the Office of Crime Prevention and the police as to how, and how often and what form, statistical release on crime matters will come out.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
CONDOLENCE MOTION
The Right Honourable
Sir John Grey Gorton GCMG, AC, CH
The Right Honourable
Sir John Grey Gorton GCMG, AC, CH
Madam SPEAKER: Honorable members, it is with deep regret that I advise of the death on 19 May of the Right Honourable Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH, Prime Minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971, Senator for Victoria from 1949 to 1968, and a Member of the House of Representatives from 1968 to 1975. I will ask honourable members on completion of the debate to stand in silence for one minute as a mark of respect.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that this Assembly express its deep regret at the death of the Right Honourable Sir John Grey Gorton GCMG, AC, CH, Prime Minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971, Senator for Victoria from 1949 to 1968, and a member of the House of Representatives from 1968 to 1975, and place on record its appreciation of his long and distinguished service to the people of Australia, and tenders its profound sympathy to his family.
Madam Speaker, Sir John Gorton was a larger than life figure in national politics and won friends on all sides of the political spectrum for his fearlessness, his larrikin spirit, and his very Australian outlook. As my Labor colleague, Simon Crean, said about the former Liberal Prime Minister:
Sir John was undoubtedly a man ahead of his time in many areas, and sought to make both his party and
the nation more in tune with the times.
Sir John had a proud war record and loved his country, our country, deeply. As leader of this country during a time of transition in society and politics, he tried to carve out a more independent foreign policy and to project Australian ownership of industry. He recognised the importance of protecting our natural heritage and promoting our own arts and culture. He was not always popular with his own side of politics and, in fact, ended his parliamentary career as an Independent, after many fights within his own Liberal Party. His trademark song was ‘I did it my way’.
John Grey Gorton was born 9 September 1911 in Melbourne, Victoria, the second child of John Rose Gorton and Alice Sinn. His father was an immigrant from England, via South Africa. He was educated at Headford Preparatory School of Sydney Church of England Grammar School, and then Geelong Grammar. He finished his education at Oxford University.
He married his first wife, Bettina, in 1935 and they subsequently had three children. After graduating, he returned to Australia to manage his father’s orchard at Kerang in Victoria. After the outbreak of the war, he enlisted in the RAAF in November 1940 and trained as a fighter pilot. He served in the UK, Singapore, Milne Bay in Papua New Guinea, and in Darwin. Flying Officer John Gorton’s war service was brief, but very nearly fatal. He was severely wounded in a plane crash and his face always bore the scars of reconstructive surgery.
The accident came about after a mechanical failure saw him attempt a crash landing on an island off Singapore. His aircraft hit a wall on landing, and he was thrown from the wreckage suffering severe head and facial injuries. His colleagues gave him very little chance of survival but his indomitable spirit pulled him through this ordeal, as so many others in his long life. He very nearly lost his life in another incident when he was sailing for Australia from Palembang. Japanese aircraft attacked the convoy and his ship was torpedoed and sunk, and he was very lucky to be found and rescued.
Sir John visited Darwin in 1994 for the opening of the new parliament, and very much enjoyed his visit to the Aviation Museum. He relived his days flying KittyHawks, although he said he found his time in Darwin during the war fairly uneventful compared to his later war experiences.
After the war, he entered local government and joined the Country Party, but later switched to the Liberals. He successfully stood as a Senate candidate at the general election in December 1949, and retained his seat through the next four Senate elections. He was minister for the Navy in Menzies’ Coalition government, formed in 1958, and kept that position until 1963. He served in many other portfolios, including Minister for the Interior, Minister for Works, Minister for Education and Science, and was Leader of Government in the Senate from 1967 to 1968.
After the disappearance of Prime Minister Harold Holt off a Victorian beach in 1967, Sir John became Prime Minister, a surprise choice after William McMahon was forced to pull out of the race because of political enemies in the Country Party. He was the first Prime Minister to be elected while holding a Senate seat, and he had to quickly find a seat in the Lower House, successfully contesting Holt’s former seat of Higgins, which he held for three elections. Sir John retained the Prime Ministership for three controversial years until March 1971, when he voted against himself in a tied party room ballot.
Sir John was knighted in 1977, and appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 1988. He retired from politics in 1975, and lived quietly in Canberra for many years, mostly enjoying good health until his recent illness. He was 90 years old when he died at the weekend. Our thoughts are with his second wife Nancy, Lady Gorton, and his family at this time.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, John Grey Gorton came to the Prime Ministership of Australia by accident and he left by self-execution. During his brief reign he changed Australia forever. No longer were we tied to the mother country of Menzies’ Britain; no longer were we all the way with LBJ, a US satellite that Harold Holt proclaimed. Under Gorton, it was okay to be simply Australian and the cultural cringe began to fade. Our art, films, and culture were encouraged and began to flower. The changes many now attribute to the Whitlam era began under Gorton. As Phillip Adams - no lover of the Liberal Party - writes in today’s The Australian newspaper:
Whitlam, sharing our affection and respect for Sir John, always insisted on inviting him to official functions
concerning the film industry, where Whitlam would share the kudos with his craggy, somewhat daggy, predecessor.
But he made an unforgettable contribution. So I’ll never forget him.
Adams concludes in his obituary. And nor should we.
A handsome young bastard, he was the illegitimate son of a very wealthy Melbourne businessman when illegitimacy was a stigma that usually precluded you from rising very far in life. Gorton’s life was dramatically changed by the injuries he suffered during World War II. Gone were the good looks; instead there was a battered, smashed-in face hurriedly put back together by wartime plastic surgery. But, after experiencing some self-pity, he threw it aside and jumped into life with both feet.
Entering parliament in the Menzies’ and the Liberal Party’s first victory in 1949, Gorton was a backbench Senator from Victoria for almost 10 years before getting his first job in government as Minister for the Navy in 1958. Then followed a series of portfolios, gradually moving up the ladder until he was Leader of the Government in the Senate, and Minister for Education and Science when the shattering events of Christmas 1967 took place. The Prime Minister of Australia, Harold Holt, disappeared in the savage waters off the Portsea back beach, and Australia was left without a leader. Of the six or seven senior Liberals who jostled to fill the vacuum, Gorton was the less likely, the least experienced and the least known. He was not even a member of the House of Representatives, but he got the job and became the first Senator to become Prime Minister and then, briefly, the first Prime Minister who was not a member of parliament. He had to resign from the Senate and contest Holt’s old seat in order to get into the House of Representatives.
For just on two years, he led Australia in his way. He was just as much a shock to his conservative colleagues as he was to the Australian people. If it was in the interests of Australia and Australians, Sir John was for it, irrespective of whether it fitted with conservative philosophy or ideology, or a Labor viewpoint. He was a nationalist in all things: economic, cultural and social. He liked being an Australian and being with Australians. He liked to drink, just as many of his predecessors and successors, but Sir John Grey Gorton did not care who knew that he liked to drink.
The Clerk will tell you Sir John’s favourite tipple was the Famous Grouse, a piece of information he found out when Sir John was here for the opening of Parliament House, and was seeking something stronger than a light beer. For Sir John there was John Gorton, Prime Minister, and there was John Gorton, private citizen, who enjoyed a gregarious lifestyle. He saw no conflict between the two, and did not expect one John Gorton to be judged against another John Gorton.
He even ended his Prime Ministership in his own way, by voting against himself. When the challenge from his deputy, William McMahon, resulted in a tied vote in the party room, Gorton used his casting vote to depose himself but, in typical fashion, he then stood for the deputy’s job, won it and served briefly as Minister for Defence before retiring to the backbench, still as Deputy Leader of the ruling party. He was always his own man; he always did it his way.
His legacy is our belief in ourselves as Australians and, no matter how brief his term, we should never forget he was the one who made it okay to believe in our abilities, talents and culture. Others have built on it and embraced it, but he began the process. John Gorton was an Australian Prime Minister, not just Prime Minister of Australia. I commend the motion.
Mr REED (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to Sir John Grey Gorton. He was a man who clearly spent most of his life in service to Australia. Indeed, we should reflect today on the fact that there was a period in his life when he was defending the very skies above us. It is on poignant occasions like this that we should take note of services of that kind and the commitment that he and, of course, many of his colleagues - and he would not want to be shining, I do not think, in any glory in relation to this matter - made in defending the nation at a time of a very great threat. Of course, as we have heard, he also served elsewhere. Apart from the KittyHawkes out of here, he flew Hawker Hurricanes out of Singapore. He flew in New Guinea and prior to that, I think, in Europe. He gave very extensive and distinguished service as a RAAF pilot. Indeed, some of that service directly impacted on the Northern Territory.
He was a man ahead of his time in terms of his Prime Ministership. I have always been a follower of politics, at a time when there were not many people in my workplace who followed politics. I remember when we did overtime Tuesdays and Thursday nights, I used to have a little radio where I would listen to parliamentary Question Time. Everyone thought I was nuts.
At the time of the death of Harold Holt, in my observations - to the surprise of many, including myself when it happened - I predicted that it would be John Gorton who would become the Prime Minister. I simply judged that on the basis that there were not many others who would be able to fill the job. Paul Hasluck was a lovely man, but I did not think he was a particularly strong man in terms of being a Prime Minister. It was evident before it happened that ‘Black Jack’ McEwen, Sir John McEwen, would not tolerate McMahon as a Prime Minister, and someone would come through the pack and up to the winning post. It happened to be - as I say, to my surprise - John Gorton.
He was certainly a Prime Minister ahead of his time. He was the one who looked at natural assets in terms of the Great Barrier Reef and said: ‘This should be under the control of the Commonwealth government. It is an international environmental area of great significance’. He had great difficulty with Premier Bjelke-Petersen, wrestling that off the Queensland government. But he did so to the benefit of the Great Barrier Reef and to the relief of conservation movements of the day. Indeed, he gave them a great fillip to be able to pursue other issues of a similar kind, of which there have been similar advances over the years.
Similarly, with the arts. It was not Gough Whitlam - notwithstanding that he put his brand on it – who started championing the arts and bringing them forward and providing all sorts of assistance. It was Prime Minister Gorton who embarked on those moves and put those processes in place. Again, the arts community and the film industry in Australia have benefited over the decades since his innovative approach to that.
As the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have indicated, he was here in 1994. He was here subsequent to that. I notice in the newspaper today that he was last here, reportedly, in 1994. I met him in 1994, introduced myself to him and had a great chat to him. I had the opportunity to again do so when he attended a function a few years ago. I do not remember what the occasion was, but it was at Government House and the Administrator, Dr Conn, had invited me. I had received an invitation to the function and walking in ahead of me was Sir John Gorton. I caught up to him and re-introduced myself and he said: ‘Come over here’. He was a real Aussie. ‘Come over here, we will get a drink and we will sit down over here’. We sat on a brick surround around the garden and had a chat for some time about his political career and other matters in regard to his experiences in the war. I clearly took too much of his time because after a great conversation, he said: ‘Look, I had better go and have a chat to some other folks here’.
That was the nature of John Gorton. You could sit down and have a chat to him, Aussie to Aussie. He was prepared to share his experiences; a man who shattered the foundations of the Liberal Party in taking them into new arenas; in looking beyond the ‘liberalism’ and embarking on new political aspirations and ideals; and to completely broaden their outlook. If you look back and reflect on that now, it was his actions in that regard that changed the outlook of the Liberal Party. I do not think it has been the same since. They have had a broader view, a broader church if you like, and he, I think, can take credit for that. Of course, his strong personality was reflected in the very unusual act of him voting himself out of office. That speaks for itself.
I look forward to reading the biography on John Gorton. He did it his way, and I think it will be a book that will give me a further insight into a man that I met, had discussions with on two occasions, and grew to appreciate in terms of his contribution to the country both during the war and during his service as Prime Minister, minister and backbencher in parliament for many, many years.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I thank you for your sincere tributes to a most colourful Prime Minister who we will remember. I ask you to observe one minute of silence.
I thank honourable members.
STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL
(Serial 47)
(Serial 47)
Continued from 7 March 2002.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, the opposition has considered this bill and will be supporting it. The bill varies several Northern Territory laws, as the Attorney-General quite properly said, none of which reflect a substantial change in policy. Most amendments are of a very minor nature and are generally self-explanatory. Some amendments are consequential on the passing of the new Fines and Penalties Recovery Act and some relate to the changes in the names of some disciplinary bodies, including the Northern Territory Law Society. The opposition, as I indicated, will be supporting the bill.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for its support of what is a pretty uncontentious bill. It simply tidies up areas of current legislation where there may be some change, such as a repeal of a Commonwealth act that is referred to in one of our acts and, therefore, we need to remove those references. With those thanks, I move that the bill be read a second time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of representatives of Aboriginal Health Services, Aboriginal Medical Service Association of the Northern Territory, and the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum. On behalf of honourable members, I issue a warm welcome to our visitors.
Members: Hear, hear!
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Indigenous Health
Indigenous Health
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services): Madam Speaker, I speak to you today as someone who feels a great sense of urgency about indigenous health. The Territory cannot be allowed to exist with one part of its population largely healthy and the other part largely sick. The danger is that we have become far too used to it. Statements about disparities between health in indigenous and non-indigenous Territorians are all too common. The gaps are so familiar we know them by rote.
Because it is so constant and so large, we start to think that is just the way it is: changes will take a long time, they will be incremental; we should not look for short-term results. I want to say the opposite. Improvements in indigenous health and education outcomes are amongst this government’s highest priorities. Yet, at the same time, while I have this urgent desire to turn things around - a desire I hope is shared by all members of this Assembly - I do not believe indigenous people deserve more rhetoric or artfully worded statements of intent. What we do need are positive actions and practical approaches.
I have met the people who represent the face of the future of indigenous health in the Northern Territory: members of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory, or AMSANT. Since its establishment in the mid-1990s, AMSANT has grown to represent 13 community controlled Aboriginal medical services in the Northern Territory. AMSANT’s activities were critical in forcing both levels of government to accept its responsibilities for resourcing indigenous health through the framework agreement.
As an advocacy group, AMSANT has also directed the Territory and Commonwealth towards new approaches to tackling indigenous health issues in the Northern Territory, particularly through the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum. The forum, made up of the Northern Territory government, ATSIC, AMSANT and the Commonwealth, is a partnership in the true sense of the word and one to which the government is wholly committed.
The Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum is engaged in developing a resource mechanism for indigenous health that is unique in the world. While the development of the Primary Health Care Access Program, PHCAP, has been strongly supported by the previous minister, the member for Drysdale, it has to be said that indigenous organisations and committed departmental staff sparked and pursued the innovative directions we are witnessing today.
I have spoken in this House on previous occasions about this government’s commitment to the implementation of the Primary Health Care Access Program across the Territory. What I am not sure that my fellow members are fully informed of, is the sea change in indigenous service delivery that PHCAP and the health zones actually represent. Indigenous people will finally have full control over how primary health care funds are to be allocated in their regions. Through PHCAP, we envisage rolling out, across 21 zones in the Northern Territory, a series of community-controlled health boards which will harness and integrate the inputs of the many different players in the health field. This network of health zones forms the cornerstone of this reform. The health zones are groups of communities who can work together, share resources and provide efficiencies in the system that communities working alone, or governments working centrally, cannot. Each zone will dictate the level of decision-making and the load of service responsibility it wishes to take on; with their health board then taking on that level of responsibility. The end result will be the outsourcing to community-controlled organisations of the vast majority of primary health care service provision.
The indigenous health reform agenda thus embodies the vision expressed recently in this House by the Minister for Community Development when he called for regional partnerships with Aboriginal organisations and communities, and for the pooling of resources of Commonwealth and Territory governments. Above all, he called for governments and Aboriginal people to look for solutions together. This is what the primary health care reforms are delivering.
An integral component of PHCAP will be the extensive training that will become available to the boards of each PHCAP zone. Unlike the ad hoc approach of the old grant-in-aid clinics established in the past, the new boards will, over time, be empowered and skilled to achieve the reality of community control. In turn, the Northern Territory government undertakes to maintain its current commitment and effort in primary health care.
The real breakthrough, however, is that for the first time anywhere, indigenous health will be funded to a needs-based formula. The Commonwealth will be giving people in remote parts of the Northern Territory access to Medicare benefits equivalent to that of other Australians. For the Northern Territory health system it is, in effect, new money. For our remote citizens, it is access to the rights that other Australians have enjoyed for a quarter of a century.
For the first 10 zones to be rolled out, this will mean between $25m and $35m per annum additional funds flowing into remote health services. This new money will be pooled with Northern Territory funds and administered by community-controlled health boards. What is being attempted here has happened nowhere else in the world with respect to indigenous minorities, and there is a real sense that the world will be watching us. However, we should not suppose that we are flying blindly. It is not an innovation for innovation’s sake, nor is it something that is being created on a whim. It is based on local, national and international research. More importantly, it is located within local experience.
A few weeks ago, following two-and-a-half years of developmental negotiations, the green light was given for the Sunrise Coordinated Care Trial to control health services for up to 3800 residents of the communities on the east side of the highway. With the Borroloola area recently approved as one of the first two new Top End zones to attract PHCAP support, the building blocks of the reform agenda for the entire district of Katherine are in place. The development of the Sunrise Health Service, as well as moves to establish a health board in the Borroloola region, will mean a major milestone has already been achieved. Within the next year, we are likely to see the entire Katherine health district under community-controlled primary health care. However, these reforms will succeed only if we, as a government, commit to the detail of supporting its continuing evolution. There is still much to do to ensure that the course of health zones and the reform agenda run smoothly.
I recently asked the department to do some intensive internal work to ensure that it is adequately equipped to deal with these exciting new directions. With the deliberate policy of devolving primary health care servicing to non-government organisations, the department needs to be well prepared for a major transformation in its own role. It is moving from the familiar, albeit challenging role of provider, to that of funding, regulation and coordination.
We need to focus on ensuring we further develop our capacity in three key areas. Firstly, in common with our federal counterparts, the Northern Territory government will retain its overall statutory responsibility for the effectiveness of the health care system. The focus of this work will be informed by comprehensive risk analysis and contingency planning. Improvements in health services and health outcomes will be monitored and evaluated, and fund-holding organisations will be required to account for the resources they control. For these reasons, the government is funding a project run by the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health, to develop a system of performance management, including performance indicators, that meet Commonwealth and Territory government requirements. This is being done in the spirit of collaboration by all partners. The commitment to outcomes and accountability from Aboriginal health services has been outstanding. Our processes are also strengthened by the resolve of AMSANT to support responsibility and accountability from their member organisations.
A second area in which the department is building up its skills is in partnerships. I believe that there is still a way to go before all of our staff fully embrace the transitions. For so many years, departmental staff have worked above and beyond the call of duty, in a completely under-resourced system, to improve Aboriginal health in isolated areas. Now they’re being asked to assume a critical role in supporting local health leaders and emerging organisations to take on this work for themselves. Change of this magnitude is challenging for everyone. I admit there is uncertainty. I have asked the department to assist operational staff to fully understand and feel part of the process. This means departmental staff need to feel comfortable about relinquishing control and sharing the information - the data, the facts and figures - that will be critical for all the new health boards. In consultation with staff and unions, the department’s Top End and Central Australian services networks are in the process of realignment, to be better prepared structurally for the future.
A third area of focus for the department is associated with health centre infrastructure in remote areas. As I have travelled through Territory communities, I have been struck by the powerful difference between health services in places where non-Aboriginal people may be part of the clientele, from those further from tourist view. It has left me with a great feeling of shame that this should be the case in a society that prides itself on notions of equality and fairness. If we allowed health services in any urban area to degenerate to the standard of some clinics, there would be vehement public outrage.
A great deal of work is required to ensure that, when health centre management transfers to a health board, health centres are in good condition. The department is auditing all remote area health centres, comparing their status to established standards for client care, occupational health and safety, gender access, and required levels of services. This audit will result in a strategic plan for the upgrading of bush health centres, which will greatly assist in the smooth transfer of management to emerging health boards. With critical capital works upgrades thus properly prioritised, we will then be putting our money where our mouth is.
I am also sending a clear message that we will not be satisfied with any residual second-rate services in our remaining areas of acute care. The improvements we are currently seeking within our hospital network require closer integration with primary health care services, and a greater ability to respond to the directions being set by the community control sector. For instance, I expect the department’s renal mapping project to provide me with relevant social and biomedical data to support the development, in partnership with the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum, of a strategic plan for best practice renal health services across the Northern Territory. We want to know what it would take to be able to offer remote area renal options that are on par with mainstream services in other jurisdictions, such as self-care dialysis and transplants. In this context, let me add that I have been impressed with such independent initiatives as the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal. I am confident that, with this government’s emphasis on partnerships, in future our hospital improvements will assume a greater community orientation.
I might also add that I think the non-government sector needs to have a greater presence in remote Northern Territory. The Hollows Foundation work currently underway in the Katherine region, is drawing on an internationally tested expertise that I am committed to seeing more of in the Territory. In a similar vein, corporate Australia has often taken interest in social issues as part of their community responsibility. I am pleased to be in discussion with Westpac and Alcan Gove (Nabalco), on specific indigenous health projects in remote areas, and look forward to saying more about these in coming weeks.
This represents a powerful strategy for improving primary health care in communities. Investment in this area is long overdue. I still find myself surprised at how long Aboriginal people and health workers have tolerated, over the years, an awful system: stretched, under-funded and, too often, unsafe. If all of this was not challenge enough, just add to the mix communicable disease, the explosion of chronic diseases of all kinds, malnutrition, the toll of injuries and family violence, mental health problems, poverty and illiteracy - diseases which do not just take a marginal view, but some of the finest people that this parliament has seen.
If that is still not enough to make people surrender, add a problem causing more deaths and renal failure: not a problem of germs or of infrastructure, but of people willing to cause suffering in order to make a profit through promoting their toxic mix of rubbish food, tobacco, cannabis and alcohol. You end up with a disease problem complex, the tragic intermarriage of conditions of poverty and affluence that few in the world can even comprehend.
Under PHCAP, communities will be able to determine their way of approaching the social determinants of ill health. The experience to date has been that, with properly resourced community control, Aboriginal health workers - in so many ways the key to health improvements - are more valued and can play a greater role in moving outside the clinic to truly tackle prevention. Community control means that something like obesity - a silent killer that is not taken as seriously as it should be - or tobacco use - with up to 83% of indigenous men and 73% of women being smokers - can be tackled under the direction of Aboriginal people.
For instance, it is as a result of health care services being under Aboriginal control that heavily sugared drinks, lollies and fatty foods are being banned as part of a prohibition on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara lands in Central Australia. The stores are being seen as a health resource, not just an enterprise. This is an approach public health workers have tried to foster for years through processes of cajoling and encouraging. Yet, while institutionalised versions of holism and community development meet many barriers, under local control actions can be more direct. Our actions in the area of smoking, through the review of the Tobacco Act, will undoubtedly have an impact through restricting availability but, with tobacco playing such a key role in the systems of ceremonial exchange within the indigenous economy, can government, which barely knows how this works, possibly disrupt it? That is where local knowledge and local control kicks in.
This government is doing the detailed work to make these reforms succeed. We will undertake to strengthen the role and authority of the Northern Territory Health Forum as a principal partnership in indigenous health in the Territory; to maintain our support for the works of AMSANT and its membership as representatives of the indigenous comprehensive health care sector; to prioritise the filling of key primary health care positions; to put in place a comprehensive risk management strategy for backing up at-risk health services; and to continue to devolve the Department of Health and Community Services primary health care functions to community control, where this is desired, through funds pooling mechanisms in conjunction with the Commonwealth.
By no stretch of the imagination do the health zone arrangements reduce government’s overall responsibilities. Not only will we be overseeing the massive change in risk management processes associated with outsourcing primary health care on a scale never before witnessed, we also retain overall responsibility for the quality of the services and the regulation of standards for disaster management and the like. Because we will be operating as a bureau service to health zones, we need to provide a repository of expertise to help all communities treat outbreaks and manage the essential follow-up.
This is not a light responsibility. Communicable diseases like tuberculosis should be diseases of the past, but are not. TB is a global political problem and is a disease of the poor. 90% of cases occur in the developing world. It should not exist at all in the Territory, yet each year we hear of new cases.
Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease are, likewise, diseases of disadvantage which have all but disappeared from the southern states. Yet, research by the Menzies School of Health Research demonstrated that the Northern Territory has among the highest published rates of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in the world. Rheumatic fever occurs mainly in children and young adults. Recurrences of rheumatic fever lead to cumulative heart damage. On average, 20 Aboriginal people die from such heart attacks every year. Many of these are young adults. The mean age is 36 years, making it the chronic disease of young people. The tragic thing is, these deaths could be almost completely prevented by strict follow-up and monthly injections of penicillin after the first attack of rheumatic fever. These are not the chronic lifestyle related diseases with no cures, but magic bullet diseases - things that can and should be fixed and that are totally treatable and curable.
In 1997, the Centre for Disease Control established a coordinated Rheumatic Heart Disease Control Program in the Top End of the Northern Territory, jointly funded by the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory governments. We have just signed a further agreement with the Commonwealth to jointly fund the continuation of the program in the Top End and an extension of it to Central Australia. I will be seeking the support of my colleagues in future years to ensure our vigilance on these and other communicable diseases is not allowed to falter.
In the explanations for why such things as TB and rheumatic disease can exist in a first world country, people often point to the surrounding environmental conditions: the poor housing, the inadequate amenities, the overcrowding, the poor diets and lack of exercise, and unemployment and its correlate, poor education. This government has listened to this message and has responded. We are the government that is giving real support to the implementation of the Collins’ review, Learning Lessons. It works both ways: many things in health would be resolved if education levels lifted, but education levels would also be lifted if we were more effective in delivering school-age children without any health damage.
Health is supporting the full implementation of Learning Lessons by taking concerted action to help ensure that when children first go to school, they are fit and able to learn. Again, this will take the form of practical measures. For instance, we know that persistent ear infections lead to intermittent deafness among children in remote communities. We also know that if ear disease can be prevented before two years of age, then it is unlikely to develop into chronic ear disease with perforation. Prevention and early intervention are critical.
The World Health Organisation states that, in a population where 4% or more children have perforations with discharge, there is a massive public health problem requiring urgent attention. Yet, in a recent Menzies survey of 29 communities throughout the Northern Territory, only 7% of children had normal middle ears. An overall average of 25% of young Aboriginal children had perforated ear drums; 31% had middle ear fluid in both ears; and five communities had perforation rates greater than 40%. In this context, it is alarming to learn how poorly resourced hearing services in the Northern Territory have been. There is only one dedicated Aboriginal health worker who operates Northern Territory wide, and one dedicated audiologist employed by the department to work in Aboriginal communities, focussed in the Top End exclusively. Compounding the problem, these services have only focussed on school-age children, not the early childhood period where hearing problems may be averted. Not only will we be increasing the attention paid to hearing programs and disease prevention, we are maintaining our election commitments of running school breakfast programs, and directing of the child health teams to address the precursors of disease in early childhood.
I have deliberately prepared this statement in the spirit of looking forward, and giving credit where credit is due, but I pause here for a moment to make one very clear distinction between the efforts of the previous CLP government and this government. The previous government oversaw the identification of a number of key interventions that would form the backbone of the very clever and sound Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy. These interventions, particularly around maternal and child health, are identified as best practice in remote areas. I congratulate the previous government for that work but, having identified what would make a difference, they didn’t fund those interventions.
This government has dedicated $2.2m per year to implement the child health interventions, identified as the backbone of the Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy. This new funding will enable the employment of 25 additional staff in remote area child health. It will ensure that the growth assessment and promotion initiatives that are providing startling results in Central Australia, will finally be fully implemented in the Top End. The additional positions will ensure that the Healthy School Aged Kids program, which is carried out in only some Top End communities, and has only been piloted in Central Australia, can be implemented across remote Northern Territory.
Through mechanisms such as the Indigenous Housing Authority of the Northern Territory, IHANT, this government has supported the Community Housing Management Program, in which locally recruited indigenous coordinators assist their local regions with a range of housing management issues, including the coordination of a home care program. We have established a closer working relationship with ATSIC on the National Aboriginal Health Strategy Program, with a view to pooling our housing and infrastructure efforts. We are also continuing the second year of an environmental health analysis that has been beneficial in developing an ongoing picture of the state of indigenous health in remote communities.
Beyond these initiatives, there is something else we need to put a name to, and that is the dysfunction caused by widespread alcohol and substance abuse, family breakdown, neglect of children, youth suicide, violence and the sexual abuse of women and children. We will build the houses and try to ensure they are well built and designed to last. We will strive to ensure power and water and waste disposal facilities are of the highest standards; that the water is clean and so on. But we have to come to terms with the fact that other things ruin houses and lives. By being passive about the social epidemics ripping through communities, we are condemning babies and children, young men and women, and people growing old too quickly, to the task of having to seek life meaning out of conditions of fear and instability. I freely admit to not having quick remedies at hand; to having more questions than I have answers.
The work of the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community is needed now like never before. Let me raise some of the questions I hope the committee will consider in the cause of their investigations. Many indigenous and non-indigenous leaders are now saying alcohol lies at the heart of many of the problems they face. Alcohol abuse means violence; murder; sexual abuse; wrecked houses; no money for good food; and sleepless, hungry children who cannot complete a day of school, will not listen to authority figures, grow up seeing no future, and end up in gaol, or taking their own lives, or themselves turning to substances such as fly spray, paint, and petrol.
