2003-08-14
- Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
BassintheGrass Concerts
BassintheGrass Concerts
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, this morning I report on the outstanding success of BassintheGrass. The Territory’s first Big Day Out-style concerts were held in Alice Springs at the Convention Centre on Friday 11 July and here in Darwin at the Amphitheatre on Saturday 12 July. An audience of 930 in Alice Springs enjoyed nine hours of top quality entertainment, while the Darwin concert, which was enjoyed by 5300, lasted for just over 12 hours.
The line-up of performers was outstanding and would have been envied in any capital city. It included national acts like The Living End, Machine Gun Fellatio, 28 Days, Selwyn, Endorphin, Sophie Monk, Mercury 4 and Russell Crowe’s band, Thirty Odd Foot of Grunt. Just as importantly, it provided a great opportunity for local talents such as the Alice Springs’ band Nocturnal and Three on Tree and performer Leon Spurling. Other local acts included NEO, Culture Connect, Cinco Loco, Shelly Morris and the dance group Public Holdup.
The local bands went through a selection process which was organised by MIDI, our Music Industry and Development Incorporated. BassintheGrass was part of the MIDI original recipe week where local artists played original music at a variety of venues. One of the objectives of the concert was to promote these local groups, and BassintheGrass has certainly achieved that, with local performers given the opportunity to play alongside national and international acts to audiences at both concerts.
The concerts were aimed at young people under the age of 25 but, for many, it became a great family day out. With families in mind, the event was structured to promote a safe environment, with strict controls on alcohol sales and free water to minimise the risk of dehydration. I would certainly like to acknowledge the support of Coca-Cola Australia who assisted by providing 14 000 bottles of water.
The use of specially branded hats in place of conventional tickets was another way of helping those there to be comfortable throughout the day. The 37 m2 Clipsal screen at the Darwin concert allowed everyone to have a good view of the action. I might add that BassintheGrass hats seem to have become collectors items which are now being worn proudly by young people everywhere. The ticket price of $39.50 represented great value and, thanks to the measures put in place to manage the audience, we were able to stage both events without seeing a single arrest. Indeed, the police played an excellent role in assisting the audience throughout the day, and I pay tribute to the very tolerant and positive attitude of the security personnel who were in place.
An amazing level of care and planning went into BassintheGrass and I acknowledge the amazing effort of the Major Events Company and, in particular, Paul Cattermole, who found a way to bring together not one but two concerts. I also thank Lasseters Hotel in Alice Springs for their support and Mick Burns and Russell Temple from the Vic Hotel who assisted Major Events in the six months leading up to the event. There is no doubt this event has given the community a great level of confidence in our ability to stage a major concert for youth in a safe and secure environment. It is our intention to build on that confidence in the coming years.
This government sees no reason why young people in the Territory should not have the same ability to enjoy live entertainment as those who live in other states. We also believe that the talented musicians and performers in the Territory should be encouraged and given the opportunity to develop through performing. Indeed, it is the delivery of major community events like these that help promote the Territory as a great place to live, work and invest. BassintheGrass was an election promise that recognised the needs of young people in our community and, very proudly and much to the delight of our young people, we have delivered on that promise.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Madam Speaker, I rise to acknowledge the success of BassintheGrass. I never made it, unfortunately, to BassintheGrass. I was probably at a show somewhere, but my daughter was here and she was very keen to attend. She had heard about it in Perth, at uni down there. Unfortunately, she could not get a ticket, but she was certainly looking forward to it. I understand in youth circles it was very much appreciated. I compliment the government for this event.
An aspect of this that is supported most specifically is the work that went into identifying local acts and setting up a mechanism to identify them, to encourage and provide them the opportunity to participate. If it was not for that, I would be less than enthusiastic in supporting BassintheGrass, but it was because of that specific element of finding a way of showcasing and encouraging local talent that the event had my support There is a huge quantity of local talent. It is beholden on any government to find a way, not just of putting on an event that satisfies political objectives but creates the impression that you are at one with a certain constituency. That can create cynicism. The real component of this is investing and encouraging young talent, particularly in our music industry, and that deserves particular credit. I add my acknowledgment of the fine work of Paul Cattermole, acknowledging that there were two events run, one in Alice Springs and one here in the Top End. This event certainly has CLP support.
Madam SPEAKER: If I could make a comment, Chief Minister, from the Central Australian point of view. I have already made recommendations to one of the members of that committee. We suggest that you might like to change the name. It could perhaps be called Trill in the Hill or Lust in the Dust, which might be more appropriate to Central Australia.
Itinerants Strategy - Update
Mr AH KIT (Community Development): Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to provide an update for the House on the expansion of the itinerants strategy Territory-wide.
The government is extending the itinerants strategy to all major Territory centres, with a strong focus on outreach, withdrawal and rehabilitation services. The success of the strategy to date has been its grassroots approach in which it has been able to build on the success and strength of existing programs.
I acknowledge the hard work of those many dedicated individuals and organisations who, with the support of this government, have worked to expand and develop the strategy to its current stage. The government believes that dealing with the challenges of antisocial behaviour in our communities requires a whole-of-government approach.
In the 2003-04 budget, an additional $5.25m was provided to resource and support the expansion of the strategy Territory-wide. The strategy comprises three major components. These are: addressing antisocial behaviour; health treatment and intervention; and provision of short-term accommodation.
Madam Speaker, $2m has been budgeted for the provision of health treatment and care to itinerants. This includes expansion of outreach and withdrawal services in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy; expanded sobering-up facilities linked to health assessment and rehabilitation services; and continuation of Day Patrols. $650 000 has been budgeted for programs to reduce antisocial behaviour. This includes: the continuation of the successful information and referrals office in Darwin; the Larrakia Hosts Program; the operation of the Elders Strategies; and Return to Home program in all centres. There is $2.6m for the provision of short-term accommodation options. This includes: provision of expanded shelters and accommodation in Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine; day facilities in Darwin and Alice Springs; and increased recurrent funding for day facilities in other centres. Support to existing community facilities will be enhanced in Katherine, Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek.
The issue at hand is dealing with antisocial behaviour in a constructive and long-term manner. The government will work in partnership with existing regional committees and their frameworks to provide advice and guidance on local initiatives. In Alice Springs, the itinerants strategy will be coordinated through the Alice in 10 Quality of Life committee; in Katherine through the Katherine Region Harmony Group; in Tennant Creek through the Youth Initiatives and Safe Communities Strategy Regional Crime Prevention Council; and in Nhulunbuy, through the Djamamirri Mala Harmony Group.
Significant complementary measures are already in place in regions outside of Darwin and Palmerston. Consultation is continuing in order to ensure funds are allocated effectively. The itinerants strategy will work within the framework of regional plans, and within existing regional programs wherever possible.
The strategy is seeing tangible results. For example, one recent success is the arts-based project that commenced in June at Malak. This project, run by June Mills, a respected Larrakia leader, offers art and craft activities and a place for people to gather during the day. The first language research by Yalu, a participatory research model, has been designed in association with senior women from the Yalu Research Group from Galiwinku, which will use first language and representatives from home communities to conduct in-depth interviews with itinerants to determine the full story behind their reasons for visiting and staying in towns.
As a direct result of the intervention, many itinerants have already returned home. In fact, I am pleased to report several itinerants have returned to take up a productive and meaningful place in their communities. The role of Aboriginal law has been most important. It is encouraging to see the positive outcomes of the Marla elders meeting, which took place in May. These leaders, from East Arnhem, Maningrida, Wadeye, Tiwi, Groote Eylandt, Katherine and the Larrakia, met to develop a comprehensive plan for countrymen and women in town to return to their home communities. As a direct result of the intervention, 30 itinerants returned home.
Madam Speaker, we are seeing results through this strategy. This government has had the courage to tackle the complex and challenging problem, and there are no easy answers or overnight fixes for years of neglect that has created the current crisis. The strategy is providing results throughout the Territory and I congratulate all those involved with it.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, the itinerants strategy is indeed a very complex one. For a minister to provide a five-minute report on such a complex issue and expect the opposition to respond is unreasonable.
The minister has regurgitated essentially what the public service has told him. The officers gave my colleague the member for Drysdale and I a briefing last week and, essentially, the minister has just said exactly the things that the public servants told us.
What the minister has forgotten and has not observed is that these are very early days. The program is very Darwincentric. Nothing happens outside of Darwin and Palmerston at the moment. The reality is that there is not very much physical or visible evidence that the itinerant program is working effectively.
However, I am prepared to wait. It is early days and the motivation behind the itinerants strategy is good, and I am sure, given time, things will improve. At the moment, this government is doing very little. It is, in fact, encouraging more antisocial behaviour by this sort of program, because you can come into town anytime and we will fly you back home.
There is no clear cut way of ensuring that the cost incurred by an individual flying home will be recovered. There is no definite way. Therefore, because of that, people will use this as a form of free transport, cheaper accommodation, or if not, free accommodation while they are in town.
The minister needs to explore this a bit more. Do not just regurgitate what the workers are telling them. It is a very good thing, do not get me wrong, but it is very early days. Minister, may I suggest that you wait for another six months and then, at that time, present a ministerial statement.
Mr AH KIT (Community Development): Madam Speaker, the member for Greatorex has to be very careful. We see today’s paper and it speaks for itself. At page seven, once again he put his foot in his mouth.
We have said we are going to tackle this. This is not an overnight fix. We are starting to get results. I know you can be jealous of that. I know that you did not try as hard as we do. I know you did not want to address it. We are going to address it, we are getting results. The comments from the shadow minister in regards to us not really having a good go is going to be sent out to the people we are working with, because they really need to see what the CLP’s position is. We are having a go, we are starting to get results, and the Territory will be a better place for it.
Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program aims to assist migrant and ethnic communities by providing funds towards innovative projects that promote cultural and linguistic diversity of the Northern Territory.
There is a diverse population of Territorians, originating from more than 150 countries. This government celebrates and promotes our multicultural society.
Our multicultural society is very active. In 2002-03, the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program saw record highs in applications received, numbers approved and funding provided. It was made possible by the government’s $250 000 increase in funding for the program, more than 50% up from last year and the year before, which included the introduction of the Cultural Linguistic Awards.
I expect the 2003-04 Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program to bring similar results. In per capita terms, the $697 000 that is available in funding is by far the most generous of any state or territory program.
I am very happy to advise that, as of 31 July 2003, I have approved funding for 30 of the 45 applications, totalling $291 000. Ethnic groups which have received funding include: the Chung Wah Society; the Cambodian Australian Community Association; the Council of the Ageing on behalf of the Portuguese/Timorese Senior Club; the Italian Seniors; the Greek Coffee Club; the Cyprus Community; the Filipino Australian Association of the Northern Territory; the Language Teachers Association of the Northern Territory; the Hindu Society; the Islamic Society of the Northern Territory; and the Melaleuca Refugee Cultural and Trauma Survivor Centre. Applications for round two of Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program are now open for projects commencing after 1 February 2004.
The 2003-04 year marks the second year of the Cultural Linguistic Awards, which has a budget of $150 000 per year, and it is a separate category under the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program. The awards offer funding assistance to individuals or ethnic organisations to undertake cultural or linguistic projects, including research, further study or specialised training in language. These projects may be of long- or short-term duration, and may be undertaken locally, interstate or overseas. Advertisements calling for submissions to the awards were placed in the Centralian Advocate and the NT News on 18 and 19 July 2003. Copies of the guidelines and application forms have been distributed to all ethnic organisations in the Territory and interested individuals. They are also available from the office web site. The deadline for submission of applications is 29 August 2003.
Individual applicants must be Australian citizens or permanent residents, and current residents of the Northern Territory, 18 years of age or over. Ethnic community organisations applying for awards must be voluntary, charitable or non-profit-making organisations, and have a proven record in finance and project management.
An independent assessment panel will be convened and will comprise individuals experienced in the cultural and linguistic fields. Assessments will be based on merit and benefits to the community of each project. Recommendations will be made via the Office of Ethnic Affairs. They will come to me, and I will make decisions.
I encourage all individuals and community groups considering applications to consult with the Office of Ethnic Affairs. I would also like to thank the many volunteers and community groups for their effort to enhance our cohesive, multicultural society.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I congratulate the government for continuing this sponsorship program, a very worthy program to support all our ethnic communities in the Territory.
Indeed, without government support, many ethnic groups would not be able to conduct their cultural activities in the way that they have done so effectively throughout the year. Many of them are volunteers and, because of the voluntary effort that they have put in, many people actually spend hours and hours of their free time to ensure that all Territorians - government included - benefit from the positive cultural sharing that we have in the Territory.
While the minister was prepared to tell us how many organisations have received monies from the sponsorship program, it is important for him to inform those that have not received sponsorship program grants, and provide feedback to these groups to ensure that their future applications meet the criteria that government has for a positive outcome.
That is important, otherwise you do not know why you missed out on a grant, and you just beat your head against a brick wall every time you submit an application. Positive feedback would be good for the unsuccessful applications so that they can then submit an application that will be successful.
I encourage the government to continue this sponsorship program. However, a bigger budget needs to go into it. I notice that in the last budget, funding for the Office of Ethnic Affairs had, indeed, decreased because it had not taken into consideration wage increases nor the CPI, and the nett effect of the funding for the Office of Ethnic Affairs has gone down this year. That is a bad result.
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his comments.
I have three points to make. One is that we doubled the Ethnic Affairs sponsorship program and introduced the linguistic awards program. Second, the reduction he is referring to was 2.5% - that was the CPI. However, even with this reduction, it was still the biggest program in Australia per capita. The third point is that I assure the member that there is a reason some submissions were unsuccessful. Applications are assessed by the Office of Ethnic Affairs, apart from the linguistic awards, which are assessed by an independent panel.
For your information, we received 45 applications totalling $625 000 for the first round. Certainly, not everyone can be funded. However, the Office of Ethnic Affairs works actively with organisations to make sure that they know how to address the issues, how to respond, how to provide information on how the money will be spent, or even how to submit a better application, and will continue to work with them.
It is true that this program provides special funds to the communities and will continue to maintain the highest per capita ethnic affairs sponsorship program in Australia.
Alice Springs Fruit Fly Eradication Project
Dr BURNS (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I inform the House about progress in the Alice Springs fruit fly eradication project.
The population of Alice Springs has grown by several million over recent days. That is, several million hard-working fruit flies, part of the Central Australian fruit fly eradication project.
They comprise 5 000 000 sterile male Queensland fruit flies, and these were the first to be released in the project in a staged release program encompassing the east side of Alice Springs.
On Monday of this week, Alice Springs Mayor, Fran Kilgariff, along with students from Ross Park Primary School, were at Gosse Park to help release some of the flies to signal the beginning of a pilot fruit fly eradication and suppression program. This pilot project will test the feasibility of eradicating fruit fly populations under Alice Springs conditions by releasing these sterile males, without use of pest control chemicals, on controlled populations of the fly.
Fruit fly outbreaks can cause loss of market access and decrease investor confidence for future horticulture development in the region. Participants, of the human variety, are hoping for a successful outcome that will reduce the risk of fruit fly outbreaks in commercial production areas, and enable town residents to grown uninfested fruit in their home gardens. Participants involved in this suppressant program include: the Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development; local horticulture industry representatives; the Alice Springs Town Council; the Central Land Council; and government agencies in Central Australia.
Essentially, the program will make use of the harsh winter in Central Australia to dramatically - that is harsh for fruit flies, hopefully not for tourists - reduce the number of flies and then subject the survivors to large numbers of sterile male flies. It is predicted that the resultant matings between surviving wild fertile females and the released sterile males will greatly reduce the existing fruit fly population in the town area.
This strategy has proved successful in other parts of Australia but still needs to be more fully tested in the unique climatic and geographic conditions of Central Australia. DBIRD’s quarantine officers have established fruit fly trapping grids throughout the pilot project area as part of the preliminary work for this program. As I said before, it aims to significantly reduce the numbers of these horticultural pests without using pesticides.
An additional 80 fruit fly traps have been set up around the east side of Alice Springs to be monitored on a weekly basis to determine population changes. Assistance from all residents in this fruit fly exclusion zone, which encompasses the east side, including the Golf Course Estate and the buffer zone from Telegraph Terrace to the Todd River, is important to the success of the program. Residents will need to clean up fallen fruit from underneath their fruit trees and dispose of it carefully. By ensuring that fallen fruit is at a minimum, the primary breeding grounds of these flies is reduced.
In the coming seven weeks, a further 24 000 000 fly pupae will arrive in Alice Springs where they will be reared to maturity and then released. A fruit fly technical officer will be working on this project until the end of November and, together with other projects from within my department, is responsible for the rearing, release and monitoring of the flies of this project. It is an important project.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I indicate the opposition certainly supports the program. Fruit fly infestation, particularly in Alice Springs, of citrus orchards and backyards is a real problem. Ti Tree is currently fruit fly free, I understand. With the advent of the railway, there will be fruit and produce travelling along the line. This real effort needs to be maintained. The government needs to monitor the problem and to make sure that we are successful in eradicating this pest. The effort of Alice Springs people, as well as the public servants involved in this program, should be commended.
Dr BURNS (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I welcome the support from the shadow minister. This will be a very interesting program and I hope to report back to parliament on its success.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
WATER AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 167)
(Serial 167)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr VATSKALIS (Lands and Planning): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to clarify the relationship between the Water Act and the Territory’s mining and petroleum legislation.
Currently, section 7 of the Water Act prevents the act from applying to mining and petroleum interests other than to control waste discharged from these interests. If rigorously enforced, the restriction imposed by the Water Act would place severe limitations on the management and control of water resources for non-mineral purposes.
The application of the Water Act would be restricted to those small areas of the Territory which were not held by mining or petroleum interests. The extent of this restriction was not intended when the Water Act was originally drafted. Beyond the immediate resource management issues raised, there are also implications for successful implementation of water reform commitments linked to National Competition Policy payments. Annual National Competition Policy payments in the order of $7.5m could be in jeopardy.
The changes required to rectify the problem are not complex or extensive. The problem has essentially arisen because section 7(1) relates to mining and petroleum tenure rather than mining and petroleum activities. The amendment will ensure that on mining and petroleum interests, tenures, the Water Act is able to administer the use and management of water for all activities other than mining and petroleum. Existing provisions under the Water Act to control water supply and pollution in emergencies will continue to apply to mining and petroleum activities.
For further clarification of the relationship between the Water Act and mining and petroleum legislation, section 4(3) will be amended to include mining and petroleum activities as a beneficial use. The term ‘beneficial usage’ is used in various sections of the act dealing with the comprehensive planning framework to support water quality management and water allocation planning. The inclusion of mining and petroleum as a beneficial use will provide for the greater integrity of Territory water allocation plans and further support for water quality management.
The beneficial use currently termed ‘riparian’ would be renamed ‘rural stock and domestic use’ to avoid misunderstanding that has arisen with the scientific meaning of the term ‘riparian’. To complement the legislative amendments being proposed, a memorandum of understanding between the relevant administrative agencies is being developed to clarify the administrative arrangements for a consistent approach to sustainable water resource use.
The Water Amendment Bill will also make minor changes to other sections and subsections of the Water Act to accommodate changes proposed in sections 4 and 7.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
POISONS AND DANGEROUS DRUGS AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 159)
(Serial 159)
Continued from 29 May 2003.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, nobody denies the fact that illicit drug use causes problems here in the Territory, as it does in many jurisdictions worldwide. In the past, the CLP has had a stand on this issue, and the view that illicit drug use, although it is a problem, in comparison to alcohol problems, has not been as great. However, the government is going in a certain way here, and we will not be opposing this legislation.
In my view, the problem with illicit drug use in the Territory does appear to be getting worse. We have a greater range of drugs available now and the potency of some drugs, arguably, is increasing. Also, of course, the Territory has some peculiar problems with drug use, in particular our young population, and it is good to be able to look at ways of dealing with drug use and coming up with different strategies.
However, the problem does need to be taken in perspective. I was pleased to see this on page 36 of the final report of the Northern Territory Task Force on Illicit Drugs:
- Currently, it is the reality that the use of illicit drugs other than cannabis is not widespread in the community.
The issue in the Northern Territory, as we all know, is a problem with alcohol and, I might add, with the use of tobacco. However, in a general sense, this side of the House welcomes efforts by the government to reduce the cost to our community from the harm caused by illicit drug use. That cost is high and varied. It includes the personal cost to illicit drug users of a deterioration in their health if they should contract a disease such as Hepatitis C or AIDS. It also includes the cost of the trouble they can get themselves into while trying to raise the money to buy drugs. Another cost is the loss of social support the user may experience if their drug use causes psychological problems and, of course, the user’s loved ones may well suffer as a result of their behaviour.
The cost of illicit drug use is also borne by the Territory taxpayer who has to pay for programs implemented to reduce the problems, and for drug users and law and order measures to reduce the availability of drugs. I cannot think of any society in the world that does not use some form of drug; that is, a chemical which, when consumed by a human, can change their experience of reality. All societies do it and they do it because, for one reason or another, people like to do it. This fact makes it very difficult for authorities such as governments to stamp out drug use.
As a result of research, authorities around the world are now well aware of the harm caused by excess drug use and the cost of that drug use. In response to this information in the last few centuries, governments have striven to stop people from using drugs in a harmful way. However, all this action has been generally ineffective because people like to alter their experiences of reality; they like and want to use drugs. That does not mean that society should do nothing. Governments have an obligation to strive to educate their people about drugs, to encourage their people not to use them, to teach those who insist on using drugs how to reduce the harm they may experience, to provide assistance for those genuinely wanting to quit using a drug, and to take what steps it can to reduce the supply of drugs.
When introducing this legislation, the minister made predictable comments about how wonderful it is that the Martin Labor government will finally allow for maintenance pharmacotherapies in the Northern Territory. It is true that the previous government did not introduce maintenance pharmacotherapies, where users can choose to access a government-funded source of drugs for as long as they want. The reason why we on this side did not provide this service in the Territory was our continuing belief that the provision of such a service can undermine the opportunity for users to successfully cease taking drugs completely.
As you know, we did allow for the treatment of opiate dependence with the use of methadone, provided on a decreasing, sliding scale of dose so that, over a three month period, a motivated user could be weaned off drugs. However, we questioned - and there was plenty of research available to back up our concerns - the effectiveness of methadone maintenance to help people off drugs long term.
Dr Burns: You did not do much of a literature search.
Ms CARTER: I quote now from my literature search, member for Johnston, a speech by Mr Nick Stafford, a Project Officer with the Gold Coast AIDS Association and Injectors Newsline. In 1996, Mr Stafford …
Dr Burns: What about Alex Wodak? Did you read what he had to say?
Ms Carney: Why don’t you just be patient, you rude little man, and just let her finish?
Ms CARTER: Thank you, member for Araluen. From my research, in 1996, Mr Stafford, an illicit drug user and participant in methadone maintenance programs, described the relief he experienced while on a methadone program, but felt that it was not treatment. He went on to say:
- To me, it is a label used to convince the general public into allowing something they do not agree with
to occur; namely, the legal selling of opiates to people. To be honest, I think treating opiate
dependence by prescribing opiates is one of the best medical cons of the century. We have managed
to swap one opiate for another and call it treatment, and have the public believe us. It is a remarkable
achievement and I applaud those responsible - and people say heroin users are good scammers.
Another reason why the CLP has never been keen on providing drug maintenance programs is that we are concerned that drug users from interstate may move to the Northern Territory, bringing with them a need to commit crimes to get the drugs when they want them. They may come here because they know that when they want a break from the troubles they experience when using drugs, the Northern Territory government will support them with a drug maintenance program.
The government has now introduced a drug maintenance program. Doctors will be able to access some newer pharmacotherapies than methadone for the treatment of opioid dependence. These new drugs include naltrexone and buprenorphine. These treatments have not been used for very long in Australia, so local research on their effectiveness is limited compared with methadone. I hope they are pharmacotherapies that allow people to wean themselves off all drugs so drug users can be free from the need to front up for doses, free of cravings, free of a lifestyle they no longer want to live.
In her second reading speech, the minister claimed:
- The measures in this bill will help to depoliticise the rehabilitation of drug dependent individuals,
and show compassion for the distress suffered by people and families, and the need to alleviate it.
Given this commitment, now is a good time for the minister to deliver to this House a statement outlining what she has done to implement each of the recommendations from the finding of the Illicit Drug Task Force. I expect, Madam Speaker, if the minister did that you would be somewhat disappointed to see how few of the recommendations made a year ago have been acted on.
However, on a positive note, I was pleased to see that the minister, by this legislation, is introducing controls on the prescribing of Schedule 8 drugs - drugs that include oral morphine. I am well aware of the fact that the Northern Territory had a situation a few years ago where some people were being prescribed large quantities of morphine. Sometimes, it was reported by more than one doctor. The Northern Territory needs to have the same safeguards in place, as do other states, and the changes in this legislation will do that.
Changes to the act will see the introduction of a requirement for doctors to obtain a permit prior to being allowed to prescribe any Schedule 8 substances. My concern here is that many doctors may choose not to get a permit so that they do not have to take on a certain type of patient. People who are addicted to drugs or who have chronic pain problems can be difficult patients to manage, and my concern is that too few doctors will now provide services to these people.
I gather that currently, about 70 people are receiving drugs like buprenorphine and methadone from doctors located in Darwin and Alice Springs. My concern is: what happens to addicts living outside our major population centres when the local GP refuses to get a permit? Also, I gather from my briefing from the minister’s staff that pharmacies from which pharmacotherapies can be dispensed must meet certain criteria before they are allowed to provide drugs like methadone to clients. Again, this may cause a problem, as I doubt pharmacies will be queuing up to have the job of dispensing drugs to drug addicts.
The minister said that the changes will be monitored and reviewed. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Speaking of which, during my briefing I asked if the government plans to conduct ongoing research to see if the drug maintenance program has any effect. I was told, unfortunately, that the answer is no. Doctors will, of course, keep their usual records and make decisions with patients if the patient wants to get off drugs, but there will be no checking to see if methadone maintenance, for example, has any positive effect in the Northern Territory. I recommend that the government takes the opportunity to set up a research tool to allow for an evaluation of this strategy to reduce the harm caused by drug use in our community. Perhaps, minister, it could be something for the Clinical Advisory Committee to do. I notice that section 31R of the new legislation, Functions and Powers of the Committee, lists a whole range of things for this committee to do, and they include section 31R(a):
- to advise the Chief Health Officer about the competency required by medical practitioners to supply
Schedule 8 substances.
Subsection (g) provides for the committee to:
advise the Chief Health Officer about policy issues in relation to the supply and use of
Schedule 8 substances.
Subsection (h) provides:
- any other function conferred on the committee by or under this act and any other functions conferred
on the committee in writing from the Chief Health Officer.
There is certainly scope within the legislation for the committee to undertake research on the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy maintenance programs. I recommend that we use this opportunity, as a jurisdiction newly into this activity, to do some ongoing research into its effectiveness. I know many of us will be interested.
Another area that I would ask the minister if she could consider is section 31H. That is about what sort of information is going to be required from doctors when they apply for authorisation for a permit. Apart from, I would assume, the obvious, which is their qualifications, name and location, what sort of things are doctors going to have to do to gain authorisation? What hoops do they need to jump through in order to be able to become a person dispensing these Schedule 8 substances?
The other area of interest is section 31W, which suggests that the Chief Health Officer may, on the recommendation of the committee, issue restricted Schedule 8 Policy and Clinical Practice Guidelines. I was wondering if there was any time frame on when that policy and those guidelines may become effective.
Madam Speaker, to conclude, the CLP opposition is not convinced that drug maintenance programs do much to help people kick their drug habits. However, the government has the numbers and will introduce the changes no matter what. We will not be opposing this legislation.
Mr HENDERSON (Business, Industry and Resource Development): Madam Speaker, I say at the outset that I am very proud to contribute to the debate prior to passage of this bill, to support the bill, and I commend my colleague, the Health minister, for bringing the bill to the parliament.
This is a debate that has been a long and arduous in this parliament. By not opposing the legislation, I take it - and I hope somebody else from the opposition speaks in this debate today - that the opposition is now saying that it has dropped its long-standing opposition to pharmacotherapy maintenance for people who are addicted to morphine, and in particular, to methadone maintenance. By not opposing this bill, it signals a very fundamental shift; and I welcome that shift in supporting maintenance pharmacotherapies in the Northern Territory.
If that is what has occurred, I genuinely congratulate those members opposite at last for taking the blinkers off and coming to the reality that the position they held for so many years in the Northern Territory caused great harm not only to individuals in Northern Territory who are tragically addicted to these substances but, in a large part, have contributed to our high property crime rates, particularly in our urban centres.
It is a significant shift and it is a pity that they could not be effusive in their support for the programs. Maybe times are a’changing in the CLP, given a few new faces prior to the last sittings. It is interesting, in terms of the old guard, that maybe the new guard won the numbers in the debate in the party room on this. I congratulate the new guard on that shift.
If we go back to the genesis of this bill, it is a series of policies that we took to the people in a very high profile way in the lead-up to the last election. We certainly made our tough-on-drugs stance very much a key plank of our election manifesto that we took to the people of the Northern Territory. It featured very prominently in all of the advertising that we took out; and there was a lot of information put into people’s letter boxes. For all of us as candidates, particularly in the northern suburbs of Darwin when we were getting around talking to people about crime rates in our community, there was absolutely no doubt that people were behind us on this issue. For too long, the issue of drug use in our community has been ignored, brushed under the carpet. Essentially, no attention was paid at all in terms of drug use and public policy in the Northern Territory.
In the late 1990s, huge figures started to emerge regarding the rate of prescribing, particularly of morphine, in the Northern Territory. It was the Health Insurance Commission back in 1999 that blew the whistle on what was actually happening here in the Northern Territory …
- Mr Dunham: Not true. Not true.
Mr HENDERSON: … and I would be really pleased to have the member for Drysdale contribute to this debate, given that he was the Health minister at the time.
What the Health Insurance Commission alerted the government to at the time was that we had prescription rates of morphine in the Northern Territory per capita at 15 times the national average. That was happening right under the nose of the government of the day. Each and every one of those scripts was reported to the Health department. I am absolutely convinced that the department would have alerted the minister of the day about those escalating scripts, and the minister of the day determined that he was going to do nothing about it. They had a public policy position that at no cost were they going to introduce maintenance pharmacotherapies in the Northern Territory; at no cost were they going to introduce a methadone maintenance program. This was, at a cost to the Commonwealth, a cheap and easy way, in public policy, for the then government to have people who were addicted to morphine in the Northern Territory receiving their morphine at a very cheap and subsidised price through the PBS scheme. That meant the government of the day avoided doing anything about having to provide maintenance and rehabilitation facilities at a cost to them. It was a total buck shift to the Commonwealth. Fortunately, the HIC blew the whistle on them.
We did a lot of research. Again, I would like to thank my now colleague, the member for Johnston, who assisted me, as shadow Health minister at the time, in putting the policy together and provided me with a lot of the research. In 1999, we had 436 000 morphine tablets prescribed in the Northern Territory. Where were most of those tablets destined to end up? Out on the streets to be sold on the black market at prices which, at the time, were up to $50 for a tablet. You did not have to work out that with about 2000, at the time, recognised injecting drug addicts in Darwin and Palmerston, a large part of this consumption of 436 000 morphine tablets at around $50 a throw was financed by property crime in our suburbs.
The shadow health minister said: ‘What are you going to do to evaluate this?’ One of the indicators of whether this policy is going to work or not will be the property crime rates. We can already see, since the government has taken a tough-on-drugs approach in the Territory, giving police additional powers, that those property crime rates are coming down. We still have a long way to go.
It was not just the morphine prescription rate that was 15 times the national average. The government of the day - again it is extraordinary that this never came to the attention of the Health minister to ask some big policy questions about it - oversaw and funded, through the AIDS Council, a needle exchange program. It is up on the web site, our tough-on-drugs policy. Between 1994-95 and 1999-2000, there was a 414% increase in the numbers of needles dispensed in Darwin. There was not a needle exchange program at Palmerston at the time. This was just in Darwin. It was funded by the Territory government of the day. In 1999-2000, 460 000 needles were dispensed from the clinic to a population of fewer than 100 000 people.
Even that figure did not send alarm bells to the Health minister of the day that we had a significant and growing problem with intravenous drug use in the Northern Territory, predominantly being supported by MS Contin being prescribed by GPs right under the noses of the government and Health minister. It was caused in part, by a total absence of a pharmacotherapy program in the Northern Territory, and doctors having to make very tough decisions on how to treat patients who were ill.
To support that, we had other studies conducted at the time that were pilloried by the then Police minister. There was a study conducted at the Northern Territory University by Bridie O’Reilly, Drug Trends in the Northern Territory. Under the Commonwealth government’s tough-on-drugs strategy, this assessment was conducted in 1999-2000, and a very frightening report it was that showed morphine was very easy to procure on the streets of Darwin. This was further evidence to the then government of a significant and growing drug problem in the Northern Territory. What was the policy response? Absolutely nothing - silence.
As further evidence of the growing and significant problem in the Northern Territory, we also had an S8 working party set up in response to an August 2000 Coroner’s report on the deaths of two people from morphine overdoses. The S8 report arising from the Coroner’s findings dealt with the lack of real time monitoring of S8 scripts, secondary to the appallingly resourced poisons branch, bereft of technology, in the Health department. Again, there was no policy response to those coronial findings, and there had been a number preceding that.
We also brought to debate in this parliament research from the Australian Institute of Criminology. Again, it was under the Commonwealth government’s tough-on-drugs strategy, and I applaud the Howard government on its strategy. At least it has the blinkers off and does acknowledge that this country, along with all other western countries, has a problem with drug use. The Australian Institute of Criminology study reported, on 4 May 2000, after a series of tests around Australia:
- The results confirm that there is a very strong link between opiate use and property crimes. Of those
detainees whose most serious charge was a property offence, 43% tested positive for opiates. The link
between illicit drugs and criminal offending is very strong for all crimes.
Again, research that was available to the government of the day was totally ignored in terms of a policy response. This was despite us having figures in the Northern Territory of opiate prescriptions for MS Contin at 15 times the national average, the 414% increase in needles being dispensed through the needle exchange programs in Darwin - 460 000 needles dispensed in 1999-2000; repeated coronial findings and recommendations for the then government to change its policy response, and the Commonwealth government’s drug strategy and data provided through research by the Australian Institute of Criminology. We still had the government of the day with the blinkers on, refusing to accept or acknowledge, for whatever bizarre policy or political advantage they might have thought they had at the time, overwhelming evidence.
