2002-08-21
- Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of students from the Northern Territory Faculty of Science, Information and Technology and Education. On behalf of honourable members, I extend a warm welcome.
MEDIA ARRANGEMENTS
Madam SPEAKER: I advise honourable members that I have given permission for the various media to broadcast live - or rebroadcast with sound and vision - the opposition’s budget reply; for 8 Top FM radio to broadcast live the opposition’s budget reply; and the Northern Territory News to take photographs.
TABLED PAPERS
Speaker’s Determination No 7 – Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings at Question Time
Speaker’s Determination No 8 – Broadcast of Parliamentary Proceedings on Government Intranet and Broadcast Network
Speaker’s Determination No 7 – Broadcasting of Parliamentary Proceedings at Question Time
Speaker’s Determination No 8 – Broadcast of Parliamentary Proceedings on Government Intranet and Broadcast Network
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table Speaker’s Determination No 7 relating to broadcasting of parliamentary proceedings at Question Time and additional answers given following Question Time; and the Speaker’s Determination No 8 relating to the broadcast of parliamentary proceedings on the government Intranet and broadcast network.
MOTION
Redundant Resolutions of the Assembly - Rescission
Redundant Resolutions of the Assembly - Rescission
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I have not consulted with the opposition on this. I am happy to run with this now, because it is straightforward. Given that you have just tabled the determination, I will go ahead with that, if that is your wish. I move the rescinding of the now redundant resolutions of the Assembly relating to the broadcasting of Assembly proceedings. This is necessary following the Assembly resolution dated 16 October 2001, and Speaker’s Determinations which have been made and tabled, pursuant to resolution of the Assembly dated 26 February 1985.
Mr REED (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I ask for a point of clarification given that the Leader of Government Business has indicated that no advice has been provided to the opposition in relation to this matter. I take it that this mechanism is to replace, or rather, to be more positive, to provide a structure by which broadcasts are made.
Madam SPEAKER: All we are doing is authorising our current practice and repealing the old resolutions which, unfortunately, had slipped by and had not been done. We are just bringing things up to date.
Mr REED: Thank you, Madam Speaker.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Yes, I normally would have discussed this with the opposition. I was going to do it later.
Madam Speaker, I think this will clarify your concern. I move that -
- This Assembly rescind the resolutions relating to broadcasting of Assembly proceedings dated 12 November 1985, dated 26 November 1985 and dated 11 October 1983; and the resolution of the Assembly relating to broadcasting to offices in Darwin dated 26 February 1985.
We are rescinding very old provisions and resolutions in relation to how the broadcasting of proceedings went. We know how it has worked from October. There is no intention, at this stage, to change that. It is simply a clean-up of very old resolutions, and I would not have thought the opposition would have any trouble supporting it.
Motion agreed to.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Recreational Fishing
Recreational Fishing
Mr HENDERSON (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, I rise today to report on government initiatives in relation to recreational fishing. In the November mini-budget last year, the government allocated $500 000 each year for three years, to be spent on recreational fishing infrastructure, a key government commitment during the election - $1.5m over three years to improve infrastructure for recreational fishing.
The government was committed to consulting the community at large to determine how best this money could be spent. To fully achieve this, we ran advertisements for several weeks across all major Northern Territory newspapers seeking input from members of the public and priorities for the infrastructure from the fishing community.
We have received hundreds of suggestions from across the Territory. Respondents included some members of parliament - thank you very much - local councils, fishing clubs, peak bodies and, of course, numerous individual recreational fishermen. I thank my Fisheries Division in DBIRD for doing such a great job in coordinating the survey and of collating the submissions.
There are no surprises regarding the top three priorities identified by the fishing community. They, of course, were improved security at boat ramps, particularly at Buffalo Creek, widening of the Dinah Beach boat ramp, and provision of an all-tidal boat ramp for access to Darwin Harbour.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of announcing that priorities two and three would be met through the widening and lengthening of the Dinah Beach boat ramp. We have committed $600 000 over the next two years to make that boat ramp double-laned and all-tidal. It was a great announcement to make for the fishing community in Darwin and Palmerston. I am sure the member for Port Darwin who made a submission - thank you for the submission - will be pleased to see that initiative going ahead.
Today I can also announce that, in this current year, we are committing $200 000 to improving security at the Buffalo Creek boat ramp. We have all heard about security problems at Buffalo Creek. The car park is remote and secluded and it has proved a happy hunting ground, unfortunately, for vandals and thieves over the years. Recently, we have seen the tragedy of cars being burnt out at Buffalo Creek. The government has convened a working party to assess options to improve boat ramp security across the Northern Territory. Representatives on this working party include government departments DBIRD and DIPE, Darwin City Council, Palmerston City Council, the Defence Department who own the land at Buffalo Creek. Representatives from AFANT and the police will be invited to the next meeting. The working party has already produced a discussion paper that outlines the options for improving security at Buffalo Creek. Options include an on-site manager, a secure fenced parking compound, improved lighting and security cameras. Most of these initiatives require power being installed, and this has been factored in. The working party will report back on how best this $200 000 can be utilised. As I said, the working party is looking at the issue of security across all boat ramps, and will continue to meet as required to discuss current security concerns and ideas.
The exciting upgrade at Dinah Beach and improvements to security at Buffalo Creek will enable the government to meet the key priorities of the fishing community. Obviously, there were many more suggestions received in the survey, both in the Darwin region and throughout the Territory. There is still $600 000 to be allocated across the next three years, and the government will continue its consultative process about how this money can best be spent.
To support this, in another exciting initiative the government is currently investigating supporting regional communities in building and maintaining their own boat ramps. I had the pleasure of going to Borroloola last Friday with the member for Barkly, and we toured to a number of boat ramps on the McArthur River. I believe there is a great opportunity for local community and government councils – particularly, obviously, in the Top End - to work with government to provide better access in those remote areas. A ramp at Mule Creek near Borroloola stands out as the ideal location for such an opportunity, and I will be working with the member for Barkly and the local council in Borroloola to identify the best way we can provide that facility.
I can also say that we have met our election commitment to increase AFANT’s funding by $40 000 this year. We recognise AFANT as the peak recreational fishing body, and we look to them to provide advice on the priorities and views of the fishing community. This is good news for the recreational fishing community. We have delivered in spades and I look forward to support from members of the opposition.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Madam Speaker, I am happy to support these initiatives. It is a follow-on from the initiatives of the CLP in providing infrastructure …
Ms Lawrie: Oh, right. The boat ramps are a disgrace.
Mr BALDWIN: Have a look at the boat ramps around, the access that is available, and the fishing that is available to Territorians and tourists and how important it is, and why they can get there. It is because of infrastructure development over the years.
I recognise that you have a promise this year, of what - $600 000 that you have now expended, it seems - for this financial year. I congratulate you for doing that; you should do more of it. Issues of security are most important to our anglers now. Unfortunately, with the break and enters that are occurring at these boat ramps, things need to be done. It is good to see the Buffalo Creek one being done.
There is an issue, of course, to do with the security at the Palmerston boat ramp on the Elizabeth River. I am sure you have heard of the community lobby that is building in that area, that would like to see security for their ramp. Also, there is an issue out there, I believe, of access for shore-based fishermen; those who do not have a boat to launch. The Elizabeth River is a great river to be able to fish in, and perhaps some form of fishing platform there - and I am sure you are going to hear a lot more about this, and the member for Blain will be involved in that lobby.
I am running out of time, Madam Speaker. This is a great issue, and about the AFANT funding - that is most appreciated by AFANT, I am told. I am also told that they are very upset that they have been called a CLP instrument by the Labor government. The president of the association was most upset when he was personally abused by one of the members on that side.
Mr HENDERSON (Primary Industry and Fisheries): Madam Speaker, it is always up to the opposition to turn a good news story into a bit of doom and gloom and controversy. As far as security to other boat ramps in the Northern Territory goes, I appreciate that the member for Blain has written to me on this. It is a pity he did not respond to the survey in the same way that the member for Port Darwin did, but I have subsequently had representation from the member for Blain.
Our working party will look at those issues of security at other boat ramps across the Northern Territory. As far as AFANT is concerned, it would be the last thing that this government would do - fund a CLP peak body. I do not know where the member opposite got the allegation that this government has called AFANT a CLP lobby group. I thought it was the NT News; I bet it was the NT News. I would like the member for Daly to get up and provide any substantiation to the allegation that I or any of the members opposite have made this particular comment.
Mr BALDWIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I have been asked to provide some substantial evidence of this matter, and I am happy to do it. Do you think Question Time might be the appropriate place?
Madam SPEAKER: Yes. You can do it later in the personal explanation.
Upgrading of Sporting Infrastructure
Mr AH KIT (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by paying a small compliment to the previous government …
Dr Toyne: Very small.
Mr AH KIT: But only a very small one. They have certainly shown a commitment to erecting sporting facilities and infrastructure across the Territory which has ensured that our citizens, particularly in the major towns, have access to a broad range of sporting opportunities. Sadly, however, in their haste simply to be seen to be doing things, the previous government has left us with a legacy of declining facilities which either were not built properly in the first place or were left to languish with insufficient repairs, maintenance and planned replacement.
One of the task that we face since coming to government, within the budget constraints forced upon us, is to carefully assess the priorities for the construction of new and upgrading of existing facilities. However, I am pleased to report that in the budget we have been able to allocate funding to support that ongoing work. More than a $1m is allocated under the capital works program for the completion of the resurfacing of Football Park; $3m for the construction of the new airconditioned basketball stadium at Marrara; and $800 000 for the resurfacing of the hockey field at Traeger Park.
We have also allocated $490 000 for the first stage of infrastructure development at Football Park, to meet the requirements of the Australian Cricket Board for the staging of international cricket in July of next year. I am particularly pleased that I have secured up to $800 000 for the installation of a new track at the Arafura Athletics Stadium. Not only will this mean that we will have a safe, world class track in place for the Arafura Games next year …
Mr Dunham: Commonwealth Games athletes trained there, mate; they did not have a problem with it.
Mr AH KIT: … but we will be placed to attract international teams to Darwin for training camps. It is interesting that the opposition keeps talking sports down.
We are not just focussing on the so-called big ticket items. Through the sport and recreation grant funding we are also funding smaller projects to support organisations that are delivering valuable programs in their communities. These include $50 000 for ablution facilities for the Alice Springs Youth Centre; $30 000 towards roof repairs for the Central Australian YMCA; $13 000 towards a club house at the Gove Nhulunbuy Surf Lifesaving Club; a $30 000 contribution to the irrigation of the oval at Tapatjatjaka; Barunga will receive $30 000 for ablution facilities at their recreation hall; $20 000 towards a basketball court at Daguragu; and a $20 000 contribution to the upgrading of the pool at Jabiru.
Madam Speaker, I conclude by referring to other projects that we are also committed to funding in future budgets. You, of course, would be aware that we are working with the Traeger Park users group to determine the priorities for the expenditure of a further $4.2m over the next three years. We will also work with the Palmerston Magpies to develop an appropriate home ground oval over the term of this government, and we are prepared to work with the soccer community to find a suitable location for them to call home.
That said, I want to make it quite clear that I will not be making any unrealistic or undeliverable promises. We need to concentrate on maintaining and managing a top class range of facilities and, if we are to maximise the effectiveness of the expenditure of public monies, we need to extract the best value from our existing facilities. I am proud of what we have achieved thus far, and of the exciting developments that will proceed over the coming months. I can assure the Assembly that our focus over the next three years will be to enhance and improve our sporting facilities for the benefit of our own sporting fraternity, as well as the national and international fixtures that will be attracted to our venues.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Madam Speaker, so the cultural revolution continues. The fact is that these facilities have already been put in place, and we find the minister determined - as members opposite - to extract as much possible spin out of the fact that these facilities have now been brought to a whole new place. Well, that is the place of government and they are doing these things, and I applaud them for it. That is what they should be doing.
In terms of the announcements that have been made, I particularly welcome the Magpies announcement. It is in your best interests to have done that because they are a pretty fierce bunch. The commitment that has been made to Traeger Park in Alice Springs and to Palmerston with regards to the multi-purpose recreational facility, are noticeable by their absence in the budget.
I would have to say, Minister, I do appreciate the briefing I received on the upgrade of the Marrara facility for cricket. One aspect of that though, I will seek a further clarification on. Since the briefing, it has come to my attention that the surface that has been put in place is not according to the original specifications. I would, in good faith, expect that this facility is going to be able to cater to the need of the international cricket rounds. However, my understanding was that there was a fairly fine grade aggregate that was needed on the top layer, and that has been changed significantly to cracker dust. That was quite outside the parameters of the original specifications and, to my understanding, has caused a little concern. I would simply seek clarification on the nature of that aggregate on the top level, to ensure that the facility really is going to meet the standards that are required.
Mr AH KIT (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, I understand the frustration from the shadow opposition spokesperson, but Marrara is a classic example. It is the type of thing I am referring to – it was built and they walked away from it. They walked away from it. In six months I was able, with my Cabinet colleagues, to secure $2.5m to put into that oval and also the infrastructure. We are working with the Traeger Park users group and through the council. It is up to them to come back through the council and themselves, to let me know where they want that other $4.2m spent, as promised pre-election, over the term of this government.
The Spectrum Stadium has just been re-floored. That floor was put in, in the basketball courts there in the early 1980s, mid-1980s. That was replaced and last Thursday was the official opening.
The opinion in respect to the aggregate, I would refer you to the Minister for the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and the Environment which is handling the contract, if you wish to talk more about the aggregate.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired. Minister for Ethnic Affairs, could I ask you to speak up and a little more slowly today.
Cultural and Linguistic Awards 2002-03
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, I rise today to inform the House about the Cultural and Linguistics Awards 2002-03 that I will be launching in September 2002. The Cultural and Linguistics Awards is a component of the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program; a program that supports migrant and ethnic community organisations in undertaking innovative projects that celebrate and promote harmonious cultural diversity throughout the Territory.
In the mini-budget handed down in November 2001, the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program received an additional $250 000 per annum, effective 2002-03. Of this increase, $150 000 per annum over three years, has been allocated to the establishment of the Cultural and Linguistic Awards.
The awards will invite applications from endorsed individuals or established ethnic community groups to undertake projects specifically focussing on culture and language. An example of individual projects could be someone undertaking special study courses or research projects that would enhance culture or language skills. An example of a community development project could be an ethnic group applying to have an individual from interstate or overseas conduct intensive cultural or linguistic workshops or seminars in the Territory. Likewise, an ethnic group could apply for an endorsed individual to attend intensive workshops interstate or overseas. An independent panel will assess all applications. The panel will comprise a cultural expert, a linguistic expert, and a member of a bona fide ethnic community organisation. Successful award recipients will be required to undertake to share with an endorsed ethnic community any benefits derived from the project.
I encourage members of the migrant and ethnic community to consult with the Office of Ethnic Affairs about the Cultural and Linguistic Awards, and to discuss any potential projects they may have. The Cultural and Linguistic Awards will be advertised on the Office of Ethnic Affairs web site, where an electronic copy of the guidelines and application form can be downloaded. The awards will be advertised in the NT News and the Centralian Advocate.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s announcement of the Cultural and Linguistic Awards. Our many formalised ethnic groups in the Northern Territory have a great desire to improve their language and cultural identities, and knowledge of the culture back home and how to speak their own language. Many of our ethnic communities have lived in the Northern Territory for five or six generations, and some have, indeed, lost part of their language and culture. To have this program being reintroduced in the Territory will be a good thing.
I am certain that many ethnic groups will now look forward to applying to the government for funding to assist them in redeveloping and re-energising their culture and language. I welcome the minister’s report.
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his response. I am glad we have bipartisan support. There are many examples of community and ethnic groups that have lost touch with their culture and their language which, quite rightly, the member for Greatorex mentioned. However, our government is going to help all the ethnic groups to go back to their roots and find out about their culture and languages.
We already have some examples of ethnic groups we helped out: the Chinese community is one of them. We gave some money to bring an expert to repair and create some new Chinese lions. We have also Greek community groups that asked us for assistance to bring an expert to design and make some of the national costumes. We apply that to any ethnic group, or any individual who wants to bring something back; not only for his or her community, but also for the broader Territory community.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Crime Prevention Initiatives
Crime Prevention Initiatives
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I rise today to inform this House about a number of important crime prevention initiatives this government has implemented. Members will recall that while in opposition, Labor recognised crime prevention as an issue of major concern to Territorians. In April 2000, NT Labor released one of its cornerstone policy statements, Crime: Protection, Punishment and Prevention.
That policy statement laid down Labor’s six-point plan for attacking both crime and the causes of crime. The six elements of that plan are: (1) serious crime means serious time; (2) making you feel safe at home; (3) getting help from police when you need it; (4) putting victims first; (5) getting tough on the causes of crime, and (6) establishing a central crime prevention agency. The policy statement and the six-point plan laid out Labor’s vision for addressing the real concerns Territorians had: that the government of the day, the previous government, was not delivering effective crime and justice solutions. During the first year of the Martin government, significant progress has been made in implementing key aspects of Labor’s six-point crime prevention plan.
Today, I take pleasure in reporting to the House on progress towards delivering on point six of our plan which was to establish a central crime prevention agency and to ensure that independent collection, analysis and publication of crime statistics was carried out in the Northern Territory.
First, though, some history on crime prevention in the Northern Territory. In April 2000, Labor informed Territorians they lived in the other jurisdiction in Australia that did not have a central crime prevention agency. This meant that precious government resources assigned to crime prevention were often used in an ad hoc and uncoordinated way. The result: inadequate crime prevention outcomes for the Territory, and more people becoming victims of house break-ins, car thefts and other crimes.
I am pleased to inform honourable members that those days have passed. In Labor’s financial statement of August last year, this government gave swift notice that it was going to live up to its election commitments. Amongst many other significant initiatives, the establishment of a central crime prevention agency was announced and funded. By providing additional funding of $790 000 and amalgamating existing resources from the police and the Department of Justice, the government established the Office of Crime Prevention in February this year, implementing point six of our six-point plan.
In 2002-03 financial year, the Office of Crime Prevention will have a budget of over $2.3m, an indication of just how seriously this government views crime prevention. The office is working hard on its four core areas of responsibility. These are: to provide policy advice about crime reduction initiatives; to evaluate the success or failure of crime prevention strategies; to independently collect, analysis and publish crime statistics; and to coordinate the implementation of a crime prevention strategy across all government agencies.
I would first like to focus on these last two points, the evaluation and the collection of statistics, as both are critical initiatives for ensuring the success of our crime prevention strategies and informing Territorians. The availability of crime statistics that are accurate, published regularly, and are of the highest integrity is at the core of good governance. Without sound statistical information, the crime prevention resources of the Territory cannot be allocated in an objective manner to ensure the most impact is achieved. This government will build a database of crime and other justice statistics so that we can develop crime prevention programs that will have an impact because they are based on sound factual evidence.
This challenging initiative has already commenced and will evolve over the next 12 months as data becomes available from a wide range of sources, including the NT Police Force, the Department of Justice, other Northern Territory government agencies, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and the Australian Institute of Criminology. To implement and maintain an effective crime prevention strategy, it is imperative that the government understands the nature, frequency, and location of crime in the Territory. Profiles of both offenders and victims of crime are needed, and the main causes of crime must be better understood. With the availability of this information, government will be able to target its crime prevention resources where they will have the most effect.
Accurate and comprehensive statistical data will also enable the impact of crime prevention programs to be determined. Evaluation is essential to determine what works and what does not. As the statistical database evolves, we will have an increasing capacity to evaluate crime prevention programs, to identify and discard or change those that are not working, and to expand those that are successful. The regular publication of crime statistics also plays another important role, one that I am personally very strongly committed to and proud to be implementing; that is of informing Territorians about the pattern of crime in their community.
As the direction of the government research began in February on how to make our commitment to publish independent statistics a reality, I am particularly pleased to confirm today that, from November 2002, the Office of Crime Prevention will independently publish statistics on a quarterly basis, and will also publish a comprehensive annual report. Honourable members, this will be the first time that independently compiled crime statistics will be published for the Territory on a regular basis. For the first time ever, Territorians will have a comprehensive, regularly updated and accurate picture of the state of crime in the Territory.
From November, the Northern Territory will be at the leading edge in the public disclosure of crime statistics in Australia. Every three months, the Office of Crime Prevention will release statistics on crimes against the person and property crimes. Those statistics will be published for major towns and, where data is available, for individual suburbs. Over time, crime statistics for remote localities will also be published. Those statistics will enable us to develop a comprehensive and accurate picture of crime across the Northern Territory to see how the crime picture varies from location to location, and between urban, rural and remote areas.
Crimes against the person that will also be reported include murder, manslaughter, robbery, assault and sexual assault. Property crimes that will be reported on include unlawful entry of a dwelling, unlawful entry of other business, commercial or other types of properties, motor vehicle theft, other theft and property damage.
Unlike the CLP, this government introduces new legislation designed to deal with specific types of offences, or offenders. We will, wherever possible, inform the community on how the legislation is operating. Did the CLP, of its own volition, ever make statistics on mandatory sentencing of property offenders available to the Territory? No, they did not. Was there ever any solid evidence to justify the introduction of this legislation? No, there was not. Did the CLP ever inform the public of the impact of this legislation? No, they did not. In fact, it was only after we got in that we were able to put out at least an interim set of figures that showed that, far from halting the increase in property crime, mandatory sentencing had absolutely no impact.
I am pleased to inform this House and the people of the Territory that those days are long gone. This government will be accountable to the people who elected it. Along with statistics on crime, the Office of Crime Prevention will also publish court outcomes for selected types of offences on a quarterly basis. Mandatory sentencing has been rightly repealed - we already know it was ineffective, and property crime continued to rise. However, its repeal does not mean that Labor is going soft on property offenders. Last October, legislation was implemented to deal with those offenders who commit aggravated property offences such as home invasion, robbery, serious property damage, and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. Unlike the CLP that censured information on the consequences of mandatory sentencing, every quarter this government will publish statistics on the sentences handed down to serious property offenders.
It should be clear by now that this government is deadly serious about protecting our community, and especially young people, from the harm which accompanies excessive illicit drug use. We will also publish statistics on how our drug laws are operating, by publishing statistics on the court outcomes of drug offenders.
As well as the publication of quarterly statistics, the Office of Crime Prevention will also publish more comprehensive statistics and analysis on an annual basis, to provide Northern Territory people with more detailed information on crime and the responses of crime being taken in the Northern Territory. This publication will present trends on key crime, justice and social statistics, supported by analysis and commentary. I am very pleased to be able to announce that the first annual publication is planned for release in the first quarter of the year 2003.
Labor was elected to government on the basis of a commitment to accountable and open government. Here is yet another example which shows we are prepared to set the highest of standards in this regard, and make the necessary resources available to fulfil our promises.
I also take this opportunity to talk about some of the other crime prevention work being done by the Office of Crime Prevention and its Policy and Community Liaison Unit. As I have already mentioned, under Labor’s six-point plan, ‘Crime Protection, Punishment and Prevention’, the Office of Crime Prevention was established to coordinate the implementation of a whole-of-government crime prevention strategy, and to provide policy advice about crime reduction initiatives. In the past, there has been no true attempt to coordinate crime prevention activities across government. Effective crime prevention is not just for the police and the justice system; a truly effective crime prevention program harnesses resources from across government to stop crime before it starts. This is through initiatives in health, education, housing, sport and recreation, employment, and by harnessing the expertise and energy of the community itself.
One of the pivotal roles of the Office of Crime Prevention is to drive and coordinate activities across government agencies, and to support crime prevention partnerships within the community. To ensure that all areas of government are engaged and active in crime prevention initiatives, we have established a ministerial Standing Committee on Crime Prevention. The Chief Minister and ministers responsible for justice, health, education and police sit on this committee, as does the Minister for Community Development, as needed. The Martin government realises that coordination of effort must start at the very top. A crime prevention committee of chief executive officers from key Northern Territory government agencies has also been formed to ensure that coordination and the commitment and drive across government is happening from the highest level.
However, government cannot do it alone. That is why Crime Prevention NT is above building partnerships against crime. This government values the collective knowledge and experience of Territorians, and believes that people at the local level are the people who really know how to stop crime before it starts in their locality. The government has directed the Office of Crime Prevention to establish regional crime prevention councils across the Territory. Each council will have a membership drawn from the region and include representatives of the general community, the business sector, indigenous communities, all levels of government, and the non-government sector. We will be asking regional councils to stimulate and sustain community involvement in crime prevention with support from the Office of Crime Prevention. Most importantly, the councils will ensure that the government remains in touch, at regional and community level, with crime prevention issues of concern to Territorians.
I am pleased to report that the very first regional council has recently been established in Tennant Creek. The Tennant Creek Youth Initiatives and Safe Community Strategy Committee has been meeting since early this year and was convened through the existing partnership arrangements between ATSIC, Yapakurlangu Regional Council, and the Tennant Creek Town Council. I am pleased to announce that at a meeting on 10 July, the committee passed a resolution to take on a crime prevention regional council role, and to extend their area of interest to include the wider Barkly region. The committee should be congratulated on their achievements to date.
The committee was originally formed over community concern about juvenile crime, and with support from their local member, Elliot McAdam, the committee has flourished. Community, government, and indigenous representatives sit on the committee, and young people are also seen as important members. The committee realised that while some young people are part of the problem, they are also part of the solution. The committee has been able to access interim funding from ATSIC, has applied for Commonwealth funding, and has indicated it will apply for funding through Crime Prevention NT’s grant scheme. This is a perfect example of the community, and now the region, deciding to take control and have a say on what happens in its own area. While it is still early days, with the support of the Office of Crime Prevention, this group provides a clear example to other regions on what can be achieved at the community level.
Taking the more remote areas of the Territory, negotiations are about to commence with the Kurdiji Committee, the combined Community Law and Justice Committee, which was formed in early 2001 to represent the communities of Ali Curung, Lajamanu and Yuendumu. The committee has a number of identified roles and functions that clearly link to the role and functions of a regional crime prevention council. It is hoped that Kurdiji Committee will accept the invitation to take on this important role.
The Office of Crime Prevention is also talking to groups in Alice Springs and Palmerston about the establishment of regional crime prevention councils in those locations. We will be investigating options for Katherine, Darwin and Gove in the near future. Within the first 18 months of this government’s new crime prevention initiative, we will see at least seven regional councils established, and working on regional crime prevention initiatives suitable to their particular area and situation. Local crime prevention committees are also important elements of this government’s crime prevention initiatives. The Office of Crime Prevention has continued to support existing and new local crime prevention committees in Darwin, the northern suburbs, Palmerston and, most recently, in Humpty Doo. The office is also about to commence support for Tennant Creek and Alice Springs groups on a regular basis.
I am also pleased to be able to advise members that the Office of Crime Prevention has been working closely with the Alice Springs community, government departments, and business sector, to develop the strategy to deal with juvenile crime. The office is actively advising and supporting the Alice Springs community to develop a coordinated approach to dealing with criminal activities of a few juveniles that, at the moment, are impacting on the entire Alice Springs community. Madam Speaker, you would be well aware of the recent incidents being perpetrated by these - what I would call street kids. We will certainly keep all members in Alice Springs updated as the plan develops and is implemented.
The solution of this problem is within the Alice Springs community itself. Through cooperation, coordination and targetted resourcing I believe most of these problems can be addressed in a productive manner. I want to see those kids re-engaging with their community rather than acting against it. As the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Central Australia, I have given a personal commitment to seeing a positive outcome in this issue.
In the coming weeks I will be making announcements regarding the crime prevention grants scheme. The Martin government is committed to increasing the former NTSafe grants scheme from $250 000 to $400 000 each year. The ministerial standing committee on crime prevention is currently considering options regarding the structure of the new scheme. However, I can say that some funding will be available to continue the popular small grant scheme for community groups, as well as funding being available for targetted projects.
Across the wider government arena, this government is committed to a number of specific crime prevention initiatives which I will deal with very quickly. Youth centres at Nightcliff and Borroloola are being developed on a trial basis by a working group of key government and community representatives. Announcements will be made in the coming months on the first part of this project which will see the establishment of programs for young people in Nightcliff.
Grants to community government councils are being increased to employ Sport and Recreational Officers in remote communities to implement sustainable recreational programs for young people in areas where a lack of activities and facilities can be a problem.
The river watch scheme based on the successful Neighbourhood Watch scheme is being developed by the fisheries group within the Department of Business, Industries and Resource Development.
School attendance officers and diversionary programs for wayward students are a key component of the student enrolment education and retention strategy which is being implemented. That strategy aims for all students to successfully complete their schooling through regular attendance and active engagement in safe and supportive learning environments. It focusses on irregular attendees and those not enrolled in school, early school leavers, and students exhibiting challenging behaviours, particularly of an extreme nature.
As part of this government’s six-point plan on crime, and particularly its commitment to putting victims first, in April this year this government provided Victims of Crime NT with funding of $30 000 to pilot a clean-up assistance scheme for victims of break-ins and home invasions. That funding has been increased to $50 000 in this budget. Victims, through Victims of Crime NT, have access to funds to have their homes cleaned and door locks temporarily secured for free under the new scheme. Planning is underway to extend this scheme to Alice Springs later this year.
An expert working group with representation from youth sector organisations and government and non-government service providers is working on the development of a youth night patrol and Safety House. Consultation is currently occurring with young people, their families, youth sector service providers and business operators to ensure that the service meets the needs of all stakeholders. It is expected that the service will commence later this year and be trialled in the northern suburbs.
Government is also currently reviewing the Aboriginal family violence and related strategies. A series of meetings, workshops and interviews have guided the work of an interdepartmental committee appointed by government to consider these issues.
The information I have provided today is only a small, albeit important, snapshot of the crime prevention work that is occurring across the Northern Territory government in partnership with local government and the business sector, community-based organisations and the general community.
Neighbourhood Watch has, for the first time, received funding from the government of $100 000 for next year and will continue to receive in-kind support from NT police and sponsorship from TIO. Neighbourhood Watch has a new management board, and is continuing to support and strengthen community-based crime prevention activity. Local committees like the Wagaman Residents Group, the Esplanade Action Group, Palmerston Crime Prevention Committee, and the very new Humpty Doo group Litchfield Safe, are all working hard to improve community safety and form partnerships with government through the Office of Crime Prevention. Existing regional plans - for example the Alice in 10 project and the Barkly Blueprint - include community safety and security as key issues, and the work of the Office of Crime Prevention will recognise and link into these existing plans..
Crime prevention activity, coordination and partnership with the communities are growing by the day. With the establishment of the Office of Crime Prevention linking and supporting government and the community groups, this government will achieve the major election commitment to build a safer Territory.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I rise to place on the record some observations and comments in relation to the ministerial statement which has just been delivered. I must apologise in advance; I have a cold so I may be sniffling a little during the course of this short speech.
I took the liberty of forwarding a copy of the statement which was delivered to the Leader of the Opposition’s office yesterday to a couple of friends of mine - one is a prosecutor and another one is in private practice - to get their objective views on these initiatives, if any, contained in this law and order policy statement. They indicate that the prognosis is not good.
The minister referred to the separate elements of the six-point plan. There are certainly six points listed which have been articulated by the minister, but there really is no plan. If anyone had taken the time to listen carefully to what he said - and people would be excused for tuning out – they would realise that these six motherhood-type statements do not advance the situation at all. Any government who is not serious on crime is not seriously doing its job, and any government which is considering doing something to not ensure that its citizens are safe in their homes is clearly not doing its job. For the minister to say that they have made a conscious decision that this is the six-point plan, or six motherhood statements, is a concern in that that means the government would have seriously considered not standing behind these fairly fundamental truisms. To continue to peddle this type of material as part of the Labor vision is a discredit, and insulting to any person who has taken the time to listen to or read this rubbish.
If you analyse the report and this statement on law and order, the minister claims to have made real progress. He gives an example of the real progress which has been made, and he talks about the creation of a new agency. There is talk of, I think $790 000 as one of the figures, and then there is an extra $2m or so allocated to this new agency for the coming financial year. It seems that the primary aim of this new agency - which is really, in reality, a number of people from government departments which already exist and who probably deal quite regularly in this particular field – is to brings them together and they will produce, hopefully, some crime statistics. Then we are told that, despite the fact there has been 12 months for this process to occur, the first statistics, the first report, will not be handed down or not fall from this committee until some time at the end of the first quarter of next year.
Mr Henderson: We waited 27 years for you to do it.
Mr MALEY: I will pick up on the interjection by the ever thoughtful member for Wanguri. It really insults, by implication, the statistics which have been made available from Neighbourhood Watch and the police. Of course, for those of us who have been here longer than five minutes - which discounts most of the people on the other side - there are regular reports from the Australian Institute of Criminology. They compile all the statistics of convictions and publish them. As well, the DPP has an annual report, which contains most of the material this new agency will be, perhaps, refining.
For a society to survive there must be, of course, legal obligation and rules restricting violence, theft and deception. It is probably fair to say that men always find such laws necessary because of man’s nature - the partly selfish creature, but also partly cooperative - and his typical wish to survive with the limited resources he finds available to him. However, the real question is: why do people then commit offences and partake in antisocial-type conduct? There are people who have spent their whole lives studying this and trying to determine and draw the golden threads of what causes people to commit offences. There are a couple of fundamentals which, it seems, people on both sides of the critical fence agree; that is, unfortunately, that people in the lower socioeconomic level seem to be more likely to be the victims of serious offences and to commit these type of offences.