How does society balance having alcohol available for responsible use when, at the same time, we are dealing every day with the costs of endemic alcohol abuse? If we have the highest estimated rates of alcohol-induced assault leading to hospitalisation in the country, and if our per capita consumption of alcohol is 50% higher than the rest of Australia, then what are our collective responsibilities as a society and as individuals to get the balance right? Why has petrol sniffing been allowed to remain the big no-go area for government for so long - the ultimate impossibility with the solutions always pointing beyond the issues to prior causes? Can we afford to consign young people to the real risk of brain damage, uncontrollable violence, and permanent disability? I will pledge to support the select committee and to work seriously to achieve real outcomes out of their work. We must also acknowledge government needs to act now for the interests of babies, children and young people - today’s next generation.
Beyond the community control introduced by the PHCAP program, it remains the case that many specialty programs in indigenous health - the mental health services, school programs, early childhood initiatives, family violence and substance abuse - contend with an overly complex and uncoordinated maze of government funding. Any one remote community or health professional usually has to deal with numerous overlapping government departments and multiple funding schemes to try to piece together a complete service. This funding maze makes it almost impossible for a community and supporting professionals to rationally plan its health and wellbeing services. This is where being real about a partnership approach is essential. Under this government, AMSANT is regarded as a peak body, the Northern Territory Health Forum as a key alliance, and my relationship with the federal Minister for Health as a key asset.
At the end of April, I spent two days with the Federal Health Minister, Hon Senator Kay Patterson, travelling to a series of communities in the Northern Territory. From the outset, we enjoyed a positive relationship that crosses political lines. Senator Patterson and I both see improvements in this area as high priorities for our portfolios. Streamlining the funding arrangements and having a joint approach to key initiatives are on my agenda for the future. It is a sign of how seriously my commitment to indigenous health is regarded, that I am Australia’s lead minister for the indigenous health component of the new Australian Health Care Agreement negotiations, which will consider national health funding for the period 2003 to 2007.
In conclusion, our collective job as community leaders is to make sure no one gets used to the idea that indigenous people should carry the disease burden they do well into the future, before we can expect any turnaround. Our job is to ensure that we all see premature death, preventable disease, poverty and illiteracy as unacceptable for any part of our community. What we do in the next few years will be pivotal to the health of indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory; the first people of this land.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the minister has brought this statement forward. I do not think she would be surprised at all to find that much of what has been said in this statement strikes a very strong chord with those of us on this side of the House. We are all faced with a situation that is unacceptable; with grappling for solutions; and with what the minister called a seeming acceptance of some of the data and statistics that come forward. With few exceptions, this side of the House would strongly applaud the minister because this is one of her priority tasks. The Health minister in the Northern Territory - and I have worked for three of them and been one myself - have ‘Aboriginal health’ virtually tattooed on their inner eyelids because it is something that affects us in an economic, social, and community interest sense. In many of the battles we face with our partners and players - and I put the Commonwealth in that category primarily - this is the big issue.
It could be elicited from the minister’s statement that this is a new push, a brand new initiative that has hit the parliament, and that the minister has authorship of some radical new change of direction. That is patently not the case. This government is to be applauded for continuing much of the work that has already been put in place but, it should do so in a way that recognises that a significant amount of effort has been put in place, and has come from people who remain in this House.
For mine, one of the biggest changes in Aboriginal health in the Northern Territory over the last 20 years has been directly attributable to a man named Dr Wooldridge. That may surprise some members, but I had the fortune in my career to work in an area where Dr Brian Howe, Graham Richardson, Carmen Lawrence - also a doctor, non-medical again – and Dr Michael Wooldridge were all federal Health Ministers. I can tell you that the legacy of this man, for the Territory and for Aboriginal people, should be recognised in this parliament every time we speak about Aboriginal health. He came here on many occasions, as the shadow minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and was very knowledgeable about the Territory. He made many visits. I accompanied him on a couple of them. They were swag trips out bush where he saw the people first hand, without a big entourage. He worked as a medical practitioner in the Ntaria Clinic, which is a pretty rare thing for any health minister in Australia, federal or otherwise, to have done. He is a man of great honour who brought immense additional resources to the Territory.
It is easy to say that we are going to do all these wonderful things. You can have all the goodwill in the world, but this is a very expensive business we are involved in. If you look at the things that Michael Wooldridge did with untying the grants; and having grants that were more focussed towards encouraging partnerships, as we do - the big dollars we talk about that are embedded in this minister’s speech – they have their heritage out of his time. I am happy to put on the record my great admiration for the work he did and I think that, in years to come, many commentators will see that this is when we broke the back of it.
I have told this House before that, regarding independent health services, I was working for Health Minister Reed when we went down to Perth and we were talking to all the Health ministers from around Australia, and particularly Graham Richardson. We were trying to find a way of getting some more money into the Territory using this parliament’s report which argued that the shortcoming in federal health monies flowing to this place came about because there was a shortfall of doctors and pharmacists. We were not getting our right and proper share of medical benefits scheduled funds or pharmaceutical benefit funds.
We mounted this case and I can remember at one particular breakfast, there was a ‘light on the road to Damascus’ that fell over these minders for the federal minister. They said: ‘I know, we will fund independent health services’. We said: ‘Good, that is a good initiative; a great initiative. You have four, and we have 30’. It came as a great shock to them that this model they had invented of having Aboriginal people running their own health services was, in fact, in place. I will not say it was running particularly well, and I go back to the issues of money and resources. But we had an undertaking from Richo that he was keen to look at this matter. Why was he keen? He had been to the Territory on a trip, and most of us can remember the pink-legged Richo in his short pants going out to Bulman, I think, and to Katherine. He put a tap on in Katherine. He went to an illegal camp there with Mayor, Jimmy Forscutt, and he said: ‘This is terrible, no running water. We will put a tap there’. That was his big health intervention. I hope that tap is still there. I hope it still has a plaque on it because this is a man who had no concept of Aboriginal health - he had no concept of the realities of it.
It was pretty difficult to talk to him, I have tell you. He only came to Katherine for two days but could only afford about an hour with the local Health minister whose electorate he was in. Anyway, we talked to him and he said: ‘Look mate, cobber …’ - I do not know if you know Richo but that is how he used to talk - ‘… what we’re trying to do is get the spotlight on this because my colleagues do not understand what’s going on; Canberra is too far away. What we’re trying to do is help you by taking this situation to people, putting it in the public realm and showing people just how bad it is’.
Some would argue that is a pretty destructive way of running an argument but we accepted that was what he was trying to do. In the case of Darwin, there were some commentators in the independent health services - Barbara Flick one of them - who were greatly encouraged by his words because they were looking to have matters relating to Aboriginal health come out of ATSIC and, through health departments or whatever, more directly to health services. That is a point of view you could well support. Certainly, we supported it because we had already mainstreamed our health services so that, here in the Territory, we had not run our operational departments on a racial line like the Commonwealth, were they said: ‘We have ATSIC dispensing all these services, and Education doesn’t have to worry about Aboriginal people and Health doesn’t have to worry about Aboriginal people’. What we said here is that each of these instrumentalities has to worry about its major core clientele and, in every one of them, issues relating to Aboriginal people should be at the fore of your policies and priorities. We had already mainstreamed - a word which is offensive to some people - Aboriginal health into our mainstream Health Department. We saw there was some benefit in talking to the Commonwealth along those lines.
It subsequently did happen under Carmen Lawrence, I believe, that ATSIC was relieved of its duties to provide funding and other support to Aboriginal health, and it became an instrumentality aside. We think that was a good move. It should be noted that a lot of energy can be expended in debating issues like mainstreaming and community control, and all those sorts of labels when, at the end of the day, if we all sat down in a room people would be surprised to find they were all pointing in the same direction.
We had the now conservative minister, Brendan Nelson, visit. He wore a hat as the boss of the Australian Medical Association and ran a similar line to Richo. He said: ‘Look, I am up here to tell everybody how bad it is because, in this way, you are going to get more money’. We have had various media outlets do exactly the same thing. I think what has happened is that a lot of commentators have whipped themselves into a frenzy about looking at how terrible the NT is.
I do not think our history is all that bad. There have certainly been a lot of things that we have invented and trialled here, that have been used elsewhere, and I take pride in that. You have to look at some of the work that has been done here. The statement refers to indigenous health coming from the moves and the agitation, if you like, of AMSANT and other peak groups. But it goes well before that, and it goes to practitioners who were in the field. It probably goes as far back as people like the man who set up the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Dr Flynn; the real flying doctor if you like, Dr Clyde Fenton; and other people who came to this place many years ago. Some of those who came here decades ago are still around, and I have mentioned in this House before Dr Hargreaves and Dr Walker, our paediatrician. These are people who we can meet over lunch and a glass of wine, and they can talk about what things were like here 40 years ago. It is absolutely astonishing how much change has taken place.
I agree wholeheartedly with the minister, and I do not say that we should therefore take a breather, have a rest, things are hunky-dory; they are not. There is still a sense of urgency here and that came through in the minister’s statement today. I give her some credit. In this case, I believe that she does see this is a priority and an urgent issue.
Some of the statement deals with things like a world first. On page five of the minister’s statement she says:
… what is being attempted here has happened nowhere else in the world with respect to indigenous minorities,
and there is a real sense in which the world will be watching us.
There is some truth in that. It has to be a unique solution that affects us and we should be very careful not to borrow or plagiarise solutions that do not fit us well. But it is a bit of a long shot, and I think there are many indigenous health services around the world we should look at. Indeed, several former ministers did and were criticised for doing so. I remember Denis Burke’s trip to America was seen as some sort of a joke; people saw it as a jaunt. But nonetheless, I do recall it informed him largely on matters relating to - for instance, another issue in the minister’s speech - renal services, particularly those that can be appropriately run at a lower level of medicalisation and professionalism but, still nonetheless safely and appropriately for the community’s needs. These are things that can be viewed in some of the Indian health services. They do not have the same high levels, but the same tragic over-representation of some of this health data, including end stage renal failure.
The minister talked about the money being needs based:
The real breakthrough, however, is that for the first time anywhere, indigenous health will be funded to a needs based formula.
I caution the House again to look at this money that is flowing from the Commonwealth. While I do not want to appear churlish, it is a lot of money, and it is no more than our due. This money that is coming to the Northern Territory is not based on needs; it is based on a formula: ‘We will give you about the same as the call on MBS elsewhere’. That is not needs based. That is an accountant saying: ‘The average call is this, and we will give you that’. Our need is higher than that and we should take no solace from the Commonwealth giving us many millions and saying: ‘Well, therefore you are off the hook’.
I would still argue that the needs evident here in the Northern Territory, particularly amongst Aboriginal people in remote communities, are higher than in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, etcetera. So, while the Commonwealth might cunningly say: ‘Well, that is a needs based formula’, it still does not address our need. That need was quantified in 1996 or 1997 in the Public Accounts Committee report to this parliament that said it was $50m, at that time. So thanks for your $25m to $35m per annum and thanks for saying that it has to be distributed on the basis of need, but we will be coming back to bang on your door. You do not get off that lightly.
I am interested in the discussion about communities taking control. The minister says:
… the boards will, over time, be empowered and skilled to achieve the reality of community control.
That is a good ambition, a good thing to continue to push, and a good thing to aim for. Where I have some concern is the caveats. So what we are saying is: ‘Look you mob, you can run your health, its all your business’. But then the minister goes on to say: ‘… but we will retain overall responsibility for the quality of services and the regulation of standards …’, ‘… we’re going to maintain our election commitment for running school breakfast programs …’, and ‘… by being passive about social epidemics ripping through communities, we are condemning babies, children, young people and women …’. The opposite of being passive is being active. The government is saying: ‘We are going to feed the kids through a government program, we are going to be active about social epidemics …’, and they talking about, in another part of the statement, levels of funding. Now, those who are more jaundiced about dealing with federal and Territory governments about funding levels, know this is a skit that can be used: ‘The level of funding, here’s your money. By the way, the roads money has got to fund this black spot’. Or: ‘Here’s your money, but you have to introduce road limits’. We have known for a long time that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Along with the cash sometimes comes a little caveat saying: ‘But you have to do this policy because it is what we want and we think it is good for you’.
When these negotiations are underway, I ask that the minister be very transparent with the communities. In the matters relating to under-nourished children, the easy and ready solution is: why don’t we just feed them? Why don’t we go to a community, find out which kids are skinny and feed them - it is fixed. That is pretty much what the missionaries did, and they are pilloried often for that approach of feeding people. I would say that there are some bigger issues in relation to child malnutrition. Some were touched on in the minister’s speech where she talked about alcohol and other drugs and substance abuse. They are issues that should be affected by a preventative measure rather than a treatment measure. Feeding school kids is a treatment measure. Get the skinny kid, give them the vegemite sandwich - problem fixed. The problem is not fixed. While I did hear some mutterings and back patting over there when that passage was read out, I would caution those opposite to look beyond the rhetoric and to look at the issue of true community control. If you are offended by something in that community, do you intervene? On what basis do you intervene? If you are not prepared to take a ‘passive role’, what is your active role? How are you going to actively intervene? These matters will flow to some of the issues of the caveats on self-management.
We once had the member for Nhulunbuy stand and talk about how terrible it was that at Yirrkala you had big mobs of white people working on the council. Okay, that is probably not a good thing either. There should be more Aboriginal people employed in places like that, particularly where there aren’t many job opportunities. But whose problem is it? If it is a problem for the member for Nhulunbuy, he can say to his Minister for Local Government: ‘Next time you give them the money, put a little note in there saying: “If you keep employing white fellas we’re not going to give you so much money”.’ You can do it; you can fix it. The same with health - you have to look at whether this is rhetoric or whether you are actually going to allow true community control.
The minister talks about the rollout of programs, and how she is going to bring staff on board. I hope she does because, only last week, she talked about the communication from her department being poor. She talked about some staff, in this particular area we are talking about, being ‘in fear’. These are indicators maybe of speed; poor communication; that sometimes there is a mistrust from parties about the actual impacts, or what is actually being determined. They are symptoms that should be heeded, because the symptoms of poor communication and fear is telling you something. Whatever that message is, it should be analysed, heard and something should be done about it.
I agree with the clinic upgrade. We spent over the last 10 years, many millions upgrading clinics. I agree that, prior to that, they were in poor circumstances. If you also look at the minister’s comment that she wanted to introduce the non-government sector into this area; I reckon that is a great idea. She did mention the Fred Hollows Foundation, but there are many others. I can remember the furore that was caused when World Vision were going to go to Papunya. Those opposite said: ‘This is terrible because World Vision goes to poor African countries. For them to go to Papunya means that we are on a par with poor African countries and, in a country like Australia, this should not be the case’. My position was: ‘Look, we will take help from anybody, we do not care. If somebody wants to come on board and they are genuine about their capacity to help, we do not care’.
We have had a long history of missions providing services in communities - in fact, they still do in many communities - and that is a good thing; not a bad thing. There is enough work out here that, if somebody is keen enough to have a go, let’s have them on board. I do not have any problem with the Fred Hollows Foundation, World Vision, Freedom from Hunger. I really do not care who comes on board because, so long as they are pointing the same way as this parliament and the people of the Territory, that is a really good thing.
I want to touch quickly on the business of the newness of all these policies because there is a significant amount of work that has been done. For instance, in Aboriginal health over the last four or five years, I have a list of some of them here. We implemented the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Policy and the Aboriginal Public Health Strategy and Implementation Guide was launched. Fifteen Aboriginal Health Promotion Officers were awarded a certificate and qualification to help promotion of health principles; in fact, I had the great privilege and pleasure of doing that. A hands-on database of public health and education training was available and was NT developed. The Public Health Bush Book I have talked about in this House before; this is an excellent book. This is a practitioner’s guide to life in the bush, some of the resources that are available and, if I have time I will come back to that. But a great book; it is the third in a generation of them, and they are a great guide for people. The Aboriginal Career Development and Employment Strategy was implemented; the Environmental Health Standards for Remote Communities in the Northern Territory were developed; the outcomes of the NT Food and Nutrition Policy have been related to the growth assessment and action program; the role of the remote community-based alcohol and other drug work has been developed; Tiwi and Katherine coordinated care trials were talked about; the Sunrise trial was talked about also.
The framework agreement of Aboriginal health was talked about by the minister and was signed by the Commonwealth Minister for Health and Family Services, the Chairperson of ATSIC and the NT Minister for Health, Family and Children’s Services on 8 April 1998 - which I also had the pleasure in being involved with. There was the Central Australian Aboriginal Health Planning Study and the Top End Indigenous Planning Study. I could also talk about the Preventable Chronic Diseases Strategy because, again, while hoping to fulsomely support this statement, that is something that should be talked about. We have talked about the Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy in this parliament many times. Certainly, it is something we are proud of; it is something I am proud of. There is this line that has been run out: ‘Yes, you invented it, you set it up, but you didn’t fund it. What a terrible pack you are’.
There are two points. Point one: what the minister is talking about here is changing people’s attitudes, bringing in a new style, and refocussing staff. She often talks about the change policy in her department, how people are worried. The Preventable Chronic Diseases Strategy was partly that. What we said was that, if you look at what you do, as a health practitioner, an educator, a doctor, a clinician, or mental health worker, there are some broad units of work that you could agree are generic across areas. We could look, for instance, at the preventable chronic diseases of advanced stage renal failure, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and we could look at how maybe 50 players in the department are working on the same disease. So we could say: ‘Diabetes, okay, let’s have a look at that. There is a bit of work being done by a schoolteacher, a little done in the clinic, we have somebody in Darwin doing it, and we have Diabetes Australia. Gosh, look at all that effort out there’.
Now, what you could do, particularly if you work on this ‘let’s treat rather than prevent’, is muster some of that resource. The first thing we did was say: ‘You are not here just as the tuberculosis worker in Maningrida’. And that was another topical debate. We said: ‘All of these people in this clinic - Aboriginal health workers, nurses, visiting doctors - have to look at all their patients and look at the diseases impacting on them, including TB’. You cannot say: ‘Look, I have this bloke here. He has a cut leg. He might have a grog problem and I think his family have a history of heart problems, but he is presenting because of TB. Crook - there you go, you go and see that tuberculosis person’, because it is a nonsense. Certainly, most of our clients who are in the Aboriginal health area have a disease status beyond the norm, if you like. On many occasions, they have many, many problems to deal with. So the first cut, preventable chronic disease strategy. Work out what you are doing, muster your resources so that you are all doing it within a strategic framework.
The second part is the $1.4m. When the minister says: ‘They did not fund those interventions’, I would have thought $1.4m was pretty good. Okay, maybe it is not all the way there, but the first cut was to say: ‘We already have a resource deployed, now let’s deploy it in accordance with the ‘s’ in the Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy – strategy’. So our first call was to be strategic, our second call was to fund it, and I am glad there is more money going to it. Great idea!
I actually launched the Healthy School Aged Children book talked about by the minister. I also, in conjunction with the previous Education minister, visited schools and clinics together, and I hope that continues. I hope the current Health minister goes out with the Education minister when they are on the ground together for Cabinet or whatever and has a look at the clinic and the school.
One of the sad things - and it is something that has to be addressed other than by programs and funding or whatever - is often the expatriate staff in those two areas do not get on. Often the chalkies do not get on with the clinic sister and vice versa. I can remember going to a community that I will not name, that had a clinic sister with women lined up outside, treating two or three people inside, calling for an evac at the same time, and in the back paddock there were probably 25 kids kicking a football around which is probably a good thing, except that it was school time. I went over to the school and it was like a morgue, almost empty. I went in and there was everybody in the staff room with a cup of tea and the airconditioner on, saying: ‘Oh, well, you know, it is a bit light today because the bloomin’ kids didn’t turn up’.
Well, I would have thought, like the preventable chronic diseases strategy, you could say: ‘Hey, look, busy resource, quiet resource. Now, shucks, what about we use some of this mob to do some of that mob’s work?’ What you have to do is say that some of the educative and other things that are really imperative issues in health, maybe they could be done in a school setting. Now, Bob found that too. Bob said maybe if our education program is to teach people the skills so they can get a job, there are some big failures in an Aboriginal community because there are not enough jobs to go around. However, if we are educating people for life, one of the things they are going to have to know is how to have a healthy and happy life, and that can take place in the classroom. They do not have to front the clinic to understand what happens if you drink too much kava, beer, smoke or do not exercise. It is exactly the same message that should come to me, standing here a bit overweight.
I think that bond came through in the minister’s statement. I hope it is more than just: ‘Well, here’s the Bob Collins report. It is a blueprint. We will follow that and it’ll all be fixed’. It is more than that. There are attitudinal issues, and issues of marrying ideas of these people in a shotgun wedding. There is an issue of choice of appropriate staff, and the issue of risk assessment. There is the issue of violence against staff that seems to be topical at the moment and, I believe, not adequately addressed. All of these things have to be bound up into one.
In this health universe, the clients are very important and should drive it. The Commonwealth, too, should be almost like a Siamese twin; we should have them so close to us on these things that we think the same, talk the same, go the same places. The living conditions issues and education we’ve talked about here - all very powerful bonds - all have to be things that come through loud and clear.
The minister talked about the suave clinics that the tourists could see and the not-so-suave ones that are over the next couple of sand dues or whatever. She also talks about community control. Can I say that the issue of community control is that the clinics should be available for all the community, so when she says: ‘… the entire Katherine health district is under community-controlled primary health care …’, there has to be some scope for non-indigenous people to participate …
Ms Scrymgour: They’re included.
Mr DUNHAM: Well, I know the member for Arafura has some role in this and I look forward …
Madam SPEAKER: The member’s time has expired.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I move that so much that standing orders be suspended as would allow the member for Drysdale to complete his remarks.
Leave granted.
Mr DUNHAM: I shall be very brief, Madam Speaker, just to finish that point. I am saying we should collaborate on it because we have found in the case of Ti Tree and other places, where there are recipients of services who are non-Aboriginal, that when we say we’re going out with a community-controlled health service – and by ‘community control’ we mean ‘Aboriginal community control’ - it does leave some people with concerns.
They are not concerns that cannot be addressed or met. On many occasions it would be a great alleviator if these matters were dealt with in conjunction with local members, with those opposite because, at the end of the day, it is a better service, it is a better funded service and hopefully, it can reach the needs of everybody. All I am saying is that when you apply the label ‘community controlled’ over and over again, just be aware that in some communities there has to be a capacity for non-indigenous people to be participants.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, we will adjourn for lunch now.
Mr STIRLING: I was only going to be a few minutes. It is not very long.
Madam SPEAKER: All right. See how you go.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, it is only 11.55. I listened with interest to the shadow minister. I will not take a long time with my remarks. He is worth listening to when he comes to the subject with some positive contribution as he did today. It is too rare that we see the shadow minister in that frame of mind.
I, too, have visited communities and have seen more children out and about in the community on my way from the airstrip up into the communities, than I have seen within the classrooms. I have seen that for 12 years and right across different schools throughout the Territory. So, it is refreshing to see the shadow minister make those sorts of points in here where, of course, we never had that acknowledgement from that side of the House when they were in government.
We acknowledge those very real concerns and ask ourselves the question: how can we expect education to be effective when the kids are not in school in the first place? It is something that Collins very much concentrated upon, with measures to ensure that we get children not just to school, but we get them there in a healthy shape. I want to make it clear that, in relation to the comments he made about cooperation between the minister for Health and minister for Education, it is very much the reason why I am on my feet here at the moment.
I cannot overemphasise the importance of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Community Services’ statement from two perspectives, both as a member for Nhulunbuy and as minister for Education. Even the previous government was able to see how critical partnerships are between health and education. In their words, they acknowledged it, but we never saw the action to match the words.
In contrast, both in health and education, this government has moved purposely beyond comforting rhetoric to actual implementation. My colleague, Minister Aagaard, has outlined how health is taking care of the detail of properly implementing the Primary Health Care Access Program with Aboriginal community management.
In Education, we plan to learn from the experience of Health as we move to put in place four self-managing indigenous education school pilots. These pilots will give effect to key recommendations from the Collins’ review; namely, that the education system should provide for community control over education decision-making processes, while establishing clear benchmarks for expected improvements. In effect, the pilot schools will, under the direction of local area education boards, give school principals every opportunity to do what it takes to improve education outcomes and prove that that turnaround is possible.
The Learning Lessons Implementation Steering Committee is about to call for expressions of interest from communities who wish to participate. As proof of this government’s partnership approach, we already have a commitment from Health to give full support to these pilots. The Department of Health and Community Services will give priority to early childhood and school-age health programs in the four selected communities. As the minister indicated, they aim to pull out all stops to get those children to school healthy and fit to learn. Depending on the school community and the health needs, this could translate as a specific focus on early childhood health programs, hearing, nutrition and the like.
We believe the three-way partnership between the two agencies, together with the local community and Aboriginal people, will multiply the effectiveness of any one of the parties in isolation. I commend the minister for her practical and realistic statement on the future face of indigenous health. It gives us all a picture of the way forward in what is unquestionably a huge challenge for the government and the people of the Northern Territory. I thank the shadow minister for his remarks, most of which were positive in nature, and I have reiterated his concerns about partnerships in health and education. It is very much a focus of where we want to go in the implementation of Collins’ Learning Lessons.
Members: Hear, hear!
MOTION
Note statement – Indigenous Health
Note statement – Indigenous Health
Continued from earlier this day.
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I was expecting an opposition speaker next but that is okay. I welcome and very much support the statement on indigenous health by our Minister for Health and Community Services. It is both a timely reminder to this parliament of the urgency of the issues that are still out there in terms of the health of our indigenous people. It is also a good opportunity to start to give indications as to which way our government is going in tackling those issues.
The statement begins by looking at the new philosophy of service delivery that will be embodied in the approach to health delivery by our government. It is very much based on the idea of regional groupings: a whole new level of decision-making which occurs at regional level rather than purely locally within a single remote community, or purely centrally with the main offices of the government agencies concerned.
This approach is not only very important in the future delivery of health services in the form of the health zones that are intended to be rolled out but, as the statement refers, it is also very important to other areas of our government policy development; namely that of the regional partnerships being flagged by the Minister for Community Development, and also, in my portfolio area, in the Regional Crime Prevention Councils that are to be established under the Office of Crime Prevention. Similarly, in the area of education, the Collins implementation also conceives of regional education-cum-health councils carrying a lot of the service delivery agreements on behalf of different areas of the Territory.
We have a very consistent approach across the main areas of our social policy development, to the creation of these regional decision-making bodies. For our government as a whole, we have to look for synergies between the programs and structures of governance that the health, community development and the crime prevention areas, and the educational implementation, are rolling out. It would be crazy to go out bush and waste scarce resources on parallel structures, when that one development could perhaps looks at all four of those areas. We are certainly going to be looking at the whole coordination of these different initiatives across the agencies.
In our view, that new level of decision-making at the regional level gives some very big advantages to the effective implementation of programs. A regional level provides for more power to go into the decision-making and the implementation of programs than can be achieved in individual communities. The important feature of the implementation of these types of bodies for governance is that it is a voluntary self-identifying group of people or group of communities. There couldn’t be a greater contrast to the previous government and its approach - particularly in the area of local government - to the development of regional forms of governance. In that case, it was a shotgun wedding, and there was very little choice left to, particularly, smaller communities as to whether they were going to be amalgamated with other nearby communities or not.
There was also a very simplistic approach to the identification of working groupings within remote communities. It is not as simple as just looking at the linguistic report on what language a particular groups speaks, because anyone who’s lived and worked out bush for a considerable period of time would know that there are much more complex dynamics as to which people would choose to come together in such a combined approach to the handling of their affairs.
There are many reasons why a group might get together. There are many reasons why they may want to stay apart. There are very good examples of where groups speaking the same language do not want to work together; other times where groups speaking different languages do want to work together. There is a whole history of, for example, in the pastoral industry with the missions, the actual family relationships and relationships of different groups around the Territory which have defined a whole lot of attitudes one to the other. Whatever is done in each of the four areas I have identified for the development of regional governance, we have to be very patient and undertake consultation extremely thoroughly if we’re going to get a stable grouping that is capable of carrying service delivery agreements over a longer period of time.
Luckily, for the sake of the success of this enterprise - which is a great enterprise - when the member for Arnhem made his keynote statement on indigenous affairs in the last sittings, we all put forward just how big a challenge our government is taking in confronting these dysfunctions head on. We can hedge round the current situation out there all we like. It might be politically unpalatable at times to go in and say exactly and honestly what is going wrong with the current arrangements. We are not going to do that. The member for Arnhem’s speech in the last sittings made it very clear as to how we are going to approach this: we are going to be very honest with indigenous groups around the Territory; we are going to be honest about their current activities, attitudes towards government and government service delivery, and to each other; and we are going to be honest with ourselves about how defective or otherwise the areas for which we have responsibility are being carried to the interests of those people.
The starting point for these new developments is always going to be local initiatives that either exist or have been contemplated by one group or another around the Territory. One of the main areas of encouragement is that even though, as the minister for Health pointed out, there are ongoing and extraordinarily serious areas of dysfunction and ill health around the Territory’s indigenous population, there are some glowing examples of where groups have got together and said: ‘We have to take the responsibility for this for ourselves; we have to try and take an initiative. We can ask the government to help us but it is not for us to sit here and say the government has to do everything’.
I will give a few examples, some of which were referred to in the minister’s statement, and on which I will elaborate a little further. In terms of renal health areas, the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal, of which I was an active member, continues to provide a very encouraging example of where communities and families who have really decided that there is such a critical situation existing themselves have to go off and start to see what they can do to contribute to a solution. Those Western Desert communities went to the art market, of which they had a very long-standing and mature relationship, after the fame of Papunya Tula painting, and they formed a partnership with the art market to establish the basis of a renal program in those communities.
The fact that $1m-plus has been put into the development of those programs by private sponsorship must tell us something about the untapped potential of value adding to the things that the Territory government can do through the efforts of the communities themselves, where they have their own network of supporters. I believe that the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal not only deserves strong support from our government, but provides a very useful example of where communities can take the initiative with the support of government.