The AIC report in May 2000 also stated that, in several jurisdictions where surveys were recently done, 86% of adult males detained on property offences tested positive to a drug of some type, excluding tobacco and alcohol. So for 86% of property crimes, perpetrators tested positive for a drug of some type, and 43% tested positive for opiates.
As the opposition of the day, with all of this information coming together, as well as increasing concern and alarm through the Australian Medical Association branch in the Northern Territory calling on the government to adopt a more responsible policy approach, we ran a series of motions and censures in this parliament, highlighting to the government of the day that we had a significant and growing problem in the Northern Territory which was not only affecting drug dependent people, tragically, their families, the communities around them, but also, with all of the evidence available, contributing seriously to property crime. It was also compromising physicians in the care of their patients, having to provide the most appropriate care given the law of the land in the Northern Territory. The government of the day stood fast to a totally discredited approach of burying their heads in the sand and refusing to acknowledge the extent of the problem or having any significant policy response to it.
In debates in this House on the impact of opiate use on property crime in the Northern Territory, the Chief Minister of the day stated, and I quote from the Parliamentary Record:
- There is drug-related crime in the Northern Territory, there is no doubt about that but, compared
to other jurisdictions, it is minuscule.
It gives me great pride to stand here today in support of this bill, as another plank or our coherent policy response to try to curb drug use. We are not going to succeed totally and we accept that. There is a lot of talk about the research on this subject to try to get on top of illegal drug use, not only in the western world, but in all countries. However, we do have to make an attempt; we just cannot lie back and allow the extraordinary damage and harm that illicit drug use causes to individuals and communities.
We will have significant debates on alcohol use in the Territory. There is no doubt that alcohol is the most significant contributor to crime in the Northern Territory, and we are developing a policy position on that. There will be big community debate later this year regarding the review of the Liquor Act and the impact of alcohol on our community. However, we do have a mandate for this. By any cursory look at the debate and the evidence, we have a significant problem in the Northern Territory. We are starting to get on top of it.
We said in our election promises that we would take a tough-on-drugs policy approach. We committed to a law enforcement strategy of zero tolerance on drug production and distribution. We have enacted a whole set of legislation in this parliament particularly targeted to zero tolerance on drug production and distribution. We can certainly see, through drug seizures in the Northern Territory, the police are starting to make inroads in that area. There is a lot more to do. Talking to officers in the Drug Squad, as I do from time to time as Police minister, they are appreciative of the additional legislative tools we have given them. They want more. We are certainly going to look at that and give them the legislation that they need to crack down on the appalling people in our community who profit from trading in drugs, to the absolute devastation of a lot of individuals and their families. I have absolutely no qualms in going after these people, and we will continue to introduce that legislation.
The drug house strategy was very courageous legislation that no other state has introduced. The evidence - that was so obvious to everyone in the Northern Territory but the then government - was there of houses in our suburbs that were essentially drive-in supermarkets, like a drive-in bottle shop, for people just to come in and purchase off the shelf what they wanted. These properties operated with total impunity across our community to the increasing annoyance, frustration, and angst of residents in the immediate surrounds. The police did not have the legislative tools to significantly deal with the problem. I would be astounded if the police, at the time, did not bring this to the attention of the government of the day with suggested responses to deal with it.
One of the briefs that our Police Commissioner has is for them proactively to come to me as Police minister with any tools that they feel they need to get on top of this drug problem; they are the experts from the law enforcement side of things. Again, debate in this House - there was a total failure to recognise the extent of this problem.
Since we have introduced those drug house laws, I advise the House that 57 first warning notices have been issued across the Northern Territory, 39 in Darwin; nine second warning notices were issued across the Northern Territory, eight of those in Darwin; and four third warning notices issued across the Northern Territory, three in Darwin; and two drug house notices have been processed on premises. I am sure my colleague, the member for Johnston, might have a few words to say in this debate. I can see, every night that I drive home past Foils at Moil there on Lee Point Road, and guess what? There are no cars queuing up outside it any more and …
Mr Burke: Come to Palmerston. I will show you a dozen houses where you can get it every night.
Mr HENDERSON: Well, I hope you have made those complaints to the police.
Mr Burke: I have. There is plenty there. I will take you to the street tonight, if you like. You will probably see a hit happen.
Mr HENDERSON: Well, Madam Speaker, at least the Leader of the Opposition acknowledges that it is a problem. When he was Chief Minister it was not a problem, it was minuscule. I applaud you on your leap into the brave new world of taking the blinkers off and acknowledging that we have a problem.
I would urge any member in this House, if you have evidence of drug dealing in your electorate, to report it to the police. After those police have an extra 200 police officers in the force, and the Drug Squad has been increased, they will have more capacity to close these places down, and to seize the proceeds - again legislation that the former government refused to introduce. You have to ask why they would not do it. We were the only state in Australia that did not have witness protection legislation, the only state not to have forfeiture of assets legislation. Correction: we did have legislation, but it was so pathetic that there had never been a successful claim against it. We were the only state that did not have precursor legislation to make it much more difficult for people to get chemicals together to manufacture amphetamines. We have to ask why, when ministers of the government of the day would have been attending ministerial councils interstate on a regular basis - there is one on illicit substances that is shared between the Police minister and the Health minister in terms of responsibilities - at which all these other states recognised the problem and introduced legislation. Yet, ministers from the government of the day in the Northern Territory attended those MinCos and did nothing. You have to ask: why? Despite all of the evidence of morphine rates at 15 times the national average, a 400% increase in needles being distributed, you have to ask why there was no policy response from the government of the day. Many of us have theories about that. It will be interesting to see the effect that this legislation has in giving the police the tools to impact on organised crime gangs. You have to ask why the government of the day just turned a blind eye.
This government will not turn a blind eye. This government will continue to go after people who manufacture and distribute drugs in this community. This government will continue to provide, through legislation and health programs, the capacity for people who want to break the habit and the cycle of misery that surrounds addiction to drugs. We will continue to evolve those programs and try to do what we can. We know it is not easy. We know that the individuals themselves have to make a decision - you can lead a horse to water, as the old saying goes.
We have a responsibility to have programs that are based on best practice, research and evidence to try to assist those people. If we can get those people off drugs and get them back as responsible members of our community and our society, they will not be breaking into people’s homes, causing misery to their families and people around them, and we will see an overall nett benefit to our society.
The other thing that we promised - and my colleague, the Education minister, has carriage of this - is to improve drug education to our kids in schools. It is absolutely vital that each and every one of us as parents - but also through our education system - arm our kids with the information and understanding to allow them to make responsible decisions when they start to move out into the world and are subject to the temptation of substances that are around them. It is very important and we will do that.
I applaud the opposition for not opposing this bill. I would really like somebody to stand up and say: ‘We support this bill’, because in effect by not opposing it, they are supporting it. It is a fundamental shift in policy for the CLP. I congratulate them on endorsing maintenance pharmacotherapies in the Northern Territory including methadone, buprenorphine, naltrexone and any other pharmacotherapy that may be developed and endorsed through the PBS scheme at the Commonwealth level.
Let us leave medication and the science of that to the professionals. It should not be a political debate. It should be a health debate about drugs that are allowed to be prescribed in our society to allow the professional health carers, our doctors, to treat their patients. Politicians have no role in dictating to those health practitioners and the professionals in the pharmaceutical industry that is comprehensively regulated at the Commonwealth level based on health outcomes. These people should be allowed to do their job.
I commend the opposition, if that is what has happened, for its change in policy on this. I hope that the days of ignoring these issues, which has absolutely confounded a great number of Territorians, are gone. We can have healthy debate in this parliament about drug use in our community and positive government programs to reduce that. It has to be a whole-of-government approach encompassing law enforcement, health and education. We have to tap into those Commonwealth programs, and all credit to the Commonwealth government for funding a lot of programs, funding for which the previous government never put its hand up. We are certainly doing that.
Madam Speaker, I urge all members of this House to support this legislation.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I was not going to speak in this debate, but one has to correct the public record, seeing the member for Wanguri cannot understand plain English. I listened to the words of the shadow Health spokesperson, and those words were clear for everyone to hear. This is the government’s legislation, the government’s strategy. The government has the numbers. We do not agree with the strategy, but the government has the numbers and they will have their way. That is the simple fact of it. The shadow Health minister made that position absolutely clear.
It is interesting listening to the member for Wanguri, who continually tries to twist the truth in the way he makes his comments. He made an interesting comment, which I have a respond to; and that is, that we now have a situation in the Northern Territory under this Labor government where we are taking politics out of the drug dispensing issue and allowing doctors the right to treat their patients. How is that going to happen? How does that compare with the previous system? Under the previous system, doctors had the right to treat their patients. Doctors could treat their patients based on medications that they believed were appropriate for those patients. When it came to the prescription of Schedule 8 drugs, where doctors transgressed in the prescription of those medications, where doctors were seen to be, by the Chief Health Officer, irresponsible in treatment of patients, then their authority to dispense Schedule 8 drugs was removed.
What the member for Wanguri has done is conjured up a system whereby he has continually criticised the Chief Health Officer in the performance of her duties. Suggesting that the Chief Health Officer was totally irresponsible in the way that doctors were supervised in dispensing Schedule 8 drugs is the essence of the member for Wanguri’s comments.
He also deserves to be corrected on the issue of needle dispensing in the Northern Territory and the extrapolation in logic from ‘there are so many needles being dispensed’ to ‘we have a massive IV drug use problem in the Northern Territory’. The reality is that his own Task Force on Illicit Drugs reported quite differently. The Task Force on Illicit Drugs reported quite specifically that intravenous drug use in the Northern Territory was confined to a small group in our community. That is the simple fact of their report.
When it comes to a comparison between the new regime being introduced, Territorians need to be absolutely clear that when it comes to the Labor government in the Northern Territory, we have, yes, a very new regime, which is this: if you are a drug addict, you now get drugs dispensed freely to you, for all time, at taxpayers’ expense, and in all other jurisdictions it is called a methadone maintenance program. That is what is being introduced by this legislation. We need to compare that with the previous regime, because methadone, in the CLP’s opinion, has never been proven to be effective in harm minimisation, and has never been proven to be …
Mrs Aagaard: They are all doctors over there.
Mr BURKE: In our opinion - you can have your own opinion. It has never been, in our opinion, effective in harm minimisation or in having people withdraw from drug use.
Where methadone had a place in the Northern Territory was that it was a legitimate prescription drug for the treatment of pain, and for those who are genuinely wanting to get past their addiction, it was allowed to be prescribed in a very limited way - I recall, for a period of two months – by authorisation of the Chief Health Officer, and only on a withdrawal program in that the person who was addicted was prescribed methadone by a doctor under authorisation. Methadone was dispensed on a decreasing basis whilst the person showed genuine efforts to withdraw. If the person defaulted from that program, they were no longer given methadone.
The new system that we have in the Northern Territory, it is clear in the act, and it is worth reading the second reading speech:
- Therefore, when it comes to methadone, we are promoting a system of daily supervised dosing until
it is determined the patient’s circumstances are safe enough for unsupervised doses to be provided.
It also says:
- The bill brings the Territory in line with all other jurisdictions in Australia. Also in line with all other
jurisdictions, the period for which a Schedule 8 prescription remains valid will extend from two to six
months.
That is called a methadone maintenance program. The member for Wanguri and his colleagues are proud of that strand in their strategy. We do not agree with it. You need to get that absolutely clear, so do not try to twist words. We do not agree with it, we do not think it is right, we do not think Territorians should be paying good money to support, indefinitely, people who use methadone, which has been proven to be a more addictive substance than some of the substances they are trying to withdraw from, under this guise of so-called harm minimisation. That is the simple fact.
In this new war on drugs, Territorians need to be absolutely clear: the strategy is that the taxpayer will now pay for methadone to be given on an unlimited basis as a maintenance program. Do you agree? Is that a proper interpretation of the new regime? How it happens is this: we no longer trust doctors. You have to apply …
Mr Henderson: You didn’t trust doctors.
Mr BURKE: No, hang on. This is the member for Wanguri. He says, on the one hand we trust our doctors to dispense; this is a medical issue, not a political issue. Well, we did trust the doctors and there were many doctors who defaulted. They were dealt with by the Chief Health Officer and their ability to dispense Schedule 8 drugs was withdrawn. Under the new system, a doctor has to apply to your new organisation, whatever it is called, in order to get the authority to prescribe certain Schedule 8 drugs. I can tell you - and I am sure the shadow Health minister mentioned this - a lot of doctors are not interested in doing it. The first thing you are going to have is fewer doctors prescribing Schedule 8 drugs. You are going to have a bottleneck in terms of how people can obtain Schedule 8 drugs. Remember that there are a number of instances where people need Schedule 8 drugs for legitimate purposes, and doctors are constrained as to whether or not they want to be a part of this regime or not. So there will be a bottleneck of where people can obtain Schedule 8 drugs, and that bottleneck will probably evidence itself at the Pain Clinic at Royal Darwin Hospital, which I understand is treating about 70 of these people per day.
The new regime is essentially this: rather than a doctor saying: ‘You are on a withdrawal program; you will be prescribed methadone for two months and, if your withdrawal program is not legitimate, at the end of two months, no more methadone and no more assistance from me in withdrawing’. Under the new program, a prescription can be given for six months by a doctor who is registered to write those prescriptions. You have to find a chemist who is willing to supervise the daily doses, and I do not reckon there will be too many of them around. You will end up going to the Pain Clinic at Royal Darwin Hospital …
Mrs Aagaard: 30% of pharmacists are doing it, the same as everywhere else in Australia.
Mr BURKE: I do not deny there will be a few chemists. I am simply saying that there will be a number of pharmacies and a large number of doctors who do not want to be part of this registration process because they do not like dealing with a lot of these people. Royal Darwin Hospital will end up being the major dispensing service through its pharmacy and the Pain Clinic. This is the new regime. Essentially, a person goes to a doctor, who writes a six-month prescription for methadone. The person then goes and gets a daily dose, and six months later goes to the doctor and gets another prescription for six months, and goes and gets daily doses.
This is the new strand to the drug strategy in the Northern Territory under the Labor government. This is not only the taxpayer providing enormous amounts of needles to what has been described by the Task Force on Illicit Drugs as a very small element in terms of numbers of IV users in the Northern Territory - enormous numbers of needles. In fact, the needle exchange in Darwin dispenses more needles than the Royal Darwin Hospital. You have to ask yourself what sort of controls there are in how these needles are dispensed and the numbers being dispensed, if you have concerns about some of the issues that we have. I have concerns about the unlimited supply of needles out there and what sort of checks and balances are put on people to dispense needles in bulk without any interrogation as to what they are going to be used for.
I do not like it. I do not think it is harm minimisation; it is overly-generous. Frankly, I do not believe it has been proved to be overly-effective. In that regard, I would be interested for the Health minister telling me the numbers using the needle exchange at Palmerston. If it has been such a great need in our society, I would like to know how many needles have been dispensed. How many clients go there daily? Do you have those figures? If you do not, why not? The taxpayer is paying for all this, and it is given a high priority in our health strategies than many of the services that are provided for law-abiding citizens in our society who cannot get that sort of service at their front door that we provide for many of these other people. There does not seem to be any interest in what controls occur at these places: what sort of counselling, what sort of rigours are put in to the amounts of needles that are being dispensed, or anything.
Now we have a new regime under which the taxpayer is going to pay for unlimited dispensing of methadone and associated drugs - but methadone is the main one - by doctors with six-month prescriptions. You go to the chemist or you go to the Pain Clinic at Royal Darwin Hospital and you take your dose. I hazard a guess that, within a short while, this Labor government will decide that that is not the most effective method so we will just have dispensing clinics. Then you will really be in line with southern jurisdictions, which is what you want.
The point of difference between the CLP and the ALP in the Northern Territory is we do not want to be like the rest of Australia. We question some of these strategies, and the effectiveness of some of these strategies.
The member for Wanguri claims - and he can claim it loudly - he has a mandate from Territorians to introduce a methadone maintenance program in the Northern Territory. Go ahead and scream it to the rooftops, but do not try to suggest that the CLP has changed its position because you are wrong. The CLP position is that methadone should be applied as part of an abstinence program. We were comfortable, and remain comfortable, with the program that we had in place. We question this new system’s registration requirements for doctors and pharmacies because of the bottleneck it will create in the way it is being dispensed. The government stands on this strategy and even goes as far as to say that they are winning the war on drugs. I can tell you the war on drugs in my community, in my electorate, in some sections of my electorate, is being won by the criminals …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker. If the Leader of the Opposition wants to put words in my mouth, I would like him to refer me to a specific quote in this parliament, from the Parliamentary Record, where I have stated we are winning the war on drugs. I have not said that and the Hansard will prove me correct.
Mr BURKE: Speaking to the point of order, Madam Speaker, the member for Wanguri has form in suggesting what the opposition is doing, has done. In fact, he even went as far in this debate to suggest that we were in bed with organised crime.
Mr Henderson: I did not say that.
Mr BURKE: He cannot have it both ways, Madam Speaker. You insinuated that we were in bed with organised crime.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, a point of order! I did not say that.
Mr BURKE: You insinuated we were in bed with organised crime, now sit down and take your medicine back!
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Both members, resume your seats for one moment. You know the routine. If you feel as though you have been misquoted, then you go to a personal explanation or an explanation speech later. That is the usual procedure rather than stand up and have a little debate between yourselves. There is no point of order. Leader of the Opposition, please go on.
Mr BURKE: The member for Wanguri, in a number of statements regarding police efforts, closing down drug houses, effects of various drug strategies, is saying that, in the Northern Territory, under this new Labor government, that the war on drugs is being won because of their strategies. That was the simple content of his argument.
I can tell you, in some areas of Palmerston, sadly, the war on drugs is being won by the people who are lawless. They are the ones winning the war on drugs. The people living in some of the Housing Commission properties in our electorate are running riot. Law-abiding citizens, who have written endless representations to try to get some of these people removed from the houses, are moving out of the suburbs themselves. That is the sadness of it.
Mr Henderson: How many letters have you written?
Mr BURKE: And we all - plenty! In fact I have …
Mr Henderson: I will check. You have not written to me.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of Government Business, the Leader of the Opposition has the floor. You have had your turn.
Mr BURKE: The member for Wanguri says: ‘How many letters have you written?’. I can tell you that one of the ways I act as a local member - and I would hope other local members act the same way - is to have a very good relationship with the person who runs the local police station and through the crime committees that have been set up, with conservations as easy as a simple phone call. I hope that government does not restrict me from doing that, where you can ring up …
Mr Henderson: I encourage you. I will check how often you have made a specific complaint.
Mr BURKE: Oh, well, you do that. I am sure you have got a database on everything. I can tell you that Lorraine Carlon at Palmerston is one of the stand-out police officers in the Northern Territory - in my opinion, extremely responsive. You talk to her about the difficulties they have. We have already seen, through the O’Sullivan Report, the difficulties police are having and in her own area, in understaffing, and dealing with the many issues they have to deal with. I applaud the O’Sullivan Report for the recommendations it has made and I hope the government implements them. However, do not try to suggest that the police are totally on top of this issue of trying …
Mr Henderson: I have not said that.
Mr BURKE: … in our suburbs, when it comes to drug-related crime. I went to one house after a complaint one night, and I was accompanied by the Mayor - so you might need a database on her as well – and, sadly, there was drug dispensing going on the night we drove around there.
Mr Henderson: Did you report it?
Mr BURKE: Of course I reported it, and you can check that, too. Go and check that, too.
Madam Speaker, this is the essence of this change in legislation: we have introduced a methadone maintenance program in the Northern Territory at taxpayers’ expense. We now have doctors who can dispense methadone and associated drugs on prescriptions that last six months at one time. People who are addicted to methadone and want to be on a maintenance program at taxpayers’ expense forever get their prescriptions in six-month hits and obtain their methadone, or whatever it is, from an authorised pharmacy or from the Pain Clinic at Royal Darwin Hospital.
We do not believe it is the saviour for drug addiction that it is promoted in other states. If it was, other states would be able to show some success. The fact is they cannot. The reason John Howard has put so much emphasis on drug strategies around Australia is because of its lack of success. We continue to oppose the free use of methadone and other associated drugs at taxpayers’ expense under this guise of harm minimisation. We will continue to oppose that as a strategy. We believe that when it comes to those sorts of drugs, they should be dispensed on a program of withdrawal, whereby a person can have it for a limited amount of time providing they can demonstrate that they are genuinely withdrawing. If they cannot, they are not part of the program.
That is something the Labor government has decided to disagree with, introduce their new methadone maintenance program, as we foreshadowed they would before the last election. They believe they have a mandate from Territorians to do it. I would be interested to find out, on behalf of Territorians, how much this is costing. How much has it cost them so far with the new needle clinics? How much does it cost Territorians on a yearly basis for all of this stuff? What sort of demonstrable benefits to Territorians can you show because of the generosity of the taxpayer in providing free drugs to, essentially, criminals?
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I am not going to talk about the medical side of this bill. I wanted to talk more about the agricultural side, which falls under section 53.
I have some concerns about the use of chemical sprays in the rural area, and I thought I would use this opportunity to tell the government that I have written to the Northern Territory Horticultural Association asking for their opinion. I do not intend to bring any amendments to this bill at this stage. I thought that the best thing to do was to talk to the horticultural people about the issues that concern me, and to get some feedback on that. Once I have some feedback one way or the other, I will see whether I should introduce amendments to this section of the act.
The two areas that I have spoken to the NT Horticultural Association about are spraying, and the Minister for Lands and Planning mentioned that yesterday when we were talking about the Litchfield Area Plan. The other area the use of S7 poisons. In my electorate, of course, most landowners live on two hectare blocks, and the issue of spraying, at times, can cause quite a bit of angst between neighbours.
A number of years ago, there was a meeting between some concerned people in the Litchfield Shire and the NT Horticultural Association. They developed a code of conduct for spraying chemicals. Basically, that code requires that those who spray chemicals notify the neighbours that they are going to spray. I have to say that I have been a sprayer of chemicals, not for fruit trees or such; I used to spray herbicides. I have been caught out doing this, when I thought the neighbours knew, but one did not and it conveniently ended up on page 3 of the Litchfield Times.
It is a problem. It is not a straightforward issue because many growers, for instance, will spray their trees with a liquid fertiliser. They might be just using white oil, so they are basically using chemicals that are not regarded as poisonous. However, people still become upset because they hear the machine going and all sorts of phone calls arise as a result. I certainly receive some of the phone calls.
Most growers do the right thing. Sometimes the issue can be a problem where you have a contractor who goes from Block A to Block B to Block C. He does not really have time to go ringing up everyone. He has a job to do and he goes around and sprays. I have asked the NT Horticultural Association whether they think the code of conduct should have some legislative backing. The feedback I have so far is mixed, to say the least. They certainly see problems with people having to notify neighbours if they are just spraying a liquid fertiliser or something like white oil. They also see that people do have a problem if, at 6.30 pm, someone goes around spraying their mango trees with Rogor for thrip. Rogor has a stink agent added to it, so it is pretty uncomfortable sitting in your kitchen while the spray of Rogor comes wafting through while you are trying to have tea with the kids. Whilst you could argue whether Rogor, for instance, causes any permanent damage, health wise, to people, it is certainly an uncomfortable smell that puts people off. They immediately know that they are being covered in that spray and they react, and that is fair enough. There is still that issue around. It certainly has improved over the years. However, I have had a number of calls this year about people spraying.
The other issue is about the use of S7 poisons. The three main poisons used in the horticultural industry are lanate - which, in theory, is only to be used on tomatoes, but some growers use it on mangoes – endosulphin and supercide. Some of those sprays are what you might call ‘total kill sprays’, so when everything else has failed or you have not been doing your regular spraying, you hit them.
Mr Dunham: Nuke them.
Mr WOOD: That is right. S7 poisons are very poisonous, and to be spraying those via an orchid blaster on a five acre block is a fairly risky business. There is perhaps an opportunity in this legislation for some changes to section 53. In clause 31 of the bill, there will be a change to section 53(2) as follows:
- Subject to section 59, the Chief Health Officer may authorise a person to possess and use a
Schedule 7 substance intended for use for an agricultural, horticultural or pastoral purpose,
or for any other purpose approved by the Chief Health Officer only if the Chief Health Officer
is satisfied that the person:-
(b) has the necessary competency in the safe use and handling of that substance.
It may be worth the government consulting with the NT Horticultural Association because, when I spoke to them about this, there is a bit of concern that they might be banned together. The Chief Health Officer might take into account whether the place on which these sprays are going to be used is safe in relation to the neighbours. It is not just a matter of whether the person is competent to use it - that is okay – or whether they have sufficient reason - obviously they have a pest on their trees and they want to spray it - but what needs to be taken into account in some circumstances is what effect that could have on the health of the neighbours. I put that as a suggestion. It is perhaps something that the government can take up with the NT Horticultural Association.
Speaking to the NT Horticultural Association on this one, I believe good horticulturalists would not be using S7 poisons, as the member for Drysdale hinted. It is like nuking all the insect pests if you have to use this particular poison. A good operator will be using lower levels of poison to get rid of their pests. They will be using integrated pest management, trying to do other things, because no grower likes to use the very poisonous sprays. Most growers do not like to use poisons at all. They are expensive to start with, you are uncomfortable using them, you have to fit yourself up in a suit at times of the year when you nearly die from heat exhaustion. You could lose a certain amount of weight in liquid loss. So a lot of growers do not like to use it, and they know that they also get complaints from neighbours at times, and they do not really want to have problems with their neighbours. They are trying to run a business and they want to get on with their neighbours.
I raise that issue because it is important, bearing in mind that what I am saying may not apply to the whole of the Litchfield Shire. It may apply in circumstances where lot sizes come into to it, for instance. If there are two hectare subdivisions, that may be important, rather than a horticultural subdivision where you would expect that there will be a few sprays around.
As regards the rest of the bill, I am certainly not qualified to talk on all the matters pertaining to drug reform. I do have some concerns, I must admit, about needle exchange. I am not necessarily saying that harm minimisation is bad, but I have concerns with the number of needles handed out in bulk rather than some responsibility from the person receiving them coming back and saying: ‘I have returned some of them’. It seems to be a one-way street at the moment. Other than that, they are my comments
Dr BURNS (Tourism): Madam Speaker, I would like to participate in this debate, particularly given the offerings of some of the members opposite. It is easy to see that, whilst members opposite say that they are not really opposing it, I am not really sure what their position is. I got the feeling that the Opposition Leader was saying that they were opposing the bill. I would like to challenge them, if they are opposing it, when it comes down, that they have a vote on it to see exactly where they stand on this issue, because I am getting very mixed messages from the other side of the Chamber. One message I have is the confusion and ignorance on the other side of the Chamber, particularly in relation to methadone maintenance treatment and the whole issue of Schedule 8 drugs. I would like to try and put a few things straight on the record.
First, I could point to my own involvement in this area. As most members know, I remain a registered pharmacist in the Northern Territory. I am very proud of that. I graduated in Pharmacy in 1969, so I do know a little about prescribing of drugs and dangerous drugs …
Mr Dunham: Selling drugs, trading in drugs.
Mrs AAGAARD: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The implication from the member for Drysdale was that the minister was a trader of drugs. That is extremely offensive and should be withdrawn.
Mr Dunham: No, it is part of his profession; a seller and trader of drugs.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, do not remain in your seat when you are speaking. If you made an inference in your comment that the minister was trading in drugs, then you should withdraw it.
Mr DUNHAM: For the sake of clarity of the record, the trader and seller of legal drugs. He should not be ashamed of his profession.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. I will accept that.
Dr BURNS: We know that the member for Drysdale has a few problems. He is bitter and twisted and his comments are not really helpful, but I will get to the member for Drysdale in his role as minister during this period.
I would like to foreshadow that yes, I remain a registered pharmacist. I believe this is a very important issue. I served on what was known as the Schedule 8 Committee. That was a committee that was started by the AMA because they were very concerned about what was happening under the previous government with narcotic drugs, particularly methadone and the lack of treatment. That was a very good group, and I remained involved almost until the time that I entered parliament. That was over a period of six or eight years. I was a foundation member of that, and I was proud of it, in that I was representing the Menzies School of Health because of my background and as a drug researcher. There was always a sense in that committee of frustration amongst the medical profession and others, and possibly even within the department - I am not going to name any names - about the intransigence of the former government on this particular issue, even though the science and the evidence is very clear.
We had an offering from the member for Port Darwin and the Opposition Leader stating that methadone maintenance therapy is an unproven therapy. That is completely untrue. I will be quoting quite extensively from quite a good, lengthy review, which I would recommend to the member for Port Darwin, the Leader of the Opposition, and possibly the member for Drysdale. It is a book that is really a very extended review of all the literature both in Australia and internationally on methadone maintenance called Methadone Maintenance: Treatment and Other Opioid Replacement Therapies. The authors are Australians Jeff Ward, Richard P Mattick and Wayne Hall. It was published by Harwood Academic Publishers, a very well renowned academic medical publisher in the Netherlands.
There is substantial evidence. There is a report by the Royal Australian College of Physicians called From Hope to Science – Illicit Drugs Policy in Australia. Here is a very prestigious organisation, the Royal Australian College of Physicians - and I believe their representative could have even been Dr Fisher – that placed this in the hands of the former government when it was published some time ago in the hope that something would be done about the problem that had emerged within the Northern Territory.
Just going back in history, through my files, I found a report written by Dr Elizabeth Chalmers, who is a very well known and respected person. I am glad to say she has returned to the Territory in Katherine. In 1993, she wrote a report for the then NT Department of Health and Community Services, Review of Treatment for Opioid Dependence in the Northern Territory. Basically, third on her recommendation list under Category One, Urgent was:
- … provision to conduct methadone maintenance in the Northern Territory.
So right back in 1993, here is someone who was recognised nationally for her work in the drug field, Dr Elizabeth Chalmers, right up front calling urgently for methadone maintenance therapy to be instituted in the Northern Territory.
We also had experts like Dr Alex Wodak and others who came up in those early days to try to give the evidence to the then government about the positive and proven aspects of methadone maintenance therapy. I believe it was Fred Finch who was minister at the time and said: ‘You have all the evidence, but, no, we are not going to do it’. It was all head in the sand stuff.
But what was going on? There should have been alarm bells ringing. We are continually subjected to the member for Drysdale standing up and telling us that, as minister, you have to take your responsibility: ‘What are you going to do about it? As a minister you have certain responsibilities’. I believe the member for Drysdale, when he was Health minister, absolutely shirked his responsibilities in relation to this issue. There were very worrying signs there, very worrying signs.
I am not going to go over what the member for Wanguri talked about. He gave a very good speech and was very comprehensive about government policies, some of the history and the way, apart from this particular aspect, in which this government is trying to address drug issues in the Northern Territory.
There was something very sinister happening, and I pointed to this particular paper …
Mr Dunham: Is this the organised crime story?
Dr BURNS: No, this is a story from the Medical Journal of Australia, a very reputable journal by Con Berbatis and his collaborators. It is called Trends in Illicit Opioid Use in Australia, 1984-98: Comparative Analysis of International and Jurisdictional Data.
Australia is a signatory to certain international pacts about opiates and narcotics, and there is a whole set of data that is collected under the International Narcotics Control Board and the Therapeutic Drugs Monitoring Unit. There is a Treating and Monitoring Unit within that. He got the data about that and it is regularly published by the therapeutic drugs section. They received data weekly from more than 600 different preparations supplied to post code areas from importers, manufacturers and wholesalers. It is a very comprehensive set of data.
There is another set of data that sits in the Health department because a copy of each Schedule 8 prescription is sent into the department, which then collates all the results and keeps their data. There is another set of data, because in this particular case, as we now know, a lot of those opiate prescriptions were written on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme so the Health Insurance Commission also had a comprehensive set of data.
How can any Health minister or former Health minister stand up in here and say he knew nothing about any of these trends? Table one shows methadone hydrochloride syrup and tablets, and during that period I talked about, 1984 to 1998, the Territory had fairly low use of methadone syrup, which is not surprising given the fact that the former government had a policy that there would be no methadone maintenance.
I do not think members can see it, but there is a great peak up here between about 1996 and 1998 for methadone tablets. I am going to come to morphine in a minute. This is on a per capita population basis, so the use of methadone hydrochloride 5 mg and 10 mg tablets in the Northern Territory was the highest in Australia. Why was that?
Mr Dunham: Because we did not use serum. Have a look. Give us the raw figures then, Mr Smarty, Mr Researcher. Give us the figures for methadone across Australia.
Dr BURNS: No, because there was, and these authors allude to it, really a de facto methadone maintenance program that was being instituted because there were probably some medical practitioners who were frustrated by not having the avenues to treat their patients who are addicted to opioids.
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! By inference, the minister is alleging that doctors broke the law, and to do so …
Mr Kiely: What is your point of order?
Mr DUNHAM: He is. He is. He is making that allegation, and I suggest that he is defaming a large group of respectable people and should do so in a way that is more scientific.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Member for Drysdale, you know that is not a point of order. You can have your turn later.
Dr BURNS: Okay, so here is methadone. Here is a government saying we are not going to have a methadone maintenance program, but it is the highest in Australia. Methadone use during that period was the highest in Australia. You should have known about it. Why didn’t you do something about it?
We then turn to MS Contin, morphine sulphate controlled release tablets. Once again, you probably need good eyesight, but here is this enormous flick up the page from about 1996 onwards. The Northern Territory, once again, was the highest per capita user of these preparations. The alarm bells should have been ringing. The alarm bells were ringing in the Health Insurance Commission, who came up and tried to clear up the mess, and it was only then that the former government tried to address this issue.
I did some calculations based on Health Insurance Commission figures during this period. I know the member for Wanguri talked about 400 000 tablets, that is over all the opiates. I am talking specifically here of one product, MS Contin 100 mg, so do not try to say he said 400, you said 300. As you can see, it is MS Contin 100 mg that was the major preparation being abused here. In 1998, the total tablets for the Northern Territory was 250 000. I am talking approximates. In 1999, it was 321 000. What I then did, based on a population basis, the Australian population …
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Just listen, member for Drysdale. I then calculated, on the Australian population base and Australian usage of these tablets, how many of these tablets should be used in the Northern Territory. Do you know how many for 1998? It should have been 22 000. In 1999, it should have been 25 000. So there is a surplus of tablets. One could reasonably assume that, fair enough, we might have higher rates of this or that. Maybe, but there is a difference there from the Australian rate of about 230 000 in 1998 and 296 000 in 1999.
I am not going to say that all of those tablets were diverted to the illegal trade, but I would suggest that quite a lot of them were. If you calculated that nearly all of those tablets were being used illegally, it is staggering. At a street value of $50 per tablet, which was fairly well publicised at the time, do you know how much was possibly being used illegally in 1998? $11 515 418. That is on street value. In 1999, $14.5m on street value.