I am mindful of the time, and I seek leave to continue my observations and comments at a later time.
Leave granted.
Debate suspended.
APPROPRIATION BILL 2002-03
(Serial 89)
(Serial 89)
Continued from 20 August 2002.
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, this is an historic occasion, as the Chief Minister and Treasurer said yesterday. It is the first Labor budget in the Territory’s history; the first time the Labor Party have been able to put before Territorians not only what they want to do, but actually can and will do. A less significant fact is that this is the first time the CLP has had to respond to a Territory budget and, in doing so, I intend to approach the task in a responsible and considered way.
As the opposition and the alternative government, our task is to bring to the Chamber our view as to how this government is meeting its commitments to Territorians to build on the achievements of the past and position the Territory for a more prosperous future. There are certainly some things in this budget that we welcome. I am sure all Territorians will welcome such things as the cut in stamp duty for home buyers and, particularly, for first home buyers. We also welcome this government finally, apparently, spending on capital works.
However, there are concerns I wish to raise today. In her budget speech yesterday, the Chief Minister said:
- The budget is not only about numbers ... it is also an opportunity to report on how we are progressing
on our long-term commitments to the people of the Territory.
In closing her budget speech, the Chief Minister said:
- It is a budget that delivers for today and invests for tomorrow.
These are strong statements, but the figures tell the story - figures that, I would remind honourable members, describe clearly where the Territory is heading with this Labor government. Figures that the Chief Minister has assured us do not lie, are there for all to see, and are honest and transparent - they accord with her Financial Integrity and Transparency Act.
Consider this: Budget Paper No 2 titled the ‘The Fiscal and Economic Outlook for the Territory’. There is a foreword at the front of that booklet from the Under Treasurer which I will read:
- In accordance with the provisions of the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act, I certify that the
financial projections included in the August 2002 budget documentation were based on government
decisions that I was aware of, or that were made available to me by the Treasurer before the cut-off
date of 9 August 2002. The projections are presented in accordance with the Australian Bureau
of Statistics accrual-based government finance statistics.
Now turn to figure 3, page 64, of Budget Paper No 2. Here we have presented for us the general government sector balance sheet. This is the balance sheet that any business can relate to, looking little different from a business balance sheet except for the size of the numbers. It is a balance sheet that matches assets against liabilities and calculates by how much one exceeds the other - the Territory’s net worth. Is this transparent, or is it not? Let us look at the story the numbers tell.
In 2001-02, general government Territory total assets were $4.252101bn; liabilities were $3.660666bn; leaving a net worth of $591.435m. In 2002-03, general government total assets will be $4.047975bn; liabilities will be $3.634368bn; a reduction in net worth to $413.607m. That is under this government’s so called prudent and responsible policies.
In 2003-04, total assets will be $3.931474bn; liabilities will be $3.657756bn; a further reduction in net worth to $273.718m. By the final year of this government’s first term, in the year 2004-05, assets will total $3.845862bn; liabilities will total $3.675342bn; leaving a Territory net worth valued at as little as $170.520m. In short, in the Labor government’s first term in office, government assets less government liabilities will diminish from $591.435m to $170.520m, a reduction of $420.915m.
The reason is clear on the balance sheet. Financial assets in that period reduce by $173m, land and fixed assets reduce by $233.022m, liabilities increase by $14.676m; in total of liabilities and reductions and deprecations, $420.915m. These figures should start the alarm bells ringing in anyone’s head. In four years of the Martin Labor government, the Territory will be worth almost $421m less than it is today. I ask the questions: where is the investment in the future; where is the maintenance of our assets; where is the value adding? All the figures show is outgoings outstripping real assets. Where is the sustainable, responsible fiscal management in all of this?
The same page of Budget Paper No 2 also shows the net debt profile of the Territory over this Labor government’s first term in office. I pause here to remind Territorians of how the Chief Minister, when in opposition, railed against the former CLP government for the size of our Territory debt, how it weighed heavily over each Territory family, and how a Labor government would reduce debt. I note also that debt was not mentioned in the Chief Minister’s first budget speech.
However, the story is there for all to see in Budget Paper No 2, page 64. Net debt in 2001-02 was $1.425667bn. At the end of this Labor government’s first term in office, in 2004-05, net debt will have increased to $1.495567bn; an increase in net debt of $69m. That is without taking into account the increase in interest rates over that period. So much for their policy of decreasing debt. It seems that the Labor Party is beginning a love affair with increasing debt now that they are in government.
The outlook then gets worse. I refer to page 52 of the same Budget Paper No 2. The figure 5.1 on page 52 is based on assumptions - assumptions, I suggest, no reasonable thinking person could be expected to accept. First, for 2000-01, we see a trend line of Territory expenses trending up to the six state average. We then see a sharp decline in expenses during 2001-02 explained on the page as:
- … total expenses declined significantly as the Territory substituted operating expenditure for
capital expenditure.
The sting is the assumption that, in total contradiction to the previous 1999 to 2001 trend, the Territory government expenses for the remaining term of this government will remain significantly below and at odds with the six state average. It will not do that. The government has already shown us in the budget that it cannot even manage it in its first budget. Because of that, the assumptions of reigned-in government expenditure will not stand up to scrutiny over this Labor government’s term of office which only makes the statement ‘investing in tomorrow’ even less believable. It may be spending for today, but it is certainly not investing for tomorrow.
There are a number of other areas that concern me. I am very concerned about the failure of transparency in this budget caused by the switch in methods of accounting. I am concerned about what appears to be the severe curtailment of this parliament’s paramount right and duty to authorise the issuing and expending of public monies. I am concerned at the cuts to spending in some agencies and the inflation of spending in others, caused by these new methods of addressing expenditure.
Our problem with welcoming aspects of this budget is that we have no idea how it compares with previous efforts. We do not even know how it compares with this government’s mini-budget brought into this House only eight months ago. We accept that this budget is done on the accrual accounting method. It is something that would have happened no matter who was in government, because the process was put in train several years ago. But the budget papers say that the comparison is available, so why hasn’t it been included in the budget papers?
Look at any agency in Budget Paper No 3. No one has any idea whether there has been an increase on last year’s budget or the mini-budget. No one has any idea whether the departments and agencies came in on the allocation given to them only eight months ago by this government. No one has any idea whether they have overspent or underspent or what.
We do know that $22m of spending was rolled over into this year - the ‘usual level of transfers between years’ according to the Chief Minister in her budget speech. I do not really want to revisit previous matters, but I do recall that the issue of an alleged sum of $16m and the difference between allocation and expenditure caused much angst early in the life of this parliament. Isn’t it strange that an estimated possible rollover of some $16m sparked censure motions and a PAC inquiry, yet now the rollover of $22m is dismissed as ‘just normal’? However, that carry over of $22m is one of the very few things we know about how the mini-budget fared.
We are supposed to have entered an era of transparent fiscal responsibility; of open, accountable government. Creative accounting and hiding the figures does not a good economic manager make. Take just one example. In her budget speech, the Chief Minister said she has delivered an additional $20m for the Health portfolio, bringing the total to $527m. When you look for that figure of $527m in Budget Paper No 3, you find it says this is an increase of $27.4m on the 2001-02 figure of $499m. When you look at the Appropriation Bill - the actual legislation we are considering - the figures against Health add up to $386m, and there is no mention of $527m. Turn to page 80 of Budget Paper No 3, and you find that Health got $433m in 2001-02, and that has decreased by more than $5m to $427m in 2002-03. Where do any of these figures relate to the figure of $481m standing against Health in the mini-budget?
How can this parliament and Territorians be expected to analyse these figures? Is this fiscal transparency? What really was the increase in the Health budget, and how did they fare with their mini-budget allocation? What were they in real dollar terms? Perhaps we will find out in the estimates process, because these budget papers certainly do not tell us.
Health is just one example. The problems are multiplied numerous times right across the budget papers, whether you are using accrual figuring or just simple arithmetic. A simple way out would have been to have had an addendum to the budget papers that listed the mini-budget allocation, the actual expenditure in comparable terms, and then the translation of that figure into accrual terms. Why have those figures been omitted, one would ask? What have we been left with? What we have been left with is an accrual estimate of what was spent last year, without any knowledge of whether that means more or less money was spent by any department or any agency. Perhaps these problems will diminish and disappear in subsequent budgets, but this is Labor’s first budget, and we - this parliament and Territorians - are left in a state of total ignorance as to what this budget actually delivers. Which leads me to another of our concerns.
We are actually debating, in this debate, the Appropriation Act 2002-03, which is to authorise the issuing and expending of public monies of the Territory in respect of the year 30 June 2003. The bill authorises and allocates $2.095069bn of taxpayers’ money for the purposes specified in the schedule to the bill. In June last year, the previous parliament passed the Appropriation Act 2001-02. That act authorised and allocated $3.184941bn for the activities specified in the schedule to the act. That is an enormous difference; more than $1bn. Where is the parliamentary scrutiny over that $1bn? How much of the public monies of the Territory are no longer part of the budget process of the Appropriation Act? How much of taxpayers’ money can now be expended without the authority of this parliament? How much is now in the hands of the CEOs of our agencies, and in the government business divisions that no longer requires the approval of this parliament? No matter how fine the men and women who control these agencies and departments are, it is a fundamental principle of our democracy that this place - this Territory parliament - has the say on public monies that are allocated and spent. You will say, in government: ‘The answer lies in the switch of accounting methods and the change in status of PowerWater’, but this parliament deserves to have explained in the most detailed way why, in the space of one year, the Appropriation Act has been cut by more than $1bn? It deserves to hear why it no longer has the responsibility to approve expenditure in certain areas.
Labor governments can dress themselves up as modern, efficient, economic managers, but we on this side of the House know that a leopard does not change its spots. You come from the school of economic management of Joan Kirner; and that should give any Territorian a fright. No accounting mumbo jumbo can hide the fact that no longer do Territorians have scrutiny of $1bn from the public purse. It deserves to know why one of its core duties has been so diluted. It also needs to know more about, and the why there were cuts to various agencies and the inflating of expenditure in others.
I preface these remarks by saying I am forced to rely solely on the figures in the budget papers as a point of comparison because, even though the government has said that appropriate figures are available to make a comparison with the figures of the mini-budget and the budget of the previous government, this government has seen fit not to provide them. To begin with, there is the issue of depreciation and amortisation . This is all part of the accrual process, but it serves to inflate the figures right across the budget and, I would further argue, distorts those figures. It might make a lot of sense to the accountants to depreciate an asset - for instance, like this Parliament House - but are we really to believe that, at the end of the process, this building no longer has any value on the books? Is a bridge, once it has been depreciated to nil, no longer useable, no longer an asset on the public account, that cars can no longer drive across it? If so, if this is the case, where is your strategy to rebuild and renew the Territory’s assets on the public account? As I have previously said, this budget shows a run-down in assets and no replacement, no renewal, and they are your figures.
If we look at the highlights raised by the Chief Minister and Treasurer in her speech, we will see the distortion and inflation that this causes. As Budget Paper No 3 notes: ‘Agencies are not funded for depreciation’. In other words, it is just a book entry; something to keep the accounting purists happy. The Chief Minister spoke first about education and training and how the department’s budget had increased by $14m to $505m. However, you have to take off that $505m an allowance of $29.4m for depreciation, leaving total operating expenses of $475m - and that is not as sexier a figure as more than $0.5bn. I would remind you that we are actually only approving expenditure in this Appropriation Bill of $374m for education and training. So, what is the real difference for education? What is the real increase? We are left to wonder.
The next area the Chief Minister highlighted was health services - an additional $20m to bring the total to $527m, she said. This was on top of the $22m ongoing provided in the mini-budget, the Chief Minister said. She seems to have no trouble jumping between the different forms of accounting and comparing apples with oranges when it suits the spin. Budget Paper No 3 says $17m of that $527m is down to depreciation and amortisation, and a further $130m is being paid for by the department’s own revenue; which leaves this parliament approving expenditure for Health and Community Services of $386m. That is a long way short of the Chief Minister’s headline figure, that her government is spending $527m on health. So, I ask once again: what is the real figure for health?
The next area was law and order, and the Chief Minister detailed $10.6m extra in initiatives. Budget Paper No 3 says Police, Fire and Emergency Services has increased by $10.5m and Justice by $5.2m. The combined depreciation for the two departments is $11m. The uniform presentation figures on page 80 of Budget Paper 2 says public order and safety has increased from an estimated expenditure of $238.738m by the enormous sum of $96 000. The Appropriation Bill asks parliament to give the combined departments a total of $224m. And you say this is fiscal transparency. Forgive me if I am finding the veil of transparency more like the blanket.
Across the departments and agencies, this accounting book entry called ‘depreciation’ has added almost $150m to the government’s claims of how much it is spending. I reiterate, this is a book entry; no department is being funded for it, but it is part of the headline figure of total operating expenses. Make no mistake, this headline figure - this false figure - is the one the Chief Minister and her ministers will be proclaiming as to how much they are spending on health, police, education or whatever. Who needs spin doctors when you have creative accounting?
There is undoubtedly some spending initiatives, but the real figures are hidden. There has to be, because this government received an extra $134m in revenue from the Howard government, but I will return to that point later on.
As we go through the total operating expenses of each agency, we find that the following agencies appear to have received more money: the Auditor-General’s Office; the Department of the Chief Minister; the Legislative Assembly; Treasury; Education, Employment and Training; Centralian College; Police, Fire and Emergency Services; Justice; the Tourist Commission; Community Development; Sport and Cultural Affairs; Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority; and Health and Community Services. Those that have been cut back are the Ombudsman; Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment; Department of Corporate and Information Services; Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development; and Infrastructure, Planning and the Environment. The problem is with such mega-departments, it will need more than 24 hours of analysis to examine how the increases relate to all the divisions, and how the cut-backs relate to changed responsibilities. For example, while the Justice Department has increased operating expenses, one of its divisions, the Anti-Discrimination Commission, appears to have been cut by 13%. Education funding has increased but the funding for non-government education has dropped. Plus there is the problem that the budget for repairs and maintenance has transferred from Infrastructure, Planning and Environment to individual agencies.
I ask the question: how much of that transfer accounts for increases in those individual agency budgets, and does it hide cuts to their overall spending? The reality is that, beneath all the gloss and the seeming largesse of this government, the increase in current outlays has, in the words of the Under Treasurer, ‘been kept to a minimum at 1%’. You say that you have increased spending across four departments by $60m, and increased capital works by $48m, so where are the losers? Perhaps some who think they are winners may be losers too. Only the estimates process, we hope, will tell.
I turn now to the matter I mentioned earlier: Commonwealth revenue and how the Territory has benefited from the Howard’s government allocation of grants and the GST revenue. Budget Paper No 3, page 279, table 2, shows the Territory will receive an additional $134m in revenue in budget balancing assistance this budget. However, if one returns to Budget Paper No 2, page 9, and table 1.6, the following picture emerges; and that is that the Territory has used the most conservative estimate of GST revenue growth through 2003-04, 2004-05 by assuming a growth of only $9m in 2003-04, when $63.9m could also be assumed, and $39m growth in 2004-05 when $63m growth is also a reasonable assumption.
My point is that this government has received, and is certain to continue to receive, large amounts of increased revenue assistance from the Commonwealth by virtue of the inter-government agreement on the GST which my government negotiated to the everlasting benefit of the Northern Territory, and which the Labor Party opposed. In the budget, those monies are being applied, as far as I can ascertain at this stage, by increased spending in health, education, community development, and law and order. I leave to one side the capital works program for the moment.
As I said earlier, it is impossible at this stage to compare these spending initiatives with real outcomes resulting from the 2001-02 budgets. Questions remain in my mind after 24 hours perusal of the budget papers, as to whether these spending increases are in fact illusory. Some initiatives I do not doubt and applaud. The gross figures stated, however, leave many questions unanswered. For example, how much money has been rolled over by each department to the 2002-03 year and dressed up as new spending? Which departments overspent their allocation in 2001-02 and, therefore, do some increases account for that overspend?
Turning to capital works, the detail is somewhat different to the headlines. In Budget Paper No 4, it is reported that the capital works program is, and I quote: ‘… of similar size to 2001-02 …’ but the amount of cash has increased by $48m. Of course, some of the major works are continuing projects or commitments that had to be met. For example, there is $6.5m for railway work, $8m for the Wickham Point Road and $11m for the construction of town water supply infrastructure to Wickham Point. There are also two sizeable projects as part of the re-vote: $58m for stage two of East Arm Port, and $14.4m for the ongoing redevelopment of Royal Darwin Hospital. There are few major new projects that are initiatives of this government. There is sadly no wharf development, even though that was a key priority recommendation of the Economic Development Summit.
Similarly, the efforts in the regions leave a lot to be desired. For example, look at Alice Springs. Items such as Traeger Park due to be completed this month, Alice Springs Hospital due for completion in November, and Gillen Seniors Village due to be finished in December are listed as highlights of this boost to capital works when, in fact, they have been ongoing for some time. In my own area of Palmerston, the health centre’s capability is now little different to what it was in 1995, although the population has doubled. The multi-purpose centre funded for design by the CLP government wallows in indecision, and the Palmerston Magpies are no closer to getting a home.
Nonetheless, the capital works program provides some response to the calls from industry for some action and stimulation from government. Unfortunately, the calls from other Territorians for budget relief has fallen on deaf ears. Those ordinary Territorians who have seen their living costs increase by more than $250 as a direct result of this government’s actions can find no comfort in this budget, nor can business which might have looked forward to some easing of the burdens such as the HIH levy this government has imposed.
The budget papers reveal that taxes on employers will increase by more than $10m in this government’s term, and this government has chosen to spend its new money and continued to play the politics of the black hole. It should be clear to all now that the black hole was nothing but a political tactic. How could it be otherwise? How could it be otherwise when the government can say they have increased spending by $60m across four departments alone, and an extra $48m for capital works? The truth is this government has made a decision to keep the deficit at about the same level as 2001-02, and any deficit, any black hole, is of this government’s choosing and own making.
As I said, it is irresponsible and premature to applaud this budget. It certainly is not a good budget for the 300 Territorians who have lost their job in this government’s downsizing of the public service. The budget papers reveal that the number of public servants has fallen from 14 122 to 13 833 – that excludes the PowerWater Corporation - and that has happened under a Chief Minister who promised no job losses.
On jobs, it is another interesting highlight of this budget to track the Chief Minister’s comments in her speech through the budget books. The Chief Minister, in her speech, told us that 3600 new jobs have been created; 2200 of them full-time positions. However, the Economy Overview paper says employment increased by 5.7% in year average terms, and I quote:
… although almost all of the increase was associated with growth in part-time employment.
As we pass through the first 12 months of this Labor government, the fact is this government has fiddled for 12 months while Territorians were burnt by increases in taxes and charges, and the economy was allowed to struggle along. Territorians have been made to suffer while this government found its feet. Hopefully, in what is going to pass as an Estimates Committee process, we will find out whether they have found out how to govern.
On behalf of Territorians, we need to look behind the headlines of Chief Minister and ministers, and find out what it really means. The opposition will continue to do so, and will continue to ring the alarm bells about this all-too-clever deception of Territorians.
Debate adjourned.
MOTION
Note Statement – Crime Prevention Initiatives
Note Statement – Crime Prevention Initiatives
Continued from page 2236.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, resuming where I was before the response to the budget by the Leader of the Opposition; the ministerial statement by the Attorney-General relating to law and order addresses a number of issues. I am painting a picture or planting a foundation upon which I can make some observations.
We talked about the nature of human beings very briefly, and I have talked and asked a rhetorical question as to why people commit offences and act in an antisocial way. One of the common rationales and golden threads - which certainly exist in legal literature - is that the lower socioeconomic class seems more likely than you are to be a victim and, indeed, a perpetrator of a property offence or an offence involving injury to persons, and also the unlawful use of motor vehicles. There is also a legal philosophy which was put forward by a fellow called Hart. Perhaps he was a little cynical of human nature, but his view was that if someone’s home is broken into and people read about that in the paper, and they say: ‘Oh that is terrible’, at a very base line what people are saying is: ‘Well, I am not that fussed about him, but that could have been me’. So the real concern is: ‘Well, gee, that person was assaulted, or that car was broken into, or that home was broken into, that could have been me’. That fundamental rationale that: ‘I am selfish, I have my property and I would not like to be …
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I am finding it difficult to hear the member. I am wondering whether he could speak up a little please.
Mr MALEY: I apologise for that.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, and there is a little bit of chit chat on the sidelines so perhaps, if people could resume their seat.
Mr MALEY: Madam Speaker, it seems if you are talking about prevention and law and order, the fundamental cornerstone is really the economic position of a particular person and his family. You can create all the artificial divides we see between people of different backgrounds - Aboriginal, coloured, white or whatever - and where you live is largely irrelevant. The fundamental cornerstone is: if there is a strong and vibrant economy in that particular area, irrespective of your ethnic derivations, the chances of you being the victim of a serious offence, or a member of your family committing an offence, would be reduced.
There are two things: there is not only the fact there has to be a strong and vibrant economy, and a person has to have a feeling of self-worth and a job; but you also have to have a stable family. I think it was Caroline Chisholm who said: ‘God’s policemen is a man’s wife and children’. Coupled with those two fundamentals which traverse and permeant every nook and cranny in the Northern Territory, if you can create this environment then, of course, there will be a reduction in the level of crime in all areas, not just property and assaults, but in every form of conduct covered by the Criminal Code.
Page 3 of the ministerial statement talks about the statistics and how ultimately these statistics will go on to create a base line. Well, the statistics alone, of course, may not be of assistance. There is lots and lots of literature about this that says that, as an economy fluctuates, it will have an effect on how many crimes are committed. You can have all the initiatives and motherhood statements you want but, ultimately, there are other factors which will affect whether or not crimes are prevalent in one particular area. You may have an initiative; it is a great idea, something which has come from the grass roots and should be commended, if implemented. However, unfortunately, there may have been a large factory close down in the area or some economic downturn, the end result being that there will be an increase in crime. The statistics which you get will not accurately reflect the real effect which the introduction of a crime preventative-type measure has had. So, the base line from which you work can be corrupted, and not just by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, but by the economy.
I had a conversation with an old Territory policeman who had a view which I will not go into in detail. He had spent a number of years at Port Keats - Wadeye I think it is called now - and he said, in a nutshell: ‘With all the initiatives in the world - you can build health clinics, new police stations, you can do all these things – but you really have to do something about creating a feeling of self-worth, and creating an atmosphere where people have jobs, where there is some private sector’. It does not matter whether you have 2000 Aboriginal people or 2000 white people, that is completely irrelevant. The fact is, you cannot have 2000 people living in a community - and I am not speaking of Port Keats - where there is, effectively, an extremely high unemployment rate, because ultimately a new school, police station, or health clinic will not assist you when that community of 2000 becomes a community of 5000. It is a short-term bandaid; it is not dealing with the heart of the problem.
If you want to create an accurate picture of why crimes have been committed and a law and order platform of substance to deal with the issue, then you have to, indeed, as the minister said, draw upon the many resources which government have. We have the Neighbourhood Watch figures; the DPP in summary prosecutions keep accurate records of how many people are charged; and those statistics may help you. But ultimately, you really have to be a little more proactive. If all this government has to show in the first 12 months is the creation of this new department and, eventually, the publication of statistics, that really is not proactive enough, I suspect, for the people of the Northern Territory.
There was a comment in here, where the Attorney-General referred to the October sittings, where there were a number of - not new offences created, but there were amendments to the Criminal Code. At first blush, you could be forgiven for thinking that this type of conduct had not been covered at all under the Criminal Code prior to the introduction of these amendments. Well, for the record, that is, of course, absolutely untrue. These are not new offences; they were all covered completely, totally, and absolutely by the Northern Territory Criminal Code. Indeed, one of the new offences actually reduced the maximum penalty which a court can impose for conduct which had already been covered under the Northern Territory Criminal Code. This really was legislation for the sake of legislation, and only aimed at, I suspect, misleading a poor journalist to run a story and, hopefully, perpetuate the myth that this Labor government genuinely has an answer to problems which have been around for a lot longer than they have been; and will be here well after the Territory public vote them out of office.
The decay which this type of material creates is out there, and is making a solid start on the attack of any credibility that the Labor government have had, because people read this. Though you may have achieved your news headlines, misled the odd journo, and done all the hard yards in that regard, I have given this to a number of people - people will read it, and those two people already have - and they have got back to me and said: ‘You have to be kidding! Do they think that we are stupid?’ I suspect the Attorney-General is an intelligent man, so he knows it is really does not advance the situation, but it is disturbing to think that he thinks that eventually this is going to wash in all sectors of our community.
At page 8, what you referred to on the front page as well, we have the policy statement: ‘crime, protection, punishment, prevention’. Obviously those words have been around for a long time but, usually, in what has occurred down south it is normally referred to as ‘prevention, protection and punishment’. I am not sure whether they made a mistake there or perhaps that is the innovative twist which the Labor government have put upon the clause. If we are talking about prevention, prevention normally occurs before you have to protect someone. Ultimately prevention, protection and then, if someone does commit the offence, of course, there is a form of punishment.
On the bottom of page 8 there is an element of truth contained in this document. I thought when I first read it: ‘Here we go, we are stepping in the right direction here’. The Attorney-General parroted out the phrase in his speech:
- A truly effective crime prevention program harnesses resources across government to stop crime
before it starts. This is through health, education, housing …
And it goes on. That certainly is, in a sense, heading in the right direction. Ultimately, the next step is, of course, the economy. If you want to have these things - social reforms and jobs and the employment - then you have to stimulate the economy. It is of concern that slugging business another $2.3m to create another independent agency that, it seems, will produce work which should be, you would think, within easy reach of the government of the day in regard to what has happened in the past and the great work that the Neighbourhood Watch people and the Police Liaison Unit have done in the courts. But this government have the mandate, and I look forward to seeing what results this new department brings to bear.
The one initiative which is to be applauded is, of course, liaising with people in our community - the partnerships between concerned citizens and the government. Of course, honourable members will recall this was, in fact, the very thing which the member for Blain initiated in Palmerston. There were a number of community meetings and interested people were invited to attend to hear the stories of what had occurred to people who were the victims of crime. The police and members of the judiciary attended, I understand, and answered questions to better inform people. Then, from that there have been a number of meetings. There is a real ownership of the issue; there is a real feeling in that community that people working together can make a real difference to crime and law and order in the suburbs, in the communities. It is great to see that type of initiative has been readily adopted by the new government; that is, the concept of talking to people and seeing what they want to do.
This particular statement does not contain any vision. The government has been slow to react. A year into their first term - 25% into this term of government - and it seems that the government has not delivered anything of substance. The examples which were articulated at the end of the ministerial statement in regard to anything which the government can do to assist victims will, of course, be supported. An initiative like helping people who have been the victims of unlawful entry clean up their homes is something which should be applauded. However, ultimately, you cannot only keep putting bandaids on the problem; you have to deal with it. Ultimately, you have to deal with it in a substantial way.
These six motherhood statements: serious crime means serious time; and making you safe at home; getting help from the police when you need it; putting victims first; getting tough on the causes of crime; establishing a central crime prevention agency - there are a couple of semi-statements of fact but, in the main they are motherhood-type statements. I would have thought that you can obtain help from the police when you need it. To consider for a moment, it seems the Labor government had considered the opposite, and that is a concern.
As time goes on the true test will be, of course, if the community at large in 12 months, in 18 months, in two or three years’ time, is of the view that this is having an effect. Naturally, the opposition will support anything that the government would do to lessen the impact of crime on the community, but this type of statement is meaningless; it does not advance the situation. I suspect it will come back to haunt the Labor government at the next election.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in support of the minister’s statement on Crime Prevention NT, crime statistics and crime prevention initiatives. Members may have noticed a theme running through many of my speeches to the Assembly during these sittings.
Mr Elferink: It was moronism.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Humperdink.
Mr Elferink: I am bleeding.
Dr BURNS: The theme is that in opposition, we developed an extensive range of policies that were incorporated into our election platform that was placed before the people of the Northern Territory.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Making fun of people’s ethnic surnames is of great concern to me. I would ask the member to refrain from his comments of the personal and offensive, and keep them to the commonsensical.
Madam SPEAKER: All members should be acknowledged by their status, which is the member’s electorate. Speakers should remember that.
Dr BURNS: Thank you, Madam Speaker. I will bear that in mind.
As the minister outlined, the six main elements of our policy which the member for Goyder downplayed, but I think are very important, are simple and worth repeating: serious crime means serious time. That is something the community wants: making you feel safe at home. I can name quite a number of particularly aged people in our community and in my electorate, in particular, who felt very unsafe at home, and have felt they needed security screens. That is something that this government is looking at, particularly in public housing. They feel very, very vulnerable.
One element is getting help from police when you need it. I am not having a go at police here, but I have had a number of calls from people who feel that the police have not been responsive enough. In this budget, this government is committed to increasing numbers of police. We are addressing that concern; we are putting victims first. We have certainly put substantial funds into victim assistance since we have come into office.
Another is getting tough on the causes of crime. Well, we certainly have got tough on drug-related crime because we are getting tough on people who peddle these drugs and drug houses, in particular.
Establishing a central crime prevention agency is another. All of these six are very important. There is no doubt that crime and crime prevention is a major issue in our community. Indeed, I had a Year 12 student from Casuarina Senior College, Ms Sarah Keane-Slack, interview me the other day on these issues for an assignment she was doing. She was particularly interested in crime statistics, like many others in the Territory. To quote from the minister:
- The availability of crime statistics that are accurate, published regularly, and of the highest integrity is
at the core of good governance.
This good governance not only extends to the allocation of resources, based on evidence but, more importantly, allows the public to scrutinise and evaluate the efficacy of our crime prevention strategy. Our allocation of resources is going to be based on evidence; and the best evidence at that. We are being quite strategic in the allocation of resources and the way that we are going to find out about where the problem areas are.
In particular, I am very impressed with the comprehensive approach the minister has foreshadowed for the independent collection and publication of crime statistics by the Office of Crime Prevention - another initiative of this government. Once again, we heard in the Treasurer’s budget speech, there are substantial and significant increases to the funding for this Office of Crime Prevention. The sources for data collection include NT Police Force, Department of Justice, other NT government agencies, the ABS, and the Australian Institute of Criminology. The publication of these quarterly statistics will begin in November 2002, and there will also be an annual report published.
This brings me to a couple of issues about how effective we are going to be as a government. How effective are we going to be in terms of crime prevention? I was very heartened the other Friday night. I was leaving a function at the Darwin Entertainment Centre. It was a multicultural evening; a very nice evening. However, as I was leaving to go to another function, I walked outside the Darwin Entertainment Centre and I saw two officers approaching me - not approaching me personally, but walking down the street towards me.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, could I ask for some silence.
Two officers were walking down the street towards me, and I was very heartened to see that it was the Police Commissioner and Superintendent Owen. I greeted both of them, and thanked the Police Commissioner. Here he was, out at 9:30 on a Friday evening, walking down Mitchell Street, making his presence known to everybody. Here was a very important person, someone who is central to the community’s fight against crime, and who is prepared to get out there, have a look, set an example to the police force, and send the community a very strong message.
I was speaking about this to my son, who is a cab driver, as a matter of fact. I asked him how things were going along Mitchell Street; he drives cabs at night. He said: ‘Things are very quiet in the early morning where there used to be a lot of disruption, because of the police presence there’. We are strategically focussing on those points where there is trouble. I commend the Police Commissioner. I did so on the evening, and I think we all should commend him.
The other thing I would like to draw honourable members’ attention to is an article in today’s NT News: ‘Welcome to the Crime Free Suburb’. It is talking about Alawa, but it also mentions Moil which, of course, is where my electorate office is. The article here talks about: ‘In Moil they also recorded no unlawful entries to homes. “That is quite significant”, he said’. They were talking about Senior Constable Tony Pederson who would be known to most of us here in this House.
As I reflected on that statement, I thought about an observation that I have been making from my electorate office in Moil, where the Foils at Moil are. I have been watching also, a big decrease in activity around the Foils at Moil. Once again, I pay tribute, firstly to the police for their activities, but also, our government has sent a very strong message to those who set up shop, or try to set up shop to sell drugs: no more. I know from what a lot of Moil residents have told me, a lot of the crime in that area was related to the Foils at Moil, where people would steal things out of cars or from houses, go straight up to the Foils at Moil, and swap them for drugs. So, if you want to know how we are going, and how we are thinking about success, yes, we have got a long way to go. But I think there are some very good signs here for the community.
I believe the minister made the point very strongly in his statement that the CLP resisted publishing crime statistics related to mandatory sentencing. By contrast, we will regularly publish statistics related to a range of crimes, as well as court outcomes for property outcomes.
Returning to the Office of Crime Prevention, this is an important policy development which aims to consolidate our government’s efforts in this area by coordinating the implementation of a crime prevention strategy across all government agencies; providing policy advice about crime reduction initiatives; evaluating the efficacy of crime prevention strategies; independently collecting, analysing and publishing crime statistics; and forming regional crime prevention councils. As evidence of this government’s commitment to crime prevention, a ministerial committee on crime prevention has been established comprising the Chief Minister and ministers responsible for justice, health, education and police, with the Minister for Community Development being coopted where appropriate.