The Anangu Pitjantjatjara Council store policy is also referred to in the statement. Certainly, going out to one of the AP communities and seeing the attitude of the council and the health services to their stores, shows that you can view a community facility like a store in many different ways - some ways providing a much better service to the people than others. The fact that AP is now starting to look at their store as a vital component in the health delivery strategies is a real step forward conceptually as to how the various facilities in a community may be fitted together.
There is no point in spending huge amounts of money on primary and tertiary health care if we are ignoring the fact that one of the major precursors to all the ill health that is being encountered is the diets of people who are living there. That, in turn, comes directly from the pricing and stocking policy that goes into a remote store. We have to have stores operating where good, healthy food, is not only prominent, but prominently marketed to the community members.
Recently, in a visit by Cabinet to Mutitjulu, we saw the health service there as a community construction project fully done by local labour, has established quite a high-level audio testing facility. Alongside that, a tin shed has been fitted out very innovatively as a physiotherapy centre. This is a perfect example of local decisions that have been made about the need for such specialist services at a regional basis, and can value-add the health delivery that is going on in that area.
The enormous incidence of otitis media around remote communities has been well known for many, many years. One of the hardest things to do, if you are going to take some practical action against it, is to continually test the hearing of particularly young kids involved in school. At any one time, as the minister’s statement points out, there is a high incidence - something like 40% - of kids who will have an active otitis media condition, which is directly affecting their ability to learn in school and discomforting them at some stages of the process, generally, with ear pain and so on.
The audio testing and physiotherapy facilities at Mutitjulu would not only be ones that would make the health services there more effective, but it would also be available as regional facilities, meaning that testing could be done relatively easily from nearby communities, if they bring people into those facilities. Otherwise, the nearest place where that can be done is Alice Springs, and the logistics of getting large numbers of kids up there on a regular basis for testing in Alice Springs are just horrific. That is a very good example of what will happen from the community end once we get into effective working partnerships.
Yet another example is the child nutrition program at Larumba community. I was very pleased to be able to go to Larumba a year or so ago now, to celebrate the achievements of that child nutrition program. That community established a very effective vegetable garden and orchard. They’d linked that directly to the school and to the clinic in terms of nutritional advice for families, and the nutritional or feeding program for the school kids. I must say that in all my years of living out bush, I have never seen a healthier and better presented group of school children than the kids who came along to help us celebrate those achievements on that particular day. It is the sort of thing that you dream about seeing if you are putting a long stint in, working in remote communities and with their affairs, when you see something like this that has tangibly presented so much benefit to those kids. You have to say that that is the way we should be going in general. They’re about very simple things, such as what sort of breakfast and lunch is provided for the kids on a daily basis, and getting fresh food and other produce into the program; preferably grown locally.
The last area I’d like to talk about is the alcohol, drugs and petrol sniffing area. The minister’s statement quite rightly points out the enormous impact that alcohol abuse has on the health profile of these communities just as ignoring the stocking and pricing policy of a store negates a lot of the more critical health care that you might have to provide in a community, and the enormous expense of doing that once problems have become that severe. Similarly, if you ignore the incidence of petrol sniffing, alcohol abuse and, increasingly, the heavy use of drugs such as cannabis in remote communities, then you are ignoring a lot of the antecedents of the health profile that you are actually trying to address. If you do not try to wind the influence of those practices back, then it will simply be a case of treading water backwards. We have seen that over many years now.
It is quite fair, as the statement says, to characterise the current situation with indigenous health in remote communities as in crisis and at a critical level where we could literally fail to redeem the next generation of kids coming into those communities. They may have almost no chance of going through living in that environment and bringing together, for themselves, a viable and successful lifestyle. That would be unconscionable for any responsible government to allow those trends to continue. We have to stand our ground, draw the line, and basically be prepared to work shoulder to shoulder with the community groups that are showing equal concern. That is why we need these partnerships. That is why we have to give an absolutely unqualified commitment to go into partnership with Aboriginal people in these different zones or regions, and work with them to make some impact on this, particularly for the younger people who are coming into the populations of these communities. Otherwise, we are just going to be tolling off the increasing numbers of people who will die at ridiculously and tragically young ages, tolling off the fact that we are going to have people living in the Northern Territory who will know very little good health for part of their life. They will always be impaired by some condition or another. That is not a way to guarantee them any real chance of fulfilling their lives.
I believe this challenge that we have given ourselves across health, education, regional governance and crime prevention is an enormous challenge. As we have said in the previous sittings, we are fully and publicly committing, in front of witnesses, to this work. We are certainly inviting all members of this House to contribute; this is a hard enough job if only the government side is working on it. We all need to be working on it on behalf of our local constituencies. I do not think, from what I have seen of the opposition’s position on this, that we are that far away - certainly not in terms of the feelings we have towards this problem - and I do not think we are even that far away in the broader approaches that we are commending to this House. I hope we can work together, and let’s make a difference.
Mr AH KIT (Community Development): Madam Speaker, this, more than anything else, is an issue on which there should be support from all sides of this Chamber. For that reason, I am sure all of us would congratulate the Minister for Health and Community Services on today’s statement.
The blunt reality of the ill health of our indigenous citizens here in the Northern Territory is the reality of the early grave. Our people are dying in numbers too great, at ages too early, for reasons that should be preventable. In a statement I made in this place in March, I warned against pessimism. I said then: we must not allow the scale of the problems in indigenous affairs to lead us to become numb to reality or blind to the needs which must be met if we are to regard ourselves as living in a civilised society. We must act.
I would like to tell a story of action from my own seat of Arnhem. It is a part of the growing story of indigenous Territorians taking control of their own health destiny. At the beginning of 1999, along with too many others in a region where the third world disease still occurs with depressing regularity, the Executive Director of the Jawoyn Association, Robert Lee, contracted tuberculosis. It was touch and go for a while, and he was over two months in hospital, often running the affairs of the association from the verandah at Katherine Hospital.
While Robert was there, he learnt the full truth: that his brother, Bangardi, had died of complications of TB a decade earlier. Robert had succeeded his brother in responsibilities within the Jawoyn nation, somewhat reluctantly. He didn’t want the burden and strains of leadership, but the old people had told him that it was something that he had to do. Now, Robert was being touched by the same disease that had killed his brother, Bangardi. Robert noticed other things: he saw so many of his countrymen and women coming in and out of hospital, some on their third and fourth admission inside weeks. They were leaving with little, if any, idea what was really wrong with them; what direction their post-hospital treatment should take; or what they might do to improve their health. He realised that his own illness with TB was just a symptom of something he had not thought deeply enough about; his people were sick. They were born sick to mothers whose health wasn’t even par to the health of the third world. These sick kids could not learn at school through deafness, hunger and disease. They gave way in their teens to young men and women whose lack of education, combined with high rates of substance abuse, did not allow for a chance for decent training and jobs. This, in turn, led to his people dying from diseases and conditions barely known in the cities he had visited elsewhere in Australia, at ages 10, 20 and 30 years younger.
However, Robert Lee and the Jawoyn people he represents have not succumbed to pessimism. Since that time three years ago, although they were not a health organisation, the Jawoyn Association has taken on aged care packages, formalising and getting government support for the considerable outlays they undertake every year looking after their old people. Starting from a meeting in March 1999, the association developed links with the Fred Hollows Foundation. Sharing the same vision of the urgent need for indigenous health advancement, Jawoyn and Hollows, just three weeks ago, celebrated the second anniversary of a memorandum of understanding between the two organisations, which has led to the establishment of a major child and mothers nutrition program at Wugularr and Barunga.
At Wugularr in particular, the kids’ feeding program run by women in the community along with a full time nutritionist, Sue Wellings, has led to increased school attendance and significantly lower rates of anaemia among the kids. Madam Speaker, as you would know from your previous employment, anaemia is closely related to retarded brain development in little children. You can see how important this is. On 1 May this year, the Hollows Foundation backed women’s centre was opened at Barunga. I am sure all members of this Chamber would congratulate the foundation in continuing the legacy and work of the late great Fred Hollows in their current endeavours in partnership with the Jawoyn.
In August 1999, the Annual General Meeting of the Jawoyn Association recognised the growing crisis in the health of its membership. It passed a unanimous resolution calling on its executive to move towards the establishment of an Aboriginal-controlled health service in the region east of Katherine. For two-and-a-half years, the Jawoyn Association worked on researching and designing a new health service, through the mechanism of the coordinated care trials outlined by my colleague, the Minister for Health and Community Services. I am told that it involved many hundreds of hours of work. I am also told that the former minister for Health, the member for Drysdale, supported that work for which all of us here are grateful.
The staff of Katherine West supplied great assistance to the development of the coordinated care trial for the Katherine East region. As the Health minister has pointed out, it is this local experience that has already supplied the evidence in favour of community-controlled health services. Figures supplied by the department have shown that the combined Tiwi and Katherine West Health Boards have contributed to a 12.9% drop in hospital admissions, and a 20.4% reduction in the length of stay for patients. This is an extraordinary success story.
I seek leave to table and have incorporated into Hansard the details of these statistics on the impact of coordinated care trials in the Northern Territory.
Leave granted.
[Editor’s Note: see Appendix A following page 1449]
Mr AH KIT: I have to confess a certain level of jealousy that previous engagements meant I was not able to attend the meeting with Minister Aagaard at Nitmiluk where the federal Health Minister, Senator Kay Patterson, formally announced funding of the Sunrise Health Service for the Katherine East region. Nitmiluk was an appropriate venue as it was the first land won back by the Jawoyn people through the land claim process. It was an equally appropriate venue to announce such a landmark in the enhancement of Aboriginal health for the region’s 3800 indigenous and non-indigenous people. Over 12 language groups, including English, I should add, will benefit.
Why the name Sunrise Health Service, you might ask. For once, ‘Sunrise’ in this context doesn’t refer to gas fields in the Timor Sea. The name ‘Sunrise’ refers to a custom of the region to describe those living east of the Stuart Highway as ‘Sunrise’ or ‘Sun come up mob’ and those west of the highway as ‘Sun go down mob’. It is a term that is culturally inclusive. As well as expressing a lot of the hopes that are held for the new health service, it represents, as Robert Lee said the other week, ‘a brand new day for indigenous health of the region’. The Sunrise Health Service will control the coordinated care trial with initial assistance for this new health service under the auspices of the Jawoyn Association. As soon as the Sunrise Health Service board is established and develops capacity, it will take over all functions of the service on behalf of the communities of the region. The region itself covers at least 12 communities across an area of about 75 000 km.
An important feature of the trial will be significantly expanded health services to the non-indigenous population of the region, especially for those on remote pastoral properties and the citizens of the Mataranka region. In the latter case particularly, increased health services will be a boost to the tourist industry, for both workers in the industry as well as visitors. The key features of the trial, which will last three years, are:
- a focus on a whole of population comprehensive primary health care model to be managed and
controlled by an indigenous controlled board of management;
the establishment of individual household and community health care planning for those with
complex and chronic care needs;
the targeting of public primary environmental and acute care on a regional basis;
the provision of significantly expanded health resources through access, by remote area residents,
of a funding formula that reflects Australian average usage of medical and pharmaceutical benefits
formerly unavailable due to the lack of private GPs in such regions;
the provision in a number of remote area communities of resident doctors for the first time, as well
as increased numbers of nurses and Aboriginal health workers on all other communities;
the provision of extensive and intensive training for the Sunrise Health Service Board of Management,
which will be representative of communities in the health care region to be serviced; and
developing a sustainable health service that will continue beyond the life of the coordinated care trial.
Resources for the Sunrise Health Service are to be supplied by means of a funding pool. The pool combines a current primary health care effort at local and regional levels, of the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services with that of the Commonwealth contribution of a per capita calculation based on the Australian average usage of medical and pharmaceutical benefits.
The Commonwealth funds are effectively new dollars to indigenous and remote area health in the Northern Territory, and will be worth $4.8m to $7.8m over the three year period of the trial. In addition, there will be $3.4m of Commonwealth funds available as establishment costs. Current Northern Territory primary health care effort in the region is estimated to be $2m per annum. Thus, the entire service will be managing somewhere between $14m and $20m over the course of the trial. $8.2m to $11.2m will be new money to indigenous and remote area health in the Northern Territory.
As Robert Lee said: ‘Jawoyn has only facilitated this process. Now the Aboriginal people of the region will be able to take on the big tasks ahead and there is a lot to do’. There will be a lot for the Martin Labor government to do in support of the Sunrise Health Service.
Madam Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement on our government’s commitment to Aboriginal-controlled comprehensive primary health care organisations, of which Sunrise is the newest on the horizon.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I also rise to make a few brief comments in relation to Aboriginal health. I cannot recall the number of times that we have come into this Chamber and discussed issues of Aboriginal health. Certainly, even since the new government has been in place, it has been discussed repeatedly. So often one hears the litany of pain and damage that is suffered by Aboriginal people, both in remote communities and here in urban centres. Being a member for a very large bush electorate myself, one cannot help notice that health outcomes for Aboriginal people are very poor, to say the least.
In recent times, I have also stood in this House when the debate was predominantly about violence against Aboriginal women - another tragedy that is played out so often in our community. I made some comments in relation to why the systems were failing, and why I feel that the past government of the Northern Territory has not been able to succeed, and perhaps one of the reasons why I think the current government is going to run into the same problem. It is not because of political flavour, or because the CLP was all evil and did not want to do anything about it. I believe - in fact, I know - the CLP genuinely wanted better outcomes for Aboriginal health, as I do believe the ALP does. No problem with that. I think there is barely a Territorian who would draw breath who would be at odds with that particular point of view.
The question is not us and them; the question is: what are we actually going to do? The minister has come into this House with a program, a new structure on how to deal with issues surrounding Aboriginal health. If she succeeds, good luck to the ALP. Once again, for the same reasons that governments have been failing to succeed across the board in terms of Aboriginal health, the new ALP government will find itself in exactly the same position.
Basically, the issue comes down to what I have learned, gleaned and seen in not only my own electorate, but throughout the rest of the Northern Territory. I hark back to a time when, in the Northern Territory before the establishment of ATSIC - and even before the time of other government Aboriginal departments or inter-government departments - there was a place where other organisations picked up the issues of Aboriginal health or Aboriginal management. In my own electorate, Hermannsburg is a classic example where a community was run by a non-government organisation, as they’d be termed nowadays, the Lutheran Church, dating back to the late 1800s. Aboriginal people were drawn to the Hermannsburg area for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that there was a concerted push from another Aboriginal group for these people to be in the care and protection, if you like, of the Lutheran Church.
The point I am trying to make is that even way back then, Aboriginal people were employed gainfully in their own existence and their own health. So much so, that they had a tannery and a carpentry shop built there, they grew their own vegetables, and they still engaged in the traditional activity of hunting. The Hermannsburg community essentially provided for itself with very small grants flowing from both the church and government coffers. I find it curious that the health outcomes of today, with millions upon millions of dollars having been spent on those outcomes, are not really achieving anything better for the Aboriginal people who live in those sorts of communities.
The Hermannsburg example can be repeated across any number of communities in the Northern Territory. The reason that is a problem is because we are getting different government departments doing different things at different levels of government. We have a government department here, through the Minister for Health and Community Services, which is working quite hard - spending, doubtlessly, lots and lots of money more than the former CLP government did - on trying to create programs and finding different solutions to the Aboriginal health problem. One of the major problems that has been going on for decades is there is another level of government, in this case the federal government - and I am not having a go at a Liberal or a Labor government - with a welfare mentality.
What you have is the federal government pouring in umpteen millions of dollars into Aboriginal communities which is totally non-accountable. It goes to individual people who then expend it as they see fit. That income is disposed of quite regularly in the fashion that it is meant to; it is supposed to support people and support families. Unfortunately, all too often, that income is also disposed of in very destructive manner. We talked about ganja, alcohol abuse and petrol sniffing in this House, and a lot of those funds go to that. If you wanted to see an example of those funds at work, go down the mall in Alice Springs on pay day and see the number of people who go straight from the bank to the local liquor outlet so they can go down the river and get on the turps - and then you get all of those dreadful health outcomes. Because these folk aren’t really into looking after themselves, what’s their diet? Well, their diet is high fat foods, no fibre, no real vitamins and minerals, so their defences drop down and the effects of the alcohol makes it even worse. We have talked about this ad nauseum in this House as well. I confess that I get a little frustrated with it because we have one tier of government doing one thing, another tier of government doing something else entirely. You have a lot of money being poured into communities from different directions, with different outcomes attached to them. I find that is a very, very destructive process.
Welfare, in its current state, is killing many Aboriginal people, and I am not the only person who is saying this; I am not the only voice in the wilderness. Indeed, I believe - in fact, I know - the Minister for Community Development has stood up and effectively said the same things: Aboriginal people have to be responsible for their own actions. If the comments by Mr Noel Pearson, who is an advisor to the Cape York Land Council, has any reputation in relation to this matter, he is extremely critical of the way that the welfare system and alcohol are killing Aboriginal people. I agree with him; they are killing Aboriginal people. I do not think that there is way you can beat around the bush on that issue. I only had to walk through the park this morning to see people who are basically destroying themselves by being engaged in destructive behaviour. That is evidenced by the fact they seem to have no way out of the corner that they have been painted into.
When the great social change of the late 1960s and early 1970s came along, I have often looked at it and wondered if a lot of babies were thrown out with the bath water when the great social readjustment, if you like - the moving in of the welfare agencies into these communities, the other issue of equal pay for Aboriginal workers on cattle stations, which ultimately meant that they ended up unemployed and living in these communities - wasn’t a very, very destructive process.
I am at the stage where my frustration leads me to try and find conclusions which are different from the mantra of: ‘Well, if we just do this everything else will be better. If we just tweak around the edges everything will be better’. The changes that have to be made are structural and profound. They have to be so profound and structural that they have to go right across the raft of government and non-government services. There has to be a general agreement as to what the yardstick is - not where outcomes are concerned, but what your inputs are going to be. What are you going to achieve?
I think that the traditional people, as I know them - and I have experienced them in my own electorate - often think about the good old days when they used to work for a living. Despite the fact that they were treated badly or weren’t paid particularly well for their efforts, there still seemed to be an innate dignity to the idea of work. I have said, on repeated occasions in this House, that I support that idea of dignity. I believe that there is a certain element of virtue in labour. To that end, I think that this government in this House should be lobbying the federal government and saying: ‘Let’s find ways in which that welfare dollar can be made more productive’. Frankly, there is no gentle way to hedge around this topic. At the end of the day, programs like CDEP and Work For the Dole should, throughout the whole Northern Territory, be programs that are compulsory.
There is a dignity that flows from work, which is simply not found in welfare recipients; there is no other way to express it. I hope to see a day when government programs are directed and targeted at making people productive in every sense of the word: health programs to make people productive; education programs to make people productive; the return of land to traditional people with an eye of making those people productive - not for my sake, but for their own. I would be well pleased if the minister could today stand up in this Chamber and say: ‘Yes, we are going to approach the federal government and ask them to change the way that they provide welfare into the Northern Territory, so that we can get more productive outcomes’.
There will be exceptions to this idea. The old and the infirm, certainly, should not be subject to these sorts of rules. But, at the end of the day, I see so many healthy people sitting around idle and destroying themselves and their families in the process, I think it is time that drastic action be taken. If drastic action needs to be taken in the area of welfare reform so that better outcomes can be achieved in a shorter period of time, then so be it.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I’ll openly admit that I am not an expert or a health professional, but speak from life experience. Throughout my life and work experience, in a short period, I have seen a change in urban youth and their likelihood of achieving healthy lifestyles.
I have grown up in the Territory with my eyes open; I have participated in everyday activities that youth in the Northern Territory have enjoyed. I have been educated through Rapid Creek Primary School, Nightcliff High School and the Northern Territory University where I gained a law degree. I have also mixed and mingled with the youth of the Territory through sport, whether it be Australian Rules football, basketball, touch rugby or rugby league. I have also participated in the night life of the Northern Territory. Over the years, Darby’s Nightclub, The Joint, 1990s the Vic, Dix, the Time, Beachcombers, Hippy Club, Kitty O’Shea’s, Rorke’s Drift, Shenannigans, and the newly developed Lost Ark and Discovery Nightclubs. On my trips to Katherine, Kirby’s and, of course, in Alice Springs, Bojangles.
Mr Mills: The Voodoo Lounge in Palmerston?
Mr BONSON: And the Voodoo Lounge in Palmerston, and the Hub. Over the years, it has become quite clear that the culture …
Ms Lawrie: Expensive research.
Mr BONSON: Yes, of course. Over the years it has become quite clear that the culture of youth has changed. Youth in the Territory, though unique in cultural diversity, has suffered from problems other jurisdictions currently face. I believe that the problems facing indigenous youth also face non-indigenous youth. However, it has become accepted by all that, for many reasons, these problems are magnified for indigenous people.
The minister should be commended for her clear statement:
… there is something else we need to put a name to, and that is the dysfunction caused by widespread
alcohol and substance abuse, family breakdowns, neglect of children, youth suicide, violence and sexual
abuse of women and children.
These are problems that non-health professionals like myself can easily identify with. I have seen friends and family affected by all of these issues.
The minister and the member for Barkly have outlined the story of indigenous health that could be seen as a horror movie. In conversations with the member for Barkly, a man I have great respect for, he stated that the aim for any government is to achieve community accepted standards for health. Twenty-six percent of the population happens to be of indigenous descent. The indigenous people as a whole have, in the past, been denied community accepted standards. Any government should be asked: would the health services provided to indigenous communities be accepted by the rest of the country? The answer is simple: no.
How do we achieve community accepted standards? This statement is critical because it states how differently this government treats the community-controlled health sector, as opposed to the previous government. Under the CLP, negotiations with community-controlled health organisations were like the negotiations held with the land councils, ATSIC, for native title issues in general. They dragged the chain of a reluctant party. It seemed like political games were being played with people. I am proud that the minister, with the assistance of the health professionals in our government - the members for Barkly, Johnston and Arafura - have taken up leadership roles. Leadership is a quality few people ever have the opportunity to show but, as members of parliament, the community has put us in the position to show real leadership.
As the minister has said today, strong partnerships between government and indigenous communities are crucial to the health reform agenda, as well as greater coordination between essential services such as health, education, infrastructure and housing. The minister has also recognised the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum. The forum is made up of the Northern Territory government, ATSIC, the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance of the NT, and the Commonwealth. What an important role they will play in the new partnerships.
This Labor government has provided an additional $25m to $35m in funding for remote health services. To me, it seems common sense to provide extra funds for the reason that, at present, a portion of the Northern Territory population is not operating effectively within the Northern Territory. If you are the owner of a business, or coaching a sporting team, and 25% of your players are not performing, your team or business would suffer. At present, a large percentage of Northern Territory indigenous and non-indigenous people are not performing due to poor health. It is up to us to show the leadership to deal with the problem. It is up to us to give indigenous people an opportunity to perform, not like the last CLP government, that hid from the real issues. I have been reliably informed by the member for Arafura that, in her experience, the CLP dealt with health issues in a hostile manner.
I am proud to say that the minister has recognised that many indigenous and non-indigenous leaders are now saying alcohol lies at the heart of the problem. In her words:
… alcohol abuse means violence, murder, sexual abuse, wrecked houses, no money for good food,
and sleepless, hungry children.
The support the minister has offered to the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community is fantastic. I fully support the minister’s pledge to tackle head-on needs, to act in the interest of babies, children and people of the next generation. I thank you on behalf of all the local families for committing to running school breakfast programs and directing the child health terms to address the precursors of disease in early childhood. This is a simple concept that, unfortunately, the member for Drysdale, the former CLP Health minister, felt it necessary to criticise. This simply shows the CLP’s past meanness in regards to this issue.
As a young Territorian, I feel ashamed that indigenous health is currently suffering to this extent. However, I am not so ashamed as to pretend it does not exist. I am proud that this government has taken steps to implement a new phase on indigenous health.
I would like to address some of the issues that the member for Macdonnell spoke about in his commentary on debates in the past in the Northern Territory. The view he expressed sounded to me like it was a very tired one - a tired view of ‘our hands are up in the air, the problem’s too big, no one is going to solve it whether you are Labor, Liberal, Democrats, etcetera and maybe you should be giving up’. All I can say to that is that we have an opportunity with a new group of people with new ideas. I think everyone, including indigenous people in remote areas - of course, the whole of the Northern Territory - should be given the opportunity to take that up. I look forward to the next three years with the Health minister, the honourable member for Nightcliff, and I sincerely hope that we are very successful.
I would finally like to briefly recognise the following people’s commitment to improving indigenous health. In September 1991, Danila Dilba Health Service opened its door as Darwin’s Aboriginal Controlled Health Service. It had been a long time in coming, despite evidence from other parts of the Territory and the nation of the efficiency of such organisations. Danila Dilba is named after the Larrakia term for the medical dilly bags used for bush medicine. It is a reflection of the roots Aboriginal people have in Darwin, and for the respect they have shown for the traditional owners of the city.
Another indication of that sense of respect was shown last year when its administration building was named after Vai Stanton, a Kungarankayn woman, a person who knows my family quite well, who has great standing with Aboriginal families of Darwin and the Northern Territory. It was established, in part at the instigation and inspiration of the late Sally Ross, one of the Territory’s best known Aboriginal health workers. She helped establish Wurli - and I must apologise; I cannot really say my Ls - in Katherine, and also established Congress in Tennant Creek to which she would return when it was experiencing difficulties later in the 1990s. It was Sally who did so much, but she would also acknowledge that it would not have been possible without the strong support of locals, from the very early community meetings at Bagot in my electorate, to its final successful establishment in the CBD of Darwin.
While it is perhaps dangerous to single out individuals, it is worth mentioning Barbara Cummings, Danila Dilba’s first patient and founding committee member. Then there is Maxine Hill, the first receptionist; Suttie Ah Mat, founding member and longest serving Chairperson; early lobbyists Peg Havenen and May Katona; and Josephine Brinjen, Danila Dilba’s first Aboriginal health worker. The list could go on.
What Danila Dilba achieved in those early days was incredible, given the scant resources allocated to the health of indigenous people in Darwin at the time. From its small beginnings in McLaughlin Street, it now has well established men’s and women’s clinical practices, as well as a mobile service. In addition, its emotional and social wellbeing centre provides great support, especially to people from the Stolen Generations.
Madam Speaker, finally, I would like to thank the minister for her more than overdue and welcome statement.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would also like to speak about the ministerial statement, The New Face of Indigenous Health. I thank the minister for her statement and hope that more statements like this come to parliament, especially those which update this House on the failures and successes being achieved in this most important area. The minister is right when she says indigenous people deserve more than rhetoric or artfully worded statements of intent. I suppose you could apply this same principle to education as well. I certainly hope that, from this report, we do get real results and not just rhetoric.
Time does not allow me to comment on everything in the report. It would probably take a genius to speak on everything that could be commented upon when it comes to the issue of indigenous health.
I feel the statement is perhaps lacking in some aspects. The statement does deal with local knowledge and control and I could not agree more. As one who has, for years, wanted local control over planning, I know how important that aspect is for successful outcomes. I pick up on one point, where there is mention of AMSANT - which is the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory - the Northern Territory Health Forum and the Primary Health Care Access Program. There is talk about 21 zones over the Territory and a series of community-controlled boards. I thought perhaps it might be of benefit, Minister, for the House to be given a diagrammatical representation of how these boards, bodies and programs fit into the big picture. One sometimes looks as the number of organisations involved and wonders if the complexity of the system can stifle the objectives we are trying to achieve.
Whilst local control is important, individual responsibility is a key to improvements in health, and this does not appear to be mentioned in the statement. The government definitely has a role in providing sufficient health resources, but it is up to individuals to avail themselves of these services and to help themselves. I can only reinforce this when I look at the recent passing of my wife’s two brothers, one older and one younger. Both suffered from diabetes, and although active when younger, became sedentary. I know one brother stopped taking his medicine, the medicine that would have helped him live a longer life. I do not say any of this to be derogatory to my brothers-in-law - I discussed this with my wife before I raised the matter today. They needed to take control of their lifestyle: weight control, less sugar and fatty foods, reduction of alcohol, exercise. Sadly, this did not happen. For these two men to die in their 40s and 50s is tragic. They did not have poor housing, water and sewerage; they lived at Daly River. The sad thing is they just did not look after themselves. I believe that sometimes not enough emphasis is placed on individual responsibility.
Again, the statement refers to an election commitment of maintaining the school breakfast program. Whilst there is a problem with children turning up for school with empty stomachs, we have to find a balance between the welfare of the child and the responsibility of parents or a parent in providing a breakfast for their own children. Once again, for years my wife provided a breakfast service for many Aboriginal children at Sacred Heart School at Palmerston. Whilst it is not a rural school, the same problems that are found in rural schools still occurred. I ran a small poultry farm, so breakfast at Sacred Heart for these Aboriginal students was made of egg sandwiches which my wife prepared every morning. One of the problems with this program is the danger of reliance on such a program, instead of an emphasis on the role and individual responsibility of the parent. In some schools, I suppose, there could be the problem of unforeseen discrimination, in that you will get non-indigenous children turning up at a school who had breakfast, where others roll up and get breakfast at school. The intention, of course, is not to have that but sometimes that is what happens.