The other line that the opposition has been running is: ‘Suddenly, with your methadone maintenance program, you are going to shove all this cost onto the NT taxpayer’. I did some calculations on these tablets and their cost to the Australian taxpayer because, as everyone knows, the PBS has a cost; there is a dispensing fee, there is a cost to the taxpayer. I went to a couple of pharmacist friends and got the facts and figures. In 1998, the cost of those diverted tablets to the Australian taxpayer for what was happening in the Northern Territory was $575 000 in 1998, and nearly $750 000 in 1999. So much for this talk about the taxpayer is going to have to foot the bill, because they were footing the bill then.
There was another suggestion that was made by the opposition, the member for Port Darwin in particular. She said if you have this methadone maintenance program, you are going to have all the druggies coming in from all over Australia because they can come to the Territory, great weather and they can get methadone as well. I suggest that we had quite a lot of outsiders who came to the Territory to avail themselves of the absolute tide of morphine that was going on here. They would be on the phone to their mates in other states: ‘Oh, come up here, Bill! You can get all this morphine up here. It is great, come up here’, and there is some evidence to back this up.
Mr Dunham: You have good connections with the illegal drug trade, haven’t you? Very close. Oh, some of your mates!
Dr BURNS: No.
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, order! That is enough interjection!
Mr KIELY: Once again, he is inferring a connection with illicit drugs. He did it before, Madam Speaker, and he is continuing with the same practice.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mr Dunham: You don’t understand, do you?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, stop the interjections!
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, if the member for Drysdale will let me finish, there was an article by Charles Roberts and Nick Crofts. It was published in the Journal of the Public Health Association, specifically looking at injecting drug use in Darwin. One of the very interesting statistics that came out of that was that approximately 25% of Darwin users - and they had a sample of nearly 138 - reported that they were either not resident for the preceding six months or did not intend staying another six months. This is during the very time that morphine tablets were awash in this city. Under what this government is doing by its contracts between doctors and patients, and tightening up that system, that will not be happening. These are very strict and important controls that we are instituting.
In terms of the alleged lack of evidence, I turn back to evidence for methadone maintenance therapy, and I will quote from Ward et al in their review. Basically, I will abstract the information. What they published, in their very exhaustive review of the literature from all over the world, they said that for methadone maintenance, there is an 80% to 90% reduction in illicit drug use for participants; there is a 60% reduction in criminal activity for participants; and a 90% reduction in the risk of death for participants. This is based on a whole series of studies in the United States, Europe and Australia. These people are well-known drug researchers and reviewers. That is the evidence that they have come out with ...
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: You had someone like Liz Chalmers trying to tell you a long time ago. You probably had Dale Fisher and the Royal Australian College of Physicians trying to tell you, but you just would not listen.
I know there has been some emphasis on the other side about ‘We do not like methadone maintenance, but we will have methadone detoxification’. Once again, quoting from the review by Ward et al, who say:
- To this end, they were encouraged to detoxify after short periods on methadone maintenance.
This is for people with this mindset of: ‘We just want to detoxify them’:
- They would again relapse and return to treatment, only to repeat the cycle time and time again. The
short term maintenance treatment philosophy may, therefore, not only be ineffective, but harmful in
the long run, to the best interests of the patient.
So, there is a bit of evidence about the system that you held up as being preferable.
Here is another one. This is an interesting one from their review. It says:
- Drug-free treatments attract fewer patients than the methadone maintenance, they have lower rates
of retention in treatment, and lower rates of successful graduation to a sustained drug-free lifestyle.
So, there you have it again.
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Do you want me to read it again for you, member for Drysdale?
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Members of the opposition, you will have your turn.
Dr BURNS: They will have their say.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr BURNS: That is all right; I can take it. There has been a high level intransigence, I believe, by the other side. The member for Drysdale has a lot of questions to answer. This is the sort of language that he used, so the member for Drysdale has a lot of questions to answer from when he was Health minister.
Mr Dunham: Provide the answers.
Dr BURNS: I have asked the questions. Drug use, particularly morphine and methadone use, sky-rocketed under your tenure as Health minister. Did you know about it, and what did you do about it?
Mr Dunham: Give the later figures. Give the later figures and it answers you.
Dr BURNS: What did you do about it?
Mr Dunham: Why use 1999 figures? Use 2000 figures.
Dr BURNS: Well, you only intervened after the Health Insurance Commission made you do something about it because, as you well know, it is fraudulent for anyone to prescribe or dispense this sort of drug for the purposes of addiction under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. That is why the Health Insurance Commission came here, and that is why your knees started to tremble when they did. It was not anything other than Commonwealth intervention that made you act, member for Drysdale.
Here we have the CLP again trying to put their heads in the sand, trying to say that methadone maintenance is not effective, and that the steps that this government is taking to effectively address the problem are not likely to work.
One thing we did soon after we came to power was to institute a very eminent committee to have a look at the whole issue. There was a Task Force on Illicit Drugs chaired by Dr Valerie Asche, and I believe that they turned in an excellent report. There was also a consultancy by Queensland Health Department for the NT Alcohol and Other Drugs Program. To date, the Northern Territory has been the only jurisdiction without legislation requiring doctors to obtain a permit to prescribe S8 drugs. We are merely coming into line with other states and best practice elsewhere.
There was the inference by the Leader of the Opposition that, somehow, these changes to the Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act were going to put some great impediment in front of doctors wishing to prescribe for patients, particularly patients who might be on palliative care. If he read the amendments to the act, he would know that palliative care patients have been exempted to a large degree. I do not believe these changes provide any great impediment either to doctors or pharmacists. In fact, I met with representatives of the Pharmacy Guild in Darwin last week, and they are very happy with our approach and the way in which this government is moving in terms of Schedule 8 drugs and methadone maintenance. They want to be very cooperative. The Health minister will talk about this; the Pharmacy Guild wants to cooperate. They realise it is an important function for them within our community.
I commend the amendment that sets up the Schedule 8 Clinical Advisory Committee. That was what the S8 Committee that used to meet under the auspices of the AMA wanted for a long, long time: that review committee to be a support for doctors and also be a firewall, if you like, a protection for doctors. Everyone has to acknowledge, and it was happening under the previous system, that there is a lot of pressure on doctors when it comes to narcotics. Having the one doctor, one patient and one pharmacist in this agreement will be a safeguard for everybody. There will be adoption of standard scheduling for drugs and poisons, which are published by the Commonwealth under the Therapeutic Goods Act, which is very important. The member for Nelson has mentioned some changes to Schedule 7, and there are some consequential and housekeeping amendments.
In summary, this is a rational step; a step in the right direction that is based on evidence, not blind adherence to a political doctrine. When Bridie O’Reilly released her report on drug trends in the Northern Territory just before the election, the member for Katherine was absolutely hysterical about it. He talked about turning Darwin into Cabramatta just by the idea of having methadone maintenance. It was completely irrational, and it has shown up here again today, certainly regarding the member for Port Darwin and the Opposition Leader. They do not understand it. They are straightjacketed into this CLP ideology.
This government will stand on its record, as the member for Wanguri said, on our tough-on-drugs strategy. I am proud that Foils at Moil is no longer there. I am not trying to dig the spurs in here, but I am told that my predecessor told people in that area: ‘Look, we have tried and there is nothing we can do about it’. This government did something about it. We have done something about it. Those people have gone and I know that residents are very happy about it. I know that one resident was selling their house, just recently, and I know that house values in that area have escalated now that Foils at Moil is closed down. I am proud of that.
I am proud about our seizure and forfeiture of the proceeds of drug crime. The member for Wanguri reported to this House the other day – what was it? $300 000?
Mr Henderson: $333 000.
Dr BURNS: $333 000 in just two months. I hope that keeps going. We are going to hurt these people who are selling illicit drugs in the Territory, and we know that it is associated with crime. We are also going to make sure that those people who are, unfortunately, addicted to drugs such as opiates receive the sort of treatment they would receive elsewhere in Australia. We are about trying to help those people and that is what these amendments to the Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act are all about.
It is a rational way to go. I would like to see you refute the evidence. The evidence is there from sources like the Royal Australian College of Physicians, Hall et al, very well renowned. The evidence is there but you just do not want to accept the facts of the matter.
POISONS AND DANGEROUS DRUGS AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 159)
(Serial 159)
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, this has got to be said again because it has now been said by two speakers and been deliberately misunderstood by the government: the fact is that the opposition has exactly the same position as it took to the electorate last time, and that is that we believe the efficacy of methadone maintenance programs, particularly interstate, is not good. We believe that there are other drugs on the market that have only become available in recent times, and that is both buprenorphine and naltrexone. We believe that any programs to address drug abuse and drug addiction should have, as their end point, a drug-free life. Let us put that on the table. We believe that we should be looking to minimise drugs by a variety of measures, and that includes supply, regulation and other means. We believe that there should be adequate rehabilitation and detoxification facilities, and that the current path that the Northern Territory government has embarked on will pose problems for them.
Those problems, like this act, are matters for government. If you are asking us to go on the record and say: ‘Tell us what you think’, I hope that the government’s backbenchers and ministers will all go on the record, too, because the prognosis for the government’s policies is not good.
The most quoted phrase in Northern Territory politics – and this is even better than ‘no child will be living in poverty’ – is that ‘the drug problem in the Northern Territory is minuscule’. It has been quoted again and again. It has been quoted so often and so long that it is taken out of context, which is not surprising because that is the original intention. It comes from a debate in which the then Chief Minister, Mr Burke, said:
- In relating to drug-related crime in the Northern Territory, we first of all have to get that into perspective.
The Leader of the Opposition, as always, tries to create the emotive situation that drug-related crime is
out of control. There is drug-related crime in the Northern Territory, there is no doubt about that, but
compared to other jurisdictions, it is minuscule. The major drugs that we deal with are actually
prescribed legal opiates. How they find their way into the trade is something that we really have to
deal with.
That is the quote. He never said that the drug problem is minuscule.
Mr Henderson: Yes, he did. It is in the Parliamentary Record.
Mr DUNHAM: It is in the Parliamentary Record. What he said was, and I will read it again because this has been much misquoted:
- There is drug-related crime in the Northern Territory, there is no doubt about that, but compared
to other jurisdictions, it is minuscule.
If we go to the Task Force on Illicit Drugs, we will see what they think about illicit drugs. At page 31:
- Only a small minority of people may use illicit drugs today.
Mr Kiely: We waited two hours for this contribution.
Mr DUNHAM: You do not have to wait at all. This is at page 36:
- It is likely that a well informed public debate about illicit drugs is in part due to their low prevalence
relative to other drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. Currently, it is a reality that the use of illicit
drugs other than cannabis is not widespread in the community.
- The predominant illicit drug reported was cannabis, approximately 93%, with only small numbers
(not statistically significant) of individuals reporting other illicit drug use, making it difficult to
accurately interpret these figures.
On a number of occasions, there have been commentators, including those employed by the government, who have told them to beware about using this business about people who are opiate-addicted breaking into houses and causing a crime wave. Indeed, the Corrections figures are readily available, which would show, among those incarcerated, those who are opiate-dependent upon admission to one of our corrections institutions. That is something that can be scientifically debated and looked at, and we could do it again and again.
Suffice to say, this government has said that opiate addiction and illicit drugs are a major factor in property crime, and that the test of their drugs policies will be a major reduction in property crime. That is the test. The Leader of Government Business, in fact, said that . He then used federal figures for drugs and crime, and I would suggest that he go to more local figures that actually describe this demographic. He talked about needles and the various factors: needles are up; the use of various prescription drugs was so high as to believe that this abnormality was a deviation into the illicit stream, and we believe that is certainly the case with some of them. He also believed that our methadone rates were very high in the Northern Territory.
The data I have is that the total consumption of methadone, including all methadone injections, tablets and syrup in the NT, both hospital and community, was 0.38% of total Australian consumption.
Dr Burns interjecting.
Mr DUNHAM: Given that we are 1% of the Australian population, it is a mischievous argument to come here and say that there was a very high rate of methadone consumption in the Northern Territory because that is not true. It is 0.38%.
If we go to the next thing, and that is that there is MS Contin out there, and there was an $11m trade in illicit drugs. The Labor Party is in government, and they are able to pursue those doctors. The Labor Party can believe that, if for some reason I was complicit in an action that saw doctors using their status in being able to prescribe S8 drugs in an illicit manner and diverting substantial amounts of drugs into the illicit drug traffic trade at $50 a tablet, I believe that can still be pursued. Most of those doctors, I assume, are still practising in the Territory. Therefore, if it is believed that that data was widely available in the department, that it was provided to the minister, and for some reason or other, it was decided not to pursue, I suggest they pursue it now. I suggest they go to the various databases that were paraded before this parliament by the member for Johnston, and look at those doctors who were complicit, and say to them: ‘Okay, Dr X, back in 1999 …’, which is when the figures are dated, ‘… this was a result of your prescribing practice’. Look at whether he or she is continuing to do that. Do not give me this little yarn that it was something that the government went wink, wink, nudge, nudge on because you can still pursue it. You can pursue it today.
You can also look, for instance, at the history with the HIC. That is a matter of history. You can look at the sequence of documents that came to my desk as a minister, and you can look at when the HIC turned up, and you will see that the action we put in place pre-dates the HIC visit. They are matters for history. They are matters, with the immense wealth of documentation and public servant hours that they can deploy to this thing, they can look at. You can assume that (1) they have not because the mythology is convenient and continuous, or (2) they really are not interested in doing it.
If this continues to be a matter for this parliament, it is a matter that should be pursued. There are various independent organs that can do that. If there is a belief that there were doctors who were knowingly engaging in the illicit behaviour of the type that has been described in this parliament, do something about it. Find those doctors’ names, pursue them. All these records are held - none of them are unavailable to you - have a look at them. See if they are still in town because the slight that you made is a slight against all medical practitioners, not just those who prescribe the drugs that you talked about.
An interesting thing about this debate is that it is very dj vu. We have gone back through the drug problem is minuscule; you guys did not care about it; ‘head in the sand’ is mentioned 50 times; blah, blah, blah; organised crime, wink, wink, nudge, nudge had something to do with it, and we think that all this is a bit sneaky. This is the sort of stuff you ran before the election and so familiar is it that my colleague, the member for Greatorex, was going to contribute to this debate. He has a speech written answering all the questions that were raised from the other side including the Chalmers Report, which has come again: matters relating to methadone maintenance, and to medical practitioners. The interesting thing about this speech, is that it is in Hansard and it is some years old. What we have had here is another regurgitation by the member for Wanguri about this mythology that he took to the election.
He continues to forget that this jurisdiction was actually assessed against every other Australian jurisdiction for its efforts with drugs, and it came out top …
Dr Burns: With alcohol.
Mr DUNHAM: Drugs! Came out top against every other jurisdiction. Against the several factors, not only was it ranked first in Australia against the vast majority of them but, I think on two, it was ranked second. When you want to say: ‘There was nothing here, it was terrible, it was a waste land, we did not replicate what was happening in the rest of Australia’, look at why we might have done that. We might have done it because while we did not think we had it beat or have the issue so well under control as these people seem to think they have at the moment, we did think we were doing things pretty well. If you look, for instance, at the final report of the Task Force on Illicit Drugs, it says that a lot of the issues here relating to drugs are actually better than they are in other places.
Why you want to replicate the drugs policies of other jurisdictions beats me. If you really want to look like New South Wales, go the way you are going. I do not think, if you look at the highest prescriber of methadone in the world, which is New South Wales - that may have changed, but it certainly was when I looked at the data - and some of the worst drug problems in Australia are in New South Wales. If you want to parade a scientific case to us, as my scientific colleague from Johnston is want to do, first make sure that, having added up the two factors that add to the end, you do not change your formulae for various arguments. You have to keep it consistent.
I have also said in a number of debates that I have visited numerous methadone maintenance clinics. I have visited a couple of naltrexone clinics and programs. I have talked to numerous recovering drug addicts, and to people who are withdrawing from opiates, and to people who have been formerly opiate dependent.
This goes right back to 1993. I read the Chalmers Report when it came through. I was working at that time for the Health minister, whose name is Michael Anthony Reed, the member for Katherine. We decided to go and look at some of these programs. My interest in this area dates back a decade. I do not resile from the fact that I have talked and visited these places. I visited Banyan House …
Mr Henderson: And what did you do?
Mr Kiely: Nothing!
Mr DUNHAM: … and I hope the current Health minister has. When you say: ‘What have you done? Nothing!’, I would hope that the current Health minister has been to a naltrexone program. I would hope the current Health minister has talked to people who have been addicted to methadone because, remember, this is still an addictive substance. This is a highly addictive replacement therapy that has some benefits to it, if you want to argue that. Yes, okay, we can parade what those are, but it also has some massive downsides. People who have been addicted to methadone, some for many years, will be able to tell you exactly what the substance does and whether it is as efficacious as those opposite would say.
I hope the current Health minister, when she contributes to this debate, tells us about her visits to various places. I hope she tells us about what she thinks about naltrexone because naltrexone and buprenorphine both fit the CLP government policy. Buprenorphine, as we know, is both an agonist and an antagonist and we know, therefore, if you want to run the pure scientific case about opiate maintenance programs, you could run that somehow the buprenorphine support from this side of the House is aberrant, but we believe it entirely fits our thinking and disposition.
There is a great place for naltrexone in our society, particularly for people who are incarcerated. It has a powerful role to play. Certainly, you do not need to be involved with urine analysis and things like that if you have available to you the drug naltrexone, because it is one of those things that people who have used it will know quite readily is the most powerful truth serum you will come across.
Going through some of the figures: the ignore story - well we know that is rubbish; the business about head in the sand - rubbish. The fact that we were prepared to take on some of those new pharmacotherapies puts that to a lie. The fact that we were assessed against other jurisdictions and come out on top in Australia puts a lie to the allegation that we did very little. Apparently, Dr Fisher placed in my hands a publication - I cannot recall that, I have to tell you. The Chalmers Report, if it is pulled out by the member for Johnston, and he goes to it, he will see that it was proposed to be used for a variety of things and he will see it is entirely debunked as a withdrawal therapy. There is a good reason for that; it is a very difficult drug to withdraw from.
He goes to the needle exchange program and the high numbers. There are a few factors about that. The first factor is it could be an indicator of success. I do not know whether you have thought about that or not but, given that we are trying to eliminate sharing of needles in an effort to suppress disease, I would have thought that, for people who need and use needles, that might be an indicator of success. If it is intended that we can say: ‘People are using needles, ergo we need a methadone maintenance program’, is to make a giant leap. The leap is to assuming that those needles are filled with opiates. Methadone maintenance is not a very good treatment for amphetamines, as most members would know, nor is it a good treatment for steroid use. There are a variety of reasons people get a needle from a needle and syringe program, and put substances in it and inject into their arms.
To assume, therefore, that you need a methadone maintenance program is a giant leap that should not be made because most of the advice we had, and being a very nefarious and illicit activity, it is very difficult to be reliant on any statistics in this area, there was a growing and substantial amphetamine use. Lo and behold!, that is what these guys said: amphetamines might be a problem in the future. It could well be that you are putting in a program to fix something that it is not effective in fixing. There are many problems with methadone but, essentially, you are replacing a substance that people have been addicted to, albeit illegally, with another substance that is dispensed by government. Methadone is a dangerous substance. In fact, the government’s own report tells them that methadone maintenance programs are dangerous.
The member for Johnston, I am sure, has a little book by Dr Andrew Byrne called Methadone in the Treatment of Narcotic Addiction. He discusses some of the great difficulties, including death, that can occur with this substance. Coronials have implicated methadone in a number of overdose deaths, and there is a good reason for that, and that is that while someone is using methadone and is intoxicated on that substance, and takes another substance, there is a risk that they could overdose. This is not some little namby-pamby treatment here. It is not some treatment that is so successful that other states can parade it to us. It is not something that is without other drug use. I note at one of the methadone maintenance clinics I visited, the urine analysis was showing that 98% were polydrug users. That does present some problems for the dispensing practitioner because he knows that in dispensing methadone, these people are using other substances of varying purity and strength.
Therefore, do not come in here and parade the word ‘methadone’, claiming that every other jurisdiction uses it, you do not, therefore you are troglodytes and assume that we are unthinking about this. It is necessary to parade some of those risks. I was devastated to read that the medical practitioners said that they had not received training prior to this program being implemented. This is an incredibly dangerous thing. That comment was attributed to Dr Meadows, and perhaps that has changed or perhaps he was misquoted. The fact is you do not go willy-nilly into a program of this type.
The other thing is do not assume that you are going to see a diminution of drug use, including illicit drug use, merely by putting a methadone maintenance program in place. Do not run this case that: ‘Oh, you say it is going to introduce other people into this place that are currently opiate-addicted elsewhere, and they will see this as a good and cogent reason to travel north’. Anecdotally, I know that to be the case. You will find that you have a growing list of problems associated with people coming from other places to settle here.
We used have a methadone maintenance program back in Commonwealth days. It was just after the cyclone, and it was dispensed out at the hospital. In those days, we were on the hippy trail coming from Kathmandu and through Indonesia into Darwin. There was an enormous amount of drug use. I have spoken in this parliament before about this place having a history of drug abuse. It is notoriously and particularly alcohol, if you read the literature, but in my grandmother’s day, there were people who were opiate addicted in this town. It is in police records, and in a variety of journals that you can find.
It is not something that the CLP, so right wing and red neck, does not believe is happening, head in the sand, turned its back on it. That is all nonsense. We believe we have to address it. We believe that history, if it is impartially observed by people who are scientific and knowledgeable in this area, will see that we did great things. You will see that, if the stand-out feature of our difference with other states has been a lack of a methadone maintenance program, you would then go to reports such as this and say: ‘How come, compared to other jurisdictions, we are better?’. If that was the stand-out difference, how come the stand-out difference is we are doing better than them?
This haste to replicate what is happening elsewhere should be accompanied by people who observe what is happening elsewhere. I have told this House before that I went to Cabramatta. Minsters should do that. If you really want to talk about the drug debate, go to some of these large cities that have extensive methadone maintenance programs, including publicly and privately-based ones, home-based ones, take-away. Have a look at each of the those and see how effective they are. You will find that this ain’t the sweetness and light you think it is going to be. This is not a cure-all. If you go to …
Ms Lawrie: We are not pretending it is.
Mr DUNHAM: Pardon?
Ms Lawrie: We are not pretending it is.
Mr DUNHAM: But you are, you see.
Ms Lawrie: No, you are totally misrepresenting us.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr DUNHAM: One of your problems is that you believe that whatever we did was so bad because we were, by disposition, inclined just to treat this as a trivial issue and, therefore, because you are caring and, in the case of the member for Johnston, you have close proximity to people engaged in these illicit behaviours, that is where your problem is. You make an assumption that because you have the monopoly on caring and because we were uncaring, head in the sand people, you have it right.
I implore you as not just a parliamentarian with a different disposition, but as somebody who has actually visited many of these clinics: please be careful with what you are doing because you are toying with people’s lives here. If you just see this as a continuing political debate and the capacity to define a difference between the two parties, that will continue because we will use it as a defining difference, too, and that is the introduction of politics and that is the spotlight that you are going to have with this.
If you really want to say: ‘Labor cares. Why do we care? Because we have a methadone maintenance program and you can judge us on this …’, according to the member for Wanguri, ‘… by seeing how break-and-enters reduce’, okay. That is the challenge he has given us. Let us look at it. It could well be that things are so swimmingly successful with this drug - it has been around since the 1940s so it is a reasonably well studied drug - that we change our policy because we are pragmatic. We are the sort of people who say: ‘This has nothing to do with some innate disposition that socialists or communists or conservatives or whoever else has’. Most of our focus has been on what is effective and what makes things better.
The great bona fides for that statement is the fact that our social policies leave most other governments, including your cousins interstate, in our wake. Our social programs that came through the CLP were powerful, were palpable and we were proud of them.
If you are able to demonstrate to us that the introduction of a methadone maintenance program, dispensing through pharmacies and the other paraphernalia that will come with this, will be of great import to the Northern Territory and it will have a great competence in fighting break-ins, crime and incarceration rates, good, because we will monitor it. I can tell you now that your prognosis for success is very poor. You are not going to get the outcomes you think. One of the reasons for that is that you have to make sure that you talk to the right people. If you talk to people who are practitioners in this area, you have to remember they have a pecuniary interest. If you talk to people who are pharmacists, you have to remember that sometimes this is a product that is a revenue earner; they make money from it.
Talk to doctors. Talk to this man here, Dr Andrew Byrne. This is his practice. Of course, he is going to tell you what he tells you. Do not just talk to people who have such a powerful investment in training and delivery of their particular service that they are going to tell you it is a great thing. Of course, they will.
The analogy I could give you is a bilingual teacher at Lajamanu will tell you it is important to teach Warlpiri because they have learnt Warlpiri. The question you have to ask is: is this effective in the education setting at Lajamanu? It is the same thing here. Talk to people who have been the victims of methadone, and there are many of them. Talk to various coronial and other people about it. Go to Western Australia and talk about what happened when they had the mobile methadone program. Talk to people in New South Wales where they do have take-away, where you can have enough to last you for a month. Talk to people at the urine analysis and see if there is still polydrug use going on.
Before you run this sweetness and light line of: ‘We have an answer, it is called methadone’, please make sure you are on the right track. Do not assume, for instance, that needle exchange will go down because, as I said, methadone is not very effective in combating amphetamines nor steroids. Users of both substances procure needles from needle exchanges, and that is fairly common.
Do not assume that the CLP does not care, and that you are blindly adhering to a policy in the face of wonderful scientific advice, because the scientific advice that you have is entirely flawed. As I said, I am quite happy to go back to 1993 if you want, but this debate is a replica of many others we have had in this parliament.
Health minister, you are off to talk to people in Sydney or wherever it is. Go and see some clinics. Go and see a naltrexone clinic; talk to the people there. Talk to the people who are now abstaining; talk to the people who are proud of the fact that they are wearing jewellery. ‘Never had jewellery in my life’. ‘Why? Did you sell it?’ ‘Pinched it and sold it. Now, look at this: jewellery!’
You will find that some of the stories will bring you close to tears. There are people who have been addicted since adolescence. I went to a naltrexone clinic, and at the one I went to, you had to come with a carer. They were not going to treat you unless you had a drug-free person with you who you were prepared to nominate as a carer. The person who was the carer was a teenager, and she was bringing her parents along, her mum and her dad. This is not an easy area to legislate in. It is not an easy area to modify human behaviours when they are looking for risk, excitement, and you have the powerful addictions that come with substances of this type. Please do not be trite about the work that was done by previous governments, including myself, in some dismissive fashion that we did it because we were just some sort of blind troglodytes who were uncaring about drug-affected people.
Members interjecting.
Mr DUNHAM: Please do not laugh.
Members interjecting.
Mr DUNHAM: I can tell you that if you believe in your heart of hearts that the repository of all caring, compassion and humanity sits in the hearts of people who have ALP after their name as politicians, and that for some reason we have blind adherence to a policy which has no basis in science, remember that not only did I go to these places, but so did some of my predecessors, including the member for Katherine. In fact, I accompanied him to a couple, and we went to two or three different states. So, do not, whatever you do …
Mr Kiely: You said the same thing 10 times. You have to get the 20 minutes out, don’t you Steve? You just have to get it all out.
Mr DUNHAM: Well, this is a debate that has been brought on because it is important. I have been implored to speak by various commentators, including the member for Johnston. We are going over a lot of the old ground. I could be much shorter, but it is an important debate. This report here says it; it says the reason it has to come out and be debated is because there is a problem. I would ask that, if this is to be a political tool, bring it on now, say it now. We will go to the election with our position; we do not have a problem with it. Tell us the measuring indicators - and we know one of them is a reduction in break-ins. Foils at Moil is a great indicator. Okay, there was place where people dispensed drugs and they do not do it any more, therefore the problem has gone away. That is just nonsense. That is Hansel and Gretel stuff.
Dr Burns interjecting.
Mr DUNHAM: If you are really serious about this, run your bona fides. Chuck rocks at us and tell us we have our head in the sand and all the rest of it; we will take our position to the electorate and you can do yours. But remember, when this is a highly politicised and charged abuse of environment that it will become, that it was your invitation to us to enter into this debate in that fashion.
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services): Madam Speaker, I thank all honourable members for their contribution today.
Listening to the debate, particularly contributions from the opposition, I wondered whether they knew what the bill was about. The bill is not about a decision as to whether methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone is the appropriate pharmacotherapy. The bill is about public health risks, stricter controls for drugs, and clinical matters. It is not about methadone, naltrexone or any of these other things. This has all been very strange. I know that the opposition has a real passion about what they think methadone does, and the ministers for Business and Tourism have very well outlined those issues here today.
The amendments focus on stricter controls on S8 drugs to combat their misuse and over-prescription, and they are further evidence of this government’s tough stand against illicit drug use in our community. They are also based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Illicit Drugs and the overwhelming scientific evidence for these recommendations.
I must make some comment, nevertheless, on methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone. What we have introduced into the Northern Territory is what happens in other parts of Australia and the world; that is, a doctor - not a politician, not the minister for Health – decides what sort of treatment a person should receive. In the past, what happened was that the previous government and minister for Health said only certain types of pharmacotherapies were acceptable in the Northern Territory, and only for certain types of things. We had the situation where, very close to going to election, the former minister allowed naltrexone and buprenorphine for withdrawal, and we already had methadone for withdrawal in the Northern Territory.
We must remember that the people we are providing these services for are Territorians. This is a health issue we are trying to sort out by providing adequate clinical responses to a health problem. We have said that in the Northern Territory, like everywhere else in Australia - and this is very sound rationale - doctors who are adequately trained can provide pharmacotherapies for either withdrawal or maintenance. We have also said that in the Northern Territory, buprenorphine is the pharmacotherapy of choice and that methadone may also be used for maintenance programs, but they are used as the exception. There are a number of exceptions where methadone would be chosen as the pharmacotherapy of choice. For example, if the person is pregnant or if they have been a user for a very long period of time, we know that buprenorphine will not work.
The member for Drysdale raised the issue of naltrexone. Naltrexone is available in the Northern Territory but is usually not used, the reason being that people who use naltrexone tend to relapse considerably, so it is very rarely used anywhere in Australia or, I understand, anywhere in the world. Why would we want to encourage people to use naltrexone when we know, clinically, that there is a very high relapse rate?
It is very important to put in context also that the Illicit Drugs Task Force report - which we have already tabled and which has already had significant discussion in this House in previous debates - recommended that pharmacotherapies for the treatment of opioid dependence for both maintenance and withdrawal will be made in the Northern Territory. It is part of that recommendation that precipitated these changes to the Poisons and Dangerous Drugs Act today.
The member for Port Darwin quite rightly said that alcohol is a very significant problem. So is tobacco, and the member for Port Darwin mentioned that as well. We have introduced some of the toughest legislation in Australia in relation to tobacco. We are also working very hard in relation to alcohol, but illicit drugs are also a problem. Is she suggesting that we should not be looking at this problem as well? We need to look at alcohol, illicit drugs, and tobacco. This government, in a very short period of time, has looked at all three things and is working very hard on them.
We have a significant review of the Liquor Act; we have a Substance Abuse Committee; we have an itinerants strategy with significant funding and effort going into alcohol programs; and, of course, we have the Tobacco Control Act, which has meant that in Australia, actually, this year, we won the top award in relation to tobacco control, whereas we had received the Dirty Ashtray Award for three years. It amazes me that the member for Port Darwin would bring that up, given that it is such an embarrassing history of the CLP.
There was a question, too, about how much money we have committed to these strategies. We have put in $500 000 recurrent for addressing the Illicit Drugs Task Force findings. It is not merely for pharmacotherapies. There is also money going into counselling services, services for professional development, a professional telephone line where you can get assistance, whether you are a doctor, a professional, a member of a family of the drug user, or the person using the drug.
We have done a fair bit of work, and we are looking at how we can better use some of the people we have in our system who are working with young people, particularly the youth patrols out in the suburbs of Darwin, and how those people can also be working on many of the recommendations of the Illicit Drugs Task Force.
The amendments cover four areas: the introduction of a new control system for Schedule 8 substances; the adoption of the Standard for the Uniform Schedule of Drugs and Poisons; power to sets conditions on possessing and using Schedule 7 substances, including a demonstration of competency; and consequential and housekeeping amendments.
The first part, the introduction of a new control system for Schedule 8 substances, stems from the recommendations of the Task Force on Illicit Drugs and a consultancy by a Queensland Health Department for the Northern Territory Alcohol and Other Drugs Program. To date, the Northern Territory has been the only jurisdiction without legislation requiring doctors to obtain a permit to prescribe S8 drugs. That is a very serious matter, one this legislation will cover. The amendments will subject all S8 substances to a base level of regulatory control, mandatory contracts to limit patients to one doctor, one supplying pharmacy plus a requirement to notify the Poisons Control Branch.
One of the things that has been a significant problem in the past is doctor shopping and pharmacy shopping. This legislation will stop that. Medications of particular concern, such as maintenance pharmacotherapies, will be subject to additional controls including authorisation to prescribe. I was somewhat amazed to hear the member for Drysdale suggesting that doctors prescribing pharmacotherapies were not trained. I can assure members of this House that every doctor who prescribes pharmacotherapies is trained by a specialist and has to be approved by their Chief Health Officer before they can do so. I hope that the member for Drysdale does not continue to run that line because it is a very serious one that will unnecessarily worry people in the community.
Another aspect of the bill is the adoption of the Standard for Scheduling of Drugs and Poisons published by the Commonwealth under the Therapeutic Goods Act and endorsed by the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council. It is recognised by other jurisdictions as the national standard, and includes issues of labelling and packaging of poisons and dangerous drugs.
The third aspect is the power to set conditions on authorisation to possess and use a Schedule 7 substance, including a demonstration of competency. Schedule 7 substances are poisons used in agriculture and horticulture, for example mirant and cyanide, and the Chief Health Officer may impose conditions on the authorisation to possess and use S7 substances.
The consequential and housekeeping amendments are necessary for effective administration of the act, more appropriate maximum penalties for worse-case breaches, and penalties converted to penalty units rather than dollars to bring in line with the government tough-on-drugs policy and align it with the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Kava Management Act.
We know we have a problem with morphine dependency in the Northern Territory. When this government came to office, prescriptions for morphine in the Northern Territory were being dispensed at seven times the national average - a disgraceful figure. As a result of measures we have introduced, for example, pharmacotherapies, this rate is falling, and the latest figures show the prescription rate is down 60% from the high point in 2001. The evidence is overwhelming that our approach is the right one.
