2001-10-16
ASSEMBLY CONVENED
The Ninth Assembly convened on Tuesday, 16 October, 2001 pursuant to notice by His Honour the Administrator.
OPENING OF THE FIRST SESSION OF THE NINTH ASSEMBLY
The Serjeant-at-Arms conducted the Administrator of the Northern Territory, Hon John Anictomatis, and Mrs Anictomatis into the Chamber.
His Honour the ADMINISTRATOR: Members of the Legislative Assembly and guests, please be seated.
Members of the Legislative Assembly, pursuant to section 22 of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 of the Commonwealth, I appointed 10 o’clock in the morning of Tuesday 16 October 2001 as a day for the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory of Australia to assemble for the despatch of business, and required all members of the Legislative Assembly to give their attendance in the Legislative Assembly Chamber.
I declare open this First Session of the Ninth Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory.
ADMINISTRATION OF OATHS AND AFFIRMATIONS
His Honour the ADMINISTRATOR: Members of the Legislative Assembly, pursuant to section 13 of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 of the Commonwealth, it is amongst other things, enacted that every member of the Legislative Assembly shall, before taking his or her seat, make and subscribe before the Administrator or person authorised by the Administrator, an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the form in schedule 2 of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978, in an oath or affirmation of office in the form in schedule 3 of that act.
RETURN TO WRIT
The Clerk laid on the Table the return to writ for the election of members of the Legislative Assembly held on 18 August 2001.
The following members named in the returns made and subscribed the oaths or affirmations required by law.
Electorate Member
Arafura Marion Rose SCRYMGOUR
Araluen Jodeen Terese CARNEY
Arnhem John Leonard AH KIT
Barkly Elliot Arthur McADAM
Blain Terrance Kennedy MILLS
Braitling Loraine Margaret BRAHAM
Brennan Denis Gabriel BURKE
Casuarina Konstantine VATSKALIS
Daly Timothy Denney BALDWIN
Drysdale Stephen DUNHAM
Fannie Bay Clare Majella MARTIN
Goyder Peter John MALEY
Greatorex Richard Soon Huat LIM
Johnston Christopher Bruce BURNS
Karama Delia Phoebe LAWRIE
Katherine Michael Anthony REED
Macdonnell Johan Wessel ELFERINK
Millner Matthew Thomas BONSON
Nelson Gerard Vincent WOOD
Nhulunbuy Sydney James STIRLING
Nightcliff Jane Lesley AAGAARD
Port Darwin Susan Jill CARTER
Sanderson Leonard Francis KIELY
Stuart Peter Howard TOYNE
Wanguri Paul Raymond HENDERSON
ELECTION OF SPEAKER
His Honour the ADMINISTRATOR: Members of the Legislative Assembly, it is now necessary that a Speaker be chosen. You, members of the Legislative Assembly, will now proceed to choose some proper person to be your Speaker. Following the presentation of the Speaker to me this day, I will address the Assembly declaring the causes for calling the Assembly together.
His Honour the Administrator, escorted by the Serjeant-at-Arms, withdrew from the Chamber.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Clerk, I remind the Assembly that the time has come when it is necessary for the Assembly to choose one of its members to be Speaker.
I propose to the Assembly for its Speaker the honourable member for Braitling, Mrs Braham, and move that the honourable member for Braitling do take the Chair of this Assembly as Speaker.
Mr STIRLING (Deputy Chief Minister): I second the nomination.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): I accept the nomination.
The CLERK: Is there any further proposal? There being no further proposal, the time for proposals has expired. Does any honourable member wish to speaker to the motion?
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Clerk, I rise to speak in support of the nomination of the member for Braitling, Mrs Braham, for the position of Speaker. Mrs Braham was elected to the Assembly in 1994 and has represented the seat of Braitling in the Assembly since that time. She previously served in position of Speaker from November 1997 until February 1999. Following this period as Speaker, the member for Braitling held ministerial office with the previous government from February 1999 until November 2000, with responsibility for the portfolios of Local Government, Housing, Aboriginal Development and Central Australia.
The Speaker is the representative of the House in its powers, proceedings, and dignity. The Speaker presides over the debates of the Legislative Assembly and enforces the observance of all rules for preserving order in the parliament’s proceedings. The chief characteristics of the Speaker in the House are authority and impartiality. I, and my government, believe the member for Braitling possesses these qualities and that she will conduct her duties as Speaker in the true traditions of the Westminster system.
It is of special significance that, should this nomination be successful, the member for Braitling will be the first Independent member of this parliament to take up the position of Speaker. By reason of being an Independent member of this House, the member for Braitling is intrinsically well-qualified to uphold the values of impartiality so vital in this role. Accordingly, I believe the member for Braitling will exercise the controls and measures necessary to ensure an effective and productive parliamentary process which serves the interests of all Territorians. The government strongly supports and endorses the nomination of the member for Braitling as Speaker.
Members: Hear, hear!
The CLERK: Does any other honourable member wish to speak to the motion?
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Mr Clerk, on behalf of the opposition may I say that the opposition strongly supports the nomination of the member for Braitling, Mrs Braham, for the position of Speaker. The Chief Minister has outlined her experience for this task and underscored the importance of the position of Speaker in this House with words of strength, independence and impartiality. We have confidence in your ability as Speaker, I say to the member for Braitling, and you go with our full support.
I would also be remiss if I did not remind this House, that on this day at the Eighth Assembly of parliament, when the CLP in government nominated Mrs Braham for the position of Speaker, it is interesting today to note that the seconder of the nomination at the Ninth Assembly is the member for Nhulunbuy, who, when Mrs Braham was elected for the Eighth Assembly, made the following comments about it - he said that she demonstrated an appalling ignorance of standing orders, and an appalling disregard for the standing orders of this parliament.
I would also say that the responsibility of opposition at this time for the importance of this position is to point out those very issues. But those issues are behind us. It is now the Ninth Assembly. The member for Nhulunbuy, now Deputy Chief Minister, seconds your nomination and I simply reinforce the fact that, as a group, the opposition strongly supports your position and will work cooperatively with you. On this occasion where, prior to you being formally endorsed as Speaker, one has few opportunities from that point on to give any advice, can I simply say to you that your position as an Independent is a very important one in the opposition’s view.
There are heavy issues for parliament to consider. Certainly some of those issues in the coming days, in themselves, are issues that Territorians themselves would want a say in and would look to their Independent member, particularly in the seat of Braitling, to represent those views.
The Speaker in this House has a deliberative vote as an ordinary member and a casting vote as the Speaker and I would ask you, Madam Speaker Designate, to exercise your deliberative vote on occasions when it so warrants. You go with our full support.
The CLERK: Does any other honourable member wish to speak to the motion?
Mr STIRLING (Deputy Chief Minister): Mr Clerk, I thought it would have been obvious that the very reason I was the seconder for this nomination was to make very clear my support for the nomination of the member for Braitling as Speaker. I very well know the remarks I made in 1997 and I stand by those remarks in the context of when I made them back on that first sitting day in 1997. The very fact that I stood here to second the nomination is evidence of my very clear and full support and my acknowledgement of the role of Speaker in the past government as a very good role that she played in this Chamber and I expect her to do so again.
The CLERK: Does any other honourable member wish to speak to the motion? I declare the honourable member for Braitling elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in accordance with standing orders.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I thank you for the support and the confidence you have given me in electing me as Speaker of this parliament. It is almost like history again; whenever I am elected, it is not without controversy but at least we know that it is for the future. I look forward to being your Speaker and bringing about an impartiality in my duties. I assure you that I will try to be fair to all people in this House but I ask you also for your cooperation in making sure you uphold the Westminster traditions and the standing orders and procedures of this House.
It is an important historical event today and I am proud to be part of it. I wish you all well. I am sure you remember, as I do, that we are the elected members to represent the Territory no matter what side of the House we sit on. That is what this parliament is for - to make laws for the benefit of the Territory.
In the forthcoming days I am quite sure you will understand that my office will be there for you to meet on impartial, mutual grounds and I invite you all to make use of that whenever you feel you have the need to talk to each other in that area. Good luck to everyone. I am quite sure we are going to have an interesting term.
Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair.
PRESENTATION OF SPEAKER TO ADMINISTRATOR
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I am informed that it is the intention of His Honour the Administrator to attend at the Office of the Speaker. It is my intention to present myself to him there as the choice of the Assembly. I invite honourable members to accompany me to present myself to His Honour the Administrator.
I advise members and guests that the Assembly is suspended until the ringing of the bells.
Sitting suspended.
Madam Speaker Braham resumed the Chair.
COMMISSION TO ADMINISTER OATHS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have to report that accompanied by honourable members, I presented myself to His Honour the Administrator as the choice of the Assembly for its Speaker, and His Honour was pleased to congratulate me.
I inform honourable members that I have received from His Honour the Administrator a commission to administer to honourable members the oaths or affirmations of allegiance and of office. I table the commission. The Clerk to now read the commission.
The Clerk read the commission.
ATTENDANCE OF ADMINISTRATOR
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I am pleased to inform the Assembly that His Honour the Administrator intends to attend the Assembly immediately to declare the causes of his calling the Assembly together.
Serjeant-at-Arms, please inform His Honour that the Assembly is waiting for him.
His Honour the Administrator took the Chair.
ADMINISTRATOR’S ADDRESS
His Honour the ADMINISTRATOR: Members of the Legislative Assembly and guests, please be seated.
Madam Speaker, honourable members, the Northern Territory government represents Territorians who include people with the longest continual culture on earth. It is appropriate, therefore, that I preface my speech with an acknowledgement to them, and in particular the Larrakia people on whose traditional land this Chamber sits.
For the first time since the Northern Territory achieved self-government, there has been a change of government. This government is following one which has been in office for 26 years. I believe that the people of the Northern Territory expect the new government to build upon the achievements of the former government while recognising that on 18 August 2001 the people voted for change.
The priorities of my government will be:
- to reinforce and enhance, as necessary, open, accountable and democratic structures.
In other words, provide good government;
to implement fiscal reform to ensure the long term economic future of all Territorians;
to provide the right environment where businesses can prosper and grow, providing sustainable,
well paid jobs for all Territorians;
to recognise that good health is the most important gift of all and provide an across the board package
of programs to buttress and improve the good health of Territorians;
to reinvigorate our education system by providing the highest possible priority to Territory schools;
to ensure that Territorians develop the skills and capabilities to take up employment in the new growth
industries;
to implement a law and order regime which has the objective of building safer communities;
to protect and conserve the environment for the use and enjoyment of current and future generations
of Territorians;
to listen and attend to those individuals and groups within the community that have particular requirements
from government including indigenous people, women, the younger generation and senior Territorians;
to invest appropriately in those pursuits and activities where government can add to the quality of life and
opportunity of Territorians, including sport, recreation, the arts and culture; and
to promote trade and good relations with our interstate and overseas neighbours.
All of these objectives are important. However, the achievement of most of the objectives of my government and the essential outcome demanded by most Territorians is the strength and growth of the Territory economy. Therefore, this is where I will begin to outline the program of my government in more detail.
Growing the Economy. Changes in the global economy, as well as subsequent developments such as the collapse of one of Australia’s two major airlines and the terrorist attacks in the United States, have indicated the appropriateness of government and the community working together to plan and set long term strategies for our collective futures. Hence, the government will be hosting an Economic Development Summit early next month. This will involve government listening to the Territory community including business and unions to assist in developing the partnerships needed to successfully target and tackle the difficult economic issues in a spirit of consultation and cooperation.
My government is creating a new lead agency called the Office of Territory Development to concentrate on attracting investment and development from interstate and overseas. My government recognises the crucial link between education, training, economic development and jobs. Therefore, a new ministry of Employment and Training is being formed headed by the Deputy Chief Minister. In this way, employment and training strategies in the public and private sectors will be managed and developed under one portfolio. This will help to ensure a whole-of-economy approach in this vital area.
The biggest opportunities for developing the Territory economy lie with the offshore reserves of oil and gas. In recent times, impediments to the development of onshore gas industries have emerged. The Northern Territory government is working closely with the federal government, the new East Timor administration and the major project proponents on the resolution of these issues. The ultimate aim must be that gas is brought onshore to Darwin.
With these developments will come jobs and opportunities for Territorians. The government will ensure the right infrastructure is in place and a locally trained workforce is able to respond, reducing our reliance on imported skills. To assist in this process, the government will establish an oil and gas research institute at the Northern Territory University. However, it is not only in the area of oil and gas that skill levels are important. Our place in the world must be defined through an ability to compete and supply a diversified range of products and services that reflect the application of skill and knowledge developed within the Northern Territory.
Our long term future, especially that of our children, is linked to our ability to harness our natural advantages in smart ways. The widespread use of telecommunications, especially the Internet and e-commerce, means the whole world can now be our market in ways not envisaged at the time of self-government in 1978. The government will work with local business to strengthen and build links with other businesses within Australia and abroad.
Darwin is Australia’s Asian gateway and the Territory’s international air and sea ports and its rail, road, distribution and communication facilities have the potential to become Australia’s most efficient trade corridor for the import and export of products between Australia and Asia.
This government will encourage small business to prosper. It will ensure that Territory business centres provide the business community with an improved level of service, and cut red tape through the introduction of business case managers. Business should be able to deal with government as though it is one entity.
It is absolutely essential both for the Territory’s development and social harmony that indigenous Territorians share opportunities for economic development. Through the use of Indigenous Framework Agreements, the government will assist Aboriginal people to have the opportunity to develop their own business enterprises, exercise control over what happens in their communities, and determine how services can best be delivered in ways that are culturally appropriate. These agreements will include appropriate performance and financial management criteria. The government will also work with business to encourage the employment and training of indigenous Territorians on major development projects, such as the railway.
The government will continue to support and welcome the presence of our defence forces in the Northern Territory and work to ensure that the defence forces’ supply needs are met locally wherever possible.
Government’s aim will be to improve the legal framework that affords protection for Northern Territory customers and businesses. This includes areas such as retail tenancies and indemnity protection for home builders. Such legislation will be developed in full consultation with the community and relevant stakeholders.
Electricity prices in the Northern Territory are higher than those in most other jurisdictions. The introduction of competition into the industry in an orderly way will result in improved efficiencies, delivering benefits particularly for business. The likely arrival of Timor Sea gas onshore in Darwin will greatly reduce the cost of electricity production because of the much cheaper gas available. Lower costs and the availability of large supplies of gas feedstock will provide the opportunity for significant downstream industries that will expand with the Territory’s economic base.
The present is not a good time for the tourism industry, either in the Territory or elsewhere in the world. This is for reasons that are well known but mostly beyond the control of the Territory government. However, the government will continue to work tirelessly to overcome the impact on this part of Australia, more dependent than any other on air travel. There is a high level of confidence in the arrival of Virgin Blue in Darwin early next year, heralding a new era of air travel to and from the Territory, assisting expansion of the air travel market. The restoration of full air services to Central Australia remains a priority.
All my government’s efforts in growing the economy are aimed either directly or indirectly at the creation of jobs for Territorians. Building jobs is this government’s number one priority.
Good Government: The government will introduce a range of initiatives with the aim of entrenching open and accountable government in the Territory. This will include:
- introducing effective Freedom of Information legislation;
establishing a parliamentary committee system;
introducing an Estimates Committee;
ensuring the independence of electoral processes;
instigating systems to facilitate the monitoring and scrutiny of all members of
parliament’s behaviour;
reviewing and strengthening the powers of the Auditor-General and the Ombudsman;
and
supporting the integrity of public servants and encouraging them to propose improvements
in public administration.
My government intends to provide good government to every part of this Territory, to every region, to every district, to every town and community.
Fiscal Reforms: This government will introduce a fiscal management strategy that will target a reduction in debt, facilitate economic growth and encourage economic development and diversity. In particular, following the recommendations contained in Professor Allan’s report, the government will adopt fiscal integrity legislation in order to improve the way that financial information is presented, and, particularly, to set out the assumptions on which budgets are framed. This is consistent with other key planks of the government’s platform of greater transparency and improved accountability in the public sector. Professor Allan’s report also outlined that the Territory faces considerable financial challenges during this parliamentary term. My government is committed to bringing the Territory’s financial viability into line with those of other jurisdictions.
Capital Works Program: This government will honour all construction contracts already signed by the former government. That means major projects like the railway and port extensions will be completed. The government will deliver a transparent, equitable capital works program that recognises the ebbs and flows in the private sector investment and will seek to offset any temporary downturns with increased government spending. This will serve to stabilise employment in the construction sector through each economic cycle. Our program will recognise the importance of delivering social infrastructure as well as economic infrastructure, with renewed emphasis on the delivery of quality health and education facilities.
Better Education: Education is an investment in the future of this great Territory and it is government’s intention to prepare our children for the jobs that will emerge from the expanding economic opportunities in the Territory and to equip them to compete globally. Clearly, one of the areas of focus is the standard of indigenous education. The Learning Lessons Collins Report provided a blueprint outlining the actions that are needed. This government will implement the recommendations of the Collins Report in full, over time. Quality education for all students is dependent on a strong teaching profession. This government will increase teacher training opportunities, employ 100 extra teachers over its term and put in place a Teacher Registration Board. The government will also provide encouragement for the best quality teachers to stay in schools and at the same time strive to reduce teacher turnover.
An objective is to equip our students with the skills and qualities that enable them to access online learning. This is as important for indigenous students in remote locations as it is for all students in schools across the Territory. This government will strengthen partnerships between parents and schools based on mutual respect and responsibilities. Partnerships with other education systems are important and their collaboration between the three sectors of Northern Territory Department of Education, Catholic Education Office, and the Association of Independent Schools of the Northern Territory will continue. My government will play its part in developing the Northern Territory University as a centre of learning excellence and extend vocational education down to Year 9 in Territory schools.
Better Health: Health is a major priority for this government. A healthy community is fundamental to our continued economic and social development. A healthy lifestyle is a key element in attracting people to the Territory to live, to work and to do business. An effective health and community services sector also contributes substantially to the economy through health infrastructure development, service industry growth, health research knowledge and professional expertise. In creating a healthier future for all Territorians, my government will work strategically and collaborate with the non-government sector to create and enhance a Territory-wide network of health and community services which deliver continuing improvements in health and wellbeing. An important initiative will be the provision of renal dialysis facilities in Tennant Creek from next year in conjunction with the local Aboriginal medical service.
Unfortunately, the health profiles of Territorians, indigenous and non-indigenous, have been deteriorating relative to the rest of Australia in a range of specific areas including heart disease, cancer and renal failure. We cannot escape the fact that our indigenous people have an appalling health profile and to remedy this situation we need to take a systematic approach to the monitoring of indigenous children from birth. This monitoring program can be undertaken by existing clinic staff, but this government recognises that an additional 25 specialist nurses will be needed to assist with and advise on specific childhood problems.
The government’s aim is to reduce the need for acute care in our hospitals over time by improving the health outcomes of the next generation of Territorians. Nevertheless, our hospitals play a vital role in the wellbeing of Territorians. Our commitment is to a public hospital system that is well maintained, well resourced and provides best practice care. To this end, the government will increase funding to enable the employment of 75 additional nurses in hospitals across the Territory during this term. The government aims to achieve continuous maintenance and upgrading of our hospitals by guaranteeing minimum funding each year from the capital works program. It will provide for a specialised hospice unit in the Royal Darwin Hospital precinct and, at a later date, the construction of a birthing centre. This government will also argue strongly for additional Commonwealth funding to meet the higher costs of hospital care in the Territory based on the morbidity profiles of our indigenous population.
This government will seek to ease the pressures on accident and emergency units by increasing staff and by providing additional sources of information through 24 hour health direct lines and Internet services, allowing patients to seek medical advice and the latest triage waiting times. This government wants to ensure that the Territory is a place where health professionals want to work and so will address the pay and conditions of nurses and allow more flexibility in the remuneration arrangements of specialist staff and clinicians.