I am pleased that the minister has mentioned the diet problems: heavily sugared drinks, lollies and fatty foods. Diet and diet problems are not just an issue for indigenous people, but also non-indigenous people. It is sad that the traditional food sources which did not have the side effect of manufactured foods are not resourced as well as they should be. I remember my friend, John O’Sullivan, used to pick up Aboriginal long grassers or itinerants in Darwin on the weekends in his own vehicle and later, in a vehicle provided by the government. He took them to the mangroves around the Middle Arm Peninsula - one good reason for saving them - where they could go hunting for crabs, long bums, mangrove worms and fish. They were at least able to have an opportunity to access some good food even though they had a much poorer diet for the rest of the week.
Diet also means the production of food sources on communities. Having spent much of my time on communities involved in market gardening and poultry production, I know that there have been many attempts to have permanent supplies of food grown in local communities. I have seen many attempts to do this fail, start up and fail again. I think most people who have lived in the Northern Territory could recount plenty of stories about failures and successes, and more failures.
I do not believe that such ventures will succeed until Aboriginal people are educated in the horticultural or agricultural sciences. I know there are communities that are training their people and running successful gardens. I do believe if you want long-term, reliable, consistent food production projects, then you need Aboriginal agricultural or horticultural science graduates. It is good that Aboriginal people are being trained in horticultural skills, but there needs to be opportunities for Aboriginal people to advance in these areas. These areas can be not just horticulture, but animal production as well. Perhaps we should even be looking at developing indigenous foods - on a broad scale - like the billy goat plum, yams, and even wallabies. That may sound a bit strange, but there have certainly been a number of studies done about the effects of cattle and sheep on desert lands, and a possible move to harvesting some of our wallabies and kangaroos.
The minister also mentions alcohol, and there is no doubt that alcohol is one of our biggest problems. It is a major contributor to individual health, but is also a problem where those people who depend on money for food find that it is being used for the purchase of alcohol. I do not think there needs to be any more said on that today.
One area that perhaps is not a health problem in itself but causes health problems indirectly, is excessive gambling. There is no doubt that playing cards is a form of recreation for many Aboriginal people but, where it means a child is being neglected because a parent is spending too much time playing cards or money meant for food and clothing is disappearing due to gambling, then it is a real issue. Diarrhoea, ears full of puss, runny noses, hunger, absence from school, no breakfast because someone is too tied up playing cards: how do you fix it? Individual responsibility.
I should also comment on the statement of how Aboriginal people and health workers have tolerated an ‘awful, awful system’. I do not believe this is always a fair statement. Whilst it may be, or has been the case in some communities, it certainly is not in all. The clinics at Daly River and Bathurst Island were first class. They were run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and, I believe, run very well. Two of my daughters were born at the Nguiu Hospital. The health clinic at Daly River was always spotless and provided good quality health care for both indigenous and non-indigenous residents. Maybe not perfect by today’s standards, but certainly not awful.
I would also like to mention an important scheme which I recently raised with the Health minister on behalf of the Litchfield Palmerston Rotary Club. I seek leave, Madam Speaker, to table the document.
Leave granted.
Mr WOOD: South Australian Rotary raises money for indigenous students wanting to study medicine. The South Australian government matches the money raised by clubs, and scholarships are provided for the successful applicants. The graduates are then bonded to work in an indigenous community in South Australia for a set period. This scheme is now opening up opportunities for indigenous people to take up medicine and work in their own communities. I believe the Territory government should look at the scheme for the NT which, if successful, would certainly put a new face to indigenous health.
My last point is an issue that may or may not be a problem. I know that the focus is on Aboriginal health issues, but I hope that we do not get to a situation where access to health clinics is based on whether it is one group of people or another. I know Aboriginal people are sometimes more comfortable going to their own health clinics, but I would hope that the health system does not entrench a system that separates health on the basis of race. In the short term, there may be advantages; in the long term, proper health care should be for all, and race should not be an issue.
The minister’s statement is a worthwhile one. I have added a number of comments not to be negative but to be constructive, because I know that we all want all citizens of the Northern Territory, especially Aboriginal Territorians, to enjoy good health and long, productive lives. When you listen to the issues the minister mentioned, you know that will not be easy, but that is the challenge. I believe there should be two objectives: one is to provide good health services and the other is to educate people in their individual responsibility for their own health.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in support of the statement. I agree with the minister that, generally, Aboriginal health is appalling; the statistics, of course, show that. Whether it be acute health problems such as those caused by traumatic injuries, or chronic health problems such as renal and cardiac disease, the health of Aboriginal people here in the Northern Territory - and I would argue, through most remote areas of Australia - is in a very poor state.
I would just like to draw your attention to - I know you cannot see it but I will table a copy of it for the record – a photograph of some Aboriginal men in the Borroloola area taken approximately 100 years ago. Nowhere in this country, amongst black or white, would you find specimens - and I use that term very reservedly - of masculine physical health better than that. Not even a football club in Victoria could have better looking men than these men 100 years ago. I believe this is a testament to the way that health, for many of us, has deteriorated over the last 100 years, and for Aboriginal people in particular. I seek leave to table a photocopy of page 119 of the Aboriginal Photographs of Baldwin Spencer, published by Viking O’Neil in 1987.
Leave granted.
Ms CARTER: We have seen over the past 100 years a sorry deterioration of health, in Aboriginal people in particular, caused often by lifestyle diseases. The minister’s statement, which supports the concept of primary health care, moves in a very positive direction. To my mind that is certainly the way to go. At the moment, we have a very strong concentration on the tertiary level of health care which is hospitals, whereas primary health care goes right back to the roots and the causes of problems, and deals with problems at a community level with community involvement. For many people, by the time they get to a hospital situation, it is too late. The heart or renal disease has already set in and, as I say, for many it is too late.
Community control is the key issue of primary health care, and to move towards the control going to Aboriginal people is certainly to be applauded. It is not going to be an easy process. However, it is one that we have been working towards in the Northern Territory for quite some time. In my experience in the Katherine area in the early 1990s, primary health care was definitely a buzz word, something that we were discussing, having education sessions on, and gaining a better understanding of what it meant. I believe the minister’s statement today is a continuation of this process; that people are now understanding the concept of primary health care, and we are seeing a very strong effort to implement primary health care in a very real and concrete manner.
One of the comments the minister made was with regards to the Medicare benefits system. It has been long awaited that Medicare benefits are able to be accessed by the people living in remote areas. The lack of a Medicare system in remote communities has meant that the Northern Territory government has had to pay millions of dollars more to provide a service which, normally, if you were in an urban setting, you would go to your doctor, GP or whomever it might be for a service, and be able to pay for it and claim it on Medicare. To be able to do that in remote communities - to gain federal funding through the Medicare process directly - is going to be of real benefit to the remote communities and the health services that are developed in order to deliver services out there.
However, as I say, Aboriginal control of the primary health care system is a key factor, but achieving it is not going to be easy. To do it comprehensively across the districts that are going to be chosen is going to require the development and utilisation of appropriate skills. Obviously, those skills at a community development level will be skills such as communication and community development: how to get the community behind you, how to get the community involved and how to make sure - one of the key problems with community development activities is that, if you are lucky, you will often have one or two key movers and they have to carry the bulk of the work. I have had experience with this in the urban setting. If either of them falls by the wayside, then a lot of the system falls down. There will need to be significant support for the people in the community who are going to be involved with this process.
On a more basic level, though, people working on the communities - for example the Aboriginal health workers - are going to have to develop and maintain skills in various areas. I worked for a short period of time at the Batchelor College training Aboriginal health workers. One of the concerns that I had there was the generally low literacy and numeracy level of the students. This has been picked up in the Collins report - and I am speaking of the early 1990s. It is a very concerning issue that Aboriginal people must have the basic literacy and numeracy skills in order to be able to deliver the services that they will be delivering. Whether it as a health worker, a nurse, a doctor, or as the manager of a community clinic, those skills are going to be essential.
The development of skills comes back to this key concern that we have here: education of people on remote communities. From the Collins report Learning Lessons, we know very well that attendance at school is a primary issue in order to be able to gain the education that delivers literacy and numeracy skills. However, these skills are vital and will enable the people to contribute to the economy or the health management in their community, as Aboriginal health workers with the basic skills. There is a real need for education to improve in the communities.
When we’re talking about Aboriginal health, we need not only education, but basic environmental support. I know that successive governments have been working towards this over the years, and I am sure the current government will be doing the same. Support is needed with things such as roads. Dusty, over-used roads in a community create huge problems with air pollution, causing eye and breathing problems, particularly for young children. Other problems revolve around water and sewerage provision. Of course, we are well familiar with the over-crowding that occurs in houses on some communities. These are all huge issues. Governments across Australia have been working on them and trying to tackle them for decades, often with limited success. I wish this government well in their work towards dealing with these problems. I believe that primary health care and community development are good ways of going about trying to tackle these problems.
When we talk about Aboriginal health, many of the problems that are raised - as I said before and in other circumstances - are lifestyle diseases such as cardiac disease often caused by smoking and obesity; respiratory diseases caused by smoking; and various other problems. I’d exclude renal disease as one of the causes of that is often an environmental health problem. However, lifestyle diseases are a very serious concern on communities. In order to change that situation, there is going to have to be significant personal desire by the people participating in certain activities, or in young people contemplating participation in those activities. It will not be easy to do that. There will be a need for people to change their behaviour; there will be a need for the community to decide that that is where they’re going to put an effort into helping people change those behaviours. What we need to do is make the behaviour that we want people to take - a healthy lifestyle - the easy choice for them to make. Significant changes have to occur there.
There is also, of course, the discipline required in gaining an education. I am sure many of us, as children, would never have gone to school, if we had been given the choice. I would not have. It wasn’t a place where I ever received much positive reinforcement, not being great at academic studies. I can understand why many young kids would not want to go to school. However, that is where parents and other seniors in the community come in; to insist that children must attend school. That discipline will need to happen.
As I have said, changing lifestyle behaviours can be difficult, and it is driven by individual desire. I worked for a period of time in the Quit Smoking area and learnt from that that nobody can change another person’s desire to smoke, only they themselves. No amount of begging from the family or pressure from the media or doctors can change your desire to give up something that is either enjoyable or prevents cravings, a consequence that you do not like. It would be very difficult for people to give up on some of the things that they desire such as their diet, alcohol consumption, drugs and smoking.
But the community can achieve things, and this is where community development and primary health care can come to the fore. For example, the community shop can be directed not to sell certain goods, and subsidised to promote products such as fresh fruit and vegetables which are good things to eat. With alcohol, they could restrict the trading hours in the clubs so that people still have a choice to enjoy the social activities that having a drink gives, and through that they also can learn or practice responsible drinking activities, without actually taking away from them what many of us see as a right - the right to be able to go and have a drink with your friends.
Another thing is the need for recreation. I believe that the key focus of all these policies must be on young people. Obviously, very young five and six-year-olds going into school are important, but so are the upper primary, lower high school kids. This is where the emphasis has to go; this is where I believe you have the strongest chance of success. For young people on communities, the need for recreation is important. Often it is very limited, and I think that there is room there for communities to make decisions to put in various activities that the young people want. Skate parks are a popular example locally; why not on Aboriginal communities?
The main thing that will help the health of Aboriginal people will be their involvement in the economy. This is a key area and it gives children, particularly, a hope for the future when they see that there is a purpose for going to school - with good role models in their community - and that there is a reason for the discipline they might be subjected to in having to go to school: in fact, what they are doing is not living for today, but living for the future. Health is a vital component of that. The process that is all fairly intertwined is that you need to have a good education, you need to be able to participate in the broad economic environment, rather than be constrained to any local activity. You need to be able to have the choice to either work on the community you were born into or to be able to travel outside of it and to participate, wherever in the world you might choose to. Also intertwined with that would be improved health. We know from all sorts of studies and history that, as you improve the health, particularly of women, you will improve the health of children and the community. So, education and health link in all of these things.
Once you have education and health - perhaps even at the same time - there needs to be a desire to exploit what resources are available on a community. Those resources may be the people, and/or they may also include the local environment. For example, a community like Gunbalunya, where my husband was a nurse for quite a few years, is a fabulous physical environment. It has many magnificent water holes a few kilometres from the community area, and there is no doubt that tourists would love the opportunity to access some of those places - and more than just access, to be introduced to them by local Aboriginal people. These are the things that could be exploited quite easily, and give Aboriginal people in those remote areas an opportunity to participate in the economy.
What happens as a result of that, of course - and this is all part of the cycle of good health – is that once you are working and involved - be it in paid employment or voluntary work, whatever that might be - you feel useful and self-esteem rises. Young children then see happy parents, people involved in the community, and they see that for themselves in the future as well. They see that there are rewards for hard work and they want it too. Health, education, economic activity, all link together to improve self-esteem and make people want to get on with things.
The statement that the minister gave certainly implies some very high expectations and, I guess, we are all sharing those today. I believe that evaluation of the programs will be essential. From that evaluation, the department and the people implementing it will be able to gauge the success of various areas, and be able to make timely changes to the way things are being done in order to improve them. The evaluation will also enable a feedback into the community as to how their program is going.
I did notice from the statement that there are no time frames being set in it and, in order to evaluate, we will need some. Perhaps it might be something the minister might comment on when she makes her final comments on this statement. An example of things that do not have a time frame are the comments in the statement about the need to audit community health centres prior to the handover to community control.
In closing, it is a very welcome and ambitious statement. It involves some significant changes, particularly I would note, to the long-term staff - I might cite nurses in particular, but there will be doctors as well and others - who have worked under the current system and will now need to move over into a new system where the management of their work changes to another group. They will naturally feel somewhat anxious about this. They will be worried whether or not one group of people will be making decisions about how they are going to operate; but will then step back if anything goes wrong and blame the nurses and the doctors for the outcomes. That is a group that is going to need support during this process.
Also, of course, I suspect significant funding is needed for the various activities that are going to be part of this. I expect the stakeholders will have expectations that the funding will be very substantial to allow them to introduce the programs that they will see as important. I believe the statement is a step in the right direction; it is moving control from bureaucracies often very distant from communities into the communities, which I believe is going to increase the chances of behavioural changes at the community level. Also, local people living in the area are going to see this as a very welcome process and something for them to be involved in and excited about.
As I said before, I hope that in her response, the minister will be able to give us some time frames as to when audits might be completed and when handovers of control to various agencies is expected. I would like to wish the minister and her staff well; all the best for this strategy that you are introducing. I support the statement.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, I welcome and commend the Minister for Health and Community Services for her comprehensive statement on indigenous health. In particular, I welcome her pledge to support the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community, of which I am the Chair, and to work seriously to achieve outcomes for our work. She has highlighted issues relating to the abuse of alcohol and sniffing of petrol. The select committee has already, in fact, chosen these areas as the primary focus of our inquiries.
At the last sittings, the member for Arnhem delivered a ministerial statement that did not pull punches, in relation to acknowledging the extent of dysfunction in Aboriginal communities in the Territory. Certainly, other members before me have highlighted that as well, in the same spirit of telling it like it is and not pussy-footing around the hard issues within Health that need to be confronted in order for us to move forward. The truth is that within Aboriginal communities there is often a struggle that is played out between indigenous people themselves. On the one hand, there are those in the community with vision and concern for the future of their children and, on the other, the forces within the community that seek to defend and even further entrench the position of licensed clubs and drinking permit regimes.
This phenomena is not unique to the Territory and has, most recently, been the subject of intense debate and attention in Queensland. It is a problem that Aboriginal people in communities need to take direct responsibility for. I make no secret of my desire to do everything I can to support and encourage the efforts of those community members who are fighting to prevent and minimise the poisonous affect that alcohol has had, and continues to have, in our communities. I have seen with my own eyes the damage that has been caused to innocent women and children from the minimally controlled and regulated distribution of alcohol. It is no surprise that grog-fuelled abandonment of parental responsibility is the primary cause of the increase in cannabis usage, truancy and suicide amongst our children and teenagers. If we are going to get tough on drugs like cannabis, we need to move just as comprehensively and effectively to get tough on alcohol.
Often on communities, decision-making is concentrated in the hands of few, but where the majority of community members - many of whom in the past have been reluctant to voice their views - want to have a total prohibition on alcohol enforced, they need to be supported. In ascertaining the views of Aboriginal communities, the views of the politically weak or less influential need to be taken into account.
With regard to petrol sniffing, the dilemma is not so much one of a difference of opinion between factions within Aboriginal communities but, rather, a universal despair in relation to the extent and severity of the scourge that they face. Just as our zero tolerance approach to the distribution of cannabis and other drugs is to be married - sympathetic initiatives calculated to rehabilitate those who are addicted or habituated to such drugs - there is a need to develop a multifaceted strategy in relation to petrol sniffing. This strategy should combine denying access to the ingredient for abuse with the allocation of sufficient resources to effectively address the treatment and rehabilitation of our young people at risk. Once again, where dysfunctional communities suffer from both petrol sniffing and the range of other social problems that come with alcohol abuse, we need to be looking into ways that the root cause of alcohol consumption and distribution can be fundamentally addressed.
It is clear that the strategies of the past only marginally recognised and included indigenous communities as owners of, and participants in, the health service delivery process. It is hardly surprising that there was a failure to improve the health of the indigenous population. We hear - and statistics and numbers are constantly quoted and thrown about – that research project after research project clearly shows, instead of showing improvements, indigenous health is still a long way from the better health outcomes enjoyed by non-indigenous people.
Historically, health business has been predominantly confined within the local clinic. Tackling the social conditions which underlie poor health has, therefore, been generally beyond the capacity of clinics to respond to - clinics that in the main have been chronically under-resourced and have not been seen as an integral part of the community; and where staff morale has been perpetually low. The rolling out of PHCAP has the potential to significantly reorient service delivery so that clinics become more functionally attuned and responsive to the needs of the community.
In apportioning credit for the commitment of PHCAP to the Northern Territory, I too wish to acknowledge the role of AMSANT in its endeavours and hard work in the negotiations with the former federal Health Minister, Michael Wooldridge. Putting aside party politics and what might have occurred in deals that have been negotiated after the federal election, I wish to take this time to acknowledge, along with the member for Drysdale, the role of Michael Wooldridge in his endeavours in indigenous health in the Northern Territory.
AMSANT, as the peak health body, will no doubt continue to play a pivotal role in the roll-out of PHCAP. Our minister has defined her relationship with the federal Minister for Health as a key asset, and both ministers have committed to a strong working relationship in respect of Health and Community Services, particularly with regard to indigenous health. This can only have a positive outcome for indigenous Territorians.
One area that I feel I have to talk on is that, to date in the Northern Territory, the health system has failed to address appropriately the area of men’s health. Life expectancy rates for Northern Territory indigenous males, for example, are still some 15 to 20 years behind those of non-indigenous males. If we look at morbidity figures in areas such as communicable diseases, chronic disease, malnutrition, injury and self-harming behaviour, family violence, social and emotional health, poverty and illiteracy, indigenous males are concentrated towards the top of each cohort. There is an undeniable need for more indigenous males to participate across the board in health. Whilst indigenous males make up approximately 15% of the Territory’s population, their representation in the health sector work force is less than 1%. This alienation of many, if not most, Aboriginal males from the institutions and agencies which define their core business as health care, remains a major barrier to improved health outcomes. An increased utilisation and empowerment of male Aboriginal health workers to effectively case manage other men, many of whom have multiple chronic diseases, could have a major impact. Aboriginal health workers should be central to any multi-disciplinary team working with communities to develop and implement appropriate, preventable health strategies.
As I have previously alluded to in this place, the role that Aboriginal health workers play is central to the reform of the health system. Apart from their considerable clinical workload, they play a cultural brokerage role between the community and the non-Aboriginal staff. When issues arise, they are normally the ones called upon to work through them with the families involved. This can often be a time of great social and emotional stress, not to mention the physical intimidation that can arise during the process. The declining numbers of Aboriginal health workers is a matter of great concern to me, and is one that I want to join the Minister for Health and Community Services in addressing.
The shift of emphasis away from crisis management of old in favour of strategic decision-making has been needed for a long time. For far too long, the health of Territorians - in particular those in my electorate - have suffered as a result of short-term and short-sighted programs and policies - programs and policies in which the right hand of the health service delivery bureaucracy and administration is frequently unaware of what the left hand is doing. The challenge ahead to which our minister stated her commitment will be to embrace the coordination of different levels, sections and agencies both within the Department of Health and Community Services and between other governmental departments and non-governmental agencies, to untangle the maze of bureaucracy and deliver a more effective and efficient coordination of services to our remote indigenous communities. This is the challenge that the Minister for Health and Community Services and the Martin Labor government will not back away from.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to add my words of support to this very important statement. I preface this by saying that I am, by no means, anywhere near experienced enough to be able to speak at great depth on different health initiatives, but I have experience in how change is effected and the role that education plays in change management.
I do believe that there is a new wind blowing across our nation in the sense of a greater unity in recognising this issue of indigenous health as being of national concern. That is an easy thing to say, but once a problem is identified, we then come close to setting about a strategy that can make a difference. I cannot, for a moment, take away the good intentions of those who have gone before. If we are to place the words that have been spoken today on the position of the current government to spend a little too much time, perhaps, in looking at the path and saying: ‘Oh my goodness, they could have done a heck of a lot better, and this is what we’re going to do; we’re going to make a huge difference’, I get a little concerned. I think that is under-estimating the complexity and the nature of this problem. Even in this Chamber, people would agree with me that nobody likes politics; politics is not going to make one spot of difference to those who are suffering the most.
I emphasise the role that education plays in this, probably from a higher level in the sense that many of us, as Australians, need to now claim greater ownership and greater understanding of these issues. Many people in our country would, perhaps - and I am talking nationally, as well as the Northern Territory specifically - hold the position with regards to the plight of indigenous health and beat their breasts and say: ‘This is terrible’. But, that is just the very beginning. To come close to understanding the issue is a monumental movement forward.
I took my first visit to Port Keats last year, and I must say that I was genuinely challenged by what I saw. I received an education through my experience in visiting that community. I had heard a lot about that community, but I cannot take a position until I actually know and understand the situation personally.
I must say, Minister, that, in the responsibility you have taken on, you have the support of the Northern Territory and the best wishes of everybody in this Chamber. I can tell you that bipartisan support is genuinely there. Nationally, I think the will of our country is turning to the point that we do have to make a difference. We want to get to the end of the day and know that we’ve actually made a difference. From that point, you have complete support. I want nothing more than to see reports coming back to this Chamber that there has been a difference made. I take no delight for one moment - it would be just so dishonourable to even consider we want anything less.
I offer a few points in terms of how important education is. One is cross-cultural communication: the understanding of other cultures is critical. For those who have partaken in cross-cultural training, they are converted. They begin to understand the influence and the role that your own culture plays in discerning a particular situation. Those who have not undertaken any kind of cross-cultural training really cannot even begin to understand and make progress in implementing some of these strategies. I would emphasise the very critical role of cross-cultural training.
It is wonderful to see broad brush forms of initiatives and innovations, and the rejigging and reinforcing of directions. But, it is absolutely critical in terms of effecting real systemic change that proper resourcing is made to the key elements - and that is the leaders and the instruments of that change. Unless we change people, we’re not doing anything. We can change every policy, rejig it, rename it, become re-enthused about the words contained in it but, unless there is an actual change in people, we have done nothing. I do not believe, in fact, that governments fix problems at all. Governments just set the ground rules. It is only people who actually change their behaviour. We have to get much closer. The issue is far closer and far more complex and more real - it is actually making a change to people, and it is not changing policies as much. Once again, I say that it is resourcing the empowerment of the agents of change: that is the managers, the community leaders, the teachers and the nurses, and those who are involved in any kind of leadership. We must make sure that those who have influential roles are properly resourced in terms of their education.
I have no more to say - because so much has been said in this Chamber - other than if we can tie all this together, I can once again offer, particularly from a point of view of education and the intricate role that education plays in the delivery or the making of changes to health - they are one and the same, they belong together - on behalf of the opposition, my genuine support to the minister. You can be very well assured that we from this side of the House will be watching, as we are required to do, to see that we now have a broad-brush approach with an identification of a direction. We will be with you all the way and be looking for the actual change.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the minister for her statement; in particular her call for a bipartisan approach to the issue of indigenous health in the Northern Territory. I would hope that there is similar bipartisan support for what I want to talk about: foundation of health in the bush for the Aboriginal health worker.
The next few years will see the making or breaking of the Northern Territory. Unless we can make genuine advances in the health status of indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory, all of us will be facing a society on the brink of social and economic collapse. I say this not to be an alarmist, but as the simple truth. As was pointed out in this place during the last sittings, the cost of acute medical care alone will bankrupt our fragile and small economy, quite apart from the effect it will have on our people unless we take urgent action.
The great myth about health is that it is all about new drugs and advanced technology, the sort of ‘gee whiz’ stuff that is constantly trumpeted in the media, from gene splicing to keyhole surgery. Health is about people and the culture in which health care is delivered. It is my view that the reason we are facing such an appalling situation with regards to indigenous health is that, over the last 25 years, the culture of the health care system in the Northern Territory has been corrupted by ignorance, neglect and self-deception. While we can all point to individuals in the system - Aboriginal health workers, nurses, doctors and administrators - who have all worked heroically against these great odds, we can also point to many others who have chosen to turn a blind eye to the growing crisis. A case in point is witnessed by the declining status of Aboriginal health workers within the Northern Territory.
Twenty years ago, it could be fairly said that the Territory’s Aboriginal health workers were the focus of the future of indigenous health. They were seen as critical components in health care service delivery, and work was being done to develop and advance career paths for Aboriginal health workers. They, along with indigenous and environmental health workers, aged care workers and nutritionists, were seen as a fundamental part of any health team. Now, in too many places and ways, Aboriginal health workers are left out of the loop.
Until August last year, they had stopped being seen as part of the health team. People who were once seen as central to the delivery of services because of their linguistic and cultural knowledge had become marginalised. Unlike any other jurisdiction in Australia, our Aboriginal health workers are classed as clinical practitioners. Through competency-based training, they can take on major clinical roles within remote health centres and, with their cultural and linguistic skills and grounded understanding of the tactics and approaches that make sense locally, they can contribute enormously to the health of our remote citizens.
The success of two simultaneous coordinator care trials to date shows the importance of prevention, but also the indifference of the former administration towards fully entrusting Aboriginal communities and Aboriginal health workers with the powers to govern their own services beyond the trial locations. How else can we explain the number of Aboriginal health workers who operate not on full award wages, but on CDEP payments. They are placed in desperation by communities who could see the value of their work, but had to be paid through the only means available, CDEP? As a related point, there were fully trained Aboriginal health workers graduating from training only to face a severely limited number of positions. By way of example, a total of 152 trained and in-training environmental health workers are distributed throughout the Northern Territory, but the department only funds 11 communities for indigenous environmental health programs. Again, a worthwhile program that was left to stay in permanent pilot mode. It is as if the former administration had sold a message to the Aboriginal people that getting involved in primary health care was critical to their future, yet kept their fingers crossed that somehow Aboriginal people would be able to find the money for recruitment themselves.
This government believes it is time that we unlock the potential of Aboriginal health workers, but this will only happen if there is a massive cultural change within the Department of Health and Community Services; and that is to drop the blinkers of the last quarter of a century. Already we are seeing signs of change. The department is now prioritising the continued development of the Aboriginal Health Worker Program and, specifically, turning around the decrease over the past decade of Aboriginal health worker manager positions out in the regions. For example, I note that the Director of the Aboriginal Health Worker position in East Arnhem has recently been advertised. I know that this position has been vacant for a very long time, and had been slowly filled one by one by non-Aboriginal health workers, turning it into a non-Aboriginal position.
Exploring ways to have Aboriginal environmental health worker positions funded by other agencies such as Power and Water - who have an interest in their valuable work as well - Aboriginal staff have been asking for support that goes beyond the normal performance management processes. A culturally appropriate mentoring program for all indigenous staff has been developed which will include Aboriginal health workers, as well as other Aboriginal staff. For the first time in eight years, the department is supporting the Territory’s Aboriginal health worker conference. These conferences used to be held annually since 1979, but ceased in 1994. Aboriginal health workers throughout the Territory believe that these forums provide a critical exchange of information and play a pivotal role in their professional development. The Territory remains the only jurisdiction that registers its Aboriginal health workers, and this conference will recognise Aboriginal health workers as a professional group in their own right with their own specialised professional development needs. Part of this process must be in opening this local potential to careers beyond Aboriginal health workers: towards nursing and becoming doctors. This means a commitment of the sort presently being undertaken by the Martin Labor government: a whole-of-government approach, a whole-of-community partnership between education and health.
We have to nurture and grow our own talent and not rely forever on importing skills from interstate or overseas. This means we have to operate with high expectations of the potential of indigenous people, rather than assuming deficits and the overall lack of ability. It means we have to stop teaching indigenous kids to expect a second-rate education and a second-rate place in their own communities. Thirty years ago, the Northern Territory had the highest number of Aboriginal nurses working in the system of anywhere in this country. Only a few weeks ago, we lost one of the first of their number, the late Daisy Ruddick.
The shift from workplace nursing training to tertiary training has placed an artificial ceiling on the aspirations of Aboriginal health workers in the bush, deprived by successive CLP governments of access to decent education. Belittled and marginalised within the health delivery context and locked out of proper career paths, Aboriginal health workers have little chance of climbing the ladder into the nursing and other professions within Territory Health. This is a monstrous waste of untapped talent and can do little to advance the status of indigenous health within the Northern Territory.
I spoke before on the need to change the culture that operates within the system here in the Territory. For too long an ‘us and them’ philosophy has prevailed, a culture of knowing what’s best and locking people out of the information they need to run their own health care. As a matter of urgency, what we need is a health system that is prepared to cede its control mentality; a system that moves away from defending itself against the outside world towards one that openly embraces partnerships with the people of the Northern Territory. We need a system that allows local control of what are, effectively, the really remote communities for the original Territorians, rather than control from the communities of Darwin and Alice Springs.