There is an article in The Australian Prescriber, Volume 24 No 1 of 2001, a publication of the National Prescribers Service, sent to medical practitioners, pharmacists, etcetera, throughout Australia, by Dr Alex Wodak of Drugs and Alcohol Services at St Vincent’s Hospital and an acknowledged expert in the field, who concluded:
- The number of Australians dependant on heroin is increasing. This is resulting in more deaths and
disease. Treatment of dependency usually begins with detoxification, followed by maintenance treatment.
Some patients become abstinent. While non-drug therapy has a role, there is more evidence to support the
use of pharmacotherapy for drug dependence. Methadone is a cost-effective maintenance treatment. Other
options include buprenorphine and naltrexone.
I remind members of the media release from the Australian National Council on Drugs from 2 October last year:
- The Australian National Council on Drugs has thrown its considerable support behind a Northern
Territory government announcement to implement a range of programs to address drug use.
Major Brian Watters, Chairman of the ANCD stated:
‘The ANCD has been working closely with the Northern Territory government since it came to office
last year and is very pleased to see the introduction of a range of programs to reduce and treat drug
use’.
Major Watters added:
‘For too long, the Northern Territory has been in a form of denial over the level of illicit drug use that
occurs and this has meant that many communities in the Northern Territory have been struggling to
effectively deal with drug issues without adequate resources or options in place. The availability of
methadone, naltrexone and buprenorphine as well as support programs and a 24-hour hotline will
start to bring the Northern Territory into line with the rest of the country’.
I would not like to suggest that Major Brian Watters is a political ally of the government. He is a very close friend of the Prime Minister but, clearly, he sees the importance of the kinds of things which we are introducing today.
There were questions in the debate regarding the numbers of patients using pharmacotherapies in the Northern Territory. In total, there are currently 46 patients, 34 public and 12 private, receiving buprenorphine maintenance treatment, and 55 patients; 48 public and seven private, receiving methadone maintenance treatment. These clients are in Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. At this stage, there have been no requests from Tennant Creek or Nhulunbuy. There are 10 accredited prescribers and 10 pharmacies willing to supply throughout the Northern Territory.
I would like to make a comment in relation to the pharmacies. Throughout Australia, there is about a 30% take-up rate of pharmacists who are willing to be involved in pharmacotherapy programs in relation to dispensing the pharmacotherapies. In the Northern Territory, we reached that level of 30%, but we are working with the Pharmacy Guild to increase that number, particularly in the remoter parts of the Northern Territory should there be people who need to go on to those programs in those areas. I thank the Pharmacy Guild for their help while we have been working on these programs.
The Top End Division of General Practice has recently been contracted to establish a Territory-wide training program to increase the number of accredited pharmacotherapy prescribers. The total cost of this initiative is $63 300. That is $31 650 for 2002-03 and $31 650 in 2003-04.
I would like to correct some of the misapprehensions that some of the opposition members have in relation to pharmacotherapies. The first one is that pharmacies do not support pharmacotherapies. The current amendments have the support of the pharmacies, and we have the support of the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. As I said before, we are working closely with them. The suggestion that pharmacists are not willing to be involved in this is somewhat silly because that is contrary to the evidence that we have before us.
Another misapprehension was that, once clients are on a program, they stay on it forever. Our scheme imposes a system of control and a clinical review of each client every six months. The decision about whether clients stay on is a clinical one. In talking to the people in my Alcohol and Other Drugs area, one of the things that happens is that some people stay on these things for a very short period of time. Some will stay on, particularly if they have been long-term users, perhaps for a longer period, six months, maybe for a year or so. However, it is a variable thing and is a clinical decision in relation to how long people remain on these programs.
Another misapprehension on the part of the member for Port Darwin is that there is no research or monitoring. The system will allow data collection, health collections before and during the program, as well as monitoring numbers of clients and prescriptions and the monitoring of health concerns. I am afraid that was completely incorrect.
There was the fourth fallacy, and this was the impost on taxpayers. I should say that the member for Johnston dealt with this issue extremely well, and let me congratulate him on his commitment to improving this area for people of the Northern Territory. His research work in relation to MS Contin has been very significant, and I thank him for his contribution today, and particularly for his clinical research work in the Northern Territory.
Returning to the impost on taxpayers, it has to be said that the cost to the community in over-prescribing and misuse, in terms of health and crime, are much greater than the cost of providing the pharmacotherapies in the first place. In fact, a simple look at the figures that the member for Johnston quoted this morning reveal that they are considerably less than the amount of money that we are spending on pharmacotherapies.
There was a lot of argy-bargy about needle and syringe programs, and these not being effective. If the CLP really thinks that these programs are not effective, why did they introduce them in Darwin and Alice Springs? I cannot understand it. That does not make sense. The Illicit Drugs Task Force recommended that we expand these programs because research overwhelmingly shows that these programs have stopped the spread of disease throughout Australia. One of the things that we do know in relation to needle and syringe programs is that, when the federal government first introduced these some time ago, since that time, Australia has stopped the spread of dreadful diseases such as HIV, AIDS and Hepatitis C through these needle and syringe programs. In fact, in countries where they do not have needle and syringe programs, the transfer of disease via the use of needles is very high, and there are still significant problems in relation to the transmission of disease via needles. We should be very proud, as a country, that Australia has embraced needle and syringe programs.
I should point out that nobody thinks that drug use is a good thing. What we are trying to do here is to minimise harm, not only to the person who is taking drugs, but to the person who may be living with the person who is taking the drugs, who may not even know that that person is taking drugs and who, unwittingly, could become the recipient of some kind of blood borne disease. This is a very effective way of reducing that kind of disease. We know that over the next 10 years, we are looking at more significant issues in relation to HIV, particularly in the north of Australia, and that we have to be absolutely vigilant if we are not going to see a considerable increase in HIV in the Northern Territory.
A further misapprehension was that more drug users will come to the Territory. I do not think that anybody would suddenly come to the Territory because we are offering pharmacotherapies. In fact, the previous unregulated system was more open to abuse, whereas this system imposes very strict controls on S8s of all types.
The member for Nelson raised issues in relation to agricultural spraying. Fertilisers are not S7s and will not be affected by these amendments. Users of S7 substances will have to demonstrate competence which includes safety of themselves and others, including one’s neighbours.
Drug addiction is devastating for the individual, their family, and the community in general. Evidence shows addiction can lead people to committing break-ins and other crime to fund drug habits. We are serious about tackling the hard issues facing our society, to deliver the outcomes Territorians want: a safer and healthier community for themselves and their children. Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the House.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
ELECTRICAL WORKERS AND CONTRACTORS AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 162)
(Serial 162)
Continued from 18 June 2003.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Madam Speaker, this, as we know, is similar to the bill in relation to plumbers and drainers debated earlier this week.
We, on this side, have similar misgivings about the Electrical Workers and Contractors Amendment Bill. I will say, up front, that we will not be supporting this bill on the grounds that we believe it should be deferred. There is a lot of confusion out in the community, particularly with licensed electricians and contractors, and I base the deferral on that. That is what I would like to see with this bill; a lot more consultation before this proceeds.
I note with interest in the minister’s second reading speech, and similarly with the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Amendment Bill, that when the National Competition Policy review was carried out, one of the recommendations was that a general review be carried out. The only statement the minister has made with regard to that general review - given, also, that this has been going on for some time - is that the general review encountered numerous delays so it was decided to implement the recommendations of the NCP review separately in order to comply with the requirements of the National Competition Policy.
I understand the need to comply with NCP requirements because there are penalties if you do not. What I do not understand is the nature interpretation that has been applied to some of the recommendations arising from the NCP review. I am quite concerned that the general review, which encountered numerous delays - the reasons for which I am not sure - was not undertaken and that we could have done this in one fell swoop. I do note, however, that the general review will be conducted at a later date in conjunction with a review of the Building Act. One can only suppose that perhaps you are looking at some amendments or arrangements under the licensing of builders and perhaps all subcontractors, or all trades, and that you will undertake this general review in conjunction with a review of the Building Act. That may be the case. Perhaps what could have been left out of this amendment at this stage to comply with the NCP are the parts of this bill that are causing concern to electricians, both contractors and licensed electricians of various grades.
One of the concerns is the new definitions, the gradings and trade classifications, being just an electrician or a prescribed trades classification, and then an unrestricted or supervised or restricted grading. I do note that some other states - not all by any long shot - do have classifications of unrestricted but this is a concern to a lot of people in the trade, particularly where they are doing business across a border where their classification as electrical workers, electrical fitters or electrical fitter mechanics are recognised currently but, perhaps, may not be under this unrestricted grading. That can be overcome; it is not a major issue.
The other area of concern is this move, as with the plumbers, as I stated in that debate, to ensure that people do have to prove their competency levels. That seems to be more of a whim of the Electrical Licensing Board. I understand national competency levels and I do not have a problem with that. I have checked other states. Western Australia is a good example where, as long as you renew your licence, they do not ask you what you have been doing in the past or even up to some period after your licence has lapsed. I can understand that need for licensed tradesmen who let their licence lapse and then want to come back in to the trade at some later date. You would want them to undergo some form of upskilling by way of a course or perhaps testing, but for renewal, I am not sure that it is necessary.
It will be very interesting whether other states all move to what is proposed here. From my research, my understanding is that, whilst they will maintain a similar standard, of course, they may not require that licensed people show proof of their work in the term of their licence for a renewal. Certainly, for a lapsed licence, they would.
The unfortunate part of the electrical trades area, I guess, is that they are not all that well organised. There are some members of the Electrical Contractors Association, NT Branch, but by far and away, the majority are not members of that and, likewise, with licensed electricians. Those I have talked to show a lot of concern and are now receiving their renewal notices and starting to wonder why it is that they have to go through all sorts of hoops to show that they are accredited to be licensed.
One individual who comes to mind is Klaus Greslind, who, for probably 30 years, along with his wife, was the owner and manager of Mobile Electrics. He has been out of the trade for some time, but he has just done his renewal and to get it, he had to have a form signed by a fellow who did his apprenticeship under Klaus some years ago, which seems very odd to me. That man is a very capable and competent electrician, from my experience when I worked for Mobile Electrics quite a lot of years ago. If it is about the skills of being able to read the current inspection requirements or regulations, the ASA rules, then I am sure he can do it competently because that is what it is all about at the end of the day: safety.
Another person who has talked to me in the last week or so reiterated that the nature of electricity has not changed. Some of the rules have changed, some of the requirements have changed, but the nature of electricity has not changed. The nature of earthing has not changed. The way it acts has not changed. Some of the things you need to know about methodologies have changed; some of the technologies for integration of electronic programmable computers and timers have changed, and that is fair enough. However, the way electricity acts has not changed a lot since it was discovered, one might suggest.
Like the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Amendment Bill, I do not have a real problem about the contractors side of what you are proposing, but I do have a fundamental problem with the requirements for electricians to retain a licence that they have enjoyed over the past 30 years in the Territory. All of a sudden, and I know the provision was in there to check at any time, but now the Licensing Board is sending out information saying: ‘Show us cause why you should be licensed as an unrestricted electrician’ in the way that we are proposing in this amendment, which I find quite sad.
If it points to a greater inherent problem in the inspection process, in the whole self-certification process, then that is the sort of thing we need to come to grips with in a general review. I am happy to do that. The numerous sparkies and plumbers to whom I have spoken over the last few weeks, since having the briefing – once again, thank you – have said that that is probably the way to move. To bring this on now is not the way to go, in their minds. I understand a few of them have made representations to the minister’s office, particularly in the last few days there have been a number of faxes and what have you. Like all things, these people are busy trying to earn a living and, unfortunately, they are not that organised as a group of people in this sector, which is obviously not to their benefit, and they have left it to the 11th hour to try to have their voices heard.
That has compelled me to ask the minister for deferral of this. I know there were a number of forums around the Northern Territory. I know there was input at various levels. Some of the things said at some of those forums, according to my sources, have not been taken note of; some have. However, some have not, and the disquiet in the industry is something that needs to be overcome before moving on with this, particularly if we are moving into a greater review in the near future, a general review of the whole act and the way things are done. More particularly, if it is going to be caught up with a general review, as you said in your second reading speech of the Plumbers and Drainers amendment, and even more particularly if it is going to be caught up in builders and other trade licensing.
What are there - 500 licensed electricians and contractors? I am not sure of the exact number, but I am sure your officers would know. One thing I am sure of is that the vast majority of electrical licensed people at the moment in the Northern Territory do not really have a good idea of what is going on, and they will not really have a good idea until they receive their renewal notices along with the ‘please have a look at this fact sheet and provide …’, as required now in this amendment ‘… substantial material to say why you should have the licence that you are applying for …’, albeit electrician or some other prescribed trade classification ‘… at unrestricted, supervised or restricted level’.
The other parts of the bill, as I said earlier, I do not have a problem with; the NCP Review recommendations that a fit and proper person test should be amended to overcome its arbitrariness and clarify the criteria. The other review recommendation that the exemption from licensing afforded the Power and Water Corporation is a good one and should be removed. They are not a problem. The recommendation that the requirement for additional experience for contractors should be clearly articulated if it is to be retained – and I do not think anyone argues against electricians and plumbers having to be licensed, that is not the argument here at all – goes to the purpose of this bill, which is to amend the act to establish nationally agreed uniform trade classifications and gradings to form the framework within which the NCP Review recommendations are accommodated. That is talking about the trade classifications and gradings.
We have a high level of competency in the Northern Territory amongst our electricians. Okay, it may not be being registered or recorded in the way that the Licensing Board would do it, but I fall back to the argument that, even with self-certification, the audits are still done by the Licensing Board and those audits should certainly pick up if there is a fall in competency levels. In the briefing, I asked how many areas of concern there are; how many examples of this there are that you can attribute to a lack of competency levels within the trade, and the answer was very, very few.
If that is the case, the flip side is, logically, one would assume that our competency levels are very high. Maybe we should be just picking up through the audits those who are not complying to the regulations, the wiring rules, and the Australian Standards. If they are found to have a number of breaches over the term of their licence, then you ask them: ‘Why should we renew your licence if this is an ongoing thing?’. That would be fine. I am sure that happens now, and that accounts for the low result that you could point to …
______________________
Distinguished Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Daly, could I interrupt you for one moment to acknowledge our visitors in the Gallery? Honourable members, I would like to draw your attention to the presence in the Speakers Gallery of a delegation from Anhui Province of the People’s Republic of China, Mr Zhong, Mr Yu, Mr Cheng, Ms Fei, Ms Nong and Mr Lui. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend a warm welcome to you.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I am sure members would like to meet them. Member for Daly, thank you for that indulgence.
______________________
Mr BALDWIN: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
That is the whole argument and, perhaps there should be a much more of a focus on those who are working unlicensed - God forbid! - in the industry. All of us know from time to time that happens. I am sure that licensed electricians, or anybody, do not like to see that. Anybody who is signing for a completion of a job or self-inspection for people who are unlicensed should certainly be routed out and penalised. That could also be done with audits if you could ever notice them.
I understand where it is all coming from. I understand that because of self-certification, one has to have some checks and balances in there to ensure that our tradespeople are working with competent skills. However, as I said earlier, if it is a case of being a problem of self-certification, maybe that is what needs to be looked at. If it is a case of not enough auditing by the relevant authorities, maybe the auditing side needs to be beefed up. Maybe one of the things that could be looked at, as some of the states – or one in particular that I know of - down south are looking at is that you need more resources. Maybe we have to look at some private inspectorial type services. That could certainly be looked at, and be on a user-pays system to help with the audit.
I do not think you need to bring in more regulation to something that is happening right around the country but, more particularly it seems, here in the Northern Territory - an over-supply and over-burdensome demand for more regulation on people who have acquired knowledge and understood, pretty much by right, that they deserve to have a licence of this nature, a little like a driver’s licence, as I said in my other debates, that can be taken away from you if you breach. However, if you do not breach and you keep it current, renewed on time, then it is your right to have that licence.
As I said, a contractor’s licence is a different story. But certainly, they are the areas that could be looked at. That is what the tradespeople are saying to me. Of the number that I have contacted over quite some time are now, quite a few of them are receiving their renewals. They are now starting to fax in their concerns. It is unfortunate that they have left it until such a late hour. I do not think you need to go down this path of making it onerous on those who are legal and working within the rules, and those who want to retain a licence that they have held for many, many years.
That is the argument from this side, minister. I cannot support it and the CLP will not be supporting it on that basis. I would applaud you if you were to defer this, and it may be that you need to change it to ensure that NCP requirements are complied with, but bring on the wider review of electrical, builders, plumbers and other trades licensing. This one, I am sure you are going to hear a fair bit more on from the trades as they receive their renewal notices as their terms of five years come to a close.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Daly for covering this issue in far more depth than I can. I, too, hope that the minister will defer it, and I will not support it for that reason.
People have come to me at the 11th hour. Before recent times I did not have anyone speak to me about it but, in the last week up to last Monday, I had a number of electricians come and see me who had some concerns. There is no doubt that one could say that perhaps our electrical people need to get their act together because the word that I have heard is that only about 4% of electricians in the Territory belong to NECA, which is the National Electrical Contractors Association. To belong to that group you also have to belong to the Territory Construction Agency. I believe you have to pay a percentage of your turnover as membership. For a lot of smaller people, which a lot of electricians are, that is a bit onerous and is one reason they stay out of it.
Of course, the other side of it is because they do not belong to an association, it is very difficult for them to get together or for politicians to contact an association that represents them all. There is a deficiency there that maybe this legislation will prove a wake-up call that they need to have some kind of association.
As I said, I discussed this bill with a number of electricians. They believe that, as the member for Daly said, they should be able to continue with their licence without having to go through some sort of competency course. Their argument is that if you are working in the business, you will make sure your licence is renewed on time because you want to continue in that business. I agree if they have let their licence lapse for a period of time, then it would be a good idea to examine people if they had been out of the industry for a while, but for those electricians who are working continually in the industry, this is legislation represents the way the world seems to be going: everything you have to do has to have a certificate. You can do a one-day course in PhotoShop on your computer and they present you with a lovely certificate at the end of it. I wonder if we over-regulate or over-require people to be competent in everything we do.
The word I heard is that to go through these competency tests will cost in the vicinity of $500 for a two-day course. The particular electrician I spoke to said out of that two-day course is about two hours which are relevant; the rest is fairly well padded with other things that really are not required. They believe that the Territory Construction Association, which is the group that would run the competency courses, is keen to do this sort of thing as a means of funding its own livelihood. This is how the Territory Construction Association is able to fund itself, by having these courses. I understand that associations do work in that manner, but be that as it may, it may not be a good reason for introducing these sorts of courses. It has to boil down to: do we really need them? Have there been any problems? As the member for Daly said, if people have breached their licences over a period of time, perhaps they are the people who need to be put through a competency course.
I believe if the government deferred this bill, it would allow time to go out and question and provide more information to those electricians. That is not going to be easy because, as I said, they do not have an association, or if they have an association, there are very few members.
One of the other concerns that they had was, again, as the member for Daly raised, the issue of classifications. They certainly were not happy with those classifications. I do note that in the minister’s second reading, he talked about establishing nationally agreed uniform trade classifications and gradings. I would have thought that it is better not to have gone down that path, at least until all states come up with a nationally agreed uniform trade classification. I am not sure that, by having these classifications, we are part of any national program. That was a concern of the electricians to whom I spoke. They did not agree with that, especially Clause 6(1)(a)(i) where it says that they are classified as an electrician. I believe some of them want to be classified as an electrical fitter, or they prefer that type of classification.
I realise I did not have a briefing on this, minister, but these issues came to me at fairly late notice, and I have questions that should be able to be answered today. One fundamental question is: why do you need changes to licensing in relation to National Competition Policy? Why do we have to change the system of licensing? What does that have to do with National Competition Policy? I could not answer when I was asked that question. I have no idea why we have introduced these things. Have some of these been introduced under the guise of the National Competition Policy to bring in other matters that some people in the industry have wanted to introduce into the electrical licensing industry? I do not know, but I would interested to know, minister, how the NCP and licensing match up.
Another question - and this is probably reasonably close to your heart - that one electrician asked me is: do electricians in the ethnic community know what is going on? Have they been consulted? I repeat that I understand it is difficult if nobody belongs to an association, but they were concerned that perhaps some of those groups have not a clue about what is happening. If that is the case, that is more reason, if you are going to have a broader review with the Building Act, to hold off with this act for the time being. Make that little extra effort - and that is not a criticism of the government; I am just saying that perhaps you have got to make a little more effort - to try and pick up the different groups of people and then perhaps we come back later or perhaps include it in the general review of the Building Act.
My objection to supporting this is not based necessarily on anything in this bill. I feel that, at the moment, it would be better if the government held back a little and made sure the whole industry knew what was going on because it would be far better to defer it now, and get the industry to understand and put their complaints to you. In the end, it is good government if you can produce a bill that is agreed to by the people who actually work in this industry; there is going to be far less angst for the government, and it will be better for everybody in the end.
Mr VATSKALIS (Lands and Planning): Madam Speaker, the Electrical Workers and Contractors Act was reviewed in accordance with the National Competition Policy in October 2000 under the previous CLP government. The reason we have to have these reviews under the National Competition Policy is because the CLP government signed an agreement that they were going to review their legislation to find out if it complied with National Competition Policy guidelines. That also tied the government that they would review until a certain date, and would remove any anti-competitive provisions in the legislation. This review actually took place in October 2000.
Expressions of interest were called, and they were provided by NECA, the National Electrical Construction Association, the CPU, PowerWater, and private members. The review, I believe, was advertised publicly. The member for Daly was the minister at the time. He is fully aware of this review. For the past three years, he knew very well what the recommendations of the review were. He knew for a long period of time that this was coming to parliament, yet he comes in here today and opposes the legislation.
It is true I received a number of faxes yesterday. I received a presentation by one electrical contractor the day before yesterday, with some concerns. However, the difference is that this amendment bill addresses only those issues recommended by the NCP review team. There is going to be a general review of the Electrical Workers and Contractors Act, and it is going to be in conjunction with a review of the Building Act. As a matter of fact, I intend to call for the review of the Plumbers and Drainers Licensing Act and the Electrical Workers and Contractors Act very soon.
I received a number of faxes. I wrote to these people advising what this amendment includes, how they will be affected, and that I will have a public forum, inviting members and non-members of NECA so they can be advised of the provisions of the bill. When we do the general review, they will be invited, each one of them, whether they are members of the National Electrical Contractors Association or not, to contribute to the review.
Let me go back to the bill. The proposed amendment has been framed so as to be consistent with and supportive of national uniform licensing agreements. We are moving to an anti-competitive environment, and the agreements in every state have to match each other. We cannot have different agreements; we are bound by the agreements of a different government to comply with the National Competition Policy.
I would also like to foreshadow the drafting instructions for those amendments, the regulations, will include that provision be made for the keeping of a register of linesmen in the Northern Territory, with the capability of being included in the proposed national register should this ultimately come to fruition. The reason for that is because, after I discussed this issue with the CEPU, I am convinced that there remains a need to keep a register of qualified linesmen, especially after I was informed by CEPU that in certain states there were some fatal accidents when people who were not qualified or did not have the competency to do certain work undertook the work with tragic results.
Some of the issues that were raised included skill maintenance. If you apply to renew your licence, certainly the board is not going to ask you to provide evidence of your experience. The board will ask either for copies of the certificates you have signed so they can see that you are currently working in the job, or for your employer to sign a declaration that you are actually an electrician. If somebody is out of the job for two or three years, changes jobs and wants to come back, certainly the board then should be asking for proof of his experience, qualification and competency.
Things change, although they basically remain the same, but we see more and more things happening; people want to upgrade their qualification and skills. The board should have this capability. However, again, the need for licence holders to demonstrate recent experience at the time of licence renewal has always been a requirement of the Electrical Workers and Contractors Act. It is not a new provision; it has been there.
If the member for Daly wants to become an electrician again after being out of the job for 10 years, the board will have, and should have, the right to ask him for proof of his qualification, competency and experience. It is not only for his own personal …
Mr Baldwin: What about the bloke who owned Mobile Electrics for 30 years?
Mr VATSKALIS: If you are still working, you have to be certified. If you are current and you are currently doing a second job and you provide certification now and you can prove that, I do not think you should have any problem. But on coming back 10 years later and saying: ‘I want to be an electrician again. Give me my licence’, at least the board should have the ability to request proof of experience, ability, and competency.
The Licensing Board looks for sufficient evidence to indicate that, when carrying out electrical installation work, the applicant has maintained his ability to select quality material to do the job properly without presenting any danger to himself and to others. It is very, very important because a small mistake by the person who installs an electrical circuit can have tragic results for others; his co-workers or people who come after him.
Really, the Electrical Workers and Contractors Amendment Bill, which is a National Competition Policy requirement, is not a bill that introduces new elements; it only deals with issues recommended by the National Competition Policy Review team. As such, I highly commended it to members.
I understand your concerns. I am concerned about the perceived lack of consultation. I am also concerned with the perceived lack of consultation with the ethnic community. However, my understanding is that, at the time of the review, there was wide consultation in the year 2000 with unions, the association of the contractors, Power and Water, and other members of the profession.
As a member for Daly said, unfortunately, the profession is fragmented. There is no Northern Territory electrical contractors association. There was one in 1999, but it collapsed after a year. It is very difficult when you have got 500 operators who do not talk to each other; they are not united to say: ‘We did not know about it. We did not do anything about it because we were not consulted’.
To defer the bill now and go back and have another round of consultation, when the consultation has already been done - and there is nothing radical here that will affect the electrical contractors. It is too late.
However, again, I give my commitment that not only will these people be contacted and kept informed, but we will increase the level of consultation and the level of contact with the profession. I have already instructed that, apart from the biennial journal that comes out, The Conduit, there will be more information coming out, and a lot of it will be in the workplace. Certainly, it is not going to be only in English; it is going to be in other languages, despite the fact that the majority of electricians, because of the type and the kind of training they have to have, should be fluent in English. From my own experience, very few first generation Greeks actually are electricians with a licence. Most of them are second generation and have been through the Australian education system, are very fluent in English and understand the trade and the qualification. I commend the bill to the members.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr VATSKALIS (Lands and Planning)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I just want to, for the purpose of accuracy, make the comment that it seems to me that the minister is hiding behind National Competition Policy as the reason for being forced to enact this legislation.
It is important Territorians know that there is no such force on the Northern Territory government to do so. There could be a penalty applied, if the Commonwealth so desired, if the Northern Territory did not apply National Competition Policy recommendations in its entirety. However, the decision to proceed with this legislation is entirely at the behest of the Labor government of the Northern Territory. It is not a requirement of National Competition Policy agreements.
It is important that the minister and this Labor government does not go out there and try to tell electricians, members of associations or otherwise, that somehow you are locked into National Competition Policy requirements on order to enact this legislation.
In fact, one of the hallmarks of the Northern Territory government, I believe, should be to look closely, and scrutinise National Competition Policy requirements in their entirety. In some respects, National Competition Policy is acting against the interests of Territorians - small businesses and individual Territorians. That is what we are here for. We are here to protect, argue and fight for the interests of Territorians, not to say that we want to be like the rest of Australia and hide behind National Competition Policy requirements.
I am not saying that National Competition Policy, in a general sense, is wrong. I am simply making this point: you need to be truthful and honest with Territorians when you make your excuses. The thrust of National Competition Policy, yes, the Northern Territory government is part of that agreement, but the agreement does not bind this parliament to pass legislation simply because it meets National Competition Policy parameters, in the same way that if the Northern Territory government decides not to implement certain aspects that are recommended in National Competition Policy that is our decision, and we should stand by that decision: ‘Yes, we have your advice, we have your recommendations, but we believe that on this issue, it acts against the interests of Territorians’. We should stand up and argue it and fight it and, if they want to penalise us for it, let them.
Let us get this very straight, Madam Speaker. The opposition is opposing this legislation because there are aspects of it that we believe do not act in the interests of individual Territorians. We believe that the licensing renewal arrangements in the Territory at the moment are sufficient and, if that breaches National Competition Policy guidelines, that is a decision of your Labor government, that you want to make us conform with the rest of Australia - your decision, yours only. Do not blame it on previous governments or previous agreements.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Indigenous Arts and Culture in the Northern Territory
Indigenous Arts and Culture in the Northern Territory
Ms MARTIN (Arts and Museums): Madam Speaker, this afternoon I make a statement to the Assembly on indigenous arts in the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory benefits from an exceptionally rich artistic and cultural heritage. The cultural traditions of Aboriginal people reflect a living culture that has been going for thousands of years. Today, new developments in Aboriginal visual and performing arts are building on that tradition in going in new and exciting directions, attracting world interest and acclaim. The work of artists is vital to a sense of our history, language and community identity. Aboriginal visual and performing artists and crafts people bring forward creativity, spiritual and political values, as well as a celebration of Aboriginal relationship to country.
Arts and culture are a big part of our economy, directly through employment, marketing and sales, and indirectly in visitor experience and support for the tourism industry. These industries are getting bigger and a greater number of people are getting jobs and income from them in the Territory. My government also believes that we have a responsibility to have laws to protect the intellectual property rights of creative artists. Accordingly, my government has committed $3.2m over three years, to support indigenous arts in the Territory through Building Strong Arts Business, our Northern Territory indigenous arts strategy.
I am very proud that the Northern Territory is the first jurisdiction in Australia to develop a comprehensive indigenous arts strategy. The Northern Territory indigenous arts strategy, Building Strong Arts Business, will focus government programs and services to better assist growth and strength in the Territory’s indigenous visual and performing arts sector. The strategy is aimed at building the strength of visual arts and crafts, performing arts, music, film and new media, and literature.
Building Strong Arts Business is designed to complement the principles of my government’s social and economic development strategies Building our Community and Building a Better Territory. This strategy will link with a number of other government initiatives to form an important component of strategies for indigenous economic development. These other initiatives include: Building Stronger Regions - Strong Futures; Building Stronger Territory Trade; the NT tourism strategy; the NT Employment, Education and Training strategy; and Investing in the Arts in the Northern Territory.
The indigenous arts strategy provides social and economic benefits to all Territorians. Furthermore, the Northern Territory leads the rest of Australia in indigenous arts. The recent Commonwealth-initiated inquiry into contemporary visual arts and crafts, the Myer Report, estimated that 25% of Australia’s visual artists reside in the Northern Territory. That percentage includes 5000 artists who are indigenous; 70% of Australia’s indigenous visual artists live and work in the Territory.
Putting these estimates into context, this means that the Northern Territory’s indigenous visual artists and craft practitioners number approximately the same as all visual artists and craft practitioners in New South Wales. The Territory has 54 recognised art and craft centres, which comprise over half of the national total. The recent sales at Sotheby’s, where work by Territory artists was sold for figures in the range of $0.5m, eloquently illustrates the economic power of the industry.
Indigenous arts cover more than the visual arts and crafts, however. Territory indigenous arts include visual arts, music, dance, film, new media, theatre and literature recognised nationally and internationally for their integrity, authenticity and innovation. The Territory’s indigenous music sector includes such notable products as Yothu Yindi, the Warumpi Band, Nabarlek, Warren Williams, Nokturnl and Shellie Morris, to name only a few, and they all provide valuable role models and show casing for Territory communities.
The Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association, CAAMA, based in Alice, provides valuable support as Australia’s largest single independent music producer. The Yothu Yindi Foundation in north-east Arnhem Land also provides assistance and development for regional musicians. The Institute for Aboriginal Development, IAD Press, which is growing in stature and sales yearly, increasingly supports our indigenous writers. Indigenous writers living in the Territory have earned prestigious national awards for their work.
Indigenous arts and culture are grounded through their connection with people and the land, and this connection is also reflected in the overall arts and cultural identity of the Territory. Many Territory artists today acknowledge the power and influence of the Territory landscape, and reflect connections between people and the land and their work.
Building Strong Arts Business has been developed in full recognition of the breadth of indigenous arts activities and issues surrounding its further growth. The government engaged Professor Jon Altman of the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research at the Australian National University to provide a framework for the direction of government’s indigenous arts strategy. Professor Altman has had a close association with indigenous arts in the Territory for over 25 years and, together with his wealth of experience, took a strongly consultative approach.
Professor Altman sought submissions from a wide range of targeted Territory-based indigenous arts stakeholders, as well as holding forums in Alice Springs and Darwin, and meeting with individuals and practitioners along with key national arts and indigenous organisations and agencies. The indigenous arts sector has the potential to be a significant employer and a growing source of income, especially in regional and remote communities where opportunities for market engagement are rare.
This is impressive; let me share some statistics with you. The overall retail market for Australian indigenous art and craft is estimated at a minimum of $100m per annum, and in 2001-02, an estimated $38m was spent on indigenous art and craft in the Territory. Approximately $10m per annum is generated in direct sales of art and crafts through remote art centres in the Territory. Indigenous people are an estimated 29% of the Northern Territory population, and 72% of these people live on Aboriginal land. More than 40 indigenous languages are still spoken in the Territory, with cultures that encompass many different responses to history and homelands. $31m was spent on indigenous cultural tours in the Northern Territory in 2001-02. The nation’s oldest and richest indigenous contemporary art award, the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award, NATSIAA, is held annually at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory here in Darwin, and is on tomorrow night.
The Desert Mob Exhibition, a unique showcase of Central Desert art and craft, is hosted by the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct. Over 60 art centres in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia are represented by the two peak Territory-based indigenous visual arts support and advocacy organisations, Desart and ANKAAA, which is the Association of Northern Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists.
The creative range of indigenous arts in the Territory across all areas is immense. Today, I would like to look specifically at visual arts and crafts as an indicative industry. The most significant single investment in indigenous arts in the Territory is through ATSIS’ National Arts and Crafts Industry Support Strategy, NACISS, which invests $2.7m in 34 art centres, supporting over 3000 artists.
Recently, ANKAAA has conducted a survey of 18 of its member art centres, which receive, between them, $1.5m in subsidy. The reason I am referring to this investment is that it demonstrates the potential multiplier power of support for indigenous arts. For the investment of $1.5m, data from the relevant art centres indicates $6.23m in sales, or over four times the investment, of which $3.68m was returned to artists, and $2.55m was reinvested by artists into their art centres. Thus, indigenous art centres are in fact supported by a mix of public and private funding, a fact that is often overlooked in discussions about public investment and indigenous dependency.
Using a conservative economic multiplier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has determined that, in the creative arts sector, every $1m invested creates 28 full-time jobs, and an additional $1.55m of economic benefits.