Law and Order: This government’s strategy of law and order in the Territory is based on a six point plan which emphasises:
- that the government is tough on crime, guided by the principle, ‘serious crime means serious time’;
that safety and security in our homes is of paramount importance;
that having the police respond when Territorians need them is pivotal to a law and order program;
that victims must be the primary focus in any criminal justice strategy;
that the underlying causes of crime and criminal behaviour must start to be addressed; and
that a central crime prevention agency is a key to government implementing and monitoring effective
crime prevention programs.
My government has a mandate to implement sentencing reform. A fresh approach will be taken to dealing with aggravated property crime. For adults, legislation will provide the courts with clear statements of intent in relation to serious aggravated property offences. The community rightly expects that those who break into and steal from, or damage houses, cars and business premises will be seriously dealt with. The government will introduce the new offences of ‘home invasion’ and ‘invasion of a business’. These will be targeted at the unacceptable practice of trashing homes and businesses.
It is the intention of this government to put a greater emphasis on the victims of crime in our society, and will thus implement a range of measures to assist victims to alleviate the stress, trauma and inconvenience so often associated with these unwelcome intrusions into their lives. An Office of Crime Prevention will be established to undertake whole of government research, policy development, the coordination of policy implementation and statistics reporting. Protection, punishment and prevention will be the cornerstones of this government’s commitment to reducing both the economic and psychological impact of crimes on Territorians.
From an enforcement perspective, the Northern Territory Police Force will be provided with the powers, resources and funding necessary to give effect to this government’s approach to crime and the causes of crime, particularly in relation to property and drug offences. This includes the deployment of an additional 50 police officers over the term of this government, enabling the police force to double the present size of the Drug Squad and enhance the Special Crime Squad to improve the investigations of unlawful entry offences. It will also introduce a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on drug production and distribution, coupled with compulsory rehabilitation and appropriately resourced drug prevention strategies.
In maintaining the commitment to community safety, the government has recognised the growing need for a Police, Fire and Emergency Services facility in the Darwin rural area. This will considerably enhance emergency responses and provide a major training facility for volunteers in the area. The government also values highly - and is committed to - a community-based crime prevention strategy that harnesses both the resources of government and the goodwill of its citizens to attack the causes of crime and build a safer community.
Police, Fire and Emergency services’ work in the Northern Territory provides unique challenges and opportunities. The government intends to ensure that the community maintains an organisation that can respond to those challenges and take advantage of the opportunities to be at the forefront of the services they provide, against all national benchmarks.
Indigenous Territorians: More than any other single factor, what makes the Territory special is the uniquely high proportion of indigenous people in the Northern Territory. Many indigenous Territorians suffered the tragedy of being removed from their families at an early age. This government will introduce a motion of apology to those people on behalf of the Northern Territory government later in these sittings.
The government will work cooperatively with indigenous Territorians and their respective organisations to ensure the appropriate recognition of their concerns, while addressing their economic and social dislocation. It will achieve this by working in partnership with indigenous Territorians, particularly through the use of Indigenous Framework Agreements providing for greater self-determination and control over their own affairs. My government is committed to developing improved outcomes for indigenous Territorians. Our intention in particular will be focussed on education, health, community wellbeing, and regional development.
Youth: Young people represent a larger proportion of the Territory’s population than they do in any other Australian jurisdiction. A young population provides the government both with a huge opportunity and a huge challenge. The government wants Territory youth to grow up equipped and prepared in every way to make the very best use of their natural abilities and talents. As adults, they should be well-rounded individuals with a high level of education and training which will open the doors to multiple choices in terms of the career or vocation that they may choose to follow. The Territory of the young should be the Territory of opportunities for the young.
Women: The government is committed to improving the status of women and to making sure that women can and do participate fully in Territory life. Women’s concerns are really those of the whole community. Domestic violence, for example, is not an issue for women alone but for the whole community, including those who perpetrate it. Women’s employment issues reflect the need for sound, non-discriminatory policies across the board. Women’s concerns for the family should be shared by their partners.
Senior Territorians: One important lesson that western civilisation can learn from the indigenous culture is respect for elders. With the exception of indigenous people, it has been a weakness in Northern Territory society that many Territorians have chosen to leave the Territory on retirement. My government is most anxious to halt and reverse this trend. Senior Territorians will be acknowledged for what they are - a scarce, valuable, irreplaceable resource that enrich our family life, our community, the economy, and society in general. My government will give a renewed emphasis to addressing the needs of Senior Territorians and will endeavour to make remaining in the Territory an attractive option for people of all ages.
Quality of Life: Participation in sport and recreation is important for promoting the health, happiness and wellbeing of the Territory community. Government will ensure that participation in sport and recreation is available to all Territorians, including additional support for remote communities. Improved recreational fishing policies will be developed and implemented in consultation with all stakeholders, and will be aimed to establish the Territory as an internationally recognised premier recreational fishing destination whilst maintaining high value, commercial wild harvest fisheries.
This government acknowledges the importance of artistic endeavour and cultural expression to the preservation of history, language, and cultural identity and will put in place policies and strategies to protect and preserve our unique cultural strengths and assets. In addition, the arts sector is recognised as making a very real and significant contribution to the economic development of the Northern Territory. All Territorians should have access to arts experiences and opportunities regardless of income or location.
Our longer-term aim is to have indigenous cultural centres in each major Territory community. Through the Desert Knowledge project, Alice Springs will be assisted to develop its icon status as the centre of Australia to become a national centre of indigenous culture and education.
Trade and good relations: My government is particularly anxious to promote Darwin as the Gateway to Asia in order to capitalise on the opportunities that will be afforded by the Alice Springs to Darwin railway and the exploitation of oil and gas reserves in the Timor Sea. A priority for the Northern Territory government is to strengthen our links of trade and goodwill with our neighbouring countries to the north. This government recognises the efforts of the former government in this regard.
The Northern Territory congratulates the East Timorese people on conducting a trouble-free and democratic election …
Members: Hear, hear!
His Honour the ADMINISTRATOR: … and has already commenced consolidating the friendship with a fledgling nation as our economic and social futures are so closely linked.
Environment. The government recognises that conservation of the environment must be an essential consideration across a wide range of government policies. It believes that ecological sustainability is fully compatible with maximising opportunities for economic development, employment growth and our social welfare goals. My government aims to provide the next generation of Territorians with an environment that is at least as healthy, diverse and productive as the one that we experience today. This government is committed to a community inclusive approach to planning. Processes that are open and transparent with a community being given optimum opportunity to participate in the decision-making processes will be established.
Darwin Harbour is a major regional asset used extensively for recreation. It is very important that it is properly managed to ensure it remains in its current pristine condition. Mangrove protection is a key objective. Greater emphasis will be given to environmental considerations as part of the decision making process of government. Whilst the Territory needs to grow its economic base, it is critical that it does not occur without due consideration of potential impacts on the environment.
Local government: My government recognises that local government is a vital tier in the administration of the Territory. It will work cooperatively with this sector to deliver the best outcomes possible for Territorians.
Public service: No government can govern without a professional and responsive public service. My government wishes to acknowledge openly that the public service response to the new government has been both professional and warm-hearted. My government recognises the skill and professionalism of the public service and looks forward to working constructively with it to address the challenges ahead. A good public service should be prepared to offer frank and fearless advice to government. Ultimately, the government is responsible for governing.
Statehood: Territorians quite rightly want the opportunity for their direct involvement in this process of constitutional development. On that basis, the pursuit of statehood will only occur after a fully inclusive process of education and consultation. The government will only proceed to statehood if and when a statehood proposal has gained the widespread support of Territorians.
In conclusion, the first change of government is a significant event in the history of the Northern Territory. It has demonstrated to Territorians, if that was ever necessary, to Australia and to the rest of the world, that democracy is alive and well in this part of the world.
Members: Hear, hear!
His Honour the ADMINISTRATOR: The details outlined in this address demonstrate that the government is determined and set on delivering on the assurances and promises that it made in the lead up to the election. Clearly, the government cannot implement all the promises at the first sittings or in the first year of government. The objective of the government is to deliver on the commitments over a four year term. At the same time my government recognises that we are operating at a time of great fluidity and change in the world. As well as prioritising in terms of timing, the government must show flexibility in adapting to changing circumstances.
My government has promised to provide a government of integrity; of honesty, energy and enthusiasm in pursuing the interests of all Territorians throughout every day of the four year term.
Madam Speaker, honourable members, I will now leave you to your important deliberations.
____________________
His Honour the Administrator was led from the Chamber by the Serjeant-at-Arms.
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GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE ARRANGEMENTS
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I advise honourable members that on 27 August 2001, His Honour the Administrator made the following appointments of ministers of the Northern Territory:
- Clare Majella Martin - Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Arts and Museums,
Minister for Young Territorians, Minister for Women’s Policy, Minister for Senior Territorians,
Minister for Communications, Science and Advanced Technology;
Sydney James Stirling - Minister for Education, Employment and Training, Minister for Police, Fire
and Emergency Services, Minister for Parks and Wildlife, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and
Minister for Tourism;
Peter Howard Toyne - Attorney-General, Minister for Central Australia, Minister for Primary Industry
and Fisheries, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Corporate and Information Services and
Minister for Regional Development;
Paul Raymond Henderson - Minister for Industries and Business, Minister for Resource Development,
Minister for Asian Relations and Trade, Minister for Territory Insurance, Minister for the AustralAsia
Railway, Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing;
John Leonard Ah Kit - Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Development, Minister for Territory Ports,
Minister for Correctional Services and Minister for Essential Services;
Jane Lesley Aagaard - Minister for Health, Family and Children’s Services, and Minister assisting the
Chief Minister on Women’s Policy; and
Konstantine Vatskalis - Minister for Lands, Planning and Environment, Minister for Housing, Minister for
Local Government and Minister for Ethnic Affairs.
I further advise that on 27 September 2001, Paul Henderson was also appointed as Minister for Defence Support.
For the information of honourable members, the honourable member for Nhulunbuy, Mr Stirling, is Deputy Chief Minister and will be the Leader of Government Business in the Assembly. The honourable member for Barkly, Mr McAdam, is Government Whip.
I table a copy of the Administrative Arrangements Order made by His Honour the Administrator and the Amendment to that Order.
OPPOSITION OFFICE HOLDERS
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I advise the Assembly the details of the opposition office holders and shadow ministry. I have been re-elected by my colleagues as Leader with the member for Katherine, Mr Reed, as Deputy Leader. The member for Port Darwin, Ms Carter, is Opposition Whip.
The shadow ministry is:
- the member for Brennan - Opposition Leader; shadow minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services;
Resource Development; Asian Relations and Trade; AustralAsia Railway; and Defence Support;
the member for Katherine - shadow Treasurer; Transport and Infrastructure Development; Territory Ports;
and Territory Insurance;
the member for Daly - shadow minister for Lands, Planning and Environment; Primary Industry and Fisheries;
and Racing, Gaming and Licensing;
the member for Drysdale - shadow minister for Health, Family and Children’s Services; Essential Services;
and Senior Territorians;
the member for Greatorex - shadow minister for Central Australia; Regional Development; Housing and Local
Government; Corporate and Information Services; and Ethnic Affairs;
the member for Blain - shadow minister for Education; Employment and Training; Sport and Recreation;
and Young Territorians;
the member for Macdonnell - shadow minister for Aboriginal Affairs; Parks and Wildlife; and Arts and Museums;
the member for Goyder - shadow Attorney-General and shadow minister for Industries and Business;
the member for Araluen - shadow minister for Tourism; Women’s Policy; Correctional Services; and
Communications, Science and Advanced Technology.
Madam Speaker, in our new role as opposition we provide this Assembly with an experienced and determined opposition.
SUSPENSION OF SITTING
Madam SPEAKER: Members and guests, I want to particularly thank all those guests who have arrived today to join with us in celebrating this very special occasion. Thank you for that.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: We ask you to join with us in the Great Hall to mingle with the members and to meet and celebrate with them also. I thank you for your patience during what may have seemed to be a long session for you but I assure you this is not as long as some of them are going to be.
Honourable members, the sitting of the Assembly is suspended until the ringing of the bells at 3.00 pm.
MARK OF RESPECT – TERRORIST ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES
Madam SPEAKER: With the concurrence of honourable members, I propose that this Assembly observe a period of one minute’s silence in memory of those who died during the recent shocking terrorist attacks in the United States and the tragic events that are now occurring across many nations. I ask members to stand with me.
The Assembly observed one minute’s silence.
CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT BILL (No 3)
(Serial 1)
(Serial 1)
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, in conformity with Standing Order 3(m) it is necessary for us to conduct an item of formal business. I call upon the Attorney-General.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Dr TOYNE (Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the motion for the second reading of the bill be postponed for consideration at a later hour.
Motion agreed to.
NOTICE OF MOTION
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, notwithstanding the one minute’s silence we just observed, I have a motion I would like to foreshadow to proceed on the next…
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Madam Speaker. I think the appropriate time would be Notices.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, you can give your notice of motion at Notices.
ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEES
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, we are now at the stage where we are to elect the Chairman of Committees. Are there any nominations for the Chairman of the Committees?
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I propose for its Chairman of Committees the honourable member for Nelson, Mr Wood and I move that the honourable member for Nelson be appointed Chairman of Committees of this Assembly.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I second the motion.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Nelson, do you accept the nomination?
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I accept the nomination.
Madam SPEAKER: Does any honourable member wish to speak to the motion?
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, the honourable member for Nelson has resided in the Northern Territory for over 30 years. He brings to this House the experience of having lived both in Darwin’s rural community and in two of the Territory’s more remote communities of Daly River and Nguiu on Bathurst Island. The member for Nelson also brings to this House an extensive knowledge of our community through his involvement, past and present, in a range of community-based organisations.
These include the Northern Territory Landcare Council, the Drillers Qualification Advisory Committee, the Territory Anti-Litter Committee, the Northern Territory Horticultural Association, WaterWatch, the Darwin Chorale and the Northern Territory Australian Football Umpires Association. He is also a strong supporter of the Litchfield Regional Business Association. In addition to what might be termed his grassroots community involvement, the honourable member for Nelson has the benefit of 13 years experience of local government in the Northern Territory including the last five years as President of the Litchfield Shire Council. He has been heavily involved in the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory and in the Australian Local Government Association and has been a member of the Development Consent Authority.
This is all experience which will stand him in good stead as Chairman of Committees, a position of leadership in this Assembly and a role which will be enhanced by his understanding of issues which are of importance to Territorians. All of these aspects combine in making the honourable member for Nelson an obvious and very appropriate choice for Chairman of Committees in this Legislative Assembly.
However, I believe there are equally other important attributes which the member for Nelson offers the position of Chair of Committees. The member for Nelson sits in this House for the first time today. He brings with him a fresh perspective on the role of parliament and the responsibilities of parliamentarians. He has a declared commitment to more open and transparent systems of government. Such an outlook is important in every democratically elected House of Assembly but particularly so in the Northern Territory with our unicameral parliament.
The committees are the parliament’s only institutions of review. They should assist public scrutiny of the Assembly’s work and they should maximise the accountability of the government of the day. This has not always been the case in the past. This government is determined that our parliament will be more open and accountable in the future. The parliament’s committees have a vital role to play in achieving this and a strong and dedicated Chair of Committees is essential. The fact that the member for Nelson sits in this House as an Independent further serves to highlight the government’s determination to ensure the checks and balances within parliament are indeed true checks and balances. The Chairman of Committees should aim to maximise the potential of the parliament’s committees and encourage members of those committees to work cooperatively together to achieve tangible outcomes for Territorians. I believe the member for Nelson is ideally placed to do this.
Madam Speaker, I am certain the member for Nelson will make a great contribution to this House and to the democratic process in the Territory and I endorse his nomination.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: Does any other honourable member wish to speak to the nomination? Are there any further nominations?
There being no further nominations I declare the honourable member for Nelson, Mr Wood, to have been appointed Chairman of Committees of this Assembly. Congratulations.
Members: Hear, hear!
SITTINGS OF THE ASSEMBLY
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that during the present session of the Assembly the Speaker may, at her discretion and notwithstanding any previous resolution of the Assembly, appoint a day and/or time for the holding of a sitting of the Assembly which day and/or time shall be notified to each member in writing.
Motion agreed to.
SESSIONAL ORDERS OF THE ASSEMBLY – MINISTERIAL REPORTS, PROGRAMMING OF
QUESTIONS, ROUTINE OF BUSINESS AND SPEECH TIME LIMITS
QUESTIONS, ROUTINE OF BUSINESS AND SPEECH TIME LIMITS
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move motions together for new sessional orders in the terms of motions circulated to all members relating to ministerial reports, programming of questions, routine of business and speech time limits.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move an amendment to the motion. The amendment is that all words after ‘that’ be deleted and replaced with ‘the motions relating to changes to sessional orders be referred to the Standing Committee on Standing Orders for consideration.’
Madam SPEAKER: Can I have that amendment in writing so we can make sure we know exactly what it is.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, speaking to the amendment. This government had 26 years and so many months and days and weeks to make any changes they like to sessional orders, committees of parliament or, in fact, any change they wanted into the way this parliament was run.
The member moving this amendment himself had some 2 years as Chief Minister in this Assembly to see fit to bring any changes he wanted to any of these structures. This government is moving to make this place work better, more fairly, more democratic, more open and more transparent. He has had his opportunity to make any changes he so wished.
Madam Speaker, I move that the amendment be now put.
Madam SPEAKER: The question is the amendment be now put.
Motion agreed to.
Madam SPEAKER: The question is the amendment be agreed to. I will read you the amendment again: That the motions relating to changes to sessional orders be referred to the Standing Committee on Standing Orders for consideration. The question is that the amendment be agreed to.
Amendment negatived.
Madam SPEAKER: We are now moving the original motion.
The question is that motions for new sessional orders in terms of motions circulated to all members relating to all ministerial reports, programming of questions, routine of business and speech time limits be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
SESSIONAL ORDERS – BROADCASTING AND RE-BROADCASTING OF
ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
ASSEMBLY PROCEEDINGS
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that unless otherwise ordered the Assembly, for the purposes of section 23 of the Legislative Assembly (Powers and Privileges) Act, authorises the broadcasting by radio and television stations of excerpts of its proceedings in accordance with the following conditions:
Conditions governing broadcasting of excerpts of proceedings by radio and television stations:
(1) access to the proceedings of the Assembly for the recording and broadcasting of excerpts of proceedings
is subject to an undertaking to observe, and to comply with, the following conditions and guidelines;
(2) recordings and broadcast may be made only from the Legislative Assembly sound and vision monitoring
system unless otherwise approved by the Speaker or his or her delegates;
Speaker or his or her delegates;
not be used for:
(a) political party advertising or election campaigns;
(b) satire or ridicule; or
(c) commercial sponsorship or commercial advertising;
reported;
(7) excerpts must be placed in context. The commentator should identify members at least by name;
(8) events in the galleries are not part of the proceedings and excerpts in relation to such events, as far as is
practicable, should not be used;
and after those excerpts is of an appropriate nature;
(11) where the ordered excerpts of proceedings are used on television, their use may be that of audio over still
frames or overlay material;
not inconsistent with these conditions, shall be observed; and
Madam Speaker, it is an issue that has been discussed, certainly over the 10 years that I have served in this parliament, and proposals similar to this were put forward by this side of the House when we were in opposition. But the government of the day never moved to accept it, other than the requests by media which were used, in the past, to update file footage from time to time, usually on the first sitting day, which involved use of film but not sound. We are the only jurisdiction in Australia not to allow broadcast and rebroadcasts. This government will be an open, honest and accountable government. A part of that is to open our parliament to the same processes in the same manner that other jurisdictions have.
The conditions governing the broadcasts are firm but fair. The final point states that non-compliance may incur penalties and the most simple and effective remedy for breaching those guidelines would be to simply withdraw the rights for the offending broadcaster. I urge members to support the motion that brings us into line with current day practice of other parliaments and will raise our accountability as parliamentarians in the eyes of the people.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I seek leave to move an amendment to the motion and I also seek leave to speak to the amendment.
Madam SPEAKER: Do you want to tell us the amendment first?
Mr BURKE: I would just like not to be gagged this time and have a few words, that’s all, with your indulgence.