As a local member in the northern suburbs, it was very pleasing to learn that this government is committed to increasing the former NT state scheme from $250 000 per annum to $400 000 per year.
I return to my conversation with Sarah Keane-Slack, who I said is a Year 12 student at Casuarina Senior College. Not surprisingly, Sarah was particularly interested in youth issues, and I am sure she will be interested in the initiatives relating to youth contained in the minister’s statement. These include: trial of youth centres in Nightcliff and Borroloola; employment of more sport and recreation officers in remote communities; school attendance officers and diversionary programs for wayward students; and development of a youth night patrol and Safety House program.
I believe the ministerial statement on Crime Prevention NT, crime statistics and crime prevention initiatives is comprehensive, thoughtful and seeks to consolidate and effectively employ the government’s resources to best achieve a significant reduction in crime. This is the result that the community wants. In conclusion, I am pleased to support the minister’s statement on this issue.
Debate adjourned.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Take Five Bills Together
Take Five Bills Together
Ms MARTIN (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent bills entitled Taxation (Administration) Amendment Bill 2002 (Serial 90), Stamp Duty Amendment Bill (No 2) 2002 (Serial 91), Debits Tax Amendment Bill 2002 (Serial 92), Mineral Royalty Amendment Bill 2002 (Serial 93) and Pay-roll Tax Amendment Bill (No 2) 2002 (Serial 94):
(a) being presented and read a first time together and one motion being put in regard to
respectively, the second readings, the committee’s report stage, and the third readings
of the bill together and;
(b) the consideration of the bills separately in the Committee of the Whole.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, this government keeps bringing in bills into the House trying to move this motion. We have had this situation before where they have moved cognate bills and those cognate bills should not have been debated together. I would ask the Treasurer or members opposite to proffer an explanation, when they try to hear bills cognate.
Madam SPEAKER: I think you raised this point yesterday. Treasurer, do you cover this particular point in your second reading speech?
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, they are bills to do with the budget and there will be ample opportunity when we debate them in the House in September to do that. I give you that assurance.
Motion agreed to.
TAXATION (ADMINISTRATION) AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 90)
STAMP DUTY AMENDMENT BILL (No 2)
(Serial 91)
DEBITS TAX AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 92)
MINERAL ROYALTY AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 93)
PAY-ROLL TAX AMENDMENT BILL (No 2)
(Serial 94)
(Serial 90)
STAMP DUTY AMENDMENT BILL (No 2)
(Serial 91)
DEBITS TAX AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 92)
MINERAL ROYALTY AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 93)
PAY-ROLL TAX AMENDMENT BILL (No 2)
(Serial 94)
Bills presented and read a first time.
Ms MARTIN (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that the bills be now read a second time.
The bills seek to put in place a package of measures announced as part of the 2002-03 budget. They are the tools to deliver on the promises of this government and to ensure that we invest for tomorrow. These bills are about encouraging home ownership and about equity and fairness in the tax system.
Specifically there are five bills proposing amendments to the Taxation (Administration) Act, Stamp Duty Act, Debits Tax Act, Mineral Royalty Act and Pay-roll Tax Act. The key proposals involve delivering on our election promises to make home purchase easier and include reforming the stamp duty concessions available to Territory home buyers by increasing the stamp duty concession threshhold for first home owners from $80 000 to $125 000, raising the maximum concession from $2096 to $3640.60; refining the eligibility criteria for the concession by aligning it broadly with those of the $7000 first home owner grant; and introducing a new $1500 stamp duty rebate for all other home buyers for the purchase of a principal place of residence. The measures also include the introduction of a stamp duty exemption for the transfer of dutiable property within a corporate group, and reduce the stamp duty payable on the grant and renewal of franchises.
I will now address the measures included in the Taxation (Administration) Amendment Bill 2002 and the Stamp Duty Amendment Bill (No 2) 2002 in more detail. Prior to the 2001 election, the government made a commitment to increase the first home owner stamp duty concession threshhold from $80 000 to $125 000, increasing the maximum first home buyer stamp duty concession from $2096 to $3640.60. This measure was expected to provide $2.9m in extra assistance to Territory home buyers.
In addition, the bills include changes to the first home buyer stamp duty concession criteria to ensure the assistance is more appropriately targetted to true first home buyers. Currently, the concession is available to any person who purchases their first home in the Territory. This applies even when a person has previously owned a home elsewhere in Australia. Accordingly, the bills broadly align the eligibility criteria of the concession with the First Home Owner Grant Act. This change has the effect of costing less than the $2.9m originally pledged in our pre-election promise. However, this saving will be channelled into a new stamp duty rebate of up to $1500 for all Territory home buyers who are not purchasing their first home.
The increase to the first home owner concession and the new $1500 principal place of residence rebate will allow more Territorians to pay less stamp duty on the purchase of their home than under the former scheme. We will see the Territory stamp duty on the purchase of a family home fall well below the national average, to be one of the lowest in the nation. This delivers on our promise. Both of these concessions are to apply to contracts to buy land that are signed on or after 20 August 2002, being the date this measure was announced as part of the budget.
The bills will also ensure stamp duty on the grant or renewal of a franchise will be assessed at the lease duty rate of 50 per $100, rather than at the higher conveyance duty rates. The measure recognises the similarities between a lease of land and the grant of a franchise. This will represent a cut of up to 90% of the duty payable on the grant or renewal of some franchises. However, it is proposed that the subsequent transfer of a franchise by a franchisee to a third party, to a trust or back to the franchisor, will continue to be assessed at conveyance duty rates.
An anti-avoidance provision has also been inserted to provide for the instance where franchise rights are surrendered by the franchisee, so that similar rights may be granted to another person by the franchisor. This will prevent conveyance duty being avoided through the surrender and grant of franchise rates, compared with the direct transfer from the franchisee to a third party. This measure is to commence from the 20 August 2002, being the date it was announced as part of the budget.
There are instances where it is not possible to rearrange the ownership of property into more efficient structures within a corporate group without incurring stamp duty. To rectify this problem, the bills propose an exemption from stamp duty for the reconstruction of property within certain tightly held corporate groups. Similar exemptions have been introduced by all states other than South Australia and Tasmania. The exemption will be available to transfers of property between companies that are tightly held members of corporate groups; that is, where there is 90% or greater ownership. Similarly, the insertion of a new dormant corporation into a group structure - subject to certain guidelines - will also be exempt from duty. However, in order to reduce avoidance opportunities and the complexity of the provisions, this exemption will not be available to companies that are trustees.
In order to qualify for an exemption for a transfer of group property, a company must be a group member for three years before the transfer of the property, or be a member of a group prior to the original acquisition of the property by the group. In addition, for the transaction to remain exempt the transferor and transferee must remain members of the group for three years after the conveyance, unless the are deregistered or publicly floated. In a circumstance that a company was transferred out of the group within the three years, the exempted stamp duty will be collected from the company’s original group. It is expected that this exemption will result in a backlog of corporate reconstruction transactions as groups take advantage of the exemption to allow for more efficient structures. However, these transactions will have a minimal impact on stamp duty collections, as they generally would not have occurred under the existing stamp duty rules. The corporate reconstructions exemption is to commence from the date of assent.
Stamp duty avoidance schemes that use land-rich companies and unit trusts are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Territory. In many instances, what would normally be a simple transfer of property is, instead, processed through a change in ownership in the company or trust that owns the property, for the predominate purpose of avoiding stamp duty. The land-rich provisions provide a mechanism to cause the transfer of a major interest of shares in a land-rich corporation, or units in a unit trust, to be subject to duty at the higher conveyance duty rate. A land-rich corporation or trust is characterised by 60% or more of the assets of the company or trust, comprising land or mining tenements subject to certain criteria. These provisions ensure the indirect transfer of land and mining tenements by way of an unlisted company or unit trust is taxed as if the ownership of that property was transferred directly.
The Territory, as with all other jurisdictions, has provisions to deal with schemes involving the use of land-rich companies and unit trusts. Court decisions and avoidance schemes have led to the land-rich provisions being defeated in the Territory and elsewhere. Accordingly, the bills provide five measures that are designed to discourage the manipulation of companies and unit trusts to avoid the land-rich provisions.
The first measure ensures that the entry into any arrangement, including a lease for less than market rental, which has the effect of reducing the value of land and mining tenements owned by a company or unit trust, shall be disregarded for the purpose of the land-rich provisions. However, where there are reasons for the arrangement, other than for the reduction or avoidance of stamp duty, the amendments permit the commissioner to allow the arrangements to persist. This amendment is necessary following a decision of the Victorian Supreme Court.
The second measure ensures that the purchase of partly paid shares or units in a land-rich company or unit trust will be treated as though they were fully paid when determining whether there has been a majority acquisition in that company or trust. This amendment is necessary following a decision of the Queensland Supreme Court.
The third measure extends from 12 months to three years the period in which incremental purchases of shares or units will constitute a majority acquisition for the purpose of the land-rich provisions. The three year period is considered to be more of a deterrent for schemes structured to defeat the land-rich provisions. Moreover, this change aligns the Territory’s land-rich provisions with the majority of other states. As a transitional measure, the bills cause the three-year limit to only apply to new acquisitions following the day of commencement.
The fourth measure counters lands-rich avoidance schemes based on the lack of clarity in the operation of the land-rich provisions, when a contract has been entered into to buy or sell land or mining tenements. To rectify this problem, the amendments cause both the vendor and the purchaser to be the owner of the land at the time of entering into the agreement. However, the amendments include the ability for a refund to be provided to a vendor where the sale agreement is settled, or to the purchaser where the sale agreement is rescinded subject to it not being a tax avoidance scheme.
The final measure enables the commissioner to react to avoidance schemes by excluding assets that belong to a company or unit trust, in determining whether that company or trust is land rich, without the need for an amendment to the regulations. This ability to exclude assets without the need for regulations is in line with all other states. The amendments also rectify a minor inequity in the land-rich provisions by ensuring that land-rich duty is only payable on the amount of an interest acquired as a result of the acquisition of the majority interest. As these amendments are anti-avoidance measures, they are set to commence from 20 August 2002, being the date of their announcement as part of the budget.
Stamp duty is imposed on the acquisition of the unencumbered value of the dutiable property held by a partnership upon the acquisition of an interest in the partnership. However, the stamp duty legislation does not adequately explain how the acquisition of a partnership interest in the underlying dutiable property is triggered or valued. In some instances, this uncertainty could lead to the inequitable application of the stamp duty laws. Accordingly, the bills provide a clear set of rules as to how partnership interests are to be dealt with for stamp duty purposes.
The new rules include a clear definition of what comprises a partnership interest, what constitutes an acquisition of such an interest, and how these acquisitions are to be assessed on the formation and dissolution of a partnership. They also ensure partners’ interests are taken into account when assessing any duty payable on the merger of two or more partnerships, or in the retirement of a partner, and that an acquisition is not subject to duty where interests are altered solely as a result of a partner’s performance. The partnership provisions are to commence from the date of assent.
The bills also include changes to the way stamp duty is imposed on hiring arrangements. These include the exclusion of hiring arrangements where an operator is provided with the goods hired, effective from 18 July 2002 as previously announced; and extending the $9000 stamp duty cap to special hiring arrangements, being written arrangements to specify the nature and quantity of goods to be hired and which do not provide for the substitution or addition of goods. However, this will not include master lease arrangements as they do not meet these criteria. This amendment is to commence from the date of assent.
There is a stamp duty exemption available where marital property is split as a result of a Family Court order. However, the exemption does not apply where marital property has been split prior to the issue of that order. As such, the bills allow stamp duty to be refunded if, within 12 months of the conveyance, the Family Court seals orders that are consistent with the conveyance of dutiable property between the spouses. This provision is to commence from the date of assent.
The bills also provide a number of minor administrative and technical amendments that enhance the efficiency and equity of the stamp duty scheme. In all instances they are to commence from the date of assent. The changes:
ensure that nominal duty of $20 is payable in respect of a range of transactions involving
managed investment schemes on which double duty could otherwise be payable. Nominal
duty, instead of conveyance duty, is also payable where a scheme replaces a custodian or
manager, without a change in the interest of scheme members;
Business) Act of the Commonwealth, are subject to duty where property is conveyed.
However, duty will not apply where the transfer of business has been compulsorily acquired
under the act;
only applies where the grant does not have the effect of transfer from a third party;
government, for competitive neutrality reasons;
clarify that reasonable outgoings under a lease of land are not rent for the purposes of assessing duty;
to deed duty;
for the purpose of administering stamp duty on transfers of motor vehicle registrations; and
I now turn to the Pay-roll Tax Amendment Bill (No 2). As you are no doubt aware, our major payroll tax initiatives were included in a Pay-roll Tax Amendment Bill which was passed in these sittings. This second bill contains an administrative amendment to clarify that the term ‘person’ includes a partnership, for the purpose of the Pay-roll Tax Act. This amendment commences from the date of assent.
The Debits Tax Amendment Bill aligns the compliance powers of the Debits Tax Act with those of other taxing acts; converts court imposed penalties to penalty units and increases these penalties in line with contemporary values; and ensures a financial institution that promotes the shifting of bank accounts outside the Territory to avoid debits tax is jointly and severally liable with account holders for the debits tax avoided. The first two changes commence from the date of assent, and as the last is an anti-avoidance measure, it commences from the 20 August 2002, being the date it was announced as part of the budget.
I turn now to the Mineral Royalty Amendment Bill, which proposes to:
allow the secretary to extend the time in which a royalty payer may lodge an objection, where the royalty payer has a reasonable excuse for failing to lodge an objection within the 30-day period. However, this amendment is not to apply to an objection where the time period for the lodging of the objection has already expired at the date of the commencement of the amendment;
information to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in relation to royalties
received from the holders of mining tenements on Aboriginal land. This information allows
the commission to fulfil its statutory obligations towards calculating the royalty equivalents,
under the Aboriginal Benefits Account for distribution to its relevant members; and
the Mineral Royalty Act cannot be compelled to provide evidence in a court, except where it is
necessary as part of the administration of the act.
These amendments are to commence from the date of assent.
Madam Speaker, I commend these bills to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
APPROPRIATION BILL 2002-03
(Serial 89)
(Serial 89)
Continued from page 2241.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I rise to support the Treasurer’s statement on the 2002-03 Northern Territory budget and the future outlook for the Territory. I applaud the budget strategies outlined in the Treasurer’s statement as these will certainly deliver real programs and opportunities for Territorians.
There are a number of important programs and budget initiatives spread across my portfolio areas which deserve comment. The Employment, Education and Training budget will increase by $14m, to $505m - a 3% increase. In 2002-03, the agency’s operating expenses allocation is $504.667m. Of this amount, $374.286m is sourced from Northern Territory appropriations, and $98.616m from external sources, including the Commonwealth. It also includes depreciation and carry over amounts from 2001-02. The total expenditure variations for the agency is $32.653m. This variation incorporates the addition of new cash for election commitments and for new initiatives; the provision of the repairs and maintenance budget of $18.75m for schools for the first time in the DEET budget - there is no corresponding figure for the previous financial year as this is recorded in the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment budget for that year. Other significant movement of budgets are described in Budget Paper No 3 for the agency; and one example is the revised timing of the Commonwealth IESIP receipts.
The 2002-03 Employment, Education and Training budget will allow for the employment of over 3500 people at a cost of $240.272m; provide $42.609m administrative expenses for the agency, much of which is distributed to schools; and direct grants valued at $165.929m to schools, training providers and community-based education organisations. The structure of the Department of Employment, Education and Training budget is relatively simple. The agency is concerned with employment, education and training, and these are the output groups that are funded for 2002-03. The employment output group is focussed on developing employment strategies to ensure a skilled work force is available to meet the needs of the future, and that appropriate policy advice and regulation is available to provide a safe working environment for all employees in the Territory.
A total of $16.711m has been allocated for the employment output group. This figure reflects:
the one-off payment for HIH Insurance of $6m in 2001-02 has not been repeated in
2002-03 as this will be funded by the levy arrangement;
Employment and Training Authority (NTETA), the former Department of Education, and
the Work Health Authority totalling $4.2m; and
of the Energy Training Institute with the aim of developing an informed employment and
training strategy for the Northern Territory to cost $0.5m.
The government education output group provides infrastructure and support required for government school students in the Territory at $356.013m. It facilitates the recruitment of international students at $0.989m. It also provides operational funding for the Northern Territory University and assistance to tertiary level students to attend interstate universities for courses that are priority fields of study, and student teacher bursaries, amounting to $7.542m.
There are currently 150 government schools located throughout the Territory providing education to over 32 000 students. The focus of this government has been to improve access arrangements for all Territory students, especially indigenous. I am pleased to announce a number of new initiatives that will have an impact on government schools during 2002-03. The per capita rate for funding school supplies for government schools has not changed since 1993-94. In fact, the per capita rate required an increase of more than 20% to ensure it adequately provided for the needs of schools for stationery, text books, library, software and equipment. The new rates will be increased by 21.3% in 2002-03. The initiative will cost $0.862m in 2002-03 and, most importantly, the rates are to be indexed from 2003-04 onwards.
The portfolio has had significant base funding problems over many years. Base funding is non-discretionary funds for schools such as teachers’ salaries, school supplies and school operating costs. An additional allocation of $5m was provided in the 2001-02 mini-budget and forward years, to help resolve this perennial problem. A further $1m will be provided in 2002-03 and forward years. This means an extra $6m of base funding per annum is added on.
An additional $300 000 has been allocated for the professional development needs of teachers. $60 000 is allocated to support professional development for classroom teachers in the areas of special education and behavioural management. $60 000 will be provided to extend the new emerging leaders program to the northern suburbs and Palmerston schools. This new leadership program gives teachers the opportunity to develop skills to take on leadership roles in school teams and in school management. $80 000 will be provided to design and deliver an indigenous leadership program specifically targetting the needs of current and potential indigenous school leaders. $50 000 will be provided to hold workshops for whole school teams from remote schools. This proposal builds on the success of the recent Alice Springs Remote Schools Conference involving 200 staff from 26 schools. Also, $30 000 will provide professional development for early childhood teachers.
Our government has proposed and funded the introduction of School Attendance Officers. This will involve the recruitment of two attendance officers in 2002-03, five in 2003-04 and eight in 2004-05. Initial costs will be $170 000, rising to $680 000 in 2004-05. School Attendance Officers will work with identified schools and school communities where there are significant issues in relation to attendance and retention. School Attendance Officers will be able to cooperatively develop local solutions in conjunction with schools’ existing support staff and other key local stakeholders to achieve effective change.
Our government will establish diversionary programs for wayward students. The initiative is evolving and is being incorporated as an integral component of a student enrolment, attendance and retention strategy. The strategy will include initiatives to cater for those students with unacceptable behavioural problems, and students currently not engaged with education. A formal implementation plan is currently being developed and will be considered by government later this year, but the program has been allocated $0.5m in 2002-03.
Much of the school infrastructure in the Northern Territory, particularly in remote communities, is in desperate need of repair. For many years, school infrastructure has not been adequately maintained as a result of a lack of money being directed towards the employment, education and training portfolio. Our government has committed an additional $5m per annum for repairs and maintenance to schools commencing from 2002-03. It will help to overcome some of the backlog in maintenance, and ensure essential maintenance is carried out each year on schools.
Some announcements have already been made about capital works proposed for 2002-03. There are six projects on the 2002-03 capital works program for employment, education and training that will cost $12.69m. These are:
Parap Primary School, stage one upgrade estimated at $2.24m;
storage and toilets estimated at $.34m;
for IT cabling, partitioning, relocation and other establishment costs; and
upgrading of remote schools for which $3m has been allocated. These remote school projects
are Maningrida Community Education Centre, stage one upgrade facilities at $1m; Papunya School,
stage one upgrade facilities at $1.05m; Milyakburra School, extension to existing school at $0.4m;
and homeland centres upgrading in the Alyawarra/Anmatjere cluster at $0.41m.
In the 2001-02 mini-budget, our government funded 20 additional teaching positions for schools and committed our government to providing 100 additional teacher positions during our first term of government. In the 2002-03 budget, a further 20 teachers will be recruited at a cost of $3.22m. The costs will rise to $8.14m when all 100 additional teachers are recruited.
My colleague, Minister Ah Kit, has announced details about a significant program to improve the housing situation for remote communities …
Dr LIM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I believe that the Deputy Chief Minister is speaking to the budget. In such an important event in the Northern Territory, I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam SPEAKER: A quorum is not present. Ring the bells. I remind members we do need a quorum in the House; it is a legitimate call. You realise after three minutes we will have to adjourn the House if we do not have a quorum. I do not know where your Whips are.
Minister, you may continue.
Mr STIRLING: About as shabby as it gets, Madam Speaker, for the opposition to desert the House. They claim to have an interest in matters education and training, and a forward vision for the Territory and yet cannot get off their backsides to attend parliament to listen to the speech, including the opposition spokesperson on education.
For the opposition to have one member sitting in here - one member out of 10 who has the temerity to jump up and claim the numbers are not here - he needs to look to his own side. He needs to look to his other side. A shameful episode. Here is one of the lazy grubs, walks in here now.
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! While I have been able to listen to the member, I have heard that he has used language which is not permissible in this House in that he is reflecting on the absence or presence of members in the House.
Mr Stirling: Your member brought attention to it, you idiot.
Madam SPEAKER: The lack of quorum actually did that, the lack of quorum. Leader of Government Business, you were talking to the budget, please get back to it.
Mr STIRLING: Thank you, Madam Speaker. My colleague, Minister Ah Kit …
Mr Ah Kit: He did not name anyone; just called you a grub.
Dr LIM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I think the member for Arnhem needs to withdraw his use of most unparliamentary language.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Arnhem, I did not hear it but you know not to use it. Withdraw.
Mr AH KIT: I called him a grub. I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Dr Burns: Well, he is a pupae.
Dr LIM: Again, a point of order, Madam Speaker! The member for Johnston now does the same thing.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Arnhem, the principle is that you withdraw unreservedly without making any further …
Mr AH KIT: I did. I withdraw unreservedly, Madam Speaker.
Dr LIM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I initially referred to the member for Arnhem; I now refer to the member for Johnston who is continuing the same line of discussion.
Madam SPEAKER: This is ridiculous.
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, speaking to the point of order, I did not call …
Madam SPEAKER: Be careful what you say. I am getting a little fed up with the antics that are going on in this House. If you use unparliamentary language and you have been chastised and pulled up, you withdraw without comment.
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I did not use unparliamentary language.
Madam SPEAKER: Unfortunately, I did not hear it. Member for Greatorex, I am loath to ask you to repeat it, but I will say to all members: watch your language. I will ask Hansard to show me a transcript to make sure what you have said is correct.
Dr BURNS: I think you will be satisfied, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: I hope so. Leader of Government Business, can we get back to the …
Mr STIRLING: Thank you, Madam Speaker, and I apologise for the behaviour of the opposition on this, your birthday. I would have expected better.
My colleague, Minister Ah Kit, has announced details about a significant program …
Dr LIM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I believe this is becoming a real habit of members of government. They are starting to use names of members rather than their electorates.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, it is quite true, you should say: ‘My colleague, the Minister for Community Development’, or ‘the member for Arnhem’. Standing orders refers to that. Members should be referred to by the electorate.
Mr STIRLING: My colleague, the Minister for Community Development, Mr John Ah Kit, member for Arnhem, has announced details about a significant program to improve the housing situation for remote communities. This includes 20 new houses for teachers, the replacement of houses beyond repair, and the upgrading of existing houses. All new, replacement and upgraded housing will have, as a minimum security screens to windows and doors, security lighting and fencing. Quality housing and security is crucial in improving teacher recruitment and retention in remote communities.
Our government has introduced a student/teacher bursary scheme to encourage Territory students to stay in the Northern Territory and complete teaching qualifications at a local tertiary institution. This scheme will improve the recruitment and retention rate of teachers, and reduce the significant costs associated with recruiting teachers from interstate. The bursary scheme will cost $0.490m in 2002-03, and $1.03m by the end of our first term in government.
Increased funding of $460 000 has been included in the budget for part-time inclusion support assistance, to work one-on-one with students with disabilities. This will aid their inclusion in mainstream classroom learning and brings the total for the program to $2.23m. As part of the Labor government’s commitment to the implementation of the recommendations of the Learning Lessons review, the government has made an all-agency commitment to support the establishment of four self-managing schools. With assistance from the Commonwealth, the Department of Employment, Education and Training is establishing four remotely located self-managing school pilots with a view to extending successful measures to other schools over time.
The four self-managing school pilot locations selected by the Learning Lessons implementation steering committee are: Alyawarra/Anmatjere cluster comprising eight schools; the Warlpiri triangle of Lajamanu, Yuendumu, Willowra and Nyirripi; Maningrida CEC; and the Tiwi Islands. Intersectoral collaboration in these pilot communities is essential, and other agencies are expected to assist in maximising resources and effort in them. Already, the Minister for Health and Community Services has made a commitment to devote extra resources to address hearing difficulties amongst students in self-managing school communities.
Our government has given a commitment of $5m each year to the NTU to provide operational funds for the university. This will help overcome some of the funding problems that the university has. However, clearly we need to continue to work with the Commonwealth and the council of the university to improve the viability of the Northern Territory University.
The non-government school sector is a vibrant part of our school community. The sector currently has an enrolment of over 8000 students spread across Catholic, independent and Christian schools in the Territory. Our government has fostered its relationship with the sector and has agreed to the formation of a ministerial advisory committee that will provide advice to government on a range of issues that affect the non-government schools sector. This will range across issues such as the registration of schools, the viability of projects, curriculum content and so on, that will help to improve communication between the government, the sector and parents of children who attend non-government schools. The non-government education output will cost $65.607m in 2002-03.
The non-government schools sector per capita funding under the previous government was 20% of the average cost of a student attending a government school. Our government has agreed to increase this to 21%, and also to ensure that the cost pool from which this is calculated is representative of the costs of a government school student. The change to the rate of 21% and the re-evaluation of the cost pool has resulted in an increase in funding for the non-government school sector. In 2002-03, an amount of $0.43m has been provided to fund the increase in the dollar rate for non-government schools. The changes in the rates are: primary school rate goes up by 10% or $125 per student; remote school rate goes up by 12% or $212 per student; and the secondary school rate goes up by 1% or $11 per student.
The non-government school sector, in many cases, does not have the resources to construct new schools or classrooms, or even to provide essential refurbishment to some of the older schools. This has often created difficulties for non-government schools. I am pleased to announce that our government has approved the funding of significant capital projects for the sector. Given the limited resources available to the government to provide services to all students, it has been necessary to review the extent of funding that is provided to the non-government sector, particularly in respect of interest subsidy. A revised capital and interest subsidy policy has been developed, taking into account representation from the non-government sector.
For 2002-03 onwards, a capital subsidy of 50% will be paid for approved projects and, similarly, with interest subsidy. For 2002-03, the following projects have been approved; these represent a spread of projects across the Catholic, independent and Christian schools:
- Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Alice Springs, construct three classrooms,
project value $250 000;
project value $150 000;
project value $800 000;
project value $300 000; and
The projects will collectively cost the non-government school sector and government $2.523m.
The Vocational Education and Training output group provides vocational training that meets the school development needs of individuals and industry. Most of this training is nationally recognised in accordance with the Australian qualifications framework. This output group has been allocated $57.805m and will fund several new initiatives. Labor promised to extend VET programs down to Year 9 and allocated $0.5m for 2001-02, and $1m in this budget and ongoing for the training for remote youth, known as the TRY initiative. The TRY program is targetted at young people aged between 14 and 19 years in the community, whether they currently attend school or not. TRY funding is expected to be supplemented with $0.8m of growth funding from the Australian National Training Authority.
The delivery of VET programs across the Northern Territory requires an understanding of the contextual issues that can and do impact on the delivery of programs in regional and remote areas. In 2002-03, our government is providing an additional two VET coordinators to help deliver VET programs in regional and remote areas. $0.45m has been allocated in 2002-03. The amount will rise to $0.68m by 2004-05, employing five coordinators. The Vocational Education and Training output group provides both public and private vocational education and training in the Northern Territory. This government’s commitment to VET is evident in the budget.
The Department of Employment, Education and Training purchased training on behalf of Territorians and Territory businesses to the tune of $59.504m in 2001-02. The figure includes expenditure of approximately $10m for apprenticeship training recorded in the employment output section of Budget Paper No 3, rather than the training output. For 2002-03, I envisage that a similar level of training will be purchased from training providers although this could obviously change, depending on the training needs of the community and the cost of meeting those needs.
I turn now to the portfolio of Police, Fire and Emergency Services. The budget for Police, Fire and Emergency Services will increase by $8m to $142m, a 6% increase. Our government has given a commitment for the provision of 50 additional police officers in its first parliamentary term. In January this year, the Police Commissioner increased his establishment from 940 to 950 to cater for 10 additional police members. A current recruit course of 27, including the additional 10 members, commenced in April and will graduate in October 2002. A recruitment program throughout 2002-03 will include a further 10 police positions and two support staff. Funding of $2.580m has been provided this year to ensure we have sufficient police in place to target known problem areas and to help reduce the rate of crime. In line with the three-point plan on drugs and the six-point plan on property crime, this government has given a commitment to provide additional police resources for street patrols and to counter home invasion offences. We are also doubling the size of the drug squad from 20 to 40 police officers.
In August 2001, this government gave a commitment to increase the Fire and Rescue Service by 16 extra fire officers over Labor’s first term. Funding of $460 000 has been made available this financial year to honour this commitment, and a firefighters’ recruit course commenced on 15 July 2002, including five additional firefighters.
This government has given a commitment to increase assistance for Neighbourhood Watch. Recurrent funding of $110 000 has been allocated to enable more community-based initiatives to be undertaken to reduce crime and help make our suburbs safer, in line with the six-point plan. Due to the previous government not supplying sufficient funding, this government has given the commitment of $2.12m this year to provide additional funding for the new Darwin Police Station. We will make sure that we are not putting our police officers or the public at risk in an unsafe building, and this funding will ensure that it is a state-of-the-art facility. I could say more, but I will restrain myself on that issue.
Funding of $1m has been provided this year to commence the construction of a new police station at Kintore. This will ensure the remote areas in the central region are provided with a permanent police presence to cater for their needs. The construction of stage one of the mounted patrol facility at the Peter McAulay Centre will also see the police mounted patrol facility brought to first class standard. Our government has allocated $350 000 in this financial year for this initiative.
The government has provided $820 000 for telecommunications interception capability. Jurisdictions must have in place enabling legislation mirroring that of the Commonwealth in order to conduct interception. The government has provided the funding to allow this to now take place. The use of telecommunications interception can be a vital tool in the collection of evidence during the investigation of major crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and organised crime. Our government has provided $100 000 over the next three years to cover costs associated with the forfeiture of assets as a consequence of criminal activity, in line with current legislation. This legislation empowers the confiscation of assets that have been acquired as a consequence of criminal activity.
An allocation of $350 000 has been provided this year to ensure the continuation of a program to purchase equipment to improve police officer safety throughout the Territory.
This government will continue the program to replace obsolete radio equipment to ensure that Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services have the communications network necessary to respond to emergency and criminal incidents in a timely and professional manner. An allocation of $730 000 has been provided by this government this year to ensure finalisation of the project.
As part of the Territory’s commitment to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, all cells in the Northern Territory are being upgraded to prevent self-inflicted injury and suicide. This year will see the continuation of the program. Funding of $540 000 has been provided by the government for the modification and upgrade of police holding cells at Avon Downs, Galiwinku and Daly River.
Our government confirms our commitment to continue the program to replace major firefighting appliances. This government has provided an allocation of $570 000 this year to enable the fire service to replace two 3000 litre tanker pumping appliances at the Darwin and Katherine Fire Stations.
I also have portfolio responsibility for the Racing, Gaming and Licensing division which provides regulation, monitoring, compliance and revenue collection services for racing, gaming, liquor, kava, private security and escort agency activities. I would like to mention highlights of what the Racing, Gaming and Licensing division will focus on this year.
The cross-border betting task force was established at the May 2002 Racing Ministers’ meeting to consider the implications of cross-border betting for the Australian racing industry as a whole. In recent years, the Territory has fostered a competitive and vibrant sports and race waging environment. Accordingly, the Territory has a keen interest and important stake in the outcome of these deliberations that are to be considered at the next ministers’ meeting in early November. Significant progress has been made to date in undertaking legislative reviews of relevant racing, gaming and licensing legislation. During the course of this year, a range of steps including appropriate legislative amendments will need to be taken to implement the outcomes of these reviews.
The Community Benefit Fund sources funds from a 10% levy on hotel gaming machine profits. Use of the Community Benefit Fund by the previous government for the Small Grants Program in the lead-up to the last election has been the source of considerable public debate. In his February 2002 report to the Legislative Assembly, the then Auditor-General identified a number of serious concerns regarding the program. Accordingly, this government has undertaken a comprehensive review of the Community Benefit Fund aimed at providing clearer purposes for the use of the fund, and enhancing the transparency and accountability of the fund. This review was recently concluded and the revised fund will be launched shortly. A new Community Benefit Fund committee comprised of community and government representatives will be formed shortly, to advise the minister on grants from the fund and to monitor the contribution that club licensees make from gaming machine profits to community amenity.