I would suggest that, in an indigenous and remote context, where cultural values support part-time or flexible participation in the work force, the indigenous art strategy’s investment in indigenous art development is likely to have greater employment, training and skilling outcomes than those indicated by those ABS multipliers. The economic benefits for indigenous communities and across the Territory will also be strong, given that, as producers, indigenous artists remain in the Territory, whilst benefits from many other industries can often flow interstate.
The Territory’s indigenous visual arts and crafts industry has been successful, despite what we must acknowledge is at times a fragile community-based enterprise. My colleague, the Minister for Community Development, spoke in this House in March last year about the endemic dysfunction in remote communities. The sorts of issues he identified include the lack of support for transparent corporate governance, the ad hoc nature of policy and funding support to organisations, and the ability for community art centres to consistently nurture, attract and retain ethical staff.
We all owe much of the success to the dedication of art centre coordinators and the artists, who put in the long hours, year in year out, to build an industry that has become an integral component of the Northern Territory’s economy. The remote art centres are one of the great unsung success stories for indigenous communities. The community art centres are not only successful in the economic sense, but also as important social and cultural centres for the community.
In 2000, ATSIC released Volume 3 of the art and craft story entitled Good Stories from Out Bush, which documented examples of best practice in art and craft centres. What gives me great pride is that out of 46 various categories, 41 examples were from the Territory. Let me share some of this with you. Maruku Arts and Crafts at Uluru was recognised for developing a highly successful national and international business profile, cultural tourism, and implementing efficient stock management systems. In recent years, their annual turnover has exceeded $1m. This business supports 800 crafts people who contribute work to the arts centre on a regular basis. The stock room usually carries over 30 000 pieces of craft for resale. As an artist cooperative, it is thought to be the largest of its kind in Australia.
Maningrida Arts and Crafts effectively manages to overcome issues of distance and isolation by strategic and clever marketing and sales through the Internet. Employment at Jilamara Arts and Crafts at Milikapiti provides support and development for disabled community members. Injalak Arts and Crafts at Gunbalanya was recognised for its work in putting together an organisational strategic plan.
International marketing of both the Territory and its products was recognised through Elcho Island Art and Craft for their work in touring the community’s art and craft culture into the USA and Canada. Skills development and training was evident in Warlukurlangu artists at Yuendumu by implementing corporate governance training and providing the executive with understandable financial reporting on their organisation. Buku Larrnggay Mulka Centre, the arts centre at Yirrkala community, received recognition for its work in setting up a print-making workshop. At the 2002 NT Export Awards, Buku Larrnggay was the winner of the NT Business Review Arts and Entertainment Award for their work in the marketing and export of Yidaki. These are just a few examples of the success and know-how that we have here in the Territory.
This strategy ensures that the collective knowledge out bush will not be wasted, but can be built on and sustained for the benefit of all Territorians. In addition to enriching the diversity of our regional culture and identity, many Territorians in the tourism and related industries rely on the substantial proportion of visitors who come here every year to experience our indigenous culture and art. Last year, my government funded $1.5m to Julalikari Council to assist with the construction of the Nyingkka Nyunyu Cultural Centre. This will assist cultural maintenance and provide economic opportunities through the introduction of Aboriginal tourism into the region. The centre will also create training and development opportunities, and cultural and economic development for the Tennant Creek region.
There are problems, though, for indigenous Territorians on remote communities, but support for the arts offers opportunity. In addition to bringing a whole-of-government approach to indigenous arts, this strategy will assist to bring together the resources of relevant Commonwealth agencies with the Territory in a transparent, sustainable policy and funding framework to maximise support for this important industry. The Territory will not work in isolation. Discussion has already begun with our federal counterparts to make positive inroads into some of the issues facing remote arts centres, which include: the high turnover of staff; the need for good corporate governance; the lack of clear and understandable systems of financial reporting; the lack of transparency and ad hoc nature in Commonwealth agency funding decisions; the lack of professional development opportunity for artists; the lack of coordinated training opportunities to ensure succession planning for arts centres; the provision of adequate infrastructure, production facilities, staff housing; and copyright and intellectual property issues.
The indigenous arts sector potentially supports a range of positive cultural and social outcomes, including community wellbeing and improved health through income generation, education and training. Indigenous arts practice helps to enable families to remain on country to work together, engaged in customary economic activities, and to pass on knowledge inter-generationally. Despite all the real and potential benefits available, indigenous people in the Territory are not currently accessing improvements to their economic and social life to an effective level. The indigenous arts strategy aims to address the disparity between high levels of creative activity and national acclaim, and the current low economic and social outcomes for Northern Territory indigenous artists, and to assist with bringing home the benefits that should accrue from this high degree of creative process.
Professor Altman notes that 70% of indigenous Territorians live on Aboriginal land, on country, which provides the inspiration and powerhouse for art production, but that the remoteness of their situation separates them from engagement with mainstream economic opportunity, the market, and the effective delivery of services. Professor Altman described a situation whereby, paradoxically, indigenous Territorians are very highly engaged in the NT arts sector but have a low engagement with the mainstream economy.
This strategy will result in increased employment, training and economic advancement for indigenous artists and arts workers, and will contribute significantly to Territory economic development, including through tourism. To give the House an idea of what this means for the Territory economy, let me give you two brief figures that illustrate the potential for income and employment this industry creates. The NT Travel Monitor results for 2001-02 showed that combined spending by all visitors to the Northern Territory for Aboriginal art totalled $38m, and $31m spent by the same group on cultural tours.
It should be noted that the indigenous visual arts sector faces significant challenges. The successes and gains have been constantly offset and undermined, in many cases by the unpredictability of funding support. The Myer Report identified chronic frailties in the visual arts and crafts sector, evidenced, to quote the report:
- … by fatigue within organisations brought about by inadequate facilities, over-stretched staff and
forced reductions in program and exhibition activities.
The challenges faced in developing the Territory’s indigenous arts industries are significant. Such challenges must be approached by a partnership across government, and with the artists and organisations of the industry. Our Building Strong Arts Business strategy approaches these opportunities for the industry and government in an holistic manner. The strategy’s six-year life span is designed to ensure that there are adequate time lines for development of new initiatives and cooperative arrangements, and that achievements are well grounded and sustainable.
Building Strong Arts Business includes three strong pathways for future development. Talking Arts Business is about negotiation and partnerships. We will work to develop strong and strategic partnerships with indigenous arts practitioners, the sector and government organisations to ensure sustainable growth. Talking Arts Business will ensure that the strategy is effectively implemented through the establishment of a whole-of-government, inter-departmental committee to coordinate and monitor the expected outcomes of the strategy. This committee will also be responsible for the integrated planning and delivery of indigenous arts services and programs across the Territory through strong partnerships between Northern Territory government services and service providers.
Consultation on the future of the Territory’s indigenous arts sector, listening to the needs of indigenous artists, and addressing concerns through an Indigenous Arts Reference Group, with regional and artform representation, will ensure ownership of the strategy by indigenous people. A stable, well-planned and conducive environment for arts and employment development will be guaranteed through the forging of stronger and more strategic policy and funding partnerships with all key Commonwealth, state and territory government sector stakeholders.
The third element of the strategy is Doing Arts Business. It is about service delivery. We will work to provide strong and culturally appropriate services to encourage arts development and to provide indigenous arts practitioners with advice, support and opportunities for training and employment in the arts. Doing Arts Business will provide improved research, support and advice and development of assistance delivered to indigenous artists, and networking and negotiation to enhance support for the industry for the formation of a specialist Northern Territory Indigenous Arts Development Unit to be located within Arts NT.
Direct employment and training outcomes and sustainable operations will be provided for through the development and delivery of an arts centres infrastructure and employment action plan. A coordinated approach to indigenous visual and performing arts skills development, training and resources will be achieved by working with government education and employment agencies to establish linkages with programs available in schools and other educational and training institutions.
Increased support will be provided for remote indigenous artists, organisations and art centres through existing and potential regional resourcing and serviced networks and by taking a whole-of-government coordinated approach and working proactively with peak bodies and other stakeholders. The strategy will lead to increased indigenous arts development and production capacity. The government will negotiate with the Commonwealth to secure a high level allocation of matched funding to the Territory to achieve secure and predictable funding for development and sustainable growth.
The strategy will provide improved delivery of arts development resourcing through cooperative arrangements with Western Australia, Queensland and South Australia in across-the-top down-the-middle joint programs focussing initially on story telling and literature. Cross-border state-territory strategies to develop and support indigenous arts through strong strategic partnerships will be negotiated with state and territory government art agencies by the NT Indigenous Arts Development Unit.
A performing arts action plan will be developed and implemented to ensure improved support and development of the indigenous performing arts sector.
The strategy will also provide increased protection for indigenous artists’ intellectual property rights through an action plan. This plan will take a coordinated approach to artists, consumer and trader education and investigate best practice and appropriate ways to address issues of authenticity, moral rights, licensing and copyright issues for artists’ descendants.
Funding provided in the strategy will increase indigenous visual and performing arts projects funded through the arts sponsorship program. Indigenous and regional representation will be maintained on the Northern Territory Arts Grants Board to encourage and support indigenous arts projects and to ensure that cultural protocols are observed.
Sharing Arts Business is about showcasing, marketing and export opportunities. We will work to create opportunities to promote and showcase the Territory’s indigenous arts sector to local, national and international markets, to maximise cultural and economic returns for artists, and to encourage respect and understanding of indigenous culture. Sharing Arts Business will ensure the maintenance of national prominence for Northern Territory indigenous arts through the role of the specialist Indigenous Arts Development Unit and promotion of the strategy at local and national forums.
The strategy will allow for increased showcasing opportunities at existing annual indigenous visual arts events. They include the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award and the Desert Mob exhibition in Alice Springs.
Growth in exports of indigenous arts will be attained through a culturally appropriate action plan under the Northern Territory International Trade Strategy 2002-07. The export action plan, providing assistance with business planning and marketing, will be developed jointly with the Department of Business, Industry and Trade Development and ANKAAA and Desart, the peak indigenous visual arts advocacy organisations. The strategy will develop indigenous performing arts showcase events to be staged in Darwin and Alice Springs in collaboration with the Museum and Art Gallery, the Darwin Festival, Garma Festival and, with the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, in the Alice Springs Festival.
Increased marketing, employment and training opportunities will be developed for indigenous artists through an indigenous tourism action plan. Partnerships will be negotiated between the Northern Territory Tourist Commission, Museum and Art Gallery, Darwin Festival, Garma Festival, Department of Employment, Education and Training, Desart and ANKAAA.
The Territory government will use forums such as the Cultural Ministers Council to strengthen the national position of the Territory’s indigenous arts industry, and maintain the Territory’s comparative advantage in artistic innovation and excellence at the national level. The three pathways – talking, doing and sharing - are designed to achieve a number of broad goals in stages, and in an incremental and integrated fashion. From year one, we will improve the delivery of arts development and support through establishing appropriate government infrastructure and initiating and brokering strategic partnerships to deliver the strategy. From year two, we will improve and strengthen the indigenous arts sector through increased resources for infrastructure, increased creative and cultural development, increased training and employment outcomes, and scoping the needs of underdeveloped art form areas. From year three, we will improve and increase the profile of Territory indigenous arts through increased and more effective showcasing, increased marketing and export. In this year, we will also review and assess what has been achieved, our successes and failures, and then develop the outcomes and performance measures for the next three years.
In the Territory, we sometimes take for granted the exceptional rich artistic and cultural traditions of indigenous Territorians. We are, indeed, privileged to access the indigenous arts that tourists, art dealers and audiences from elsewhere in Australia and oversees travel long distances to see. At the same time, we live in exciting times, when contemporary developments in indigenous visual and performing arts are extending Northern Territory arts in new and exciting directions, attracting world interest and acclaim.
As well as contributing to our sense of community identity, indigenous arts offer opportunities for excellence and economic development for not just indigenous people, but for all of us. With Building Strong Arts Business, my government is looking towards partnerships with indigenous people so we can build strong regional communities, foster cultural and artistic development, celebrate cultural diversity, provide opportunities for young people, protect indigenous rights and, critically, help economic and employment growth.
As I said earlier, I am very proud that the Territory is the first jurisdiction in Australia to develop a comprehensive indigenous arts strategy. We are in a unique position here in the Territory, and I look forward to a creative an economically successful future.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, a paragraph in the statement caught my attention, and I believe this is the issue to be addressed by any strategy we employ in this area. The gap between high levels of creative activity with the accompanying national and international acclaim and the unacceptably low economic and social outcomes, to me, is the issue, and a strategy must make a difference to close that gap, to at least bring those two positions closer together.
A quote from Professor Jon Altman caught my attention:
- … paradoxically, indigenous Territorians are very highly engaged in the NT arts sector, but have
a low engagement with the mainstream economy.
That is the issue. Why is there that paradox? How can we make a difference? I am supportive of this strategy. It brings together many threads, which have been in existence for some time, but it certainly has support in the sense that it is bringing it together in a greater focus with some funding behind it. I will ask further questions in my response with regards to that funding later, as a faithful opposition should, just to assess what it is that we are putting in place because, quite genuinely, the gap between the creative activity and the national and international acclaim, and the low economic and social outcomes, is the issue. A quote from Noel Pearson caught my attention also. He said:
- This country is committed to having a safety net.
But how can we defend a situation where people live at the bottom of a safety net for three decades,
with all of the attendant social problems, and we see that life in this safety net for three generations
is not a good thing. It does not produce good social results for families and individuals, and yet
all of our progressive energy is directed towards defending our right to live at the bottom of the social
welfare net.
Noel Pearson is speaking of his people:
- What instead we should be doing if we are truly progressive is that should be defending and advocating
the right of our people to take a fair place in the real economy. That is not down here at the safety net
level. We should in fact be enjoying a better place in the country, a place in the real economy.
With those three statements, I believe I would like to set the scene because that is the primary issue, the real economy. This strategy must direct these creative energies, the success, the international and national recognition, to a greater place in the social agenda and produce better social and economic outcomes, and as Noel Pearson says: ‘… a place in the real economy’.
That being the motivation, the agenda, the direction and the focus of this strategy, it certainly would have my support and the respect of all Territorians.
I am sure that the Chief Minister would not accept that the threads of the statement are brand new and have come into existence since the formation of the Northern Territory Labor government. In fact, the document - I believe it was No 4, Foundations for our Future for the Northern Territory, Fostering Partnerships in Aboriginal Development – contained many of the words and phrases that are in this statement. I believe Foundations was released in 2000, word for word. In fact, in the Myer Report that was federally funded, many of the findings are also contained in here. Also, I noted on the Internet that there was a presentation in the Senate by Senator Tambling, who addressed many issues with regards to indigenous art and culture. He honed in on some key aspects that needed addressing. I will refer to these aspects that were referred to in his address to the Australian Senate in 2000. Many of these key issues are also picked up in the Chief Minister’s statement.
Issues, which I will cover now, such as ensuring that we do have greater cohesion in the arts industry, that we do actually build a business culture, that we provide training for indigenous arts administrators, once again reinforcing the real economy. Taxation issues must be considered and looked at very carefully. Centrelink should be actively involved to facilitate real advice to indigenous artists, once again underlying the theme of ‘the real economy’. Intellectual property must be carefully assessed and quite genuinely appraised so that we know what it is, on both sides of the fence. We do not want non-indigenous people abusing the creative abilities of indigenous folk nor do we want, as is the case also, indigenous artists ripping off those who do not quite understand indigenous art in terms of having art passed off under other names. On both sides of the fence there is a problem, and that needs to be addressed so that we have greater confidence, and we can actually bring ourselves forward together into a better place, and close the gap between those two problems which were earlier addressed.
Issues with regards to the black market need to be addressed, as contained in Senator Tambling’s report in 2000. Are the penalties sufficient? One interesting aspect that he referred to is greater coordination of web sites. I was surprised to learn, over the last year or so, the amount of activity that there is in showcasing Aboriginal art, indigenous art and culture and music on the web. I had a look yesterday and I noticed there are quite a number of web sites. That could well be an area where we are able to develop an opportunity to showcase that which is important to each individual community into the wider world beyond the art galleries here around us. In fact, the art galleries here, in private operations as well as the Museum and Art Gallery, are able to communicate into the international market through the Internet.
Once we take away the issues with regards to statistics about the level of engagement that there is in indigenous arts in the Northern Territory, which is quite staggering when you consider it, again, we go back to the fact that engagement in the real economy and making social progress is really the fundamental issue. For all that is generated and produced, we want to see this strategy work to make real progress socially and economically for indigenous people.
To start with, in outlining and describing a strategy - which I note has the contribution of $3.2m over three years - we want to know, as the opposition, where this money is coming from, particularly when I note in this budget that the budget for the arts, museums and library has been reduced by $2.012m. There has, in fact, been a reduction in this budget line. More specifically, the arts industry support line had a reduction of $1.183m. That is a significant shortfall when you look at a budget; it is not a very strong or major line, but it would affect very significantly the arts industry support component of the Northern Territory budget. Yet, we have to fund this new strategy with $3.2m over three years. Is this where the money for the arts industry support has gone, or is it, in fact, coming from somewhere else? I would like clarification on that so that we can test the veracity of this strategy and its resourcing. These resources belong to all Territorians. Where the funding coming from for this strategy? It is important to know that, but we need to know upon what foundation this strategy is built and how it is being resourced.
Building Strong Arts Business is identified as a new strategy and the first of the nation. I will accept that. I acknowledge that Professor Jon Altman from the ANU has developed the framework upon which this strategy has been implemented. I am interested to know how much the consultancy cost. Was that a part of the $3.2m to develop the strategy? That is not a criticism, but a fair question from opposition.
I accept and support the aim; that is, to better assist and strengthen NT indigenous arts - visual, crafts, music, film, new media and literature. The description of the strategy built on the framework that Professor Altman has developed is acceptable. It is a strategy that seems to speak the right language, from my understanding. I am, by no means, an expert on how to promote and facilitate real change in this area, and others may have greater authority. But the authority I have in my understanding of strategic plans, is that it does appear to me to be a reasonable strategy and adequately funded. I note that is has a six-year life and is to be reviewed after the third year, and that it has three distinct pathways: talking, doing and showing.
I do not have an indication in the statement as to when this will start. Is it to commence forthwith or are we waiting until next year? Is this something that we will get maximum mileage out of before it starts or has it already commenced? I accept that the first stage would be to build a support structure, and I understand that this is probably the most important. If you are going to build any sort of sustainable progress in this area to develop movement towards engagement in the real economy and making social and economic differences, you must bring together all the support structures. I note from my reading that there needs to be a greater coordination between the grant monies that flow into this area between federal, Territory and some of the private money that comes in. There needs to be an overall look at what money and what activity there is in this area and bring cohesion to it, also to understand the sorts of support structures that we have and what sort of support structures we need.
Something that was raised in Grant Tambling’s contribution to the Senate, and I accept it, was the need for training of art administrators. I presume that would be in place for the art centres. It is a very important area where we are able to train indigenous people to be able to transit that gap between art that is produced in a community context and the marketplace where the demands may be quite different. That really is a cultural exchange, and we must bridge that gap to allow greater movement and engagement with the real economy …
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Blain, if I could just interrupt you, I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of Northern Territory University business students accompanied by their lecturer, Susan Bandias. On behalf of honourable members, I extend a warm welcome to you.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Please continue, Member for Blain. My apologies for the interruption.
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Mr MILLS: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the first part is to build the support structures and, in the second year, strengthen the arts industry with funding, I presume, coming in to increase the development of those who are able to supply support to those who are engaged in the industry directly and, ultimately, to go to the third stream where there will be the raising of the profile of product from the Northern Territory and to find ways of marketing it more effectively.
It is a very important strategy to get right because many of us do have an interest in art, but, more importantly, have an interest in seeing how effective change can be brought about through active engagement in the real economy through arts. There can be false expectations raised. There is talk about colossal amounts of money that have been paid for indigenous art in far and distant lands, and there is the sense that that will instantly translate into some real change in Arnhem Land. The ill-informed may not understand the connection or lack of connection between those two things with false expectations raised and a distortion of what to expect. There is a sense that you could well be ripped off and there is a mistrust on both sides of the fence, which causes a disengagement. In fact, speaking purely artistically, it can degenerate the quality of art that is produced when we have an engendering, a strengthening of that culture where there is a feeling of mistrust that there is money involved and someone is having somebody on.
This whole area needs to be addressed, and I trust it will be addressed by this strategy so that there is clear dialogue and understanding and, going back to Noel Pearson’s phrase, ‘engagement in the real economy’ that in many ways will help dispel that toxic attitude, fear and misapprehension. There are sharks on both sides of the equation, and that has to be diminished at all costs. I trust that is a central focus of the strategy.
We are talking about art, not just visual arts, and I would like to talk about music, which is a particular interest of mine. A few years ago, I continually heard of the quality of musicianship in the communities, and that no matter what community you go to, everyone seems to be able to play some kind of instrument quite well. I do not easily accept urban myths, and I would like to have that verified for myself. I have friends, professional musicians, who travelled through the communities about three years ago. They travelled with the Salt Water Band and I asked them before they left to subjectively assess the quality of musicianship within the different communities. They came back about four weeks later from Melbourne and Sydney, and they were able to confirm to me that the quality of the craft - whether it was guitar, percussion, singing, harmonies, keyboard, bass guitar - was first class and would stack up anywhere. Yet the environment in which it is played is nothing like the cafs of Melbourne.
Another surprising report was that the variety of music played from community to community is quite distinct. There is Central Australia, where there is a lot of rock, up to the Top End where it is reggae or calypso and islander type sound. Even within communities, you have distinctly different styles of music. Drawing back from that, there are regions that have a particular sound. There seems to be an emergence of a unique sound within different regions, which I found quite interesting. That is a vast resource that could be developed. I have heard Ted Egan say that there is music, there is visual arts, and there is sport. We use those as vehicles of greater engagement.
In terms of eduction, if you want to teach how to run a business, probably the western way is to go in there and talk about running businesses, but if you talked about how to promote your band, how to conduct and record transactions in running your band, you are teaching business through something that is meaningful. The same applies to art. So there is a great opportunity for a more strategic use of music and art to strengthen outcomes in education, particularly adult education.
I draw specific attention to this: Live Across the Top. It is a recording made in 2001, and it says on the jacket:
- Live Across the Top is a community project by musicians to improve self-esteem, fight substance abuse,
confirm cultural identity and inform the world about Aboriginal people in a modern world.
At the bottom in big letters, it says:
Thanks to all musicians.
The CD contains 17 tracks. It confirmed to me the quality of musical skills across the Top End - it goes down to Yuendumu - because in some of these communities you have two or three distinctly different bands. It is a sampling of music from different bands across the Top End put together by a local operator at Kakadu Studios, Mr Ken Hutton. It was his vision with really not a lot in it for him. It was a way of allowing what is being produced in the communities to be showcased and, sadly, it did not receive the air play that it should have. I will take the liberty, and seek leave to table it as a contribution to the Chief Minister.
Leave granted.
Mr MILLS: You will like the first one. Just as a sample, you have two bands from Galiwinku, one from Howard Island, two from Milingimbi; three from Ramingining; one from Maningrida; Goulburn Island, one; Jabiru; three from Yuendumu; two from Roper River; and two from the Torres Strait. That is just a sample of the quality we have out there waiting to be developed.
Once again, why develop it? Why have a strategy in place? So that we can all feel good, so that it is gives us a better statement to make next year, or in two years’ time? No, it goes right back to the beginning: to make sure that this strategy works that we can create greater social engagement and engagement in the real economy. To that end, I will watch this strategy with great interest as it unfolds, and I trust that it will produce some real traction and forward movement in the areas of primary concern to all Territorians.
Mr AH KIT (Community Development): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the statement by the Chief Minister acting in her role as Minister for Arts and Museums, and Minister for Indigenous Affairs.
Indeed, it is significant that, here in the Northern Territory these three roles are combined, a point that was remarked upon by many interstate and international visitors at last week’s Garma Festival at Gulkula in north-east Arnhem Land. For these visitors, it demonstrated a political commitment at the highest level, which is singularly lacking in other jurisdictions. It highlights the critical importance of the arts, and especially indigenous arts, to the Northern Territory. The fact that both areas are under the carriage of our Chief Minister bodes well for the future of this important area of the Northern Territory’s social, cultural, political and economic life and, for that matter, it is no small thing that the Northern Territory is the first jurisdiction in Australia to introduce an indigenous arts strategy.
Over the past two decades, the Aboriginal arts industry in the Territory has grown from strength to strength. However, we must acknowledge it has also been a period of huge waste of opportunity because of years of lip service and neglect by previous governments. Previous CLP governments always claimed to be on the side of small business, but what did they do for the indigenous arts sector, a truly home grown component of the small business community? Pretty much nothing. If it were not for federal funding through the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Board and ATSIC, not to mention self-generated income, many of the arts centres would not have survived, let alone thrived.
I would like to briefly pay tribute today to the work of the arts centres and the arts advisors, who have laboured long and hard in relative obscurity over so many years on our remote community art centres. The arts centres have a unique role on Aboriginal communities across the Northern Territory. Other than community stores, the centres are among the only source of private enterprise employment in the bush. For the artists themselves, the centres provide virtually the only sources of private enterprise-based, non-social welfare income. Again, apart from the stores, the arts centres are virtually the only bush enterprises receiving substantial financial input from their owners: the artists themselves. In very large part, the artists are paying their way.
The arts centres, however, are not just trading posts with cash exchanged for art. They have a community and cultural focus that cannot be measured in economic terms. They are the hub of cultural maintenance and development within communities and surrounding regions. They are a focus of pride about the past and hope for the future. With 54 arts centres, the Northern Territory has over half the recognised indigenous arts centres in the nation. They range in size and capacity, but each is part of a vitally important network in our economy. As for the arts advisors themselves, they are, in many cases, the unsung workhorses of the Aboriginal arts movement. They work in isolated, often harsh environments: accommodation at work and home is often quite poor; facilities, including communications, are often pretty basic; and the hours are long. You should be disabused of any idea of the arts advisor having a leisurely lifestyle surrounded by fabulous art, and that the warm and fuzzy feelings one might derive from such contact with creativity is reward enough.
The average arts advisor is a bookkeeper, storeman and packer, cataloguer, and curator. You must develop linguistic, anthropological and research skills, as well as being a hot-shot sales person. You have to be a halfway decent photographer, and an expert in documentation. Furthermore, you must become involved in the lives of the artists, often serving as the go-between over issues such as social security, taxation, health and education. Above all - the bane of every arts advisor’s life - you must be capable of writing endless submissions to a myriad of government departments and agencies. It is difficult to see why people do it. For whatever reason, however, we should all applaud their work. The most important role of arts advisors is as cultural mediators working as a kind of halfway house between the needs and the demands of the marketplace and the cultural and economic priorities of the artists and craft people who employ them.
Arts advisors and the arts centres they represent have been meeting together since the late 1970s, especially in the Top End. From the early 1980s, an increasing number of centres worked together to curate group exhibitions; initially here in Darwin in 1982, and in the following year in Canberra. These meetings of arts advisors were to become a core organising principle of the Aboriginal arts movement and industry over the ensuing 20 years.
Just over a decade ago, the various art centres in the Northern Territory joined together to form a representative body. Initially, it was a Territory-wide organisation: the Association of Northern and Central Australian Aboriginal Artists. However, about 12 years ago, they split in two: Desart taking in centres south of Tennant Creek, and later extending into centres into South Australia and Western Australia; and in the north, ANKAAA, the Association of Northern Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists, was formed to take in the Top End and Kimberley regions.
We are a long way from formal history of these two organisations, but it is worth noting two of the major motivations for their formation. The first motivation was to provide industry representation both to the government and the private sector for Aboriginal-controlled art centres. Being isolated both geographically and from each other, the art centres were at the bottom of the food chain in dealing with the ignorance and indifference of people in organisations often many thousands of kilometres from home base. Desart and ANKAAA developed as critical links in this chain between individual centres and the outside world as representative and advocacy bodies.
One of the most important factors in this development was through the actions over copyright and intellectual property protection that developed in the late 1980s. Action over copyright had been a demand from art advisors and their centres since at least 1979. ANKAAA, as it then was, working through the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service, commenced a series of legal actions over a developing pattern of rip-offs of the work of Aboriginal copyright in their art. The first major victory in the Bulun Bulun case of 1989 was a landmark legal decision in establishing recognition of indigenous intellectual property. Not only did it affirm copyright in individual artists, it also established the principle that damage might be caused to the artist through communal shame that might be experienced by the artists when his or her work is used illegally.
There is little doubt that, over the next 10 years, actions over indigenous copyright issues have not just benefited Aboriginal artists, but the white artistic community as well. The interpretation of copyright law has been considerably extended in Australia through the cases pursued in our courts, and Aboriginal copyright cases have been cited in legal actions and commentary in overseas jurisdictions. Without doubt, these actions commenced by arts advisors have a continuing financial benefit to the artists, the centres and the broader Northern Territory economy.
The second motivation for the formation of Desart and ANKAAA was to improve the skills, standards and standing of the arts advisors themselves, to enhance both employment conditions as well as the capacity of arts advisors to serve their centres well. There is still a long way to go. Conditions are still often quite poor, and there are limited opportunities for training, especially for indigenous staffers at the centres. Staff burnout and lack of succession planning often damages the sustainability of the centres. There is little in the way of career paths for arts advisors. The government recognises arts advisors and the arts centres that employ them as critical components of the indigenous arts industry.
Measures contained in the indigenous arts strategy, Building Strong Arts Business, are designed over time to improve the lot of arts advisors as well as strengthening the arts centres themselves. As the indigenous arts strategy demonstrates we see Desart and ANKAAA as vital peak bodies with which we will be seeking constructive partnerships over the next three to six years.
It is my view that the implementation of the indigenous arts strategy, Building Strong Arts Business, will be a watershed in the development of the industry, and I commend the minister. There is no doubt that when the strategy was launched on Friday, many people passed comment, some having criticisms but, I gather, there were not many. There was a lot of support.
As an indigenous minister in this Martin Labor government, I am proud to be a part of the first government in Australia to introduce an indigenous arts policy. Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement to the House.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, as someone who in their previous life was involved starting up several of the community based co-ops and media associations, it gives me enormous pleasure to support the inception of this comprehensive indigenous arts strategy, the first in Australia.
Arts in the bush can be the foundation for good business and economic development in bush communities. It is also good business to assist social and cultural development, community by community. That is what the arts can do, and through the enormous global success that indigenous visual arts has enjoyed right up to the present time, this is clearly an area that we have to pay very close attention to in the Northern Territory. The government providing systematic and substantial help of the type that is embodied in this strategy, and the attendant funding and resources is proof that the Martin government is the first Northern Territory government to recognise that it is enormously beneficial both to indigenous people themselves and to the NT as a whole.
As well as income generation, the arts sector on communities supports education and training and allows families to stay in their country. It also reinforces the importance of culture to the new generation. One of the greatest pleasures of my experiences of the early part of Warlukurlangu artists was to see the young people reconnecting to their grandparents and parents, learning about and taking part in production of these visual arts, knowing initially that it had a really good economic future. Attached to that very strongly was the teaching role of the grandparent and parent generations. That is a wonderful way to reinvigorate culture.
The Territory has a rich artistic and cultural heritage. I am sure most members of this House would have examples of local indigenous artwork taking pride of place in their homes. You can go anywhere in the world and find examples of indigenous art in surprising and unexpected places. I have just returned from northern provincial Greece and, even there, you can see some examples of indigenous art from Australia.
Territory artists in the area of visual arts are already at the forefront in many sectors. Indigenous artists can continue to command very high prices. Most recently, Sotheby’s auctioned a painting by Central Australian artist Warrangkula Jupurrula, and it sold for $120 000. I can personally attest to the power of indigenous art to raise large amounts of money. I was involved in an auction in Sydney where $1m was raised in one auction for the Western Desert Dialysis Appeal through the selling of Western Desert art. It was extraordinary to see $1m materialise over a period of two hours as we sat in the New South Wales Art Gallery. That brought home to me how powerful this movement is.
At the same time that auction was held, there was a retrospective for the Papunya Tula artists, going right back to the early 1970s when they first started producing their art. That was not just a tour de force of Papunya Tula artists’ work; it was an exhibition that had the same power as, say, an Impressionist exhibition from France or a retrospective of any of the most famous artists that you could name around the world. This is art of world quality. It is art of extraordinary power, grace, and meaning. That is why it is going from strength to strength in the global market, and that is why the artists themselves are developing new levels of artistic expression as the movement continues.
The government will also work, as well as in the market itself, with Desart and ANKAAA, the Association of Northern Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists, the two peak bodies representing more than 60 art centres, to implement recommendations from the national Myer Report on contemporary visual arts and crafts. Community centres in the Territory continue to provide significant returns. Maruku Arts and Crafts service approximately 1000 artists from 22 communities in Central Australia and the cross-border area. Around $339 000 was returned to artists represented by Maruku in the last financial year. Desart in Alice Springs successfully developed community art centres. The Desert Mob art show is a hugely popular and important exhibition. Desart and Alice Springs Cultural Centre have developed a special relationship over the past 12 years in presenting the exhibition, which this year opens on 24 August.
Artists from more than 30 arts centres all over the central region are exhibiting and, believe me, you have to get in quick if you want to buy any of those works because there is fierce competition between galleries and collectors to snap up the best of the paintings. Organisations like Desart and ANKAAA are critical to developing the indigenous arts sector, and under the framework of the government’s strategy, will be closely involved in building the future.
While we develop a strong future in indigenous art, we will also be doing so on firm foundations and expertise developed by Desart, ANKAAA and the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct. The Alice Springs Cultural Precinct is becoming recognised for its expertise in this area of indigenous art. We should be very proud of its collection, and the work the precinct does in building reconciliation, collaboration and respect in Alice Springs. The Grand Circle Yeperenye sculpture, one of the population attractions at the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct, stands as a permanent interpretation of a small part of Aboriginal culture on the precinct itself. I look forward to seeing the Alice Springs Cultural Precinct becoming even stronger through the government’s commitment to the arts.
As well as the visual arts, which is probably the most well known of the artistic areas in which indigenous people are prominent, the performing arts are also very promising within the indigenous part of the Northern Territory. We have a strong base to work on from the performing arts. Anyone who wanted absolutely dramatic demonstration of that should have been at the Yeperenye Festival, which is held in Alice Springs, probably about four weeks after we were elected to government. That was an extraordinary event, where approximately 1500 Aboriginal dancers came from all over Aboriginal Australia. Along with fully traditional dancing, you had the wonderful re-enactment of the Yeperenye Dreaming story which, apart from involving large numbers of indigenous people, also involved almost every school kid in Alice Springs primary schools. What is that going to do for reconciliation? You have those kids not only becoming aware of the cultural landscape in Alice Springs, but performing en masse under indigenous guidance from the Arrernte people. If you want practical reconciliation of the most powerful symbolic type, there is a fantastic example of it.