Madam SPEAKER: All right. Move your amendment.
Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, the amendment is: I move – That the motion be referred to the House Committee for consideration and report to the Assembly.
In speaking to the motion may I say, Madam Speaker, I put this forward in the spirit of cooperation, and I refer the Deputy Chief Minister and the Chief Minister in my comments not only with relation to this but the motion that was previously passed, in regard to their own policy on the Parliamentary Committee System. I quote:
Parliaments in most democratic nations have established a system of parliamentary committees for the
purpose of assisting public scrutiny and of maximising accountability from the elected government of
the day. Parliamentary committees should be free to operate unhindered and to praise, criticise or call
to account the actions of the government.
The purpose of this motion is to strengthen the role and responsibilities of the committees in the same way the now government proposed whilst they were in opposition. They were strong on questioning the fact that committees were trivialised. I believe that the sessional changes that were brought through today quite rightly should have gone to the Standing Orders Committee, because it is the responsibility of that committee to bring forward those changes back to the parliament.
On this particular motion, may I say Madam Speaker, that the opposition agrees with the fact that television and radio broadcasting of this parliament should be enhanced. We never took that view in the past, and that is simply because whilst some of us did have that view possibly, others did not when in government. I can say that in opposition we agree. We wish to cooperate with the government in allowing broadcasting into this parliament. I believe that we could go further than just to allow the broadcasting of Question Time. I believe that under guidelines developed by the House Committee broadcasting could be allowed throughout the whole parliamentary session and, under those guidelines, selective excerpts be used for the news bulletins, both TV and radio, as time progressed.
That is what we would propose could be developed - good guidelines in the spirit that the government intends and rightly that suggestion should be considered by the House Committee. My amendment simply says let’s take it to the House Committee. Let them consider it and bring it back to parliament with recommendations.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, again, as I said speaking to the amendment, certainly for the 10 years that I have been a member, this was talked about and this government did nothing about it. Now when we, in our first sittings, move to address it and to allow broadcast and rebroadcast of Question Time, the opposition has a problem with it because they want to defer. They want to put it to a committee for further deliberation. Well, the government has made a decision on this matter. The government has made a decision on this matter, and it may be subject to review, and we may well be happy for the House Committee to have a look at it in due time with a view to opening up and going further as you suggest.
But give it a try. Have the guts to give it a try. We are putting it on the line. We are saying let’s go and do it, try it out. If we want to go further we can by way of reference to the House Committee.
Madam Speaker, I move the amendment be put.
Motion agreed to.
Madam SPEAKER: The question now is that the amendment be agreed to.
Amendment negatived.
Madam SPEAKER: The question now is that the motion moved by the Leader of Government Business be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
House Committee – Appointment of Membership
House Committee – Appointment of Membership
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I seek leave in relating to the appointment of members to the House Committee. There will be other motions in relation to Privileges, Public Accounts, Standing Orders, Subordinate Legislation and Publications and Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committees as well as one on a select committee on substance abuse a bit later on.
I did want to preface the appointment of the House Committee by signalling the government is introducing changes to the committee structures and these changes involve broadening the numbers on committees to six. Three members will be from the government, two members will be from the opposition. We will introduce the right of Independent members to be on any committee they so wish. The Independent members will be asked to nominate to committees, mindful of the fact that they may wish themselves to limit their involvement given the numbers of committees and the time they as Independents have available to them.
If they do not nominate, that position will remain vacant allowing them the opportunity to nominate at a further date. That position will not be filled by a member of government; nor will it be filled by a member of the opposition. All committees will be chaired by a government member, exception to the arrangement being the House Committee. This committee will be chaired by Madam Speaker and consist of two government and two opposition members. The Independent members will be represented on that committee by the Speaker. It is a major reform, Madam Speaker, one which fulfills Labor’s commitment to the establishing of committee structures which makes government and executive more accountable and it will allow stronger scrutiny of government action as well as allowing for greater debate within the committees themselves.
In relation to the House Committee, I move the following members be appointed to the House Committee: Ms Lawrie, Ms Scrymgour and two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Just a point of clarification, Madam Speaker. I assume you are going to detail each committee and you have not as yet dealt with the Standing Orders Committee?
Madam SPEAKER: One by one.
Mr STIRLING: In response, this is the House Committee, and I am moving that membership be Madam Speaker, Ms Lawrie, Ms Scrymgour and two members to be nominated by yourself.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, again, simply to comment, and that is that whilst I was interested to hear the structure of the committees I was disappointed that the government itself is now not adhering to their own policy. That is that, again, their policy in government would be that - and I will quote from their policy:
Labor will have legislatively prescribed areas of responsibility. This arrangement will free the
committees to investigate issues of public concern without the approval of the government majority
party.
recommendations. The committees will have enhanced powers to call for evidence. The make up of
committees will be changed to have six members each, only three of whom will come from the party
in government.
What we have under the recommendations is the government will have three members, and the opposition will only have the opportunity to put forward two members. If the Independent member for Nelson does not wish to stand or become a member of every committee, clearly nothing has changed. The government dominates the committees 3:2 in the same way they criticised the former government for so stridently in the past. I simply say that in fairness and by consistency, if the member for Nelson does not wish to sit on any one of those committees, I would ask that the government frees that position up so that the opposition can put an additional member on each committee and we will have 3:3, which would accord to the policy that the government themselves in opposition so stridently called for.
Madam SPEAKER: The motion is that the nominated members be appointed to the House Committee. Is the Leader of the Opposition nominating members for the House Committee, or not?
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition will detail their nominations at a later day. We are still dealing with the fact that the government themselves have the opportunity to amend their motion. If they do not wish to do so, I seek leave to move an amendment.
Madam SPEAKER: The motion on the floor at the moment is that the following members be appointed to the House Committee: Madam Speaker, Ms Lawrie, Ms Scrymgour and two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Well, I can deal with my issues when we deal with the Standing Orders Committee, Madam Speaker.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Privileges Committee – Appointment of Membership
Privileges Committee – Appointment of Membership
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that, notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders, the following members be appointed to the Privileges Committee: Mr Stirling, Dr Burns, Ms Lawrie, two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition, and one Independent member; and the committee shall elect a government member as Chair.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Public Accounts Committee – Appointment of Membership
Public Accounts Committee – Appointment of Membership
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders, the following members be appointed to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts: Dr Burns, Mr Kiely, Mr McAdam, Mr Wood and two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I have quickly scribbled out an amendment to that motion asking that the Standing Orders Committee consider the membership of each of the committees that has been so nominated today, such that if the Independent member for Nelson does not wish to sit on one of those committees, that that position is freed up to be available to a member of the opposition.
Madam SPEAKER: It is my understanding that we are dealing with Public Accounts Committee at the moment. Do you want to move this amendment to the Public Accounts Committee, or wait until we get to the Standing Orders Committee?
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): I understood that we were talking about the Standing Orders Committee as well. Correct me if I am wrong.
Madam SPEAKER: That is a separate motion, this is Public Accounts. The Standing Orders Committee ...
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): I am looking for guidance from the Leader of Government Business.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): We are dealing with Public Accounts Committee.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): You have not mentioned the Standing Orders Committee at this stage?
Mr Stirling: No.
Madam SPEAKER: That is a separate motion.
Mr Burke: Right.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I suspect that this process we are going through has an inevitable conclusion. I would point out, particularly with the Public Accounts Committee which is a very potent and important committee, that the words that the opposition spoke in a variety of debates which are available to members in Hansard and the position paper, Good Government, with the then Leader of the Opposition’s photo on the front, be adhered to, to the extent that the impartiality, the capacity of the Public Accounts Committee to act independently and to be seen to be independent, be prescribed in accordance with the debate we are now having.
It think it is very important that if the words that were uttered this morning by His Honour, and if the words that were put to election to the constituents are to be seen as valid - that the open and transparent processes that occurs with the Public Accounts Committee - then it should be seen to be a committee that is even-handed. I would therefore urge the government to look at having three members of either side on this committee. Particularly to leave the committee to choose its own chairman, so that that is a matter that could be done through the committee; to not anticipate what the committee may decide, which seems to be the case with certainly some of the other motions before us where the government is anticipating that these matters having been put to, for instance, the Standing Orders Committee, that they would concur with the government.
That is certainly not open and honest government, it is certainly not independence. It is one of those things where, for a government to make an assumption that a committee of this parliament and decisions of this parliament would be in total accord with the government, I think is not only foolhardy but it is tantamount to misleading the public who voted for them on the basis of transparency and open and honest government.
The point I would make is, a chairman of the Public Accounts Committee as you were, Madam Speaker - that the important issues that will come before this parliament over the next few weeks and certainly during this year, will need significant scrutiny and it will need scrutiny of an independent and seen-to-be-independent organ of this parliament that can take to the people the issues as presented, rather than the propaganda that can be evident through political process.
I would ask therefore, with the good traditions of the Westminster system, the Labor Party’s own platform, that the matters relating to His Honour’s speech this morning be adhered to in this particular instance and that the Public Accounts Committee have membership of three members of the opposition and three members of the government. I am sure that if this paper is not available to the current Chief Minister I could make it available.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): The sanctimonious utterings, Madam Speaker, beggar belief. Twenty-six years they had in government to make committees fair, representative of the parliament, equal numbers, if they so chose.
Mr Burke: We are only doing what you want to do.
Mr STIRLING: You were not interested when you were in government. You always wanted a 3:2 structure that suited you very nicely and they come in here on the first sitting day and demand. They have forgotten something occurred on 18 August. Something occurred - a little bit of a major shift in the political balance in the Northern Territory. A little bit of fairness, a little bit of democratic process will now take place in this Chamber, unlike what occurred under you blokes for 27 years.
The changes to these committee structures simply represent the fact that we have Independents in here, and that - with the exception of himself late in the last parliament - this government did not deal with. This government did not have to deal with having Independents represented on committees. It is no more than that. They never ever moved in any shape or form to equal balance on any committee, on any committee structure in this parliament and we certainly will not.
Madam Speaker, I move that the amendment be put.
Madam SPEAKER: Members, there needs to be some clarification. We have a motion on the books relating to the appointment of the Public Accounts Committee. There was no amendment put. The question is that the motion relating to the membership of the Public Accounts Committee be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Standing Orders Committee – Appointment of Membership
Standing Orders Committee – Appointment of Membership
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that, unless otherwise ordered and notwithstanding anything contained in standing orders, the following members be appointed to the Standing Orders Committee: Madam Speaker, Mr Stirling, Dr Burns, Mr Bonson, two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition and that the committee shall elect a government member as Chair.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak on this particular issue and just to point out to the people of the Northern Territory that this open and accountable and honest government that we are being presented with here has gagged this opposition, prevented us debating our issues in front of the public of the Northern Territory three times. We have sat in this Chamber in debate for 40 minutes now and if this is the level of open and accountable and honest government that they are going to bring to the people of the Northern Territory, then the people of the Northern Territory have a great deal to be concerned about.
They went to an election on a platform saying that we should have a functioning, working, equal committee system attached to this parliament and now when they have their first opportunity to keep a promise, the first thing they do is start shutting down debate. I am not sure if the new members are aware that every time they say ‘aye’ when the Leader of Government Business says, ‘I move the motion be put’, they are preventing the people of the Northern Territory debating an issue.
Mr AH KIT (Transport and Infrastructure Development): Madam Speaker, I find this a bit rich to look at the opposition - and that is what they have to realise: that they are now in opposition and in June’s debate, we saw a different position. When they were in government for those 26 years, they were in charge of all the committees, they had all the power. And they stood up here and bragged about it. Now that the boot is on the other foot, what do we see? Sour grapes.
The people of the Territory went to the polls. You are now sitting on that side and we are on this side. What you have to understand is that the changes the Leader of Government Business is talking about is ensuring that we have a proper democratic system in place. It also reflects on how the people voted. So where we have more government members than the opposition, so be it, and where we have a chairperson of those committees who has the casting vote, so be it. Get used to it, fellows.
Madam SPEAKER: Now the question is relating to the membership of the Standing Orders Committee which has three government members, two opposition members and one Independent member. I hope you are all clear on what motion we are talking about. The question is the motion be agreed to.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, again a point of clarification. Will there be reference to an Estimates Committee as we go through this membership? If not, it is appropriate that I move an amendment to provide a reference to the Standing Orders Committee at this time.
Madam SPEAKER: I believe there is no reference to an Estimates Committee in the committee system at the moment. Am I correct, Mr Clerk?
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, it is inappropriate to jump in. There will be a reference to the Public Accounts Committee that will send the Public Accounts Committee with the charter to look at the establishment of an Estimates Committee.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Thank you, Madam Speaker. I take comfort from that undertaking and I also take comfort from the fact that given a mini-budget is being brought down by November, those procedures will be in place such that an Estimates Committee can interrogate them.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! We are referring to the motion in relation to the appointment of members to the Standing Orders Committee. The question is the motion be agreed to.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Subordinate Legislation and Publications Committee – Appointment of Membership
Subordinate Legislation and Publications Committee – Appointment of Membership
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move notwithstanding anything contained in standing orders, the following members be appointed to the Subordinate Legislation and Publication Committee: Ms Scrymgour, Mr Kiely, Ms Lawrie, two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition and one Independent member and that the committee shall elect a government member as chairman.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee – Appointment of Membership
Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee – Appointment of Membership
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that, notwithstanding anything contained in standing orders, the following members be appointed to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee: Ms Scrymgour, Mr Kiely, Mr Bonson, two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition, and one Independent member and that the committee shall elect a government member as chairman.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
- Select Committee On Substance Abuse – Appointment of Membership
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that:
(1) a committee to be known as the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community be
appointed, comprising, unless otherwise ordered: Dr Burns, Ms Scrymgour, Mr McAdam,
Mr Wood, two members to be nominated by the Leader of the Opposition and the committee
shall elect a government member as the chair;
(2) the committee be empowered, unless otherwise ordered, to inquire into and report on the issue
of substance abuse in the community, in particular to:
a) ascertain community concern about the use and abuse of licit and illicit substances;
b) current trends in the use and abuse of licit and illicit substances in the Northern Territory
and as far as possible take into account regional, age, sex, other demographic characteristics
and ethnic factors;
c) the social and economic consequences of current patterns of substance abuse with special
reference to the well-being of individuals and communities and to the demands placed upon
government and non-government services;
d) the services currently available within the Northern Territory by both government and
non-government agencies to deal with issues directly or indirectly related to substance abuse;
e) factors which directly affect the level and nature of substance abuse in the Northern Territory
community or parts of that community, including without limiting the generality of the foregoing:
i) the accessibility/availability of licit and illicit substances within communities;
ii) the demographic and ethnic structure of the Northern Territory; and
iii) the correlation between socio-economic conditions and substance abuse; and
f) appropriate policies and services for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse in the
Northern Territory;
(3) the committee be empowered to send to persons papers and records, to sit in public or in private
session, notwithstanding any adjournment of the Assembly, to adjourn from place to place and to
have leave to report from time to time its proceedings and the evidence taken and make such interim recommendations as it may deem fit and to publish information pertaining to its activities
from time to time;
(4) the committee be empowered to publish from day to day such papers and evidence as may be ordered
by it and unless otherwise ordered by the committee a daily Hansard be published of such proceedings
as takes place in public;
(5) the committee be empowered to consider, disclose and publish the minutes of proceedings, evidence
taken and records of the Committee on the Use and Abuse of Alcohol in the previous Assembly; and
- (6) the foregoing provisions of the resolution so far as they are inconsistent with standing orders have
effect notwithstanding anything contained in the standing orders.
Madam Speaker, one of the real success committees of this parliament was the former Use and Abuse of Alcohol Committee and a former member for Macdonnell, Neil Bell, who was here today, played a major role in the formation of that committee which existed for many years. It was at a time, I think, when the then member for Fannie Bay, Marshall Perron, was Chief Minister of the Northern Territory that that committee really did start to have an effect in the Northern Territory. We saw the introduction of the Living With Alcohol programs and a range of initiatives coming through that committee and later on under that program.
We think it is too important a committee not to be represented in this parliament. We suggest that it is a Select Committee, though, and that it does report from time to time, looking probably over a 12 month life in the first instance to see just what damage is being done out there. All of us are aware within our own electorates - some more than others, I suggest, depending on what parts of the Northern Territory they represent - but we do see it as an important tool for this parliament to come to grips with issues of substance abuse in the Northern Territory which go on to contribute to so many ills in our community. I would urge support of all members for this committee. At least in the case of this committee, I would like to see the opposition putting forward members to serve on this committee.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition strongly supports the establishment of this committee. It was something that we flagged as part of our policies. The Deputy Chief Minister has spoken about the effect of this committee in the past and certainly with the issues that face us that are still there, it has a lot of good work that it can do in the future.
I would flag also the fact in times past it has been a purely bipartisan committee. I understand at times - and I could be corrected - but I understand that it certainly was equal members of the opposition and government. We are comfortable with the fact that on this committee, if the member for Nelson is a member of that committee as I understand he has volunteered and he wishes to be part of it, that it will be an effective committee. There will be two interested members of the opposition as part of that committee and I look forward to seeing the reports it brings down. You can count on full cooperation from the opposition.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): A minor editorial motion, Madam Speaker, and it is really in the interest of the opposition assisting the government. I move that the word ‘sex’ be deleted and ‘gender’ inserted in its place because in this motion relating to drugs, I think it has the potential to inject a frivolity into this and I would urge that in the interests of good grammar that that word be deleted.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): The government accepts the member’s amendment.
Madam SPEAKER: The question is that the amendment be agreed to.
Amendment agreed to.
Madam SPEAKER: The question now is that the amended motion be agreed to.
Motion, as amended, agreed to.
MESSAGE FROM ADMINISTRATOR
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I lay on the Table Message No.1 from His Honour the Administrator, advising of his assent to the proposed laws passed by the Assembly during the June and July sittings 2001.
ADDRESS-IN-REPLY
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I also have to report that I received from His Honour the Administrator a copy of the speech that he delivered this morning.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the following Address-in-Reply be agreed to:
May it please Your Honour, we the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory in parliament assembled
desire to express our loyalty to our most gracious sovereign and to thank Your Honour for the speech which
you have been pleased to address to the Assembly.
Madam Speaker, on behalf of the Northern Territory government and its people I acknowledge the Larrakia people on whose traditional land this Chamber sits.
On 18 August, the people of the Northern Territory voted to grant my party a four year term in government. I would like to take this opportunity to again thank Territorians who voted for the Labor Party and extend a special thanks to those who have never voted for us before. Thank you for your confidence. I was and will continue to be humbled by the responsibility that the people have placed on my government. We take that responsibility seriously because we are a government of reform and a government for all Territorians. We come to this place with a mandate for reform and a mandate for Labor principles and plans. We will repay the trust that the people have placed in us with an inclusive, respectful and intelligent administration that will improve outcomes for all Territorians.
Gone is the Berrimah line. No line will confine the services that my government delivers to Territorians. We are a government for all Territorians and we will provide those areas of the Territory outside our major centres a renewed significance in government planning and processes. We will measure the success of our policies and our service delivery by the extent to which all Territorians benefit. We came to office with a plan to build a better Territory. We brought with us a blueprint for success, a vision to take the Territory forward. We recognise the need to attract business and industry and to develop new jobs for the future that are based not only on our existing industries but also on growth industries, new technologies and value adding. We know how much the Territory has to offer, not just to its own people but to the rest of the nation and the world. That is why my government will work in new ways and in an open dialogue with Territorians to deliver projects and services to enhance not just our economy but our community.
I want to develop a better Territory for my children, for their children and for all our children. Our vision is long term. Our vision encompasses the aspirations, the hopes and the dreams of all Territorians. We will make this great Territory a better place for all and we will do it with dignity and respect for the diversity of cultures and communities that we serve. My government reflects the cultural diversity that enriches Territory life. I am supported by a refreshing mix of ministers and members who bring a range of cultural and life experiences to their roles in government. Since coming to office we have paid tribute to the importance of multiculturalism in the Territory with strong ministerial and member representation at a range of ethnic celebrations. We have also hosted the first Territory government reception in history to celebrate the Chinese Moon Festival and demonstrate to the Territory Chinese community the value this Labor government places on their contribution to achievements. Madam Speaker, my government’s commitment to multiculturalism will continue and we will provide strong support and leadership to foster tolerance in our community in the belief that there is strength in diversity.