In relation to the racing industry, the government has maintained our commitment to fund the industry through the Darwin Turf Club, as the Northern Territory principal club, in accordance with the current funding agreement. Payments to the racing industry this year will amount to $5.621m.
I also have responsibility for the Office of Commissioner for Public Employment. The OCPE budget for 2002-03 will be $6.148m, a reduction of $430 000 from 2001-02. The variation is due to the review of the Office of Commissioner for Public Employment undertaken at the end of last year, and the identification of various administrative reforms including the transfer of positions to DCIS. In 2002-03, the Office of Commissioner for Public Employment will continue to have responsibility for the areas of industrial relations, policy development, and advice and leadership in management development.
This government is committed to improving facilities and services in regional and remote areas of the Territory. The electorate of Nhulunbuy and the surrounding Gove region will benefit from the 2002-03 budget through extra funds for education, health, community safety, and a range of programs and initiatives aimed at advancing community capabilities, facilities and access to services. Budget highlights for the region will include:
a proportion of over $37m for the delivery of education across regional and remote areas
of the Top End;
$2.1m to construct a multipurpose airconditioned hall at Nhulunbuy High School – it keeps
getting in my speeches, and it gives me no less pleasure to keep going over that one line;
benefit from increased Territory-wide funding of $2.36m to employ additional hospital nurses;
newborn to 5-year-old developmental assessments, domiciliary and palliative care nursing,
postnatal care and hearing services;
Fire and Emergency Services facilities.
In the words of our Treasurer and Chief Minister, this budget delivers real programs to people with real needs. I am pleased and proud to commend this year’s budget to parliament.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, it seems like there is not much enthusiasm over there. I rise today to inform the House on initiatives which have been funded in this budget for justice programs, information technology and communications, and for Central Australia.
First, let me say that I share the very strong determination in our government to continue our financially responsible approach to budgeting, with the goal of delivering a plan for a balanced budget by 2004-05. This year’s budget builds on a successful and responsible mini-budget from last November, which was forced on us by the financially disgraceful practice of the CLP spending money it simply did not have. This budget provides for improved services to Territorians, but in a fiscally responsible manner.
As Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, I am responsible for the Department of Justice. The department was created in our public service restructure late last year and now manages a diverse and interwoven range of justice functions. The department has been allocated $104.3m for 2002-03, which is an increase of $5.2m. This includes repairs and maintenance redistributed from Transport and Works. The department plays a key role in the delivery of justice services and in implementing this government’s election commitments.
The Office of Crime Prevention is charged with implementing our election commitments and reforms through Crime Prevention NT, and I am pleased to announce that the office’s allocation has been increased by $1.099m this financial year to over $2.3m. $400 000 of that amount will be available for supporting community-based crime prevention strategies, to ensure effective partnerships with the community; partnerships which are the cornerstone of Crime Prevention NT. The Office of Crime Prevention has a total staff of 16, involved in driving and coordinating program delivery across government agencies, establishing regional crime prevention committees, supporting local crime prevention groups, administering the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme and, later this year, publishing the first comprehensive and accurate crime statistics for the Northern Territory.
One of the most important initiatives of this government is our three-point plan on drugs. Building on our drug law reform package which was passed in May, this budget sees the commencement of funding for the Northern Territory Drug Courts. Part of point two of that plan, $150 000 is to be allocated this year to commence the implementation phase, with a $300 000 committed budget each year after that. Drug courts interstate are proving to be a powerful way of helping to break the drug crime cycle drug-dependent people can tragically fall into. Persons whose offences are serious or repeated will go to jail. Appropriate offenders, whose addiction is the basis of their offending, can be referred for treatment and rehabilitation in conjunction with their offences being dealt with by the criminal justice system.
One of the clear election commitments of this government is to assist the victims of crime. $4m is being provided for the Crimes Victims Assistance Fund. The government is committed to better use of that fund by streamlining processes and reducing the level of legal costs to ensure the benefits go to where they are intended, and that is to help the victims of crime. This government has also increased, by $20 000, the funding to assist victims of break-ins who need immediate help to repair damaged property, or to clean up after break-ins. A total of $50 000 will be provided this year, which will enable expansion of the program beyond Darwin and Palmerston. These initiatives build on an extra $837 000 to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to ensure Territorians are better represented in prosecutions and appeals, and to increase the services to victims provided by the office of the DPP.
One of the key functions of the department is legislation and policy advice. Since I became Minister for Justice and Attorney-General just over a year ago, I have put 49 pieces of legislation through this parliament. Many of these have entailed significant law reform including:
the legislation which repealed mandatory sentencing and was replaced with tough but fair
aggravated property offences and sentencing regimes;
to stand trial and the law of insanity, bringing the Northern Territory into line with the rest of
Australia;
break the drug property crime link by focussing on the dealers and manufacturers of illicit drugs;
can be re-opened if new evidence comes to light, and to ensure that agencies respond in writing to
Coroners’ recommendations;
infringement penalties so imprisonment is a sanction of the last resort; and
development of the final bill which I introduced to this House last week.
Our law reform program will continue during the next year. In this budget, we have increased the capacity for legislative and policy advice by over 10%, with funding of $130 000, which will provide two new positions to the policy section.. This is in recognition of the work we are asking the public service to do on our election commitments and other objectives, and is a clear example of this government’s support and appreciation of their work.
As I have already said, one of the most significant law reform projects in the last year has been developing the Information Bill. $220 000 has been allocated this financial year, increasing to $440 000 in following years, for the Office of the Information Commissioner. That office will implement the Information Bill and provide the extensive education and training campaign which will be needed before it can commence. The office will also support the Information Commissioner in carrying out his or her statutory functions which include: promoting understanding and acceptance of freedom of information and the information privacy principles; providing advice and training to government agencies; and dealing with complaints.
To reduce overall legal costs paid by government we have asked the Solicitor of the Northern Territory to re-evaluate the way funds are spent on litigation and other legal work. The work of the Legal Services Division will be expanded so that in-house specialist legal services can be provided to government, rather than outsourcing all legal work. $1.3m has been re-allocated in this budget to build the resources and increase the capacity of the legal services area. The department will be required to carry out an evaluation of service delivery to ensure the best and most efficient practices are followed. Some government legal work should be outsourced to use the expertise of the local legal community; however, our aim is to achieve a more appropriate balance between outsourcing and using government legal expertise. This initiative will ensure that government legal expertise is maintained and developed and, again, demonstrates our support and appreciation of our public service.
Court services have also been directed to reform the way they do business. Offsets come from the new Fines Recovery Unit, which was set up when the legislation reform in the collection of fines and penalties was passed. During this upcoming year, the fines recovery process will be improved to make the process easier for Territorians; but the new system is already having a substantial impact. I am pleased to be able to report that, since the commencement of the act in January this year, imprisonment of fine defaulters has fallen from a high of 294 in March 1999 to 2 in June 2002. Over the period in which the Fine Recovery Unit has operated, some $2.4m of fines and penalties has been recovered by the staff of the Fine Recovery Unit. That is an excellent outcome from the point of view of clearing these matters from the public domain, and also, in defence of fines and penalties as a level of punishment that is very valuable within our system, reducing the need for inappropriate use of imprisonment.
Another exciting initiative, and one which I am personally pleased to see, is the introduction of the Community Justice Centre to the Northern Territory early next year. $300 000 allocated over this financial year and next will see the trial of a Community Justice Centre in Darwin, starting the implementation of another election commitment. Community Justice Centres will give Territorians a mechanism to resolve conflicts like neighbourhood disputes, family conflict and small claims by mediation rather than having to resort to costly court processes; improving access to justice and improving services to ordinary Territorians.
I am pleased to announce that Correctional Services gets a well-earned boost of around $4.2m after they have improved efficiencies. This highlights our commitment to ensuring the Territory is a safer community. To underpin a significant reform, we have allocated $50 000 in the budget to implement an integrated offender management system that builds upon a model which is showing success in New Zealand. The trial of this model highlights the innovative ways Correctional Services must now manage offenders. The system will enable Correctional Services to track an offender’s progress through the prison system; to target health and rehabilitation programs to individual offender’s needs; and to enhance the prospects of their successful reintegration into the community. This program will support our other crime prevention programs by reducing reoffending and subsequent cost to victims, the offender’s families, and the criminal justice system.
I take this opportunity to comment on the work of the Correctional Services prison officers. They do a really tough and important job contributing to community protection through detention and rehabilitation. I would like to assure the prison officers this government will ensure that they have the right tools to carry out their duties. With this budget, we will spend $250 000 improving the security access to the Darwin Correctional Centre as part of our capital works program. The redevelopment of what is known as Sallyport will significantly increase security in and out of the prison, and add to officer protection and community safety.
On a different note, $90 000 will be allocated to the Land Titles Office to improve the searching capacity of titles and to preserve the paper records. Those Territorians who have had to do title searches will appreciate the capacity and effectiveness of being able to do it electronically.
The Department of Justice is one of the lead agencies charged with progressing this government’s social law reform agenda. There will be major changes and better service delivery in this area including: improvements related to the national commitment on indigenous affairs that the Territory government should have agreed to implement more than five years ago when every other state and territory did; taking justice into the 21st century; and ensuring Territorians receive the best possible services when they are victims of crime. There will be changes in Correctional Services’ practice, especially in the development of rehabilitative programs. All service delivery will be innovative, properly costed and directly related to the real outcomes that will benefit Territorians.
The Department of Justice is staffed by 829 dedicated and professional officers, and I also take this opportunity to commend and thank them for their dedication and hard work over the last year.
I will now turn to the second of my portfolios, the Department of Corporate and Information Services, or DCIS. DCIS is responsible for the delivery of corporate services to Northern Territory government agencies. It is working on a number of initiatives which will deliver savings to government through improved services and innovative technology. This year, the department will continue to play a crucial role in implementation of accrual accounting and the information management requirements under the new Information Bill. It will also be responsible for implementing many of the ICT action items in our economic development strategy, Building a Better Territory. It is in the unique position to help develop the ICT sector in the Northern Territory.
Since the public service restructure, DCIS now has responsibility for communications. This puts the department in a unique position to develop and coordinate whole-of-government approaches to communication and information technology. DCIS plays a vital role in continuing to deliver efficiencies to government through improved government business systems. Last year, DCIS developed a software application it named Wizards, to provide a user friendly interface with the government’s business accounting systems. Wizards has been developed for accounts payable, accounts receivable and asset management. They are much easier to use, resulting a faster processing of information and providing associated savings.
DCIS has also developed MyHR, which allows government HR functions such as transactions for leave, overtime, higher duties and staff transfers to be performed by agencies using the NT government Intranet. It also allows individual access to personal information details for public servants. The automatic processing of the majority of overtime and leave transactions, and less manual interventions, provides efficiency gains in payroll processing and more timely turnaround time for transaction processing. MyHR will be rolled out to all agencies by December 2002, and is expected to deliver considerable efficiencies over the next two to three years.
DCIS will also initiate the second phase of the MyHR project, which involved the investigation of a web-based application to enable online reporting of HR information via the NT government Intranet. This second phase will ensure the potential of the government’s HR information system to deliver comprehensive and robust management reporting can be used through a powerful and user friendly reporting package on the computer desktop of an NTPS manager or human resource practitioner.
Other innovative developments by DCIS include a pay online facility which will allow Territorians who received invoices issued by DCIS, on behalf of other agencies, to pay over the Internet. Costing $55 000, this facility is expected to be operating by September. DCIS is also evaluating an online system which allows electronic ordering, payment and presentation, in conjunction with the Territory’s banker, Westpac. This system will allow electronic transfer of information and payment to NT government suppliers. If it is adopted, it will allow Territory businesses to receive their orders and payment electronically from the NT government at no cost to them. It is hoped to trial this system in February 2003.
As part of its whole-of-government service delivery, DCIS is also responsible for converting the current cash accounting system to accrual accounting, and developing appropriate financial reporting systems. We have seen today that the opposition could well pay close attention to this development. While the conversion has now occurred, there is additional work that will be undertaken during 2002-03 which will be met from the DCIS budget including: developing automatic reconciliation processes to facilitate reporting of financial information and performance for agencies; amending the existing system modules within GAS to cater for accrual requirements; providing assistance to agencies on the range of accrual accounting needs; undertaking training for DCIS and agency staff in accrual reporting; and providing a suite of accrual financial reports to all government agencies.
To supplement the department’s expertise in delivering services to NT government agencies and, in recognition of its new responsibility for communications following the public service restructure last year, a major initiative in this budget is the appointment of the Executive Director ICT. The position is funded at $225 000 in this financial year, although it will be fully funded from existing resources from 2004-05. The Executive Director has commenced with DCIS and will initially focus on ensuring there is equitable, affordable and coordinated telecommunications access for remote Territory communities; developing strategies to grow the Territory ICT industry in accordance with the government’s economic development strategy; reviewing the current IT outsourcing contracts to ensure both the Territory and industry are receiving maximum benefit; and analysing the strategic directions of ICT in the Territory to ensure that the infrastructure and services are coordinated and that the Territory is positioned to capitalise on developing technology.
The Executive Director will chair the first industry forum on information communication technology on 3 and 4 September this year. The forum - planned in conjunction with the Department of Business, Industry and Regional Development, the Territory ICT Industry Association and the Business Council - will address issues like growing the industry, intellectual property and its use, procurement, public/private partnerships and outsourcing.
Another element of DCIS’ responsibility is the role the Archives Service will have in implementing the record keeping components of the new Information Bill. $150 000 has been budgeted to support this strategic role, which will involve the Archives Service developing records management standards in accordance with the bill, and assisting agencies to improve their record keeping capacities.
I take this opportunity to likewise thank the staff of DCIS for the important work they do on behalf of government - work that often goes unrecognised and unacknowledged because it delivers services every day, day after day, without a hitch. I characterise the bulk of the work done by the DCIS staff as like the bloodstream of this government; if they were not working to the efficiency levels they are, this government would have a lot of trouble operating.
I now turn to my Central Australian portfolio. The Martin government has a commitment to developing the regions of the Territory. In keeping with this, Central Australia has received significant funding in this budget, particularly in capital works and in repairs and maintenance.
Remote communities and Tennant Creek are benefiting, as well as Alice Springs. The construction industry, which is the livelihood of many small businesses, will benefit from the new capital works on schools in Alice Springs and Papunya; Nyinka Nyunyu Cultural Centre in Tennant Creek; the health centre at Yuendumu; a new police station at Kintore; further work on Alice Springs Hospital; and a range of other construction works all over the region.
Our road network has also been neglected for too long, and I am proud that this government has allocated over $15m in new works and maintenance on the regional roads of Central Australia. This includes significant work on the Tanami Road, the first stage of a three year program to widen and seal selected sections of the Tanami.
We have kept our election promise with regard to Traeger Park. The first $800 000 out of a promised $5m is to be spent on the upgrade of Alice Springs hockey field. That work, I am delighted to say, is now well established and should be finished in time for the Masters Games. Although I am not a hockey player, I am sure the hockey players will be delighted to play on that new surface.
We are the first government to act and not just talk about flood mitigation in Alice Springs, with the construction of the Lovegrove retardation basin being the crucial fist step. The basin will eliminate the risk of the existing Lovegrove drain overflowing, even in a one-in-100 flood, with works to cost $880 000.
Tourism is the most important industry for Central Australia. The location of the NT Holiday Centre in Alice Springs shows this government’s commitments to its regions. The Central Australia tourism industry will also welcome the increase in international tourism marketing funds, and the maintenance of CATIA and Tennant Creek Regional Tourism Association funding. The funding of an aviation specialist and an indigenous tourism development officer, whilst Territory-wide initiatives, will have direct benefit for the tourism industry in the Centre.
Our allocation of $1.5m for repairs and maintenance in the region’s parks and reserves; of $400 000 to extend the vehicle parking areas at King’s Canyon; and the continued support of the Alice Springs Desert Park will also underpin the tourism industry.
The Araluen Centre is a vital community facility in Alice Springs, and this government has recognised this with a $250 000 upgrade of its technical equipment. Much of this equipment has not been upgraded since 1984. When I did a tour there the other day, I found it is quite a common occurrence for the lamps to blow up as people are either working with them or working under them, so I think this $250 000 upgrade is not a moment too soon. These funds will improve the presentation of the centre’s excellent professional theatre season and alternative cinema sessions.
As well as specific budget allocations, the Martin government’s budget has supported the issues of vital importance to the quality of life in the Centre: improved health, education and community safety. We are behind the Alice Springs Hospital with both capital works and additional nurses. We are implementing an initial five primary health care zones in the Centre, and we are continuing to support the other health services in non-urban centres. The priorities of Central Australia are straightforward: a healthy economy, a safe community, and access to good education and health services.
I now speak very quickly about my own electorate, and some of the excellent initiatives that are included in the budget that will impact on the electorate of Stuart.
The extension of the clinic in Yuendumu is a very vital initiative. Having seen that clinic operate for the last 20 or so years, with the enormous workload that staff have to deal with in that particular clinic, often under very crowded and strained conditions, the staff will thoroughly approve of the additional space and facilities they will have there.
The sealing of the airstrip at Lajamanu and Kalkarindji are both very worthwhile initiatives - for two different reasons. In the case of Lajamanu, it has been a long-standing problem, having an airstrip directly abutting the community living area. It has created dust-related health problems for the whole time that I have been going to Lajamanu. Sealing that airstrip will go a long way to cutting down the volume of dust around that community, particularly in conjunction with the previous sealing of the internal roads. Kalkarindji has a totally different reason. The member for Katherine would probably concur that we do need an all-weather strip at Kalkarindji, in case of severe flooding where the community has been cut off, so that we can evacuate people readily out of that area, and also bring in supplies.
The road across from Lajamanu to Tennant Creek has been talked about ever since I have been going to Lajamanu, for 20 years now. There is a scratchy road that people use, but they use it at their own peril. To have a properly graded and formed road to go directly through to the Stuart Highway and Tennant Creek will cut literally days out of the travel time that Lajamanu people face when they want to go to places like Alice Springs and up the track north towards Darwin. That is a welcome initiative as well.
The other initiatives are harder to locate specifically in the electorate but, certainly, remote teacher housing and work on remote school facilities will no doubt impact. I was very, very pleased to hear the Anmatjere/Kaiditj/Alyawarra Collins implementation being mentioned. That is great news for the Utopia area of my electorate. Those people have probably had less support from government than any other part of the Northern Territory. The fact that they have maintained such an enthusiasm for moving forward on education over all these years is a credit to them, and this support they are now going to get from our government is overdue but, I am sure, nonetheless very welcome to people in that area.
Similarly, the Warlpiri triangle, involving the schools of Willowra, Yuendumu, Lajamanu, and probably Nyirripi and Ali Curung, as they get going. The Warlpiri triangle bilingual work has been going on for nearly 30 years, since Ken Hale came out to that area before I even arrived in the Territory. The fact that it is now going to be formally recognised as a regional school council with a school system within its responsibilities, and linked across to health under the Collins implementation procedures, is a great step forward. Again, it is recognition - and an overdue recognition - of the enormous amount of commitment and dedicated work that has been done by both the teachers in general there, and as well, in particular, the Warlpiri teachers - the teacher linguists, and the literacy production supervisors who have been in those schools over the last quarter of a century. Let us look forward now to seeing some very significant achievements coming out of those two education and health initiatives.
Mr HENDERSON (Business, Industry and Resource Development): Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the Treasurer’s budget statements and to outline the 2002-03 budget allocations for the agencies within my portfolio responsibilities, against the economic development objectives sought.
The budget handed down on Tuesday is one that is strategic, and which will deliver the economic development outcomes sought by this government over the forthcoming period. In the last 12 months, this government has made substantial and considerable changes to its administration and has instigated strategies in order to work in partnership with the business and broader community, and to improve outcomes for Territorians. Such initiatives include the operation of the Business Round Table, the conduct of the Economic Development Summit and, evolving from that summit, the implementation of the economic development strategy. The economic development strategy is the Territory’s blueprint to building a dynamic, innovative and robust economy. This should be an economy characterised by government working in partnership with business and industry, and one in which each person shares in the prosperity of the Territory.
My portfolio agencies are economic drivers in themselves and the catalysts for achieving the economic development outcomes that we seek. This year, my Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development will have a budget of $78.6m in delivering services to the Territory. This department comprises the former Departments of Mines and Energy, Asian Relations and Trade, Primary Industry and Fisheries, and the key development components of the former Department of Industry and Business.
The Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development provides a leadership and coordination role for the economic development of business and industries, and the development of available resources across the regions of the Territory. These industries include minerals, petroleum, pastoral, agriculture, horticulture, fishing, and the manufacturing and service sectors. The Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development is restructuring and assimilating programs and activities to improve efficiencies and better harness the valuable resources of our public sector.
As the Treasurer indicated, this budget is a watershed in terms of how departmental activities are reported in the budget papers. For the first time, the budget reports funding allocations to outputs of the department across all of its activities, rather than by operational groups such as minerals and energy or primary industry. For example, the first output of the department - Business, Trade and Industry Development Services - includes all funding for these activities across the various departmental groups including business and trade development, primary industry, and so on. The budget for this department is assigned to two areas to achieve two important outcomes. These are, in respect of Business, Trade and Industry Development Service, an outcome sought to enhance industry capacity, performance and sustainability throughout the Territory; and in respect of Resource Management Services, resource ownership, safety and sustainable resource development in the mining, agriculture and fishing industries throughout the Territory.
The department is now funded to deliver seven distinct outputs to Territorians, each of which delivers a wide range of related services. I will briefly illustrate the types of services and activities in each of these outputs. The first output delivers a wide range of business, trade and industry development services, including business and industry investment strategies, economic and trade policy development and coordinating development projects. This will have a budget of $13.8m in 2002-03.
The second output focusses on improving business management capabilities and delivering direct financial assistance to improve performance of existing Territory businesses, and in 2002-03 will have a budget of $6.1m.
The output delivering information on Territory resources will have a budget of $12.2m in 2002-03. It provides critical geoscientific and marine biological information to assist industry developments across the Territory.
The fourth output delivers animal and plant industry production services and, in 2002-03, will have a budget of $21.1m to support improved investment opportunities and production technologies throughout the agriculture, horticulture and pastoral industries.
The fifth output, mining and petroleum resource management services, will have a budget of $9m in 2002-03. These key services include tenure, safety and environmental regulation services for mining and petroleum operations.
$3.9m is budgeted for Fisheries Resource Management Services. This sixth output addresses both commercial and recreational sectors to ensure sustainable and productive fisheries management in Territory waters.
The final output of animal and plant resource protection services will receive $12.5m to deliver a wide range of quarantine inspection and regulatory services to protect Territory and Australian agricultural and pastoral industries, and to enhance access to international and domestic markets.
The Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development has a particularly broad range of activities. I now outline in more detail a number of the key objectives that this budget aims to achieve in respect to the industry sectors it supports. Primary industry - government will provide $150 000 to upgrade the post-entry quarantine facility at Berrimah Agricultural Research Centre to allow Territory producers to import plants from overseas into Darwin. The former Commonwealth facility was closed down last year because it was not up to cyclone code and did not meet all the requirements of the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service. Some $91 000 will cover renovation under the minor new works program to allow the facility to be brought up to operating standard. The facility will then be operated by my department on a cost-recovery basis.
The Tuberculosis Freedom Assurance Program (TFAP) funding ceases at the end of December 2002 and, without government action in this area, the Territory would cease to have adequate capacity for animal disease surveillance and disease incursion response. It is essential that we have a capacity for animal disease surveillance and disease incursion response in order to maintain export and domestic live cattle markets and meat export markets, to ensure continued growth in the pastoral industry and to meet national commitments for animal disease control.
The Council of Australian Governments has engaged a national task force for exotic disease prevention, preparedness and response, particularly for foot and mouth disease and mad cow disease, BSC. Each jurisdiction is committed to providing adequate resources to deal with the priority issues. COAG has agreed that a memorandum of understanding between the heads of government be developed to manage the whole-of-government response and relief actions. At the Territory level, the government will maintain the Territory’s animal disease surveillance programs past 2002, and has allocated $650 000 for this purpose in the 2002-03 financial year.
Also in relation to our primary industry sector, the government will call for expressions of interest to develop new infrastructure required by the NT horticulture industry, with an estimated total contribution of $2m. A recent review of cold storage capacity for horticultural produce in the Top End found that current cold storage capacity was adequate and the private sector was capable of building further capacity based on the needs of the industry. However, submissions to the review identified a number of areas where new infrastructure was required to support further development. Expressions of interest will be called this financial year to seek proposals for development of infrastructure to further expand and meet the emerging needs of NT horticulture.
In the area of Fisheries, the government will continue the development of the Darwin Aquaculture Centre to increase production of barramundi fry and undertake trials designed to commercialise mud crab aquaculture. Two new storage tanks will be provided at the Darwin Aquaculture Centre under the department’s minor new works program to improve the performance of larval rearing. The storage tanks will be used to hold, settle and age sea water before it is used to raise larvae which significantly improves the success rate. A further $429 000 has been allocated to the capital works program for a waste water treatment plant at the centre. The waste water treatment plant will further improve the quality of water going back into the harbour from the Centre. It is expected that contracts for the plant will be let this year.
The government will also work with industry to develop post-harvest handling plans and strategies to allow access to wider markets. The government will boost support for recreational fishing infrastructure, and the first project to get under way in relation to the funding allocated to this area is the extension and widening of the Dinah Beach boat ramp. This follows the call for expressions of interest for projects totalling $500 000 in 2002-03. A further $200 000 will be allocated to improve security for fishermen parking at the Buffalo Creek boat ramp.
In 2002-03, in relation to minerals and energy, the Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development will further commit to the NT geological survey program. The government has committed a further $4m to this budget to further develop this data for the industry. The objective of the program is to provide improved geoscientific information to the exploration industry in order to encourage mineral exploration throughout the Territory and improve the chances of exploration success. Proposals for future extension of the initiative will be developed during the year in consultation with the industry. To help put this commitment in perspective, in 2002-03, the project will involve flying approximately 380 000 line kilometres of airborne geophysical surveys, bringing to 85% the extent of Territory-wide coverage of high resolution airborne surveys. These surveys are now the world’s best practice geophysical data sets and are bringing explorers - particularly diamond explorers - back to the Territory.
The government continues its job of validly granting and maintaining exploration and mining titles in the Territory. In the past year, 243 exploration licences have been granted in the Northern Territory covering a total of 142 000 km, more than the total for the past four years. This significant increase can be attributed to the government’s successful use of the Native Title Act procedure. More than 600 title applications have now been advertised through the procedure, which has effectively eliminated the backlog of exploration licence applications. The department proposes, in the near future, to commence the first actual right to negotiate procedure for the grant of mining leases since the grant of the Merlin Mine mineral lease in 1998.
Also in the area of minerals and energy, the government will actively promote and support the Indigenous Mining and Enterprise Task Force. IMETF is a partnership of mining industry and indigenous people who seek to increase the involvement of indigenous people in the mining industry. The next meeting is on Groote Eylandt in September.
My department is promoting implementation of the Commonwealth funded $44m renewable energy program in the Territory. This program provides cash rebates to remote off-grid power users to convert diesel-based electricity supplies to renewable energy. The use of renewable energy provides 24-hour access to power and improves the quality of life for people living in remote areas. Rebates totalling $2.9m have been approved since the program began in May 2001. These projects are expected to collectively save 375 000 litres of diesel fuel and 1000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in a year.
In relation to business and trade development, the government will continue providing funding for industry associations. From now on, my department will adopt a more strategic approach to such funding and ensure grants are aligned to the government’s economic and industry development priorities. The intention is to ensure that the government, business and the Territory community work in partnership to further develop our economy.
In the lead-up to the election, the government made a commitment to introduce business case managers to assist small business to deal with government. Business case managers will be allocated to help reduce red tape burden on business needing approvals, licences and assistance, and are to be linked across government utilising technology. Government has allocated $250 000 to implement this initiative this year. This initiative is included in the government’s economic development strategy.
Government is reviewing the Territory Business Centre model to provide improved services to small business. Improvements to the TBC network are to be introduced by September this year. TBCs are located in Darwin, Katherine, Tennant Creek and Alice Springs. The TBCs are the first contact and referral point for many services and products provided by government departments, including business planning assistance, general business advisory services, licensing, and links to departmental assistance programs. The current review will recommend ways to improve the effectiveness of TBCs, and identify additional services that could be provided through TBCs, with the aim of eventually developing a single gateway to government for business.
The government will complete its consultation with the Territory business sector by the end of September regarding our NT International Trade Strategy, and begin implementing the strategy’s key elements and trade objectives. The strategic elements encompass building NT trade capability, developing market awareness and overseas markets, securing international investment, expanding AustralAsia trade groups, and capitalising on links and services. Meaningful engagements with our Asian neighbours is a key priority of this government and the International Trade Strategy will form the cornerstone of Asian Relations and Trade policy development from now on.
Primary producers and land managers will be supported through the FarmBis training scheme administered by my department, which this year will commit $195 000 on learning activities to help develop management expertise in this important sector. The government will also continue support to the Fertiliser Freight Assistance Scheme and the Pastoral Water Enhancement Scheme.
The government recognises the importance of the resources and defence sectors in providing long-term substantial opportunities for Territory business. We will be actively promoting and monitoring Territory content in respect of existing and proposed mining, petroleum and industrial projects. The Territory already achieves substantial supply and service work from most Territory mines and Timor Sea facilities, but there is still more that can be done. In a case of oil and gas, locally based employment levels must be lifted. We will also implement a comprehensive strategy to chase petroleum and mining related opportunities in eastern Indonesia, with a particular emphasis on the BP Tengguh LNG project in West Papua.
Amongst my ministerial responsibilities, I hold the portfolio of Defence Support, which is administered within the Defence, Petroleum and Mining Support branch of the department of DBIRD. Overall, Defence contributes about $550m to the Territory economy, and the total Defence presence in the Territory is about 14 000 people including families, which represents about 7% of the Territory’s population. We aim to intensify Defence relationships and seek to achieve the maximum return to the Territory from the planned Project Air 87 helicopter base to be established in Darwin from late 2004, the new fleet of patrol boats to be based in Darwin from late 2004, and from opportunities associated with logistics support, ship visits, exercises, infrastructure facility support.
I should stress that the efforts of my department of DBIRD are Territory-wide, with representation in Tennant Creek, Katherine and Alice Springs. The department maintains a high level of service to each region as our industry base - particularly mining, pastoral and horticulture - has a strong regional spread. Already, the department’s pastoral headquarters has been located in Katherine and opportunities will be pursued to further strengthen regional services.
My portfolio of Tourism encompasses a vibrant and essential industry that is vital to the Territory’s continuing economic development. This government is committed to adequately resourcing the NT Tourist Commission to ensure it is able to continue its valuable work in marketing the Territory as a holiday destination, and to support the development of product infrastructure in the industry in general.
This year, the NT Tourist Commission has been allocated $28.164m in the 2002-03 budget. The Tourist Commission exists to market and influence the development of the Northern Territory as a competitive tourism destination, for the continuing benefit of Territorians. Key functional areas are: increasing the Northern Territory’s market share as a leisure and business tourism destination; to facilitate the development of a strong, competitive and professional tourism industry; and to advise governments on all matters relating to tourism.
The Tourist Commission is now funded to deliver two distinct outputs to Territorians. The first output is to position the NT and its tourism products in the national and international marketplace by market research, advertising and promotional campaigns; information provision; and the sale of holiday products. This output will receive $23.948m. The second output focusses on facilitating the development of tourism infrastructure and products relevant to consumer demand, including liaison with industry, private sector entities and the government partners; and the provision of advice and marketing intelligence to industry. It will receive $4.216m.
This budget contains a number of key initiatives. Funding of $2m for the facilitation of Virgin Blue air services to the Northern Territory - $0.5m in 2001-02, and $1.5m in 2002-03. Virgin Blue is currently providing valuable competition into the Darwin marketplace. The government’s money is being well spent in providing 1134 additional seats per week; a significant contribution to the NT tourism industry.
An additional $1m in funding is to be used in new international marketing initiatives - $0.5m in 2002-03, $0.5m in 2003-04. This is a 10% increase in funding and represents the significant turnaround in the decline in real funding for marketing under the previous government. This funding will be used for a series of aggressive international marketing campaigns in the Territory’s key source markets of Japan, the UK, Europe, America and New Zealand. The unstructured backpacker market will also be targetted. The potential return on investment to the Territory economy from visitor expenditure over the next two years is $11.918m.
Funding of $125 000 per annum over three years, from 2002-03 to 2004-05, is being provided by the Tourist Commission, DBIRD and DIPE towards a partnership between the NT government and NT Airports. Partnership money will be used to fund a dedicated aviation development director position. Improving air access to, from and within the Northern Territory is a priority of this government. Increasing visitation to the Northern Territory, particularly from overseas, is contingent upon building new airline routes from our key source markets to Darwin, Alice Springs and Uluru. This specialist position will prepare and deliver business cases to airlines, showing the possibilities and benefits of incorporating the Territory into their schedules.