I am concerned the signs of the response of the Department as Health’s as health zones are rolled out, is to transfer local management positions back to Alice Springs and Darwin rather than localising management where it belongs: whether as a departmental support bureau for the local health zones or, preferably, located within community-run hub organisations. The minister, through her statement to the House today, has sent a very clear signal that opposition to community control and community management is not an attitude that this government will tolerate.
In this context, it is worth noting the considerable potential of the Katherine Regional Aboriginal Health and Related Services Association - a grouping of the Katherine West Health Board, the Kalano Association, the Jawoyn Association and Wurli Wurlinjang - as the beginning of such a hub. Already, this grouping has captured resources that will provide a huge boost to allied health care services across their combined regions. I would hope encouragement is given to Tennant Creek and Borroloola in developing a similar direction, given the existing capacity of local communities and people to assume leadership for primary health care.
I said that health was not about technology and drugs, but about people. The vision outlined by the Minister for Health and Community Services is going to have a huge impact on people, not least on those with vested interests in opposing changes she outlines. The changes to come will have to be managed carefully, and we must help people in facing and coping with these changes. However, we must not be frightened of taking hard decisions that are necessary to turn around the ongoing tragedy of indigenous health outcomes in the Territory. All of us, from all sides of politics, must support these changes.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to join my colleagues on both sides of the House in congratulating the minister for her wide-ranging statement on indigenous health. I believe that everybody in the Territory - in fact, everybody in the world - would like see better health outcomes for everybody in the Northern Territory, in particular our Aboriginal people who have suffered significant poor health outcomes for many, many years.
When I read through the minister’s statement, my first concern was nomination that she proposed to roll out what she called ‘health zones’ across 21 areas in the Territory - or dividing the Northern Territory into 21 areas. Inherent in that statement is the issue of the government forcing sections of the Territory into particular groups. The members for Stuart and Nelson mentioned that, and even the member Arnhem spoke about his concerns in local government and other forums about forcing groups of people into any single group. It is important for the minister to recognise that the moment she nominates that there will be 21 health zones, that is going to pose a problem. I believe she should start with one or two health zones, as she is starting with Sunrise and so on; that is a good way to start. It is not the first time it has happened.
Coordinated care trials are precisely that. The Tiwi Islands had one, the Katherine people have another, and there will be more. I think it is a good thing. It is money contributed by the federal government; money justifiably ours in the Northern Territory. If you recall - the minister’s advisors might be able to give advice on this - the PAC some years ago, did a study on this issue and estimated that the Northern Territory was some $25m to $30m short every year from the lack of our sharing in Medicare and pharmaceutical benefits because we do not have the numbers of private general practitioners or pharmacies there to provide Territorians access to the health benefits. It is not a new thing; it is something that had been trialled before with the encouragement and contribution by the Northern Territory government under the CLP and, also with the commitment from the federal government.
I look forward to more of these trials because, obviously, they will allow significant local control over their own needs and health outcomes. However, with local control there is a prerequisite that people must be trained well enough to understand how to manage these coordinated care units. Without the necessary training, they will not be able to do it properly, and all we are doing is building them up to fail. It is also important for the minister to take into recognition that she does not bite off more than she can chew, and to encourage, with great expectations, that people will take over this management very easily. If it is difficult enough for people to manage local government; I suggest to you that trying to manage local health boards will be equally as difficult. Health is a very complicated, complex issue at the best of times, and to try and run a health board to satisfy the differing needs of people in a particular region can be quite daunting. If you do not have the training with which to do it, then it will obviously be bound to fail.
The minister also spoke about not being satisfied with second-rate services of acute care, and that there should be good integration between primary health care services in our hospital networks. I support that statement; I think that is a very positive statement to make. I have always endeavoured to encourage all the general practitioners in Alice Springs to be intimately involved with the hospital. Unfortunately, that has not come to pass. It has been a very difficult thing to encourage the general practitioners to do, because of the poor remuneration they would receive providing their services to the Alice Springs Hospital while their own consulting offices remain vacant. Hence, there is none of that cross-fertilisation between the private practice and the Alice Springs Hospital.
It also applies to Congress. For decades in Alice Springs, Congress and the Alice Springs Hospital have not got on. Obviously, there are differing groups of people those two organisations provide health services for. If the minister can be a facilitator to enable Congress to work cooperatively with the Alice Springs Hospital, it will be a very significant advance.
With regard to the renal mapping project, we on this side of the House have complained for quite some time now about the lack of services of a medical specialist in renal medicine in Alice Springs. I have here a letter from the minister to my colleague, the member for Araluen, where she tried to reassure, first of all by admitting that Dr Kirubakaran will be on long service leave until 20 December this year, although she did not write that he might not come back. That is common knowledge in Alice Springs, that he is very unlikely to come back. So, it looks like we have now lost a renal specialist. Hopefully, there are processes in place to recruit a renal specialist as soon as we possibly can. A locum Registrar is but a Registrar, and you need a specialist to do the work that has to be done.
A specialist visiting from Darwin comes in on a Monday and he leaves on a Wednesday the week following. He will do that three times between now and September. That is not adequate. The relationship that the Alice Springs Hospital had with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide was fantastic. I think that should be recultivated so that we can at least get Dr Pugsley, who would love to come back to Alice Springs at the drop of a hat. Ask him to come back and provide us with specialist cover in between the visits from the Royal Darwin Hospital specialists. That, to me, would be a logical thing to do.
Dr Brady, for all his clinical acumen and training, is not a renal physician. He is not a renal physician and you need somebody there who is. You need a renal physician. There is no renal physician …
Dr Burns: Dr Lawton is a renal physician and you know that quite well.
Dr LIM: There is no renal physician in Alice Springs; we have a renal Registrar. We do not have a renal specialist and you need to have one. There are too many renal patients in Alice Springs to go without a renal physician. If you want to try and extend your services all the way to Tennant Creek as well, then this renal physician from Darwin is going to be worked pretty thin.
Ms Lawrie: So you say.
Dr LIM: Well, he will be worked pretty thing. I know what it is like to work in health care in Central Australia; it is not an easy task. What would the member for Karama know about renal medicine, as she whines as normal? Probably next to nothing.
The minister then spoke about the toxic mix of rubbish food, tobacco, cannabis and alcohol. Those are the things that have been said by this side of the House many times before, but each time we spoke about it, we would be labelled as blaming the patient, blaming the victim. When they speak about it, it is done in such a holy manner that it is all right for them. But it is not all right for this side of the House to say it.
Mr Henderson: You did nothing.
Dr LIM: We did a lot for Aboriginal health. The amount of money that was spent on Aboriginal health alone under the CLP government was very significant, more than was spent in any other manner.
Dr Burns: It wasn’t hitting the ground.
Ms Lawrie: How much?
Dr LIM: The members opposite obviously do not agree. That is fine, they can disagree as much as they like. It does not matter. For instance, we talk about health care for Aboriginal people. We spoke at another time about the doctor at Ntaria and Tjuwanpa. The minister is really not doing very much to help that person. Now she talks about health zones. The quicker she can establish a health zone, the better it will be. She must guarantee that by 30 June when Dr Gillett finishes her work in Hermannsburg, there is some other process in place that will keep a full-time doctor providing health care for the Ntaria region. If not, then it makes her whole statement pretty hollow, because there is nothing there. There are about 1400 people living in that region in Central Australia and they do not have the full-time service of a doctor to rely on. That is a real tragedy.
The Minister for Local Government lauded Professor Fred Hollows for what he has done for Northern Territorians. I cannot but agree with what he said about Fred Hollows. I think what he did with ophthalmology for people in the desert is terrific. However, remember what Fred Hollows said to everybody in the Aboriginal ‘industry’ - if I might use that word the ‘industry’ – ‘Do not lead our Aboriginal people into an Aborigine cul de sac’. Those were his words. Do not lead them into a blind alley where they go nowhere. Some of the things that have been said, especially by government members today, have been, in my opinion, rather patronising.
Members interjecting.
Dr LIM: You patronise in a sense that – you have to look at health from both aspects. You have to look at the preventative and the treatment parts of it. You cannot provide all the care in the world, from your soul, and stand there and say: ‘Look, I care and I want to do everything I can’. All you are doing is picking up the pieces. You have to start with prevention. As the member for Nelson himself said, we have to take responsibility; the patient has to take responsibility for themselves also.
Education is so very important: with education comes understanding of disease processes. It is no longer a mystical thing, about spirits and black magic; it is about bacteria and things causing ill health. Sure, psychological aspects of it come into consideration, but education will bring that understanding so that you can really understand how ill health comes about. Then, when you can understand how ill health comes about, you can actually prevent yourself from falling ill.
Health and education alone might provide you with well educated, fit, young people. However, what do they do? They need homes to live in, so that has to be part of the holistic way of dealing with the problem. Even with good homes to live in, what are you going to do there, out in the middle of nowhere? This is where regional development then has to come in so that there is meaningful and gainful employment with income coming in to the community, good housing, education that is valued, and good health that will come about as a result. Without doing all those things together, you are not going to get very far.
I think that giving children breakfast is good, but do not do it in such a way that ultimately it becomes: ‘It is your responsibility, not ours. We will not have to feed our children. You can feed them every morning when they go to school’. I think that takes away the responsibility from the parents and it is important to ensure that does not happen.
Ms Lawrie: Let’s make them starve.
Dr LIM: I have grown up in a third world country. I was subject to this sort of culture as well. I understand what I am talking about. The member for Karama thinks she know everything. She knows nothing because she is a white person living in a country dominated by white people. That is what it is about. She walks out of the Chamber in anger …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, there is a point of order. Member for Greatorex, you will withdraw the reference to …
Dr LIM: She gets up in anger …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Greatorex.
Dr LIM: That is fine. She gets up in anger and that is her way to react to what I have to say. That is okay. We talked about those persistent ear infections and how the causes of otitis media and perforations of ear drums developed …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! The member for Greatorex didn’t withdraw.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I didn’t ask him to withdraw. He knows the rules …
Ms LAWRIE: Well, there is a standing order of parliament that says there should be no reference made …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I haven’t asked him to withdraw in terms of what he’d said simply because he hasn’t used any unparliamentary language. The reference to whether you are in or out of the Chamber will be deleted, I presume, by Hansard at the appropriate juncture.
Ms LAWRIE: They will be withdrawn. Sorry?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you.
Dr LIM: With regard to persistent ear infections such as otitis media or otitis externa, perforation of the ear drums, they have a lot of causes. One of the major reasons is personal hygiene. I can hear the chuckles across the floor again. It seems that hygiene is not something that I can mention. What’s the problem with hygiene?
Mr Henderson: Wash your hands.
Dr LIM: How many parents among you would actually shoo away a fly from your child’s face when it is in a pram exposed to the elements? How many of you would? Now tell me, how many children do you see out bush that are exposed to the flies, that are not being sheltered from the flies? Don’t you think that a parent should do that to prevent their children from contracting illnesses? Would you at least not try and ensure that the child does not sit in the dirt? You pick the child up, dust it off and teach it not to sit in the dirt. You think that I am being culturally inappropriate. I say to you that if the child is going to get ill sitting in the dirt, then you have to take the child off the dirt to prevent it from getting ill. That to me goes across all cultures, and if you cannot see that then there is nothing more I can add to it. Obviously, that is the way you feel.
As I said earlier, it is important that we approach this whole thing as holistically as we possibly can. However, by aiming to be holistic we can sometimes end up biting off more than we can chew. What happens then is we make the job so much harder for ourselves and the health worker that it is impossible for the health worker to achieve any outcomes. All will be bogged down into process and nothing comes out of it.
The member for Arafura spoke about the alienation of Aboriginal people, particularly men, from health care. I do not know whether that is really what it is. I believe the problem is that there are many people who would aspire to be health workers, nurses and doctors but are not prepared to put in the hard yards to get the education to do it. It is important that educational organisations or institutions do not fast-track students so that they come out with a qualification which really means nothing more than the paper it is written on. It is important that they come out with real qualifications that will enable them to achieve the work that they are supposed to be trained to do.
I told a story about medical graduates back in Malaysia where I grew up. Many indigenous students were fast-tracked through university courses. What happened was they were graduating with their medical degrees like other non-indigenous students, but the local indigenous people were not prepared to go to them. They knew that the indigenous students were fast-tracked through university and were coming out with qualifications that were not necessarily of a level that is adequate to provide good care. They preferred to go and see non-indigenous doctors because they knew that the knowledge of these doctors was subject to rigour in their training.
It is important to do that. If you do that, then I believe that Aboriginal people will be successful in obtaining the jobs that they justifiably should have. Because it is time that they Aboriginalised lots of jobs that are in health care and in education. People in communities will respond to these Aboriginal workers a lot better than they would to any other non-indigenous person working in their communities.
The statement is worthwhile. I think it is too wide ranging, too ambitious. I caution the minister to be a little more careful and do a little at a time.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, first of all I welcome the statement made by the Health minister and congratulate her for what is a comprehensive statement on something that both sides of the House have acknowledged is a very important and serious problem. There was a sense of urgency in what the Health minister had to say to this House. All of us on this side of the House - and I am glad to hear that those on the other side of the House - are, in general, supportive of it.
It is very interesting that the member for Drysdale seems to have changed his tune a little since last week when he was full of recrimination, sometimes at a personal level I felt, against the member for Nightcliff and the Health minister. I thought to myself: ‘What could possibly change his attitude in one week?’. Well, it does not take much to work it out: one editorial in the NT News, banging him up. That had an effect, didn’t it? He decided to back off and be a bit pleasant instead of sitting in his chair sniping, grizzling, growling and complaining all the time. Nonetheless, in his presentation he did not really go to the core of the issue: why he did not address this problem substantially during his term as Health minister. I will leave that behind; I have had my little say about the editorial.
His comments were constructive and supportive to a large degree. That is welcome. It is about time a few members such as the member for Drysdale started doing a bit of work and getting behind things and supporting improvement. Someone said he has minder’s disease: it is ‘no’ or negative to everything. It is about time he started coming out of it. He talked about cosmology the other day. Yes, yes!
In particular, I’d like to respond to the member for Greatorex. I welcome a lot of what the member had to say; it was also very positive. I would like to pick up on a couple of things. There were some questions asked in this place last week about renal specialists in Alice Springs. I happened to bump into Dr Paul Lawton, probably the week before last. I asked him: ‘How are things going, Paul?’ He told me about all the work he’d been doing in Alice Springs. He is a renal physician working in Alice Springs who is very well recognised. He did mention that the current renal physician in Alice Springs was on long service leave, and it was probably unlikely that he would return - it was no secret. Dr Lawton paid tribute to the long service given by that renal physician in Alice Springs for many years. However, as he said, sometimes it might be time to have new blood. He told me that there had been substantial progress through the college, in terms of recruiting a new renal physician in Alice Springs. I was very heartened by that, because I know that the Australian Kidney Foundation and the college are very supportive of Aboriginal health. People like Dr Lawton, Paul Snelling and Wendy Hoy have done tremendous work in this regard. I also name David Pugsley who is a fantastic renal physician.
I believe that we’re well along the way to recruiting a renal physician for Central Australia, and I applaud that. I am a bit dismayed at the way questions were presented to this House last week because I thought there was a little bit of confabulation - is that an unparliamentary word? - a bit of confabulation in the way the question was formulated. I know the member for Greatorex would be well aware of the situation down there in terms of recruitment of a renal physician.
The member for Greatorex mentioned spiritual beliefs in health and how people really have to come to a realisation about the biomedical model of the causation of disease. There is a lot of truth in that, but I’d also remind the member for Greatorex that the biomedical model doesn’t explain everything. For instance, with heart disease there has been a fantastic amount of research done on the aetiology and causes, but at least 40% of the cause of heart disease is unknown. Social fabric and impact of things like stress, poverty, belief and psychology is thought to comprise a lot of that 40%. Therefore, we should not be belittling people’s beliefs. People have different beliefs, even about illness. Even if something happens to the most committed scientist or their family, when someone’s struck down with a disease, they say: ‘Why us? Why us?’ People look heavenwards; the cosmologists look heavenward and say: ‘Why me? Why us? Why did it happen?’ So, we should not be too hung up about causation.
I agreed with the member for Greatorex when he talked about employment, income and education. I’ll come back to the Collins report once again. That is something that this government is doing - we’re doing it. Bob Collins is there; he is absolutely committed, and this government is committed to the implementation of the Collins report. Education, employment and income - yes, we are.
I had a briefing today from people from tourism talking about developments in the indigenous tourist front. Some exciting things are happening around the Jabiru region and elsewhere; it is exciting. There are a lot of people who want to come to the Territory. Fair enough, they want to see the icons - the Ulurus and Kakadus - but they also want to meet Aboriginal people; they want to find out more about Aboriginal culture. That is very important, and that is something this government is doing. There have now been very high level talks between the Tourist Commission and the land councils - probably would have been taboo with the other mob.
The member for Greatorex talked about hygiene, and I have heard him talk about it before. No one doubts the importance of hygiene and environmental health in preventing disease. There is no argument there. However, I just ask the member for Greatorex to remember how hard it is to keep a place clean when you have 30 people overcrowding it; when you have just one toilet for 30 people; when people are crammed into bedrooms. I think it was at the Learning Lessons conference that was hosted by the AMA and the Northern Territory government, when the member for Greatorex raised this. He was rebuked by a couple of his colleagues who said: ‘How can you stop this? The environment is so full of disease because of these environmental health problems that it is just jumping out of the walls at people. How can you resist it?’
There is no doubt that hygiene is important, but I’d also suggest that many parents in this modern day and age - because hygiene’s become less important because of immunisation and a whole range of things - probably let our hygiene standards slip a bit in terms of teaching our children about those things. There is no apparent need or incentive because there is no polio that is evident here today. There are no epidemics of polio as there were, tragically, in previous generations. There are no epidemics of diphtheria. The incentive regarding hygiene for even non-Aboriginal people has diminished. It is important and I think it is something that we should not shy away from because of political correctness. We should be very direct with people about these issues.
The point made by the member for Greatorex about indigenous versus non-indigenous health professionals is very important. Most people in the House today would be very aware of Aboriginal health worker programs in the Territory. The Territory has a lot to be proud of in that regard. I know Dr ‘DD’ Devanesen was a prime mover in that. At the time, it was revolutionary. Those who know Dr Devanesen well know that he is very passionate about respecting people’s spiritual and cultural beliefs about illness. He is very firm about that. He was one of the prime movers with the Aboriginal health worker movement in the Northern Territory. When we were hearing the condolence motion for the member for Millner’s grandmother, it was interesting that, back in the 1930s, Mrs Ruddick had been a trained nurse. There are other Aboriginal people I know who trained with Dr Hargreaves. There are other people who subsequently were nurses as well. However, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of Aboriginal nurses and doctors nowadays, unfortunately. We, as a government, need to be encouraging Aboriginal people not to have a second-rate medical or nursing education - as the member for Greatorex alluded to in his place of birth - but to be on the same basis as other graduates. That might take some support from both Territory and federal governments. We know there are some sections of the community that become very jealous when one particular group gets something they do not. In a bipartisan way, as a government and opposition, we should support those initiatives. We know in New Zealand that there are many Maori health professionals there: doctors and nurses.
I was privileged to attend a talk at the Menzies School of Health the other day where a visiting American professor talked about the Indian health service. He said that the Surgeon General of the Indian health service is a native American, and there are many working as health professionals within the Indian medical service in the United States. I was very glad to hear that from Dr Kunitz. I commend the Menzies School of Health for their series of seminars on social inequalities in health. When I have been able to get there, I have found it very enlightening, and I commend it to other members. I believe that proceedings will be published.
We have to do a lot of work in terms of supporting Aboriginal people and encouraging them to take their rightful place as health professionals; to take their rightful place in terms of the economic and social contribution that they can make to this great Northern Territory of ours.
In closing, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend this statement by the Health minister. I welcome, by and large, the contribution of members opposite and, of course, I accord with the contributions made by my own side.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: For members’ information, in terms of the use of unparliamentary language, I will only rule if a point of order is called.
Dr BURNS: I beg your pardon, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: You asked during your speech as to whether the word ‘confabulation’ was unparliamentary.
Dr BURNS: Oh, I see.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I shall only rule on that if a point of order is called.
Dr BURNS: Thank you for that clarification, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker.
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all speakers for their very valuable contributions to the debate. In this House, 12 speakers on an indigenous health statement must be a record. It is a very exciting prospect that we have complete support for indigenous health in the Northern Territory. So, I thank very much honourable members for their support.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge that the work we are undertaking to build community capacity to undertake full control of the health directions in their regions, builds on the work of many, many people who have dedicated themselves to primary health care reform over the years. I include here Dr Michael Wooldridge, the former federal Health Minister, whom the member for Drysdale rightly identified as being a key architect of the Commonwealth’s new approach in the 1990s. I would also draw attention to the health professionals, the Aboriginal people, the bureaucrats and government members whose dedication through intense negotiations were certainly critical.
The member for Drysdale raised a few issues that I should take a moment to briefly respond to. The member gave a good account of the history of the program and raised the question of whether or not it was a world first. To my understanding, what makes this a world first is not the community control, regionalisation, or even funds pooling, but the combination of all these things. It is needs based, perhaps crudely, in that PHCAP allocations are calculated on a ‘cashed out’ pegged to the Medicare rate with a disability factor of times two for recognised needs associated with morbidity and then times two again for remoteness. Therefore, for remote communities, this is a needs based allocation of MBS by four.
My colleague, the minister for Education, spoke of our joint commitment to collaboration while the member for Macdonnell talked about the devastating impact of welfare dependency on Aboriginal autonomy. I would like to say to the minister for Education that we have a strong commitment that health and education will be working together. The member for Blain raised this issue as well. The clear links between these two, which have been brought up in the Collins report, cannot be ignored. We will be working to make sure that the recommendations of the Collins report are met.
The member for Nelson spoke about the need for Aboriginal people to take responsibility for their own health and, in relation to the school breakfast program, cautioned that parents may become reliant on this measure. The member for Drysdale also expressed his concern, warning of missionary style approaches. It is important to understand that community control and self-determination means being able to say to government what people think is needed, and have that message taken seriously and not judged by us as too patronising or dependency creating to put in place.
Indigenous people have said that they need help in the dysfunctional circumstances in which many are striving to keep their families together. Getting children to school with enough food in their bellies is certainly very important. Perhaps this is actually an ideological point but we on this side believe that the community has a responsibility for all Territorians, as opposed to perhaps a more liberal approach that individuals must take total responsibility for themselves. This is actually an ideological issue.
The Minister for Community Development drew attention to the Sunrise Coordinated Care Trial, the third such trial for the Northern Territory. I agree that this is a very exciting initiative. We have precedents in the Tiwi and Katherine West coordinated care trials. Both of these have shown that quick turnarounds on health outcomes are possible. The short-term evidence is that both emergency evacuations and length of stays in hospital are reduced. These are vital indicators that the redirection of primary health care funds to community control - however elaborate the process for setting up boards and reorganising health services turns out to be - is a much more successful strategy than anything that has been done in the past.
I very much appreciated the personal comments that the Minister for Community Development brought to our attention. I, too, feel very saddened by the morbidity rates of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. It is a commitment that we will work as hard as we can to turn these situations around.
The member for Port Darwin rightly pointed out the need for Aboriginal people to receive the right level of support and training, to be able to run complex health functions in a sophisticated way. Like the member for Greatorex, she is concerned about the training boards will receive. I too believe that Aboriginal control of primary health care is critical and that the way ahead will not be easy. That is why it is important not to second guess when the zones will be fully operational. The boards need to receive training; it took Katherine West two years before people external to the trial could see action, and it was a necessary wait.
As part of this ministry, I have ensured that there is a team of people who are going to be working with boards. There has been a doctor mentioned, Dr ‘DD’ Devanesen, who is, in fact, coordinating the training of boards and providing support to them. I can assure honourable members that this is a priority. We do not want the boards to fail; we want this whole trial, this whole program for the Northern Territory, to work. We will be putting whatever we can in place to ensure that that happens.
The member for Port Darwin also raised an issue in relation to auditing of clinics in remote areas. The department either funds or manages 80 community managed health centres in the Northern Territory, and many of these health centres are now 20 or 30 years old. Over the past few months, there has been a desktop audit of Category 1 health centres conducted against the standards across the Northern Territory. Key remote management staff in each region met and the audit was conducted using their knowledge of health facilities, together with Transport and Work site maps. Category 1 health centres provide primary health care services in the Territory’s largest remote communities, where approximately 43% of the remote Aboriginal people live. The audit is designed to quickly establish the practical application of the new standards; provide a basis for further development of standards for remaining health centre categories; for the first time provide reliable information on the extent of the infrastructure deficit in Category 1 health centres; provide an indication of the costs of making up the infrastructure deficit; and prioritise health infrastructure needs for health centres that do not meet the standards.
So far, analysis of the desktop audit information suggests that there is a very significant health infrastructure deficit in Category 1 health centres. I am expecting to receive the full report over the next few weeks, and this will be the basis for prioritising budgets in relation to building up infrastructure in communities. I can assure the member for Port Darwin this is absolutely a priority. I know that the honourable member is particularly concerned about nurses in remote communities. It is certainly part of this, as well.
With the Sunrise trial a well established organisation, the Jawoyn Association, is auspicing the new health board until such time as the board builds its own capacity in budget management, decision making, policy setting and infrastructure, and can assume full control. As part of a legal agreement between the Commonwealth and the government, a comprehensive and legally enforceful risk management and accountability process has been established. The government has no intention of forcing people into new arrangements at a pace that risks failure. We have learnt from the problems that the grants-in-aids clinic suffered, and I am sure that honourable members will be very pleased to hear that.
Of the 10 zones currently being rolled out, there are five Central Australian zones awaiting Commonwealth approval for the employment of planning consultants. They have three months to develop community health plans, and then funding will be released. Katherine West NT will convert from trial to PHCAP funding. This process is already underway. I have already described the Jawoyn, which leaves Borroloola and Darwin Urban, which are about six months behind the Central Australian zones. Some are expected to be rolled out within 12 months. The final 11 depend on whether further Commonwealth allocations will be negotiated. I am very hopeful, having spoken most recently with the federal minister, that this will certainly happen.
The member for Arafura made a very powerful statement from the heart about the need to really hear the voice of the powerless in communities. For too long, we have only listened to the loud, the well connected and the articulate. I will reiterate my support for the work of the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community. I have listened with great interest to her statements in the last couple of days regarding cannabis in remote communities, particularly in Maningrida. The member for Arafura and I travelled to Maningrida recently, and I must say that we were both alarmed by the stories we heard in relation to cannabis in that community. It is a very significant issue. I have been discussing it with the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. It is something which we take very seriously, and we hope that we can find a solution to as soon as possible.
I’d also like to thank the member for Barkly for his comments. In particular, I note the comments that he made in relation to Aboriginal health workers. I, too, believe that Aboriginal health workers are people who have been undervalued in the past. At the moment, there is a review of the role of Aboriginal health workers. I am hoping that, in the coming years, we will be able to see that Aboriginal health workers will be able to take their rightful place in communities.
I accept that the member for Greatorex has an interest in indigenous health, and I take the comments on board in relation to his bipartisan support for this statement. I’d like to assure him that in relation to renal services in the Centre, there is an absolute commitment by this government. I can assure him that with regard to the doctor who is on long service leave, we are doing all that we can to attract a renal specialist to the Centre. We are, in fact, trying to attract more than one renal specialist because we are hoping that we can extend renal services throughout the Northern Territory.
I thank the member for Johnston very much for his passionate support, and his comments regarding renal services, particularly Dr Lawton, and Dr ‘DD’ as well who, I think, would appreciate the kind of support that you have given in recognising his excellent skills in this House today. I’ll pass that on to him. There have also been comments made regarding Aboriginal nurses and doctors and the importance of trying to attract them to study medicine and become nurses. I think this is a very important thing, as well. So, thank you very much to the member for Johnston for his support.
Once again, I’d like to say it is remarkable to have so many people speak on this issue. As a government, we are absolutely committed to making the outcomes in indigenous health much better. I am looking forward to reporting to this House in the future on wonderful new outcomes for people in indigenous areas.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
I’d like to raise, in my adjournment period, a couple of issues from within the Stuart electorate. The first is ongoing attempts to fully recover the community processes at Willowra. I have spoken before on this, and I will not dwell on the earlier history of the collapse of the community council in Willowra, some couple of years ago now. Under the current arrangement, the Willowra community is under a joint management arrangement with the Yuendumu Community Government Council, and there is a continuing, but very slow, recovery of community functions. We’ve all found that you cannot rush these processes, because a lot of the difficulties that the community got into were due to lack of real understanding or expectation of the role of the council, and lack of proper accounting or auditing of the activities of support staff who were being employed by that community.
At a recent meeting attended by myself, local government, the Yuendumu Community Government Council, the Central Land Council and ATSIC, the community agreed to remain under the administrative auspices of Yuendumu for another 12 months. It also agreed to implement measures to safeguard the community store from financial collapse. Another problem has reared its head out there, and that was a run of book-up at the store that had driven it very close to extinction. At that meeting, there was also an agreement to hold elections for an advisory committee which would then act as a body to work with the Yuendemu Community Government Council to make decisions about service delivery.
The new community advisory committee has been elected along family lines and it gives representation for the five family groups in the community. This advisory group will keep Yuendemu informed of the needs within the community, and work with other organisations, such as CLC and ATSIC, in preparing for incorporation and development of the new community government council some time into the future.