There is also strength to be drawn from adversity and my government has come to office at a time when adverse circumstances are impacting across the globe and at home. We know that in order to weather the storm of political uncertainty and social unrest, governments around the world need strong leadership and that is what my government will give to the Territory.
We bring with us detailed and costed policies that we will deliver and have already begun to deliver. We promised to increase the pay level of Territory nurses and we have. We promised to increase the pay level of our teachers to make them the best paid in the country and we have. We promised to employ more teachers and we are. We promised to repeal mandatory sentencing and introduce a realistic plan for crime and we will do that in these sittings. We promised to introduce freedom of information laws and we will do that in these sittings too. We promised to review parliamentary procedures to return parliament to the people, not politicians, and we will reform parliament by restoring the business of government to its rightful place in proceedings and put the business of politics after it where it belongs. We will allow legislation to be introduced and debated at the appropriate time during normal working hours. We will introduce the business of government to the morning of sittings through ministerial reports that will present relevant information of interest to the public. We will open up the parliament to allow Question Time to be televised and I am delighted, Madam Speaker, to have a truly independent speaker.
We will introduce a parliamentary committee system with an independent chair and an estimates committee. We will ensure the independence of electoral processes and we will ensure that proper scrutiny produces proper parliamentary behaviour by all members. We will review and strengthen the powers of the Auditor-General and the Ombudsman. We will refine our democratic institutions. We will introduce legislation to ensure fiscal integrity and transparency. We will deliver all existing capital works projects including the railway and the port extensions.
Last week, I visited Katherine to inspect the sleeper factory where steel casting beds and moulds for the concrete sleepers are being installed. The first rail has been laid alongside the factory and will carry large gantry cranes used to stockpile sleepers once the plant is in production. Nearly 2 million sleepers will be produced at the two Austrack plants in Katherine and Tennant Creek. Large stock piles are required ahead of track laying which is due to start next April. The factories have provided work for about 40 people each during construction and will employ 40 and 60 staff respectively once they are operating. About 240 km of the railway corridor has been cleared and 130 km of embankment completed south of Katherine and Tennant Creek. Camps are operating in Katherine and Tennant Creek as well as the first of the mobile camps at The Bend 55 km south of Katherine. More than 310 people are currently employed on the project with more jobs expected to go to local people in the future. Around 700 staff should be in place after the wet season including 100 indigenous staff and trainees.
Madam Speaker, I recognise the work of the previous administration of this railway project and congratulate them and all those who worked on it for its outcomes. This is truly, I say to this House, a project for all Territorians. It is owned by no one but all Territorians, and we look forward to working in a bipartisan way towards its completion.
I want to reassure Territorians and the Territory Construction Industry that the government’s capital works program is on track and on time. My government’s mini-budget in November will not result in a reduction to current commitments. I understand the concerns of the construction industry and the community generally. At a time like this it is important for business and industry to be reassured by government that we will honour our commitments.
Our mini-budget will maintain the existing commitments for capital works and the repairs and maintenance expenditure during 2001-02. The current budget provides one third of a billion dollars expenditure on government infrastructure. In addition to the NT government program, a further $37m is expected to be spent this year on indigenous housing provided by the Indigenous Housing Authority of the NT. As well, a further $30m is included in the NAHS program, the National Aboriginal Health Strategy Program funded by ATSIC, for environmental health projects which include housing and infrastructure.
My government will continue to work with business and industry to develop additional jobs and projects arising from the completed railway and stage two of the East Arm Port. Affordable freight and regional development will enhance employment and business opportunities for the Territory and I encourage all Territory businesses to start thinking about how they can capitalise on the new trade and tourism corridor that the railway will create.
Territory companies have already been awarded a significant number of contracts for the railway that creates flow-on effects across all our communities. I also commend those companies and other subcontractors who have a commitment to maximise Aboriginal employment and training on these major projects. My government, and I know this House, supports and encourages those initiatives.
My government will foster business and industry development to create the jobs Territorians need. We are currently establishing, also in line with our election commitment, the Office of Territory Development, to identify and drive projects and ideas that will create prosperity in business. To maximise the opportunities presented to the Territory by offshore oil and gas, my government will establish an oil and gas research institute at the Northern Territory University. We will also look to developing new business in value adding and in information technology. We must look to the industries of the future and seize investment opportunities to build new markets and new links on a national and global scale.
Darwin is the nation’s gateway to Asia, and we have a strategic advantage in our location and in our ability to engage in productive diplomatic relationships. My government has established meaningful ties with the new administration in East Timor and I am sure this House was delighted to acknowledge the presence this morning of the East Timorese Chief Minister designate, Dr Mari Alkatiri. My government looks forward to a long and productive relationship with our northern neighbours, including East Timor. We have many shared communities of interest and it is important that we work together to develop positive and mutually beneficial ties to facilitate every possible business, industry and social opportunity.
Madam Speaker, I am particularly pleased to be joining the ranks of Australian Labor leaders at a time in our history when leadership is paramount. I will exploit my good relations with my fellow premiers around the nation in order to get the best for the Territory. There is much to be gained from working with like-minded leaders and I am determined, and this government is determined, to negotiate the best deal for Territorians in any dealings at a national or collective level.
Labor’s vision for the Territory was inspired by ideals that have now become even more pertinent. Our vision was inspired by democratic principles and a commitment to social justice. Our vision was inspired by a determination to create economic confidence and growth. Our vision was one where the living standards of all Territorians are enhanced. My government is now even more inspired and more determined to deliver our vision for the future.
Despite the global trauma we have all recently endured, and the troubling financial situation we have inherited, we are resolute. Labor will create a better Territory for all Territorians. Labor will attend to the needs of our struggling remote and regional communities. We will do this by building partnerships with communities, with business and industry, and with our own agencies. We need to create jobs, jobs, jobs, and replenish essential services. The way to make a difference in the Territory, the key to our future, the unlocking of our potential, can only be achieved when Territorians have employment. Territorians, especially young Territorians, need jobs and relevant education and training, because meaningful employment generates esteem as well as income, and education generates knowledge and understanding as well as learning, and together they create a more cohesive, social infrastructure. More jobs means more tax revenue, but more jobs will also pay dividends in health and housing outcomes. Enhanced and accessible education will also pay dividends.
My government is determined to deliver improved literacy and numeracy, expand vocational training options, expand apprenticeship and training schemes and increase emphasis on recruiting and retaining quality educators. Education empowers us all. Education is crucial for all Territorians. My government will take a new approach to strengthening our education system. We will work in partnership with parents and schools and with teachers from all educational sectors to ensure that we deliver the best outcomes for all students. We must raise retention rates, particularly those of our indigenous students, and we will.
My government has already announced the creation of an implementation group to fast track recommendations of the Collins Learning Lessons Review that was handed to the previous administration in 1999. The implementation group will have significant indigenous representation from land councils, remote schools, indigenous health services, the public sector and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission as well as an indigenous co-chair. This is an urgent matter and we will move quickly to address it. That, Madam Speaker, is how my government will do business.
My government values the Territory’s teachers and we will continue to provide appropriate professional development and remuneration for them. We will establish a teacher registration board and deliver our promise of an additional 100 teachers in our first term. My government also recognises the importance of vocational training and education, and we are committed to extending programs and opportunities to ensure that we develop the necessary skills base that the Territory needs, particularly in the oil and gas industry and associated construction. My government knows that on-line education will enhance access for Territory students and we will work to improve the technical infrastructure that is necessary to bring our rural and remote students on-line. We will also encourage the teaching of new technologies to all our students to prepare them for the jobs for the future.
My government acknowledges the importance of life-long learning and we will help develop the Northern Territory University as a centre of learning excellence. We will explore strategic partnerships with academia and encourage business and industry to work collaboratively with the university to take a smart approach to future projects. Partnerships will also be developed in the provision of the Territory’s health services. Over the next two years we will deliver on our election commitment of 100 extra nurses, including 75 hospital nurses and 25 nurses with specialist child health skills for our regional health care teams. My government will work to build the Territory’s health services and we will do this with appropriate funding and through strenuous negotiations at a federal level. We will consult with the health sector to achieve improvements and to implement appropriate prevention programs to reduce acute demands.
In the same way, my government will deliver its promise of 50 additional police officers. These extra staff will enhance drug and crime squad capabilities and together with my government’s new plan to address crime, will improve law and order in the Territory. Our new legislation reflects the principle that serious crime means serious time. The era of inappropriate sentences and the distraction created by mandatory sentencing will come to an end under my government. New laws will repeal mandatory sentencing for property offences, establish new crimes of home invasion and invasion of a business premise, and establish a new sentencing regime for adult offenders convicted of aggravated property offences. For the first time, the serious nature of the trashing of homes, businesses and cars will be recognised appropriately under criminal law. Current laws focus on the monetary value of the goods stolen or the damage caused, but have failed to recognise that such crimes can and do have significant impacts, even if the monetary value of, or damage caused by, the disturbance is relatively minor. The new laws will also provide an opportunity for victims to express their views on sentencing through victim impact statements.
We came to this place with a mandate to implement sentencing reform and we will. We will also work to address the causes of crime and criminal behaviour through an holistic approach that acknowledges the impacts of unemployment, lack of education, mental health indicators and substance abuse. We will establish an office of crime prevention to coordinate and inform our new approach through applied research, statistics reporting and policy implementation.
Through all this, we will continue to keep the community informed and involved in our approach to crime and its prevention and its punishment. We expect the community to work with us and we will welcome their involvement and their advice.
Madam Speaker, we do not come to office with an inclination for change for the sake of change. The changes we make will be well considered, they will be well thought out and we believe they will be welcome.
Because we have a commitment to dialogue, to effective and efficient consultation, the first major consultation that we undertake will be at our economic development summit next month. We have structured the summit in such a way that we can guarantee input for all Territorians. We have created the means for any Territorian to have input into this important consultative event, whether it be by phone, by fax, on the Internet or by attendance at any one of the five community forums to be held on 28 October, preceding the summit. I encourage Territorians to take part in this historic event, to have their say, and to help generate the solutions that will help us redress our most difficult debt and deficit, and move us forward into a prosperous future. I am inviting more than 100 participants from industry, business and community groups to attend the summit, including representatives from local government, indigenous and ethnic groups, rural and regional organisations, and the unions.
I am asking those individuals and groups invited to the summit to submit papers for consideration, and pre-summit the web site will feature those papers as well as a summary of outcomes from the community forums, and feedback. Recommendations and outcomes from the summit will also be posted on the website and this will facilitate community access and understanding of the process we are undertaking. The summit will contribute to the November mini-budget and my government’s long-term economic development strategy. It will also play a pivotal role in shaping programs for the business round table and the Office of Territory Development. This will be a hallmark of my government, an inclusive dialogue with all Territorians. My government has already received endorsement and encouragement from business and industry on our new way of doing business.
The announcement of our business round table, that will provide a regular and changing forum for discussion with not only peak business and industry groups but also individuals, has been applauded. We are going to listen to our business and community leaders as we deliver on our election promises and formulate future policies. It will help us restore confidence and enthusiasm to our community. We know that in order to maximise Territory talent we must have open dialogue and exchange of ideas, and we know that all groups have a role to play in this.
Indigenous Territorians now have a government that acknowledges their needs and aspirations. Next week, my government will offer a formal apology to the Stolen Generation. It is important to do this as a government so that we can accept our shared history and move forward. It is about acknowledging the injustices that were perpetrated against the first Australians, and the forced separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families. I sincerely hope that the opposition will find it in their hearts to join us in this motion.
This is one of the many initiatives that my government will be taking to improve the lives of indigenous Territorians. We will be exploring new ways to work with indigenous communities through our indigenous framework agreements. My government will facilitate joint venture arrangements and partnerships in development to secure an economic base for indigenous communities. We must create better outcomes in health and education for indigenous Territorians. But to do this we must work collaboratively, we must work in partnership. My government will pursue these outcomes in earnest.
Other groups that my government will look to, to create partnerships and projects, include young people and senior Territorians. Our youth are another of our great assets and we recognise our responsibilities of government to addressing their needs and issues. I was delighted to host a reception on Sunday night for invitees to the opening of Grease, the Mega Musical. I was fortunate as Chief Minister to be able to issue nearly 300 free tickets to young Territorians to the opening night here in Darwin, and then that will happen in Alice Springs. I took great satisfaction in witnessing the enjoyment of those young people who attended Sunday night’s reception and the performance of Grease. They are our future and that one small gesture of support for them is just the beginning of what my government will do for our youth. They challenge us, they inspire us, our youth. Sometimes they frustrate us, but our investment in them is an investment well repaid. My government will increasingly seek the involvement and advice of young Territorians as we map out our future, because one day - and is not too far away I expect - they will replace us as leaders. So it is incumbent upon us to properly resource them, to train and educate them, and to inspire them in the principles and beliefs that we value and seek to maintain.
The esteem afforded to elders by indigenous Territorians is, I would suggest, an admirable model for us to work towards. It is an unfortunate characteristic of modern western society that many of our elders fail to be acknowledged and properly cared for in their later years. My government will work to enhance the profile of, and services provided to, our seniors. Last month I encouraged senior Territorians to enter the ‘Get Up and Go’ awards that recognise and celebrate their achievements and contributions to their local and broader communities. This month I have called for entries to the 2001 Portrait of a Senior Territorian art award organised through the Department of Arts and Museums and the Office of Senior Territorians. These initiatives honour the success and accomplishments of our seniors. My government will continue to implement these initiatives and will consult with our seniors as we implement policies and programs. Services that enhance the lives of all Territorians will receive renewed government support under Labor.
Appropriate maintenance will occur on all our sporting and recreational facilities and we will work in partnerships with sporting bodies to encourage the maximum use of existing and new facilities. Our new fish and drag net limits for recreational fishing have already been well received by interest groups and this change reflects my government’s commitment to the long term sustainability of aquatic resources.
My government values and will support the arts and cultural expression. We acknowledge the significant contribution of the art sector to the Territory economy, and the intrinsic value of the arts to everyday life. We will work to deliver equal access to the arts for all Territorians and encourage the establishment of indigenous cultural centres around the Territory and, very importantly, the Desert Knowledge Precinct in Alice Springs.
My government acknowledges and values the environment. We believe that protecting and sustaining our natural assets is an important role for government. We are determined to develop partnerships with the community, and with business and industry, to ensure that our environmental asset is protected for future generations. We need to manage our use of the environment as we develop our economy, our employment and our social infrastructure. My government will improve the Territory’s environmental credentials and we will do so in a scientific and sustained manner. We have an obligation to future generations and an obligation to our own and other species and an obligation to the ecosystem that sustains us all.
I would like to acknowledge the great support that my government has received from that third tier of government, the Territory’s local governments. We look forward to working in a continued partnership with local governments and land councils, to deliver the very best services and outcomes in all Territory communities. As a government of 51 days I would also like to express on behalf of this new government my heartfelt thanks to the Territory’s public service who have supported our transition to government in an entirely professional and constructive manner. We look forward to their ongoing fearless and frank advice, and would like to place on the record their true value to the workings of the Territory community and the Territory government.
During the next four years my government has much work to do. We will be undertaking our promised reforms and we will be working to overcome the now global difficulties that challenge all communities. We will transform the nature of doing business with government through inclusive and open processes. We will pursue growth and opportunities for all Territorians in a way not seen before. We will adopt a lateral and inventive approach to doing business. My government knows what is at stake. It is the Territory’s future - all our futures - and I can guarantee you that we will all be working extremely hard to do the best for all Territorians.
I am privileged to be the first Labor leader in the Territory’s first Labor government. I am privileged to have such an energetic, enthusiastic and committed parliamentary team to work with. My government will manage the Territory’s economy with integrity, with honesty and with diligence. We will apply Labor principles and values in our administration of government because that is our mandate. We thank the people of the Territory for entrusting us with this responsibility. We will endeavour to repay that trust with efficient and effective government and we will provide every available opportunity for Territorians to contribute to policy decisions and procedures. We will be disciplined and dedicated as we deliver on our promises. We look forward to the job ahead of us and we look forward to working with all Territorians to secure for all of us a prosperous and a safe future.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, in opening my remarks, I congratulate the new government on this very historic day for the Northern Territory. Clearly, it is not as pleasing a day for me as it is for our new Chief Minister but an historic day nevertheless. And it is a day that we value in the same way as the government does because I believe that all of us in this Chamber are immensely privileged to be able to not only have the trust of Territorians from our own electorate, but to pause for a moment to reflect on the enormous privilege we all have, whether or not it is controlling the wheels of government, which a large number of my colleagues have had the opportunity to do; in some cases - in the case of my deputy - for many, many years in a superb manner.
For the rest of us, certainly four of my colleagues have been ministers in government. I imagine they will reflect on that experience in the immediate future, and in reflecting on that experience may I say that it is an experience we want to experience again. In that context, the people of the Northern Territory have a chastened opposition - certainly chastened because we have lost their support otherwise we would not be on this side of the Chamber - but a determined and experienced opposition. An opposition that intends to work hard on their behalf, to cooperate where possible with the government because there are difficult issues now and in the future that we have to resolve together, but an opposition is frankly that. It has a responsibility to oppose. Often people see that as whinging and whining. We certainly do not wish to be a whinging and whining opposition, but in undertaking our responsibility there will clearly be times when the opposition does differ from the government in some of the initiatives and reforms it proposes. I undertake that we will consider those in a responsible way and when we feel it is our responsibility to oppose, clearly we will oppose.
I would also undertake, Madam Speaker, to you, as I have said privately, that on this side of the House we are resolved to improve our standards in the House. I know we have said this in the past, and it is very easy to fall away from those undertakings, but we do commence this parliamentary session with that objective. Certainly, as I said this morning, we have every confidence in your ability to manage this House in a superb way, and also, I think it is most appropriate that you have once again undertaken that position.
The Administrator said today as part of his comments that democracy is alive and well in the Northern Territory, and that is an important statement. It is a statement of fact; it is a statement of triumph for the now government for their efforts in gaining government and in doing so they now not only occupy the government benches but also have the enormous responsibility of delivering on the undertakings that they gave to Territorians and now that challenge passes to them.
More Territorians, though, voted for the CLP than for Labor. This is not said with sour grapes or anything like that. It is simply said as a fact. And that is, that on the primary vote, the CLP obtained 45.38%. The Labor vote was 40.6%. The notional distribution of preferences from the Electoral Office was CLP 52% and Labor 48%. I say this because this opposition is not only a strong opposition in experience, it is a strong opposition in numbers and it does have the strong support of a large number of Territorians and in representing those Territorians, we will do it well. We will do it determinedly. We will not treat this Chamber as an irrelevance. We believe this Chamber, as I said, is a place of ultimate importance and dignity. We intend to use this Chamber to its maximum advantage to ensure that there is proper debate and proper scrutiny and rigor of the actions of government as they pass through either in legislation, ministerial statements or other initiatives through this parliament.
We are all focussed on the future development of the Northern Territory. We come from political opposites but we are all focussed on the development of the Northern Territory and let us all keep that firmly in mind. I must say that when I listened to the Administrator’s speech this morning and, again, the Chief Minister, with few exceptions there was little that one could object to. It seemed to me that the key areas of emphasis that both the Chief Minister and the Administrator both spoke about was essentially jobs, jobs, jobs. One thing a CLP government has been noted for, for all of its time in government, has been an emphasis on bricks and mortar, an emphasis on jobs, an emphasis on development and an emphasis on moving this Territory forward into the future. It is pleasing to see that those key areas of emphasis will be maintained.