The recent BassintheGrass concert in Alice Springs, which my daughter attended so she would probably pronounce it a lot better, at the convention centre featured prominent indigenous artists, Nokturnl. CAAMA Recording Studios in Alice Springs are at the forefront of developing and releasing work by indigenous musicians, and recently opened recording studios at Papunya, alongside those, I might say, at Yuendumu, which has a very sophisticated digital recording studio. So we are seeing some facilities now directly in the remote communities that are capable of producing digital recordings of the highest quality. The upcoming Alice Springs Festival will feature many indigenous performers, such as Janganpa Dance Troupe, the Warlpiri and Anmatjere traditional dancers, and they will be presenting a work called Bush Fire before taking it on the road.
Development of an indigenous music awards scheme and local touring strategy will also help bring young performers to the stage. The bush is coming to the cities, with some of these fantastic fusions of traditional culture and heritage, and modern interpretations of both music and dance. I have always drawn a lot of inspiration from the Broome Corrugated Iron Theatre Group, which has been the first indigenous group to come up with a virtual rock opera format where, from the pure performance of music, they have added the stage performance to it and it really takes the whole expression of indigenous culture through contemporary music forms another step forward. As we watch over the next decade, we are going to see some increasingly sophisticated work being done by indigenous performing artists. We often hear other groups like High Tide in Borroloola, The Jalajirrpa Band from Tennant Creek, The Nomadics from Ali Curung - am I right?
Mr McAdam: Yes, you are, minister.
Dr TOYNE: Excellent. These bands are coming forward. No matter which community you want to name around the Northern Territory, as the member for Blain was pointing out, you will find at least one high quality band, usually two or three, often with different styles of music - country rock, reggae - and they are all starting to achieve wider prominence than the communities from which they originate.
I will use my remaining time to comment on A Way Forward. The arts strategy is there now to generally support the visual arts community co-ops, the marketing strategies beyond the individual communities, to addressing a wider interface to the world and national markets. A lot of the communities are now starting to move into what you might call the second phase of evolution of these types of activities. Yuendumu is a community I spent a lot of time in, and one that I continue to have a fairly detailed knowledge of. At Yuendumu, they have become famous over the years for both the visual arts produced by the Warlukurlangu artists and media production by the Warlpiri Media Association, which has encompassed not only video productions of very high quality such as the Bush Mechanics and Manyu Wana, a primary school series similar to Sesame Street but in two languages, but they have moved on to produce some early CD-ROM products such as the Cockatoo Creek CD-ROM, an enormously sophisticated product detailing the traditional stories around Cockatoo Creek.
Where the organisations in Yuendumu are trying to go now is the establishment of a multi-media centre in Yuendumu where they can achieve locally a very enriching combination of arts and media production. Within the one complex, it is possible you will see the production of visual arts, videos, CD-ROM, with the interactive ability delivered by the telecommunications of the Tanami Network. That produces some enormous possibilities for linking the creative energy and potential of the people of Yuendumu, the Warlpiri people, to people they need to link up with to achieve high level productions, whether it is the ICT industry, the film industry or the visual arts market to continue to get broad commissions from either in Australia or overseas.
That is where community arts centres can go, at least the ones that have a long history of development of local production in more than one area of the arts. I am very strongly supportive of the Yuendumu community as it explores ways in which it can set up this multi-media centre. If it is going and going well, they will not only be physically visited by many people wanting to buy and work with them on projects, but they will be visited virtually from all over the world through the interactive telecommunications that will be available within the same building.
I can see them working with overseas production houses. I can see them promoting Warlpiri culture through these types of art forms, again as much through virtual links as actually travelling. These are very exciting times, and the launch of our indigenous arts strategy at this time fits beautifully with what communities like Yuendumu are moving now to try to do. We are going to see a further expansion and enrichment of what indigenous arts are doing in the Northern Territory. I commend the minister’s statement and the indigenous arts strategy.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on indigenous art in the Northern Territory.
As an indigenous member of parliament who is privileged to represent a region that is internationally famous for the ancient and unbroken tradition and the continuing breathtaking quality of its indigenous art, I am very encouraged by the fact that our own Chief Minister is delivering a ministerial statement focussed specifically on a policy of positive support for indigenous arts in the Territory.
My thoughts go out to the arts and crafts centres in my electorate. Tiwi Designs at Nguiu; Jilamara at Milikapiti; Marrawudi Gallery in Jabiru, an enterprise established by and under the Jabiluka Association; Injalak Arts and Crafts at Gunbalunya; and the Maningrida Arts and Culture Centre at Maningrida, an enterprise established by and under the Bawaninga Aboriginal Corporation; and the more recently established arts and crafts centre at Warruwi community.
I look forward to workshopping the practical and the immediately accessible aspects of the policy with the representatives of all these centres with a view to helping them to maximise the anticipated benefits, both for the individual artists and for their communities generally.
It is timely and poignant that the Chief Minister is delivering her statement at this time. I say that because there have been aspects of Aboriginal law and culture that have been portrayed negatively in the local and national media over recent months. Unfortunately, the emphasis and preoccupation of so many people so far has been on the interpretations, often grossly distorted or misinterpreted, of things like promised marriages and ritual punishment by spearing. It is a tragedy that the focus is more on matters of that kind than on the conceptual and economic rights and obligations that so fundamentally bind Aboriginal individuals and clans to the land and waters that sustain them, both literally and metaphorically.
The issues I am talking about are the rights and responsibilities that Aboriginal traditional owners regard as axiomatically given, regardless of whether they are currently enforceable by mainstream Australian courts in respect of both land and waters, and the associated and interrelated rights and responsibilities that traditional owner groups exercise in respect of the dreamings, designs and motifs that share the same essence as their land and waters.
The intellectual and cultural traditions of Aboriginal people, when it comes to ownership and use of stories and design, is so very different from that of the British intellectual and cultural tradition that has been the foundation for our current Australian intellectual property laws. According to the imported tradition, the individual artist is the boss of what he creates and if he chooses to create work on commission, then the person who pays him or her for that work will get to own it lock, stock and barrel. In the Aboriginal tradition the individual artist paints or depicts what he or she is authorised to paint or depict according to applicable customary law, which is usually the stories, designs and motifs for his or her own country. Regardless of who reduces the stories, designs and motifs into a physical representation on bark, canvas or paper, the finished result is, in Aboriginal law, still owned by the relevant traditional owner group.
However, Aboriginal groups and communities have, over recent decades, realised the importance of providing economic incentives for individual artists who also derive personal reward and benefit from their reproduction of authorised stories and images. It is recognised that culturally appropriate and reinforcing endeavours of this kind not only strengthen and enhance Aboriginal religion and law, but also provide an economic input into community life that immediately benefits the artist’s extended family and then trickles down into other parts of the community.
Aboriginal people are learning to make their own accommodations in terms of how Aboriginal law can be harmonised with mainstream Australian commercial and intellectual property law. But mainstream Australian law, including Northern Territory law, needs to meet Aboriginal law halfway if the talk of partnership and economic support is to progress beyond mere pin money and rhetoric.
In the landmark Milpurruru v Indo Fern case of a few years, a Federal Court judge essentially determined that non-Aboriginal outsiders who purchased or commissioned art works from individual Aboriginal artists were not to be penalised by their ignorance of the rights and interests in Aboriginal customary law of the clan or traditional owner group who own the stories, designs and/or motifs depicted in the art work. In other words, the group was not entitled to claim any commercial benefit from the purchaser, nor to enforce any restrictions or conditions on the way that an art work could be used or displayed.
However, the judge strongly suggested that the individual Aboriginal artist was in a very different legal position and might very well be legally bound to compensate the owner group and/or to comply with its directions as to the way his work was created and then passed on. The poor old artist loses both ways.
These are difficult and complex issues for anyone to grapple with. It is all too easy for Aboriginal concerns about cultural confidentiality and appropriateness to be lampooned and criticised. There has been a lot lately in the media about Uluru and Kata-Tjuta regarding Bromley and the now famous – or should I say infamous – Wim Wenders photo respectively. This is not the time for me to buy into those debates, but the point that needs to be made, firmly and uncompromisingly, is that Aboriginal art sells for huge money at Sotheby’s not just because the colours and designs are pretty and decorative, but because the paintings convey a message from a strange and different culture and belief system. That culture and belief system is like a rose with a sharp and unforgiving thorn in its side.
If we want to develop the commercial opportunities inherent in encouraging individual Aboriginal artists to create artworks of quality and resonance that derive from the inner core of their personal and communal identity as Aboriginal people – and I, for one, passionately believe in that cause – then we have to acknowledge and humbly come to terms with the need to reconcile the fairly inflexible and one-dimensional mainstream laws relating to copyright and display of images with very different Aboriginal customary laws that govern Aboriginal communities and the individual Aboriginal artists who have to work and function within them. Hopefully, this is something that will receive close consideration as the wider strategy is picked up and examined.
Madam Speaker, I congratulate the Chief Minister for her statement and the strategy. It is noteworthy that we are the first jurisdiction to develop a comprehensive indigenous arts strategy. We are leading the way, and it demonstrates the leadership and commitment on this side of the House. I commend the statement to members.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement. In March of this year, I was proud to chair the indigenous arts session at the inaugural Indigenous Economic Forum held in Alice Springs. That forum was a critical milestone in the development of a fair share for Aboriginal people in the economic cake of the Northern Territory.
It enabled over 150 stakeholders, many agencies, which contribute to indigenous economic development, and representatives from the private sector to interact and make recommendations to the government about how to achieve realistic outcomes in this policy area that is vital to the Martin government.
This first forum was about promoting a vision of creating equitable opportunity for indigenous Territorians to participate in economic growth. The participants applied themselves to the important tasks of: first, identifying how we can learn from and build on the positive examples of indigenous organisations that are already achieving positive outcomes; second, to identifying future challenges and opportunities; and third, ensuring that the government has coordinated mechanisms in place to support and respond to these.
The arts session was a real eye-opener for me. Experienced practitioners like Djambawa Marawili, Chairperson of the Association of Kimberley and Arnhem Aboriginal Artists; Susan Congrave, Arts Consultant; Shellie Morris - no stranger to the members of this House, especially since her electrifying performance at the BassintheGrass effort; Lenore Demski of Paperbark Woman; and Sonny Kent led the debate in a wide-ranging discussion of what works, what does not, what could work better and how to go about it.
Participants gave valuable advice to government, which I am pleased to say has been taken on board by the Chief Minister, Jon Altman, and Arts NT in the development of this strategy. I pay tribute to Jon Altman, a wonderful academic who was able to intermingle with all participants at the forum to obtain and clearly identify a message that was coming out of that forum. He did a wonderful job.
The Chief Minister has outlined the degree of economic strength of indigenous arts to the Territory economy. I would like to touch on some of those issues. When you look at the figures, they were quite staggering. I will, at a future date, talk about what previous Northern Territory governments have done to assist this one and only economic driving force of significance for Aboriginal people, and that is not excluding the mining industry. Aboriginal art, as the Chief Minister describes, has an unbelievable place in the Australian market. Quoting from a statement:
- …. Australian indigenous art and crafts is estimated at a minimum of $100m per annum, and in
2001-02, an estimated $38m was spent on indigenous art and craft in the Territory.
That is from the NT Travel Monitor:
- $31m was spent on indigenous culture tours in the Northern Territory in 2001-02.
- … ATSIS’ National Arts and Crafts Industry Support Strategy, NACISS, which invests $2.7m in
34 arts centres, supporting over 3000 artists.
To put that in an investment context:
- For the investment of $1.5m, data from the relevant art centres indicates $6.23m in sales …
That works out to be four times the investment. It would be like an investor going to the stock market over the last two years - and, across the board, stock markets lost money - you invest $1.5m, you get $6.23m in sales, so you make four times the amount of money you have invested. Any business person in Australia or the world would think that is a pretty good investment. Unfortunately, the previous governments did not. I will continue:
- … sales … of which $3.68m was returned to artists, and $2.55m was reinvested by artists into their
art centres. Thus, indigenous art centres are in fact supported by a mix of public and private funding,
a fact that is often overlooked in discussions about public investment and indigenous dependency.
Further on in the Chief Minister’s statement:
- Using a conservative economic multiplier, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has determined that in the
creative arts sector, every $1m invested creates an additional 28 full-time jobs and an additional $1.55m
of economic benefit.
Why would you not invest in an industry that provides that type of return? Without doubt, the biggest source of discretionary non-welfare income for most Aboriginal people living in the Territory, especially in remote communities, comes from indigenous art.
I acknowledge the cultural maintenance role of arts in the Aboriginal community. One of the things I always like to do - and you have probably heard me speak about this before - is to try to put Aboriginal culture in context of the history of civilisation. Different continents and different peoples have specific arts which are of importance to them and which have cultural meanings. The Celts who, of course, were in the British Isles, the northern parts of Spain, throughout Europe up to the Black Sea, and Transylvania, etcetera. Their art was known as La Tne art, and it witness to the aesthetic qualities of the Celts, their greatly prized music and many forms of oral composition. La Tne art or Celtic tradition first encountered Greco-Etruscan imports and ideas through a short period. It seems to have been long enough to create the typical La Tne style characterised by ‘s’ shapes, spirals, round patterns systematically applied to every ornament.
Here we have in the Northern Territory X-ray art from Arnhem Land and dot paintings from Central Australia. In the European context for people travelling from the British Isles - who make up the majority of descendants living in Australia, known as Australians - there is an historical connection with traditional art that can never be overlooked or undervalued.
I had the pleasure of travelling to North America and meeting many of the Cree peoples, who have the unique art of Birch bark biting, which involves thin layers of Birch bark with a design bitten into the bark with the eye teeth. Designs were originally used to create patterns for decorative work applied to traditional leather clothing. The art of Birch bark biting is now being learned by young people interested in reviving what could have become a lost tradition.
This is what indigenous art is all about in the Northern Territory, and I believe this is why there is a world-wide interest in indigenous art: it connects people with their history. I had the pleasure, while in Canada, of meeting the Sami or the Lapp people. They are known as the indigenous people of Scandinavia, Finland, Kola Peninsula, etcetera. Their art appears to be referred to Sami art. Sami handcrafts are called duodji. Sami artists are called duodjars. This is another example of traditional arts.
I also have the Zulu of South Africa, etcetera. The point I am making is that, in the history of civilisation, traditional art has played an important role in maintaining community links.
It is no different in the Northern Territory, but it can also be used as an economic benefit to facilitate non-dependence on welfare income. This can never be underestimated. I found it amazing to be at this forum in the Alice Springs and to find out that previous governments never invested in this. I just could not understand; it was unfathomable to me. It did not make any sense; I could not understand.
One of the main things I want to concentrate on is the economic development aspects of indigenous art. Much of the visual arts produced by indigenous artist in Australia come from 54 community owned and operated art centres in the Northern Territory, and the nearby border regions of Western Australia and South Australia. Historically, these art centres have been founded by art sales and government support, but only from the Commonwealth government through ATSIC and the Australia Council. Despite the steady growth of this vitally important economy for Territorians, and indigenous Territorians in particular, former CLP governments in 27 years put in nothing - not a cracker except for the odd small one-off grant to an art centre around election time. Contributions by members on the other side have been deafening in their silence.
The Martin Labor government has promised to support the indigenous arts industry, and here we are today doing it to the tune of about $1.2m a year; new money for the next three years. I hope to see this money grow. I hope we realise a great return on this investment and that return can be put back into this industry.
We believe art centres are great places to develop the community, to grow economic opportunity for indigenous Territorians, to maintain cultural integrity, and to build community capacity to manage their own affairs in an economically self-sufficient manner. In other words, we believe arts centres are great places to build social capital. In time, we are sure appropriate partnerships can be built between Northern Territory government, the Commonwealth, and indigenous arts stakeholders to get better at coordination of funding and a more strategic focus to achieving economic benefit for artists and the industry.
One of the things I found is that, as the figures show, nearly 3000 people of indigenous background are employed in this industry. One of the biggest issues in the Northern Territory now is employment. Why aren’t we investing in this to increase employment? I have no problems with employing an artist to be an artist, just like you employ a solicitor to be a solicitor, a reporter to be a reporter. What is invested in this industry?
I concur with the views of the member for Arnhem regarding the largely forgotten but truly invaluable work done by art advisors throughout the Territory. This important new funding will make their jobs a lot easier and help arts boards grow the industry even further. The growth of the fine arts end of the indigenous arts industry is further proof of the potential economic opportunities that art provides to indigenous artists.
I know that many of the gallery owners and agents working in the Territory and interstate are here in Darwin today for the 12th annual Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Award. I commend you for your vision and your commitment to grow the indigenous arts industry. I am as sure that the Chief Minister’s indigenous arts strategy will complement your efforts so largely ignored by previous CLP governments.
However, I flag this issue: agency fees charged for the selling and management of indigenous art. Many art dealers have long and meaningful relationships with indigenous artists and their families. Therefore, many have a feeling of responsibility towards these artists. I ask this group of people to look at agency fees. I know many art dealers in the Northern Territory and have family members who have gone down the path of art dealing. I am reliably informed, and find it amazing, that across the board in Australia, agency fees are about 40% for reselling of indigenous art. Compare this with AFL footballers, who might be of indigenous or non-indigenous background, who are charged by their agents between 3% and 8% to manage their salary negotiations. They are charged 20% on endorsements. In real estate, agency fees are between 3% and 5%. Having had good relationships with indigenous art dealers, I know that they will take this on board in an attempt to discuss and organise a manner of dealing with this important issue.
Music and performance products are growth areas in indigenous arts. The seminal work done by Coloured Stone and Warlpiri Band, Yothu Yindi, Blackfella Music and the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association has been built on by Narbalek, Nokturnl, the Saltwater Band, Shellie Morris, Culture Connect and Skinnyfish Records. I must also acknowledge the work done by Charles Darwin University in its innovative community commercial music program.
The indigenous arts strategy includes provisions for the very first time nationally a specialist Indigenous Arts Unit in Arts NT and will mean that indigenous arts opportunities receive the long overdue attention they deserve.
Just as Kingston, Jamaica spawned a music movement, reggae, that took the world by storm, I share the vision of Mark Gross from Skinnyfish that Darwin can do similarly with indigenous music. The Indigenous Arts Unit, I am sure, will assist his company and his growing stable of musicians and performers in the realisation of that dream. Showcase opportunities for indigenous artists and performers are often linked with indigenous culture and sports festivals and the like. These festivals can bring huge numbers of visitors to a community or regional centre. When I was first elected, I was lucky enough to accompany the Chief Minister to the Garma Festival. We received a rousing welcome. Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Mandawuy Yunupingu took us to a very important meeting place in Yolngu country and, like all members of that party, we were touched by its beauty and the significance of being taken there. The Garma Festival attracted over 1000 paying participants to a Yolngu Festival of Art and Culture. I am informed that a Qantas 737 had to be chartered to bring visitors to the remote Gulkula site in north-east Arnhem Land. What other regional arts festival in the country has to charter a jet airliner to ferry its clients to the festival?
Garma is a very young festival and has many years to grow. We will be seeing very big things. The festival will grow to the extent that it will probably be a 747 next year and people will have to stay in Darwin an extra night or two to access the festival. This is an example of potential growth of opportunities for indigenous artists and their organisations and the broader tourism community. I commend Galarrwuy and Mandawuy for their genius in bringing this great idea to fruition. I have no doubt the model will be replicated in other parts of the Territory in the near future, and I am sure this government, though its indigenous arts strategy, will back you and others to grow the indigenous arts sector for the benefit of Territorians.
In summary, I believe the Chief Minister and her government has attempted to put positive policy into action through this indigenous arts strategy. Aboriginal art forms and reflects an important part of people’s cultural, religious and legal rights and obligations, which includes individuals and communities, and their obligations to each other. That cannot be understated. It is policy outside the square; it is different. As we have heard from the Chief Minister and members for Arafura and Arnhem, this is the first time it has been done. The rest of the country will soon follow. Why are people interested in Aboriginal art? I believe it comes innately from their own cultural background, their own sense of wanting to connect with their cultural background. I believe it is something that we can sell to the world.
The statement before the House is about hope and opportunity. This government has invested in our community. It has invested in an attempt to create jobs, increase tourism and will provide further economic growth for the Territory. It will assist Territorians, particularly indigenous people, to attain economic independence over time. This is a good news story, and it is a shame that contributions from the opposition are so deafeningly silent. This is something they should be supporting 100%, and they should be selling this, particularly the members for Daly and Macdonnell. All members of this House, if they are serious about the economic development of indigenous Territorians – they live here, they spend their money here, they put it back into the community – should be supporting this.
The positive is that the Chief Minister has been very courageous and has taken steps to advance indigenous art and put it where it should be: at the forefront of our economic policies. Job opportunities, health and education will be reinforced by the indigenous arts strategy. Madam Speaker, I commend the statement to the House.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all members for their contributions. It is a very important strategy. As noted, there has been no place in Australia that has had an indigenous arts strategy. When you look at the numbers for the Territory and the statistics I provided in the statement, we have 5000 of the 25 000 visual and craft people in Australia here in the Territory. Most of our 5000 are indigenous. We hold pride of place in Australia for our artistic endeavour.
When you think of how many small communities we have, where their most viable enterprise is the arts centre, it is so important to have a strategy to build on that capacity of the arts centre. First of all, support it, build on its capacity and on the ability of local people to be part of that arts centre - whether by administration, the training that needs to be part of that, or whether they are an artist. The opportunities are there starkly in front of us, and this strategy, for the first time, brings those elements together to build both the importance of what happens in the community - the jobs are there, the enterprise are there, the training is there - but also then link in very clearly to our tourism product and most importantly, to the cultural maintenance that comes from the art in communities. This strategy is not rocket science; it deals with tackling and growing a real issue.
I thank all members for their contributions. I note the member for Blain said that a strategy is needed to bring indigenous people within the mainstream economy. As the strategy noted, the success and recognition enjoyed by many indigenous artists is not a guarantee of delivery of social or economic benefits for indigenous people. I agree with the member that there is a real need to raise the profile and support the industry. It is important to get it right. Talk of raising unrealistic expectations or false hopes is what drove the CLP in government to simply ignore the issue of indigenous arts and not support it from Territory dollars. To say that the best you can do is say that this might raise false hopes is, in my view, pathetic. Government is there to look at job creation, to assist in enterprise development, and that is whether you live in Nakara or Ngukurr or Nyrripi, and that is what something like this indigenous arts strategy can do.
The member for Blain seemed to think that if something was difficult, then it was a bit tough to do. In fact, if something is difficult, that is all the more reason you need strategy and commitment to get it done. There were a number of different comments. I welcome those that were positive, recognising the importance of this. I reject those who say it is too hard, and that you have to be careful of raising false hopes. This is a strategy that has government at work. It is looking at job creation, recognising indigenous culture, enterprise development, and building the contribution that indigenous art and craft, and other indigenous arts activities, contribute to our economy.
We had Garma Festival last week, which concentrated on arts and culture. Tomorrow night, we have the country’s most lucrative art award, NATSIA, the Telstra art award, and that is really growing in importance every year. This is its 20th year. First prize carries the sum of $40 000. That leads straight into the Darwin Festival. We can be known so effectively for art and culture right across the Territory. An important and key component of that is our indigenous art.
I thank everyone for their contribution. We are committed to this. There is money to support this strategy. As the member for Millner said, let us hope that we can grow those funds over the years, but grow the funds so that we are supporting artists and we are supporting job creation. That really is the key of this.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Information and Communications Technology Industry in the Northern Territory
Information and Communications Technology Industry in the Northern Territory
Dr TOYNE (Communications): Madam Speaker, since this government was elected in 2001, we have been working in close collaboration with the Northern Territory’s ICT sector to expand their industry. Tonight I advise the House of achievements within the Northern Territory information and communications technology industry. I begin by stating the key mission statement for ICT industry development, which has come out of our process to date. I will outline in detail how the process has produced this result.
The mission statement adopted by the ICT industry through their association is:
- … within five years, the Northern Territory ICT industry will be acknowledged internationally as
the ICT enabler for remote area total solutions …
And:
… the industry will be achieving 25% of the revenue gained from exports.
In that very powerful statement, you have two major elements. One is that the industry will be looking to combining with government and other agencies that have an interest in delivering services to the remote parts of the Northern Territory. In fact, in some senses, all of the Northern Territory has remoteness about it. Second, they are seeing a very strong link between the development of that type of expertise and a new capacity to export into the global market. That is a very exciting statement of direction, given that it is addressing not only the economic development of the Northern Territory, but also the social and economic wellbeing of our remote communities. This initial vision will evolve over time, but it highlights the initial focus on remote area solutions.
A lot of work has gone into bringing the industry and government together to this point. The first step was in November 2001 when this government held the Economic Development Summit which began the process of holding open discussion with business, industry and community representatives. It was recognised that growth in information technology and the innovation and knowledge economy areas will bring new resilience and sophistication across all businesses.
Initiatives such as the roll-out of telecommunications to remote communities and the Desert Knowledge Project in Central Australia provide evidence of the resolve of this government to see that the benefits of growth are realised Territory-wide. From the summit, the economic development strategy was produced and released in June last year. The strategy was developed in partnership and through consultation with key stakeholders from across the Territory. It includes timetables and benchmarks. It addresses the key areas necessary for sustained economic development across the Territory. This government recognises the value economic diversity and emerging industries can bring to our Territory. One of the five major sectors targeted within the strategy is communication and information technology as an industry and an employer in itself, and also as a provider of critical support tools to other areas of the Territory economy. The economic development strategy stated our vision to create an innovative and expanding ICT industry that meets the needs of Territorians and exports its skills on expertise.
Our isolation and vast distances have inspired a wide range of Northern Territory solutions in response to the unique challenges our surroundings present. These two areas are recurring themes for the ICT industry and the Northern Territory government. Many of the projects and initiatives we have been working on with industry will capitalise on this remote area expertise and the Northern Territory’s capacity to market this expertise interstate and overseas.
An industry that was barely acknowledged under the previous government is, I am proud to say, now growing in strength and capacity under this government. The ICT industry is, in fact, starting to thrive. The industry is taking significant steps forward, bringing opportunities, training and jobs for Territorians both in our urban and remote areas. ICT plays a major part in everything from agriculture, marine research, the environment, knowledge management, health delivery, education, security and monitoring, and tourism. This government has been supporting and working closely with both our local ICT industry and the Australian Information Industry Association on a number of significant activities, which I will now outline.
The ICT Forum: many of those activities gained impetus from the successful ICT Forum held in September last year. One of my first actions when I took up the communications portfolio was to bring the government, the ICT industry and the business community together for the ICT Forum. The forum enabled the industry to discuss a range of issues, and hear first-hand from government on the role of ICT in the government’s economic development strategy, outsourcing and key industry initiatives. The Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development, Paul Henderson, and I hosted the first ICT Forum here in Parliament House with a two-day agenda full of presentations, workshops, facilitated interaction and discussion. The forum was attended by 55 industry representatives and 12 key government representatives, and that was the catalyst for a great deal of ongoing activity in the sector since that time. I was delighted at the level of interest and participation by ICT industry, which is evidenced by the outcomes.
The forum identified two priority areas and these are: (1) ICT industry growth is predominantly dependent on the ICT’s success in the private sector both in the Northern Territory and with exports; and (2) the industry recognised that it had to collaborate in certain markets, particularly export, to sustain growth.
The forum also formed a number of industry working groups in key areas to work with government. These groups will look at increasing and retaining ICT skills in the Northern Territory; broadband infrastructure and applications; Northern Territory government opportunities for the sector; export opportunities; business and federal markets; and investment. These priority areas demonstrate the maturing of the ICT industry with a willingness to step away from the reliance on government to drive ICT and establish the Territory’s own private sector market.
The maturing of our ICT industry is also evident in the agreement from the forum to pursue a collaborative strategy. In the Northern Territory environment, collaboration allows local companies to develop a connection with larger global companies and access opportunities not available to a smaller entity. Companies that collaborate can share skills, capitalise on each other’s strengths and contacts, and can reach into new markets.
One of the key outcomes from the September forum has been the establishment of the ICT Industry Development Group, in part to oversee the initiatives of the forum. This group is the peak steering committee from the ICT industry strategy and comprises representatives from areas that contribute to our ICT environment. This Industry Development Group comprises: Jim Carew, Chairman of the Australian Information Industry Association of the Northern Territory; Kim Ford of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry; John Stevenson or DMR Consulting; Steven Shanahan, Northern Territory University; Graeme Poon from Austrade; Geoff Farnell, Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development; Larry Bannister, Office of Territory Development; and Les Hodgson, Department of Corporate and Information Services. The group has coordinated a broad range of projects.
An ICT industry survey has been conducted, which provides a comprehensive understanding of the industry players, the markets they serve, and their core competencies. The Northern Territory branch of the Australian Information Industry Association prepared this report with the Northern Territory government and released the report in July. This survey is a valuable tool for understanding who makes up the Territory industry and where these companies want to go, yet it will provide the government and industry with a clear direction on where to focus our efforts.
A number of industry events have been organised including the successful ICT Business at Sunset industry vendor forum, which is held annually. This event allowed the ICT sector to present its credentials to the business community as part of the businesses developing a broader understanding of the ICT industry, and how this industry enables growth in the economy as a whole. The government is working the AIIA - I had better use its full name because it starts to give you lockjaw - on the development of the ICT industry plan. This will focus on the Northern Territory government and the ICT industry collaborating to provide the right conditions for our recurring themes: sustainable growth of the ICT industry and delivery of ICT solutions to the benefit of Territorians. The industry plan also has a focus on remote services and solutions for the Northern Territory and exporting those solutions to the rest of the world. Our ability to problem solve in the Territory can be translated on a national and international scale.
A partnership I am particularly excited about is the joint Northern Territory government and Northern Territory University blueprint for a remote telecommunications solutions centre of excellence. This project is being coordinated with the involvement of the industry development group. A partnership agreement was signed on 1 July this year with the final scale and scope yet to be quantified. This project aims to develop a centre that will bring together a specialist pool of substantial knowledge across technology, distance health and education, non-English speaking users, and remote logistics to bridge the needs of people living and working in remote communities.
The role of remote telecommunications as a medium to achieve health and education outcomes is a priority for the Territory government. Developing and improving telecommunication services in these under-serviced areas will improve social and economic conditions for remote Territorians. The centre will work with other establishments such as Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, and the local ICT businesses to develop solutions applicable to local and niche markets outside the Territory. I take this opportunity to thank all the members of the ICT Industry Development Group for their hard work, dedication and valuable contribution.
The ICT Small Business Collaboration Program, supported by the industry association, the Northern Territory government and the outsourcing partners, CSC and Optus, was successful in bidding for AusIndustry funds to run a $250 000 program in the Territory to develop the clustering and collaboration capabilities of the Northern Territory ICT industry. At an industry and government clustering workshop in March, collaboration was confirmed as the critical success factor for local ICT businesses to achieve market growth. Skill development and market identification workshops will commence with NT businesses in September.
With many innovative products being developed in the Territory and our ICT industry’s marketable expertise in remote solutions, our export potential is significant and something this government will continue to focus on. An Export Cluster Group has been developed to bring Northern Territory industry together to develop strategies to increase the industry’s export share. Supported by the Northern Territory government, this group comprises key industry representatives and government, including the Chair, Denis Mackenzie of Connected Solutions Group, Kim Ford from CSM, Steve Rowe from CRA Information Technology, Brad Fitzgerald from Commercial Capital, Joachim Schoen from Media Sales, Andrew Hodges from the industry association, and Les Hodgson from DCIS.
The group has identified ways for the industry to enhance opportunities in the global market for Territory technologies and content. In line with the economic development strategy, the Export Cluster Group also sees future growth from our expertise in remote areas as a remarkable commodity. It is this group that his driven the vision that within five years, the Northern Territory will be acknowledged internationally as the ICT enabler for remote area telecommunications solutions, realising a level of 25% of revenue from exports for the industry as a whole. Export expansion will help to sustain industry expansion, providing revenue for Northern Territory businesses and jobs for Territorians. We want to produce, attract and retain skilled staff to drive industry growth. To this end, the government has allocated funding of $3.1m to date in 2003 for vocational education and training for ICT qualifications in the Northern Territory.
As a first step in starting to expand Territory ICT export opportunities, in March I led a delegation of Northern Territory ICT industry representatives to the CeBIT 2003 trade show in Hannover, Germany. A trade delegation from the Northern Territory of eight people, including representatives from these local companies, attended the week-long exhibition, taking the opportunity to explore export markets, benchmark their products, and make valuable business contacts. CeBIT hosted 7000 exhibitors from 65 countries who were showcasing their ICT products and innovations, including the Northern Territory’s own Asset Management Systems, a significant achievement for Bruce and Che Diggens of Darwin.
The Northern Territory delegation comprised Kim Ford and Trevor Oliver from CSM Technology, Denis Mackenzie from Connected Solutions Group, Kelly Hammond from Crimson Technology, Steve Rowe from SRA Information Technology, Brad Fitzgerald from Commercial Capital, and Bruce and Che Diggens from Asset Management Services. Andrew Hodges, the Executive Officer of the industry association and Les Hodgson, the ICT Director from DCIS, also attended. This event provided local industry players with international benchmarking opportunity. It clearly showed that the Northern Territory ICT industry can be nationally and internationally competitive in providing products and services to the rest of the world.
The need for the Northern Territory to collaborate on development of exports and a cumulative value of working together to achieve strategic goals was also reinforced by this trip. I was very impressed with the energy of the contingent who, on their return to Darwin, immediately held a briefing for the rest of the industry so they, too, could benefit from the experience. In addition, recognising the need to collaborate to address export markets both nationally and internationally, CRA and CSM announced a joint venture partnership that had been promulgated during the trip.
In May, another delegation took this one step further, and exhibited their services under the Northern Territory government stand at CeBIT in Sydney with similar positive responses. CeBIT Sydney is the showcase for the IT industry in the Pacific region. This delegation comprised Denis Mackenzie, Connected Solutions Group; Kim Ford and Trevor Oliver, CSM Technology; Steve Rowe of SRA Information Technology; Brad Fitzgerald, Commercial Capital; Jude Ellen and Peter Barwall from Dolphin Software, and Duncan Maclean from Cridlands. These opportunities to benchmark and compare Northern Territory product with the rest of the world, and to mix and network with others in the ICT industry with the same drive and passion, has been very positive for the industry. Both trips have highlighted the value of what we have here in the Northern Territory. They have shown that our ICT industry can be leaders in the development and delivery of electronic content, and in using telecommunications for remote area service delivery.