The committee members nominated from within the family groupings were: Maisie Kitson, Lady Morton, Clarke Martin, Marjorie Brown, Chrissie Fry, Molly Presley, Charlie Morris, Elyn Jurrah, Barbara Walker and Freddie Williams. The reintroduction of the CDEP to the community via Yuendemu has also seen the resumption of basic services such as rubbish collection, tip and airstrip maintenance, and grass slashing around the community. I would like to make a special mention of Clarke Martin, who voluntarily collected rubbish for quite some time prior to the resumption of the CDEP. It is great to see the community spirit and commitment that Clarke showed in doing that.
Additional funds were made to enable the ESO to assist the clinic with emergency evacuations and to repair the night lights at the airstrip. We now have a fully functional airstrip for emergency evacuations. Repairs to housing has occurred under our government, and now people have a basic security in their housing. The housing is now functional and safe in terms of its plumbing and power supplies. We are getting there slowly. We have a fair way to go yet before we can really say that the Willowra community has returned to full functionality.
What has come out of it is the absolute commitment of those people to the location of Willowra. For all the misdeeds that have happened there in the last couple of years, there is no doubt that the Warlpiri people, with their traditional association with Willowra, are very determined to stay in that location and make that community strong and functional again.
On the bright side of Willowra, as well as the ongoing repair work done on the local government arrangements, is the fact that it continues to have a very strong and supportive health staff at the clinic. The school is also functioning extremely well at the moment, with a full staff and very good attendance. If we can keep those areas of the service delivery strong into the future, we will see a far better result in terms of the community affairs. The school has been very much instrumental in seeing the rash of vandalism and mayhem that was going on in the community some six months ago brought down to a much lower level. We are now seeing a community that can build, step by step, towards a much better situation.
The other situation I would like to talk about is that of the Anmatjere people based around the Ti Tree township. I was contacted by Big Billie Mbitjana, who is the traditional owner of that particular area, there was a meeting organised for me to attend with Jasper Haines to look at the current critical situation that has occurred since the collapse of the Ti Tree Station store, the Nturiya Store, and the problems that have been occurring at Willowra. What has happened is that a fairly substantial number of people have moved in to camp on the creek adjacent to the Ti Tree township within the declared town area. Those people have no water supply or toilets. They have very rudimentary shelter in the form of humpy camps and old caravans. The people called me in to see what could be done to actually recover this situation.
I think the troubles in the Nturiya Store have been well known for quite some time. I’d like to take this opportunity to pledge, first of all, whatever intervention we can make at the Northern Territory government level to provide some support to these people, but also to call on ATSIC to be a bit more creative and constructive in terms of addressing this situation. It is quite clear why those people have come there; it is a problem that has been foreseen for some time. You cannot leave old people and kids living in conditions where there is simply no water supply or any sort of hygienic arrangements such as toilets and garbage disposal.
At the moment, those people are living in conditions that remind me a lot of when I first went out bush in the early 1970s to visit my brother, and when I first started working out bush in the early 1980s. In those days, it was quite common to see unserviced humpy camps providing lodgings for a large number of people. But, heavens! This is the year 2002 and we should not be seeing people living in these conditions.
To me, it is a very short-sighted decision by ATSIC not to intervene to resume some store operation at the Nturiya community, even if it is in the form of an addition to one of the existing stores where they take regular runs of provisions out there to allow people to buy off the back of a truck. Anything would be better than seeing them sitting in a creek bed with no service provision.
I’d also like to take this opportunity to say that some of the residents of the Ti Tree township - probably out of frustration with all their new neighbours and the fact that this looks extremely rustic when there is a degree of civic pride in that community - let fly about the fact that I was intervening with this group. Well, I do not resile from that. We have an absolutely basic responsibility in government to provide fundamental support to every Territorian. It doesn’t matter who they are or where they are; we need to make sure that they have access to the fundamental supports for their life: a water supply, some decent hygiene and some shelter. They have been the requirements since the beginning of mankind - probably a million and a half years ago - and it hasn’t changed one iota.
To be in a civilised and affluent country and see a group living the way this group is living is simply not good enough. I will be working through my electorate office in Alice Springs, to approach ATSIC - and we want to get some action on this - to get these people back to their communities with some functioning supply arrangement. Not all these people have cars, they cannot walk 13 km into the Ti Tree township, buy their supplies and walk 13 km back out again. We have to find a better solution than what is happening there at the moment.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it is very difficult sometimes when you are sitting in the Chair to bite your tongue on some debate that occurs. The one on the Neighbourhood Watch statistics has really annoyed me over the last few weeks. All I can say is that both the government and the opposition are hypocritical in the remarks that have been made about publishing Neighbourhood Watch stats. Let me say that the Neighbourhood Watch newsletter in Alice Springs has always published the crimes in the nine areas. The table was very comprehensive; it lists the property involved, the type of offence, the date, the street, whether or not force was used and the value of the property stolen, as well as the value of the damage caused. I’ll ask to table all these when I have finished. There is an example in February 1999 of the stats for houses in The Gap showing all the break-ins that have occurred. In March 1999, there was a little item in the Neighbourhood Watch magazine that said:
We have changed the format on the way we produce statistics for our monthly newsletter. You will see the
new format in this issue which is similar in style to what Neighbourhood Watch produces in Darwin.
Then we go on a little bit further when all we end up getting is the residential break-ins in all the areas. It is listed like this. This was at the time of the CLP government. This was the CLP government restricting the information to people in the Neighbourhood Watch. The Leader of the Opposition has said it is a disgrace, a conflict of interest and manipulative, but it was he leading the government in March 1999, that changed the format of recording crime in the Neighbourhood Watch newsletters in Alice Springs from a very comprehensive list of offences: where they happened, what the value of the goods were, and what damage occurred. Now he was saying: ‘What a disaster, you should be publishing those results’. Yet, it was his government that stopped them in Alice Springs.
On the other hand, at the same time, the member for Stuart was very supportive of those statistics in the Neighbourhood Watch. He said things like:
Providing details of crime must be a starting point in deciding appropriate action. A key function of
the Neighbourhood Watch is to promote informed debate and to propose action including on mandatory
sentencing. Not only should Neighbourhood Watch get the full range of police stats but also sentencing
and correctional service details.
How hypocritical now, that both sides of the House have a different point of view to what they had in 1999. In 1999, the CLP government said: ‘We will start to dilute the stats we are providing you’. In 1999, the member for Stuart and the opposition were saying: ‘We need them, they’re a good thing.’ What is happening now? I hear nothing from the member for Stuart asking about it; nothing from him supporting Neighbourhood Watch. This was all done without consultation with the Neighbourhood Watch committees who work in a voluntary capacity, do a lot of hard work and to my knowledge have never, in Alice Springs, abused the knowledge that they have received in the Neighbourhood Watch committee. So, what’s going on? Who is afraid of being open and telling us what is happening in our neighbourhoods? At the moment in Alice Springs we seem to have a crime wave. Right across all suburbs are break and enters, windows being smashed, cars being stolen, you name it. But we are not going to be allowed to have those stats.
The police in Alice Springs provide, week by week, a very detailed report to Darwin on what happens in Alice: all the apprehensions, whether they were alcohol related, domestic violence, forced break and enter. If you ask for it, it is all there and simple to produce. I am saying to the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services: how about talking to the Neighbourhood Watch committees? They are the ones that do all the work for you. Why produce a fancy graph and have it on the front page of the NT News when, obviously, the only places you are worried about are Darwin and Palmerston?
I have contacted the Police Commissioner’s office and asked him for the stats for Alice Springs. Let’s see a similar graph outlining what’s happening in Alice Springs. As yet, I haven’t received it but I am hopeful that we will, because I think the new Police Commissioner needs to get out and start talking to some of those committees, and realising that these people are the good people of our community. They are there to serve the community and the last thing you want to do is get them offside.
An interesting debate, and one that both sides of the House should be looking at and saying: ‘Whoops, why have we done this?’ Why did the CLP government reduce those stats back in 1999, and why did the opposition at that time support so strongly the publication of those but now are saying: ‘No, no, no, no, you cannot have them’. Let’s see if we can get an answer from the minister on that.
I also want us to look briefly about the grog restrictions in Alice Springs. The feedback I am getting is, quite frankly after a short time, that they are not working. They are not working and I am calling on the Liquor Commissioner to make sure he has a review after three months. Not at the end of 12 months, because I am quite sure that by then, it will be such a disaster, it will be too hard to correct.
There are various reasons why grog restrictions were introduced into Alice Springs. One of them was a concern about the amount of alcohol being consumed. It is true; the amount of alcohol that is being sold at the moment may not have increased, but the strength of the alcohol being sold is much greater and having different effects. We are having port, mixed drinks, Jim Beam, VB, you name it, now being consumed by the drinkers. These types of drinks that have a high alcohol content are making people more aggressive, drunker more quickly, and very nasty. For instance, one of the people who sells alcohol said to me: ‘In the past, when they came in and said: “I want some more grog”, you could say: “No, no, you have had enough”, they would accept it and walk away. Now, the fists and voices are being raised, and it is becoming a very angry confrontation’.
They were also hoping to lessen admissions to the hospitals. Well, admissions to the emergency section haven’t increased but what’s happening is the injuries are more violent, more severe, because the aggression that this stronger alcohol is bringing out is causing people to do far more violent things than they did when they got silly drunk on moselle or the other cask they had. Therefore, even though you might be able to say yes, the amount of alcohol that has been sold has not increased, and yes, the admissions to the emergency department have not increased, there is a difference.
If the aim of the inquiry was also to improve the visual image of the town - because people worried about what the tourists saw in the CBD during the day – well, yes, we have probably achieved something. Business during the day in the CBD is quieter; people are not drinking in the Todd before 2 pm because the liquor outlets do not open until 2 pm. So, of course, we have a quieter CBD; the business people are not getting hassled as much during the day. However, what happens later in the evening? That is a problem. It is far worse and much harder for the police to arrest people in the dark. The Night Patrol is doing things in the dark. The Day Patrol has almost become unnecessary. It is harder in the dark for the police trying to control the amount of alcohol in the Todd. What’s happening is the whole timing of consumption has changed. Therefore, we may have less drunken behaviour in daylight hours that may upset the business people, but at night, the CBD, the parks and neighbourhoods, are far worse and far more dangerous. At a Neighbourhood Watch meeting the other night, the reports of misbehaviour and antisocial behaviour, disturbing residents late at night in the parks, was an issue they raised over and over again.
There is also a noticeable increase in people in major shopping centres waiting for liquor outlets to open. They are hanging around until 2 pm, waiting for the doors to be opened. What is happening is causing concern to traders and customers because there is restless behaviour; shoplifting of food; blocking of entrances to the shops, and aggression appearing. We never had that before. In a place like Yeperenye, which is an enclosed shopping centre, it is even harder. At least in Coles or in the Ford Plaza, they can ask them to wait outside. But, when you get a large group of people internally, waiting for the 2 pm opening, it is terrible. I have to admit it is happening in many places. You only need to go around to Millner Road to see what is happening there. I notice Millner Road has put on extra security at night because of this delayed drinking that is occurring. It is that delay that is causing problems. It is not improving the drinking habits; it is not meaning fewer people are drinking; it is not meaning there are fewer drunks on our street. All we have done is change the alcohol they are consuming, changed the time in which they are consuming it, and changed some of the noticeable effects.
As well as that, we have a lot of glass and litter. It is the glass litter that has suddenly appeared because of the amount of port and other bottled alcohol that is being consumed. Of course, with the use of bottles, as you may have seen in the paper recently when the bottle was smashed and was put to the throat of a person, it is causing horrific injuries.
Unfortunately, at night time in Alice Springs, there are a lot of people who haven’t returned to their communities, for various reasons. There are a lot of people from the Pitjantjatjara lands at the moment, and they seem to be trapped in this grog cycle and unable to go home. What we need is to make sure the minister really supports the Back to Country Program. I have to admit, a troop carrier going out bush twice a week is not enough; you are not moving the quantity of people you should be getting back to the communities.
We also should be saying to Centrelink again: ‘Do not give cheques in town. Make sure people can only access their welfare payments out on their communities’. Perhaps if that was introduced as a federal government policy, that would help families who are back in the communities who do not get the money because it is being gobbled up in town. That is something I think we should be looking at, and the minister for Health could perhaps again try to get the federal government to agree to.
What concerns me a little bit, with some of the feedback I had, is that there seems to be an attitude in Alice Springs that if you are against the grog restrictions: say nothing, belt up, you are not allowed to do that. In Katherine and Tennant Creek, the interesting thing was that the communities came together as a whole; everyone across the community worked towards it. In Alice Springs, if you are a hotelier and you say anything against grog restrictions, you are then branded. I’ll probably be branded as racist tomorrow because I am saying they are not working. What we have to do is get away from that mentality. We have to say this is a whole community problem, it is not the province of a very few dedicated PAAG people. It is ours as a community, and if you want to speak up, you should feel free to do so and not be gagged by these people who say you do not have a right.
I am urging all members of the community to write into the licensing committee, or get on to the web site and feed in their comments. I have had a lot of people come into my office with their concerns. As with a lot of people, they are unwilling to put their name on something because they do not want to be branded. I think we are at the stage now that we really need to get people to be open and honest and give that feedback, otherwise the only people who will give feedback are the pro-restriction people. To be honest, they are perhaps not the ones who are suffering as much as the people living out in the suburbs. I say to people: get your comments in.
I say to the Liquor Commissioner: please can we have a review in three months? Do not wait any longer, the damage is already occurring. We cannot afford to have this damage continue. We need to make sure the Back to Country Program is supported strongly. We need to get Centrelink to be thinking about how they are issuing cheques. We need to commend the police. Just in one week before I came up, the police tipped out 300 litres of alcohol. They are doing so much: they took 223 people into police custody; they attended 400 incidents - of these, 272 were alcohol related. So, it is still a problem, it is not reducing our problem. All I can say is please get your comments in and, Liquor Commissioner, let’s have another review quickly.
Mr STIRLING (Nhulunbuy): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, in relation to the comments made by the member for Braitling, we did touch on these statistics earlier in the day. I certainly do not direct the Commissioner of Police on what to do with his statistics; they are police statistics. I do not direct him whether or not they should be in Neighbourhood Watch, what form or where they should appear. There is a process whereon we have policy position very clear, that the responsibility for statistics would come through the Office of Crime Prevention located within the Ministry of Justice. The police are continuing toward the whole question of statistics: handover, release, what format, how often through the year. There are, of course, other releases during the year. There are the ABS statistics during the year, and also the Productivity Commission crime statistics on top of the Police, Fire and Emergency Services annual report, in addition to anything else that we bring out as a result of policy decisions made.
Mrs Braham: But not Territory-wide stats. Let’s have them broken up into different regions.
Mr STIRLING: I take on board what the member for Braitling is saying. I’ll see that those remarks get through to the Ministry of Justice and the police in terms of their decision-making processes further on.
Regarding the alcohol restrictions and how effective they’re proving, I would hope that the member for Braitling will get a copy of her remarks across to the Liquor Commissioner. That is another area that, as minister, you do not have decision-making responsibility over. Whilst we are, overall, responsible for it, we certainly do not direct the commissioner in anything that he or she takes on. I am sure he would be interested in the member for Braitling’s comments, given her knowledge of the local area.
Late next month, Darwin will witness an historic and nostalgic event: the arrival over our skies of one of the last three Catalina flying boats left in the world. Discovered as a near wreck in Portugal, the Catalina has been flown back to remain in Australia as a tribute to the men and machines who flew in defence of Australia. The reason I raise this tonight is because the Catalina has a critical role in the history of the Territory, with particular resonance for Darwin, Nhulunbuy and Groote Eylandt, which were major bases for this mighty craft. I raise it because, coincidentally, a Northern Territory writer, Andrew McMillan, has just had a book published on the story of the Catalina over Top End skies entitled Catalina Dreaming.
The Catalina was one of the great war horses of the Australian effort in Top End skies. They were capable of flying up to 32 hours in the air on a single load of fuel, could carry bombs, people, depth charges and mines. Andrew’s book, launched at the beginning of May by Deputy Commander Operational Support at Northern Command, Group Captain John Oddie. Appropriately, it was launched at Doctor’s Gully, the Darwin base for Catalinas. Group Captain Oddie had high praise for the author and book, finding it difficult to imagine that McMillan had not been in a Catalina, let alone on a long range battle flight. It says much for Andrew, who has written extensively about parts of my own electorate in his recent Intruders Guide to Arnhem Land, and his status as one of the Territory’s great writers.
As Group Captain Oddie put it, the story of the Catalina is one of men and their machines which he said that Andrew McMillan had honoured. To quote Oddie:
They got up there and they flew. And their mates died. And they flew. And their mates died again, and they flew ... Their job was to make the best of warfare, to defend Australia, to make the Catalina the tool it had to be to defend the things that were important at the time, and that was freedom. Today we enjoy the fruits of that freedom, and I think that freedom can only be tasted in its true flavour if we look through the eyes of people like Andrew. This book does that.
When the Catalina arrives in Darwin next month, I hope it reminds people of the Northern Territory of a vital chapter in our history. The restoration project is being carried out by a group of aircraft restoration enthusiasts, and while they’ve raised the funds through some philanthropist to purchase the Catalina, further funds are required to keep it as a flying part of Australia’s heritage. During its visit to Darwin the Catalina will be restored in original battle livery, in black paint to become a ‘Black Cat’. I understand they’re looking for volunteers locally to help in this project, and I am sure there’ll be many in Darwin willing to lend a hand.
Yirrkala Business Enterprises, a Nabalco operated training school better known as YNOTS, is now in its second year. It has just completed its second intake of 24 new trainees and they start work on 29 April this year. There are two female trainees in the program. Its first year has been significant. Since its inauguration, YNOTS has moved from a training program to a nationally recognised new apprentice scheme. This is a major achievement for the staff of YNOTS and bodes well for the future. The training program integrates a component from NTU. The course is workplace education, a program providing basic workplace related skills. Two new trainers have joined the group from last year’s program. Michael Marawili and Richard Zagigi have completed the Certificate in Training Small Groups and Workplace Assessment. Craig Bonney is administrator for YNOTS. His efforts and those of his team have seen the advancement of the program, and they should be congratulated.
Last month I asked the member for Arafura to present a National Service Medal to Corporal Robert Oakes, nicknamed ‘Shakey’, of NORFORCE Arnhem Squadron. I was disappointed in being called to Melbourne and missing the opportunity to make the presentation myself. ‘Shakey’ started with the Army in October 1968; this is his 34th year as a soldier, a great achievement by any measure. He spent two years in Vietnam from July 1969 to May 1971. One of his officers at the time was Lt Gen Peter Cosgrove. It was difficult time for the Australian Defence Forces, and particularly for the soldiers serving there. ‘Shakey’ has broad experience within the Army. He served in the 5th, 7th, 6th and 9th Battalions, Royal Australian Regiment, 1 Commando Company, Army Transport School, Single Range Control, Greenbank Range Control, 10/27 Royal South Australian Regiment, South Queensland Logistics Group, Base Administrative Support Company Enoggera, and various tours of Rifle Company Butterworth in Malaya. Of course, let’s not forget his current posting in the Arnhem Squadron of NORFORCE.
The award is in recognition of his time as a national serviceman. He now has over 30 years’ of service after an initial National Service term, a truly impressive record. He is a credit to his squadron, to the Army itself, and of course, to Australia.
Cheryl Ross has been a teacher for 28 years. She started as a bilingual teacher on Groote Eylandt in 1974. She transferred to Ludmilla Primary in 1977. She also worked at Wagaman and, finally, at Moil Primary. She enjoyed the status as a teacher of exemplary practice. She was recognised for her commitment to teaching with an honours award from a school council and the Teacher of Excellence Award.
Cheryl was keen on sports. Her commitment to athletics has benefited school sports, zone sports, Pacific School Sports and the Arafura Games. The Heart Foundation was another of Cheryl’s passions. She gave generously of her time and responded to many crises within Australia and internationally by organising fundraising activities. Cheryl also made her mark in the area of environmental issues through her involvement in Greening Australia, Landcare and Keep Australia Beautiful. Cheryl Ross deserves to be congratulated for her 28-year career as a teacher; it is not an easy job. She has done it well. I wish her well in her retirement.
It was 30 years ago that Gove Country Golf Club opened the first three holes of its course. It was a serious challenge to the golfing public with local rules demanding that each player collect three tree roots during each game. The intrepid golfers of Gove soon produced a complete nine hole course carved from virgin bushland. Like many new courses, it was pretty rough. However, after many working bees and enthusiastic support, the Gove Country Golf Club was moved from oiled, scrape ‘greens’ and rubber mat tees to very presentable grass fairways, tees and greens.
The club was founded in September 1970. The works committee was given the task of designing and planning the course. The committee consulted with Nabalco’s architectural department and received technical advice from several golf clubs. Local contractors generously donated the plant and equipment and work started within 18 months. The club has come a long way in 30 years; it employs a full-time greenkeeper and apprentice. It has a bar, provides meals, has occasional entertainment and poker machines. It is hosting a range of golfing events, not the least being the Gulf Amateur Open, a 54 hole event held annually for Territory golfers. The club has a junior program with 25 participants. The big plan for the club is renewal of the club house. That is seen as important for the future of the club to facilitate and improve fundraising capacity. It is a credit to the members of the club, past and present, that this facility has continued to improve over the years. The Gove Country Golf Club continues to be an important social centre for many of the people of Nhulunbuy.
Harmony Day was held on 21 March, as it has been since 1999. Harmony Day provides an opportunity for Australians to think about our community’s success as a multicultural society. This year, the Scouts played a leadership role in promoting Harmony Day in Nhulunbuy by constructing a large banner at the swimming pool. They used bright orange tape to spell out ‘You + Me = Us’, the theme for this year’s day. Both the Scout and the Cub Troops were involved. The Joey Scouts also participated in a multicultural program led by Carol Dodd. The message of reconciliation is an important part of the Harmony Day spirit and this was apparent in the efforts of the Scouts on this day. Harmony Day is also the United Nations Day for the elimination of racial discrimination .
For the last seven years, the Country Women’s Association has provided the Meals on Wheels service in Nhulunbuy. The service is critical for elderly pensioners, the disabled and families in need. Some require meals on a routine basis, while others only require the service on an occasional basis. The daily roster varies from 14 to 25 meals. The CWA provides one meal a day to those on the roster. The meals are delivered by volunteers who are an important point of contact for the clients. Glenda Schmidt is the local coordinator. The CWA is funded by the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services, and the funding means that meals can be provided at a nominal cost to the clients. Meals on Wheels is an important service in any community and often goes unsung. The volunteers do a fabulous job and I take this opportunity to congratulate them on their efforts.
In April, the member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour, attended the signing of a memorandum of understanding in Nhulunbuy which aims to improve education and training outcomes for Yolgnu people. Ms Scrymgour represented me as the Minister for Employment, Education and Training at the ceremony. The memorandum of understanding has been in the development stages for over 12 months with the involvement and input from Miwatj Regional Council, ATSIC, Centrelink, the Northern Territory government and the Commonwealth government.
The government believes that to succeed in turning around the low outcomes in indigenous education, we need to work in real partnership with indigenous parents, community service providers and industry. The MOU represents a model for collaboration between the community, education, and other agencies, and will give the community a role in determining aspects of education and training programs for its young people including technical and vocational training, distance education and cross-cultural training. It will also enable the development of joint training programs which will lead to structured and effective school-to-work pathways for students.
The Miwatj Regional Council and ATSIC will now convene a Miwatj Education and Training Forum twice a year to discuss education, training and learning outcomes. I missed the signing ceremony but did sign the MOU a few days later.
The MV Frances Bay, the Perkins barge, had its 700th voyage into Gove in April this year. The vessel has not missed a voyage in its 15 years of service, a record of which Perkins Shipping can be justly proud. It is a major lifeline for Nhulunbuy. It is the only coastal vessel that has a roll-on roll-off capacity of up to 250 tonnes through her bow door. The total carrying capacity is 1400 tonnes, up to 80 containers, and 1.7 million litres of bulk fuel. Perkins Shipping is a privately owned company with considerable investments in the Gove terminal. The company has invested over $3m and employs 11 local residents. Perkins are in Gove for the long haul, as they have already demonstrated. They have actively contributed to sporting and social organisations including the Gove AFL, Expo 2002, Nhulunbuy Community Centre, Gove Country Gold Club, Gove Surf Lifesaving Club, among others. Perkins have proven themselves to be a great corporate citizen in Gove for a long time. The MV Frances Bay is very much a part of living in Gove.
On the May Day long weekend, the people of Katherine hosted the Katherine Country Music Muster. Paul Dewhurst, from Nhulunbuy, with band, the Spangled Emperors, trooped off to join the muster. The Spangled Emperors include Paul on guitar, Phil McDonald on bass, Steve Chandler on harmonica, and Trevor Hayes on drums. Paul shot to prominence at the event with his entry in a nationwide song writing contest. His song Cane Toad Avenue made it to the top five entries. Paul, with the band, apparently made quite a splash at the muster. A CD featuring the song Cane Toad Avenue will be released later this month or early in June.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise today to commemorate an event that took place 61 years ago and to pay tribute to the Anzacs. I think this week that the last of our Gallipoli Anzacs is going to be buried.
The Germans called it Operation Mercury. We know it today as the Battle of Crete. Of all the military campaigns fought in Greece during the World War II, the battle of Crete will be remembered as one of the strongest acts of defiance against the Nazis. Although the German troops eventually overran Crete, it was also the first time in the war that the Nazis were not infallible. Many Australian, British and New Zealand troops fought side by side with the Greeks; a great battle forging a special bond between the island’s people and the ANZAC troops.
The strategic position of Crete was of paramount importance for Hitler to gain a strong foothold in south-eastern Europe, to allow his troops to continue their campaign to the Middle East to secure the oil fields and to prepare for a new attack on the Russian front. On 20 May 1941, the sky over Crete was filled with German paratroopers. Thousands of troops from various parachute and mountain divisions were dropped in the air raid. Most of the allied anti-aircraft were destroyed by heavy bombing, but the allied troops delayed their firing and began shooting at the paratroopers as they descended. Many Cretans using older, self-loading guns, aimed and attacked the enemy.
With limited ammunition and manpower, the Cretan villagers and the Anzacs fought gallantly together, eventually containing the German paratroopers to three main areas of the island. Despite the heavy toll, after seven days of continuous fighting, the Germans deployed more air power and managed to override the island, capturing strategic military positions near Khania and Rethimnon on the west of the island, and Iraklion on the eastern flank. Many ANZAC troops and Cretans continued fighting, even though defeat was inevitable. By 1 June 1941, the battle of Crete was over. However, its eventual occupation came at a heavy price to both sides. During the 10 days of fighting, 781 Australians and New Zealanders were killed, and more than 3000 were captured.
During the occupation, Cretan villagers risked their own lives providing food and shelter for many ANZAC troops who remained on the island, hiding them from the Nazi forces. Some of these ANZAC troops managed to cross the island from the north to the south, and waited on the coastline for the allied ships to arrive to take them to safety to Egypt in Africa. Some of these boats came and they left loaded, but many of the ANZAC troops remained on the island. The penalty for hiding or harbouring an ANZAC soldier from the Germans was death, and many Cretan villagers died: executed in front of their children and their families because the Germans discovered troops in their houses.
I was very moved when I came to Australia and I went to south Western Australia and found one place called Prevaley. I was very surprised why a south Australian area would have such a Greek name. I was even more surprised when, in this particular area, I found a small Greek church built in the Cretan style of architecture. I asked a few questions and then I found out that the owner of the area was an ANZAC trooper who fought in Crete. He escaped capture by the Germans, crossed the mountains that in Crete are very, very high. It was near winter time, and he suffered hunger and thirst until the monks of the monastery of Prevaley found him and hid him for days until eventually he found the way to Egypt.
When he was hiding, he was very unsure if he would survive the ordeal, and he promised that if he ever returned to Australia, and made money, he was going to buy a piece of land and build a church and call it Prevaley. Years later, he returned to Australia and made money. He went to Western Australia and bought hectares of land in a place that looks surprisingly like Crete - undulating land that goes down to the sea. If you forget the eucalyptus, banksia and blackboy trees, you would actually think you were in Greece. He built a church and he donated it to the Greek people in Western Australia and the Greek Archdiocese in Australia, as a thank you present for his rescue.
The courageous efforts of the ANZAC troops in Crete together, particularly, with the brave Cretan people, dealt a severe blow to the Nazis. They never recovered; they never used paratroopers or parachutists again, and delayed their invasion of Russia, with the result we know today. They delayed so much that winter arrived and most of the German soldiers died from frost as a result of the heavy winter.
However, the Cretans never forgot the sacrifice of the Australian and New Zealand boys, and they erected a monument in memory of the people who drew their last breath on the island. Last year, John Anictomatis, our Administrator, went to Crete with a large contingent of people who fought in the war there. He took with him one of the soldiers who actually lives in the Territory now, Mr Charlie Parrott. When he came back, he described to me the arrival of the people, now in their 60s and 70s. They were still remembered by the people in Iraklion, Rethimnon and Khania. Some of them, after so many years, found old friends. Of course, today is 61 years and one day after the battle of Crete, and the message is: Lest We Forget.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to add my comments to those of the member for Braitling about the alcohol issue in Alice Springs. It has been a month, probably five weeks, since the trial began. It started on 1 April, so it is more than five weeks. It is six or seven weeks since the trial began, and at first blush, it appears that the restrictions have probably caused more problems than anticipated.
While the drinking has started later each day, the mingling around alcohol outlets until 2 pm has increased. That has caused some shopkeepers, particularly those in the bigger shopping centres, some degree of concern. However, unlike the member for Braitling, I am prepared to wait a little longer to see how the restrictions pan out. Six weeks is too early. While there has been a lot of product substitution, and switching from paper wine casks to bottles - hence a lot of broken glass - I am prepared to wait a bit longer to see what happens.