He talked about building on a successful resourced-based economy and the importance of oil and gas to the development of the Northern Territory as a key objective of government. Clearly, that should be the objective of us all. We certainly face difficulties at the moment with the oil and gas projects but I, for one, am firmly convinced that the issues with regards to oil and gas will be resolved; they will be resolved successfully in the near future. There are two major projects: one is the Sunrise Joint Venture and the other one is Bayu Undan. Obviously, the best and ultimate objective is to see both those projects to be optimised together as the joint venture partners agree to develop both those fields together and bring onshore a pipeline that is of sufficient size to enable the gas manufacturing industries to congregate in the environs of Darwin in order to use all of those resources.
There are commercial difficulties with the Sunrise Joint Venture partners in terms of deciding which way they want to move forward and there are fiscal problems with regards to the Bayu Undan project if one sees that project on its own. But I, for one, am firmly convinced that, either together or alone, gas will come onshore in Darwin in the very near future. I, for one, am absolutely convinced that nothing will stop Phillips from bringing gas onshore to Darwin. I believe that, if necessary, Phillips will bring gas onshore with its own project using Bayu Undan gas alone. A smaller pipeline, admittedly, but let’s not forget an LNG plant in Darwin would cost the best part of $1bn to construct. $1bn to construct, even with the smallest of those projects going ahead, is of immense advantage to Darwin because our objectives should be to get gas onshore and in bringing a pipeline to shore there is no doubt in my mind that that will be able to aggregate the other gas fields that are out there, whether it includes Sunrise or not, to provide great opportunities for Territorians that will come through gas.
This was pointed out by the Administrator this morning in terms of not only lower electricity costs in the future but certainly the development of a whole range of foundation customers and new industries for the Northern Territory which will provide jobs and opportunities for our children, for the youth of today. It is very pleasing to see the initiatives that the Administrator mentioned, underpinned by the comments of the Chief Minister, and supported by us, in terms of the focus of the NTU and a gas institute which will look at the particular industries that will be optimised in the Timor Sea, and how Darwin and the Northern Territory can focus its educational and service efforts to optimise those skills, see where those skills can be developed in the Northern Territory and provide an opportunity for some of our young people to get involved with those particular skills. Therefore, they can find themselves a whole new opportunity for employment not only in the Northern Territory, not only in Australia on energy projects, but internationally.
I applaud the presence of Chief Minister Alkatiri here today. There is no doubt that the relationship between now Chief Minister Alkatiri and myself has been strained in the past. I certainly had no personal animosity towards Mr Alkatiri but I had a great deal of concern about the UN negotiator, Mr Galbraith. It is my firm belief, and I do not step away from it for a moment, that Mr Galbraith, on behalf of the United Nations interim government and in gaining the best deal for the East Timorese, handled his brief extremely well. Good on him. But I believe he leveraged the arrangements to the point where he stalled the project when it was on the point of completion. Stalled it to a point whereby Phillips, in particular with the Bayu Undan project, said ‘stop’, and until such time as those fiscal arrangements are settled, obviously the Bayu Undan project will not go ahead as fast as we would like. But having said that, it is good to see that Mr Alkatiri was here today. As I said, I took the opportunity to see him, to certainly say to him that I hoped that any misunderstandings between us were in the past. I intend to work constructively with the new government. I intend to work constructively with the East Timorese government. I intend to work constructively with the member for Wanguri who has the enormous responsibility, I say that quite honestly, the enormous responsibility of bringing this project forward.
I wish you all the very best in that endeavour because it is something that no matter which way you look at the Northern Territory, no matter how many economic summits you have, it comes down to three real issues. It comes down to railway, port, gas, together to bring forward a whole new opportunity in developing a whole new economy for the Northern Territory. Everything else feeds off, I believe, the resources, the wealth that Territorians and the government can generate in order to feed all those other social issues that will stem from that whole new economy.
That does not downgrade anything we do today, it simply is a vision for the future. I believe that we all share it and we should strive energetically, particularly now the challenges are more immense, to bring forward that project as soon as possible using all the endeavours we can. It is not a time for criticism. It is a time to say let’s get on with it. Where the opposition has any experience or can provide any assistance, we are certainly prepared to do that.
The importance of the railway and the port, I am very pleased to see that the undertakings of the government, the capital works project, will go ahead. Stage 2 has been let to tender in July. We still have stage 2A; the contract for that, I understand closed on 5 September. I am being approached by contractors who do not understand why stage 2A has not been let. It is a large tender; I understand the best part of 30 …
Ms Martin: It has been let.
Mr BURKE: No, that is stage 2; I am talking about 2A. Talk to your resource minister. Stage 2A has not yet been let and that is about $33m worth of contract that needs to go out as soon as possible.
What I did not hear was the talk about land bridging. We know the importance of the railway. We know the importance of capturing the trade that comes into Darwin from southern ports at the moment by road transport. It will be a great challenge for the operators of that railway project to capture that trade. It is, we need to be reminded, a build/own/operate project entirely by the private sector which will transfer back to the government after 50 years. It is one thing to have that in the contract, it is another thing to recognise where government needs to assist where possible and where the opportunity allows itself for government to get involved to help that line maximise its commercial potential. The next great opportunity is the land bridging concept whereby not only would it bring trade from the southern ports to Darwin, but also see where a large deal of that trade can then be transhipped to ports internationally and primarily ports in the south east Asian area. The land bridging concept of the railway is something that will require, I believe, enormous assistance from government. It may involve certain subsidies in terms of how that can be assisted and that is something with the proper consultation, perhaps beginning with the economic summit, that those sort of issues might begin to be explored.
The issue of creating value through people - the Chief Minister pointed to it, the Administrator pointed to it. The increases in our standards of education, how we can build a better Territory with an emphasis in education, clearly is something that the opposition will support. The emphasis on the use of technology and how technology can not only help our students but also help many of our service industries nowadays, particularly service industries such as tourism which depend more and more on the information technology medium in order to sell their product, is something that has been a key in the previous government’s objectives. I am pleased to see that priority is still there, as is optimising the importance of the sorts of things that characterise the nature of the Northern Territory. Not the least of that is our university and the specialist areas of knowledge that we have particularly arid zone knowledge and special tropical knowledge, and also building of the cultural aspects that are unique in the Northern Territory. That can not only enhance tourism but can also enhance many of those educative means which also in themselves attract people to the Northern Territory. It is good to see those things there.
Fostering partnerships in Aboriginal development; certainly when we were in government we endeavoured to strengthen our partnerships with Aboriginal people across a whole range of issues. Obviously in the opinion of some we failed, but certainly I could point to my time as Chief Minister and the fact that we did set up an Aboriginal consultative forum. We did ensure that that forum had wide representation from Aboriginal leaders both from the Northern Land Council and the Central Land Council, people such as Joseph Elu and also members of the business community, CEOs of Woolworths, CEO of companies like Conzinc Rio Tinto involved in those particular forums. I believe that whilst they were there at its inception, essentially the dialogue was there, some of the issues were beginning to be addressed and I believe that that is something we can point to with a great deal of satisfaction.
The government now talks about framework agreements with Aboriginal communities. The words ‘framework agreement’ is not something that we by itself object to. We do not understand what the detail is of the framework agreement, but certainly anything that fosters Aboriginal development, that fosters Aboriginal independence, that fosters the ability of Aboriginal people in their communities to make decisions in their own right unhindered, is something that the opposition will support. But clearly we do not support issues in framework agreements which we believe are not in the interests of the taxpayer generally. In that regard, we will be looking to see the detail of some of those so-called framework agreements when they come forward.
A good start, I believe, is local government reform. The Chief Minister points to the importance of local government, and local government reform was high on our agenda. I hope it stays high on the government’s agenda. A number of community governments are not robust within themselves in order to bring forward the kinds of programs that need to be brought forward on a lot of these communities. They need to be made far more robust and I believe encouraging further local government reform, as has happened on the Tiwi Islands, will not only see a greater cohesiveness amongst those communities, but also allow the powering down of resources by both the Commonwealth government and the Territory government, and service delivery organisations such as ATSIC, in the same way that those initiatives have come forward on the Tiwi Islands.
When I look to see what Aboriginal self-determination means in the future, I look no further than what has happened on the Tiwi Islands in the past, and that particular model, I believe, as it moves forward throughout the Northern Territory, will in itself lead to a great advantage in terms of greater self-determination and greater Aboriginal development.
Lifestyle issues were covered by the Administrator and the Chief Minister. In his address the Administrator pointed to improvements in health. Health is always an enormous issue in the Northern Territory. Aboriginal people themselves are sick of being looked at in terms of statistics of their morbidity rates. But we all know that there is a great deal of effort needed to improve the health statistics of Territorians generally. It has always been a problem for government in terms of it is one thing to promise greater spending, it is quite another thing to be able to accommodate that spending, particularly in the health budget in a budgetary context. As the new minister for health will soon realise, the ask is enormous and the ability to deliver is extremely limited. Having been a previous health minister, and I know my colleague, the member for Drysdale, will attest, whilst NGOs play an enormous role in the Northern Territory, and again I applaud the fact that he will be providing greater support to NGOs, the requirement for greater resources is enormous.
We spent a great deal of money on health; 52% of our operational budget in fact went on Aboriginal health, as I recall, and that is not to say that we were spending too much, but we all need to spend more, but the ability of the Territory economy to handle many of those issues without Commonwealth support is limited no matter how many fine words we say. It has always been my belief that when one looks at that particular ideal and how we improve Aboriginal health, the answers, of course, are self-evident. They are the same issues that afflicted slum dwelling Australians in the 1920s, and the reasons for those were quickly fixed by improved housing, improved sanitation and improved education. The answers are there, the resources to implement those answers, of course, requires enormous support, particularly at a federal level. I believe an undertaking by all Australians to contribute to lift those standards nationally, and particularly in the Northern Territory where those issues are far more apparent than in some other parts of Australia.
The government has given an undertaking to implement all the recommendations of the Collins Report. I wish you well in that regard. There is a word of caution in that comment in that I was surprised to see in your budgetary proposals that the implementation of the Collins Report in its entirety would be budget neutral. I cannot see how that could possibly be the case, particularly when it required specialist high schools in a number of areas. I might add that, unless I can be corrected by the minister for education, that that initiative on those specialist high schools has already been overturned by the new government and certainly we believed that was a key initiative in the Collins Report, and an initiative that we intended to bring forward. But how you do that and also maintain it budget neutral is something for the new government to refer to.
In all, the Chief Minister’s comments and the Administrator’s comments follow the priorities that were laid down in the Foundations for Our Future strategy that was brought forward by my government and those initiatives are very important. The Chief Minister pointed to two things. Firstly, when these were brought forward she called them ‘glossy documents’ that were simply promotional material for the government at the time. I note in her speech today that she paid great respect to the assistance the public service has given in the transition to the new government. These strategic plans are not owned by Denis Burke; they are not owned by the previous government. They are owned by public servants, all of them. They are owned by the business people who are involved. They were developed with a great deal of rigour. Certainly, in some areas they might need amending, but I would simply say, if you look at the strategies and plans that were outlined by the Administrator, if you think about what the Chief Minister has said, if you look at the strategic documents and their objectives, there are many answers there. I would certainly hope that with the economic summit that is put in place that that economic summit does not start with a clean sheet of paper, that it does pay reference to these strategic plans, because I for one am extremely pleased with the focus that they gave government and the fact that nothing has changed really in that focus except for a change of government.
We do face very difficult times at the moment. The Administrator and the Chief Minister both referred to the fact that - and we had a minute’s silence in this Chamber, some would say that the world will never be the same after 11 September. I would be more optimistic than that, but there is no doubt that certainly in Australia, and certainly in the world, average people are very concerned and they are sombre about their future. And when they look at how those uncertainties will be removed, they look to a great deal of responsibility from their elected leaders, and they look for their elected leaders to work cooperatively on issues where they should cooperate.
I am the first to admit that certainly the new government has come to power in these uncertain times, the terrorist attack, the collapse of Ansett to point to just two, and certainly as an opposition we will be helping them wherever possible to move forward from that and to provide a greater certainty, greater confidence and a better economic future for Territorians.
But I do ask the Chief Minister and her new government to really do something, to move forward quickly, to not dwell in the past, to not spend too much time blaming others. We could sit here and fight with each other all day every day, but people out there are not interested in that, people out there want jobs, they want the economy moving, they want confidence back and they want leaders who are given the privilege to represent them to get on and start doing it. So I would say to the Chief Minister, please, stop blaming others, get on with the job. One of the things you could do straight off, and I wonder why you don’t do it, is to simply remove the uncertainty of the land tax. It is one thing to say, we don’t know, we don’t want to pre-empt the debate of the economic summit, and at the same time say that the Allan report will be implemented. The Allan report says clearly you should implement a land tax, and until you provide the certainty to business out there that there will definitely be no land tax, business is worried that you will introduce a land tax.
A good initiative is the reduction in stamp duty on new homes. Why don’t you bring it forward now? People out there want to commit to new homes. Bring it forward now. You don’t have to wait for an economic summit. You can bring forward that initiative now and give greater confidence to new home buyers that they can commit to some of those projects and life long commitments that they want to commit to. I believe that would be a great initiative to begin with. Put some real meat behind some tourism incentives. On the one hand you said you were quite prepared to spend the money to bring Virgin Blue to the Northern Territory prior to Christmas. It is not coming until next year, the Administrator reported that. The Administrator reported it is not coming until next year, you proposed it would come earlier, put some of that money towards some real commitments and get Territorians to holiday at home. Give some subsidies into the small tourism operators who are operating small business right around the Northern Territory and would look for some gesture from government in these times, when tourism is lapsing, to give them a greater sense of certainty.
You said you would bring forward all of the capital work programs that were there in the past. I need a bit more detail on that. Certainly I see that some of the tenders are being committed to, but I hear from period contractors that period contracts on a whole range of issues have been stopped. So you are either doing the capital works program, you are either giving period contractors - those many, many small businesses out there that do business for government on renewable period contracts that are not seeing those contracts being renewed. There are a whole range of things that government could begin immediately and I would urge you to start those initiatives as soon as possible.
Law and order is an issue we will leave to another day, but the rhetoric of ‘serious crime means serious time’ is just rhetoric. We will look at what you have got, what you are going to bring forward – and if you are taking advice from your Labor colleagues interstate, let us not forget your Labor colleagues interstate have failed miserably with the sorts of programs they have put in place - and we will see how well you go.
In closing, and as the clock is ticking away, I will just finally say thank you to the people of Palmerston, in particular the constituents of my electorate of Brennan, but the people of Palmerston generally. They do not believe that the Berrimah line has ever existed. It is a city with a great sense of confidence. I believe it is a city that has been well serviced by government in the past and I look forward to representing my constituents, to the extent of my capacity, in the future. I am enormously privileged that I have gained their confidence once again. I certainly will not let them down as I stand in this Chamber now and in the future.
Madam SPEAKER: Before we continue, I remind people in the gallery that if you wish to converse you should go into the gallery where the glass is. Your conversations should not be interfering with the parliament. If you do wish to talk, please go up there. Otherwise, listen in silence.
I remind honourable members that a number of members who will be speaking now will be giving their maiden speech. Accordingly, I request honourable members to extend the appropriate courtesy and listen in silence.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, it is with great pride that I stand before you as the member for Nightcliff, and the Minister for Health, Family and Children’s Services and the Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Women’s Policy.
It is a particular honour to have been elected as part of the first Labor government in the Northern Territory, and to be part of the making of history for the people of the Northern Territory and the Labor Party. The Australian Labor Party, Australia’s oldest political party, predates Federation by 10 years, and has been represented in the Northern Territory since 1905.
I pay tribute to the men and women of the Labor Party who have been the bearers of hope for the party, who have kept the vision alive of a Labor government in the Northern Territory. I particularly want to acknowledge the dedication and hard work of our former Opposition Leaders, Mr Jon Isaacs, the Hon Bob Collins, Mr Terry Smith, Mr Brian Ede, Mrs Maggie Hickey and especially our new Chief Minister, the Hon Clare Martin - a remarkable woman, a great Territorian and an outstanding Chief Minister. It is you, together with our loyal supporters here in the Territory and across the nation, who have kept the vision alive of a different kind of Territory with a government where the people and the people’s needs are the key focus of government.
The seat of Nightcliff has not been held by the Labor Party since 1969 when the first member for Nightcliff, Fred Drysdale, died after seven years in office. I raise my glass to you, Fred - wherever you are - and promise to carry on the significant reform agenda you started back then in Aboriginal reconciliation, business and political reform.
When I was approached to stand for the seat of Nightcliff it seemed to me that there were compelling reasons that I should stand - reasons that meant putting the people first to try and build a better Northern Territory. It was this vision of a better type of Territory where all people were important - not simply the rich and well connected - where things available to other Australians such as freedom of information, principled accounting practices, justice for all people, and where the little person was remembered as a worthwhile contributor to society, were paramount. These are the things that made me decide to stand and which I will be keeping in the forefront of my mind as I pursue my work as both a member and a minister.
I want a better Northern Territory for my children and for the children of all Territorians. I want my children to be able to stay in the Northern Territory because there would be sufficient opportunities for them to do so. I am proud to be part of a government which will develop significant community, social and cultural interests for our young people so that we can keep them in the Northern Territory, and which will work towards stopping the Territory brain-drain of our best and brightest students to other parts of Australia.
I place on the record my thanks to the people of Nightcliff who supported me in this election. It is an honour to serve them in this way and I will work hard to ensure that the needs of the people of Nightcliff are met. Nightcliff people are a very diverse and special group and, in many ways, they reflect the full diversity of the Territory and are a wonderful group to represent. There are many families, young people, young adults, business people and professionals as well as some quite lonely and isolated people, some living in quite terrible circumstances, some elderly, some disabled, others with mental illnesses and others simply living in poverty. I promise to serve you well and to work hard to improve the quality of people’s lives in the Northern Territory.
I also want to thank the enthusiastic and dedicated team from the Nightcliff Labor Party who worked tirelessly on my campaign. There were more than 200 people who assisted in some way with ensuring my victory, whether by placing a sign on their House, sending me e-mails of support, walking miles dropping pamphlets in letter boxes, handing out how-to-vote cards, and so many of the other things which are necessary in an election campaign.
I would, however, like to pay particular tribute to two people who worked like troupers for me. No matter how hard it got, Carol Rollason and Chris Draffin were there giving me support and have been truly amazing. I also acknowledge the support of many Labor women throughout Australia who as members of Emily’s List, mentored and supported me. The Emily’s List catchcry of ‘When women support women they win’, proved once again to be correct, and it is very exciting to be part of a government with four women and especially to be one of only two women in Cabinet.
I wish to place on the record my thanks to my family - my husband, Simon and our children, Alex, Michael and Zoe, who have all been wonderful and so supportive of me in what can be a very difficult role for the ones left at home. I also wish to acknowledge my thanks and love to my parents, Jean and Stuart McIntosh, who unfortunately could not be here owing to my father’s ill health. All of you kept me going, kept the big stick to my back and made me win - I kept thinking: ‘I cannot let these people down. They have been waiting for 26 years for a victory, it is the least I can do to win’, and I did.
Doorknocking the electorate I encountered six complete nudes at the door, five men and one woman. I learnt to maintain complete unbroken eye contact early in the first week and began to reflect on what Territory lifestyle really meant. I had six men drop their trousers to show me their various war wounds or health problems. Four out of six were not wearing underwear, this being Darwin. I was knocked over by three huge, brown dogs, one of whom was owned by the person who looks after the members of the Legislative Assembly. I was savaged by a pack of four dogs on a nature strip in Rapid Creek and still bear the scars and medical bills from that attack. I jumped over three fences and wore through three pairs of walking shoes. I have had my photograph taken more times in the past 10 months than I have in my entire life, having like all sensible women avoided being photographed whenever possible. All of these things will stand me in good stead for my role as Minister for Health, Family and Children’s Services and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Women’s Policy.
Putting humour aside, there are many very serious issues in relation to health and I met significant numbers of people who are suffering as a result of our health system. Whether they were aged people, disabled, the sick or their carers, many had very sad stories to tell. Nurses and doctors also had many issues to raise and it is clear the effects of alcohol, illicit drugs and tobacco have not been adequately dealt with.