The Northern Territory is uniquely placed with our experience, expertise and range of professionals to set the pace in this field in our areas of application. I would like to see the ICT industry and the Northern Territory government continue to focus on content development, and to become leaders in the production of technology enabling materials. The government can drive the implementation of the infrastructure, and the ICT industry is well placed to drive the creation of content that is educational, informative and culturally appropriate for use in the Territory, but is also exportable to other markets.
For example, Jay Easterby-Wood works in Alice Springs and has developed a health program on CD-ROM. It is an animated learning package with a health message, with a simple framework that is transferable to all communities by recording the language of the community easily on to the program. Jay has built on a common software, and adds a local figure or elder - he has even done one of me; it is a wonderful site - and animates that person who records the audio component. This is simple, easy to use and provides a connection between the message and the community. It can be replayed whenever and wherever so that everyone can hear the message. This is just one example that I know of.
Our capacity to provide content and practical applications in the bush is our speciality, and is the next step in our plan for the industry. I would like to encourage people like Jay to continue their original work in the Territory. The outcomes of the ICT Forum have been a positive start, but we will continue to encourage the industry towards further innovation, development and growth. We have started coordinating the next ICT Forum, which will be held on 10 December this year. The forum will revisit the outcomes of last year’s event and set the direction for the next 12 months.
On another front, my department has been tasked with developing a strategy to ensure coordinated development of ICT infrastructure and services in remote areas. The remote area telecommunications strategy recognises the key features of infrastructure and support, content and personnel, which are needed to provide equity in telecommunications to all Territorians. We will continue to work towards extending broadband telecommunications and infrastructure to remote communities. I would like to see high capacity telecommunication services used to deliver new health, education and business services to all remote communities and residents.
This government will continue to use its own resources and to lobby the federal government to enable the provision of telecommunications infrastructure on an equitable basis for all Territorians. The strategy addresses the need for appropriate content delivery in all forms - video, audio and Internet - to improve outcomes in remote indigenous communities. It is this content and its delivery that Northern Territory ICT industry players are now exploring and will play a key role in developing.
Addressing remote area needs was a key element in our economic development strategy. The EDS sought the development and promotion of innovative and new technology to make a difference in our communities. This government is serious about providing equitable telephone, Internet and video-conferencing in remote communities. School lessons taught over broadband, such as through the Interactive Distance Learning Project, are now becoming a reality, as is the transference of medical records to clinics, which is done under the Health Connect initiative. A trial will soon begin through the Department of Justice enabling pre-court meetings to occur via video conferencing into remote communities, which allows for a decrease in travel and the cost to the client. These are the start of what can be done by linking innovators in the ICT industry with the area that needs them most.
I would like now to turn to the Industry Development Fund, which was established jointly between Northern Territory government and Computer Sciences Consortium, through the outsourcing contract, to provide development support for computer systems or software that will grow the local ICT industry. In April, I was proud to present six Northern Territory companies with a total amount of $1m from the Industry Development Fund. I point out that the arrangement is that those companies will themselves contribute dollar-for-dollar to that scheme, so we are talking about a $2m injection of activity into our research and development area. The industry development group provides recommendations on 27 submissions received for funding. The large number of submissions is a positive indication of the capabilities and skills within our industry sector. I will briefly outline the projects funded:
SRA Information Technology received funding to commercialise and market a software product that
provides for a data storage package for environmental monitoring. The package stores data, images,
video, documents and allows for formal reporting to statutory authorities on environmental accountably;
includes various user access layers with high-level security, and a version in Chinese will also be completed
for export;
successful product here in the Northern Territory, our industry funding will fast-track a national and
global marketing campaign, and develop further product enhancements;
of a software package for all wholesale fuel distributors from its initial developments for one distributor;
is for the development of software to demonstrate when commercial viability will be achieved in the
manufacture of the electric motors, a program which will then apply to any product; and
control system for residents and managers of large multi-tenanted complexes. The system includes
security, communication, entertainment, Internet access, billing, booking and environmental control. Clients both interstate and overseas are currently considering the product.
I might say that I connected our Electronic Control Systems company to a big developer in Sydney just a week ago, who is putting up 150 houses and wants to network the houses together. That product will apply to that situation very nicely, and I hope they get a contract out of it.
In just two months since the funding announcement of these six projects, three full-time employment positions have been filled, with up to a total of 100 jobs possible from all projects over the next three years, and up to $40m in export potential. To date, all projects are on target. I look forward to reporting the progress of these projects and their successful export to the world.
I will now project some of the future from where we have got to with this very high level of activity that we have sustained over the last year or so. Turning to our future directions, the economic development strategy laid out our plans and the future of government and industry is clear. My colleague, the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development and I will support and work for the industry to provide more opportunities and linkages between government and the private sector. There is still a lot to do to raise the profile of the Northern Territory as a place to carry out ICT business; we need to develop our niche and export markets.
The December ICT Forum I announced earlier will reinforce and consolidate the significant current momentum that the industry has developed, and will continue to support the industry’s growth and development. We will continue our collaboration with the industry association and the Australian Computer Society, the Northern Territory University and other institutions. Additionally, we will continue our consultations with industry on the Northern Territory government’s own ICT requirements.
In September, I will again lead a delegation to IX 2003 in Singapore. IX 2003 is the Asian equivalent of CeBIT, and I expect this delegation to be as productive as the two previous trips. The Asian market is a key target for Northern Territory industry and we believe that if we can match the niche products and expertise that we will be producing here to the Asian markets, we will open up great possibilities. The ICT Export Cluster Group has done a great deal of work in preparing the Northern Territory exhibition for IX 2003, which is placed almost centrally in the trade show, and the number of delegates intending to go continues to grow. I look forward to reporting back to parliament on the exhibition and its outcomes.
Turning briefly to some of the achievements in government: my department of DCIS continues work with all agencies to progress the ICT issues, policies and frameworks to provide the environment in which the government and ICT industry can collaboratively grow and develop activity. I will outline a few of the government activities here. Under the economic development strategy, we committed to become a leader in on-line government services. We recognise the opportunities the Internet provides to enhance and extend the delivery of government information services.
Under a whole-of-government e-government commitment endorsed by Cabinet last December, all agencies have now completed plans to deliver a range of government services on-line, including such services as on-line payments. Improved telecommunications means that residents can now receive a proportion of the services of the Northern Territory government wherever they are. There continues to be a high number of visits to the Northern Territory government home page each month, and as part of the e-government strategy, agencies have updated their home pages to be more user friendly and accessible.
DCIS and the industry have reviewed ways of the industry gaining intellectual property access to key software applications developed for the government. A new policy will be going to Cabinet this month to further progress that. In conjunction with other key agencies, DCIS has arranged briefings to make the local industry aware of future ICT needs.
To conclude, on my part, I will continue to work with industry and agencies to build on the efforts of the past two years from our industry development, through the forum being held in December, to our continued approach to export Territory expertise.
As the Assembly has heard tonight, this government is working with a ICT industry on a broad range of fronts. Together, we are determined to expand industry, develop niche markets and create jobs here in the Northern Territory and, as we have heard right across the Martin government, jobs are our absolute foremost aim and priority at the moment. We want to capitalise on the skills, energy, commitment and expertise evident in our ICT sector. We want to grow that sector and ensure skills developed in the Northern Territory will find sufficient opportunities to not only advance the interest of Territorians, but find us markets in the global export market. Most of all, it is a focus on jobs, jobs, jobs within this area.
Finally, I commend the work that is being done within the private sector and by our own public servants to advance these initiatives. I look forward to working into the future to continue the momentum that we built up.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I would like to say a few words about this very dry and, perhaps to many people, uninteresting topic.
I am pleased to find that there is, indeed, a minister who is very enthusiastic about the ITC industry in the same way that I am interested and excited about the developments we can look forward to in this industry over the next five to 10 years. I believe that this industry would be accelerating in its developments as technology continues to improve.
I am pleased to hear the minister’s generally very supportive comments about the ICT industry in the Northern Territory. Much of it was motherhood statements, but positive and very encouraging for the industry. I look forward to this government continuing to promote and enhance the initiatives that were started by members on this side of the Chamber. Over the last couple of years, things have improved remarkably. I commend the government for having done so.
In the minister’s broad statement, he missed some key points that he should recognise. Perhaps he needs to talk to industry rather than having filtered information provided by the department. The department is doing the best it can, but the minister himself, with his enthusiastic feel for this topic, needs to go and talk to industry face to face and in greater depth than he has done in the past. It is good to say that we have done very well here, but take the Blaster virus as an example; 20% of government services were affected. That is significant.
I come to a couple of comments that the minister made about the NT ICT industry becoming an enabler for remote area solutions. Having gone through his statement, I suspect that the minister was thinking more about remote areas as our remote communities in the Territory. While that is relevant and pertinent in the greater scheme of things, the minister needs to expand his horizons. He is no longer standing on the ground at remote Yuendumu with a 8 km horizon; he is now standing on the 5th floor of Parliament House, and his horizons should be, in effect, unlimited. He can see as far as he wants and make his mark as big as he wants it to be. That is what industry is looking for from this government. By looking at remote area total solutions, really, you are looking at the Northern Territory as a remote location in the context of Australia or Australia, in a world context, as a remote country. That is what we are talking about. The minister needs to understand that, when the industry talks to him about remote area total solutions, they are looking at a greater picture than just within our local communities.
To say that industry will achieve 25% of its revenue from exports is a little ambitious, a little higher than industry could achieve in the near future, but a target should be aimed for. Whether you reach that far or not is another matter. It is better that a realistic target is set, and that industry can work towards that, rather than going for such an unrealistic revenue percentage. Just think of the government contract with private industry at the moment, and the millions that involves; 25% of that is significant. When you talk about the whole industry for the whole of the Territory, 25% is a very large sum of money.
Obviously, Desert Knowledge will contribute to a significant part of the ICT industry that we look forward to developing in the Territory. Desert Knowledge is obviously a focus for us in Alice Springs where the technology and traditional knowledge can come together in a very strong, synergistic combination. Hopefully, we can export that type of information management and knowledge to all areas of the world. After all, 30% of the world is in the arid zone and, with a current population of six billion, 30% of that is a significant population that we can service. If we can manage even a small portion of that, it will see Northern Territory business start to boom.
The minister spoke about the five major sectors he intends to target with this policy. One of the things the minister needs to address closely is the issue of intellectual property. This is a very vexed question. How does one deal with intellectual property: who owns it, who can capitalise on it, and who benefits from capitalisation of intellectual property?
Take, for instance, company XYZ in private develops an idea, a program, or whatever. It could sell it to anybody, and from there capitalise on its work and product, and it continues to make a profit for as long as it can continue to sell its product. However, if this company were to be working in contract with the government, how, then, is intellectual property dealt with? Do our contracts prevent the private company that assisted the government to develop the application from having a share in that intellectual property, or does government hold the intellectual property all on its own? I do not have any problem with the government holding property all to its own, provided that government will use that intellectual property for further benefit. Frequently, we see the dog in a manger type attitude where: ‘We are government, we have given you a contract to do something, you produce it, now its ours, and that is it. We will use it within our system’, and the person or the company that developed it has no share in it.
I suggest that a better way would be for the government to hold a small portion as an equity partner, and say to the company that has developed the program or software: ‘75% or 90%, whatever, is yours; you do what you like with it. You helped us design and develop it. Yes, we own part of it, but you go and market it’. They are the ones who are good at it; government is not. They can then maximise the benefits that the product they developed will have in the open market. It is not for government to do business; that is not what governments are for. Let the private company do the business and capitalise on its development. Government will still have level of control through its equity share. In my opinion, that is what industry will be looking for: an opportunity to allow them to capitalise on what they have done themselves, while in a contract arrangement with government.
The minister said the industry was barely acknowledged under the previous government. That is absolute rubbish. Had it not been for the fact that the former government recognised that the ICT needed a lot of promotion and encouragement to develop, we would not have gone down the path of outsourcing what we did in the latter stages of the last government. The CLP government recognised that the ICT industry needed a core consumer, and the government was able to provide that. The fact that it has worked well in the last two years, albeit through the enhancement and management of this government, says that what we did was right; that our initiative was correct.
I applaud the government for having recognised that outsourcing was the right thing to do. I also applaud the minister for being aware of the industry, and has continued to support it. With the government saying it supports ICT and is doing all sorts of great things with the industry with lots of input from industry organisations and all that, I wonder why the government has reduced funding to the peak body. It makes no sense to me. The peak body is there to help government …
Dr Toyne: Untrue. Come on. Don’t tell fibs.
Dr LIM: ‘Untrue’, the minister says. I pick up on that interjection. He says ‘Untrue’. I suggest that if you want the peak bodies in the Territory to help garner information and advice for government, you resource them adequately so that they can do the things they have to do to provide you with the information that you need to ensure that government and industry relate well. To say: ‘Sorry, you are going to have a lesser and lesser budget to do many things that we want you to do’, that is a problem. It is a problem …
Dr Toyne: He is telling fibs, Hendo.
Mr Henderson interjecting.
Dr LIM: The Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development laughs and sniggers under his breath. Ask him why he removed the only person who was facilitating e-government in his department of DBIRD? That makes no sense to me …
Mr Henderson: I have not removed anyone. We do not work like that.
Dr LIM: This is the one person who was able to help you, and there you are: she is out of a job …
Dr Burns: Who is that person? Name names.
Dr LIM: Out of a job. The Minister for Environment says: ‘Name names’. Well, I am not in this parliament to name public servants, not like you. I am not here to name names …
Dr Burns: What public servants have I named?
Dr Toyne: Or me, except if I am praising them?
Dr LIM: Well, why are you asking me for it? That is the type of person that you are.
Dr Burns: I have not made the same sort of allegations that you make.
Dr LIM: You are a terrible man, you are.
Dr Burns: I beg your pardon?
Dr LIM: The forum identified - the minister has described the ICT forums that were held here in Parliament House. I thought …
Dr Burns: At least I have not been sent packing. Even the pensioners do not like you.
Dr LIM: Do you want to control that man? Give him a tablet or something, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker?
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I was just waiting to see if he continued with injections. He has just stopped.
Dr LIM: He has been continuing non-stop for a while. Thank you.
The ICT forums are very good things. It is important that the Northern Territory ICT industry understands where government is coming from and, having such a forum last year – and I see from the minister’s statement that there will be another some time later this year - is a very good thing. Industry will then understand what is in the offing and they can plan accordingly. I encourage the government to be very open about this and to include as many of the people in the industry as it possibly can and, perhaps, even to extend the opposition spokesman an invitation to get there, rather than him having to crash the meetings.
The ICT industry in the Northern Territory is slowly coming together. It is far from being mature in any way. It is important that the government is not too overcome with enthusiasm and run too far ahead of what the ICT industry is doing in the Territory.
As for CeBIT, that is a good thing to do. It is good that the minister finally recognises that going overseas with trade delegations is a very necessary thing for government. Far be it from me to tell the minister that he could do that just from surfing the Internet. Obviously, he has recognised that he cannot, and the fact that trade delegations can do business through partnerships, skill sharing, learning from others and comparing what they have with others is a very good thing. CeBIT is one of the avenues that can open the Territory industry to interests overseas. Whether CeBIT Hannover, CeBIT Singapore, Sydney, US, they are all good forums to attend. I suggest that one has to be particularly choosey about which one to go to, otherwise you can go to all the conferences in the world and come back with very little.
Minister, I spoke to you about your support for industry. Obviously, you rely on the Australian Information Industry Association a fair bit, and I recommend that you ensure that the financial support or resource that you provide them is adequate, otherwise, they are not going to be able to do the job that you have assigned for them.
The remote telecommunications solutions centre of excellence is nothing new. Distance health and education have been done for a long time. Technology improves and things get more sophisticated - that is great – and with broadband, the more we get the better it is. I was at the recent launch of a broadband facility, and one of the presenters said: ‘Once you have tasted broadband, it is like having tasted heroin. Once you have it, you cannot give it up’. I suppose it is like that once you get broadband, things are moving so fast across your computer screens that when you get back to your 56k modem, it is interminably slow. Obviously, as broadband spreads around the Territory more and more people are going to link into it and like it. For bush communities, while it is still reasonably expensive in infrastructure, it has to happen sooner or later, and I suppose the sooner it can happen the better it will be for all Territorians.
I have spoken about intellectual property and how I believe it can be enhanced. I believe industry would look forward to a government that is prepared to share what it has. Just take the parliamentary system of Lotus Notes. We have TRIM, we have METS, we have all sorts of very specialised applications that have been developed for us. This is not now shared with anybody; we use it and we own it. Think of all the small companies - with three, five, 10, 15 staff - that would love to be able to use something like this. They would love it, but they do not have the wherewithal to develop it themselves. For them to go and buy it from another company would be costly and they probably could not afford it. They would not have time to do it themselves in-house. But we have this. The government, if it were really and truly interested in helping private industry, would say: ‘Okay you guys, we have this Lotus Notes system. All your applications are built around Lotus Notes. Do you want it? Yes, you can have it’. Maybe for a nominal fee, maybe even for nothing, it does not matter. We have it now and we have paid for it. It is there and if you give it away, it costs you nothing. Enterprise in the Territory would benefit out of bounds. They could do anything they want with it and just think of the productivity that would increase as a result of that. That would be a very useful way for this government to enhance business in the Territory. I do not mind giving you my idea; you can do with it whatever you like. It is on record that I believe this is the way to do it, and if you want to take the idea, go for it.
There are other companies in the Territory in ICT that require staff training. The minister spoke about encouraging vocational education and training. Let me make some observations for the minister. A business wants to train eight technicians working in an office. The current legislation requires them to have a staff trainee ratio of 1:1 or at best 1:4. Now, if you were working in an office with eight people sitting around a table, you really do not need two staff members walking around that table. You really do not. Why are you imposing that extra cost on the business to insist that they have two trainers for those eight or 10 trainees? Surely, one trainer can walk around the table of eight or 10 trainees without any difficulty and can still provide an almost one-on-one face-to-face training. That is the way a government can enhance business. Do it so that it is easier for business to get on and do what they are good at.
Minister, your statement is good. There is a bit of rush of blood. It is early days in many of the things that you have talked about, and we have a long way to go before we get there. I ask you to do it cautiously, expand your horizons so that you can reach out further than just your little, short 8 km horizon.
You spoke about Jay Easterby-Wood. He is a terrific young man I know in Alice Springs. He is very intelligent and innovative and has been able to combine three applications into one. He has been able to maximise the capacity of those three in a very synergistic way, to produce a video on CD which can be changed at any time. That is the beauty of it. You can have the talking head of any person you wish. If you went to a bush community and had an anti-alcohol message to be played on computers, you can get the elder of the community and present his talking head, speaking in language, to people, giving them the right message.
In the event that the community elder is no longer there, they can replace the talking head. The program is not lost. If you were to make a film or video and you produce 100 copies of the video, you would have to dice the lot if the elder is no longer there. This is a very innovative way of doing it. Jay Easterby-Wood works for the Health department, and I trust the Health minister will seriously look at this program, and encourage and facilitate the development of it so that it can be used across the Territory. I bet anything you like that many corporations would give their right arms for this. To see this application languishing in the Health department is a real tragedy. The Minister for Communications talked about a CD-ROM talking head made of him, and he obviously enjoyed the way the program could be utilised and manipulated. Think of all the health programs that can be promoted using this technology. If you want to encourage this man to stay in the Territory, for goodness sake, give him encouragement, not mere words. Facilitate what he wants to do so he can get on with it.
Minister, I asked you some questions during estimates about mainframe services in the Northern Territory, and you assured me that mainframe services will not leave the Territory, that you will keep it in the Territory and ensure that it is enhanced. While you said that, I am not so certain that you are able to keep your word. There obviously is a concern in the industry that mainframe services will be not only outsourced, but outsourced out of the Territory. If preventing it from going out of the Territory is not possible because of the current state of mainframe services, may I make this suggestion: have it written in the contract that mainframe services will go out of the Territory for a period of one or two years, a finite time during which you can continue to develop the facility in the Territory and at the end of that time, you bring it back. If you use IBM, it does not have a presence in the Northern Territory. Why would you support a company that does not support the Territory? It is pointless, in my opinion. So look at it.
Dr Toyne: I said we were not doing it. What part of the word ‘no’ didn’t you understand?
Dr LIM: Not doing it. I pick up the minister’s interjection. He says he is not doing it. So he is not going to send it out of the Territory? I feel very reassured. This is the second time you have said that in less than a couple of months, and that is good. Having just heard you say it again, I feel reassured, and I am glad to hear it because it is important that we do not lose it. Expertise would disappear and it would be such a pity.
You spoke about SRA, Entity One and Dolphin - these are very good businesses in the Territory and I commend them for their efforts and their successes. Again, do not speak mere words; do things that will enhance their business. That is what government is for. Dolphin has e-mail server software, you spoke about that yourself. The government has at least one licence, if not a couple. What have you done with it? Maybe that is the sort of software the government should be picking up from Dolphin and have it as the whole-of-government standard operating environment. That is what the government can do, because this is leading age technology that, if government could pick it up, would give this company a platform and a showcase. Tell the world: ‘Hey, look at what we are doing for government’. That is how governments can promote business. I understand that Dolphin has had a worldwide patent since 1993, and only a few departments have picked it up. It is such a waste of what could otherwise be remarkable software for this company.
In Motion Technologies and the electric motors you talked about, is very innovative without a doubt. Imagine if that were to be picked up and promoted worldwide. I hope they will go with you to CeBIT Singapore to demonstrate their wares. If this technology catches hold, this company will go ballistic. If you have any spare money, I suggest you buy shares in it. This is something the world would welcome with open arms.
I spoke about small ICT companies and how they have limited resources to develop their own applications, and that government can assist by allowing, sharing or giving away what the government has developed. It does not cost the government anything, and this is how you will continue to support the ICT industry development and growth.
Coming back to e-government, there are a couple of points government should be aware of. I had an inquiry only last week. A man sent me an e-mail. I said to him that he can download a package from the Internet, from the government web site, on how to incorporate associations. He went into the DBIRD site and he got lost, absolutely lost. It was not until my office showed him the exact web site that he could find it. E-government should be easy and friendly, and it is not. Many of the government web sites are not really interactive. You go there, read a whole stack of words, download forms, fill them in, and then have to post the forms back.
Those web sites should be interactive and you should be able to transact within those web sites. That is what e-government is about: transactions. You do not have to line up at MVR to wait to get your car registered. That is such a waste of time and effort. People are now beginning to make many transactions over the Internet. Internet banking is a classic example, one of the reasons why banks can afford to not have so many staff, I suppose ...
Mr Henderson: Afford to sack people.
Dr LIM: Think about it. Busy people, like yourselves. You are still in the Chamber at 7.30 pm. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go home at 9 pm, 10 pm, and say: ‘My car needs to be registered’, and do your registration on the web? That is what e-government is about. You do not have to fill in forms to do it.
I applaud you for this statement. ICT has come along way over the last five years, and has a long way to go. Government needs to continue to promote it strongly to ensure that the industry will grow. Broaden your horizons. Again I remind you that you are on the 5th floor, not on the ground, and on the 5th floor your horizon is a lot longer than just 8 km.
Mr HENDERSON (Business, Industry and Resource Development): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I support my colleague’s statement on ICT industry development with a great deal of pride because my colleague, the minister for DCIS and responsible for ICT policy development and application across government, really has presented a pretty visionary statement to this House this evening. Within our government, I stand shoulder to shoulder with my colleague in advancing the application of technology through government to deliver better services because that is what this is all about: delivering services to Territorians.
I sometimes wonder what political philosophy the member for Greatorex has in respect of support for business. The government of the day is about delivering services and infrastructure for Territorians; it is not about supporting particular companies that may have a great software product …
Dr Lim interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: There are many applications being developed in the Territory, but it is not government’s jobs to say: ‘This is a fantastic application. We are going to bang it on 3000 PCs across the government to support your business’. It is about is delivering services to Territorians, and working with the ICT sector in the Territory to deliver enabling technologies to deliver services to Territorians. That is what we are doing in a comprehensive way, and it is a first for the Territory.
For the first time, we had the forum last year where we brought the entire industry together, an industry that will admit had been fragmented, and saw everybody in the industry as competition. It was pretty cut throat, particularly during the outsourcing period. For the first time, they came to understand that in order to develop individual enterprises as well as the profile of the ICT industry in the Northern Territory, they needed to come together and work together. There have been some significant consortia who were previously in competition and who are now working with government to develop applications that will deliver services to Territorians. The member for Greatorex really does have a strange political philosophy.
Having cleared him from the room, we will now move on to my statement. I will start by reiterating closing remarks I made at the ICT industry forum, co-hosted by me and my colleague, the Minister for Communications, last September. I made some observations on the outcomes of that forum, which I believe played a large part in shaping the significant work that has taken place in the year since that important forum, to take the industry forward. I noted that - and I am quoting from what I said at the forum:
- From a technical point of view, it is clear that ITC is an enabling industry; that is, the development of useful applications and content that will drive the growth of ICT to include all Territorians.
From a commercial perspective, the role of the government ICT business, currently 25% of industry turnover, will decline proportionally, and needs to be seen as a declining opportunity.
In 10 years, 90% of ICT business needs to be business-to-business and business-to-consumer. ICT exports need to be the big growth area, and we need to understand what we currently have, both with respect to ICT export business and intellectual property, and to leverage off that for growth.
- From a social equity point of view, the disparity of access to ICT between urban and non-urban centres needs to be addressed, and that indigenous people in remote communities are more than clients. They are entitled to participate in the sustainable commercial activity of providing ICT services, and to share in the benefits.
Finally, in terms of industry development, I noted that solid strategic planning is essential for the sustainable growth of the industry.
What my colleague, the Minister for Communications has done today is to record a number of significant achievements under each of these criteria. I look forward with keen interest to the second ICT industry forum to be held on 10 December this year, as an opportunity to further progress these initiatives.
I applaud the AIIA, so ably supported by Executive Officer, Andrew Hodges - somebody I have worked with for many years - and a number of key public sector personnel who have all collaborated so well as a steering group to guide the industry’s growth since the forum.
I will move to talk about two aspects of ICT that relate to my portfolio responsibilities.. First, I record the importance of growing Territory ICT capability as an export industry. The trade support scheme I launched some months ago is directly aimed at supporting and facilitating the growth of export business, including service businesses and ICT service businesses. The scheme is well funded with $330 000 available this financial year to support market identification and development opportunities. I am pleased to report that the AIIA is negotiating with my department to lodge an application for support under the trade support scheme so that 12 NT companies can exhibit their capabilities at IX 2003, a major regional ICT exhibition and conference to held in Singapore in October this year. I wish delegates well on this business venture, which can only spell benefits for Territorians and, as my colleague, the Minister for Communications, said, jobs for Territorians.
The topic I wish to address is the recently launched 2003 Yellow Pages E-business Report for the Northern Territory. This report was commissioned by the government because we believed it would provide us with an improved understanding of the status of computerisation, computer literacy and e-commerce in the Territory. Previously, we did not have a picture of the penetration of the ICT industry into small business in the Territory. Further, it would allow us to benchmark our progress against all other jurisdictions because one of the key features of the Yellow Pages proposal was that it would examine all Australia.
I am pleased to advise members that the report does just that. It informs us of the degree to which Territory business has embraced the computer as a business tool, the ways in which computers are being used and the state of e-commerce in the Territory. It is not only a very interesting read, it shows that we are well positioned in comparison to all other jurisdictions in Australia.
Some 150 Northern Territory firms were surveyed in the study during April this year across all commercial sectors, and across the full spectrum of size, from micro-business to major business. The report tells us that 93% of all NT SMEs own at least one desktop computer against a national uptake of 91%; our business people spend more on computers, maintenance and support, particularly in the area of hardware purchase; 87% of our firms are Internet linked compared to a national average of 82%; 97% of our firms use Internet connectivity primarily for e-mail communication, the second highest response rate in Australia; and the report shows that 42% of SMEs have a web site compared to a national average of 39%. Importantly, of those firms who do not have a web site, 23% Territory firms stated that they would be implementing one over the next 12 months. This is significantly higher than the national average of 16% and reflects the resolve of our business people as they confront and respond to the need to maximise market exposure.
I note that one of the most pleasing findings of this study is the high and increasing use by Territory firms of the Internet to sell products and services, with 41% of Territory businesses taking orders on-line compared with 33% nationally. That is a remarkable figure, a figure that I was very surprised to see as a result of that survey.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge the significant efforts of my Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development and its Business Development Unit. I am sure these welcome statistics are in part a reflection of the success of the unit in encouraging to take up e-commerce in our business sector. I refute the allegation from the member for Greatorex about me personally taking decisions to axe public servants from their roles. That may have been the way that he or other CLP ministers operated when they were in government, to reach into the bureaucracy and either put people in jobs or take people’s heads off, but it just does not work like that under a Labor government. We have complete confidence in our chief executive officers to structure departments as they see fit to achieve the outcomes that ministers set for those departments.
I know of the issue to which he referred, and I find it a total insult not only to myself but to senior people in my department that he would make those sorts of allegations in parliament. Nothing could be further from the truth in terms of my department’s support for the ICT industry. When the day comes when ministers step over the line and determine the appointment or where various public servants should sit in the bureaucracy, that is the day when the public service is corrupted to the core. If the member for Greatorex believes that we as ministers should operate that way, he obviously understands little, if nothing, of the Westminster system of government.
Whilst this report is no reason for us to rest on our laurels, it does provide high quality information on the status of ICT in our day to day business operations, and reinforces that ICT is seen as a primary business tool by Territory firms.
Picking up on a couple of other points by the member for Greatorex, saying that government was doing nothing in increasing and improving transactions between the Territory community and the business community and government, again, he must have been asleep during the budget this year and in estimates. There is $500 000 in the budget this year to start implementing government on-line to transaction-based licensing on-line. There will be a number of government licences this year that will become transaction based, and this will be a roll-out over the years to put government licences and more business on-line. It is something that we funded, that the previous government refused to go anywhere near, and we will continue to roll out improved capacity for Territorians to engage in business transactions with the government, and there is $500 000 this year.
Also, we have a single point of contact, an on-line point of contact, a one-stop-shop client tracking system that I launched in Alice Springs this year to enable business to liaise with government on-line on issues that it wants to pursue with government, and to have a single point of contact with government. That was an election commitment. We are putting government on-line. I personally would like to do it a bit quicker, and it would be great if we had a limitless budget, but we are making a significant start. It is a pity that the member for Greatorex could not recognise that in his comments.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement to the Assembly. I am sure he will bring many more such statements to the Assembly in his time as communications minister.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, economic development is a key priority of the Martin Labor government. This means providing a sustainable economic base to underpin Territory growth and development.
Ensuring economic growth for the Territory’s future means focussing on regional and remote communities as well as urban centres. We are also committed to improving opportunities for Territorians living in regional and remote areas. The information technology and telecommunications sector underpins the government’s and Territory’s ability to achieve this vision. Last year, the government and the sector got together for the first ever information communications technology forum as part of the government’s vision to innovate and expand the local ICT sector to benefit Territorians and capitalise on export markets. The ICT Forum also gave opportunity for local ICT business operators to bring their concerns and ideas on the future of their sector to the government, a reflection of our open-door approach.
There were four core themes that came out of that forum, including the need for strategic planning for growth as an industry. This plan to include the need to produce, attract and retain appropriately skilled professionals who can participate in and drive the growth of the Territory’s ICT industry. The ICT industry is on the march in the Northern Territory. Over the past 12 months, there has been a lot of activity in the ICT domain. The local ICT industry has taken some significant development steps together with this government, and there is a great future ahead.
The Australian Information Industry Association recently completed an ICT NT industry audit. The audit found that 79% had an NT-based head office. Surprisingly, at least to me, because I always considered the ICT industry would be dominated by contract or permanent part-time employees, the ICT industry has over 80% of its work force employed full-time. It did not come as a surprise to me, however, that there is a significant dependency, around 30%, upon Territory government-based work for our local operators. It is pleasing to note, as the minister highlighted in his statement, that industry reliance on government is not considered as critical as it was in the past, that there is a maturity in the ICT sector, which is identifiable in its willingness to establish the Territory’s own private sector. Other government, financial and residential sectors take up around 18% of the market share; 10% of the market is dedicated to the retail trade; and the remaining 42% comprised the Defence, mining, transport, primary industry, tourism and construction sectors. There is very little doubt that this mix will change significantly over the next few years.
The Martin Labor government has successfully negotiated gas onshore. The ICT industry support for this exciting step change in our economy will be, I believe, quite intensive. This means growth; this means jobs. We can also anticipate strong growth in ICT logistic support as result of the transport and freight hub located in the port and rail precinct, and I dare not hazard a guess at the technologies that will be employed in our new and innovative Darwin waterfront development and the skills base required servicing that precinct.
The Northern Territory government is keen for companies to grow, to participate in decision-making and in industry development. We have proven our commitment to the industry is more than the empty rhetoric of the opposition. In 2002, the Martin Labor government provided $2.7m for vocational education and training for ICT-related skills and knowledge acquisition. This year to date, we have provided a further $3.1m for registered training organisations to undertake further delivery of suitable industry-based training. It is good to see substantial philanthropy from private enterprise, which I consider is a ringing endorsement that the Martin government’s efforts to grow the ICT as a means to improving opportunities for Territorians living in the regional and remote areas are worthy of support.
I am pleased to put on the Parliamentary Record my thanks to Hewlett Packard, which has awarded the Northern Territory University a grant totalling $200 000 for initiatives to positively transform teaching and learning environments through the use of mobile technologies specifically in remote, primarily indigenous, communities. The Hewlett Packard philanthropic grant is called the Hewlett Packard Applied Mobile Technology Solutions in Learning Environments. The grant supports education policy objectives outlined by the Northern Territory government. These include improving remote students’ access to eduction; helping Territory students to keep pace with advances in information technology; and using new information technology infrastructure to enhance the delivery of education. As a result of the grant, the university will use Hewlett Packard’s mobile technologies, including tablet and hand-held PCs, to explore and develop the innovative application of mobile technologies in various teaching and learning environments. The grant also includes a cash injection to help with the cost of academic staff assigned to the project, as well as a fully-funded trip to the United States where one delegate from the university will present a paper on the project.
Hewlett Packard’s worldwide grant initiative is awarded to institutions that demonstrate the potential to use mobile technologies to positively transform the learning environment. The Northern Territory University has been recognised as just such an institution, and is one of two Australian recipients, the other being the University of Melbourne. I wish all those involved in this research all the best, and trust that the benefits of their labours will be felt across the breadth of the Territory, as well as other markets throughout Australia and the world.