I also share the member for Braitling’s concerns that people who speak out against the restrictions are being bullied by the pro-restriction people to such an extent that even when the chairman of the reference group spoke out, he was chastised by one of his own members who happened to be one of the pro-restriction persons. It is a pity that this open conflict within the reference group is being aired throughout the media. It is important for the reference group to continue to monitor and ensure that the restriction is given a fair go. I would await the assessment of the trial by the reference group before deciding for myself whether this is going to be good for Alice Springs or not. In the short term, it has not appeared to be a good move, but who knows what happens in a few months time?
I rise tonight primarily to speak about Cawood Court. The minister, in response to a question this morning, spoke about Cawood Court and how the advertisement never spoke about the demolition of the units at Cawood Court. That is, indeed, not true. When builders and project managers in Alice Springs responded to the advertisement in the local papers, they all received a document, and I seek leave to table the front cover of the document.
Leave granted.
Dr LIM: The front page of the document reads, under the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment:
Expressions of interest are sought for the refurbishment or demolition and redevelopment of Lot 1832,
Cawood Court Flats, Nicker Crescent, Town of Alice Springs.
The closing date for that was 6 February 2002. Demolition was definitely contemplated on the front cover of the proposal. I heard through the grapevine through many builders who sought to put expressions of interest for this development, that they were advised from persons unknown, working in this building, that they were not to put in a proposal for demolition because that would not be considered. If that were the case, then this front cover really misleads everybody in Alice Springs, especially the people who put in proposals. I think that is just not on. It is government doing things …
A member: By stealth.
Dr LIM: More than by stealth. They advertised one thing, verbally advised another thing and then, when it comes to the assessment, a different set of rules apply. I think that is a real concern.
I had a briefing from the CEO of the department the week before last, and canvassed the issues with him. He felt that the successful proposer provided the best option of the nine that were received. I am not going to go into the issues of whether the proposer is the right person for the job or not. I know that he has a lot of dealings with the Northern Territory; owns lots of property; has redeveloped many properties in Central Australia as well as in the Top End; and he is a very good businessman. Good luck to him that he is successful.
What I was concerned about was the process that this government took. Not only did the expressions of interest have to be submitted by 6 February 2002, it took the government months to come to a decision. They wanted the proposals to come in fairly quickly, and then they sat on their hands. I was inundated with calls from people to find out what was happening.
Mr Henderson: All two of them.
Dr LIM: There were nine proposers in Alice Springs. One I will call an Alice Springs person, he is really a local. They had nine proposals from nine people, and it took the government months and months to come to a decision. Now, the government also undertook - or it promised the people in Alice Springs - that the money gained from the sale of this property would be dedicated to Alice Springs. That was only after a lot of objections from Alice Springs and from the opposition to ensure that money does not get put into general revenue and then disappear into thin air. The minister did promise that the money would be spent in Alice Springs but when I questioned where the money would be put, I could not get any answer. It may be put into repairs and maintenance of properties of Territory Housing in Alice Springs.
I think Alice Springs needs more than just that. Sure, we have Gillen House now being demolished, and that land is going to be turned into a retirement or seniors village. That is not enough. We need more than that. We need land, we need more housing for senior Territorians and needy families in Central Australia. We need to be advised by government as to where they are going to spend the money. The government is obviously not prepared to give us the information and all we can do in opposition is to continue to ask and to pester for an answer. I hope the minister will get his department to look into the issue and ensure that some information is forthcoming soon.
With this decision, Alice Springs is still faced with a shortage of R1 land: very, very desperately short of R1 land. The Head Street blocks are now being developed and, once those blocks are built, that is it, there is nothing else - absolutely nothing else left in Alice Springs. The minister’s staff asked the question during the briefing: what would I do? I said that if I were him, I would get the minister to act on Larapinta stage 4, as soon as he possibly can; get moving on it because if we do not do that, then the town is absolutely at a standstill and the building industry will start to wind down very quickly. The Convention Centre and the Centre for Remote Health are now complete. There are really no other major projects going on in town. That is important.
A member: What about the railway?
Dr LIM: I will pick up that interjection about the railway. In my opinion, the railway is not going to ensure any impact for Alice Springs for at least six, if not 12 months. It is a pity the people from the Top End do not understand what is happening with the railway. There is significant activity in Katherine and Tennant Creek but, in Alice Springs we are seeing very little activity.
The other issue that I want to come to is about Owen Springs and the way that the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure dealt with it recently when his department found that the Alice Springs Aero Club had developed a one kilometre landing strip at Owen Springs. In his radio interview on the ABC with the well-known Fred McCue on 9 May, the minister said, and I quote here from the transcript of that interview on the ABC:
People have to wait for the government to make a final decision what do we do with Owen Springs Station.
I say to the minister: people have been waiting for a long, long time for a decision from the government. He said last year in October he was waiting for people to put submissions in. Well, people have put their submissions in already. They have been with the department since October last year and yet this government, six months later, has not made a decision at all. It is time they got their act together and did something about it.
On Fred McCue’s radio program, Stuart Brash was the interviewer. He asked the minister: ‘Have you spoken to the Aero Club yourself and what have they said to you?’ The minister responded: ‘Well, I haven’t, and they haven’t spoken to me; they haven’t approached my office’. In fact, the minister or someone in his office did speak with the people from the Aero Club. I spoke with the Aero Club people and they assured me that they had spoken to the minister or his office in November of last year. They told him what they wanted to do and what they needed, and explained to him their circumstances, their financial difficulties, and the cost they are bearing at the Alice Springs Airport.
It is a small volunteer organisation, a small community group running an aero club. They are not opening any other commercial operation, only ‘touch and goes’ which is student pilots practising landings, rolling on the tarmac and taking off again without coming to a full stop.
Mr Elferink: Seven bucks a go.
Dr LIM: It is a very expensive. ‘$7 a go’, says the member for Macdonnell, and he is a student pilot himself. That is what it costs. It is a very expensive exercise. The aero club, being a very small group, cannot afford that. The aero club needed the government to make a decision. They’ve put a proposal in, just like every other group. I know the hot air balloon industry have put proposals in; I know there are others. The motor sports industry have put their proposal in; I know two other operatives have …
Mr Elferink: Tourist operators, cattlemen.
Dr LIM: Yes, cattlemen have put their proposals in. They are all there, so the government has to get off its collective backside to make some decisions. It is not that difficult. The CLP bought Owen Springs Station at a market price; it was a good price …
Mr Henderson: You never said what you were going to do with it.
Dr LIM: It was to reserve that land so that Alice Springs would have unfettered growth but also to provide land that Alice Springs people can have for their future entertainment, tourism growth, and community growth. That was what it was all about.
However, this government cannot come to a decision. Why? Is there a hidden agenda there somewhere; are they going to try and sell the land to other parties and lock up Alice Springs?
Ms Lawrie: Ah, fantasy.
Mr Henderson: Weren’t you listening to Question Time this morning?
Mr Kiely: Yeah. Look at Hansard.
Dr LIM: Well, the members across the Chamber chortle. They should at least ensure that the government provides an answer. Tell us what they are doing, not just sit there and say: ‘Look, we are still thinking about it’.
Alice Springs needs to have unfettered land where it can grow into the future and by growth I mean for the unforeseeable future. In 100 years from now, who knows what Alice Springs will be like? That is what is important; it could be a town twice its size. It has to have land that has no boundaries, otherwise we will be locked in, and Alice Springs will be forever disadvantaged because it will be ringed around with private land that you cannot expand to. The only way to expand then is to buy land back, and it is a stupid way to go about doing things.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I’d like to start my adjournment debate with some notes on schools in my electorate. Honourable members may be aware that there are four schools in the Johnston electorate: Jingili, Moil, Wagaman, and I am very proud to say the Casuarina Senior College is also in the Johnston electorate.
In relation to Casuarina Senior College, they will be represented at the Future Indigenous Leaders Conference to be held in Adelaide from 10 to 15 July. Their representatives will be Selina Uibo, Gemma Benn, Wiyana Tyeague-Suradi and Andreas Vorst-Hoptkins. The college has four teams in the intra-school debating this year, with over 20 students involved. The competition runs for eight weeks and three teams can still make the finals. ‘Cas 1’ debating team is on top of the ladder at present, and is made up of Deevya Desai, Mary Ann Oecker, Cienna Turpie, Nadia Foti, and Sulifa Tonga. Sid Vemuri, Rachelle Griffin and Lauren Clarke have been chosen for the NT squad in debating, with a final decision on the team to compete in Adelaide in August, being made in the next couple of weeks.
Twelve students and two teachers will be visiting Sumyoshi High School in Osaka, Japan, in June with a return visit to Darwin in August 2002. This exchange has been going on for some time, and is greatly enjoyed by both the Japanese students and the students in Casuarina Senior College.
In March 2002, Janice Bell and Michaela Mihailou were chosen to represent the Northern Territory in the Australian Hockey League, and I’ll wish both of them the best of luck.
Casuarina College has three representatives in the Lions Youth of the Year competition: Dev Tilakaratne, David Hevey and Sidarth Vemuri. Each of the students gave a wonderful account of themselves, and they are all excellent ambassadors for Casuarina Senior College. The competition was particularly close and Sid was selected as the NT representative. Congratulations Sid, and well done, Deb and David, on your performance in this demanding competition.
In March, David Hevey and Selena Uibo attended interstate workshops in order to prepare for the first two meetings of the Prime Minister’s National Youth Round Table to be held in Canberra. The round table is a forum for our youth between 15 and 24 at which they can discuss their views.
I would like to warmly welcome Brian Bennett, the new Principal of Moil Primary School, who started at the school this week after leaving the winter climes of Tasmania. Brian made himself known to me at my stall at Rapid Creek on Sunday, and I will be meeting Brian in the next week or so and offering my support for the Moil Primary School.
During the weekend of 9 and 10 March at the NT Age Open Swimming Championships, Christopher Frew had a very big win and achievement in coming third overall for the eight years old group. Congratulations Chris, it is a fantastic achievement. Seven more primary school students were selected to play in the Aussie Rules City Cluster Training Squad later this year. Congratulations to Travis Thorne, Ryan Pantic, Darren Peckham, Michael Jones, Anthony Downes, Rhys Higgins and Matt Toogood. I wish them all the best of luck.
Congratulations also to Tellie Geranis, who represented the NT in Sydney at the Australian Chungdokwan Tae kwon do Championships in late March. Congratulations also to Millicent Crowe, Stephanie Allen, Mackinlay Stirrat and Puanna Kapi for their selection in the City Cluster Netball Team to participate in the NT Netball Exchange in Darwin in June. Mackinlay Stirrat also competed in the City Cluster Cross Country Zone held recently. Mackinlay came third; fantastic result and congratulations to Mackinlay.
There sure are some talented kids at Moil, and here are some more! At the Eisteddfod 2002, Moil entered 12 performers. The competition began last Tuesday and the results to hand are: Year 6/7 choir, second out of fifteen schools; Year 4/5 choir, third out of eight schools; Year 2/3 choir, second out of nine schools; chorale group of 12, highly commended second; Year 4 folk dance, first with Jingili Primary School sharing the Margaret Walker Award; and Year 2/3 recorders, first. I also thank the member for Sanderson for bringing to my attention some of these wonderful results at the Eisteddfod.
We have heard of Chris Frew as a sportsman before, but Chris is also a pianist, and individually, he obtained exceptional results playing the piano: first in the 8-year-old Australian composer; first in the 8-year-old duet; highly commended for 8 years; and first in the 9-year-olds. What an outstanding achievement!
Moil still have three more groups participating on Thursday of this week and I will be keen to hear their results.
Congratulations to Ross Vasic of Jingili Primary School, who was selected in April to the Darwin City Cluster Basketball Team for the mini day competition, and to Luke Eggins who has been selected to the NT School Sports Swimming Team and who will participate in the Australian combined swimming event in September. That is a fantastic achievement.
Congratulations to the year 3/4/5 Falkenberg class at Wagaman Primary School, who were awarded a highly commended for their performance of The Sorting Hat by J K Rowling, and The Wind by Robert Louis Stevenson. I am speaking once again of the Eisteddfod.
Twenty students from 1/2 Hew class and 2/3 Beale class performed The Galopede in the 8 years and under Australian folk dancing and won first prize for their energy and joyfulness, even though they managed to collide on several occasions. Adam Pulford recited The Three Little Pigs by Roald Dahl and was awarded a highly commended. Adam was also highly commended in the Year 7 and under impromptu reading. It is reported that all students from Wagaman Primary School behaved beautifully, both on and off the stage, and they are all to be commended for that.
From the preschool, Sabrina Ciubal was highly commended for her piano playing at the Eisteddfod. I should not forget the teachers at the Eisteddfod: Lisa Bacskar of Jingili took the first prize for Scottish dancing; and Ms Jane Anlezark from Wagaman and Ms Janine Sutter from Moil competed.
I would like to move on to other community events I have attended. During the last sittings on 2 March, I attended the Darwin Symphony Orchestra’s A Night of Gilbert and Sullivan conducted by Martin Jarvis, with special guest vocalists from the Darwin Chorale. I noted the wonderful contribution made by the member for Nelson who, if I recall, was a policeman who had a great big baton in his hand.
Mr Elferink: A policeman’s lot is not an ‘appy one.
Dr BURNS: That’s the one! The program featured many favourites including the Pirates of Penzance and the Mikado in Miniature. I particularly enjoyed the Mikado. The costumery for the Mikado was absolutely fantastic and there were some great performances - a fantastic night.
I represented the Chief Minister when I attended a reception on the USS Blue Ridge at Stokes Hill Wharf on 8 March. It was my pleasure to cut the commemorative cake with Vice Admiral Metzger and Brigadier Silverstone. I was given the opportunity to make a short speech on that evening, and in part of that speech I talked about the tremendous partnership between the United States of America and Australia, and the special significance Darwin has in that. We do not need to revisit the bombing of Darwin in February 1942, but we all know that many American servicemen lost their lives in the harbour defending Australia. They showed great heroism and that is a great link between America and Australia. I think my words were warmly received.
On 9 March, I went to the Irish St Patrick’s Day celebration at the Golf Club at Marrara and had a fantastic night. There was a lot of Irish dancing, and I noticed that the member for Drysdale was also there having a great time, as was the member for Sanderson. I am sorry if I have missed anyone else; there were others. I had a good chat with the member for Drysdale and a couple of beers with the member for Sanderson, so it was a great night.
I also represented the Chief Minister at the Cancer Council luncheon on 12 March, and the theme for this gathering was the Ides of March, and was a dress-up in Roman style; namely togas and tunic. It was great to see so many people involved. Many people went to the trouble of having great costumery once again, and it was a great fundraiser for the Cancer Council. Mr Deputy Speaker, I know you are a great supporter of the Cancer Council. They do a great job in our community and make a contribution to the families of those who are afflicted by cancer, and also those people who have cancer. I have immense respect for the Cancer Council and the work that they do, both here in the Territory and Australia-wide.
Around this time, I also undertook to put together a team of volunteers to assist the Salvation Army’s Red Shield Appeal doorknock, which is coming up this weekend. I urge everyone to dig deep and to give, give, give.
Through the good offices of a constituent, Mr Barry Lavarde, I, along with the member for Arafura, met with Mr Michael Stock. He has this group that is called the Volunteers for Isolated Student Education, and is visiting Darwin to discuss with interested parties the value of getting volunteer teachers into Aboriginal communities to tutor kids. I really commend that, and have commended that to the minister for Education as well.
On 15 March, I attended the ceremony here at Parliament House to mark National Harmony Day which is celebrated on 21 March. Harmony Day coincides with the United Nations International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It provides a day for all Australians to reflect on and celebrate our success as a harmonious and culturally diverse nation. It was also my privilege to attend events at Jingili and Wagaman Schools - Jingili for Harmony Day. Jingili School had a theme of different costumes and the kids really got into the spirit of that. Wagaman had their unique way of doing it: the kids and teachers actually spoke the motto of Harmony Day in their native tongues, so that was fantastic, and good to see.
Along with others here in the House, I also attended the Islamic Society Open Day on 23 March. Their objectives were to try and clarify many misconceptions that are often held amongst the wider community about Islam, and to provide an opportunity to have a get together in a frank, open informational activity. I’d like to thank Mr Asad Mohsin for his kind invitation and his dedication to involving the wider community in understanding the Islamic culture and having links with the local Islamic community.
On 17 March, I went to Hellenic Architectural and Musical Expressions night at the Darwin Entertainment Centre. This was very interesting. The architecture was interesting and I noted that the member for Casuarina, who spoke there, had many pictures of train stations that had been influenced by Greek architecture. I do not know whether there is something going on there in terms of the train stations for the Darwin to Alice Springs line, but we will have to wait and see. I was very impressed by the musicians that night. Greek musicians are very accomplished musicians and it was fantastic. Everyone really enjoyed that night, and I commend the Greek community.
On 23 March, I was proud to represent the Chief Minister at the stage adaptation of Nick Enright and Justin Monjo’s Cloudstreet based on the novel by Tim Winton. I was particularly impressed by the way in which the cast and producer dealt with Cloudstreet. I believe it is a very difficult piece to perform; it went over many hours. I know the member for Sanderson went on a later evening, but it was great production.
As members are aware, the Northern Territory University, in conjunction with the Speaker, runs an internship program which involves a small number of final year politics students working with individual members. These students gain credit points towards their degree for this. I am fortunate enough to have gained the services of Mr Rhys Michie, who is currently undertaking a review of alcohol treatment services in Darwin - or looking at proactive grassroots community-based strategies for providing pathways to rehabilitate Darwin’s long grassers and repatriate them, I guess. Rhys presents me with updates on his research. He has written a document on the public order legislation and associated issues in Darwin. I am finding Rhys’ approach to his research task both refreshing and comprehensive. I look forward to his final research paper.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to make a few comments tonight. Before I start speaking about what I intended to speak about, I do wish to pick up on a couple of issues that have been raised here this evening during the adjournment debate. The first one is the more mirthful issue of how those on the opposite side of the House were saying the same thing from the other side of the House. I raised it last week and made several observations about how the change of government has made us change either side of the House, but the comments seem to come the same side of the House. I was interested to hear that Madam Speaker was making the same sort of observation.
I heard the member for Braitling raise the issue of liquor restrictions in Alice Springs. I have generally been supportive - in fact downright proactive historically - in relation to the issue of liquor restrictions in Alice Springs. Indeed, I have worked with the member for Stuart and ATSIC in an effort to bring about some restrictions. However, I have also been making the same observations as the member for Braitling, especially in terms of litter. I have been hearing around the traps many of the complaints that the member for Braitling has been hearing, about the nature of violence and those sorts of things.
I originally stood up in this House and supported liquor restrictions in Alice Springs. When the Attorney-General came in here and said: ‘This is what is going to happen’, I once again stood up and said: ‘Yes, this is something that needs to happen in Alice Springs’. But I also said it is not going to work in a vacuum or in isolation but, rather, it is going to require all sorts of other efforts on behalf of government. Once again, at getting close to a three-month period, I again urge the Attorney-General to revisit that debate, and look at the suggestions I made at the time as to what extra measures are going to have to be taken. I am concerned that so little has occurred since that debate, that he has not followed up on those particular issues that I raised at the time and, as a consequence of that, these restrictions are going to fall well short of expectations. It would be a tragedy that the restrictions did fall well short of expectations. I would hope that the government takes a very, very serious view of all of this. There are no prizes for going over the harm and the damage that liquor causes in our community.
I rise to also speak about a gentleman by the name of Armin Hubert, whom I had a meeting with. I met with Mr Hubert a few days ago in relation to an idea he had for the Roper River. The area around the south of the Roper River is soon to be earmarked as a national park. The Roper River is an important waterway in the Northern Territory and is well fished and well used by many Territorians. At this stage, I have certainly no objections to the concept of turning that area into a national park.
However, I do wish to raise a concern, I suppose you’d call it, in relation to an idea for tourism development in the Roper River area. Mr Hubert has proposed, effectively, a floating shop. Mr Hubert currently works on the Adelaide River Queen, and that vessel is soon to be replaced. Mr Hubert is in a position to purchase the said vessel, and he wishes to remove it from the Adelaide River and take it to the Roper River area for the purposes of setting up a floating shop. It will require a small jetty and a small area for car parking, but the very principle behind the idea of this floating shop is that it sits on the Roper River and makes or leaves no environmental impact on that area at all. Indeed, the road that currently exists heading past the Roper River is very close to the river in some areas and is regularly used by Territorians who use a multitude of camping sites along that river for the purposes of going fishing. Where you have people moving, unfortunately, you have things such as litter and the like.
The Conservation Commission has written back to Mr Hubert, and I wish to quote an important part of the letter to members present today:
The Parks and Wildlife Commission has reviewed your letter and believe that the proposed tourism
development would contravene the deed of management by which the commission currently manage
the area. Under this agreement, the commission is required to protect and conserve wildlife, and
protect the natural features of the area. The commission is required to carry out these duties under
the guidance of the Pastoral Lands Act and such proposed tourism development would not be appropriate
at this point of time.
I draw the minister’s attention to the Northern Territory Parks Masterplan, Towards Sustainability. What hasn’t changed in Territory parks over recent years is the sensible commercial use of them in an effort to create jobs - for Aboriginal people and in general. Under chapter 5 of the management plan, the issue of tourism is raised. In paragraph 4 of that chapter, the Conservation Commission points out how much money is actually raised in the Northern Territory from tourism in Territory parks. For example, tourism from expenditure for the Watarrka National Park has been estimated at over $19m in 1995. This is evidently a good source of income for Territorians, and Mr Hubert has suggested that, if possible, he would certainly employ Aboriginal people in his floating shop. Therefore, that is a good argument for the shop being there.
The reason I specifically dealt with, or raised Watarrka, is that it is my understanding that Voyager Hotels, who currently run the Kings Canyon Resort, now actually have some sort of canteen. I haven’t seen it there myself. They have a canteen in the carpark of King’s Canyon itself, and from that they serve all manner of drinks and snacks.
Considering that that is the case, I am drawn to the masterplan’s tourism related concessions paragraph on page 35, where the masterplan outlines that there are concessions available in Territory parks for this type of tourism operations. Indeed, if you go to Appendix 3 of the report, those concessions are outlined. Licences, leases and permits are available in various parts. The Telegraph Station has, under negotiation, a kiosk as well as a permit for horse and trail and camel rides and the like. Watarrka, once again, has adjacent commercial activity and permits for cultural tours in the area of Watarrka National Park. Indeed, the Western MacDonnell National Park, once again, also has permits for guided bushwalking tours and horse and camel trips.
I understand that the letter from the Parks and Wildlife Commission refers to the deed of management under which the commission should manage the area. I am not certain what the entire terms of that deed of management are. However, I will say that what they rely on is their requirement, under the Pastoral Lands Act, to look after the area. Ultimately, it will become a national park; that is the intended use of that particular area.
I have already spoken to the minister about this briefly in the Chamber today, and I would urge him to revisit the application by Mr Hubert, because I am somewhat attracted to the low impact nature that such a floating shop would have. The other aspect of it is that, should that area become a national park and such concession be given to Mr Hubert to run his floating shop, he also becomes an extra set of eyes and ears in the area, for Parks and Wildlife. I think that this is a very important thing that members and the minister should turn their mind to, because extra eyes and ears normally do not come cheap. In this instance, however, Mr Hubert will be there trying to make an income for himself, and possibly some of the local people. To that end, the government may even enter into some sort of lease arrangement, so his presence there may be paid for by himself, rather than vice versa: having an extra Parks and Wildlife officer working the area.
In any instance, the man has a great deal of experience in these types of tourism ventures: he certainly has a great deal of experience in tourism. I am quite attracted to giving people a go. I have no idea what the commercial viability of such a shop is, but nor is that of great interest to me. Suffice to say, if he is prepared to put in all the effort and to take the risks, I think it is incumbent on government to try and develop an environment whereby those people who are prepared to put in the risk capital, the hurt time, the hurt dollars, should be given a go.
The joy of this particular proposal is that if, for whatever reason, it does not succeed, the whole thing can be packed up and moved on, or simply floated down the river. Should a small part be cleared, that can be very quickly revegetated, and a small jetty could easily be removed. It is not as though we are talking about actually erecting something like a massive building on site. Consequently, I shall be writing to the minister about this particular issue, as I said during the speech. I told him I would be raising the issue in parliament here today, and he was happy about that. I hope he pays some personal attention to what strikes me, prima facie at least, as a good suggestion and idea, and importantly, if needs be, a reversible idea.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, in speaking in the adjournment debate tonight, I would like to report back to the House on the visit I made with the Chief Minister and the Leader of the Opposition to the East Timor Independence celebrations a couple of nights ago in Dili.
I was very proud and humbled to actually be amongst the East Timorese people after their years of struggle for independence, to see that dream come to fruition. The East Timorese people certainly have struggled long and hard since the Indonesian invasion back in 1975, but the road to their independence formally commenced when the East Timorese people voted for independence on 30 August 1999.
I’d like to provide honourable members a report of the evening. The evening commenced with a Mass at the site of the independence celebrations at Taci Tolo. This is a significant place in East Timorese history. Its lakes were once graveyards. In 1989, Pope John Paul II celebrated a Mass attended by 100 000 at the site. Taci Tolo in East Timor’s national language Tetum means ‘three seas’. Today, for the Timorese people those seas signify sorrow, commemoration and celebration.
The road to independence, as I stated, officially commenced on 30 August. Following on from that date, after nearly two years of significant upheaval - to put it mildly - in that country, the first Constituent Assembly was elected on 30 August 2001. Those first 88 member were sworn in to the first official East Timorese parliament on 15 November 2001 at a ceremony which the Chief Minister and I were again honoured to attend.
Then in March 2002, the Assembly adopted its Constitution, a constitution that was drafted from scratch by those 88 members of the East Timorese parliament in consultation with the broader community. Amongst a range of things, I table a copy of that constitution here for the records in the Parliamentary Library. It is in Portuguese, but it is a significant document. An English version of it will be available, and I will make that available to the Parliamentary Library as well. In April 2002, Xanana Gusmao was elected President of the new Democratic Republic of East Timor.
After the Mass, a range of events took place throughout the evening. For honourable members who may have been here, I believe that there was a live cross from the ceremony that we had outside Parliament House here on Sunday evening, and that did reflect what was happening there in East Timor. It was a very, very moving evening. Despite the great pyrotechnics at the end from the $US250 000 fireworks display, the most symbolic and moving parts of the evening was the parade of the Falintil fighters, those men and women who had taken on the resistance during those dark years up in the hills and mountains of East Timor. With a significant number of women amongst them, they marched into the arena and, with the candles that were representing the thousands of people who have died over the last 25 years, it was a very moving moment.
Following that were numerous songs and anthems. A magnificent rendition of Cry Freedom was sung, and a poem read which really did reflect the mood of the evening. It wasn’t a mood of wondrous national celebration of great excitement; it was really a quiet reflection of what had happened in the past, hope for the future, and a remembrance of the deeds and the issues of the previous 25 years. I’d like to read into Hansard the poem that was commissioned for the evening because I think it really does sum up the mood of the crowd on that evening. I quote A Minute of Silence, a poem by Francisco Boeta Da Costa:
- Be silent,
mountains
valleys and springs
rivers and streams
Stony ways
and grassy reaches
be silent,
Be silent
bird of the air
and waves of the sea
Winds that blow
on sands that flow
in lands that no one owns
be silent.
Be silent
canes and bamboos
bushes and eucalyptus
palms and grasses
Endless verger
of tiny Timor
be silent.
Be silent.
Your silence, our silence for one minute.
It is a time for silence
for the silent time,
for the lifetimes lost,
for the lives given
for the homeland
for the nation
for the people
for our liberation.
Be silent - one minute of silence.
Following that, we had the raising of the new East Timorese flag, which really was a very special moment for that nation of 750 000 people who had fought so long and so hard for their independence. One could only wonder, watching Xanana Gusmao as the flag went up the flag pole, what was going through his mind at that particular time, given everything that he and others had endured: much loved by the community over there; seven years as a political prisoner. I would like to read from the commemorative handbook provided for the evening, quoting Xanana Gusmao:
The East Timorese people have navigated successfully through the tempestuous seas of the past. East Timor now embarks on a fresh expedition as our proud nation sets sail on its inaugural voyage launched in celebration of our freedom and sovereignty. Supported by the international community and with strong leadership at the helm, the boundless faith of the East Timorese people has justly given us the anchor of independence.
I suppose when Xanana Gusmao’s biography is finally written either by himself or with a ghost writer, it will tell of greatness in a leader. If honourable members have read Nelson Mandela’s significant work Long Walk to Freedom, it shows how true leadership is embodied in Mandela and Gusmao having personally suffered for so very many years with their people. They were the elected and nominated representatives through the years of darkness and struggle and finally come to power as presidents in those countries. In both, not to seek vengeance or retribution, is truly a sign of greatness. Xanana Gusmao will certainly be remembered in history as a great leader.
We then moved forward in the brochure to Dr Mari Alkatiri, the new Chief Minister of the nation. A man who also spent many, many years in exile in Mozambique, planning for the day that he would return to his country. He is a quiet man, not a charismatic leader. However, he has the steel, determination and resolve for his primary mission as the new Chief Minister: to turn around poverty and improve education and health. Quoting from Mari Alkatiri’s piece in the same brochure:
The East Timorese people reject war and embrace peace. Repudiate oppression and defend liberty, combat totalitarianism and promote equality. With the continued support of many friends around the world, we have built a solid bridge over difference, publicly sign posting the road to unity. East Timor is a nation of peace, where only battles against poverty and corruption are waged.