In his address, His Honour the Administrator referred to the fact that this government recognises that good health is the most important gift to all and that we will provide an across-the-board package of programs to buttress and improve the health of Territorians. Enhancing the health and wellbeing of Territorians is a major priority for this government. I was delighted to be offered the position of Minister for Health, Family and Children’s Services. This is a portfolio which takes in what might be called the traditional areas of health - that is those related to hospitals and clinics, doctors and nurses - but it also includes services for mental health, aged care, disabilities, drug and alcohol, statutory child welfare and services to support parents in their child raising role. That list is by no means exhaustive but it gives some flavour of the complexity of my responsibilities.
I should now like to take a few minutes to draw out just some of the themes mentioned by His Honour. As part of our pre-election program we developed our healthy hospitals plan. This plan forms the basis for our commitment to a public hospital system that is well maintained, well resourced and provides best practice care. In terms of the hospitals themselves, the government is committed to a capital works program which will allow for the maintenance and upgrading of our hospitals and clinics. In addition to maintaining the existing infrastructure, this government is committed to providing a hospice in Darwin during its term of office. Arrangements for an interim facility are in train. Negotiations with stakeholders and planning are already underway and I look forward to providing this House with more information as the plans take final shape.
One of my first official duties as minister was to visit Alice Springs where I met departmental staff, non-government agencies and representatives of local government. I listened with interest to their concerns and am determined to ensure that the so-called Berrimah Line does not influence the allocation of Commonwealth and Northern Territory government resources. I look forward to visiting Alice Springs again before the end of the year and as many other centres in the Territory as possible. Indigenous health and community matters are key priorities for this government and I am working to establish good relationships with Aboriginal organisations throughout the Territory to improve the well being of indigenous people.
This government is committed to increasing the choice available to women when they give birth. We recognize that some would prefer choices other than the standard hospital labour ward for the delivery of their children. By the end of this term of government we will have commenced work on the construction of a birthing centre in Darwin to provide alternative birthing services. As part of our election commitments, we undertook to increase funding to enable the employment of an additional 75 hospital nurses over the next two years. I am well aware that there is a national shortage of nurses and that meeting this target will not be easy. The recent enterprise bargaining agreement will see nurses’ salaries rise by 11% over the period of the agreement. The EBA also contains provision for funding undergraduate, postgraduate and refresher courses for nursing staff. Coupled with work already undertaken by Territory Health Services to develop a recruitment and retention strategy and the adequate resourcing of that strategy, I believe that the Northern Territory is in its best position in many years to attract and retain skilled nursing staff.
This government recognises that what happens in the first five years of a child’s life can have profound health consequences for the rest of that person’s life. We also recognise that children living in rural and remote communities face a significantly more difficult set of circumstances compared to their counterparts living in urban areas. The effectiveness of recent remote area initiatives such as the Growth Assessment and Action Plan, Healthy School Aged Kids and standard treatment protocols has been limited because of insufficient staff and the competing priorities of acute and emergency care. It is because of this that we also undertook as part of our election commitments to develop Regional Child Health Care teams. Each five member team will be based in one of the Territory’s five major regional centres and will travel to remote areas visiting health centres and schools.
We are aware that in the past there have been difficulties in attracting and retaining staff to work in rural and remote areas. As with hospital based nurses, Territory Health Services has developed a recruitment and retention strategy which will be fully resourced by government. In addition to recognising the need for more nursing staff and putting in place firm proposals to increase the number of nurses, the government also recognises the need to attract and retain specialist staff. Greater flexibility and remuneration arrangements will not only allow the Territory to attract more specialists who will provide a greater range of services, but it will also serve to increase morale of existing contracted and permanently employed specialists thereby reducing staff turnover.
This government is committed to working with the non-government sector to build a strong network of responsive health and community services. Territory Health Services funds 186 non-government agencies to provide a wide range of services. The amount of funding provided to these agencies totals around $65m a year. The relationship between the government and the non-government sector is an important one and one which must be tended and nurtured if we are to achieve our goal of improving the health and well-being of all Territorians.
Such is the breadth of services covered by my portfolio that there is inevitably a crossover and melding with the services and programs provided by other agencies under the responsibility of other ministers. I think here of this government’s crime prevention strategies. Services delivered by Territory Health Services will have a clear impact on crime reduction. One obvious area of involvement will be in the provision of drug rehabilitation services. Earlier, I spoke about the importance of the first five years of life in relation to physical health. There is abundant evidence that the first five years are important in the development of healthy social functioning as well. Support for parents in those important child rearing years is a major initiative which I am keen to pursue.
This government is also concerned about older children and teenagers. We are concerned about children and younger teenagers on the street at night and we will be introducing a Youth Night Patrol and safe house in the northern suburbs of Darwin. To that end, Territory Health Services, as the lead agency, will be consulting with the community and will convene a working group of key government and non-government stakeholders to oversee the development of the service. I look forward to bringing details back to this House once the consultation process is completed.
Madam Speaker, this government has made the task of raising the health status and improving the wellbeing of all Territorians a major priority. In this speech I have touched on just a few areas of what I have acknowledged is an enormously diverse and complex portfolio area. It is my intention to deliver a ministerial statement on health issues later in these sittings. It will be a statement that I hope will engage the attention of the House.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, Chief Minister, Leader of the Opposition and members of this Assembly, I rise to place on public record my thanks to the electorate of Goyder which supported our democratic process by casting a vote at the general election in August 2001. The exercise of this precious franchise in my favour on that day is a defining point in my life as a Territorian and as a citizen of our great nation. I asked the electorate of Goyder for their support and trust; in exchange I offered my unconditional promise to represent their interests and aspirations without fear or favour. I affirm that pledge today.
My personal credo is to never betray their trust, never forget a kindness, never forgive infamy and never reject a fair request, intervention and representation. In Goyder, when my race is run, I would like it to be honestly said that I have helped some, I was capricious and unfair to none, and represented everyone. Whilst many of us cannot be confident of where our futures will take us, we all know from whence we came. With love and respect, I thank my parents, John and Betty Maley, my brother and best friend, Gerard Maley and my life partner, Vanessa Farmer. They stood behind me and with me through thick and thin. They have shielded me from misfortune and they have kept me out of harm’s way. If I succeed in the service to my community and our great Territory, is because of the foundations laid by my parents and the help and loyalty of my partner and brother.
All members of this Assembly will surely give their very best in the service of their constituency, and as a man born and bred here, I offer my hand in friendship and in respect to all members of this Assembly so that all Territorians can prosper and share equitably in the benefits of good, ethical and compassionate governance. Whilst I am a creature of so-called modern times, I hunger for a celebration of vital enduring values. I truly believe in courtesy, fair play, tolerance, respect and honesty. The rights of individuals to a safe, enduring and nourishing living must be paramount. The rights of the weak or vulnerable must be protected and the obligation on both government and the people to jointly accept responsibility for their individual or collective actions must never be subjugated to unworthy goals.
One of the greatest jurists of recent times, a former Justice of the High Court, Sir Gerard Brennan in Marion’s Case - it is reported at 175 Commonwealth Law Reports - succinctly states one of the fundamental rationales of my drive not only to become a solicitor, but also the basis of my faith in the parliamentary system. He says, and I quote:
Human dignity is a value common to our municipal law and to international instruments relating to human
rights... The law will protect equally the dignity of the hale and hearty and the dignity of the weak and lame;
of the frail baby and of the frail aged; of the intellectually able and of intellectually disabled... Our law
admits of no discrimination against the weak and disadvantaged in their human dignity.
I will ensure this fundamental principle articulated by Sir Gerard Brennan forms a basic tenet of every law that falls to be considered by this parliament. We all know that the Territory is on the cusp of even greater development of its resources. We also know that to poison the world is to perish. I hope we are all wise enough to temper our aspirations for accelerated prosperity with a caution that our living environment must not be gambled away for illusionary high stakes. I want Territorians to have the benefits flowing from resource development and I will support well-founded projects. I want real investment in our humanity, our potential and our good common sense. I want jobs, opportunity, security, health, education and support for our aged and disabled citizens. I want a safe community. I want the deliberations of this place to yield only good law: enforceable, fair, just and reflective of the will of our constituency. I want to always remember that without the trust of the people, we cannot realise their dreams.
I want to take this opportunity to serve notice on the government that if they betray the trust that Territorians have placed in them, let them be assured that I will come after them, expose them and pursue them with vigour to the best of my ability.
I want respect for my role as a politician. I want respect for this institution where I will commit myself utterly. I know everything that endures and is good has to be earned and defended. I am honoured to have been elected to parliament.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Madam Speaker, please bear with my accent for a while, but in the Northern Territory there are people from 52 different cultural and ethnic backgrounds and a large number of them speak with some accent. I am one of them, but it does not stop me from feeling and being a true Territorian. And as a Territorian, I feel very honoured and privileged to stand here in the Northern Territory Parliament today as the newly elected member for Casuarina. My very first act is to sincerely thank the people of the Casuarina electorate for their show of confidence and trust in me. I pledge that irrespective of their political views and affiliations, I will always listen to their concerns, represent them to the best of my abilities and I will fight for their rights and interests not only on this floor but in other fora.
I also wish to thank the following people. My wife, Margaret and our two sons, Alexander, 11 and Michael, seven, for their great support and understanding during the campaign period. I am sure that you may have experienced the immense pressure that political campaigns and politics places on our families and I have made a firm decision to always find time for my family.
I also wish to thank my campaign team, my supporters and friends who supported me and worked tirelessly for nearly a year, particularly Mr Andrew Fyles and his family, and Miss Jo Boots. Andrew and Jo dedicated their free time and weekends for a long time and they have now become part of my family. Also my friends and colleagues in the Labor party and in particular the Labor leader, Clare Martin, for her support and confidence in me, and my good friends, Paul Henderson and Peter Toyne, for encouragement and our endless political discussions.
Like many other Territorians we came from somewhere else. My wife was born, grew up, was educated and worked in Western Australia. I left Greece in 1983 and lived in Western Australia for ten years. We arrived in Darwin in January 1993 and since then we have called Darwin home. My son, Michael, was born here, and his brother, Alexander, has spent 90% of his lifetime here. It is our love and commitment to the Territory that made me consider seriously standing for the 2001 elections. I must admit that I have a vested interest in this place. Like many other Territorians who were not born here, I have lived a new life in the Territory. This is where I want to live. This is where I want my children to grow up, to be educated and also to live here throughout their lives. Our lives and fortunes are strongly linked with the prosperity of the Territory.
When I won pre-selection to stand as a Labor party candidate for Casuarina, I was advised by a friend to buy three pairs of shoes, knock at the door of every house in Casuarina, and if, by the day of the elections, I had managed to wear out all three pairs, then I would win Casuarina. I followed this advice and I spent afternoons and weekends until the day before election day visiting, talking with and listening to the people of the Casuarina electorate.
Casuarina includes the suburbs of Nakara, Tiwi, Brinkin and part of Alawa. It also includes one of the most beautiful coastal reserves of the Territory, the Casuarina coastal reserve. The coastal reserve is an important ecosystem where remnants of rainforest sit next to sandy dunes and turtles come up to lay their eggs on the beach. This unique and sensitive ecosystem is under enormous pressure from encroaching residential areas and an ever increasing number of visitors. Casuarina coastal reserve receives approximately 700 000 visitors per year. While doorknocking, I got to know very well every neighbourhood and every street in Casuarina. I met hundreds of people from the electorate, and I learned very quickly that Casuarina is a small version of the Territory.
During my visits, I met people from every walk of life. They were people like you and me. People who care for their families, employment opportunities for their children, about education, health and the crime situation in the place where they live. The social mix is typical of the Territory. Whilst the majority of the people were born in Australia, there is a large number of first generation Greek migrants, followed by an equally large number of people born in the subcontinent or in Southeast Asia. During my visits I was welcomed by many people greeting me in English or in their mother tongue, but I never felt a stranger. These people live next to each other harmoniously, accepting each other’s cultures and customs and on many occasions they are happy to share with each other elements of their culture. It is another good example of peaceful co-existence, so different from what we have seen in the past few weeks on our television screens, following the tragic events of 11 September.
They are hardworking people who work in small businesses, in the public service, or they are involved in the building industry. It did not take me long to realise that many of these people had been affected by the economic downturn that hit the Territory in the last two years. When I visited them for the second or third time, they started to talk to me openly about their own situation, and in many cases they told me about friends and acquaintances who were forced to close their business or to move interstate just to feed their families. They also expressed their concern about the lack of consultation by politicians and in some cases they commented that I was the first politician, or aspiring politician, they had seen on their doorstep for a long time. They felt that they were abandoned and I could understand their strong feelings.
The lack of family and health services in the area was an important issue for the people in Casuarina. There is demand for appropriate facilities for elderly citizens, for a respite facility and most importantly, for a hospice. Young families demanded increased childcare facilities while a number of original residents in the area pointed out the lack of suitable hostel facilities for Aboriginal people who come with their families from the bush to access the hospital or other hospital-based services. They also expressed concern about the level of crime in their area. Most of it was petty crime, but what disturbed them most was the fact that they did not feel that their homes were secure. I was also surprised to see that a significant majority of the people of Casuarina had changed their point of view with regards to mandatory sentencing. They were not satisfied with the possible arrest of offenders. They wanted these people not to be allowed to enter their homes and they made it clear to me that they felt that this could be achieved only with increased police presence in the streets. I conveyed this message to my colleagues.
I realised that communication with the people was considered vital and I made every effort to communicate to the people the Labor party message of an open and accountable government that would support business, the establishment of a level playing field for everyone in the Territory, a real commitment to fight crime, and try to improve the conditions in education and health. I was pleased to learn, through my contact with the people of Casuarina, that our message was getting through and many people were commenting positively on it.
In addition to becoming the member for Casuarina, I have been honoured to be elected by my colleagues to be a minister in the first Territory Labor government. I am very aware of the responsibilities that this job brings, and given the two new roles now required to be fulfilled, I am taking a cautious and measured approach to this job.
My responsibilities are Lands, Planning and Environment, Housing, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs. Each of these portfolios plays an important part in the complex make-up of our Territory. I would like to place on the record my thanks to the staff of each of these departments for assisting me and my staff through the transition period. They have shown themselves to be professional, dedicated and committed to the development and growth of the Territory. Time does not permit me to go into detail of the government’s agenda for each of these areas. I will do so over the course of the coming weeks. However, I do wish to advise the parliament of some of the directions taken since I became minister.
Lands, Planning and Environment: The new Labor government is strongly committed to the economic development of the Northern Territory. My Department of Lands, Planning and Environment plays a key role in that development. I have been impressed with the work of this department since becoming minister, and I believe that we can be a significant engine room for the growth and prosperity of the Northern Territory. The new government is very mindful of public discontent in recent years with processes that many in the community felt excluded their views and opinions. This is particularly the case in planning. I have begun an internal review of the Planning Act, in light of Labor’s commitment to introduce changes. The review will cover the introduction of limited third party appeal rights; a transparent role for stakeholders, particularly the minister; a commitment to consult all stakeholders; timeliness and certainty in the processes; and strong consideration of matters such as crime prevention principles when assessing the merits of development proposals.
The introduction of the consolidated Northern Territory Planning Scheme is being placed before government. The scheme was envisaged at the time of the introduction of the Planning Act in 1999 and is an important mechanism in making a more streamlined and Territory-wide approach to planning. However, at the same time, local distinctions would be accommodated. This proposed scheme will be subjected to public comments before it is finally introduced. As provided in the Planning Act, the scheme will include policy in the land use objectives, guidelines in the incorporated documents and zoning control in the development provisions. I am also very conscious of the need to get into place the many land use objectives at various stages of preparation to give the necessary policy direction for the preferred land usage of an area.
I am very aware of the many and sometimes vexed issues that go with the issue of land - its ownership, the rights of people over land, and the way government disposes of land. I have asked for a review of the policies surrounding the direct disposal of Crown land. These policies have not been updated for some time and it seems appropriate at this stage to examine those issues.
Native title will be handled differently by this government. We believe that the confrontationist approach on these matters over the past has hampered the progress of the Territory on both an economic and social level. They need to be resolved so that the growth of our communities can continue. The approach was also unnecessarily litigious. Agreements regarding land use must now proceed at a pace to overcome those lengthy delays of previous times. The government will use regional agreements to assist in resolving these matters, particularly in Alice Springs. I have determined that, where possible, indigenous land use agreements will be pursued when looking at native title matters in more contained or smaller areas. Where the issues deal with major national projects, Labor will be utilising all mechanisms at our disposal to ensure that these projects proceed in a timely way.
Labor will establish a more independent environment office. Options for this are currently being canvassed by my department. The Darwin Harbour is a major symbol of Darwin; its future is of critical importance to all residents. We are currently bringing together work done on Darwin Harbour to establish a plan of management for that very important body of water. The community will be consulted on the final shape of this plan.
Madam Speaker, adequate shelter is one of the basic human needs, but housing is much more than shelter. Access to appropriate and affordable housing is fundamental to participation in the social and economic life of the community. This government will ensure Territorians have access to housing at a price within their means and of an appropriate and acceptable standard. In public housing, this government’s objective is the provision of a responsive, customer focussed housing service, a service which takes tenants views into account, which provides appropriate housing for those with special needs, which coordinates effectively with related support services for tenants with complex needs, and which ensures efficient delivery of housing services and good housing management. I know that the staff of Territory Housing have taken major strides in the development of such a housing service. I know they are committed to doing even better, and they will have my full backing in the achievement of that aspiration.
We all know that the Northern Territory has a relatively low rate of home ownership. However, the rate of households now entering home ownership in urban areas of the Northern Territory is similar to that in the rest of the country. This government will further boost home ownership in the Northern Territory by ensuring that home ownership assistance schemes are appropriately targeted, that they meet the needs of aspiring first home owners and that they are amended as required to meet changing housing market conditions and community needs.
Twenty-three years after self-government there continues to be an enormous shortfall in indigenous housing in the Northern Territory. The sheer size of that gulf means that it cannot be fixed in an instant. But this government is committed to a program which will accelerate real and visible gains in this area. We will fight for an equitable share of federal indigenous housing funds. We will work in partnership with indigenous communities and their representatives to address housing needs, not in isolation, but in a broader strategic context. Indigenous housing strategies need to be a part of broader strategies to address infrastructure needs and improve access to services. More importantly, indigenous housing strategies must be a part of a broader economic and social development strategy, a strategy to develop a viable future for indigenous people in the regions of the Northern Territory.
A related area is the provision of housing for teachers, health workers, police and other government employees delivering services in remote areas and in smaller regional centres. Adequate housing is essential for recruitment and retention. This government is committed to a program of construction, replacement and upgrade of government employee housing to underpin our service delivery commitments. We will also ensure that appropriate tenancy management arrangements are put in place to lift the burden from service agencies and allow them to focus on their task and delivery effectiveness.
Local government delivers services that have an immediate effect on every resident of the Territory. When local government performs well, most people do not notice. But when a local government has difficulties achieving its objectives we all notice immediately and, normally, complain loudly. It is important to this government that the proper role and function of local government as one of the three spheres of government in the country, providing a local decision-making capacity and delivering important services, is properly recognised and respected. Respect and recognition will be a hallmark of this government’s dealings with local government. We will create a new cooperative atmosphere in our dealings with local government. Consultation and participation in decision-making will become standard operating procedure.
I will meet regularly and frequently with the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory to discuss issues of interest and concern. Where it is necessary, we will establish specific mechanisms to jointly deal with particular issues. I will be addressing the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory tomorrow as a first formal step in the establishment of an effective partnership. I am aware that the system of local government developed during the last 26 years is not sustainable without a massive and continuing injection of funds. Encouragement of ever smaller local governments without the commitment to increase funding so that they could do the job required of them by their constituents could not continue.