It is truly wonderful for our education policies in relation to IT skills and knowledge acquisition to be recognised by a multinational company such as Hewlett Packard. This is an endorsement that the government understands the effort required to grow our market share in the field of information technology and communications. It is important - and the IT sector knows it is important - that we have a champion to lead the push to grow our industry, and what an example the Minister for Corporate and Information Services sets for us all in being a champion for the ICT industry. He is an action minister. He has set up strategic ICT Forums, led trade delegations interstate as well as to Europe, and he will shortly be heading off to Singapore. He is well respected by the ICT sector, including Australia’s two largest telecommunications carriers, Telstra and Optus. The member for Stuart is actively pursuing the Martin government’s vision to create an innovative and expanding ICT industry, which meets the needs of Territorians and exports its skills and expertise. We should all commend him for his efforts to identify and capitalise on Territory ICT export opportunities. Well done, Peter.
The ICT industry strongly holds the view that the local market cannot sustain the current number of enterprises. If it is to flourish, it must be through growth in other markets and significant new business structures. Government does have a role to play in creating a fertile environment for the industry to flourish, and we are creating this environment as outlined in both the Minister for Corporate and Information Services’ statement and the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development’s supporting contribution to this debate. Very little is coming from the opposition, I am afraid. The ICT industry, much to its credit, understands and fully expects that it must not rely on government to fund growth. The ICT community has identified six keys strategies to growth. These are: new market penetration; export; vertical integration; collaborative efforts; merger and acquisitions. I believe they are boldly and vigorously pursuing this agenda.
A lot of the time when people think of the ICT industry, their thoughts turn to computers, computer applications, computer programmers, administrators or technicians. However, there are so many more jobs that are created servicing this industry, and there are so many more benefits to the community that are not readily apparent through a casual glance. For example, just under a year ago, I had the pleasure of opening the new office premises of ACE Cabling and Telecommunications. ACE Cabling and Telecommunications was founded about 13 years ago by John and Cheryl Dillon as a home-based business, and by degrees they developed its business opportunities to the position that the company required substantial new premises. The company’s growth record over the last decade is quite impressive. ACE Cabling and Telecommunications can now proudly boast being not only channel partner in both NEC and Optus in the Northern Territory, the company now employs approximately 20 local people and provides a range of services covering all aspects of the telecommunications industry.
ACE Cabling and Telecommunications is CAL accredited, KRONE MOLEX certified endorsed, a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry with a director’s seat on the board, period contractor to Northern Territory government, and a foundation member of the Northern Territory University. Over the years, the company has provided support for local sporting and non-profit organisations in an effort to put something back into the community that has supported them during the last 13 years. These include the Arthritis and Osteoporosis Society, Humpty Doo and Rural Area Golf Club, World Skills Australia, Nakara Primary School interstate sporting events, and Northern Territory University Rugby Club.
I was very impressed with ACE Cabling and Telecommunications’ commitment to staff and customers, as reflected in their building design, and believe such a professional approach will ensure John and Cheryl Dillon are in business for as long as they desire. As you can see by this example, small to medium ITC-related enterprises are a real benefit to the community in many ways. This minister and our government wholeheartedly support such enterprise, and we will do all we can to create an environment in which it can flourish.
The Territory is a vast place with communities spread far and wide. In the past, our main telecommunications trunk was the landline running predominantly down south along the same route as the Stuart Highway, while quite a number of communities to the east and west of the highway were joined in network by radio telephone. I am sure quite a number of us here have fond memories of the VJY call sign and saying ‘Over’ when talking by phone …
A member: No.
Mr KIELY: No? … to people in these communities. These days, technology has significantly improved our communications capabilities, thanks to the investment in research and development infrastructure by our two main telecommunications companies in the Territory, Telstra and Optus, particularly in the domain of highly sophisticated wireless communications.
Optus is truly making an impact in the Territory, both in levels of service and its contractual commitment to government, which were negotiated as part of the industry development offer with the winning of the outsourcing contract for the Northern Territory government data, Internet and voice services in 2000. For example, Optus recently held the Information Telecommunication Technology Expo, and I am pleased to advise the Assembly I had the honour and privilege to open the forum. The theme this year was Trends in Wireless Technology, and such was the credibility of this IT Expo that a cast of quite senior management for Optus were the presenters.
Optus are very proud of one of their latest achievements, the launching of a communications satellite from the space base at French Guiana in South America. This satellite greatly enhanced Optus’ wireless capability, and they were keen to show off the satellite dish mounted on a trailer with data, Internet, voice and closed user groups, which can be used for emergency services and secure channels. Applications for this type of equipment in the Territory are very wide, and I am sure that all levels of government and private enterprise will be looking at and assessing just what this type of communications equipment can do to make their business and service delivery more efficient.
I understand that Optus is pleased to be able to work with the Northern Territory government to deliver not only service to the government, but also to be another telecommunications carrier for the business of the Territory. Optus is a good corporate citizen and also provides industry development such at the IT&T Expo I mentioned, research development such as the School of the Air trials, the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, and the proposed Centre of Excellence for remote telecommunications and other sponsorships.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Telstra for its long-term and ongoing contributions to the development of information technology and communication systems in the Territory. In its many prior forms, such as the Post Master General and Telecom, it was this organisation and its dedicated employees who, for many years, were the sole provider of what is now one of the most crucial industries to the Territory’s ongoing successful social and economic development. After years of hard work, last September Telstra officially launched its Mobiles for the Territory program - might I add that I was the one who launched it.
Telstra improved mobile telephone coverage in remote areas by installing code division multiple access base stations to Adelaide River, Borroloola, Alyangula, Angurugu, Batchelor, Erldunda, Katherine Gorge, Mataranka, Nguiu and Pine Creek, and they are about to switch on the gear at Elliott, Barkly Roadhouse and Ti Tree.
Access to the remote areas of information technology and telecommunications is a key focus area for the government, and a key component to improving opportunity for Territorians living in remote areas. I remind the Assembly as part of the CLP candidate for Solomon’s election promises, he said that he would not support the sale of Telstra until the whole of the Stuart Highway had mobile phone coverage. The people of the Territory assumed his position was a Country Liberal Party position. I, therefore, call on CLP members present to advise this House of their actual position on the sale of Telstra. This government opposes the sale of Telstra on the grounds that if it happens, it will inevitably lead to high user connection and carrier rates in Alice Springs, Katherine, Nhulunbuy, Tennant Creek, Hermannsburg, Darwin - indeed right across the Territory. The current arrangements of cross-subsidisation will go out the window, and while the south-east industrial triangle of Australia will probably get cheaper and better service, as will the associated National Party and Liberal Party country seats in the eastern states which will be sheltered for purely political reasons, Territorians will not.
By supporting the Liberal-National Party Coalition government’s position to sell Telstra, the CLP will effectively be making every family and every business in the Territory pay more to use the information highway. Now, today, the CLP have the opportunity before them to state their position, clearly and unequivocally: yes, the CLP supports the sale of Telstra and Territorians can get less service and pay more for telecommunications than the rest of Australia; or, no, like Labor, we want the people of the Territory to have access to the same level of service at the same price as the rest of the people in Australia. Full stop. So, I call on them now. Leader of the Opposition, shadow minister for Business, shadow minister for Community Development, get out there in the public and declare your position and we will be watching Mr Tollner and Senator Scullion to see what sort of antics they pull in Canberra.
The Martin Labor government was elected by the people of the Territory to build a better future for all Territorians, after years of mismanagement by the Leader of the Opposition and his remaining quadruplet of inept and arrogant Cabinet colleagues. Our credentials are clearly laid out and open to scrutiny. No doubt the CLP will claim to have done more, or to have been the ones who grew the IT sector through the somewhat blunt tool of outsourcing. But I believe their claims will prove to be empty, as they have been found to be on so many other occasions.
Thanks to the hardworking commitment foremost by the member for Stuart, ably supported by his Cabinet colleagues, the ICT sector has a government it trusts, a government with which it can establish partnerships and develop a road map to guide it into the future that will bring real significant benefit to the diverse community of the Northern Territory. I thank the minister for his statement.
Dr TOYNE (Communications): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank all members for their contributions tonight, although I must express some disappointment that apart from the contribution of the member for Greatorex, there has been a deafening silence from the opposition. In fact, it is almost as if they are not here.
I will pick up a couple of points from the contribution from the member for Greatorex. We do, in fact, have intellectual property protocols. They were developed by the Department of Corporate and Information Services and we have conducted seminars throughout the Territory with the ICT firms to make sure they do know that there is a framework by which we can negotiate the use of IP in any relationship that develops between an ICT industry firm and our government. We realise the importance of having a secure hold over that property, as much as for physical property or other assets that they might have. In fact, it is an industry where IP does play a very prominent role in its transactions.
As my colleagues have said, there is a very strong and continuing commitment by our government to this industry. We realise that it goes beyond it being simply a sector of our economy. We believe that there is not going to be the ability to enhance services to not only the remote communities, as the member for Greatorex was portraying, but to all Territorians because a secondary education class, for example, in Darwin can be quite remote because if it is in a specialised subject, it is isolated from the normal network of expert people, of knowledge, of resources that would be taken for granted in a place like Melbourne or Sydney or Brisbane.
Often, we have to find innovative ways of bringing that sort of expertise even to the everyday needs of an urban high school in Darwin, let alone if the Territory school is sitting on the Western Australia or Queensland border. There are degrees of remoteness. Far from being negative or seeing that as a disadvantage, it has facilitated a huge amount of innovation not just in recent times, but throughout the history of the Territory. One of the most productive areas of innovation, starting with the Overland Telegraph at the turn of last century through to the present, is that our needs, our remoteness, our isolation and highly dispersed population have necessitated strong innovation in the Territory. That is why we have a strong and creative ICT industry as well as other areas on innovation.
We have to harness that and with these overseas trips we have done to benchmark, we have realised how valuable that is and how special some of the innovations are when you see what is going on elsewhere in the world.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I will not go on beyond making those few points. I will restate our absolute commitment to the continued development of the ICT industry. I look forward, in my time as minister, to significant gains. I am not at all fazed by the industry’s target of 25% of income from exports. Let us aim high and see how far we can go. This is their target. Our government will fully support them as we try to achieve a difficult and ambitious target, but we will do it. I have absolute confidence in the capacity and enthusiasm of our industry. I will finish by saying that to get to where we want to be, there is going to be a lot of hard work required, some deep thinking; and occasional dancing on tables.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Mr Deputy Speaker, tonight I add to the adjournment I did not finish last evening. In particular, I wish to speak about a wedding I attended last month – my own! My new wife is Mona-Lisa Bonson, formerly Mona-Lisa Vogt. Her mother is Filipino-Spanish and her father is German. Obviously, my beautiful bride spent the majority of time organising the wedding, and I only came into the picture in the final two weeks and felt the pressure.
It was a fantastic night, attended by good friends and family. Merriment was had by one and all. I thank the bridesmaids: Tanya Palavei, Helen Zahos, Debbie Wooster, Andrea Watson, the flower girl was Tayla Marsh. I also thank Lata Marsh, a lifelong friend of my wife, for coming to the wedding from Brisbane, and Karissa Ofa and her mother who are lifelong friends of my wife. They all looked beautiful. They put in a lot of work to ensure the night was a success. I appreciate their efforts, assistance and friendship. I hope they enjoyed themselves.
I would like to thank Olle Cooper, who travelled from Brisbane. Also Nicky White, the cake maker, and her husband, for putting up with us the night we discussed the cake. Thank God I went, otherwise we would have had fruit cake for everyone, but I made sure that we had a nice chocolate cake, and everyone was happy with that.
Thanks to Chelsea Renee Kerwick for the makeup. She did a fantastic job on the girls. Also Vanessa from Magnums Catering was very helpful. She gave us every opportunity to make sure that we had a great meal for everyone and she was fantastic. Leonie from Settings did a fantastic job and came around to our house and did a lot of extra work to make sure it happened. I would also like to thank Frank Moukaddem, a fantastic gentleman. He and his wife attended, and I thank him for all the work that he did for my wedding, the cleaning up and decorating, and the little things that make life easier.
My mother, Rosanne Brennan and her husband Steve Brennan, and my sister, Nicole Lewis. I would also like to thank my beautiful wife’s mother, Betty Vogt, for accepting me as her son-in-law. Mr Deputy Speaker, you would not believe the change, once you marry your wife, how much your mother-in-law seems to love you. I hope that continues.
The best men - I would like to thank Paul Seden, Tim Edwards, Joe Ah Sam and Stuart O’Connell. They gave some of the best speeches in the history of weddings and kept everyone highly entertained. The speeches ran along the lines of ‘what is this beautiful woman doing marrying this man?’. I think my mother got up for five minutes and defended me. Then she went off along the same track, which was ‘what is this beautiful woman doing marrying this man?’.
Dr Burns: We think you’re beautiful.
Mr BONSON: Oh, thanks, member for Johnston. I thank Ziggy Vogt Senior for all his assistance, both financially and on the day and the lead-up – fantastic. Karl Vogt, a member of the German family, Ziggy’s brother, travelled all the way from Germany. Fantastic character, he gave one of the all-time greatest speeches I have ever heard at a wedding. You could have heard a pin drop the way he started off, but the message he was trying to convey was the history of their family. Anyone who knows my family would know that we are very interested in oral history, and it was very interesting how he described the events of the World War II; how they affected his family, and how his brother Ziggy came to the Northern Territory.
Rodney Bonson, a cousin, my father’s brother’s son, did a fantastic job as MC; he is a specialist at it. My father, Robert Bonson, travelled from Perth. I would like to thank the Mu family at Happy Foodland for providing all the assistance with food and other matters, as they have been lifelong friends.
Damian Jackson and his uncle worked behind the bar. His uncle flew in on the day. I met him on the day, and all of a sudden he was hooked into work behind the bar for free. He has never seen a party like it, and he had a fantastic time there. I would like to thank Yvette Caroline and Yasmin Crawshaw. There is no doubt that when you have two beautiful women working next to you, it makes it a lot more fun working behind the bar and a lot more entertaining.
I would like to thank Willie Vogt and Rebecca for travelling from Perth; Donald Oliver, one of the groomsmen, my young nephew and godson and, of course, his mother, Anne-Marie McLeod, for her assistance. I would like to thank Sally Carrington, the photographer, and La Spoza suits, Don Carter the DJ, and Father Peter Robinson and the Kalymnian Brotherhood.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I will not keep anyone longer. The wedding was attended by 350 people. There was great food, merriment and drinks. The highlight of the night was the speeches, and the beautiful song sung to me by my new wife. We are going to record it one day. I have no doubt I will make a small fortune out of it. It was a fantastic night. My aunty said to me: ‘It was the wedding of the century’. I said: ‘Aunty, the century is only three years old’.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to speak today about Mr Graham Bailey, who is going to retire but, before he retires, went on long service leave on 17 July 2003. Mr Bailey has been here in the Territory for over 35 years. During this time, Mr Bailey has left a mark on the economic and social development of the Northern Territory. For many years, Graham was the Assistant Secretary Planning in the various forms in the Department of Lands. At the time of his leaving, Mr Bailey was the planning consultant to the Land Development Division.
After graduating from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Graham came to Darwin as a young man to serve as a town planner under the guidance of the famed Harvard Blom. Graham has been a great influence on his many colleagues over the years and, indeed, he has influenced many current and former members of this Legislative Assembly. Graham was an expert planner with a passion for the environment and the evidence of his work can be seen all around us. Graham and his team produced the Darwin Regional Land Use Structural Plan 1990, and the Centre of Darwin Land Use Concepts 1999. This planning documentation guided the development of Darwin.
Mr Bailey had a extraordinary talent. Over the years, he absorbed the knowledge of many other professions and became something of an expert quantity surveyor, traffic engineer, core designer and civil engineer. He had a strong vision for Darwin and the Territory, and was a firm believer in its developmental potential. My colleagues and I will be shortly considering one of his last productions, the East Arm Master Plan 2003, that will guide land use in the East Arm development area - the one we have argued here so often. His last effort for the Department was to produce a report, Cox Peninsula Regional Planning and Land Use Issues, that I suspect will become a very strategic document.
Graham will not be lost to the Territory; this is his home and intends to devote his time to doing some of the jobs he has never had time to do, and his growing band of grandchildren. I believe another one is on the way for his son, Peter. An accomplished artist and cartoonist, from what I have heard, Graham intends to indulge in his passions again.
I wish Mr Bailey, his wife Annette, his children and many, many grandchildren - most of whom live in Darwin - the very best for the future. Graham Bailey is a big man, big hearted with a sharp wit, and his contribution to the Territory has been enormous.
Early today, the member for Daly asked why I changed my offer of a Crown lease for the Mataranka Better Half Club from 50 years to 25 years. The story of this lease actually started in November 2000, when the member for Daly was the minister. When the club first made application for a lease over a parcel of land in Mataranka, a search showed that native title had not been extinguished by previous tenures. Nevertheless, the minister of the day decided to make an offer of a lease to the club for a multipurpose hall. The offer was subject to and I quote:
- The acquisition of all interests in the land including any native title rights and interest that may exist.
The club was told this process would take approximately eight months. That was a very optimistic proposal. As we know, acquisition of native title generally takes between 18 and 24 months to achieve.
The process of compulsory acquisition of native title was not started as there was a change of government, as we know, in August 2001, and a change of policy in dealing with these matters. Instead, the matter was set down for negotiation. In December 2002, the matter was discussed with the NLC. The Northern Land Council advised that they would not object to the acquisition of the block on conditions that the resulting title is not extinguished, and compensation is paid. The Northern Land Council generally will not consider a lease term of longer than 25 years for non-extinguished title.
The matter of the lease term and the amount of compensation is still being negotiated. When I last wrote to the club, the best indication was that negotiations would be completed by mid-2003. Unfortunately, the Northern Land Council has not yet indicated that it will formally enter an agreement. The Better Half Club is aware that only a 25-year lease can be offered, and the offer will have to be made when the agreement is signed off. I thank the member for Daly for bringing this matter to the attention of the House. I will make sure that the Better Half Club has a lease as soon as possible.
Earlier today, we held a function for the Independence Day of India. India, the world’s largest democracy, became an independent state at midnight on the 14-15 August 1947. India, as we know, is one of the biggest countries in the world, and is the size of Australia but has 50 times the population of Australia.
The early indications of human settlement in India are as early as 40 000 years ago, but the beginning of the Indian civilisation goes back to 2500 BC. European settlement in India or involving India started very early, and the first Europeans to visit India were Greeks with Alexander the Great, followed by the Portuguese about 2000 years later when they annexed Goa in 1510. In 1600, the British East India Company was formed and developed Calcutta as a trading centre in 1690. In the 17th century, Holland and France also established trading houses in the subcontinent, but then the British took over other European interests and, by 1840, the British East India Company had effective control of India. Following this, there was a turbulent period of unrest and growing divergence between Hindu and Muslim goals and interests. The end of the World War II saw a general upsurge in nationalistic sentiments. Early in 1947, the British government announced it would withdraw from India and, on 15 August 1947, India became an independent state with Nehru as the Prime Minister. In 1950, India became a republic, a federal union with a parliamentary system of government. India chose to remain a member of the Commonwealth.
Part of the increased Asian migration to Australia in recent years has been from India. In the early post-war years, a significant proportion of Indian-born were in fact people of European origin who had been born to parents posted to India. But since 1970, the migration has been predominantly of ethnic Indian people. According to the 1996 census, there were approximately 499 Indian born Territorians; 365 of them live in Darwin and 75.2% of them have Australian citizenship. Today at the function, we had about 150 people of Indian decent, people who were born in India and migrated to Australia, or people who were born in Australia.
What is significant about the Indian community is that the majority of the Indian people are professionals. They are people who have a degree; they work as doctors, scientists, and university professors. Of course, India today is not the India we remember from the 1940s and 1950s. It is one of the biggest computer producers in the world. Many companies in America and Europe subcontract Indian software writers and software managers to produce software that, after their production, are sold under their own brand. India also has one of the biggest aeronautical industries. It boasts the world’s largest democracy and it is only 56 years young.
The first contact I had with India, I remember very well, was when I was about 6 or 7 years old and I saw an Indian film, Mother India, with Nargis, that famous actor who I believe is now dead. Later, apart from geography lessons, my contact with India was in 1983 when I was flying to Australia. I remember very well, from 10 000 m above ground, the aeroplane crossed the very southern tip before it landed in Colombo.
India is a very interesting place, mixed with civilisations, mixed with people, different coloured people from north to south; part of the light colour people of the north is attributed to the influence of the Greeks following the invasion by Alexander the Great. Even now, there are people in India who are born with blue eyes. Actually, there is a place in India where still today kids are born with thalassaemia, a unique genetic disorder that is only found in people who come from the Mediterranean.
India, as I said before, 56 years ago became a republic, became a free country by kicking out the British Colonial rule. When I was looking for some information about India so I could speak at the celebration, I came across something that the first Prime Minister of India, Nehru, stated on Independence Day in 1947, something that sounds very similar to what other people have said in similar circumstances when countries have kicked out an oppressive and colonial rule and become an independent country. Jawaharlal Nehru said:
- Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially.
At the stroke of midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new, then an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance.
We end today a period of ill fortune and India discovers herself again.
I congratulate all Indian-born and Indian descendant Territorians on the Independence Day celebrations of their motherland and country.
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, thank you. I was quicker, Gerry; I am younger.
Mr Wood: That is all right. I will write you a letter.
Ms MARTIN: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, recently I was privileged to open the Garma Festival at Gulkula near Nhulunbuy. This five-day festival has been running very successfully for the past seven years and is the result of the vision of Galarrwuy and Mandawuy Yunupingu in association with the clan leaders of the Gumatj, Rirratjingu, Djapu, Galpu and Wangurri clans, and the Yothu Yindi Foundation.
Garma is a ground-breaking community festival that celebrates Yolngu culture, and seeks to provide a predominantly educational opportunity for visitors to interact with indigenous Territorians and vice versa. Each year, a different theme is explored. I recall that last year, Mining and the Environment was the theme, and it enabled Yolngu traditional land-holders to sit down with mining company executives, representatives of government and other stakeholders to discuss how better business relationships could be established between them for the benefit of all.
This year, the theme was Dhuni, indigenous arts and culture. The program has included a plethora of Yolngu arts, including paintings, sculpture, music, dance and performance. As well, forums on arts law and copyright, marketing, new media and indigenous knowledge centres were run. Prominent Yolngu artists, performers, musicians and dancers led workshops and symposiums, as well as working with experts from the Balanda business, academic and government sectors.
I note the central roles played not only by Galarrwuy and Mandawuy, but also that of Djambawa Marawili, the Chairperson of the Association of North Australian and Kimberley Aboriginal Artists, Terry Gandidila from Maningrida Arts and Crafts, Gawarrin Gumana, Witiyana, Lenore Dembski and Raymattja Marika from the Yirrkala Community Education Centre. The music symposium, led by none other than Mandawuy Yunupingu, included senior song man Jo Neparrnga Gumbula, the legendary Jimmy Little, Buzz Bidstrup from GanGajang, Stu Kellaway from Yothu Yindi, Professor Marcia Langton and many community musicians from throughout Arnhem Land.
Balanda participants in the various arts symposiums and forums included Howard Morphy, Professor Jon Altman, Will Stubbs of Buku Larrnggay Mulka Arts Centre at Yirrkala, Andrish St Clair from Artback, Brett Cottle from APRA, Jack Thompson, a long-time supporter of Garma, Steph Hawkins of ANKAAA, Brenda Croft from the National Gallery of Australia, and Robert Bleakley, formerly of Sotherby’s, among many others.
Garma is growing economic generator for the north-east Arnhem region. This year, over 700 participants made the journey to the festival. Many came from the east coast on a specially chartered Qantas Boeing 737. I know of no other regional tourism festival in Australia that relies so heavily, yet effectively, on airline charter business to secure its clientele.
As well, there were a number of smaller charters from Darwin and elsewhere. Many visitors drove across Arnhem Land to the festival, included Peter Callinan and Stewart Hoosan from Mabunji Art and Craft in Borroloola. Alan James, the enthusiast coordinator of the Yothu Yindi Foundation, assures me that a much larger charter operation will be necessary next year, with at least 400 festival goers planning to charter through Darwin en route to Garma. This will mean a significant boost to tourism in Darwin, as overnight stays into and out from Garma will be necessary in the Territory’s capital city.
I was proud to deliver the Northern Territory government’s indigenous arts strategy at Garma. This strategy, the first of its kind in Australia, was launched at the festival as part of a commitment I made last year. I was especially pleased to be able to announce the strategy in company with Raymattja Marika, an indigenous educator from Yirrkala Community Education Centre. Raymattja kindly translated and interpreted my speech into Yolgnu Matha. I am informed that no government policy in Australian history has been launched in an indigenous language.
As hard working as the Garma workers are, and as receptive the many visitors who participate, Garma could not survive without support from many, many sponsors. I am proud that my government supports the Yothu Yindi Foundation with Enterprise Development funding and support for the Garma Festival. This festival is a model for the development of cultural tourism, and I noted many community leaders there from other parts of the Territory to study and learn from the Garma experience.
The many sponsors for Garma include Alcan, who do a superb job, and you really have to make reference here to the incredible support and work of Klaus Helms. Galarrwuy Yunupingu acknowledged their support by presenting a stunning Larrakitj, which is a mortuary pole, to Alcan’s site manager Doug Grimmond, and Director of Projects and Technology David Sutherland from the Brisbane office. Galarrwuy was especially forthright in recommending that the pole be installed in the Canadian headquarters in Montreal, and it will go well at the Alcan headquarters in Montreal, because they have the most stunning art collection there, including a lot of Aboriginal art from Australia.
Other sponsors included the TIO, Westpac, ATSIC, Arnhem Land Progress Association, the Minerals Council, APRA, the Myer Foundation, Telstra, the Australia Council, the Ian Potter Foundation, Tourism NT, IGA and Rio Tinto. If I have forgotten anyone, I apologise but thank them heartedly. I also wish to thank Galarrwuy Yunupingu for hosting my visit, and wish him well for all future Garma festivals.
A few weeks ago, an old indigenous man died in Cairns, largely unnoticed by the nation and its media. Yet this man, Joe McGinness, was one of the foremost Australia indigenous leaders of the 20th century. His good friend and ally, member for Lingiari, Warren Snowden, has provided me with much of the autobiographical data contained here, and I thank him for it.
Joe McGinness was born at the Lucy Claim tin mine, some 50 km south of Darwin, and was a critically important figure in some of the last century’s great struggles for indigenous rights. This son of Irish immigrant Stephen McGinness and his wife, a Kungarakayn woman, Alyandabu, was one of only a few indigenous activists who challenged racism and discrimination at a time in Australian history when it was neither popular nor fashionable to do so.
In 1918, at the age of only four, the death of his father meant that Joe and his brother Val became wards of the Chief Protector of Aborigines, and were moved with their mother to the Kahlin Compound. It is well known that life at Kahlin was harsh, and it must have been a great relief to Joe and Val when they were handed, in 1923, to their sister Margaret, who had married a non-indigenous man, Harry Edwards. As a consequence, Joe attended school for the first time, until he was 13, when he took his first job.
Joe worked in a variety of jobs in Darwin and the Top End, including Fred Gray’s first trepang venture in north-east Arnhemland. In the early 1930s, Joe met the celebrated author, Xavier Herbert, who Joe credited with motivating him to become active in the fight for indigenous rights. He was involved in protests in Darwin against the mass unemployment brought on by the Great Depression. In 1935, he appeared before a parliamentary delegation, which was examining the question of indigenous rights. It was also in 1935 that he married his first wife, Jaura Ah Mat, a Torres Strait Islander who unfortunately died of a heart complaint only four years later. They had two children, Elsie and John.
The bombing of Darwin on 19 February 1942 caused Joe to enlist in the Australian Army. He served in a field ambulance unit in Darwin, Morotai and Borneo, until the end of the war when he moved to north Queensland to be with his children.
In 1949, Joe joined the Waterside Workers Federation while working on the Thursday Island wharves. He was later to say that the wharfies first taught him the virtues of organised labour. He moved to Cairns in 1951, and become ever more actively involved in community activism and the union movement. There he met his second partner, Amy Nagas, and they had a daughter, Sandra, who was born in 1954. Cairns in the 1950s was typical of many Australian communities at the time, rife with racism and discrimination. Joe determined to do something about it.
In 1958, with Gladys O’Shane as President and Joe as Secretary, the Cairns Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s Advancement League was formed. The league worked closely with the local Trades and Labour Council, which Joe described as the only white organisation that showed concern over reported cases of injustice. In 1958, a national indigenous advocacy body, the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait was formed. In 1961, Joe became its first indigenous President, a position that he held for 17 years between 1961 and 1973, and 1975 and 1979.
FCAATSI, as it was known quickly, became an organisation of national significance, and its members included some of the great names of the early indigenous rights struggle, including Pastor Doug Nicholls, Dr Charles Perkins, Faith Bandler, Gordon Bryant and Stan Davey, who is, incidentally, a resident of Darwin. For more than 20 years, FCAATSI consistently campaigned for indigenous access to land, work and equal wages, and to health, education and other services. However, FCAATSI and Joe McGinness’ greatest victory was winning the support of more than 90% of the Australian people in the famous referendum of 1967, the symbolic cornerstone of reconciliation in this country. This referendum resulted in the transfer of responsibility for Aboriginal welfare from the states, which had been guilty of gross rights abuse, to the federal government, and meant that indigenous people had to be counted in the Census. Joe continued his work for indigenous Australians, with very prominent roles in Aboriginal Hostels and government departments. He also helped form the Njiku Jowan Legal Service and represented Cairns on ATSIC’s regional council.
Joe McGinness was a modest, humble man who always down-played his role in all these great events, but his lifelong friend, Tom Sullivan, probably captured his true nature best when he wrote in the foreword to Joe’s autobiography, Son of Alyandabu, and he said:
- Joe has always worked for our people. It has been his whole life. He has done this because he needed to and not for money, praise or glory. He always turned his bitterness around into good and useful paths in his endeavour to advance every Aborigine of Australia. He is a remarkable and honourable Aborigine.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms MARTIN: Joe McGinness is survived by three children, two stepsons, nine grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and one great, great-grandchild. On behalf of the Northern Territory government, I extend my deepest sympathies to them. Vale, Joe McGinness AM.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I highlight an issue of which I hope the government might take some note. Some people call it gazumping. It is a real estate term. Whilst this sort of practice might be legal, it is definitely in the realms of being immoral, and I will cite the case of a lady who came to see me recently.
This lady sought a property in Humpty Doo. The local real estate agent provided information about the price. She then spoke to the owner of the land and, after some haggling, she reduced the price down to $90 000. When that was agreed on, she wrote out an offer to purchase and sent that off to the owner of the land in Queensland. The owner of the land signed that document, accepting the offer, and sent it back to my constituent.
The real estate agent congratulated the lady and said what a great purchase, shook her hand, and said he was very happy for that lady because she had got this block of land that she so wanted. I believe she lives in either Palmerston or Darwin, and she was hoping to move out to the rural area. The real estate agent put up the usual sign, Under Contract, on top of the For Sale sign. So the lady went off to the bank. I believe she had some funds in the bank, and she arranged for those funds to be withdrawn to cover the cost of the land.
Lo and behold!, the owner of the real estate agency then advised his employer, the agent my constituent had been dealing with, that he had been approached by another unknown person with an offer of $97 000. He told his employer not to go ahead with the sale, and that the sale now was with the person who had offered $97 000.
The original purchaser or proposed purchaser, was literally broken hearted. She had gone from a point of view where she believed that she was making a purchase of the land. It was a shake of the hand with the real estate agent and the Under Contract sign went up on the For Sale, yet someone is able through some quirk of the law to override what I believe was a contract.
I do not know whether anything can be done. I rang the real estate agent and said I would raise the issue today. The owner of the real estate agency is in Canada because he comes from that country and he spends some of his time over there. There is an opportunity for the government to look at this issue. I presume it would be the domain of the Attorney-General.
Dr Lim: There is a code of conduct.
Mr WOOD: Yes, I have checked on the code of conduct, but it is not legally binding. This puts the real estate industry in a bad light. Now, not all real estate agents are like this. I have certainly said my piece to the real estate agency, that is the people here in Australia, and asked them to pass on the message that I am extremely disappointed and I do not believe this is the way real estate agents should operate.
So I am calling on the minister, through this adjournment debate, to look at this issue. I believe New South Wales has tried to do something about this issue where people can make an offer to purchase, but it is not regarded as a contract. That is the issue here: even though she signed the document with the owner of the land, they shook on it, there is no contract. I believe there needs to be a better way of doing things.
I know when you do sign a contract there is still a cooling off period, but at least you know you have signed a contract. You know there is that period and at least you have that understanding. I do not believe that this lady had a proper understanding or it was explained to her in adequate detail that even though she had an offer to purchase that had been accepted, it really was not a contract. There are some gaps in the system.
I have heard of this before. In fact, my sister and brother-in-law owned a property in the rural area of Darwin. They had agreed to sell the property at a certain price, they had shaken on it, and the real estate agent came up and said: ‘We have a better offer’. They said: ‘But we have already shaken hands and agreed to sell’. He said: ‘Oh no. No contract has been signed. Don’t worry about it.’ Thank heavens I have a sister and brother-in-law with some moral fortitude, and they said: ‘No, we signed and agreed and that is what we agreed to’.
If there is a code of conduct, as the member for Greatorex says, perhaps it needs some tightening in legislation so people cannot do this. For many years, I was under the illusion that when you shook on something, even though it might not be written down, it was a contract, but as a conveyancer said to me the other day: ‘A contract not written on paper is only worth as much as a contract not written on paper’. Sadly, this is the case for this lady.
I am hoping that this real estate agent will change his mind. I doubt it very much because I presume the lady now knows there is an offer for $97 000, $7000 more than she was offered by the original purchaser. I hope, but doubt, that it is going to change, but once again, I am saying …
Dr Lim: Go public and embarrass the real estate agency.
Mr WOOD: Yes, I said I would name the real estate agency in the House because people need to know. It is Litchfield Realty, and I am very disappointed with them. I have said it to their face. They can do a lot better than this and I hope that other real estate agents do not go down this path because it does not do their industry any good.
In summing up, I ask the Attorney-General to look at this so-called gazumping. It is funny, I believe it is might even be an Australian term. At least when I looked up two dictionaries tonight, the Macquarie Dictionary had it in, but the Short Oxford Dictionary did not. It is probably has an Australian ring about it. If it is not, it is American. Whatever it is, it should be changed and I ask the Attorney-General to look at the issue.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016