Again, a great leader of his people. I am pleased to say, and am very proud, that we are establishing a firm friendship with Mari Alkatiri - the government of the Northern Territory and the new government of East Timor.
I also met Dr Jose Ramos Horta on the night. I have met Dr Jose Ramos Horta on a number of occasions over the years. As members would know, he is a winner, with Archbishop Belo, of the Nobel Peace Prize and a sole voice at the United Nations and around the globe for many, many years. He has been a regular visitor to Darwin. Many friends in Darwin and I have been at the Northern Territory University on a number of occasions during those wilderness years where Ramos Horta was holding the torch for independence so capably and for so long. Independence is, in a large part I think, a result of the diplomatic work that Jose Ramos Horta conducted in the UN for those many years. I quote from Ramos Horta’s words in this document:
Our warmest appreciation and heartfelt thanks go to our many friends in the international community with an indefatigable commitment to human rights. Particularly those who have bestowed their continued generosity and support to a small nation as we travel the long road to freedom. Together with all my East Timorese friends around the world today, we stand proudly united as one. With one voice we extend our gratitude to each and every individual who has contributed in whatever way, to enable our dreams to become a reality, for supporting us in our hopes for peace, democracy and above all, for independence.
We spoke in debate last Thursday in this House of the East Timorese people in Darwin - Territorians for all of those years. Those words from Ramos Horta are heartfelt, I believe. It is a also tribute to the people of Darwin, who supported East Timor for all those years in their quest for independence.
It really was a very heart-rending commemorative independence day. It wasn’t great joyous celebrations; those celebrations came with the fireworks and the parties that happened afterwards. The actually formal independence day celebrations were really a mixture of joy and reflection. It was a tribute to the leadership there on the night, and also to the tens of thousands of East Timorese who were present. When Xanana Gusmao walked in with the Indonesian President, Megawati Soekarnoputri, there was not one voice, there was not one whistle; there was nothing but applause for the Indonesian President. Again, that augers well for both of those countries as they reconcile those years of conflict.
I’d like to table, for the record, a number of official documents of those events a couple of days ago. The following day, the Chief Minister and I were privileged to be at the inaugural session of the National Parliament, where a formal resolution to ratify the charter of the United Nations was handed over to Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, with a request for East Timor to join the brotherhood of nations and the United Nations. There was an address by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to formally state that he would take that request to the Security Council, also indicating there would likely be significant support for that. We then attended the Independence Day march where, again, all of the children and the Falintil fighters walked past and took the salute; a very moving time. Then, finally, we were welcomed at the signing of the Timor Sea treaty, that was signed - as the Chief Minister said in question time this morning - by our Foreign Minister, Alexander Downer, and Ramos Horta; and also our Prime Minister, John Howard and Mari Alkatiri.
All in all, the Chief Minister and I were very proud to represent the people of the Northern Territory. We were accorded a very special and significant place in the scheme of things, given we are a small population of a couple of hundred thousand people. Nonetheless, there is absolutely no doubt that the people of the Northern Territory have a very unique relationship with the people of East Timor. I am sure we will look forward to working with East Timor to contribute to their independence and the rebuilding of that country.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I wish to speak tonight on the issue of safety in the city. This, of course, is of significant concern to many people living in the CBD area in the electorate of Port Darwin. In response to those concerns, a number of things have occurred over the last 12 months.
The first was the development of the Esplanade Action Group. This is a group that has been put together by local residents, business operators and land owners in the area. As we developed the group which meets in my office each month, we had the help of the Northern Territory police to help guide us in what we were going to be doing. The group is headed very capably by Mr Robert Parker, who is a land and property owner in the area. He is quite a dynamic fellow and does a great job in bringing the group together and inspiring us.
Shortly after the group was established, an audit was conducted on the Esplanade, both in the day time and in the night time, to look at safety issues. The key ones that emerged were the issues of lighting, or the lack of it; sight lines; the need to attract people to dispel a feeling of loneliness and, particularly in the night time, that it is a dark area. If we had more people visiting the Esplanade for various functions, it would make people feel safer.
Another group that has been established and met is a Mitchell Street Action Group, dealing with the same issues of the feelings of safety for people utilising the area. The Mitchell Street group was initially started off by a fellow named Bob Monckton, who has a business in the bussing area. Bob has had a massive amount of work to be doing lately, and he has recently relinquished chairmanship of our Mitchell Street Action Group to David Bornmann, who is the Manager of Rydges Plaza.
Both groups attract a lot of active people to them. The Mitchell Street group recently, about two weeks ago, conducted a day time and a night time audit of Mitchell Street, helped very capably by the police as well. Darwin City Council are also involved, as the aldermen need to know what’s going on in their neck of the woods as well. For Mitchell Street, the issues once again came up as lighting, also the issue of road/pedestrian interface. It can be quite difficult at times to cross the road in Mitchell Street. Often it is an entertainment area and sometimes the drivers are looking at what’s going on, on the side of the streets rather than the pedestrians walking in front of them, so that can be a bit tricky. Also in Mitchell Street, we recently had some concerns with regard to a reduction in funding to Guardian Security. Fortunately the government, I guess as a result of the efforts of the group and the fact that we were starting to get mobilised by calling a public meeting, has now brought in an increase in the police foot patrols in the area. This has been welcomed lately, particularly by the retailers of the Mitchell Street area.
As I mentioned, for both of these groups the key finding for them has been the issue of lighting. People need to feel that they can see what’s coming. There are significant dark areas in Mitchell Street and on the Esplanade where people fear that evildoers are lurking. Therefore, it reduces the desire of people to utilise the area after dark, particularly on the Esplanade. Of course, there are many city dwellers who would love to go for an evening walk along the beautiful Esplanade, and also visitors to Darwin who stay on the hotels located on the Esplanade. Lighting is definitely a concern.
I feel like I am starting to turn into someone who is obsessed by street lighting. On a similar note, over the last month, I guess, I have been noticing in the Darwin CBD area and the approaches to it, that a significant number of street lights appear to be out. I made contact with PAWA and asked when a routine survey audit was going to be done by them of the area, and was advised that I would need to do it myself. I then contacted the minister’s office and essentially got the same advice. On that advice, I went out on a Friday night a couple of weeks ago and, within an hour, I recorded 71 street lights out on major arterial roads …
A member: Seventy-one?
Ms CARTER: Seventy-one.
A member: Unbelievable.
Ms CARTER: They are on major arterial roads, not little roads tucked up the back of Larrakeyah, but on the fairly significant feeder and arterial roads of the area. I have some particular concerns. One of them is the light at Harriet Place shops. There is only one street light there and, without it, the place is in darkness. It is a dodgy area at the best of times, there are quite a number of itinerants who utilise the area. I know that people are quite concerned about going there from time to time, and I would think having it in darkness would add to those concerns.
However, I did report all the addresses to PAWA. I noticed that a number - not a lot of them, but a couple of them - have been fixed. I was particularly pleased to see that the one over the pedestrian school crossing at Darwin High School has been fixed, and I am glad that one has been done. However, if anyone from PAWA is listening at the moment, it would be great if you could do the one at the Harriet Place shops - that one’s a particular concern.
But lighting, of course, is an issue not only for the safety of individuals, but for traffic as well. I’d like to make a recommendation to the member for Fannie Bay. I know that she is very busy in her new job, but it does appear that, unfortunately, local members will be required, from time to time, to go out and do the audits themselves as, for some reason, the PAWA system doesn’t seem to be keeping up with demand. I notice with significant concern that the light on the intersection between East Point Road and Ross Smith Avenue is out. I believe it is really causing some problems there. That intersection is a very tricky one, as you turn off to go into East Point Road. I think the member for Fannie Bay will need to report that one. There are also quite a few lights out along Ross Smith Avenue and along the Fannie Bay shops area, and then of course up Dick Ward Drive. The member for Millner may like to note that as well, and get those addresses into PAWA.
Obviously I am being a little sarcastic there, because I do feel that it would be far more appropriate to have PAWA people doing the audits. It didn’t take me long to do it and I hope that they’ll be able to find the resources to increase their regular auditing of these major arterial roads that are so vital for our travel and the need for safety on them.
Lighting, as I said, was an issue for the Mitchell Street and the Esplanade Action Groups. I guess one of the reasons why people want to see what’s going on is the fact that, unfortunately, both of those areas suffer from what we know nicely as antisocial behaviour. In the area, antisocial behaviour is caused by three different groups. The first group I’ll mention - and they’re in no order of volume - is juveniles. What we’re seeing in the CBD at night - naturally it is like moths to a flame - is a very attractive, interesting, exciting place, and like young people, or people anywhere, it is an attractive place to go to. What I believe is happening is that young people from outside the electorate of Port Darwin are coming into the CBD in the night time, and some of them - not all but some of them - are forming into groups and are then, from time to time, going on a rampage.
I stood outside McDonalds at midnight, quite a few months ago now, talking to some security people. I went there specifically for that purpose, to ask them how things were. Right then and there, a significant brawl broke out and travelled up the street. It definitely does happen and the end result is I have had a constituent visit me in my office who is a member of the armed services, with a significant black eye. He was under the weather at the time and was attacked by some youths because of the fact that, essentially, he was a big guy who was a bit drunk. He was attacked and sustained quite marked injuries. People are concerned about the behaviour of juveniles in the CBD and that is one group that are engaging in what we call antisocial behaviour.
Another group, of course, are the nightclubbers who do get drunk, then come out, spew out of the licensed premises …
Mr Dunham: Literally and physically.
Ms CARTER: Literally and metaphorically speaking at certain times of the night. From time to time significant brawls occur on the street.
Another group that causes problems with antisocial behaviour are, of course, itinerants. I know that many of us in the urban constituencies are having problems with what appears to be a growing number of itinerants in our community. I personally have no problem at all with people from remote communities, regardless of what colour they might be, coming in and living in the CBD. My problem is the behaviour that some of them exhibit. The reason I find out about that is that my constituents complain to me about it. It is the most common complaint that I receive as a member of parliament. Therefore, I must speak out on the issue of itinerant behaviour. I stress again that it is some, not all. As you would know, the behaviour includes noise 24 hours a day, the creation of unacceptable levels of rubbish, violence in public, and a general humbugging, as we call it, of the community, seeking money, for example. I had a woman ring me a couple of days ago who had been to one of our local shopping centres, and an itinerant man had asked her for money. She said no. She said she said it politely. He chased her to the car. When she got into the car he then banged on the windows of the car. For any of us that would be a frightening experience, and she was quite upset by it. This is the type of behaviour that some people exhibit and it really has to stop.
We have just recently had the release of the itinerants report, and I welcome that document and hope that it will be the beginnings of some changes in our community. I note that the tone of it is very supportive of itinerants. That does not surprise me, given the people listed on page 3 who have had input into the report. I note with interest there were no resident and business groups appearing on that page. Both of those groups would have some significant comment on some of the things that are in there.
As I close, there definitely are some good recommendations in the report that I support. In particular, a strengthening of the Night Patrol. It also talks about the introduction of a warden system which would see, I gather, Aboriginal people working to help itinerants return, perhaps, to their home or to move to somewhere more appropriate, and also the establishment of an Aboriginal agency to run programs dealing with antisocial behaviour. Of course, it supports the involvement of the Larrakia people in various strategies, and certainly that would be very appropriate.
Safety in the city is vitally important to all of us. For some of us, it is where we live. For many of us, it is where we play. We work here, we live here, we play here. There are many issues involving safety, as I have said, ranging from lighting, the simple things to fix - and I would put to you that lighting would be a simple thing to fix - right through to the complex and difficult things such as the behaviour of visitors to our community, drunks in our community - by that I particularly mean nightclubbers - the issues of alcohol in our community, and the behaviours of young juveniles in our community. We need to work together on this and hopefully see some improvement.
Mr AH KIT (Arnhem): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I had no intention of adjourning tonight, but whilst doing some work in my office I always keep an eye on the monitor and, once again, the member for Greatorex was raising issues as he usually does late of an evening when parliament is almost ready to adjourn. He relishes at sniping at ministers from time to time.
Ms Carter interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: I have worked out his game for some time, but I thought maybe that it is best to come and comment and try to straighten up a few issues that he continues to get wrong. I see the member for Port Darwin come to his rescue. Let me say to the member for Port Darwin on the issues she raises in respect of the itinerants: it took a long time for the department to get the stakeholders together and to work through the issues and get the report done. It was a report that was commissioned by the former CLP government.
Ms Carter: Good.
Mr AH KIT: And that is good, yes. If you have concerns about the business community and the residents not having the opportunity to provide comments, then go back and have a look at that and start slapping the wrist of some of the ministers who were responsible for local government at the time.
With regards to Cawood Court, I want to reiterate to the members from Alice Springs that I did make it very clear today in my statement that yes, the department had it wrong in respect of the advertising that was done for the refurbishment or demolition and redevelopment of Cawood Court. I did say very clearly that I have discussed this with the Acting CEO of my department and requested that he ensure that there are improved and appropriate quality control measures implemented in the department. I also made it very clear that the selection process was conducted by my department. It was the department that had carriage for making the final decision, not I as the minister. I made very clear today, but it is obvious that the members for Greatorex and Macdonnell quite often take the privilege …
Mr Dunham: Reflecting on the Chair.
Mr AH KIT: You know as well as I do, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, that I am speaking the truth here - they take the opportunity of sniping at some of this stuff and, on most occasions, they do not seek briefings.
In fact, I received a letter from the member for Greatorex in respect of the Tiwi Island local government. I wrote back to him, got him to get in touch with my staff; he did. There was a meeting on 13 May, scheduled for 1.30 pm for his briefing. He declined; he refused to accept. Yet, he came in here last week, and he said: ‘I didn’t get a briefing; it is not on’. Well, he has to understand that we are very busy in government, as ministers, and we want to do the right thing and ensure that members opposite do receive briefings on either their electorate concerns or shadow portfolio responsibilities. They must understand that the briefing will take place when either my staff or I are available, not when they are available.
Next year, I am looking forward to the sittings in Alice Springs in May, because it will be the first time that people from his electorate will be able to come and judge his performance in parliament. Many of them, I suppose, are not able to get up here to watch his performance. I think what he is doing when he raises issues by correspondence or in this House - I do not have a problem with that, but I do get concerned when he tends to play personal politics with people’s genuine needs. That can be done at a certain level – and I do not have a problem with that - but when that is moved forward and he requests things that are not in the program then, obviously, he doesn’t understand what his government did, and he didn’t understand fully what his responsibilities were when he was say, for instance, the Minister for Local Government, Housing or Aboriginal Development. The member for Greatorex quite often shows his misunderstanding of what ministerial responsibilities are in respect of the department’s programs.
Another example is the one that the member for Macdonnell raised about Ntaria. Let’s look at Ntaria. I wrote back and explained that, because it is an ongoing event, it is not a project that can be funded. Those are the guidelines that are set out in the department; those are the guidelines that were put together by the former CLP government and former Ministers for Sport and Recreation. It really is a concern, when the member for Macdonnell stated last Thursday, on 16 May, in his adjournment debate, and I quote:
On the subject of football, I rise tonight to speak of the Hermannsburg football carnival that went ahead
in spite of the minister’s …
And that is me:
… decision not to throw any money at it.
There is that mentality ‘throwing money at it’ once again. Well, that is what the former government did once too often; they tended to throw money at too many things and were not able to budget properly.
If there is a genuine concern for a briefing, I am sure, as are my ministerial colleagues, that briefing will be organised. I find it disappointing that shadow ministers opposite are not taking the time to seek briefings. They jump up, they do not listen when answers are being given in Question Time, they do not understand the issues, they do not seek too many briefings, and they have this know-it-all attitude. Many people in the public hold them in disregard because they are performing very poorly in opposition.
In terms of briefings and how we conduct business, I will leave that with the Chamber. I certainly hope that the rapport that has been developed with some of the other shadow ministers who have genuine concern to get responses back to areas of interest they have either in their shadow portfolio or in their electorate, will continue. I am quite happy to continue to deal with them in a fair and responsible manner.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I was interested that the Minister for Local Government was offended by people playing politics with people’s personal needs. It was a strange accusation you made against my colleague, the member for Greatorex. My contribution tonight will be about that; it will be about playing politics with people. It comes from a question this morning, where I asked a question of the Business minister about some very serious allegations he made in this parliament - allegations that still stand on the permanent public record; which are echoed in the federal parliament, and which were picked up by the media and run substantially, including on the front page, for instance, of the NT News.
At the time of the censure motion, we suggested to the shadow health spokesman, the now Business minister, that it would probably be best to leave this thing go to its natural conclusions. It was on foot, it was before authoritative and competent investigating authorities, a matter which, I might add, is now in dispute with this particular person because it would seem that some of it has been very poorly handled. But nonetheless, when given the opportunity to say ‘sorry’ this morning, there were three things of note in the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development’s answer.
The first thing was that he had not read the report of the Nursing Board. He is saying that even though this was a significant issue, he was able to pillory and virtually ruin the career of the person, he had not read the outcomes some months later. The second thing he talked about was that he had extensive consultation with over a dozen nurses from around Australia. Ergo, he is saying: ‘I haven’t read it, but do not worry, I talked to people who told me what was going on and I do not need to read it because they obviously must have told me the right thing’. Then he concluded by saying: ‘I stand by the comments I made in the House at the time’. These are pretty significant comments. Some of them were read out this morning. It is probably worth looking at some of them again. He made allegations, as I read out this morning, about a climate of fear and intimidation.
It was a significant debate and one where that particular member was actually castigated because he read from a report. He made an allegation that former Chief Minister Stone and former Chief Minister Burke had received letters and then, when called on to produce the evidence, was unable to do so. He changed his story to one of: ‘Oh well, I am told they were copied pieces of information’. Right from the outset, he ran this on very shaky grounds. It is a pity he ran things such as, and I quote from the Hansard record of the day, which is June 2001:
As well as numerous allegations of intimidation, verbal and emotional abuse of staff and threats of
reprisals to anyone who dared speak out, there are significant allegations of abuse of residents - frail
and aged Territorians …’
He talked about a variety of cases: somebody who had some mobility impairment being denied a wheel
chair, schedule 8 drugs being handed out like lollies, etcetera. The issue is not whether we can say those
things in parliament; we know we can say them. We know we can stand up and say pretty much anything
about anybody and get away with it. The issue really goes to whether he should stand by those comments,
given that there is a significant report by a competent authority that is available to him, and that report
says that the substance of his allegations are untrue; they are defamatory and they have hurt people.
We should be big in this House about apologising in circumstances like that. I would have thought, on asking the question of the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development, he would have apologised, given that only a mere few months - June, July, August, September, October, four months later, so we are talking 24 October 2001 debates here - he stood up in this parliament and, in the debate against his name on page 267 - so you can see we were pretty new into our parliament - said:
Madam Speaker, to say sorry is difficult. It requires courage and principle, empathy and understanding. We usually say sorry with the benefit of hindsight. It’s not often that we deliberately make mistakes. To know that you have made a mistake, to admit it to yourself and others, and to offer an apology is the right thing to do. It’s the mature thing to do …
The question this morning was asking the minister to show some of that courage, principle, empathy, understanding and, definitely, maturity. He closed that debate on 24 October with these words:
The best chance for the Northern Territory, and all of us who live here, lies in our working together. Today, saying
sorry costs us nothing, but it has real substance for the people who were affected.
These words will ring hollow unless we actually do what we are saying we are doing. We can stand up in this parliament and talk about all sorts of things: what we are going to do, our great commitment to certain things, our passion, our integrity, our courage, principle, empathy, understanding and maturity. But it counts for naught if, when confronted with an issue such as this, it seems there is no capability within that particular member to apologise for his actions.
Those actions are substantial. There are many of us who know Tracy Lodge Nursing Home, and who have visited there. There are some of us who probably even had relations there. I know that, given the letters that were being written to the paper at the time, there are many people from both sides of parliament - and I am sure the names will be recognised well and truly by some of those opposite - who are offended that this action took place in such a way that the person was named and charged as guilty on the basis of some evidence which was later proved untrue. It is difficult to retrieve that. It is difficult for her to retrieve her honour in this matter. It is difficult for her to retrieve her job. In fact, she doesn’t have that job anymore. She was offered one at a lesser level and chose not to take it up. Her career path is probably in tatters, or certainly in a cul de sac. Her reputation has certainly suffered a battering.
I would venture to say her financial circumstances and income have changed as a result of this member’s vicious attack in this parliament. We know, too, it can have an impact and we often are on the receiving end of these attacks, being politicians, and it is fair game for us. I think it is just one of those things that we have to accept with the job. Every now and then someone will say nasty things about me or the members for Brennan or Fannie Bay. We have to pretty much understand that that is the environment we are in. Not this particular person. Not this person running a nursing hostel - not a nursing home, a nursing hostel - for many years, doing it with great accolades, being the subject of a number of pre-accreditation audits and other audits that took place. She then had this attack on her. I think it would have had an impact on her health, family, relationships and friends who would have seen some of these reports and would have reacted to them as if they were truthful, when we know that, in fact, they were not.
How do we recover this? There are a couple of things we could do. We could go, for instance, to some of the words that have been spoken by those opposite. The most fundamental one is to say ‘sorry’ - for the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development to stand up in this parliament and say: ‘Well, I really should not have made an attack like that’. Senator Trish Crossin has a similar responsibility on her shoulders to say ‘sorry’ and apologise fulsomely, and I think the Chief Minister also has a role. She has been quite vocal in this parliament about the whole business of saying ‘sorry’, and I quote from the debates of Wednesday, 14 June 2000, at page 5848:
… this parliament two years ago, the other side of the House rejected saying ‘sorry’. I was reading back
through the debates of that time. I find it extraordinary, because I think predominantly we are of Christian
background, that the importance of saying ‘sorry’ wasn’t recognised. Here we are, of a religion that had a
man who said ‘sorry’ for so many things, and it cost him his life. He did it for the symbolism.
While her theology is a bit deficient, and I think it would be debatable in many quarters, it is quite clear that what the Chief Minister is saying there is that this is something that should be in the realms of not just the words and all that sort of stuff, but in the realms of our hearts and our passions and the things we do in here that should go to giving some comfort to people we harm.
It was interesting too, because she alluded to a debate of a couple of years earlier. I think that is a beauty because, in that debate of Wednesday, 18 February 1998, at page 631, the now Chief Minister said:
To look at it on a really simple level, we teach our children to apologise. When they do things to their brother,
their sister, whatever, we tell them to apologise because apologising, rather than making any other kind of restitution,
is the key to it. If there is some injustice done to my children at school or in an organisation that they’re involved
with - maybe an adult treats them badly - I will apologise on behalf of that adult. As another adult, I will apologise and
say, I am sorry that adult has treated you so badly’, because I feel a collective sense that we as grown-ups should behave
better. When constituents come into my office who have been badly treated by a government agency - I will not name
any particular one - I say, ‘I am sorry you have been treated like that’. This is the same thing as our saying: ‘We, as a
parliament, are sorry’. I am not individually guilty of badly treating a Housing Commission tenant, but I will say sorry.
Perhaps she could do that. Perhaps she could talk to her recalcitrant minister, ask him to read the findings, to compare them with the record of what he said both in this place and in public outside, and perhaps to offer an apology. I think the Chief Minister has another function too; and that is to chide, however gently, this minister because there is some difficulty with the words he says reflecting on other members of that side.
If you go to the debates of 4 July 2001, the current Chief Minister showed great leadership in sacking the then Minerals spokesman. I quote from the parliament of the day under Opposition Administrative Arrangements:
Mr Speaker, I’d like to inform the House of new administrative arrangements for the opposition. The shadow portfolio of Resource Development will now be with the member for Wanguri; the shadow portfolio of Regional Development with the member for Stuart; and the shadow portfolio of Transport and Infrastructure Development and Territory Ports with myself as leader of the opposition.
Some extremely inaccurate comments were made by the member for Arnhem last night in the debate on the Mining Management Bill. Those remarks were not representative of the views of the opposition and we reject them entirely. The opposition has a very strong regard and support for the Territory’s mining companies. They provide Territory jobs and exports and work hard to be strong community players and good corporate citizens. The opposition values our miners and strongly supports the Mining Management Bill that was passed in this House last night.
I would like to see some support for our seniors. I would like to see some support for people who call Tracy Lodge their home. I would like to see some support for their carers and their families. I would like to see some support for nurses and many of the people who have been subject to this round of vilification. I call on the Chief Minister to remove this minister from his portfolio area until such time as he apologies and if, in the event he doesn’t, does she believe that the offence caused to mining companies by the few words said by the member for Arnhem is even close to the shocking comments that were made by this person when debating a censure motion in this House? There are some paths open to them here; I hope they look at them.
Dr Burns interjecting.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker: Order!
Mr DUNHAM: I hope they look at them in such a way as to afford some restitution to the people they have harmed and damaged.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, last Friday, I had the honour and pleasure of representing the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs at the hand-back, under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act, of Urapunga Station near Roper Bar. It was a particular honour to witness the carrying out of a simple piece of justice; the return of land to its traditional owners. Urapunga is a beautiful piece of country running north of the Roper Bar along the Wilton River. The former pastoral lease covers an area of 1833 km2, close to the regional centre of Ngukurr on the Roper River.
Ludwig Leichhardt was the first European explorer to travel through the region in 1845, naming the Roper River after his assistant, John Roper. Subsequent exploration led to the Roper Valley becoming firmly fixed in the minds of many intending settlers and developers as an area containing good pasturage with reliable water supply. A permanent European presence in the region dates from the 1870s, when the Roper River supply depot was established. The name Urapunga is derived from the Ngalakan site named Yutpundji, given by Europeans to the site of a planned town in the area proclaimed in 1887. Although the townsite never developed, by the early 20th century, Paddy’s Lagoon Station had come to be called Urapunga Station.
Traditional owners’ links to the station were maintained right through the pastoral area due to the employment of local Aboriginal people as stockmen, housekeepers and police trackers, as well as the residence of their families on the station. However, the 1965 equal pay decision for NT cattle station workers saw the numbers of indigenous workers at Urapunga severely reduced, and the wholesale movement of Aboriginal people off the Urapunga pastoral lands. The history of land claims in this region goes back over 20 years, when a number of the old people from this country fought the Yutpundji-Djindiwirritj land claim, which was heard back in 1982. This land claim was successful.
On 15 October 1996, Urapunga Station was purchased with funds provided by ATSIC and transferred to the NLC, to be held on trust for the traditional owners. Part of the arrangement was that the NLC would lodge and run a land claim on behalf of the traditional owners. The land claim was lodged with the Land Commissioner on 12 November 1996. Prior to the claim, the NLC asked the Northern Territory government to consider settling the claim by scheduling the land, particularly as it was already owned by the traditional owners, and there was no detriment of any substance to any other parties.
The Roper Bar and Urapunga land claims were both fought by the old CLP government. They consistently opposed Aboriginal land claims. The then government was not willing to settle on the basis of granting it as Aboriginal land. The government did offer to convert it to Northern Territory freehold, but the NLC continued to pursue the land claim, given it would result in and Aboriginal land grant conferring stronger title than freehold.
The land claim hearing proceeded in November 2000 at Urapunga, with site visits to various parts of the station. In June 2001, Land Commissioner, Justice Olney, published his report recommending to Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Phillip Ruddock, that all of the pastoral lease be granted to the traditional owners. The commissioner found more than 1200 people were traditional owners, and it was acknowledged that numerous other people, such as non-claimant spouses and children, would also be advantaged by the grant. The primary advantage of the grant is that the traditional owners have secure inalienable title. Other advantages include: enhanced ability to protect sites; a say in any future mining and exploration; and the ability to control access.
The Martin Labor government has a new approach to the issues of Aboriginal land rights and native title. Even while the Ngalakan and their guests of the day were celebrating their success, Chief Minister Clare Martin was meeting with the land councils in Darwin to move ahead on this new approach. It is an approach that will be built on respect and trust. It will be a move away from the fighting and hostility of years gone by. The Martin Labor government wants to give Aboriginal people a freedom of choice, to use the lands won back to provide a secure future for their children and grandchildren; not to have it locked up the way the CLP used to do in their delaying tactics over land and native title claims.
The Roper River region is home to many language and clan groups from Mataranka to the Gulf. The Northern Land Council, along with Indigenous Land Corporation and the Labor government in Darwin, are looking hard at ways in which economic development can occur through this whole region; working together to secure the future I spoke about. It is for this reason that I was happy to attend last Friday’s celebrations. I could see that the Ngalakan had been able to maintain their traditional links to their country, despite a history that has tried to drive them away from the lands of their ancestors. It has been difficult, but they managed to win this land claim. According to Land Commissioner and Federal Court Judge Olney, who also attended the hand-back, over 1200 will benefit from the land returning to its traditional owners.
Some of the senior leaders who attended last week, were Tex Camfoo, Mildren and Doreen Ponto, Dawson Daniels, Peter Wood and David Daniels. We were hosted on the day by the Urapunga School, and its Principal, Charlotte Thompson, a teacher who has devoted 20 years to remote area teaching. The school is a credit to the community, with an active involvement by senior community members in cultural and language studies.
Interestingly, the Urapunga hand-back saw the federal Attorney-General present the title deeds to members of the Urapunga Land Trust. It was the first time this has occurred. It was fitting that the nation’s first law officer was able to participate in such a fundamentally important act of justice.
After last Friday, the world would know what the Ngalakan have always known: Urapunga always was and always will be Aboriginal land. I would like to congratulate the traditional owners. I wish them and their families the best of health, and the best of hope for the future.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016