While there is a need for reform of local government, there is a need for that reform to be brought about in a way that builds upon what is there. The process of reform should not remove the power from communities to make significant decisions about things that concern that community. Reform would seek to build regional cooperation and advancement through community and economic development achieving gains for all by accessing services that are delivered effectively. The government supports local government reform that aims to establish viable, sustainable, and effective structures of governance. We do, however, want to make some changes to the way that the process of reform is being conducted. This government will be consultative. We will not force amalgamations and we will not attempt to put only one model of amalgamation into place.
Following the last election, a significant change took place in the Northern Territory. A party that was in power for 27 years lost the election and the Labor Party rose to power. All this happened peacefully without riots on the streets or attempts by the outgoing government to hold power against the wish of the people. Following this change, many people have commented to me that it was clear proof that democracy in the Territory was alive and well. I always had a great faith and love for democracy. Why such love for democracy? I will not try, Madam Speaker, to enter into a philosophical discussion about the functions and benefits of democracy. Instead, I will quote the founder of democracy, Pericles of Athens who, approximately 2500 years ago, made his famous speech about democracy. That speech was so powerful that in recent times many conservative governments in Greece had restricted its circulation as subversive. Allow me to read a short segment of this speech in the original language in Greek, and for the benefit of the people who are not fluent in Greek I will also read it in English.
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And the English translation reads:
- Let me say that our system of government does not copy the institutions of our neighbours. It is more the case of
our being a model to others than of our imitating anyone else. Our constitution is called democracy because power
is in the hands, not of a minority, but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes,
everyone is equal before the law. When it is a question of putting one person before another in a position of public
responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class but the actual ability which the man possesses.
No one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty.
Here each individual is interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of the state as well. Even those who
are mostly occupied with their own business, are extremely well informed on general politics. This is peculiarity of
ours - we do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his own business; we say that he
has no business here at all. We Athenians, in our own person, take our decision from policy or submit them for proper
discussion, for we do not think that there is an incompatibility between words and deeds. The worst thing is to rush into
action before consequences have been properly debated.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The member’s time has expired.
Dr TOYNE: Madam Speaker, I move that the member be given an extension of time to finish his remarks.
Madam SPEAKER: I would like people to keep within their time limits for their maiden speeches. The question is, the motion be agreed to?
Motion agreed to.
Madam SPEAKER: I ask members to conclude quickly.
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, I was told that I should put in my first speech my ideas, my aspiration of what I want to achieve in my parliamentary career. I wish to be a worthy participant in discussions that are to be held on the floor of this parliament and not to use this floor as a political point scoring forum. I would like to call on my parliamentary colleagues on the other side of this floor to try to do the same. It is my wish to contribute to truly democratic parliamentary process and, like the Athenians, to help take our decisions on policies and submit them to proper discussion, because the worst thing is to rush into action before consequences can be properly debated by all sides of this parliament.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I am delighted and honoured to stand today as the elected representative for the people of Araluen. They have placed their confidence and trust in me, and I am acutely aware of the responsibility I bear for the next four years. I pledge at the outset of my term to represent them to the very best of my ability, and that extends to all of them regardless of how or whether they cast their vote.
By way of background for the House, I advise that I came to the Northern Territory in 1989, having completed by Bachelors of Laws and Arts at the University of Melbourne in 1988. I worked for several law firms in Alice Springs before opening my own practice in 1997. This afforded me the opportunity to select the areas in which I wanted to practice as well as run a successful business. I note in passing that lawyers from Alice Springs have a distinguished place in this House - former Chief Ministers Shane Stone and Paul Everingham both practised law in Alice Springs. While I do not expect that my contribution will mirror theirs, I am proud to be the first woman lawyer from the Centre to follow them to this Chamber.
The support of family and friends on occasions such as this cannot go unmentioned. Members of my family are all based interstate and their support from afar was outstanding. I have three brothers - none of whom have the slightest interest in politics – who e-mailed and telephoned their support throughout the election campaign. It was a delight, not to mention something of a surprise. My parents, who I am pleased to say are in the House today, have always encouraged their children to pursue their goals and dreams, and I am grateful to them for their unconditional support and encouragement of me seeking political office.
I suspect that my interest in politics has come from my mother - in addition to her business career with my father she has pursued a career in local government. All members of this House know how integral local government is to any community and I am proud to say that my mother has had, and continues to have, a distinguished record in that area dating back to 1976. She currently serves on the Bendigo City Council. She has always told me to act with decency and integrity. I can assure her, members of this House and the people of Araluen that I will do so.
I thank my partner, close friends, campaign team and manager for their support and hard work over many months. To be a candidate in an election campaign, as we know, is an incredible experience, but to live with or otherwise be close to one must surely be a nightmare, and I sincerely thank them all.
I am proud to say that I met most of the voters in Araluen both before and during the election campaign and I thank them for their tolerance and honesty. Having met so many constituents, I can confidently say that I know what their main issues of concern are. Law and order is the most significant one - the people of Araluen want their homes and neighbourhoods to be safe for them and their families.
Other issues include an overwhelming desire to have the infamous Cawood Court units demolished, as well as Gillen House, so that parts - if not all - of those sites can be released for private housing. There is a shortage of affordable land in Alice Springs, especially for first home buyers, and this must be a factor in government decisions about land in places such as Alice Springs.
I mentioned earlier my legal practice. I announce to the House that I have ceased to practice as I do not believe that I can adequately represent the people of Araluen and clients simultaneously. Nevertheless, my interest in legal issues remains and is, I think, understandable.
I will not list them all now, but I do wish to highlight a few matters that I believe should be remedied during this term. The first area arises from my practice in child welfare law. Arguably there is no greater responsibility for governments than the protection of children. Given my extensive experience in this area, I know that a number of specific reforms must be made to the Community Welfare Act if government is to better protect the rights and interests of children. This is above party politics, and I now give notice of my preparedness to work with the Attorney-General and the minister for Health, Family and Children’s Services in order to effect important reforms in this area. I will not outline all of the amendments I suggest, simply because there are too many, however, I will be submitting a number of detailed proposed reforms to the Attorney-General in the future and I implore him to consider them.
Another area in need of reform is the selection of jurors. As members of this House are aware, a jury panel is selected from a large number of people chosen at random. Once assembled, they are given the opportunity to advise the court whether they seek to be excused from jury service, and they must then explain to the judge in front of all potential jurors - often as many as 100 people - why they want to be excused. In a rape trial earlier this year in Alice Springs, two women felt obliged to say when giving their reasons that they had had a similar experience - in other words that they had been raped and therefore were unable to be objective jurors. The public disclosure of this personal and distressing information was made in front of people who could have been neighbours, friends, colleagues, or people who they might see again around the streets of Alice Springs.
To avoid citizens being placed in this position, would it not be wise to amend the Juries Act to ensure that those seeking to be excused could do so in the absence of other potential jurors? The point is illustrated further by the example of an entire jury panel having to be dismissed when a potential juror made inappropriate comments about the accused when giving his reasons to be excused. His comments were, of course, heard by all of the other potential jurors who were in the court room. Consequently, the trial was adjourned at considerable cost to the taxpayer. Clearly, changes should be made so that those seeking to be excused from jury service should do so in the absence of other potential jurors.
Another area of interest arises from my work over many years with victims of crime, and I suggest the following legislative changes for their benefit. Firstly, part of the Evidence Act dealing with child witnesses requires urgent amendment. Prior to some useful amendments made earlier this year, section 21B of the Evidence Act made it clear that where a vulnerable witness is a child, a judge or magistrate could disallow any question put to that child that is, and I quote, ‘confusing, misleading, or phrased in inappropriate language’. Section 21B now provides that only a judge can disallow these types of questions. This appears to have been a drafting error, and I say this because I cannot imagine that it was the intention of the legislators that children are protected from particular questions in one court, but are not protected in another court. Again, I urge the Attorney-General to address this immediately so that magistrates can disallow offensive questions to children.
Secondly, I refer to section 5 of the Sexual Offences (Evidence and Procedure) Act which provides that an unrepresented defendant in a sexual assault proceeding cannot cross-examine the complainant. Instead, the accused must put the question to the magistrate who in turn puts it to the complainant. I make the following suggestions: the restriction should not be limited to complainants who are the victims of a sexual offence but should be extended to include all offences of violence; and secondly, it should be repeated in the Crimes (Victims Assistance) Act so that unrepresented offenders cannot put questions directly to the victim when that victim subsequently seeks compensation.
I now return to the Evidence Act, specifically sections 21A and B, often referred to as the ‘vulnerable witness legislation’, which affords protection to a defined group of witnesses. This legislation, however, only extends to a particular type of victim who is a witness, namely a victim of a sexual offence. The act should be further amended to include all victims of violence as defined in the Criminal Code. This would mean that all victims of violence would be afforded the same protection when giving evidence as the victims of a sexual assault.
Finally, and perhaps more importantly, if a victim or a witness wants to be physically separated and protected from the accused, they should be allowed to do so as of right. It is plainly wrong for a judge or a magistrate to disallow a witness or a victim physical protection from the offender when giving evidence if such person feels vulnerable. There should be no judicial discretion in this area. I can assure the government, and possibly some defence lawyers who are in the gallery this afternoon, that the safeguards already in place for the accused are adequate and do not warrant change. This proposal simply gives vulnerable witnesses and victims the opportunity for protection if they want it. I know of too many victims who have been prevented by a judge or a magistrate from utilising the protection intended by the legislature.
Of course, many crimes of violence are perpetrated on women and children. It is an absurdity, is it not, that on the one hand, we as a community encourage women and children to report sexual and physical violence yet on the other, we make the process of giving evidence as intimidatory and as awful as possible? The amendments I have suggested are necessary. The benefits are immeasurable and the rights of the accused are not compromised. These suggestions transcend party politics. The proposals are good law and good public policy. The amendments are simple and easy to achieve and I urge the Attorney-General to implement them.
In conclusion, Madam Speaker, this is truly an historic occasion for more than just the obvious reason of a change in government. There are more women in this House than ever before and I am delighted to be a part of this milestone. I am the first woman elected to serve the people of Araluen and I am only the second member of a CLP opposition to deliver a maiden speech and I do so proudly. I congratulate the Chief Minister and her government on its election. In opposition, the CLP offers the most talented, dynamic and capable opposition the Northern Territory has ever experienced and this puts us in good stead to challenge this government and to present ourselves as the next government for Territorians.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, before I give my speech I would like to acknowledge the Aboriginal custodians of this land, the Larrakia.
Long before there was a Northern Territory there were people in what is now the electorate of Arafura. To the north there were my mother’s people, the Tiwi. In what is now Kakadu National Park, there have been countless generations of artists who left their cultural heritage at Nourlangie and Ubirr. Following the coast eastwards into Arnhemland the ancestors of the present day communities of Maningrida, Warruwi and Minjilang fought mighty battles and defended their traditional territories against intruders from both near and far. Emphasising the ancient material and spiritual links between my Aboriginal constituents and their land in no way translates into a denigration or a devaluing of citizens from other backgrounds.
To a large extent, the vibrancy and optimism of the Territory is a product of the rich and cosmopolitan blend of races, ethnic groups and cultures that are reflected in our population. However, it remains both an historical and political fact of life that some people who live here are merely passing through while others have been a part of this place since time immemorial.
My Aboriginal constituents fall into the latter category. They are not here because they are serving out a contract or doing a tour of duty before being posted somewhere else. They would not be retiring to Queensland at the end of their careers. They will still be living their lives on, and looking after, their country. I mention all of this because this speech, made at the beginning of what I hope will be a long and constructive period of working for the people of the Northern Territory generally and the constituents of Arafura in particular, is an opportunity to cast a glance back down the road we have travelled and also forward to the horizon ahead before we all settle down into the day to day business of government. It is also an opportunity to honour and show respect to those older citizens who have spent their entire lives in the Territory taking part and/or being affected by the gradual changes over time that have culminated in the social, economic and political environments that we are fortunate to call our home in October 2001.
Before there was a Northern Territory, there was a Northern Territory Administration. This was the vehicle through which the vast geographical space between Darwin and the South Australian border was notionally maintained as part of the Australian nation. The Commonwealth assumed responsibility for the Northern Territory in 1911. For much of the period between then and the Second World War, the white population of the Territory was outnumbered by Chinese and Aboriginal people.
In the mid 1930s, my father was removed from his family in Central Australia. He was removed by the authority of a piece of Commonwealth legislation called the Aboriginal Ordinance which was in force in one shape or form between 1918 and 1957. He was sent to a government institution called The Bungalow where there was inadequate food and inadequate love. He was denied any continued relationship with the community from which he had been taken and never saw his mother again. He lost his language and his culture and received only the most rudimentary and basic education in return.
A great improvement in his circumstance came with his transfer to the Methodist Mission at Croker Island. There, at least, was enough food to eat and a mission administration that was sufficiently enlightened that the children and youth were guided and encouraged in developing practical skills in market gardening, fishing, fencing and various kinds of animal husbandry. Paradoxically, the better conditions enjoyed at Croker Island in comparison with those at The Bungalow came with a price tag of sorts, the implications of which only became apparent gradually through the course of my father’s life. I am referring to the fact that Croker Island, now Minjilang, is situated off the Arnhemland coast inside my electorate of Arafura, thousands of miles away from the place in Central Australia from which the Native Affairs Authority took my father.
The geographical distance involved in the transfer to Croker Island effectively closed the door and any chance of reorientation towards my father’s traditional country in Central Australia and transformed him into a Top End man. He left the mission as a teenager and immediately sought to make a living for himself first as a buffalo shooter, then working on the barge vessel, the Larapan, which took supplies to the various coastal communities between Darwin and northern Arnhemland. One of these communities was Garden Point, now Pirlangimpi, which was where my father met my mother. The harshness of my father’s early life was due to policy decisions made by politicians and bureaucrats. They were representing the Commonwealth government of the time. Like a big corporation, a government is a legal entity that survives the individuals that pass through and work for it at any one point in time.
The Commonwealth government as a surviving legal entity should make specific apology to my father and all his generation of contemporaries who were placed in institutions by authority of the Aboriginal Ordinance. It should make this apology because it was the Commonwealth that was directly responsible for his removal and placement in The Bungalow and because what was taken from him in terms of loss of family and culture was not balanced by objective benefits of anything like equivalent value as regards providing the foundation for his future as a citizen. Instead, my father and others like him had to make their own way in life by trial and error and assisted by only each other.
The issue of seeking an apology from the Commonwealth is one that I will make it my business to pursue now that I have been elected to this Assembly. The Northern Territory government was established long after the events that impacted on my father and bears no responsibility for those events. Nevertheless, it has a responsibility to advocate for its older citizens in relation to seeking redress for past ill-treatment on Northern Territory soil. Madam Speaker, early in their years together, my parents lived and worked at East Arm Leprosarium; my father as a courier and my mother as a domestic worker. For most of the last decade and up until being elected to this Assembly, my own work as a health administrator took me to various Aboriginal communities in the Katherine region. On numerous occasions I had been approached by Aboriginal people of various ages who were patients at East Arm and who recalled the affection and gratitude, the care and assistance my mother provided. This example has been an inspiration to me in my own endeavours in the Aboriginal health field.
My parents settled in Darwin and raised not just 11 children of their own but a fair number of others as well. My father always worked and always stressed the importance of getting an education. Up until her tragically premature death in 1992, my mother was a constant source about life, wisdom, human values and my Tiwi culture. More than anyone else in my life she has been my guiding light and all my family, many of whom are here today, know how much I wish she was in this Chamber now to hear me make this speech. I have paid testament to both my parents, both to acknowledge the part they have played in my own personal journey and also to use them as examples of many older Territorians who have committed their whole lives to this place and who I consider to be the most important stakeholders in the ongoing enterprise that is our future.
All throughout my electorate of Arafura there are senior Aboriginal people who have witnessed massive changes in the world around them but who have held fast to their own culture and their own values, passing these onto their children. The increasing importance of these Elders, both men and women, as a cultural resource and touchstone of moral and spiritual authority is self-evident. One of the challenges for government in my electorate is to take all measures available to enhance the quality and extend the duration of life for our Elders in order that they can continue to pass on their knowledge and wisdom to the generations that follow.
Chronic illnesses that do not feature anywhere near as prominently in urban Australia have afflicted communities in Arafura to an extent that adult men and women die far younger than they should. New initiatives in health and aged care for remote and regional communities need to be encouraged and maintained; initiatives promoting community management and participation in the administration of health services. I described those older Territorians who have lived here all their lives as amongst the most important stakeholders in our collective futures. The other age group in our community that I also want to mention as having equal, if not greater, importance in that regard is their children. The primary challenge for government in my electorate is addressing the circumstances identified in the Collins Report that are undermining school opportunities school-aged children in Arafura should have of obtaining an effective education. When I speak of an effective education, I mean an education of equivalent breadth, relevance, portability and objectively assessable value to the best public education received by children in any Australian town or city.
In my capacity as a local member, I look forward to liaising with the new minister for education and his department in an effort to try to deliver improved outcomes while at the same time working with my communities to ensure that our vitally important cultural and linguistic values are enhanced rather than damaged by any official strategies that are adopted.
Madam Speaker, finally I would like to touch on the significant and daunting responsibility of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. This is a role which will take me beyond the electorate of Arafura, but will involve issues that are resonant there as much as anywhere else in the Territory. We all know what happened when the option of statehood was last put to the people of the Northern Territory. What was particularly apparent was the profound distrust and suspicion demonstrated by a great majority of our Aboriginal citizens. It was the distrust and suspicion that I shared at the time. But my goal and my challenge as the first indigenous woman elected to this Assembly will be to work through the issues that generated that distrust and suspicion with a view to developing permanent, inclusive and viable solutions.
I acknowledge and pay tribute to the efforts of those who have served before me in the Arafura electorate, Bob Collins, Stanley Tipiloura and Maurice Rioli, and to the strong foundations that they have laid. Finally, I thank all of those of my constituents who voted for me in the long six days up to and including 18 August. I give my solemn undertaking to work hard for all of you, regardless of how you voted.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I would first like to acknowledge the Larrakia people, the traditional owners of this country. I would like to recognise the Larrakia people because I call many of them friends as I grew up with them. As part of the new Labor government I hope to work with the Larrakia and not against the Larrakia.
Next, I thank all those people who helped the new Labor government win the election, in particular, all members of my campaign team who worked tirelessly over the last few months. Without your help, I would not be representing the Millner electorate today. Secondly, to all the campaign helpers, numbering approximately 50 dedicated workers, well done. You believed change was good. The people who believed change would bring democracy through their participation created history by instigating the first change of government in the history of self government. To all the helpers who made a stand in the weeks and months leading up to the election, thank you. Under the circumstances, you are the true heroes.
My personal experience of Darwin always makes me proud. The true Territorians, and in particular, Darwinites, treat all people with respect. My father and mother’s family were raised to believe all people are equal no matter what colour, religion, sex or cultural background. I love these teachings; it is how I live my life. I promise the electorate of Millner that I will work to create a truly multicultural and tolerant city of Darwin. Many people have come to live in Darwin and they have been made to feel welcome by the local people. The newcomers were originally of European or Asian descent, followed then by many other peoples of different ethnic backgrounds which include Greek and Italian. They come and fall in love with the place. They stay and eventually change from migrants or southerners into Territorians. I have one comment on this historical fact: when we invite these people into our home and communities that every member of this House and every Territorian lead by example and teach them the positive parts of the Territory lifestyle.
In recent times, members in this House have forgotten the principles that have built the Territory - hard work, ingenuity, compassion, fair play, and justice for all. The most important principle of multiculturalism was created in Darwin before the word was ever conceived elsewhere in Australia. This principle has been forgotten by some members of this House. The one great achievement that has separated the Territory from other parts of Australia and identified us as unique, and makes me most proud to call myself Territorian, is the fact that we pride ourselves as being a fiercely inclusive people. This has occurred because of our historical remoteness over the last 100 years which led our forefathers to rely on each other no matter what colour or ethnic background due to necessity.