$115 000 has been allocated for the development and implementation of an Aboriginal tourism strategy. The indigenous tourism development function has been returned to the Tourism Commissioner from Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs - my colleague, the member for Arnhem’s department; the alphabet soup department - meaning that all tourism development responsibilities now rest in the one agency. The revised Aboriginal tourism strategy will be released in December 2002. $150 000 has been allocated to the staging of the premier international business tourism trade show ‘Dreamtime’ in Alice Springs in September this year. The trade show brings together the most influential convention and event spies from around the globe, with Australia’s business tourism sellers. A large contingent of international trade journalists will also be present at the two-day trade show, covering stories on the Northern Territory, as well as Australian business tourism products. ‘Dreamtime’ will be held at the new Alice Springs Convention Centre, officially opened by the Chief Minister in March this year.
An additional $250 000 has been allocated to boost public relations activities which promote visitation to the Northern Territory. PR activities, such as hosting travel journalists on familiarisation trips to the Northern Territory, generate a huge amount of exposure through domestic and international media. The resulting exposure carries a higher credibility factor than paid advertising. Online marketing activities and cooperative campaigns with high profile business partners will also be increased.
A destination development unit has been funded within the Tourist Commission with a total allocation of $633 000 for destination development. Its purpose is to prioritise components of the tourism development master plan, and to build implementation steps in the time line. The unit will also facilitate the development of tourism infrastructure with appropriate tourism product that meets consumer demand. One of the key tasks I have given this unit is to help promote the military history of the Northern Territory, particularly the story of the bombing of Darwin during World War II. The Chief Minister has also allocated $27 000 this year for heritage assessment and conservation planning at Strauss Airfield and the Cox Peninsula B24 wreck site, and other World War II sites. The Destination Development Unit will build on this and investigate strategies to further promote the proud military history of the Territory.
Territory Discoveries is the Tourist Commission’s wholesaling business division. It contributes to the NT’s economic growth by developing tourism products for sale to consumers in the domestic marketplace. It distributes packaged products through domestic retail networks, and directly to consumers through advertising and other promotional activities. Territory Discoveries’ core performance objective is to increase the exposure of, and potential economic returns to, the tourism industry - particularly small to medium size operators. This year, Territory Discoveries has been allocated $2.046m in the 2002-03 budget. This is $31 000 more than its allocation in 2001-02. As the largest employing industry with more than 8000 jobs, tourism provided over $1.9bn in 2001 to the NT economy directly and indirectly. After many years of declining real marketing funding, this budget is a real investment in the future of this vital industry.
I reported last week to this House on the progress of the AustralAsia Railway. Employment and training has reached a peak of 1215 direct employees. Of those, 745 are from the Northern Territory. The total amount of direct contracts awarded to date is $732m. Of that, $409m has been awarded to Northern Territory business; that is, 56% of the value of the project so far won by Territory business. The government’s obligations in the 2002-03 financial year regarding work in relation to corridor acquisition amounts to approximately $13.5m. The Northern Territory government will also contribute $5m for debt investment in the railway project as its share of the total cost of $10m; the other $5m is to be contributed by the Commonwealth government. The total spent by the consortium on the railway in the 2002-03 financial year will be $565m.
I now talk briefly in regard to my electorate of Wanguri, which takes in the suburbs of Wanguri and Leanyer. The 2002-03 budget contains very welcome news for the northern suburb’s residents. An $800 000 allocation to upgrade Leanyer Recreation Park is for stage one funding to provide …
Mr Dunham: That is not in your electorate.
Mr HENDERSON: Well, it is very close to my electorate, and many of my constituents are very happy with this announcement, as are members from the northern suburbs. I have not seen the member for Drysdale down there very often.
Members on this side from the northern suburbs, prior to the election, could see that this was an asset that was under-utilised. We saw an opportunity - my colleagues, the members for Karama, Sanderson, and Johnston - to invest in this asset that was being under-utilised by the community, and we consulted broadly prior to the election. All of our electorates were surveyed, asking northern suburbs residents what they wanted to see happen at Lake Leanyer and what the issues and obstacles were for people using the facility. All of that information came back, and we had a very good response to that survey that led to the budget commitment to invest in that facility. I am very pleased and proud to be able to be part of the government which is going to deliver on a significant and very much welcomed facility for families in the northern suburbs. I particularly take the opportunity to thank and congratulate my colleague, the member for Karama, for her work in chairing the task force.
The allocation of stage one funding is to provide residents with a water park designed to provide safe, clean, free, water play fun for families. The proposed water park will be appropriately fenced and include state-of–the-art playground equipment with water pumping through it and cascading down. The equipment will be on soft matting and is based on a very popular water park in Townsville. The water park will have open and closed times and trained supervisors present whenever it is open. I have had the very saddening experience of two of my constituents losing children at that facility over the last two years, and it has been an absolute tragedy. That was the reason that my colleague, the Minister for Parks and Wildlife, took the decision to close and drain the lake, and we will be investing in safety. We cannot afford to have any further tragedies at that facility.
We also commit a further $1.2m in 2003-04 budget to expand facilities at the Leanyer Recreation Park to include: a kiosk with a public payphone; a basketball court; extended skate park with moguls, bowl and street course; a graffiti wall; a sound shell to encourage youth music events; a rollerblading/walking road safety theme path; and the Territory’s first playground specifically designed for children with a disability.
Since my election, I have campaigned for the former Lake Leanyer to be improved and made a safe recreation venue for northern suburbs families and, it is with, as I said, a great deal of pride that I commend this budget initiative to this House, to my constituents and constituents in the northern suburbs.
I also thank my electorate officer, Ryan Neve for representing the interests of Wanguri electorate residents on the community-based task force that has recommended stage one and stage two redevelopment.
Speaking as local member, one of the best results from the budget is the allocation of cash. Real money - $1.25m to be exact - for the upgrade and expansion of Leanyer Primary School, an expansion for which the principal and successive school councils have been calling for at least seven years now. It was disappointing that the previous government announced this project in the 2001-02 capital works program just before the election, with a big fat zero in the cash column in those budget papers. I made a commitment to the electorate at the last election that we would allocate the money; and the money is there! It was very pleasing to see the look on the faces of the kids and school council members the other day when we announced this initiative - it was absolutely fantastic. I am very pleased to be honouring that election commitment that I made.
Leanyer is literally bursting at the seams trying to fit in all the students. The $1.25m will ensure the school has the facilities and space to meet the needs of an ever-increasing student and staff population. Again, a very successful school - very well run by the principal, Mr Henry Gray, who will be well known to all members of this House. A dynamic, innovative and growing school that has been under-resourced for many years, and it is great to be able to deliver.
As part of the upgrade, general learning areas will be modified to allow the classrooms to accommodate computers provided through the LATIS project. Purpose built facilities will also be constructed for special needs students, and the library facility will be upgraded. To improve the safety of students, particularly those attending preschool, a new student drop-off point will be constructed and a parent parking area established. A major issue of Leanyer Drive has been the traffic congestion around that school. We have talked to council for a couple of years about it. It is great that we will be able to finally deliver on improved safety there.
This is fantastic new for Leanyer Primary School. Extensive work has already been done on the project’s design and documentation, and it is expected to go to tender in September 2002 with expected completion date of February/March 2003. It is all about better education outcomes and, very importantly, creating jobs for Territorians - investment in the capital works program and, particularly, jobs for local subbies.
Just quickly, one of the other great announcements to schools in the Northern Territory - particularly to school councils that have been struggling for year after year with decreased real funding for operational expenses – is a 21% increase. What that means for schools in my electorate is: for Wanguri Primary, an increase of $4124; Leanyer a increase of $8589; Henbury $4721; and Dripstone Secondary School, a feeder school for my electorate, $20 365. This will take an enormous amount of pressure off those school councils for fundraising, and should reduce school fees for parents. We are going to index that to CPI. This is the best news that school councils have had for many years.
I quickly thank: my CEOs, Mr Peter Blake in DBIRD, and Ms Maree Tetlow in the Tourist Commission; the DBIRD staff of 659 people; and the Tourist Commission staff of 95 people. They have been great to work with and I look forward to working with them all over the next 12 months.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I also rise to speak on the budget debate, the matter before the House. I begin with one issue that is of grave concern to me. Although it has already been mentioned in this Chamber, I cannot forebear to not mention it myself, because it goes to the very heart of, under the Westminster system, the doctrine of responsible government. It is the principle of an appropriation bill which seeks a little over $2bn from the parliament when, in actual fact, government will be seeking, through its own departments as well as its own government owned corporations, to be spending a whole lot more than that. It concerns me that there is no review process left as a result of the changes to the Estimates Committee that we debated yesterday and the appropriation system that we have, for any of us, as parliamentarians, to review what happens in those government owned corporations.
It is simply a shadow world, as far as the taxpayer is concerned, that is hidden from open view and open scrutiny by us. There is nothing that is coming up in proposed legislation regarding freedom of information that I can see is going to shed any more light on the expenditure of those monies. This is a gravely serious situation, because it does stand as a total affront to everything that this building stands for. If there is certainly one job that parliamentarians have after passing law, it is to make sure that the money that the people pour into government coffers is actually and really being spent properly and effectively. I have now no process available to me to enable me to do that successfully, and I have grave concerns about the taxpayers of the Northern Territory being stuck with this situation where they have no way of determining what is happening to their wealth.
I then come to my second point of concern. That deals with matters of accuracy in these budget papers. These budget papers are long, as they are complex. I can understand that complexity does lend itself, from time to time, to error. However, there are several things in these budget papers which are of particular concern to me as a member of this Chamber; and they are comments in these budget papers which are wrong.
I start with Budget Paper No 5. I draw the Treasurer’s attention to page 100 of that document under the marginal heading ‘Alice Springs’. I quote:
- Conversely, there has been a shortage of residential land available for development in Alice Springs,
particularly at the lower end of the market. Native title issues have restricted the number of releases in
the past few years. To some extent native title issues have been resolved, clearing the path for 300 residential
lots to be developed. Some 40 lots were released in Larapinta, to be followed by a further release in
Mt John Valley, scheduled for 2003.
I am unaware of 40 lots having been released in Larapinta. Unless the government has decided, to release land on the ‘QT’ without making an announcement of any sort, I am deeply concerned that the statement in these budget papers is wrong, and that some 40 lots have not been released. They may be in the process of being released; I do not know. However, at the end of the day, we have to be very careful about what goes into these papers, because these papers are now public documents. They stand on the public record and the public rely on them.
The truth of the matter is that the average price for a house block in Alice Springs currently stands at $85 315. That is how much it costs for one of the 20 left-over blocks in Alice Springs that are there on the market. Those particular blocks are very expensive indeed. What concerns me is that in the Melbourne metropolitan area, the average price of a house block is $75 000, which means that it is $10 000 more to purchase a house block in Alice Springs than it is in the Melbourne metropolitan area.
I am very concerned that the inaccuracy in the budget paper would suggest to any person out there that these blocks of land are available. They are not. The issue here is not only the price of land but, rather, the accuracy of the budget papers that the Treasurer has brought into this House. Bear in mind that in her Appropriation Bill she is asking for a little more than $2bn. I think it is only proper that when she does so, the budget papers that she delivers to this House are, indeed, accurate.
As to the accuracy of the budget papers, I also turn to the document which is called ‘Budget Overview’; it is not actually one of the budget papers themselves. On page 10 of that particular document there is a pie graph. This pie graph is entitled ‘Main Own-Source Revenue Category’. In that pie graph, payroll tax as a source of income is listed as $94m. I then turn to Budget Paper No 6 at page 96. Once again, we have an expression of payroll tax and the analysis of Territory revenue. This is figure 11.3, for the information of the Treasurer. Payroll tax is listed close enough to being $94m, at $93.8m. I can certainly understand that the Treasury Department would see fit to round that figure up for the purposes of the pie graph in an associated document.
However, where I become confused is that when I turn to Budget Paper No 3 - which is really at the heart of the budget papers as the number crunching document - last year, payroll tax was listed at being $133m. In fact, this year it has been budgeted at $139.389m. This discrepancy is in the order of $44m. This is a matter of much concern to me, because the $44m discrepancy in the budget papers is something that I would be very concerned about if I were the Treasurer. I refer the Treasurer to those figures on page 278 of Budget Paper No 3.
I have had a good hard think about why this discrepancy would be there, and I can think of several reasons why that might occur. One of them may be that the component which government pays in payroll tax has not been factored into the graphs on the other papers, but has been factored into the revenue graphs in this particular budget paper. However, this brings me to the problem that I have with these budget papers as a whole. It is very, very difficult to glean information like that out of these budget papers. If I try to interrogate these budget papers as to why there is a difference - and such a radical $44m difference in stated amounts - I do not believe it is gross incompetence of Treasury. I am sure there is a reason for it. However, I cannot identify the reasons for it. Bearing in mind that it is my job, as a member of this House, to give my rubber stamp to this bit of paper, I would hope that such discrepancies were explained.
I am aware that there is a notation in the beginning of Budget Paper No 3 which deals with the fact that there is a hybrid of zero-based cash systems and accrual accounts. However, this restructure of the budget process - which was going to happen under the CLP anyhow, because it is the standard accounting system which has been used, and the transition was already in place prior to the change of government - is now an accounting system which is considered standard around the country. I appreciate the hybridisation of this may be necessary, though I do not claim, by any stretch of the imagination, to be an expert. However, where that hybridisation has occurred and, with the restructure of all the government departments, it is becoming increasingly difficult to read these budget papers on their own to make any sense, especially when you have to look at budget papers from past times. It is very difficult to try to get a comparison between the budget papers and understand exactly where the improvements are.
It is quite possible, in circumstances like that, for government to effectively budget by press release. Indeed, we see examples of this particular budgetary process by press release. I read figures in the Northern Territory News this morning which did not reflect any figures that I had seen in the budget papers. I was quite curious about that until, during the process of today, I discovered that there were any number of press releases that had been put out by the government announcing particular projects. Some of these projects look very good and they have the appearance, on the face of them, of being new spending. If you look at something like the press release from the Hon Jack Ah Kit, part of his release says:
- The establishment of the Office of Indigenous Policy which will have the responsibility for the
coordination of resolution of outstanding and future land issues; coordination and implementation
of the indigenous economic strategy; and the improvement of the social and economic wellbeing
of indigenous Territorians ($700 000).
This is a great announcement. I am happy to hear that the government has established this; it looks like new spending. The truth of the matter is we do not know where that $700 000 is secreted in other parts of the budget. When the same minister goes and talks about Health spending, such as the child health monitoring programs which this government is announcing that it is spending $2.2m on, that may form part of the health budget that exists there anyhow. Once again, it is very difficult to glean from the budget papers exactly what is new spending and what is old spending re-jigged.
Some of the examples of this are in the capital works program. We see in Budget Paper No 4 where much of the much vaulted cashed-up amounts are actually re-voted amounts, which means that they were carried over from last year. Those carry overs is from money that was not spent last year in the economy.
The money that was re-voted for this particular year, or a lot of the money which cashes up this big spending budget - or the government claims as the large cash-up - actually is money which has basically been stolen from Peter to pay Paul. I am very certain that you will get very many positive comments from various operators on the face of the fact that it looks like you have cashed-up the capital works program.
- Members: Hear, hear!
Mr ELFERINK: What has actually occurred is that a large slice of that money has come from work that was not done last year, and that is how the cash-up has occurred. Members may go ‘hear, hear’, but I am just wondering if those members were in the homes of the builders who were starving – well, not starving - doing it very, very tough last year when they had to worry about how they were going to pay for their electricity bill, their new registration bill which had the impost, or their water bills which had gone up by 7.5%. This is the concerning thing: this budget is built on the pain that the economy was pushed through last year, by a government that was passionate about fabricating a black hole, so that it could justify pushing money into hollow logs, and then whip them out as new spending this year.
This is of grave concern to me because this government is prepared to use the capital works project budget in such a fashion so that these people can suffer one year, and then enjoy the largesse of government in the next. Re-voted money is not new spending. It is stuff that has already been announced, and it is up to the government to make sure that those projects go ahead.
I also would like to touch on parks briefly. I notice in Budget Paper No 3 where parks is now identified as an area of spending, that the government is planning to spend $660 000 less this year than they did last year on parks in the Northern Territory. This has meant that the department has been pushed already into a position – what was left of the department and parks management - where savings had to be made, and instructions were given to Parks and Wildlife officers to remove telephone lines from Parks and Wildlife environments in an effort to save money. That is how desperate the spending cuts are out there in the bush. It is of grave concern to me that parks officers have to worry about those spending cuts when they have to cut to that level.
That is as simple as it can be expressed: $660 000 less for a parks estate which is fundamental to the tourism industry. We have heard from the Minister for Tourism on repeated occasions during Question Time today how important the tourism industry is to the Northern Territory. Yet the Minister for Tourism and the Minister for Parks and Wildlife seem to be at odds with each other, because one seems to think that the tourism industry is very important; the other seems to think not so at all.
I am curious, considering that the Territory Wildlife Park has in its capital works program a mere $60 000 for a single project, as I understand it. I would like to know from the Minister for Parks and Wildlife how much was applied for. It would be a very curious thing to compare those two figures, because I can bet you that amounts applied for were substantially more than they have been given.
I look at the expenditure which is planned for the Desert Park in Alice Springs, one of the lynchpins of Alice Springs’ tourism infrastructure, and what do I discover? - $78 000 of minor new works. This is not earth shattering stuff. When you think about the importance of those two parks to the tourism industry in the Northern Territory, as well as the whole parks estate, then one could not but be very concerned about management of the parks estate under the new structural system which has been inflicted upon the public service.
Once again, I ask the minister why his Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, in its Environmental Division, has listed 65 vacant positions when the whole of that department, a much bigger body, is advertising for merely seven positions; five of which are full-time, three of which are part-time positions. The minister has steadfastly refused to deal with this other than saying that there are 26 vacancies. Well, that may have been the case under the old structure of Parks and Wildlife, but under the new structure in his department, that division is listed as having 65 vacancies. The minister has steadfastly refused to deal with that issue inside this Chamber or anywhere else.
I also notice that there is, effectively, a slightly less than $6m cut in roads in the Northern Territory. I will get on to some of the good bits of spending I am aware of in the Northern Territory very shortly. However, I am very concerned that, despite the very good spending on the Kintore Police Station - long overdue. I am grateful for the Northern Territory government that they have seen fit to build this, especially to support somebody like Andrew Spencer, the local ACPO out there who has done a sterling job under very difficult conditions for many years. However, it concerns me that with the roads funding as it is, he will have a police station which is in excellent condition - and I look forward to its construction - but his vehicle will be rattled to pieces in almost no time at all, by virtue of the fact that the road he has to travel upon is in such awful condition.
Once again, I congratulate the government on the Papunya School redevelopment. I know that school. I have been to and have had a look around that school, and it is due for some work. I am delighted to see that the Northern Territory government has seen fit to spend money at Papunya School. I would hate to see the vehicles that have to travel to and from that school; they have to travel across roads which will damage those vehicles excessively.
There are some other good things: the Kings Canyon minor new works program. I think that was the car park held over from the last budget, some $440 000 if my memory serves me correctly; I do not have the figure in front of me. I think that is an excellent piece of spending. I presume that is a re-voted allocation on the minor new works program for Parks and Wildlife, and I look forward to the work going ahead. The works for essential services in Hermannsburg, Mt Liebig and Papunya are also necessary, and I am grateful to see that the government has turned its attention to those particular areas.
All in all, I am concerned about several aspects of this budget. The inaccuracies in the budget papers are of concern to me, and I would hope that the Treasurer, in her reply, would address these particular issues: inaccuracies dealing with the release of land in Alice Springs, as well as amounts pertaining to payroll tax. I look forward to the Treasurer coming in here in future with budget papers which are clearer on these topics, and which do not have these discrepancies built into them, because they do give Territorians cause for concern.
These are, effectively, the request of the Treasurer so that she can continue the business of governing the Northern Territory. However, that request, in my opinion, needs to be an accurate one. It is not an entirely accurate one on this occasion. Nevertheless, I do thank the departmental and Treasury staff who put their effort into the budget - I know it is a great deal of hard work - as well as the other departments which have to go through the argy-bargy of trying to get their projects up and running.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, that largely concludes my comments, and I look forward to the Treasurer’s reply in addressing these particular issues in her reply.
Mr AH KIT (Community Development): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I do not wish to comment too much on the performance by the member for Macdonnell, but at least he had a go. Hopefully, a few more members of the opposition will get up and respond rather than allowing government to go through the motions of providing their statements. They are disjointed, irresponsible and disorganised, and we have seen that, especially in these two weeks of sittings.
My portfolio responsibilities encompass community development, including local government, regional development, sport and recreation, Territory Housing and Territory Housing Business Services, libraries, and the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority. I also assist the Chief Minister in relation to indigenous affairs.
The total operating expenditure for 2002-03 for the Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs is $211.8m. This includes the budget allocation for the Arts and Museums portfolio, for which the Chief Minister is responsible. This is an increase of $19.5m across the department and demonstrates this government’s commitment to real community development.
The tragedy of the first 24 years of self-government has been a legacy of lost opportunity and wasted resources, not least for our indigenous fellow citizens. The source of this legacy was wilful ignorance; a mindless lack of imagination and morally bankrupt politics. It was the product of a total incapacity to listen to or learn from the citizens of our remote communities. It was the result of a deliberate refusal to benefit from the knowledge and skills of our public servants and non-government organisations.
While some pride themselves on a lifestyle that represents the independence of the outback and the frontier, too many Territorians have been denied this vision, and seen real decline in educational opportunity, health outcomes and employment. We face the real possibility of the creation of a permanent underclass within our population with consequent threats to the wellbeing of all of us.
At the core of our first full budget is beginning the process of turning this legacy around, especially in rural and remote areas of the Territory. This means a commitment, not just to completely recasting the ways in which services are delivered out bush, but in our whole approach to local self-governance on our remote communities. Major resources will be increasingly devoted to building the capacity of remote communities to take control over their destinies. Capacity building will be a long-term strategy, not a short-term fix, and will be directly tied, both to the development of available resources and to support the communities and regions on the basis of need. This will involve partnerships - support from across the general community, including the private sector; establishing long-term planning processes; coordination and a greater degree of participation by communities. In short, we will be approaching the issue of remote area governance from a meaningful community development perspective. It will involve the rationalisation of the current functions of local government and a move away from the tyranny of under-resourcing an overly complex jurisdiction towards cost effective local service delivery mechanisms.
We are also looking towards regional service delivery mechanisms in the areas of health, education, sport and social, cultural and economic development. The principal mechanism by which this will be achieved will be through the development of partnership agreements at local and regional levels. Such partnerships shall not be viewed as documents of empty rhetoric, but as ones that will clearly define the roles and responsibilities of both the Northern Territory government and its agencies, and the local or regional bodies involved. They will be living participatory mechanisms that will reflect the dynamics of changing relationships between government and communities as they realise their ambitions towards vastly improved outcomes in and control over their day-to-day lives.
The government’s immediate objective for my portfolio in this budget has been to bed down the amalgamation of the various agencies that were combined to form the department, and to give greater focus to community concerns and priorities. This process is proceeding to completion. In the Local Government and Regional Development portfolio areas, this budget continues its approach of building the Territory. The particular emphasis is on establishing strong and sustainable foundations for communities and regions through the use of community development approaches and principles.
An increase of $163 000 has been made to the funding pool for operational grants to local government. This is to ensure that councils can maintain services to the higher populations that they must now service. While the level of funding that will be spent is not substantially different from previous years, the way in which those funds are to be used will be very different. I spoke in this place in March about the fact that at any one stage, a large number of remote community councils are basket cases. This cannot continue, not just because of the economic cost of such failure, but also because of the social dislocation that it causes. It is for this reason that there will continue to be a high level of support from departmental field staff, but the emphasis and commitment from such staff will be focussed on capacity building and community development approaches. At the same time, my emphasis on monitoring and compliance of these councils will be carried out by specialist groups within the department, separate but complementary to the community development approach of field staff. This approach will lead to the establishment of an optimal level of standard services from councils which will be set as basic quality control across remote communities in the Territory.
The platform of established optimal standards will be important as we pursue the highest priority in this area of my portfolio; that is, to ensure that the significant amounts of money provided for services go to achieve real outcomes for people in regions and communities. We will establish these optimal standards through the use of three broad and complementary strategic approaches: developing partnerships, developing legitimacy in governance and developing community capacity.
First, we will be encouraging, facilitating and negotiating partnership agreements. There are many forms that partnership agreements can take. The ones in which we are most interested in this context will be negotiated at a whole-of-government, whole-of-community level Whole-of-government describes a process of good government characterised by:
efficiency, that is, the resources of a number of different government agencies are brought to
bear on a problem in a collective and cooperative fashion;
service delivery conflict; and
Whole-of-government will be a powerful tool in promoting the principles of social justice that have been committed to by the Martin government in that it targets issues of equity in access to essential services, especially at the regional level.
Whole-of-government, in and of itself, is only half the equation in advancing the Martin government’s commitment to social justice. Fundamental social justice precepts such as participation and access to information can only be achieved if whole-of-government is developed in partnership with the communities of the Northern Territory such that whole-of-government is also a whole-of-community issue.
The first thing we find when we start talking with people and organisations in a region is that, without legitimate representative bodies which have a clear right and a responsibility to speak on behalf of that community or region, the process cannot start. My department will therefore focus its efforts on assisting the development of legitimate structures of governance that can provide that negotiating capacity.
The second thing that becomes apparent is that regions and communities often lack the capacity to tell the government what the focus of any partnership agreement or development strategy should be. We will be pursuing two strategies to ensure that these difficulties are addressed: a broader definition of regional development and developing community capacity.
Regional development planning has been expanded well beyond what has been a purely economic development focus, to also encompass social and environmental issues. The planning processes will also generate initiatives that, ideally, the government and the regions concerned would commit to in partnership. In this way, regional development plans will be an essential part of the process of focussing whole-of-government, whole-of-community action on agreed targets. The regional development fund of $500 000 has been maintained and will be directed primarily to fostering the development of these plans.
The other major strategy being pursued is much longer term and much more difficult. This is the development of the capacity of communities and regions - and particularly indigenous communities - to negotiate with government to ensure that the issues and outcomes of concern to them are achieved. Over the next three years, I intend to allocate $600 000 per year from funds available for special purposes to projects that seek to develop the capacity of communities and regions to negotiate and implement partnerships. We will be taking a much more strategic and coordinated approach to the expenditure of the funds that have been maintained in order to achieve real outcomes in services and development of communities and regions. I have recently issued a number of press releases outlining the full extent of the support provided to the Barkly and Katherine regions in the budget in particular.
A separate, but related part of my portfolio is indigenous essential services which includes power, water and sewerage systems, airstrips and barge landings in remote areas. Coordination of the funding for indigenous essential services was previously the responsibility of Power and Water and the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment. In November 2001, responsibility for this function was transferred to the Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs.
The program’s objectives are to increase the efficiency of delivery and improve access to essential services in remote areas and to coordinate the provision of infrastructure while enhancing opportunities for sustainable employment. $4m in additional funding has been allocated to assist with key initiatives and to undertake additional capital works. The key initiatives include establishing a policy framework for the provision of essential services to remote indigenous communities; and developing the skills of indigenous Territorians to increase participation in the delivery of essential services.
Some significant items on the indigenous essential services capital works program for this year include:
upgrading 11 aerodromes in the Alice Springs region to meet with Civil Aviation Safety
Authority (CASA) requirements for passenger services at a cost of $1.4m. The airstrips
are Aputula, Kaltukatjara, Mt Liebig, Areyonga, Nyirripi, Papunya, Urapuntja, Walungurru,
Willowra, Yuelamu and Yuendumu;
other airstrips to bring them to all-weather access standard. Construction will start in
2003-04 at the airstrips at Pirlangimpi, Kalkarindji, Lajamanu, Gapuwiyak and Walungurru;
of some old diesel powered bores at Ntaria, and upgrading of the water supplies at Peppimenarti.
These works will cost approximately $1.25m;
upgraded at a cost of $2.1m;
to accommodate the Manthalpe subdivision at Wadeye, a new sewerage treatment facility costing
$600 000 will be built and completed before this Wet season sets in;
some remote locations; and
power supply reliability. This work will see a number of urgently needed improvements delivered
to remote communities.
There remains much to be done, but in this budget, we are taking the first steps towards meeting the special needs of those Territorians living in remote areas.
In the area of library services, negotiations and concept design work continue in Galiwinku, Ti Tree and the Tiwi Islands to further develop a model for Indigenous Knowledge Centres. At Galiwinku, we are providing advice and support to the Indigenous Knowledge Centre project, including assistance in relation to analysis of outcomes; advice in relation to Territory government programs and policies; and assistance with technical documentation for tenders, IT specifications and evaluations, and with inter-agency negotiation. This in-kind support will amount to the equivalent of $15 000 over six months. In general terms, the Indigenous Knowledge Centre concept seeks to ensure that communities can create, capture and access knowledge through a variety of digital technologies, including the Internet. Extensive consultation and negotiations with stakeholders is essential in defining the community needs and guiding the nature of knowledge centre development. We will be exploring viable ways to extend the concept across communities and regions so that we can generate economies of scale and maximise the effectiveness of our investment in knowledge centres.
This government will continue its strong commitment to upgrading and improving sporting infrastructure assets so that we can continue to host high quality sporting events in the Territory and provide better facilities for local sports people. In 2002-03, we have allocated $495 000 to upgrade facilities at Football Park, Marrara, so that international cricket can be played in Darwin. The program, developed in consultation with the Australian Cricket Board, includes installation of side screens and a scoreboard, floodlighting, and the upgrading of player, media and corporate facilities. The works will be staged over three years, with the first international fixtures between Australia and Bangladesh to be played in the 2003 Dry season.
The Arafura Games will be held in Darwin in May 2003, with the athletics program set to be the highlight of the games. Unfortunately, the athletics track at the Marrara sports precinct has started to rapidly degrade and, without quick attention, would not be suitable for games competition. To ensure we have a safe athletics competition facility that meets International Amateur Athletics Federation standards in time for the games, we have allocated $800 000 in 2002-03 to replace the athletics track at the Marrara sports precinct. The work will be completed before May next year, allowing the full track program at the Arafura Games to go ahead.
Central Australian residents will be pleased to hear that we are allocating $800 000 towards resurfacing the Traeger Park hockey field. Just over $5m in grant funding will be provided to sport and recreation organisations and local government authorities as part of our commitment towards promoting a healthy lifestyle for Territorians.
This year, we will be preparing to shift the allocation of grants to a system based on the quality of services that organisations provide to the community. The new approach is scheduled to commence on 1 July 2003.
Demonstrating this government’s commitment to remote communities, an extra $160 000 has been allocated as salary support for the employment of sport and recreation officers in remote communities to help coordinate programs. Thirty-nine community-based sports and recreation officer positions are now supported with funding totalling $815 000.
The Indigenous Housing Authority of the Northern Territory (IHANT) exists under a tripartite agreement between the Northern Territory government, ATSIC and the Commonwealth government. All three bodies provide funding to IHANT each year. The total budget for IHANT in 2002-03 is $57m, which includes a construction and upgrade component of $40.8m, including land servicing, and a component for maintenance works of $9.3m. The Territory government’s contribution to IHANT in 2002-03 is $24.8m.
In April 2002, the Commonwealth offered the Northern Territory an additional $4.33m of Aboriginal rental housing program funds based on needs identified in the community housing and infrastructure survey undertaken in 1999. The offer was conditional upon the Northern Territory matching the funding from Territory sources, or from untied Commonwealth/state housing agreement funds. The Northern Territory government will match the Commonwealth’s $4.33m in 2002-03.
The 2002-03 IHANT budget also includes $3m to facilitate the development of effective housing management and home care programs within communities. Approximately $10m will be spent implementing a coordinated regional approach to the construction of new housing in the Papunya region of Central Australia. This regional approach combines increased indigenous participation and cost-effective housing design to deliver more housing with available funds. We will be actively exploring ways to use the lessons learnt in other regions of the Territory.
The Territory’s building industry will receive valuable support through the government’s construction and repairs and maintenance program for urban public housing and government employee housing. Over $39m worth of work will directly boost the sector, including just over $23m in construction and upgrades for government employee housing and urban public housing Territory-wide, including a wider security screening program for public housing dwellings; and approximately $16m in repairs and maintenance works for general public housing and government employee housing, as well as an additional $1.5m for condition-based assessments.
The $3m security screening program that government has approved for 2002-03 is the first stage of a program to progressively screen all public housing dwellings on a prioritised basis. The program is expected to cost approximately $8m to $10m over the next three to five years, and will ultimately see security screens fitted to around 4500 public housing dwellings. The immediate priority is to screen those dwellings with disability modifications and safe rooms, and this year’s program will target these dwellings. Once this phase is completed, the program will be directed to other groups that have been identified as at high risk including the aged, sole parents and people with a disability. Remaining public housing dwellings will then be screened.
Over recent years, the housing construction program has focussed mainly on the Darwin region where waiting times for access to public housing have been comparatively high. This government recognises that we must also focus on developing public housing facilities in other parts of the Territory where there are identified needs that have not been met.
We have allocated $2.5m for the construction of an 18 unit seniors village in Alice Springs. The new seniors village follows a model that was introduced very successfully in Darwin. It will provide greater privacy and amenities for tenants and incorporate design features that are specifically adapted for seniors. This development will assist in better aligning public housing stock in Alice Springs with the needs of the community, and will increase the housing options available to seniors in Alice Springs.
The government has also increased its support for home ownership in the Northern Territory with an additional $3m allocated to the HomeStart home loan scheme. Demand for loans under the scheme exceeded expectations last year and, to ensure that we are better placed to meet this year’s projected demand, we have lifted the budget for the HomeStart scheme to $28m, up from $25m last year. The program provides loans and equity funding to assist first home owners to buy or build their first home, making home ownership opportunities available to more Territorians. Since the program’s inception in 1997, nearly 1000 HomeStart loans have been issued with almost $120m made available to borrowers. This year’s increased level of support for the program is in line with continued efforts of both Territory and Commonwealth governments to increase home ownership rates in the community.
The itinerants project is a community initiative established to develop possible strategies to address widespread problems of antisocial behaviour, nuisance and disruption caused by itinerants in the Darwin and Palmerston area. The project involves some 40 service providers from community groups and indigenous organisations to Northern Territory and Commonwealth government agencies. The government has allocated $500 000 in 2002-03 for the implementation of priority initiatives under the project which are:
proactive patrolling and less police intervention;
pathways to more meaningful lives in the community;
to promote Larrakia cultural protocols both in remote communities and in Darwin and Palmerston;
to provide the coordination and support necessary to implement this complex project.
We know that there are no magic wands or quick fixes. The project is not designed to make indigenous people disappear from public. All members of the community have the right to access public spaces, places and receive appropriate services. However, no member of the community has the right to behave in antisocial and inappropriate ways whatsoever. Antisocial behaviour by indigenous visitors breaks Aboriginal law; it does not reflect well on the wider indigenous community. There is a strong commitment from all stakeholders to achieve outcomes that will reduce antisocial behaviour and, more importantly, move people away from the destructive cycle that characterises an itinerant lifestyle in town. It is the first time that a project of this complexity has been undertaken and, as such, it provides a model for similar initiatives in other urban centres in the Territory.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I do have one page left and I realise …
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that my colleague be granted an extension of time in order to conclude his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr AH KIT: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I will not be long. We are serious about a long-term solution to the problems of itinerancy and we believe that this highly consultative project will bring about an improved quality of life for individuals and the community.
As I mentioned at the outset, this government’s commitment to community development has been demonstrated with a $19.5m boost to the overall appropriation from my department in this budget. We have much to do in many areas that have been sorely neglected for 26 years, but this government is down to business and determined to redress the balance. We are committed to harnessing the potential of all Territorians across all our regions and communities, empowering people to find their own solutions and implement their own priorities. I believe that this budget sets us on the right road to securing the Territory’s future.
Finally, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend the Treasurer’s budget to members of the Assembly.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to outline some of my observations in relation to the budget brought down by the Chief Minister and Treasurer yesterday. I will touch upon my shadow portfolios and thereafter conclude with how the budget affects my electorate of Araluen.
First, in relation to tourism, my view is that this is not a good budget for the tourism industry. In summary, the sum of $500 000 has been provided to the Northern Territory Tourist Commission over two years. It needs to be remembered, however, that the government cut funding to the commission in the mini-budget last year. There is the provision of some funding for infrastructure at Katherine Gorge and Kings Canyon which is very much welcomed, but that infrastructure will not, of itself, attract visitors to the Territory, although it will certainly assist them when they are here.
The $500 000 is provided to the commission on the basis that it will fund an aggressive international marketing campaign aimed at three countries and two continents. I noted on 14 August when the minister announced this funding allocation that he made it quite clear that it was to be provided to Japan, the United Kingdom, Europe, America and New Zealand. As I said, this is three countries and two continents - a lot of ground to cover in anyone’s language. When we consider that an amount of $42 000 is to be deducted from that figure by way of the commission’s contribution to the Aviation Executive, that leaves a figure of $458 000. Of course, when we consider the low exchange rates, it leaves very little money indeed. In the view of some people in the tourism industry, as well as myself, it will barely make an impact. It is too little, too late, especially since the cuts were made in November.
I recall when the minister made the announcement in parliament last week. I felt he wanted me to jump for joy at his announcement. Having considered my position, it is a bit like getting a pair of thongs for Christmas - although better than nothing, it is really not much and it is a bit disappointing. I say that government should have done more. The sum of $458 000 over two years will not make the impact that the minister wants. It is embarrassing and simply not enough.
I might digress slightly to refer to the NTTC News bulletin that, as I understand it, was issued today or yesterday. The minister’s message is nothing short of fascinating as well as extraordinary. He says:
- Tourism is a big winner from the new budget. We are backing the tourism industry to deliver
more jobs for Territorians.
He goes on.
- We are committing significantly more money to the Northern Territory Tourist Commission in
the 2002-03 budget.
Upon some close examination, the announcements made by the minister, as conveyed in the NTTC News, revealed that very little additional funding, in fact, has been provided. The minister appeared to take some pleasure in saying that it was a 10% increase on the previous marketing allocation that was handed down by the member for Katherine when he was tourism minister. It is important to remind members that when the member for Katherine was the tourism minister, Ansett was servicing the needs of the Australian flying public and the two towers at the World Trade Centre were standing tall in all their glory. Of course, there should have been an increase in the NTTC’s marketing budget because the world changed forever on 11 and 14 September. For the minister to gloat that this is a 10% increase from when the CLP was in government, does him no credit at all. He should remember that Territorians are not as stupid as he obviously thinks they are; nor are members of the tourism industry.
What the minister did not say was that the Northern Territory Tourist Commission’s budget was cut in the November mini-budget. Let me remind members what the government did. It cut the budget of the commission by $241 000. It is as clear as day in Budget Paper No 2, handed down in the mini-budget in November. At the most critical time imaginable, as far as the Territory’s tourism industry is concerned, this government cut the budget of the Tourist Commission, which beggars belief - it did then and it does now. By his own admission, the $1m over two years - that is $500 000 per year - in fact replaces what was cut in November. Furthermore, the so-called 10% increase takes into account the $2m allocated to Virgin Blue, which actually comes from the commission’s marketing budget, despite previous indications that it would not.
In relation to Virgin Blue, there is simply nothing new; merely a mention of what had previously been allocated. I remind members that on 28 November last year, the minister said in this House that the payment to Virgin Blue of $2m would be a massive return on investment and that: ‘… consequential returns will be tens of millions of dollars to the Northern Territory’. The question to be asked is: what have the returns been? In Question Time today, the minister said he expected that it would be about $12m worth. However, as was demonstrated by the member for Katherine in the question he asked, $500 000 will not buy much when spread over three countries and two continents. The government is on notice that we are watching the net worth of its paltry allocation to international marketing, and we will hold the minister to his expectation that it will generate $12m worth to the Northern Territory economy.
The minister, I suggest, has quite a deal of ground to make up when it comes to this particular portfolio. Some time ago, he was asked in this House whether, in the budget, funding would be cut to the regional tourist associations. He did not directly answer the question. I am pleased to see that the pressure applied by the opposition, and lobbying from the regional tourist associations, prevented any cuts being made to the regional tourist associations. It is noteworthy however, that their funding has not been increased - extraordinary in the views of some.
In relation to the aviation ambassador, an idea suggested by us fairly early on, the minister might like to be aware that there is some disappointment within the industry that government did not totally fund this position. Of course, it is jointly funded with the Darwin Airport Corporation and what that means is that the successful applicant, as I understand it, will report directly to the manager of the Darwin Airport Corporation. If this government was serious about tourism, I would have thought that the applicant would report directly to the minister, but …
Mr Henderson: Wrong, you are wrong. He reports to committee that reports to me.
Ms CARNEY: Well, I will pick up the interjection. No doubt the minister can advise me in due course. Even so, the successful applicant will not report directly to the minister, and that is indicative of the lack of enthusiasm and support the minister has shown for this portfolio.
Ever since the Australian Labor Party took office, there has been a lot of scaremongering around the Territory, which arose so obviously out of its shock of winning the election. In a desperate, almost hysterical attempt to fund their over-the-top promises, they produced this thing called the black hole. It meant that they could try to convince people that new taxes were justified - which they are not, nor have they ever been - and the government has deliberately not told the public that it received an extra $134m from the Commonwealth, which I was pleased to see the Treasurer finally admit in this House on Tuesday. The ALP - make no doubt about it - has made the cost of living for Territorians higher than ever before. At the same time, it has the temerity to say that increased taxes and charges are necessary, even though the Northern Territory coffers are as full as they have ever been and, arguably, this government has significantly more money than any of its predecessors.
The government, in my view, has missed a significant opportunity in this budget when it comes to tourism. A number of things could have been achieved, which will result in bringing more tourists to the Northern Territory, as well as assisting those involved in the industry. Some of those include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:
it should have provided the sum of $5m over two years - that is a figure that has been suggested
to me by industry members who I have spoken with in the last couple of days. It is widely regarded
that $500 000 per year over two years is significantly insubstantial;
Precinct, which does not appear to get a mention in the budget papers, and it looks like that idea
has been shelved;
Territory Car Rental Council says costs the industry, or will cost the industry, something in the
region of $250 000 per year. Members will recall that we raised the issue in the parliament during
these sittings and there was certainly no hope offered to those who are in the business of renting cars;
for almost 12 months that a second airline is on its way into Central Australia; and
Northern Territory.
In summary, in relation to that shadow portfolio, there is nothing for the tourism industry. It is extremely disappointing and I might say, somewhat surprising.
I take this opportunity before concluding, of thanking the members of the Northern Territory Tourist Commission. They are an extremely energetic and hard-working lot. I also congratulate Ms Maree Tetlow, who arrived, obviously at a very difficult time, given the events of 11 and 14 September. I look forward to putting to her some more questions in the Estimates Committee.
Moving now to the area of women’s policy. I was extremely and, very genuinely, disappointed to see that the government had dispensed with the publication Women in the Budget. This publication provided an accountability structure which linked government planning with reporting in a publicly availably budget paper. It detailed information on the Northern Territory public sector, agency by agency, and staff employment classification and gender. For years now, I have found this publication, Women in the Budget, of great interest. Of course, it is not just me. I have seen copies of this publication in a number of people’s offices throughout the Northern Territory, and sometimes in the most unlikely of places. It was widely regarded as an excellent resource, particularly for women. It is terribly disappointing to see that abandoned. I note that the former shadow minister for women’s policy, Maggie Hickey, said in her reply to the budget in May 2000: ‘We are certainly very pleased that there is a Women in the Budget paper’. She also said that she was: ‘… pleased on behalf of women in the Territory that that has continued’.
Hence my surprise and disappointment that the government has abandoned this publication. It is removing and limiting the flow of information for and about Territory women. I have no doubt that I am not the only woman in this House or, indeed, in the Northern Territory, regardless of political allegiance, who laments the passing of this excellent publication which, as I said, was a valuable and widely used resource.
I note also that the Office of Women’s Policy has suffered a reduction in funding. The office was funded to the tune of $1.165m in 2001-02 by the previous government. The budget papers presented by this Labor government reveals, on my reading, that the office will receive funding to the tune of $1.02m which, of course, is a reduction. No explanation appeared to be provided as to why the Office of Women’s Policy had suffered a cut to its budget. However, it is certainly very disappointing in light of the commitment the government, and in particular the Chief Minister, says that she has to women and women’s issues.
In relation to my shadow portfolio of correctional services, there is really not a lot there, although I do acknowledge an increase of $4.2m for custodial services, community corrections and juvenile detention. Very interesting, given that the government is so believing of its aim that it will abolish all crime in the Northern Territory. I would have thought, from various announcements made on law and order since it came to office, that it has a genuine belief that crime will stop altogether. I would suggest that the government actually does not believe anything that it has said or done in that regard.
In relation to my shadow portfolio of communications: generally pleasing but no real surprises. I note the minister’s keen interest in this area and I look forward to hearing reports as to further progress during the life of this parliament. Thankfully, of course, there has been a significant amount of federal funding which will help the government achieve the results that it wants, and which will be supported by the opposition.
Finally, turning to my own electorate of Araluen, I was amazed to see the political vindictiveness of this government by directing most of its announcements to the northern suburbs of Darwin. I have looked at the Alice Springs initiatives and, it seems to me, that most are going to programs which the government is already obliged to complete. It also seems that unless you live in Yuendumu, Kintore, Papunya or Docker River, all the people of Araluen can get from this budget is improvements to the airconditioning at the Alice Springs High School, a chiller at the Alice Springs Hospital and a new hockey field.
Whilst I am delighted to see that the airconditioning at Alice Springs High School will be upgraded it was, of course, pretty much in train by the former government. No other school in my electorate receives anything from this government - this government that proudly says that this budget is so wonderful for education and school students. I note that there were no plans announced for the Ida Standley Preschool which is experiencing numerous difficulties at present. The minister for education has, I am told, been made aware of these problems. I would urge him in the very strongest of terms to allocate funding in next year’s budget for upgrading and/or development of the preschool.
The ALP made much of its promise prior to the election that it would spend $5m to upgrade Traeger Park. Apart from $800 000 which is a re-voted amount, there is no other mention of it in the budget papers. The Gillen Seniors Village, of course, not new. I should think that the government would continue working on the site because I would have thought it would be contractually obliged to do so. Again, nothing new there.
In terms of capital works, the program is almost non-existent. I was really very interested to hear the Minister for Central Australia give his summary of capital works in Central Australia this afternoon. He barely made reference to Alice Springs. There is no plan for the future when it comes to capital works in Alice Springs. The government, since it came to office, has had the luxury and the honour of going around opening various projects and buildings and so on, that were all the ideas of the CLP. The challenge for the government is that now it actually has the task of coming up with its own ideas. It has missed its chance in this regard, which does not bode well for the future of my electorate of Araluen, Alice Springs, or the Northern Territory in general.
In conclusion, although there are some good aspects of the budget, my overwhelming feeling is one of disappointment. It is a budget aimed unapologetically, it seems, to the northern suburbs of Darwin. If that is what the government wants to do; that is fine. However, for my part, I have more faith in the people of the Northern Territory. They are pretty smart and they will see the budget for what it is; and that is, it lacks vision for the future.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, with regard to the comments made by the member for Arnhem before he commenced his delivery earlier. He had a go at the opposition and implied that our responses here tonight in the budget debate were disorganised and that we should all be lining up quick smart to give them. I remind the government members that you have had the luxury of seeing this budget for a little time - particularly the ministers. You have had your staff prepare your responses. The opposition members need a moment to listen to your words and compose their responses. That is why not all of us are going to be speaking tonight, and others will speak and conclude tomorrow. It has nothing to do with our organisational abilities.
I would like to spend a few moments commenting on the budget and my electorate of Port Darwin. I commence by going to the member for Arnhem’s words. He spoke on the itinerant study and proposals in your budget. I would like to congratulate the government on this work. Port Darwin is an electorate which, from time to time, has problems with itinerants, regardless of their race. There definitely needs to be work done in this area and the proposals that are coming forward now from the work which the CLP commenced a year or so ago, are very exciting and, hopefully, we will bear some fruit there.
My view is that everybody is welcome in the electorate of Port Darwin. I enjoy seeing different people living, working and enjoying their time here. As the minister correctly said, it is not an issue of race, Aboriginality or whatever; it is an issue of behaviour. That is the concern here. I applaud what the government is planning to do. I welcome the funding that you are going to put into this area. I hope that it will have a satisfactory outcome.
Another thing which I am very pleased to have seen in your budget is that Dinah Beach boat ramp is going to be widened and - I have just spoken to the minister responsible - other work is also going to be considered, particularly with the view of the need to increase the size of the car park. This boat ramp lies at the end of Gonzales Road which lies next to Tipperary Waters and, although the car park and ramp were good in their day, the popularity and increase in population of this area has meant that, when the tides are right and the fish are biting, the place is chock-a-block with boats and trailers. It creates a real problem getting boats in and out of the water and finding a car park and somewhere to park your trailer.
I have approached the department, probably for about the last six months, on this issue in various ways. Then, pleasingly, I noted in the newspaper a call for submissions. I was able to get some of the people I had been dealing with in the community - local residents and business operators in the area - to put in submissions. I am very pleased to see that we have been successful in getting money allocated to this important recreational fishing area.
Another thing I was pleased to see in the budget is that the Fort Hill Wharf is going to have some work done on it, with the rehabilitation of the roll-on and roll-off facility. Fort Hill wharf is still an operational wharf. As you will know, it becomes increasingly important to us as Stokes Hill Wharf is becoming less active due to the fact that it has some structural problems. Fort Hill is very active. It also has the advantage of being a wharf which can be made much more secure from the public. That issue has arisen since 11 September. The Navy, in particular, are keen to use Fort Hill Wharf because of the fact that it is more isolated from the general public. So, any work and funding that can go into an area such as Fort Hill Wharf is certainly welcome.
Another item in the budget was the police station here in the CBD. It is going to get more funding now for the fit out as its construction draws to an end, and that is to be welcomed. We will, as a local community, enjoy having an increased police presence in the CBD. It will be great to see, just by natural factors, more police walking around the area to help the community feel safe and good about being here.
Another item in the budget also relates to the wharf area; that is Stokes Hill Wharf. There has been funding set aside for the installation of cathodic protection. The Stokes Hill Wharf is an old wharf; it has been there for a long time. You can see photos of the Bombing of Darwin to get an appreciation of how old that wharf is. The reality is that, as the years go by, the structures of the wharf deteriorate. I know that wharf is in need of work, so it is great to see that there is some money going in there for the protection of the wharf through the use of an electric current, which is what that cathodic protection is. Also, there is upgrade of fingering there as well. There have been occasions where large ships have pulled up and have had some problems in that area, so it is great to see that money going in. I congratulate the government for making those allocations into this electorate.
However, there were a few things that are disappointing and one of the most obvious ones is the fact that the Stokes Hill Wharf redevelopment - a proposal that came out of last year’s Economic Development Summit - has not had a go ahead at this stage. I believe that this is perhaps one of the areas where the Labor government could have put some money. I realise it is significant money, but it puts together a vision - a vision for the Territory and for Darwin. These are the ‘let us build something important for our area’ items. The Stokes Hill Wharf development, which I am sure will go ahead one day, will be a magnificent area if it is done correctly. I have put in a submission to the government on this, and it is my view that one of the key components of that area, when it is done, should be that the area should not be given away or given to developers piecemeal. It should be done as a whole unit, so that you get some element of uniformity, and a flowing through of the theme through the area. I am hopeful that one year we will hear - and I hope it is not too far from now – of some significant funding going into this area, because it has huge potential, particularly for the area of tourism and entertainment. This electorate of Port Darwin is the playground for the Top End of the Northern Territory, and a developed wharf area would definitely add to that.
Another disappointing thing that was not in the budget, and perhaps could link in to the Stokes Hill Wharf redevelopment, is that there has been no addressing of the need for a convention centre in Darwin. We know from Alice Springs current experience that they are having a great time welcoming people into the Centre who will be using the convention centre. If we had such a centre in Darwin that was capable of taking over 1000 people on the floor, it would be an absolute boon for the tourism industry and, of course, for those of us who live here who would like to see interesting and successful conventions come to our city. I am hopeful, and I believe that one day we will see an impressive convention centre built in Darwin. As I say, this could have been a project to illustrate some vision from the Labor government, if it had been done.
The last thing which I was disappointed did not get a guernsey in you budget, was the George Brown Botanic Gardens upgrade. Recently, there has been a proposal published by the department, putting forward proposals for the future of the George Brown Botanic Garden. By looking at those proposals and speaking to the people involved, I can see what an exciting thing it is that they are putting to us, here in Port Darwin. For example, next to Gilruth Avenue where currently, if you look along there as you drive in from Goyder Road, it is quite boring and bare. Occasionally, a little water collects there during the wet season, but it is a fairly dull and unimpressive entrance to the front of the gardens. What has been proposed is the development of a wetland area, and also on the edge of a lake, building a visitors centre that would also include accommodation for the administrative staff.
Something done in the gardens would have been a great thing to be able to do. I add that I have written to the minister concerned with regard to the George Brown Botanic Garden and that area. I did a submission on it earlier on, so I have missed the closing date for this particular idea. However, it has been put to me in the last few weeks that a great thing for the area of Port Darwin would be the development of a dog park. Many people in this area live in medium to high density living, but they still keep a dog. There are constraints in finding areas where the dogs can run free and have a play without being on a leash. The Botanic Gardens area would be an ideal spot to develop a dog park, similar to the one at Marlow Lagoon at Palmerston. If you have not had an opportunity to have a look at that dog park in Palmerston, you really should go and have a look. I do not have a dog; however, I can imagine that for people who own dogs, they would really enjoy taking their animals there. I believe during most evenings at Palmerston around 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm, there are about 30 to 40 owners there enjoying the facility of that wonderful thing that the Palmerston City Council has developed. The Botanic Gardens in Darwin has some large pieces of land that are essentially under-utilised, and it would certainly add some life and vitality to the area if we, too, could have a dog park.
Overall, my comments for the government with regard to Port Darwin are that I am grateful for the items that were included in the budget. They are necessary items and will be welcomed by the people of Port Darwin. I was disappointed though, that there were no ‘big ticket items’, I guess you could say, with regard to the wharf or a convention centre. However, I have hope for future years.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): I do not mind going in front of you, minister. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, at the outset that this budget is set in a framework of a cashed-up government, it seems, thanks to the taxation reform of the Coalition government. We have finally heard the figure of what that amounts to, in $131m in additional funds from the federal government and the taxation arrangements. Those are funds that the Chief Minister has described in her policy papers and what have you, as a ‘job destroying tax’. That is how the GST was described by the Labor leader - a job destroying tax. Well, that job destroying tax has now provided an additional $131m to this Labor government, and they should be thankful for that. Territorians, I believe, should be thankful for that as well. So, it is a cashed-up budget in terms of additional cash, and that is a good thing.
Also, the framework for this budget comes to this House with the highest taxes for Territorians that they have ever seen before, in terms of the new water charges, the new sewerage charges, the HIH tax for business and the rego tax.
The budget is also set in the context of the mini-budget which was brought down last year. That mini-budget had all sorts of components to it, including the budget improvement initiatives that talk about forcing downward pressure on the final consumption expenditure for agencies. That is a real concern to a lot of people, particularly public servants, certainly in terms of the cuts that were made in the financial year just past since the mini-budget. It has to be a concern to public servants in the way it was presented in that mini-budget. I will refer to some of the issues that were contained in there. One of the things that was talked about in the budget improvement targets that were going to be applied in the financial year just past, and this current financial year, was the productivity dividends. It was said that the agencies would be required to reduce their running costs by an average of 2% in the last financial year and 4% in this coming year.
It is very hard to determine, but we believe that there has been job shedding from the public service in the last financial year up towards the 300 mark. I stand to be corrected. I do not mind being corrected on this figure, I hope it is not right: 300 jobs in the last financial year. If you try to do the sums, it is very hard because you really have to pore through all of the current budget figures to find any staffing numbers, because they are all set individual components. Whereas the budget before - the major budget brought down in 2001-02 - listed all of the staffing numbers by agency and it was very easy to get a total. In fact, a total was provided for you.
There is a lot of concern that this budget is in the context that that 2% budget improvement target of last financial year looks like it shed 300 jobs from the public service. There are major concerns within the public service - certainly to public servants whom I know, and many have mentioned it – in this current financial year that we are now in, with the agencies having to reduce their running costs by 4%, that that means not just the odd job or position having to be left vacant, as I said, it looks like up to 300 of them. Also that whole programs are going to have to be cut from within agencies, with people in them to find that 4%.
It is not across all agencies, as we know. The mini-budget quarantined an number of agencies: police, health and education, and so forth. But it mainly targets those ‘doing’ agencies; those agencies that are providing services to Territorians, whether they are in the pastoral sector or Aboriginal communities or what have you. These are the doing areas of government. It is a real concern. It is even a further concern to CEOs, I believe because, as part of the ‘new culture’ as it is described in last year’s mini-budget statement:
- … the government has established criteria to improve public sector management. The onus will be
on chief executive officers to deliver a threefold bottom line to:
produce financial outcomes within annual budgets …
Okay. That is fair enough.
maintain or improve services.
So maintain or improve services and:
maintain high staff morale and job satisfaction.
The morale in a lot of the public service, believe it or not, is quite low. When we get into this 4% efficiency, I certainly believe that not only will the CEOs have a hard time in maintaining high staff morale and job satisfaction, but they will be on the pointy end of the stick in terms of cutting whole programs with people in them. It is going to be very satisfying to get the figures that the Chief Minister has promised from the Public Service Commissioner, to have a look at how the numbers of staffing have moved since this time last year and, let us say, this time next year. It will be a very interesting exercise. I hope that it does not mean more staffing cuts in the public service because they do a tremendous job. But they are certainly under the pressure with the 4% that is going to be applied in this financial year and, I wish the CEOs all the luck in the world in coming up with that 4%.
The framework of this budget also includes, as we know, a capital works program. However, the thing that is missing out of the capital works program is a forward looking capital works. That is something that I would be interested in; having a look at the forward works programs, what is on the design list. It is something that is always of interest to all the contractors out there, whether they are large or small, to have a look at what is coming through the pipeline.
I see there are time lines against the current capital works program, and that is good because that means that contractors can have a look at the timely nature in which the capital works for this year will come on board, or underway or what have you. But what has been dropped is the forward looking program and the design listing. It is always very interesting to have a look at, and I think that should be reinstated. It is, perhaps, the minister responsible could have a look at. I am certain that industry would love to see that back in the papers.
This budget also sets the future framework through the budget balance sheet that has been described, and that has been picked up by the Leader of the Opposition. It is quite worrying to see net worth dwindling over the next four or five years, decreasing, it seems, by quite a considerable amount of money. That is not something that we want to portray here in the Northern Territory, even under accrual accounting: that our assets and liabilities are the old crocodile jaw situation and we are ending up with a very much decreased net worth at the end of the term of this government.
It provides an interesting scenario also picked up by the Leader of the Opposition, and that is the $1bn that is not available for scrutiny, and there is obviously some reason behind that. However, the fact of the matter is that, at this time last year, we moved and passed a bill that appropriated approximately $3bn, and this financial year we are going to pass a bill that appropriates around $2bn. That is of interest, of course. There are probably some good reasons for that, and I will be glad to hear them. I am sure part of is the Power and Water Authority going off-line, one would imagine.
It is interesting to note on the PowerWater items that there is no problem in ministers getting up and answering questions regarding initiatives of PowerWater in terms of capital works and what have you. But when it comes to the scrutiny of it there is really no way of coming to that except by, I guess, annual reports at the end of the day.
The other aspect of the budget is that there is no doubt that some departments have suffered costs, and it is particularly disturbing to see that DBIRD and DIPE have suffered cuts. As I have said, these are doing departments and, once again, the morale is not good in some of those departments.
It seems that most of the remote regions have done very well in capital works, but most of the major regional centres have not. That has been of particular interest to the member for Katherine and myself, living where we do. We are getting a mall; that is good. We are getting some works done at Nitmiluk Gorge; that is good. Also, we are getting the drain, but that is a carry over, so it is not new works. I must say, it is good to see the drain underway; a good initiative that had to be done to ameliorate flooding problems. I was a bit disturbed to see it called in the papers ‘Hickey’s Lake’. It is commonly known, I know, as Hickey’s Lake, but Mr Hickey hates it being called Hickey’s Lake. So just take that on board when you are referring to it. You might call it flood works on Zimmen Drive, or the drain on Zimmen Drive to look after flooding problems. But it is good to see that going, it looked like being lost there for a while just after the new government took over; there was all sorts of allegations about no cash for it. But I see that it started before this financial year, although they had to carry it over to this financial year to continue the second stage of it. But it is underway, and it is going very successfully so far. It will be a great day to see that completed. It is nearly a couple of kilometres long, 40 m wide and 5 m deep in parts, so quite a major drain.
On the primary industries initiatives, in capital works. The aquaculture centre has works that are being described in the budget:
- The Darwin Aquaculture Centre - design and construct a system to treat all waste discharge
from the centre.
That is a great thing to see those works going on that support the aquacultural industry; very important. There is a note in Budget Paper No 3 under that item:
- The amount shown is the total project cost not the cash commitment for 2002-03. For further details
of this and other projects see Budget Paper No 4.
The amount that is allocated there is $400 000. When you go to Budget Paper No 4 - so that is the total cost not the cash commitment - the cash commitment is actually higher than the total cost. I do not know what is going on there. Maybe somebody could explain that. $400 000 is the total cost; cash commitment, $429 000. So, I do not know whether that is around the wrong way. If you go to another book somewhere - it might have been in Regional Highlights or something - it actually describes it as $430 000. There is an anomaly when you look through all of these papers and finally compare them.
Still on fisheries, it is great news, as the member for Port Darwin said, regarding the Dinah Beach and Buffalo Creek boat ramps. As I said this morning in reply, those initiatives to keep access to our waterways are certainly very important, and something that the CLP was always mindful of and ensured that we gave a good deal of consideration to in budget allocations as far as infrastructure goes. That cannot be denied by anybody, wherever you go. It must remain as a high priority of any government of the Northern Territory, not only because of the fishing culture in the Northern Territory but the benefits in brings in terms of tourism.
Turning to the Mary River wetlands on an environment issue, I notice the continuation of the construction of weirs and barrages on the Mary River floodplains to protect against saltwater intrusion. That budget allocation in this Labor budget is $411 000, down from $1m in last year’s allocation. It is important - very, very important - not only to the fishing community and to the land owners out there - whether they be Aboriginal interest or private owners - that this work is continued at the appropriate rate that it needs, to ensure that saltwater does not intrude any further into the Mary River wetlands. That is why we entered into a new phase last year, and it required $1m. From memory, it was going to require $1m each year for the next five or - it could have even been longer, it might have been nine years.
Anyway, it is an ongoing program that actually needs considerable input, and it is disappointing to see that it has been cut by about 60% down to $400 000 this year. There could be a good reason for that but, on the surface, more money means more work which means less saltwater intrusion. I would like to see that readdressed so that that work can be carried out. It is not in my electorate. It is important to all people but, most significantly, it is important to the environment of that freshwater wetland, and the work should be continued at the highest level possible.
Road spending is down - which was picked up previously - which is not good news for the remote areas and those industries which need those road networks to continue those businesses. It is certainly not good news for pastoralists in the Northern Territory. In fact, the whole agricultural future for the NT in this budget has nothing in it in the way of forward vision; there are no major initiatives. I put on the record that there are a number of ongoing initiatives that have come through from previous years that have ended up in the budget papers. The pastoral water enhancement scheme has been continued, and that is great because that is a great initiative to help pastoralists. The fertiliser freight subsidies have been continued - I have not checked yet whether they have gone up, down or stayed the same. On the surface they look like they have stayed the same. In the primary industry sectors, a whole raft of programs are being continued, and I appreciate that; that is great.
However, for initiating further development in areas such as the Katherine/Daly basin, there is really nothing. There is $500 000 in there for the upgrade of road maintenance - I think it might be Fleming Road. That is a continuation of work that has been going on and should continue to go on in that Katherine/Daly basin area, and Sturt Plateau and other places, to allow for the development of those areas to continue. With the Katherine/Daly basin, there is a lot of work that can be done. As members would know, over the past couple of years we have released more land - that is, the Territory has released more land - for private ownership out there. In last year’s budget there was $900 000 for an extension of Fleming Road to those Stray Creek blocks where that land was released. The next stage of that whole project is to continue that road down towards Katherine, to the Ferguson River, cutting through Oolloo Station and down through that way, so that more land can be turned off and greater access given. They are the initiatives that it is disappointing not to see in here, in terms of a boost to those economic areas like the Sturt Plateau.
Owen Springs is not mentioned. It was purchased by the government a couple of years ago. I know the minister has what the agencies want on his desk; it is a case of making a decision as to how you split it up. You have all the advice on that, and it may take a bit of money to do a few things because there is some good horticultural land there. There is some land that could - depending on the decision of government – go back to the pastoral estate that will require some minimal surveying and what have you. Obviously, there is land there that has gone to Parks and Wildlife to enhance the park estate, and there is land there for future industrial use and so on, which will require some planning in terms of headworks and all that. That has been a year now, and it is an initiative that will not only help the rural industries in and around Alice Springs, but will provide some new initiatives, possibilities and potential for Alice Springs residents and business.
The same with Pine Hill station. I have not heard anything in the last year. The native title must be off that by now, or about to. There is another opportunity to expand the agricultural area in and around there. It is a very good area for small crops and, in particular, grapes. None of those things are in there, and that is a shame. However, as I said, there are quite a lot of ongoing programs that have been carried through.
There are some new capital works programs that I need to mention, particularly in my electorate. The new sewage treatment plant which is the next stage of the new subdivision at Wadeye. We had already put the power in when we were in government. The next stage was to provide for sewage treatment, and that is going ahead, which is great. It will alleviate some of the social and cultural tensions in Wadeye for that new subdivision to go ahead - well, it has gone ahead, and it will be a new aspect for the community of Wadeye. The same with water storage and generating plants, both at Peppimenarti and Wadeye, as well. What is not in there for Wadeye - which I had hoped to see this year because Cabinet has been out to Wadeye and, I understand, had a very good visit. They stayed overnight and were given all the information that they requested in connection with questions they asked and also in terms of the needs of the community. One I am sure that was put to you was the promise of the $300 000 for the swimming pool. I am not sure, I guess that sits in the member for Arnhem’s ministerial portfolio responsibilities. But they are hoping that it be completed by Christmas this year. There is one thing stopping it and that is the $300 000 extra promised by Labor during the election. If they could get that - which could be mixed in there somewhere or could be plucked out of one of the budgets over there - then they would be very happy to get news of that very quickly …
Mr Bonson: Yeah, our accounting practices are really bad, compared to you guys.