This necessity forced people together and required each to work with the other so as to survive and prosper. Through this coalition and necessity grew respect and friendship. This formed the foundation of the Territory we know and love today. Unfortunately since self-government, the Territory has suffered from negative political campaigning that was formulated around marginalisation of small community groups for political gain. When I leave this parliament, I hope that it will be said that I fought for all the good things we value in the Territory lifestyle which I believe finds its foundation in multiculturalism. I promise in my time in parliament I will fight for the people in the street. We are here to serve the people, not the people to serve us in parliament.
My aims are simple - to create wealth for all citizens in my electorate in a manner that includes every Territorian. I want to promote an inclusive community that respects and cares for all Territorians.
I would briefly like to recognise my personal and family involvement with Millner, Darwin and the Northern Territory. I was born in Darwin in 1971, I have lived in the Millner electorate since 1977, a year before self-government. I was raised in the area, I grew up in the streets, I went to primary and high school in the area, and finally to the Northern Territory University, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Laws. I caught my first barramundi in freshwater Rapid Creek and, as long as I can remember, swam the rapids during the wet season flooding. I am proud to be representing the born and bred Territorians.
My family descends on both sides from an ancient people, the Aboriginal Australians. On my father’s side, the Jawoyn people from the Katherine area, and on my mother’s side, the Gurindji people. However, I am more than just a descendent of these ancient people. Like many people in the Northern Territory, and, in particular Darwin, I am a combination of many different peoples. On my father’s father’s side, I have the genetics of a Jawoyn great grandmother and a Welsh great grandfather. On my father’s mother’s side I inherited Torres Strait Islander, Western Samoan and Malaysian heritage. On my mother’s side, I descend from a Gurindji grandmother, Daisy Ruddock, who is here with us today and is one of my true inspirations, and an Irish grandfather. So just to put this in order, I have Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander, Irish, Welsh, Malaysian and Western Samoan origins and when my partner, Mona Lisa Boight and I get married early next year, we hope in the midst of a beautiful dry season, our children will also be made up of Spanish, Filipino and German. So how do I describe myself?
I am a Darwinite, I am an Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander and I am a Territorian. Why do I describe myself in such a manner? It is due to my history and the history of the Northern Territory. Many in this House will not understand what I mean. I know my history. My family has lived in the Territory for thousands of years. My grandfather, the late Don Bonson, was a frontier man in the true sense. He worked, he fought, he played football; you fought for your respect as a man. Like many things in the Territory, my grandfather was not just treated as a man of Aboriginal descent, but a man who had earned his reputation and respect by his deeds, and therefore was considered worthy of the right to vote. I mention this because my grandfather, a man amongst men, could not vote in this country, technically, until he was in his fifties when, in 1967, Aboriginal people were given the right to vote. However, he was a member of his union, and a member of the Australian Labor Party. My grandfather died in 1993 as the longest serving then life member of the Australian Labor Party in the Northern Territory. To this day, Don Bonson and my grandmother, Patricia Bonson, Ah Mat was her maiden name, remains a reminder of the true human struggle which led to substantial human achievements. No achievement was greater than the raising of 12 children that have, over the last 90 years, significantly contributed to the Darwin lifestyle and the Northern Territory. The Bonson clan has continued to contribute to the future of the Northern Territory.
On my mother’s side, my family descends from quite a remarkable woman, known and loved throughout the Territory as Nanna Daisy Ruddock. The story of this woman is closely linked to the real Territory story. The quote that she lived her life by strongly influences my beliefs on life as I grow older and wiser – ‘If you don’t know where you come from, you don’t know who you are, and if you don’t know who you are, you don’t know where you are going’. My maternal grandmother, Daisy Ruddock was born on Limbunya Station near Wave Hill on or about 15 August, 1915. She was born to an Aboriginal Gurindji woman called Demay, and an Irish stockman, called Jack Cusack. At about six years old, she was taken from her mother by Constable Tom Turner, under the Aboriginal Ordinance 1910, and brought to Darwin and placed in Kahlin compound in 1921.
I am proud to say that the Chief Minister will be saying sorry to the Stolen Generation, and has taken this first step towards reconciliation by an elected government of the Northern Territory to this important minority group. The thing about this simple but important step is that my grandmother often said: ‘What does not kill you, makes you stronger’. This step is simply about compassion. We are one of the richest nations in the world, but some sections of the community lack leadership to show compassion simply to put out a helping hand and say sorry. Daisy remained in Kahlin compound until she was 13 years old, when she was taken to work in the home of Mr and Mrs Asche, the parents of Austin Asche, who recently retired from the position of Administrator of the Northern Territory and Chief Justice of the Northern Territory Supreme Court. As well as performing house duties, she was a carer and companion to Austin. They remain loving and firm friends to this day. Later she became one of the first Aboriginal registered nurses in the Northern Territory. She married and had four children, a son and three daughters, one of whom is my mother Roseanne. Daisy’s fantastic life journey cannot be told in this short time, but if you like, any member of the House, can at a later time talk to my family and me about her heroic lifestyle.
My mother, Roseanne, and Robert Bonson were married in August 1963 and had three children; I am the second child. My mother, Roseanne, and father, Robert, have strongly influenced my political views, however, their strongest influence has always been about family values and respect for other human beings. Their knowledge and influence has consistently guided me through my life, and I believe this has made me a better human being. What I have attempted to articulate in this message to parliament is that I am a man aware of the human history of the Territory. Through this knowledge I seek to promote and nurture the positive things that we love about the Territory.
Finally, I feel very humbled to be in this young, but great Assembly, and I would like to finish by telling just one story from the election campaign. I would like to tell a simple story of democracy in action. Leading up to the election, I visited three communities in the inner city limits - Bagot community, Kulaluk Community and Minmarama Park. I campaigned on the simple issues to the grassroots people like I did throughout the electorate. For example, that Labor would introduce Freedom of Information; Labor would fight for better health and education and services; and improve living conditions and a promise of greater access to greater resources. These three small communities, which have been excluded by the previous government, exercised their democratic rights, and I believe between 120 and 150 Aboriginal persons voted at Ludmilla school for a local man and the Labor Party. The result of the election could never be pinpointed as a result of any one issue. It could be said that it was time for the change, that Clare Martin was a great leader, or that the candidates were individually outstanding. Perhaps it was the failure of the CLP leadership in the final days and an illegitimate and out of touch government.
I like to think, and I like to tell people, that I won the seat of Millner because of history, which includes my family’s history in Darwin. I like to think that those small communities voted for me at a grassroots level. I won the electorate by 82 votes. Between 120 and 150 people in these communities helped me win by 82 votes. That small group of people, combined with the many factors, changed the history of the Northern Territory for ever. They helped deliver Labor into government.
The moral of this story is no matter how great or how small a Territorian you are, you can achieve magnificent dreams. Out of these small things big things grow.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Thank you, Madam Speaker and members of the Ninth Legislative Assembly. I acknowledge that I stand here today on Larrakia land, and thank the Larrakia people for the hospitality that they have afforded to me since my birth at the old Darwin Hospital on Myilly Point in 1966. Darwin is my home, is the birthplace of my daughters, Jhenne and Bronte Pigot. This is where my roots lie and I am deeply honoured to have the opportunity to help shape our destiny as a representative of the people of Karama and Malak in the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly. I will be dedicated to working hard to ensure the aspirations of all people are recognised by this parliament.
As the member for Karama, I represent a demographic with the highest ethnic proportion of any electorate. We have the poorest of the poor living alongside middle to upper class families in suburban Darwin. We have aged and disability pensioners living alongside urban Aborigines struggling to find their place in our society. I say struggling because I believe previous governments have failed to address their needs.
I am here today because I dare to dream. I dream of an inclusive, diverse and dynamic society in which individuality, creativity, community, prosperity and cultural diversity goes hand in hand with tolerance, compassion and actions borne from caring for and about, one another.
I would not be here without the incredible financial, emotional and practical support of my husband, Tim Pigot, who encouraged me to pursue my dream of helping others. He has my love and gratitude. It is not easy to be a woman seeking to enter parliament. It is even more difficult to be a young mother in the early years of the financial struggle which most families encounter, to make the sacrifices necessary to enter parliament. And indeed, I owe many people my thanks in enabling me to overcome the many obstacles that have made parliament, I believe, a fairly unrepresentative institution, too removed from the have-nots. I pray that this Ninth Legislative Assembly commits itself to the endeavours of a truly representative parliament.
We all have heroes or heroines from whom we draw the inspiration needed to succeed, and I am very fortunate because I have needed to look no further than my own mother, Dawn Lawrie. She is my heroine and a champion of many Territorians who have sought justice and a fair go. As a former member for Nightcliff, Dawn is the only living Territorian who has been a member of our political process through its democratic evolution, from the Legislative Council to the Legislative Assembly, self-government and beyond. I stand here today to acknowledge her commitment to democracy in the Northern Territory. As an independent member of this parliament she was a true champion of the people, who worked tirelessly to improve all facets of Territory life. Dawn was never too busy to help someone in need. She has dedicated more than 30 years of her life to serving the people of the Northern Territory. Whether it was prison reform, repeal of the Vagrancy Act, advocating for the rights of indigenous Territorians, women, children and our ethnic communities, many Territorians have benefited from her dedication to the ethics and actions of good governments. Dawn continues to assist women and youth in crisis through her current role as Executive Director of the YWCA, and plays a leadership role in reconciliation, women’s rights, multiculturalism and as President of the Northern Territory Aids Council.
Dawn did not struggle alone. Indeed, she was in the finest of company. Her political mentor was the late Dick Ward, Labor leader in the Legislative Council, who perhaps holds the greatest claim to being the father of self-government for the Northern Territory. Dick Ward was a man who I had the good fortune to have grown up with as a grandfather figure, and who shaped my strongly-held views on justice. Dick would have been the first to acknowledge those who had gone before him. Labor’s tradition in the Territory goes back to 1905 when the first officially-endorsed Labor candidate, James Robertson, unsuccessfully stood to represent the Territory in a South Australian parliament. He was followed in 1908 by the first successful Labor candidate, Tom Crush, who is buried in the pioneer Goyder Road Cemetery in Darwin, and his monument documents his commitment to Labor.
Another early Labor champion was Harold Nelson who was one of the many leading citizens who went to Fannie Bay Gaol for not paying taxes until the Northern Territory gained parliamentary representation following a ten-year battle to gain such federal representation. The campaign succeeded with the Territory gaining representation in the federal parliament in 1922 with Nelson winning the new federal seat. In 1928, a Territory branch of the Labor party was formed to assist Harold Nelson in his campaigning.
In 1946, the Chifley Labor government gave the Territory its first measure of self-government with a part-elected, part-appointed Legislative Council. On 14 May 1947, Harold Nelson’s son, Jock and a young lawyer named Dick Ward were among those elected. Jock went on to become the Territory’s Labor representative in federal parliament from 1947 to 1966, while Dick Ward focussed on the local scene. Both men fought long and hard for constitutional reform. It was Dick Ward and a few of his parliamentary colleagues who led the moves to self-government from within the ranks of the then Legislative Council.
Dick was a politician, lawyer, social justice campaigner, reformer and later, Supreme Court Judge - a man of great humility but fiercely committed to the people of the Northern Territory and a man who stood for equality, justice and tolerance for all. He was a politician of inclusion, not exclusion. A politician of vision who believed the battlers had as strong a right to justice as did the privileged.
In 1958, the elected members, led by Dick Ward, decided to take decisive action in their continual bid for constitutional reform for the Northern Territory, the right for self-government. They resigned en masse in protest at the Menzies’ government’s failure to introduce reforms. In the subsequent by-election they were all returned and established an inquiry to determine whether their request for reform was in line with other British territories. In the turbulent and frustrating period that followed, Dick Ward emerged as the most articulate and respected orator the Territory had ever seen. As a politician, he consistently sought to introduce measures aimed at improving the lot of everyday people.
Following his 1960 election victory, he moved a motion calling for support for a new approach to development of the north of Australia taking into account its strong links to Asia. He called for a five-year plan to attract investment and population to the Territory. What an incredible man of vision.
When the Whitlam Labor government was swept to power in 1972, it acted at once to address the inaction of 23 years of conservative government, and to give the Territory long-awaited political reform. The Whitlam government passed a bill finally giving the Territory a fully-elected Legislative Assembly and Senate representation. The fight for justice and democracy pursued by the late Dick Ward was taken up by successive Labor leaders in the Territory. I acknowledge the presence here today of Jon Isaacs, who was Labor leader here in the late 1970s, and earlier today, Bob Collins, who was Labor leader here in the early 1980s, and also the Territory’s only federal Cabinet member.
Both men have been a source of support for me. I thank them and hope I acquit myself well in nurturing the seeds they sowed for true democracy when I was a child. I have had the privilege of witnessing them work as members of this parliament, alongside fine colleagues including Dawn Lawrie, Pam O’Neill and June D’Rozario to pursue the best outcomes for the people of the Territory. All of these people sacrificed their needs, and their families’ needs, for the broader benefit of our community, and I humbly thank them. May we listen and learn from our elders, from those that have walked this path previously.
I also thank John Tobin who walked the Labor Party in Karama through two successive elections. He is a great man who worked tirelessly for the better representation for the people of Karama and Malak. He did so at great personal sacrifice without any reward. I pledge to carry on the work of John Tobin. I will work tirelessly to deliver better services and living conditions to all of the people of Karama and Malak.
I look forward to working with my Labor colleagues to ensure the construction of Waterworld at Lake Leanyer, so that the families of Darwin have a free and fun recreation area. We need greater recreation options for families and, specifically, our youth. The mangroves and beaches I enjoyed as a child are less accessible to youth of today. We swam in Rapid and Freshwater Creeks without the worries of crocodiles. We fished at Buffalo Creek without a care for crocodiles. That is no longer the case. The challenge remains for our government to work with our public servants to find recreation options to replace those that are no longer available to the youth of today.
In this we also need to work closely with local government. I will continue to make representations to Darwin City Council over the need for shade in our parks, particularly shade for the playgrounds. Darwin has Australia’s highest incidence of skin cancer. As a local, I am aware of far too many people who are now grappling with the dangers of skin cancer. Let us not forget that melanoma can be fatal. This is not a minor issue. We need to work with federal and local government tiers to find the funding required to turn Darwin into a city of sails. Imagine its beauty; imagine the accessibility it will provide to people in all weather conditions.
We will also continue to work with Darwin City Council to pursue safety in our community. Despite being placed on the council’s capital works program, Karama still does not have a pedestrian crossing outside the local shopping centre. This work should not be delayed. Every day that goes by without a pedestrian crossing is a day that we continue to risk the lives of our elderly and children. On the subject of children, I would like to commend the work undertaken at Karama School in particular. The school has achieved national recognition for its indigenous education initiatives. This was done in spite of barriers that have previously existed in our education system. I hope to be a part of ensuring that this individual effort translates to systemic reforms. We must meet the challenge of indigenous education in the urban environment as well as the remote and regional environments.
I would not be here as the member for Karama today without the help of the dedicated team of people from Karama and Malak and I seek your indulgence to thank them: Agnese Rinaldi and Leon McDonald, you have finally seen a dream realised after many, many years of hard work; Chandra and Hemali Seneviratne; Greg and Sue Wills; Sandy Oldroyd and Tissa Ratnayeke; Rita and Kevin Cluley; Neil Spencer; Rei Korsten; Christian (Bong) Ramilo; and more recently, Leigh Hillman, have all committed many hours to achieve a Labor victory in Karama and I thank them. To my father, John Lawrie, I say thank you for your belief in me, your practical support in caring for your grandchildren and the many sausage sizzles you helped me make happen. To my brother, John Lawrie, and my sister-in-law, Tania, I say thank you for your financial, emotional and practical support. Bless you for your belief in me and for the commitment you both provided to me. To my sister, Warrant Officer Dianne Lawrie, I extend my thanks, too. Your faith in me never wavered. You helped raise me when our mother was busy caring for others. You have only ever given me love and support which has sustained me through my darkest times.
To my friends, who fed me and supported me in caring for my daughters so that I could pursue my dream, I say thanks. In particular, I thank Teng Murray, Nina and Biagio Spinella, Felicity Douglas and Kate Finlayson. Bless you all. To Sharm and Kumi Bali, Ross Finocchiaro and Lyn and Chris Perkins, I say thank you for your support and belief in me, and to expat Darwinians, Pat and Lizzie Loftus, I say that I will pursue your dreams of a dynamic and just Territory and thank you for your incredible support. I also extend very special thanks to Barbara James who has kept the flame of Labor history well and truly alive in the Territory and has been a great friend and an inspiration to me for many years. There are many more people, too many to name here, who have helped me. They are all reminders of the fact that in life we cannot succeed without the support and practical assistance of others. It is this support and practical assistance that I intend to deliver to the people of Karama and Malak.
I am a daughter of the Territory. This is a unique and beautiful land. It is harsh with its unforgiving heat, yet soothing with its rains and cooling breezes. From the deserts in the Centre to the mangroves of the north, we are challenged daily to remember the demands of this earth. We are custodians for future generations. As a civilised people, we have sought development and yet have we truly understood how to develop in keeping with our environment? Sadly, I believe to date that we have not. I call on town planners, architects and builders and developers to re-evaluate their past actions and to move boldly into creating future plans in keeping with our uniqueness. May Alice Springs and the Centre have architecture in keeping with the mood of our red heart, just as Darwin needs architecture in keeping with our tropical Asian-influenced northern outlook.
For those of us who are survivors of Cyclone Tracy in 1974, we carry with us a knowledge of the impermanence of manmade structures. Destruction brings with it the challenge of renewal and I believe that we are yet to fully learn how to best shape our cities. We are in the beginning of the new millennium. We are facing previously unimaginable challenges. The actions of international terrorists have struck a chilling reminder of our vulnerability. Such actions are to be condemned and our role in striving for a better world must be strengthened. I believe we are able to conquer such challenges. I believe we have a new government in the Territory led by the member for Fannie Bay, Clare Martin, ready and able to shape our destiny with fairness and tolerance so that we may rejoice in our cultural diversity, welcome newcomers to our home and embrace the growth we need to be a dynamic society providing the opportunities for prosperity.
We can move forward with confidence while healing the hurt of the past. We can achieve true reconciliation with the traditional owners of this land; practical reconciliation must occur. We must work hard to meet the needs of our indigenous youth, both urban and remote, who are reaching out for a path that leads them away from substance abuse, poverty and unemployment. Bless those who have already succeeded against all odds.
As a daughter of the Territory, I am also unashamedly a republican. I look forward to participating in constructive debate about the constitutional future of our nation. I believe it is inevitable that one day we will become a republic and I pledge to do what I can to encourage such debate in the Territory. As a member of Emily’s List, I announce my commitment to ensuring that the right of women to decide if they need to take the solemn action of an abortion remains their right. As an individual who has witnessed first hand the suffering of a person with a terminal illness, I declare that I am in favour of euthanasia legislation. However, any proposed legislation must be carefully constructed, open to lengthy public debate and be passed with the resources necessary to embark on a public education campaign. We must necessarily safeguard our medical practitioners while providing the right to die with dignity. I congratulate our new government on its understanding of the needs of our terminally ill by providing for the establishment of a hospice within the hospital precinct. I also congratulate our new government for pledging to establish a birthing centre in Darwin. Service of this provision should provide for a range of options to meet the varying needs of our diverse society.
I pledge to work with all ministers, the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister and fellow backbenchers to improve the lives of all Territorians. From the fisherman to the farmers, from the schools to our university, from the mothers and the fathers seeking adequate health care for their children, the challenges of good governance remain to be met. To the small, medium and big businesses that create the employment needed to keep families in the Territory, I pledge my support. For my friends with a disability and their carers, I pledge to work hard to meet your needs and overcome the crises that you confront daily. When we all have shelter, when we all have adequate health care, when we all enjoy an education that equips us to succeed in life, my work will be bearing fruit. When we all accept differences without fear or suspicion, when we all care about those most vulnerable in society, I will know that my work is easing. When our children have grown and take freedom, love and security for granted, I know that my work is nearly done. When we know who we truly are, where we have been and where we must go, I will take time to rest.
Members: Hear, hear!
Debate adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016