Mr BALDWIN: I can take it that is a no. You are not going to support the people of Wadeye, even though they put it to you at the Cabinet there? We put in $300 000 when we were …
Ms Lawrie: And you did a really good job of it didn’t you? You ignored them for decades. You are a disgrace.
Mr BALDWIN: I beg your pardon?
Ms Lawrie: You ignored them for decades, you are a disgrace. Look what condition you left that community in.
Mr Maley: You do not even know where Wadeye is.
Ms Lawrie: Yes I do.
Mr BALDWIN: I cannot believe this. The disgrace of how I left it in this condition? How I left it in this condition?
Ms Lawrie: It is in your electorate.
Mr BALDWIN: If I have to go through all of the initiatives that have been put into Wadeye, and all the other communities in my electorate, we would have to sit here for the next two days.
So, come up with the goods that your man promised during an election - $300 000 is not much money to put into the pool of Wadeye - even though he failed in his election attempt. Put in the $300 000. You have been to Wadeye; you have heard the story. It would get that pool completed by the end of this year. That is on top of the $300 000 that the CLP government put into that project; on top off the money put in by the school out there; on top of the money promised by the shop. I am sure Cabinet members, anyway, have heard all of this. So I make that point on behalf of the council at Wadeye, and I hope they see that money coming though very soon.
There is an item in this budget of $3.1m for remote health clinics for external service providers to deliver primary care and referral services. That is in – do not quote me, I think it was in the Regional Highlights, but I have read it out almost verbatim. I cannot find anymore information about it but, on behalf of the Daly River Nauiyu community, I am asking whether or not that $3.1m is for items such as to take care of the desire of communities like Nauiyu to build their own health clinic? As you know, there are letters on file with your office. I believe they wrote to you in July, and have only the initial response so far. When you give a response perhaps you could tell me whether it comes under that program so that I can get back to them.
There is money in there for the upgrade of cells at the police station at Daly River, which is great to see. That is a program that I see is continued around the Territory. It has been going on for quite a number of years, and it is good to see. There is also ongoing monies for the Wadeye community to negotiate regional partnership agreements - something that I have been involved in. $110 000 is very good and it will certainly be good to continue in that process.
Turning now to a few of the business initiatives within - I think I am going to run out of time, Madam Speaker.
Madam Speaker: I think you are, too.
Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, I move that the member be granted addition time to complete his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr BALDWIN: I will not be too long. Turning to a couple of business initiatives, there is one in particular in the budget papers, the stamp duty on franchise purchase and renewal. It has been intimated, along with the stamp duty on hiring arrangements, that they were CLP initiatives. They were there in the days of CLP, there is no doubt about it. But it seems to me, in regard to those two items, that in recent times - and I hope Treasury officials do not take offence at this - the interpretation of those two stamp duties has been broadened. I raised this issue through the Treasurer’s office and had a briefing with the Taxation Commissioner, and then followed up with a letter outlining that the stamp duty on hiring arrangements has only seemed to have begun in recent times. It was being targetted at ADrail contractors. The briefing was that that is where Treasury had started sending their letters of inquiry saying that ‘you may have to pay stamp duty on hiring arrangements’.
The Taxation Commissioner asked me to include with the letter a standard contract from ADrail, which I did. I ask for an interpretation by the Taxation Commissioner, obviously in conjunction with the Treasurer’s office. After some considerable time - something like six to seven weeks - the Treasurer came out with a press release saying that they had abolished the stamp duty on hiring arrangements for wet hire - and that was the issue - which was good news to all of the contractors who had approached me; that I had taken up that issue on their behalf. But what was not good news for them was that those who had paid it, or were eligible to pay it up until the time of that press release, were not going to be rebated. It was sad news. The excuse given was that it would be too hard to go back and rebate that money, but I am sure it would not have been. All they had to do was write again to those same contractors and say: ‘If, by the way, you have paid any money to the Taxation Commissioner in regard to this stamp duty, please forward the relevant paperwork and we will rebate you’. It is disappointing that that was not rebated.
It is also disappointing that in the stamp duty on franchise purchase and renewal - I believe the purchase has always been there - of same owner/operator franchise agreements, that tax has been reduced. It seems to me that they have been hit fairly hard in recent times. I believe that perhaps it should have been negated altogether. I am sure that is the view of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry: negated altogether in terms of renewal to the same owner/operator. I believe that would have be a fair and just thing to do.
The other item on business was the hire car rego tax that has been mentioned by the member for Araluen. I think that is a very unjust rego tax on that particular industry.
In closing, the member for Nelson raised the issue of native title negotiations and the Labor government’s commitment to negotiate all of the native title issues in and around Darwin, Alice Springs, and perhaps Tennant Creek by December of this year, which you will find in the Building a Better Territory document. I say that is good, if they can do that by December. However, I imagine it that it will come at some cost, whether it is in terms of cash or some other terms. That really needs to be highlighted in the budget. There should be an allocation for that type of thing.
I think the Chief Minister might have been referring to a lands acquisition fund when she quoted a figure - you might correct me - $3.2m. Was that a lands acquisition fund that she was referring to? Anyway, it does not matter. If that is the case, that is well and good. Perhaps we should see that highlighted a bit better, or perhaps I have missed it. I stand corrected if I have, but $3.2m perhaps will not be enough. It will be interesting to watch that process go by, and by December to see some outcomes of that, and at what cost and impact on this set of budget papers.
I conclude my comments there, seeing that I have had some extra time. I also thank Treasury people, because I think they have had a pretty torrid time over the last year regarding the types of financial issues they have had to deal with in a Percy Allan so-called report, which seems to have disappeared into the nether world; then a mini-budget and a forward outlook allocation to get us to this point in August/September. God knows why we had to come to this point; we could have had the May/June if these guys had got their act together a bit better. It would be more pressure, I know, on Treasury officials, but certainly would have kept the budget in the right alignment in terms of timing. I understand that we are going to back a May/June style budget next year, which will be good to see. Perhaps the year after that we might get some good comparisons back in to the budget papers.
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services): Madam Speaker, it is with great pride I rise to speak to the first Labor government budget for Health and Community Services. I wish to begin by acknowledging the outstanding efforts of the Treasurer in preparing this historic Labor budget. It goes to the core of what this government stands for: it is visionary, progressive, fair and, above all, delivers on the commitment this government has made to the people of the Northern Territory.
The Treasurer has done more than make history as the first Labor Treasurer to deliver a Northern Territory budget. The Treasurer has laid the framework for the delivery of health and community services in the Territory in a way previously unmatched. The 2002-03 budget will provide a record $527m for the Department of Health and Community Services. This is an increase of $20m over last year - an increase of 4% over last year’s budget. This budget has made clear the difference between this government and the opposition.
You only have to look to the local media to see how well this budget has been received in this community. The business sector, the trade union movement, social service advocates, and the public at large welcomed this budget. After 27 years of conservative government in the Territory, the priorities of government have now changed. For the Martin Labor government, health and community services issues are a priority; they are not an afterthought. They are core to what this government stands for, and this budget delivers on those priorities.
In May this year, I delivered a major statement on indigenous health in which I highlighted the bleak state of indigenous health in the Northern Territory. The indigenous population in the Territory has some of the worst health outcomes in the western world. It is a shameful record. This government is determined to turn this around by going to the real causes. In May, I foreshadowed a course of action to address these causes. This budget begins the process of delivering better health outcomes for indigenous people. To address the causes, this budget commits $2.2m for the recruitment of an additional 25 health professionals to work exclusively on child health issues in rural and remote areas. These teams will be networked throughout the Territory and will provide services such as health screening for zero to eight-year-olds, immunisations, hearing and nutrition. They will also bring much needed expertise in child health, school nursing, speech therapy and occupational therapy.
I was recently in Ramingining. The nurses there told me that they had just completed the first screening of children in the school in 10 years. I must say I was very saddened and somewhat angry to hear this. That children might go through their school life without their health being systematically checked by health professionals - especially given the context of profound ill health - is almost unimaginable; but it is happening. Our child health teams represent an unprecedented injection of resources into Northern Territory paediatric remote area health care.
An additional eight family and children’s services staff are also being employed; four of whom are indigenous community workers. These workers will focus on Aboriginal families in need, to support them to protect children from abuse and neglect. Investigation is itself a form of prevention, in that it aims to stop abuse recurring or even commencing. This is a critical government responsibility that is overdue for greater resourcing.
In my indigenous health statement, I also spoke of the poor state of remote health centres. This budget contains capital work spending in Aboriginal communities. $1.5m has been provided for the construction of a new health clinic at Milikapiti. This new health clinic is well overdue. The current clinic is 32 years old, dilapidated, and in a completely unsatisfactory state. The new centre will include emergency treatment room, consultation rooms, dental surgery, public waiting areas, and ancillary services for patients and staff.
At Yuendumu, we will spend $820 000 on a major upgrading of the health centre. The works will include a new patient and triage area, consultation office, men’s and women’s areas, storage areas, and general refurbishment. The existing building is 25 years old, and the new works will enable the centre to function as a zone service for the surrounding communities.
In addition to these major works, minor works will be carried out, including renovations to the Umbakumba dental lab of $56 000; modifications to the Ramingining Health Clinic of $140 000 - and I must say, having recently visited there, I know that the staff at that clinic will be very excited about that project. There is also money for renovations to the Nhulunbuy dental clinic of $25 000.
In preparation for ensuring effective and safe delivery of primary health care services, we have also been auditing the remote health centres. To date, this investigation - even at the desk top stage - has confirmed varying degrees of infrastructure deficit. Tackling neglect of this magnitude requires a systematic approach. We have now moved from desk top to on-site audits. The final report will detail all the deficiencies and identify the amount of funding required to repair, upgrade and/or replace clinical infrastructure in remote communities.
It is already apparent that such is the degraded state of many health centres that fixing the problem will be neither cheap nor quick. In fact, this neglect will take many years to remedy. We will be in close discussion with our Commonwealth partners and ATSIC counterparts, in order to follow the major works I have announced for Milikapiti and Yuendumu with an installations schedule based on priority and need.
A competent health and community services work force is integral to ensuring that we have the capacity to address the needs of Territorians. This government recognises that action is required now to improve the training, supply, recruitment and retention of appropriately skilled professionals, health service managers, and policy officers. To increase the number of health specialists in the Northern Territory we needed to take special action. There is a worldwide shortage of nurses, specialist allied health professionals, and managers who have the depth and breadth required to deal with contemporary health system complexities. The review of Health and Community Services that I announced in the June sittings is designed to address some of these crucial issues, but we also have to act now.
We have moved to increase the number of nurses by 75 over this term. We are working closely with the Australian Nursing Federation to develop strategies for making the Northern Territory a more attractive place for nurses to live and work. We are also making efforts to recruit local people, to encourage young Territorians into the nursing profession, to attract nurses who have left the profession to consider nursing as their preferred career. To date, we have created 16 new positions and this year we have allocated $2.36m for a further 20 nurses. We have further allocated $5.68m for a well deserved nursing salary increase, honouring the new EBA, one of the first negotiated under the new Labor government.
We have allocated $730 000 for professional staff development. This will allow staff to undertake further study and update their qualifications, and forms an important element of our efforts to recruit and retain health professionals. We value Health and Community Services staff; they are hard-working, committed and dedicated. For staff working in remote areas this dedication can sometimes be sorely tested. Aggression against health staff happens. It is a sad fact in some communities that Health and Community Services staff are subject to occasional acts of violence and aggression. I am on the record in stating categorically that violence is not acceptable and we are doing something about it.
While the audit process outlined above is being undertaken with issues of staff security, cultural appropriateness, and occupational health and safety in mind, we are also taking immediate steps to create more secure workplaces. As a major priority, in 2002-03 my department will continue the installation of duress alarms in the accident and emergency rooms, reception areas and clinical rooms of health centres. We will also be installing sirens, lighting and keypad security locks. We will connect clinics to the Northern Territory government security monitoring centre. As well, staff will receive training in dealing with acts of aggression. All clinics will be signatories to locally produced protocols specifying how aggression is to be dealt with in individual communities.
Recently, senior representatives of Aboriginal communities from across the Top End met in Nhulunbuy with members of my department, police, education and community development. This high level meeting produced positive results. Indigenous community leaders resolved to work closely with government agencies to address this serious problem. These actions are about dealing with aggression when it occurs. They are also trying to address the role of cultural awareness in preventing aggression from occurring in the first instance.
My department has long recognised that improved cultural awareness is essential for the effective delivery of health services. It has consistently conducted an Aboriginal cultural awareness program to help provide its staff with the skills to work effectively with Aboriginal people. However, in response to participant and community feedback, the design, content, and the effective delivery of the Aboriginal cultural awareness program in the Top End has undergone a comprehensive evaluation process. This evaluation has focussed on the program’s capacity to incorporate local and geographical differences in what was a rather generic program. It has also assessed how to include local community input within both the process and content of the program to ensure its relevance and bearing to the needs of health staff and the community. The new Aboriginal cultural awareness will take effect later this year.
For many people, hospitals are the most visible face of health service delivery; they matter to Territorians. However, before we came to government, community confidence in our hospitals was being eroded. People were worried that coming to the Territory meant forgoing access to the full range of hospital services they could expect in other capital cities. We undertook to restore people’s confidence in our system. Hospital services in this budget have been allocated $272m, a record amount. This is an increase of $7.2m over the previous year.
In addition, there are major capital works for our hospitals funded in this project. Over $22m is earmarked for hospitals’ capital works. This includes: $14.4m to complete the stage two upgrade of the Royal Darwin Hospital; $3m for the construction of a new stand-alone hospice at Royal Darwin Hospital; $2m for the construction of a new incinerator autoclave at Royal Darwin Hospital; $350 000 for the relocation of boilers at the Royal Darwin Hospital; $350 000 for a new mortuary in Katherine; $505 000 for a stand-alone renal unit at the hospital; $770 000 to complete the redevelopment of the Alice Springs Hospital; and $700 000 for the installation of an additional chiller at the Alice Springs Hospital.
Upgrading our hospitals is important for many reasons. It matters to patients that they are receiving services in safe clinical environments which also, because of their look and feel, help confer a sense of wellbeing. It matters to our health professionals and staff that they work in up-to-date premises which meet occupational health and safety standards, encourage good patient care and, last but not least, foster camaraderie and greater team work.
I recently inspected redevelopment work at the Royal Darwin Hospital which is scheduled for completion in October. The remaining fit-out is expected to be completed by November. The Royal Darwin Hospital will provide the Territory with a first class hospital comparable to any in Australia. Each year, 190 000 patients attend Royal Darwin Hospital for some form of treatment. The hospital performs around 10 000 operations annually.
The upgrade of Royal Darwin Hospital will include: a new emergency department; a new decontamination suite; a new coronary care unit; a new 10-bed dependency unit which the hospital does not currently have; a new intensive care unit; new operating theatres; and an increased paediatric capacity. The new critical care units will be located in the same vicinity, vastly improving the operation of the hospital through time saved in moving patients from one area to another. The new facility will also include a retail area for shops such as a newsagent, coffee shop, chemist, gift shop and kiosk. I look forward to its official opening by the Chief Minister later this year.
Complementing these upgrades at the Royal Darwin Hospital, we are enhancing our emergency department capacity with an extra $500 000 for additional staff. These positions are in addition to the nursing positions that I mentioned previously. Even without extra resources, the emergency department at Royal Darwin Hospital has achieved significant improvements against great odds. Worldwide, emergency departments deal with high stress workloads. Around 40 000 people per year attend the emergency department of Royal Darwin Hospital alone, 20 000 of whom are admitted. The construction of the new emergency department will increase bed capacity from 15 to 38 beds. The $500 000 will provide additional resources for this department, helping it to become one of the best in Australia. Royal Darwin Hospital needs these extra staff resources, and I am proud to be able to deliver.
I would like now to take the time to discuss the hospice in more detail. This is an initiative that this government is very proud of. The hospice will accommodate 12 patients, with provision for future expansion. It will be a free-standing, low building with garden surrounds. It will include facilities for nurses and the families of patients. The new facility will also include the current Palliative Care Community Outreach team. The hospice is currently in its design phase for which there has been widespread community consultation, including input from Aboriginal communities. Construction is expected to commence early next year.
On 4 July this year, the Chief Minister opened the final stages of the Alice Springs Hospital redevelopment. The Alice Springs Hospital redevelopment includes: a new mental health unit; maternity ward; birthing suites and special care nursery; physiotherapy department; medical wings; children’s inpatient and outpatient unit; high dependency unit; outpatient clinic; Aboriginal liaison unit; chapel; pharmacy; and kiosk. This budget is also providing to the people of Alice Springs $770 000 to complete the redevelopment of the Alice Springs Hospital, together with a further $700 000 for the installation of an additional chiller.
While speaking about the acute care setting of our hospitals, I would like to talk for a moment about ambulance services. We all know about the invaluable service provided by St John Ambulance but, for too long, that service has been struggling to fulfil its vital role because of restricted funding. I advise that this budget provides an additional $260 000 to the St John Ambulance to provide for expanded ambulance services in the Darwin region. I am confident that people in the greater Darwin area will appreciate the additional sense of security that ambulance services bring.
Turning now to the all-important Community Services. Let me recall that one of my first actions as minister was to seek the views of the community services sector - both government and non-government - on what it saw as the priorities. Across the Territory, it was clear that this sector felt under-resourced and under-valued. It began a recognition process by changing the name of the department to one which acknowledges there is an equal partnership. This budget gives further evidence that we have listened.
In the area of Family and Children’s Services, our commitment to improving the wellbeing of children, young people and their families is well demonstrated in this budget. Funding for Family and Children’s Services will increase by $4m to more than $32m for 2002-03. Prominent among the services for which we have increased funding is child care. Members on both sides of this House will be aware of the importance of access to good, high-quality child care. Access to child care facilitates parents’ participation in the work force. In doing so, it contributes to the economic development of our community. Just as importantly, quality child care also supports the physical, emotional and cognitive development of children, facilitates learning, and supports their education. The government will provide an additional $910 000 this year to child care centres to improve services and help keep down the cost of child care for Territory families. This increase in funding will enable this government to meet its election commitment to increase the child care subsidy by an extra $7.50 per child. It also includes $300 000 to improve the quality of care in our child care centres.
Young people in our community will benefit from increased funding, with $310 000 for trial youth activity programs in both Nightcliff and Borroloola. It is expected that such programs will be expanded to other areas in coming years. The budget also provides $320 000 for a youth night patrol and Safety House in Darwin. The youth night patrol will commence operation in November, in time for the long school break. This service is being developed in consultation with all relevant Territory government agencies, local government, non-government service providers, local business operators across the northern suburbs, young people and their families. The youth programs in Nightcliff and Borroloola, the youth patrol and Safety House were all commitments made in our election campaign, and it gives me very real pleasure to advise the House that we are meeting those important commitments.
Within the increased budget for Family and Children’s Services is $500 000 for the employment of an additional eight staff to work in the highly challenging area of child welfare. I have already mentioned that four of these new staff members will be Aboriginal community workers. Staff working in the area of statutory child welfare carry out difficult and delicate duties in the area of child protection, supporting families, and case managing children who come in to the care of the minister because, for one reason or other they cannot remain at home. This increase in staff for Family and Children’s Services is well overdue, and I am proud that this government has committed these extra resources to this important area of my department’s activities.
Aged and Disability Services are a major part of the responsibility of the Department of Health and Community Services, and I am pleased to inform the House that its funding will increase by $814 000 to more than $48m. The Commonwealth, state and territory’s disability agreement has not yet been finalised, and the states and territories are continuing to push the Commonwealth on this.
Support for senior Territorians, as well as pensioner concessions, will increase to $7.6m this year. We will also provide $300 000 for the establishment of a transitional care unit for the aged in Katherine. I am sure the members for Katherine and Daly will be very pleased to hear that. A section of the Rocky Ridge Nursing Home will be refurbished to provide this facility. The unit will provide short-term residential rehabilitation, supported recuperation, and short-term packages of community care to aged Territorians.
Mental health services are an important component of services based in the community and those delivered into hospitals. All members of this House will be alarmed by the rising incidence of mental health problems in our society. To take one example, there has been a significant increase in the incidence of depression. In fact, it is becoming one of the major health problems across the world. At best, this is a debilitating illness; at worst it leads to self-harming behaviours, seen in their most extreme form as suicide. In June this year, the Territory joined Beyond Blue, the national depression initiative, providing $40 000 per annum for the next three years. Professor Veronica Arbon has been appointed as the Territory’s representative on the Beyond Blue national committee. Mental health services will receive an increase in this year’s budget of $381 000, taking funding to more than $14m.
Members on both sides of this House will be aware of the crucial role of the not-for-profit, non-government sector in delivering health and community services. This budget introduces real increases in funding to a sector which has been struggling. Many non-government service providers have received only irregular increases in funding over the past few years; if they received any increase at all. These NGOs have been under greatly increased pressure over the past months, because of the substantial increases in public liability and professional indemnity insurance costs. This government will remedy the appalling lack of support for non-government agencies, providing health and community services by increasing funding by $6m to $64m. This includes new funding to help with the costs of increased premiums and growth, as well as funding increases.
In many ways, public health services represent the essence of what this government sees as the key to improvements in our overall health profile. Public health professionals attempt to help members of the community understand the underlying reason for poor health, and to implement prevention measures that will ensure that all citizens are born healthy and remain so throughout their lives. They attempt to get in before ill health takes hold, by looking to the causes. By definition then, public health responsibilities are broad-ranging. They cover issues like smoking and other forms of drug abuse, physical activity, infant health, communicable diseases, food safety, water quality, and effluent disposal. The challenge for governments is to assist public health workers to attract the resources they need to develop population-wide and individually targetted interventions across the sweep of their activities, in the face of competing demands from the acute care sector. I take great pride in being able to help create this shift with this budget. In the 2002-03 budget, public health services will receive almost $40m, an increase of $1.5m over last year.
The health and social problems associated with the abuse of alcohol and drugs is well documented. The Northern Territory has a substantially higher per capita consumption of alcohol than the nation as a whole, and Central Australia has one of the highest rates in the Northern Territory. Recently I announced, along with my colleague, the Minister for Central Australia, the complementary measures being introduced in Alice Springs to combat the effects of alcohol abuse. We committed more than $1m over the next three years to match a contribution by the Alcohol and Education Foundation of $1.1m. This year, we will contribute $400 000. This $2.1m initiative has been hailed as a model for the rest of Australia, and will provide services in Alice Springs such as the Tangentyere Community Day Patrol and case managers for problem drinkers. The program will also fund an extension to the hours of opening of the sobering-up shelter, as well as a youth drop-in centre.
Previously in this House, these measures were dismissed as representing nothing new. I was astounded at this response for a number of reasons. The Alice Springs community has been intensely worried about drinking issues for many years. In the past, there have been increased clinical services training in community education. Licensees even voluntarily trialled a ban on four litre cask wine for a short time. However, there has been no formal variation to the supply of alcohol in Alice Springs for many years. It was left to a status quo.
Because of the depth of community determination to act, the people of Alice Springs got the results they wanted. They convinced the Licensing Commission to trial restrictions. They further convinced government and the foundation that they needed to complement these restrictions with a package of measures to stop the harm. This is a major outcome; a true partnership between all players, and not one to be belittled.
We are a responsive government and many have already commented that this is a responsive budget. The Treasurer yesterday announced that already $500 000 has been allocated in 2002-03 as our initial response to the recommendations of the illicit drug task force. I look forward to announcing the government’s response to the task force report over the next few weeks. I have spoken previously about the importance of our review of the Tobacco Act. Following extensive consultations, I will be introducing legislation in the next two sittings of the Legislative Assembly on this major public health intervention.
Health research is also a priority of this government. It should go without saying that research is needed to improve and inform policy and practice, resource allocation and planning. This year we will provide $3.29m in research funding. This includes funding for the Menzies School of Health Research and support for the CRC.
Before I move on to talk about my electorate in Nightcliff, I acknowledge the valuable contribution of our Health and Community Services staff. As minister, it has been my great privilege and pleasure to work with a group of dedicated people who are committed to improving the health and wellbeing of Territorians.
It is an honour to be the Minister for Health and Community Services and it is especially an honour to be the member for Nightcliff, to represent the people of Nightcliff, Rapid Creek and Sunset Cove. Doorknocking in my electorate constantly reminds me that people want us to deliver on health, education, community safety, jobs and, I might add, underground power. People are also very interested in supporting services for young people, recognising that young people are the Territory’s future. I am very pleased to say that this budget delivers on all of these things. In the area of health, my electorate will benefit from improvements to the Royal Darwin Hospital, increases in nurse numbers, resources for accident and emergency and, related to this, increases in ambulance services to the Darwin region. All of these matters are very high priority for the people of my electorate.
I know that the $14m increased funding to the education budget will also be welcomed by the people of Nightcliff. This will employ additional teachers, attendance officers, repair our schools, and give more money to our school councils. I applaud the additional funding for school councils which struggle to make ends meet, as will the members of my electorate. I am aware that the school council of Nightcliff Primary School will be receiving an additional $9522; Nightcliff High School will receive a further $13 133; and the Northern Territory Open Education Centre, an additional $29 757. Congratulations to all these schools.
One area which I know the people of Nightcliff have been concerned about is the itinerant problem, particularly in shopping centres and around the foreshore areas of Rapid Creek and Nightcliff. $500 000 was allocated in this budget for the itinerant strategy announced by the Minister for Community Development. This will certainly assist with this very complex problem.
Like all Territorians, the people of Nightcliff want more jobs in the Territory and this budget certainly comes a long way in making this a reality. There will be more nurses, police, and teachers. Construction jobs will increase with a record capital works program. There is also extra funding for Family and Children’s Services staff. A great budget for job creation. Economic recovery in the Territory is underway and the inevitable job growth and business profitability will result in families and constituents in my electorate benefiting from the responsible economic management of this government.
Families benefit greatly on many levels in this budget. Assistance for families with young children through the child care subsidy is long awaited. There will be an extra $7.50 per week for every child care place. There is also $300 000 to improve the quality of care in our child care centres. The working families in my electorate will find this a welcome relief. Additional relief exists for families thinking of buying their first home in the Nightcliff area - and it is a great area - with a stamp duty threshold increasing from $2096 to $3640. Furthermore, a new home buyers rebate of up to $1500 will be available for contracts entered into from Tuesday of this week for a principal place of residence. I look forward to meeting the new residents this brings to Nightcliff.
Families of Nightcliff will also benefit from the funding this government is spending on young people. Youth activities are needed in the Nightcliff area, and $155 000 announced in the budget for a youth activities trial program in Nightcliff will be well received. A further $320 000 has also been allocated to a youth night patrol and Safety House for Darwin. Families with children in Nightcliff will be happy that Neighbourhood Watch will receive an extra $110 000. This money will be disbursed amongst the Neighbourhood Watch groups, and for Nightcliff this means improved signage.
Families and other residents of my electorate who live in public housing will be more secure in their homes with the new security screen policy.
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, I move that the minister be granted an extension of time; such that the member may complete her remarks.
Motion agreed to.
- This is a really positive budget for us. It shows a real commitment by the Northern Territory
government to reinvesting in what was previously a neglected area.
Asked what his reaction was to the budget in terms of health, Dr Paul Bauert, President of the Northern Territory Branch of the Australian Medical Association, said:
- Pretty good. The good things from my perusal of it is the additional child protection workers.
I think that’s been an area that’s been sadly neglected for quite some time.
He went on to say:
- The other positives are the 75 extra nurses, the increase of 25 personnel with specialist skills in
child health working in remote areas and, you know, they are listening.
The President of the Northern Territory branch of the Australian Nursing Federation, Paul Nieuwenhoven, said:
- For the first time in a while we’ve had a real increase in health spending.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, you have caught me off guard. I was packing up.
Ms Lawrie: Sit down again.
Mr WOOD: No, we will get it out of the way tonight.
I quickly go through comments about today’s budget. I should preface it by saying that there is no way that I can comment on everything in the budget. It is a fairly complex document and it has many aspects in it which I could not cover in one go. I believe it is a good and bad budget. It certainly has quite a few good things in it, and I would like to highlight those things first.
As the minister for health said, one of the things that I believe is an important initiative for this government is the $3m for the hospice. The reason I highlight that first is because there are people who been going around lately with all doom and gloom trying to advocate the use of so-called ‘exit bags’. I hope this hospice can show how we can help the terminally ill in a far more humane, dignified manner as they come to the end of their lives.
Another good initiative is the increase in the first home buyers stamp duty concession and principal place of residence rebate which will, no doubt, boost the residential housing market. These initiatives will be even more attractive if the government perhaps looks at the manner in which some of the Crown land is developed. I have mentioned before in parliament that I think the concept of Crown land being sold off to a developer puts this extra layer of cost into the price of our land. I would like the government at least to look at that, as to whether they can go back to the old method of developing Crown land; that is, that they do it themselves.
I highlight one problem I had when I was trying to read the budget. I had problems trying to discern in the budget highlights what were existing highlights and what were additional highlights. And I think …
A member: It’s all highlights.
Mr WOOD: Yes, I know it is all highlights, but in trying to read the documents, it would be nice when trying to analyse it, if you knew what was already there and what was new. Perhaps one way to do that is just by using different coloured print.
It is also good to see an increase in matters pertaining to families and children, again as the minister for health has just spoken. I note new funding for the office of children and families, and the establishment of a freecall family health line and a family support Internet site. I would be interested in hearing reports on how those are working, because I gather two of those new initiatives are only pilot projects at this stage. I would certainly be interested in seeing the outcomes of those particular projects.
Young Territorians, as we know, are all important for our future, and a trial of youth activity programs in Nightcliff and Borroloola, and the provision of a night youth night patrol and Safety House in the Darwin area is also a good initiative. Again, especially the youth night patrol, it would be interesting to see how that turns out. I notice continual funding for other programs, such as the Police and Citizens Youth Club, Junior Police Rangers scheme and the Junior Rangers program. It appears as though that is ongoing funding, but I would be interested to see whether there is going to be an increase in those things. Those kind of commitments are very important, especially when we are trying to develop young children with learning responsibilities. Those particular clubs and schemes certainly do that.
It is interesting to see the piloting of a youth transitional housing project, for 16 and 17-year-olds who require housing. I do not know much about that project, but I would be interested if someone in the government could actually tell me a little more about what that is all about. It sounds interesting because, I imagine in a place like Darwin - or in any parts of the Territory - there are kids who, for some reason or another, are not at home - either kicked out or have left - and are looking for a place to stay.
I note also under the Alcohol and Other Drugs program, there is a project called Rethinking Drinking - which I think is a pretty good term - aimed at secondary schools and to be redeveloped to the needs of Aboriginal young people. Again, that is the first time that I have heard of a Rethinking Drinking program, but I would be interested for the minister who has carriage of that particular project to come back to the parliament and explain exactly what that is all about.
There is also a large focus on Aboriginal Territorians, and that is good, and to be expected. Emphasis on those living in the more remote areas is an important focus for the government. I did notice one item, and it was mentioned in today’s paper, and I also found it in the budget papers. It spoke about the requirement for the intention of the government to build 20 more teachers’ housing. I know that one of the particular items that has been debated of late, is who is the housing for. I would be interested to see whether that housing is for all teachers, regardless of whether they are teachers from the outside or indigenous teachers. That needs a little more explanation; it certainly was not explained in the newspaper today.
It is also good to see new funding for the Aboriginal law justice project. I am new to this too, the member for Elliot has explained what a wonderful project it is …
Ms Scrymgour: Member for what? Member for Barkly.
Mr WOOD: Oh, member for Barkly, sorry. I will refrain from calling him Barkly from now on.
I have learnt a little more about the law and justice project from our trips around the Territory as part of the substance abuse committee.
Seniors have not been left out of the budget, because they are an important part of the community. However, one area that does not seem to get any mention is an improvement in bus services in the rural area, especially to help seniors. Although I know there is something in the wind, I do not have all the details yet. I will get back to the bus service later on, when I summarise.
I have already mentioned the hospice, but on another health matter, I am pleased to see funding has been provided for additional ambulance services, and that is to be increased next year as well. What I am not sure of is where the money has gone for the design of the Police, Fire and Emergency centre at Humpty Doo - I have looked everywhere. I have sent some e-mails upstairs, and have not received a reply. I cannot see it in this budget, so I hope it has not gone anywhere. I hope it has disappeared into the maze of information that is in these documents.
It is also good to see upgrades of sporting facilities as the Minister for Sport and Recreation has mentioned. Sporting facilities are important, not only for our youth but also some of the people who are slightly older than the youths. I am one of those who actually occasionally uses Marrara. I have a sore leg.
Mr Kiely: You did not tell me when you were coming in there.
Mr WOOD: Sorry, I will get permission next time, sir.
The facilities at Marrara, even though the minister has announced that they need upgrading, are terrific for a place the size of Darwin. To be fair, it was the previous government that put those facilities in. We are very lucky in the Territory, with such a small population, to have facilities to that standard.
I also remind the government that there is a wealth of young people in the rural area, and I would hope that the government does not forget that. I note that there have been promises about a swimming pool in the rural area, and I realise that …
Ms Scrymgour interjecting.
Mr WOOD: Am I am keeping the member for Arafura up?
I realise that there is work to be done, especially in the planning of such a swimming pool, but I see no mention of even an allocation funds for planning for the pool. I have heard a figure touted that the pool will cost $1m, which I am not able to find anywhere in any document. I am told reliably that is how much has been set aside. I believe we need to have a plan first, in conjunction with the community and the Litchfield swimming pool group, before we work out how much money should be allocated in the budget. Then we may have a better idea how much money will be required.
Another important area that I believe should have been in the budget was an extension to the bicycle path along the old rail corridor to Howard Springs, and then to Howard Springs Nature Park. I know the minister is there having a bit of a chuckle, but I was under the impression this project would be included in this budget. I recall a meeting earlier this year where this particular matter was raised. I was surprised because I cannot see it here. The minister might be able to straighten me up on that. The extension of the bicycle path would have certainly been a good project. I have been asking for this for years because, under the previous government, I can tell you that it stopped at a certain electoral boundary and has never moved an inch further than Palmerston.
Ms Lawrie: Oh, they didn’t do that, did they?
Mr WOOD: Yes, but I am hoping that, as I have said before, this government is not a replica of the old one. I can assure you that …
Members interjecting.
Mr WOOD: I know that is a very harsh thing to say, but I will believe it when I see the bitumen moved a bit further down towards the Arnhem Highway. Anyway, I believe it is an important project because there is an Aboriginal community that lives there, and they have problems with crossing the highway. I should note here - and I have not seen it in the budget - that the government has allocated $150 000 for lighting in that area, and I thank the government for that allocation of funds to make it safer. However, there is an opportunity if the bicycle path is run along of the old rail corridor, to give them another safer access to get to Palmerston. It is also good for rural people who would like to go to Palmerston by bike instead of having to go anywhere near the major highway. As well as that, of course, we are preserving heritage and that is one of the reasons I have always supported the idea of using the old rail corridor as a bicycle path. There is mention in the budget of maintenance expenditure of $4.1m for roads, cycle ways and walkways in the Palmerston and rural region. I am not quite sure whether some of that money might be used to extend the bicycle path, although it does say maintenance. It is an awful lot of money; I am sure we could remove some of it from maintenance.
With regard to school funding, it is interesting to see $13.9m to deliver secondary education students at Palmerston High School and Taminmin High School. Both of these schools are used by students in the rural area. I cannot, at this stage, work out what the split is between the two schools but I would expect that those schools will welcome that extra funding.
I hope there has been sufficient funds to non-government schools in the budget to start a new secondary school at the corner of Lambrick Avenue and the Stuart Highway, which many people have been asking for. I know the Catholic Education Office has always had a plan for a school there. I have had a number of people come and see me and say: ‘When are we getting another secondary school in the rural area?’ The reply is: ‘Well, Taminmin can go up to 900 students’, which is a matter that concerns me. There is an opportunity for a non-government school to be on the boundaries of Palmerston and Litchfield, and I hope that there is enough money in the budget. It is very hard to get it out of that document, but I hope there is enough money there for that school to get off the ground.
A couple of other matters. It is good to see that the government has put some extra money into the university. I know from a friend of mine who happens to work at the university that money has been very tight at the university. It gets down to the point where maintenance on some of the equipment has been let go quite a bit. Someone said to me the other day they were trying to give lectures and the microphone would not work on the lecturer’s lapel and the overhead projector was not working either. I thought that things must be fairly crook if they do not have maintenance funds for those sorts of things. So, I welcome that initiative.
I also welcome the initiative to help increase the completion rate for apprentices and trainees. I do not know whether it is $500 000, but there is a small amount of money being set aside to help apprentices and trainees to complete their training.
A couple of things I would like to mention from my own electorate. In the budget, there is either $21 000 or $210 000 set out for extension works or headworks in the Litchfield area. It does not explain what that is for; it just says $210 000. We did send an e-mail upstairs and we have not had an explain of that either.
I once again put forward that I think the bicycle path is something that should have been in the budget. I hope it is in the budget in some form or another. It is an important source of both recreation, safety and heritage in the rural area.
The bus service is one thing that I have continually asked be extended in the rural area. People may not know that we have 17 000 people in the rural area. We have two buses in the morning and two buses at night, and one bus in the morning and one at midday on Saturday. That is the total bus service for the people who live in Howard Spring and Humpty Doo. I believe that the bus service has to be extended. I see lots of buses going around some of our suburbs with two and a dog in it. I think that the rural area could at least …
Mr Kiely: They’re not allowed to carry dogs, are they?
Mr WOOD: Sorry, member for Sanderson. They are not allowed to carry dogs.
However, I believe the rural area does need a proper bus service. There are many students who go to the Palmerston Campus who may only go there for half a day and cannot get home. There are certainly lots of seniors. There are people who are home who would like to go to the shopping centres and get back. I believe we need to look at the bus service. I know the minister has said they will be looking at it, I think, in January 2003, but I do not see any reference to a bus service in the rural area. There is a reference to bus services in Darwin and Palmerston, but not the rural area.
I mentioned before, I hope at least Fire and Emergency Service plans which are to be drawn up, are in this budget. That is what was in the mini-budget. I hope someone can show me where they are in the present budget, as I could not find them.
Another matter that does concern me is the volunteer firefighters who come under the Northern Territory Fire Service. The budget does mention training for Bushfire Council volunteers. I do not know whether people realise that there are four volunteer fire brigades in the rural area - three of them in the Nelson electorate – which come under the auspices of the Northern Territory Fire Service. I see no mention of training for those people and, if the bushfires volunteers are getting training, these groups ought to be getting training as well.
I appreciate the extension of the ambulance services. We have a fine ambulance in Humpty Doo which everybody is proud of. We have a great ambulance representative down there called Frank Dunst - I think that’s his name - who is continually trying to get me to join the St John Ambulance. I have the shirt, the uniform, the name tag, the trousers, the hat, but none of it can be put on until I do the three-day first aid course. That is the problem: where to get the three days. I hope soon to be able to do that.
A couple of other issues. There is mention in the budget - this is one disadvantage of putting it away in a hurry - of a $320 000 project to look at water. It is in the Regional Highlights under the Palmerston and Rural heading. It mentions $320 000 to:
- … provide secure access to water supplies for economic development and public water supply through
the Darwin Regional Water Allocation Plan. The plan, which also affects the Palmerston and rural
region, incorporates specific water allocation plans for surface waters and groundwaters in the
Adelaide River, Howard River, Elizabeth River, Blackmore River and Finniss River catchments.
I think that needs a lot more explanation. I would be a little concerned if some of our rivers were being used for a public water supply, except in exceptional circumstances – well, I think public water supply is not so bad, but not for economic development. At many of the beneficial uses meetings, most people did not want the waters in our rivers used for economic development. I am not sure what that is about.
It also mentions specific water allocation plans for surface water and groundwater. I need an explanation of whether that means bores in the area - that is private bores - are going to have allocation plans placed on them. If anyone remembers this issue in the rural area many years ago, we had one of the biggest meetings where people expressed their thoughts that they were going to be charged on bores. That needs to be explained a little more clearly as to what all that means.
The other item was one that did confuse me. It is $150 000 for the implementation of the Daly River regional water allocation plan. Then it says:
- … which will benefit both Palmerston and rural, and Katherine regions.
I am really pushing to believe that, living at Howard Springs, the implementation of the Daly River regional water allocation plan is going to benefit me. Perhaps someone has their geography a little out. Anyway, I would be interested to hear what that is all about.
There is also $40 000 being allocated to report on the Adelaide River irrigation potential for development on freehold land downstream of the Adelaide River community. It so happens I own a bit of land down that way, and for many years and still to this day, I was never allowed a water allocation licence. The reason is there is not enough water. There is a large farm down the end that grows bananas - I am trying to think of the place, it is further downstream. One was not allowed to have any more water, because there is limited water in the Adelaide River. I do not know whether that has anything to do with the Warrai dam proposal, and they are looking at irrigation if the Warrai dam goes ahead. I am not sure what that is about. That may need some more development.
The last one is Heritage Preservation. I notice there is $30 000 for heritage assessment and conservation planning at Strauss Airfield. I am very pleased to see that. I am also very pleased to see that in the capital works program - and I hope I am right - there is no money being allocated for duplication of the highway. Until there is any duplication of the highway, I feel I have some time to try and convince the minister that we do not need a highway through the middle of Strauss Airfield. I thank him for the $30 000 for the heritage assessment. I hope we can do both. I will leave that one at that.
On the downside, there is one thing that I feel is lacking in this whole budget; one thing that is missing fairly dramatically. You can see it in the budget speech, in some of the other documents like Building our Communities, Economic Overview, Budget Overview and the budget speech itself. It was the environment. The environment seems to me to have been forgotten. I know there are some initiatives in the Regional Highlights on environment. However, overall, the environment has been put down, I believe, in this debate. If you look in the budget papers, you will see that the allocation for Management of Parks and Reserves, Biodiversity and Bushfires, according to this document - and I must admit again, the problem with this document is you are comparing an estimate in 2001-02 with an actual budget figure in 2002-03, which I find a little confusing. However, this is the only figure I can go on.
There has been a reduction in expenditure on management of Parks and Reserves, Biodiversity and Bushfires of $845 000. If you add that to a reduction in expenditure of $46 000 from the Office of Environment and Heritage, you are getting up towards the $1m mark for reduction in expenditure in those areas. I think that is very sad. The reason I think it is very sad is because we have had a number of debates about Parks and Wildlife, and the most recent one was the restructuring. It has been said here before that there are morale problems in Parks and Wildlife. This particular department was cut quite severely by the previous government; then along came the new government and gave it another whack; and now it has been made part of a division of a division, as they say.
I think that them getting another cut sends the wrong message. Our parks and reserves require a lot better than that. There seems to be a lot of money being spread around in this budget. To me, our parks and reserves are not only there for maintaining biodiversity, but they are very much an important part of our tourism, which is part of our economy. Therefore we should be making sure that they are adequately funded. Some of our parks have really had very little work on them. I would say Djukbinj, which is the new park on the other side of Adelaide River, does not have much maintenance at all yet.
We have major weed problems. I know there is a strategy to look at weeds, but weeds are a gigantic problem in the Top End. I do not think we are spending anywhere near enough money. We have mission grass, gamba grass and we have mimosa - three of the worst weeds we could possibly have - and yet we are cutting down on the management of Parks and Reserves, biodiversity and bushfires. I find that very sad because it is very important that we keep putting money into those areas. Especially if we are looking at things like the development of a Darwin Harbour strategy. We have gas coming onshore; we should be sending out the signal that, whilst we want industrial development, we are also very mindful of the fact that we want to preserve our environment. I feel that that is a big let down; it needs to be highlighted. The government has missed that out.
There is some reduction in roads; that is something that should worry us. I lived at Daly River for a long time, and thankfully Daly River now has a full bitumen road, so I know what it is like to get a decent road. I have had a daughter living at places like Kidman Springs. I forget the name of the highway down to Kidman Springs - if you could call it a highway, it is really a joke. It is a terrible gravel road that goes down through to VRD. It is called a highway but it is not worth two bob. It is probably about time some of those roads received some maintenance, or received upgrading to a sealed standard.
I ask the minister looking after DIPE: in the budget it shows some expenditure in certain areas - in the bananas, the ginger plants and a few other horticultural developments. But when you look at the overall budget - again I have to compare the budget with the estimates of 2001-02. Under animal and plant industry production services, we have a negative growth of $3.1m, and that is a concern. I would have thought that - and I am quite happy to be corrected if I am wrong - our horticultural and agricultural industry are still the backbone of the Northern Territory, along with mining and tourism. To reduce the budget for animal and plant industry production services by $3.1m seems very strange indeed. There is also a drop in the animal and plant resource protection services of $1.6m. There may be an explanation for that, which is that the Weeds Branch of the department has moved over from the department of what was Primary Industry into this department, but I think that needs to be clearer.
The minister for DIPE also mentioned the fertiliser subsidy. I was hoping, perhaps, he might have mentioned whether there is going to be a subsidy on poultry feed. This is something I raised in debate about the two poultry farmers who looked like they were going to go broke. One possible help the government might have given them was a freight subsidy on their feed, because there is a freight subsidy on fertiliser. However, I did not hear the minister mention that.
To sum up, overall, as I said before - and I heard a chuckle over what I thought was a good and bad budget. I meant that not because I am trying to please one side or the other; there are some good things in there. There are quite a few good things in there; I cannot mention them all tonight. However, I think there were some deficits, especially from my local area. Hopefully, someone might be able to explain to me what it is. I will be finished quickly, member for Casuarina.
Overall, I would like to see the budget a little simpler. People might say: ‘Look, it is a piece of cake’. However, you have five documents, and sometimes these documents do not match. You read something here - in one area it said $5.3m and included a hospice and the incinerator. In the other document, it says there is $3m for the hospice and so many million dollars for the incinerator. There needs to be some work done to make this an easier document to read. We are not all Don Parkers or the world’s greatest economist …
Mr Kiely: Len Kielys
Mr WOOD: Len Kielys, yes. I did not know you were an economist.
Having done this one, we probably could improve on the next budget to make it more readable.
Lastly, the difficulty I have is that last year the government put up taxes on motor car registration, and they said that they would not cover the HIH levy. As much as I did not agree with that, I could probably accept their argument that things were crook and they had a black hole. However, it seems hard to understand that we had those taxes, yet this is a fairly big spending budget. It seems to me we have a policy for last year and one for this year. I am not too sure the two actually sit comfortably side by side. That is the way a lot of people would see it: we have been slugged for this and that and then, next minute, we have lots of money from the Commonwealth when we are still getting hit for those taxes. Looking from a public perspective, people would see that as an anomaly.
Overall, I believe the budget has some good things in it. I will be interested to see what response I get from those things that I believe are missing in it.
Debate adjourned.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr VATSKALIS (Transport and Infrastructure): Madam Speaker, I move the Assembly do now adjourn.
Tonight, I respond to some of the inquires from my colleagues and other members of parliament. First of all, I would like to respond to the member for Nelson regarding his inquiries about the police station at Humpty Doo. The construction of a new Police, Fire and Emergency Services facility at Humpty Doo is on the 2002-03 design list for $1.42m.
Regarding the $210 000 subdivision query; this is a re-vote job for the Farrar subdivision, and there is provision also for a current contractual dispute.
Going back to inquiry from the member for Nelson about Parks and Wildlife, and also other inquiries: yes, there was $2.5m transfer from DBIRD to DIPE for weeds. That might be the $3.3m reduction in funding in DBIRD, but I cannot vouch for it. The relevant minister will respond to you.
However, on the cuts to the Office of the Environment and the big cuts to Territory parks, let me respond. When I saw the same figures you saw in the budget documents, I immediately wanted to know why there were these reductions, and asked for an explanation. The parks may seem to have lost $1m. In reality, when we analyse the $1m they lost, it is a $782 000 one-off grant from the Commonwealth, plus $295 000 transferred from the previous year to finalise some projects - and that accounts for the $1m. We have actually put more money into the department this year. We have put $110 000 allocation for additional enforcement.
The same story is in the Office of Environment and Heritage. There appears to be a cut, but there were two projects finalised in 2001-02. They had the funding of $200 000, and another additional allocation to finalise a project from the previous year, $84 000; so it appears we have a cut. The reality is, the real picture is, we put $70 000 for enforcement. What appears to be a budget losing money, it has to be seen in the context, not just isolated. I am prepared myself, or for my office, to give you a briefing on these issues.
Another thing is with the roads. We did not cut the funding of the roads. Last year, we had to put $6m into repair and maintenance because there was nothing there. This $6m was one-off, not there this year, and that appears to be a cut in the roads. On a bigger item, you might think we have actually lost $35.5m in DIPE. What happened before was DIPE had all the money for repairs and maintenance for all the agencies. This money has now been given back to the agencies to manage their own …
Mr Henderson: Yes, there has been no cut.
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, there is no cut; there is no $35m cut. The same thing happens in a number of divisions. You and the members of the opposition are welcome to seek a briefing, and we are prepared to provide this briefing to all the members. I hope this explains it, because I understand your concerns. They are my concerns too, when a department loses $1m - you want to find out where your department lost this $1m. At the same time, the opposition spokesperson for parks and wildlife quite rightly, says: ‘Why have you lost $1m?’ We did not lose $1m. The $1m in Parks and Wildlife consisted of a one-off grant from the federal government of $790 000, and money that was transferred from the previous year so we could finalise some of the projects. The reality is we put more money in for enforcement.
Another thing I want to respond to was the adjournment of the member of Greatorex the other day, and yesterday again, about Ashmanor Pty Ltd. Now Ashmanor Pty Ltd is a company and Mr Bill Croft is the managing director. Bill Croft also has other interests apart from taxis, and some of them are in Queensland. There are nine CVLs but they are not owned by Ashmanor Pty Ltd; they are owned personally by Mr Bill Croft. Ashmanor is in voluntary liquidation; Bill Croft is not. Bill Croft is not bankrupt. If he was bankrupt, he had to come to the department, the MVR and …
Dr Lim: He should be back in Darwin then, shouldn’t he? He should be back in Darwin.
Mr VATSKALIS: No, I am talking about Bill Croft.
Dr Lim: Who owns Ashmanor?
Mr VATSKALIS: Bill Croft. Bill Croft is the managing director of Ashmanor, and he had nine cabs in Darwin and nine CVLs. Now, when Ashmanor went into voluntary liquidation, Mr Croft did not. He was not bankrupt; he did not ask for liquidation. Had Mr Croft been bankrupt, he would have had to advise the department about his bankruptcy and show a good reason why the department should actually let him have the CVLs. The department would not let him have the CVLs; they would take the CVLs back.
Now Mr Croft decided he want to sell his taxis and his CVLs to another company. The department advised him that he cannot sell the CVLs. However, under the existing legislation he is allowed to sell his taxis to another company. He can keep his CVLs as long as he is involved in the day-to-day management of the taxis. Under the current legislation, to have the CVLs you have to be a resident of the Northern Territory; have a Northern Territory address where the business records relating to the CVLs can be inspected; and to be involved in the day-to-day management of the CVLs. It does not require you to own the car. I can borrow a car, if I have a CVL, and I can run it as a taxi. That is one of the deficiencies of the current legislation. My understanding is Mr Croft has now sold his taxi to another taxi company; he has his CVL with him and is involved in the day-to-day management of that company; and the other company drive the taxis. I do not know what arrangement they have with Mr Croft to pay him commission or rent.
What we are trying to do with the new legislation is tie the CVL to the car: you cannot sell the car and keep the CVL. If you want to sell the car, you are welcome to sell it, but the CVL has to go back to the Motor Vehicle Registry.
I hope this makes the whole situation clear. However, if the member for Greatorex has some concerns, I welcome him to either write to me or put in a submission. If he wants a briefing, we are prepared to give a briefing. The Cabinet submission will be going to Cabinet very soon because we want to finalise this issue with the taxis. We understand that putting the cap, we have restricted, in some cases, people who want to expand their business. However, that was the only way to keep the taxi industry alive and not have taxi drivers at the throat of the minibus, private hire car, and limousine drivers. It is a very difficult situation. To tell the truths, it is a mess and we are going to fix it. We have to fix it for the benefit of all people involved in the industry.
Now I would like to turn to my electorate …
Dr Lim: What about the minibuses? I asked you last night.
Mr VATSKALIS: I can give you a briefing about the minibuses. As I have stated before, if the minibus proprietor wishes to go to Alice Springs and ask for one of the five CVL licences that are still available in Alice Springs, he is entitled to do it. However, what I am not going to do is create a monopoly in Alice Springs, handing out the five CVLs to one particular operator when there are several people who want CVLs. If there is a particular operator who wants to run another five extra minibuses, I have great difficulty with that, and I do not think the ACCC will be very happy with that. But if other people are interested and they want to get one or two CVLs, I think that they should talk to me …
Dr Lim: Well, one Mr Benson was knocked back.
Mr VATSKALIS: Mr Benson made arrangements before he went to Alice Springs. Unfortunately, these arrangements did not work out. He had clear permission from the minister that he was allowed to go to Alice Springs for three months to finalise the deal. The deal was not finalised and, according to the permit he had and which he freely accepted, he was requested to return it to Darwin.
Dr Lim: On Monday he applied for CVLs and was knocked back.
Mr VATSKALIS: He has to wait for the outcome.
I would like to turn now to my electorate, and speak about the Darwin Surf Life Saving Club which has a club house in Casuarina Coastal Reserve in my electorate.
The Darwin Surf Life Saving Club recently had their flag redesigned and, as patron of the club, I was very pleased to officiate at the presentation of the flag at their Casuarina club house last month. The club President, Andrew McGuiness, received the flag on behalf of the members and it will take the club into its 21st year and beyond. The flag has just returned from its first trip away from home base, having travelled with the club to Broome, Western Australia, where it was hoisted with pride after the Northern Territory won the Senior Surf Life Saving Championships, and were placed second in the juniors. Around 300 competitors from four states attended the surf carnival, with many more supporters cheering them on. The contingent from the Darwin Surf Life Saving Club alone numbered 74 competitors and supporters.
More athletic news: the 2002 Drinksmart Northern University Games were held on the Gold Coast in July, and I was happy to be able to support the NTU team of 27 student athletes representing the Northern Territory. Griffith University hosted the event which involved 14 team sports, qualifying for the Australian University Games to be held at the end of September. Our team was awarded the ‘Spirit of the Games’ trophy which is presented for best embodying the nature of the university games throughout competition in criteria such as team spirit, sportsmanship and team support. Well done to all of our young athletes, including Stuart Brown, Joel Kennett, Vim Sharman, Donna Bush, Kirsten Williams, Trish Hartney, Jo Fitzgerald, Cristy Combe, Rachelle Sylvia, Olivia Patterson, Angela Gabolinscy, Bardy Bahram, Kristian Leach, Ross Stanke, Brendon McLinden, Dane Armstrong, Marissa Francis, Shauna Mounsy, Lee Blyth, Clare Delanty, James Hathaway and Hannah Thatcher.
Special recognition should also go to the team coaches, including Bill Adams and Paul Shepherd, as well as coaching assistants Tony Tilley and David Bruhn. Particular congratulations to Stuart Brown, who made a big impact on the field of 24 competitors in individual squash, winning gold in the first round, and silver in the second. It looks like the NTU is a strong contender to host the games in 2003, having already been presented with a Host Honour Roll. I am very keen to assist Olivia Patterson and Emma Staples from the NTU Sports Association to bring the event to Darwin and, certainly, to my electorate.
Three young Territorians, Shyan Muttukumaru, Richard Turner, and Shaune Larder from the local Holy Spirit parish, attended a Festival of World Youth in July. These young people were around 2500 Christians from all over the world who gathered in Toronto, Canada, to exchange information and goodwill, and to promote international peace and harmony. After being approached at my electorate office for support, I tracked down a swag of Northern Territory flags, badges and pins from Protocol for them, to be handed out to promote the Territory while they were in Canada. Apparently, there was widespread interest and curiosity about the Territory, and the black, white and ochre tokens and memorabilia were very well received.
The last item is a boost for Casuarina Coastal Reserve Landcare group. Early this year, a memorandum of understanding was issued between the Parks and the Wildlife Commission and the Casuarina Coastal Reserve Landcare group regarding Landcare conservation activities within the Casuarina Coastal Reserve, planned to be undertaken with the Landcare group during 2002-03. The group, with the recently appointed chairperson, Dr Richard Willan, work tirelessly and enthusiastically for the betterment of the environment, and protecting the very special native flora and fauna of the coastal reserve. The vast majority of the group live within my electorate and have selflessly contributed countless hours of volunteer labour over the past few years, including Samantha Wilcox, Angie Prince, Louise Finch, Juhn Pudney, Penny Evans, Rolf Frank, Geoff Gaskell, Ian Hunter, Scott McDonald, John McLaren, Michael Michie, Iorworth Ap.Morus-Huws, Margaret Sherwood, Jane Stansborough, Michael Chaddock, Mark Myersough, David Paler, Deborah Hall, Garry Cook, Jo Garske, Glen Bellenger, Michael Murray, Geoff Carr - not the New South Wales Premier, I think it is another person – Cheynay Milson, Birut Zemits, Sean Kennedy, Farice and Liliane Bregeon and Anja Tait.
Last month, the group applied successfully to receive a disbursement from the lotteries fund for $2000 to assist in the purchase of plants, seedlings and fertiliser, which is in keeping with the government’s intention to assist community organisations to provide service for Territorians. I presented a cheque to the group at one of the regular working bees that was held in Tiwi Creek area last Sunday, 18 August. I was very pleased to see the achievements of the group, and some of the plants they originally planted a few months ago. They have grown very nicely and have actually improved the appearance of the place - not only the physical appearance but also the quality of the reserve.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I make a few points. I begin by picking up some of the points that the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure made when he got to his feet. The minister, once again, like other ministers across the other side, invited me to go to a briefing in relation to roads funding, specifically in this instance.
As a general rule, the briefings have an appropriate role to play in us understanding legislation before the House. Indeed, an Appropriation Bill is legislation. However, I sometimes think that it is missed by ministers opposite that briefings have a subordinate role. The subordinate role of briefings is that they are there to clarify any issues that are uncertain, specifically in relation to issues such as legislation. They are a convenient tool by which we can discover issues - peripheral issues, quite often - to legislation, and have legislation explained to us.
However, on this occasion, there is a bill before the House in the form of the Appropriation Bill, which comes with a set of explanatory notes. There would be about 1000 pages of explanatory notes to this bill. I hope that this set of explanatory notes would be sufficient briefing, so that when they were read from cover to cover, they would clearly explain the intent of government and what the bill was seeking to achieve.
However, I then turn to Budget Paper No 3, where the minister has pointed out, or referred to - where I and the member for Nelson pointed out earlier today - that there was a shortfall of some $5.89m in that particular line entry under Road Maintenance. The reason that the member for Nelson and I raised this issue in this House, and that the minister chooses to respond, is that in 1000 pages of briefing notes - or thereabouts, it might be a bit less or a bit more - there is no mention as to why the roads funding is cut. If the minister comes in here seeking a budgetary allocation through the Treasurer so that he can spend the money that they want to set aside for roads funding, then I hope that he would bring an adequate briefing and explanation as to why cuts are occurring in certain places.
There is another process other than this particular process, which we will avail ourselves of in a very short while; and that is called the Estimates Review Committee. The Estimates Review Committee is a 32-hour long exercise which will allow us to obtain - guess what? - a briefing in relation to this bill. Because this bill will not be passed in this session; it will not be passed until the next session of parliament. I hope that sometime between now and then, the budgetary processes which are outlined in this document which are not entirely clear, will be clarified to the satisfaction of honourable members, so that we may take a vote on the appropriation and supply government with money so it can go about this business of governing the Northern Territory.
That is the process of briefings that we are going to rely on. It would be an abuse of the briefing system to expect us, behind closed doors or in private, to examine these documents, considering that we are making decisions in relation to public funds. Those are funds which are paid for by the public of the Northern Territory and they have every right to scrutinise the briefing process. After all, the more than $2bn that is being asked for is not a small amount of money in anybody’s book.
I appreciate the offer from the minister saying: ‘Come and get a briefing’. My reply to the minister is: let us do the briefing here in the Chamber and in the committee rooms where the public can watch it, and then they can decide whether or not this government is doing a good job into the future.
Tonight, I raise another issue that has been of some concern. It is a matter for general consumption. It by no means is a comment that in anyway reflects on a situation here in the Northern Territory particularly. This is a matter which is starting to concern me in the way that the rest of the world is operating, including Australian. It was highlighted in recent times by the role of Archbishop Pell, who has been accused of something. Without entering into any of the accusations made against him, I, however, feel that nowadays hysteria has started to surround these events of such a nature, that I am concerned that this is almost starting to be reflective of the Stalinist regimes of the 1950s, when a simple denunciation was a finding of guilt in the eyes of so many.
It concerns me because we have a due process of law available to us, and that due process of law has been developed over time with a very clear intent to make sure that the guilty are punished and that the innocent are not. I am afraid that this dreadful process - this trial by media process which is occurring nowadays – sullies people’s reputations in such a dreadful way. Because those sullied reputations, no matter how frivolous the accusation may or may not be, are sullied for life. These situations can occur to anybody - any person on that side of the House, on this side of the House, in public in life, and in private life.
I would urge a little restraint on the part of the media and the public that the process of identifying criminals should be allowed to lie with those authorities who have the expertise in those areas - the investigative authorities, as well as the judicial authorities which deal with any allegations that arise out of these things.
It is a brave politician who, in any environment, stands up and starts to talk about these issues, simply because all sorts of allegations can be made. However, I feel it is incumbent as a person who respects the rule of law, that it falls upon my shoulders to stand up and publicly say: ‘Let us show some restraint; some common sense; that we, as a society, respect the rule of law. If a person accused finds themselves charged and found guilty, then I hope that the law will come down upon them with all the strength and might it can muster. Until such time, let us allow the processes to work’. I hope that those processes will prevail in this particular instance.
I do not want to live in a society where the simple denunciation of my name is sufficient to find me guilty and sent off to a Gulag. Those of us who have read works like the Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, can see the product of such a society. It is not a society in which I wish to live. It is not a society I wish to see the Northern Territory, or Australia, dwindle into. This is an important issue for all of society. It is one that we should be careful of, and one that we should muster as much common sense and restraint as we can possibly manage.
These are often emotive allegations, and these allegations cause all manner of grief. I would hate to see a day where innocent people are sent to oblivion for no other reason than some person can make an allegation about something; and that allegation alone is destructive enough to destroy a person’s reputation.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it was my pleasure a couple of weeks ago to open a new garden at Wanguri Primary School. An excellent example of an environmental garden, Wanguri Primary’s bush care biodiversity garden will be of benefit to students, the community and the environment. Years 6 and 7 students from Wanguri Primary, with the support of the Wanguri Grounds Beautification Committee, applied successfully to Greening Australia under the National Heritage Trust, for a Top End nature grant to establish the garden. The $17 000 grant was supplemented by generous donations from business. I thank the following companies: T & I Pumps and Irrigation, OneSteel, Finlay’s Stonemasonry, Darwin Ace Services, Stronsay Mowing, Bunnings, Delta Electrics, Humes, Tropigro, Australian Geographic, Casuarina Camera House, Hurley’s Aquariums, U-cart, P K Johnston Bobcat Hire, and Aussie Signs.
It is fantastic to see support for Wanguri Primary from so many businesses. I thank them on behalf of both the staff, the students and myself. I thank them on behalf of the whole Wanguri community, which will benefit from the quality of this garden, which is due in no small part to the corporate generosity of the businesses I mentioned.
As always, in a project of this magnitude within a school, there are capable parents and staff who play a prominent role. The project could not have happened without Lee Rowe, the chair of the school council, and Kaye Baldock, the acting Vice-Principal. Perhaps the biggest thanks should be reserved for Esther McAdam. It is my understanding she was involved in everything and played a leading role in the Wanguri Grounds Beautification Committee. Esther has been a tireless worker for the school for many, many years and is much loved by the school community.
It is fair to say that creating the garden was a huge learning curve for Years 6 and 7 students at the school. Year 7 students, Irini Ergos and Melissa Ursino, designed the garden using computers. Progress means moving with the times, and it appears gardens are no longer created from a person’s spontaneous inspiration or a rough mud map. After it was designed, the garden became a student, parent, school and community project. The garden was established through the sweat of many of our community during several working bees. The thought and care that went into the creation of this garden has seen the school playground come to life.
The garden will attract native animals; it will become a shelter and reflective haven for students. So far, 45 trees have been planted, another 80 are planned around, and the final outcome will be a series of green belts around the school. The beauty of the garden will reflect positively on the school and community. The garden will bring the bush to the school, and has provided a great opportunity for students to learn about the Territory environment. Students have an increased awareness of biodiversity; how plants and animals interact. This has been achieved through a great hands-on experience which demonstrated to students the effects of the Territory’s Wet and Dry seasons.
One of the great results of the garden has been the blossoming of students who do not excel in the classroom, but have been able to actively participate and demonstrate new skills looking after the landscaping of the garden, and the fish in the ponds. The garden has afforded all involved, particularly the students, a great sense of pride. This is a great initiative of the school, and the kids are justifiably very proud and caring of the project. It has brought to life the concept of biodiversity, and provides the children with a living example of this concept on the school grounds.
This is a fantastic school and community project. Every day, I drive past Wanguri school on my way to and from work, and I believe the school grounds - and here is a challenge for my colleagues in the northern suburbs - are the best kept grounds. They are the most beautiful school grounds in Darwin and reflect extraordinarily well on a great school community. To the Principal, Sharon Reeves, the pupils, the staff and the parents at the school, a job well done, and I look forward to getting out and planting a few of those 80 trees that are left to go in the ground.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016