2004-06-17
Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, late last year, my government introduced Women’s Forums as part of Community Cabinet. Women’s Forums replaced the Women’s Advisory Council as a means of engaging with women right across the Territory.
The Women’s Advisory Council was established in 1983. At the time, the need for the council was strong and well-argued, however the council and its activities had not been reviewed since its establishment 20 years ago. As members opposite will be aware, I appointed a bipartisan team to review the council and to consider how it might adopt different structures and approaches to suit changing times. Following public consultation and a call for written submissions, the review team’s report was presented to government in June last year. Based on the findings of the review report, I announced new consultative and advisory mechanisms for Territory women in August.
The structure my government has put in place, Women’s Forums, is innovative and exciting. They open the way for more Territory women than ever before to have direct contact with government. Women’s Forums have been a great success. Four forums have been run to date in Maningrida, Palmerston, Katherine and, last week, in Alice Springs. Nearly 200 women from a range of diverse cultural and social backgrounds have attended the forums: working women, mothers, indigenous women, women from non-English speaking backgrounds, and young women still attending school. Some journeyed significant distances to attend. The Katherine forum, for example, was attended by a woman from the community of Borroloola; a remarkable commitment and statement about the important mechanism forums provide to communicate the concerns of women to government.
A range of issues have been raised by women attending the forums. Some of them are those that might be considered traditional women’s issues, such as maternity services, breast and cervical cancer screening services, and a significant public health issue confronting the Northern Territory: domestic and Aboriginal family violence. Others are those of concern to the broader community: education, provision of and access to health services, foster care and child protection, housing, substance abuse, safety and policing, employment opportunities, economic development, lifelong learning, and this one is very significant: supporting and building our regions.
My government is committed to responding to issues raised by women at these forums. As a result of the Women’s Forum at Maningrida, education sessions have been provided on domestic and Aboriginal family violence.
In Palmerston, a group of women from non-English speaking backgrounds who recently arrived in Australia stated that they found it difficult to access information on interpreter services.
In Alice Springs, women stressed the importance of easily accessible information, given the transient nature of the Territory population.
As a result of the Women’s Forums in Palmerston and in Alice Springs, I have asked the Department of the Chief Minister to explore options for providing easily accessible information on government and other services for the local community.
Importantly, when raising issues of concern, women also present recommendations, solutions and action plans for consideration by government. All issues and solutions raised and presented at Women’s Forums are referred to the responsible government department for consideration.
Women’s Forums are being held in communities, towns and suburbs, wherever women live and work. Six more forums are planned for regional areas as part of Community Cabinet during this year, with an additional two meetings to be held in Darwin at the end of the year.
We are still learning about how best to run women’s forums and how to ensure all women have the opportunity to present issues of concern to them. In remote communities where the population is small, it is possible to run forums with limited structure. In larger regional centres like Katherine and Alice Springs, where we had 65 and a 100 women respectively, more structure is required to ensure that the large number of women participating have an opportunity to establish the key concerns to be raised with minister Scrymgour and myself during the feedback session. The feedback provided by women at the end of each women’s forum will be critical in informing our approach to those run in the future. We are also working through the best way of providing feedback on issues raised and when this should be provided. I will shortly be writing to the women of Palmerston about the issues they have raised and feedback will also be provided on the government’s web site.
It is important to stress that all governments are limited in their ability to respond to all issues raised by the electorate. Some issues will be easy to address and may simply require the provision of information on existing services and programs available to the general community and how these can be accessed. Others will require careful consideration and will have to be balanced against other competing priorities.
Women’s forums are a new way of engaging with women in the Territory. The new process is more representative and meets more frequently in more locations. I am confident that this new consultative mechanism will continue to be a success in providing broadened access for Territory women directly to government.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister for her report. Can I say how pleasing it is to hear that she now apparently acknowledges that women have specific and particular issues of concern. I understood from the Estimates Committee hearing last year that, really, women were to be thrown in one group and that the Chief Minister was generally disinclined to separate them.
I remind members and the Chief Minister that after the review of the Women’s Advisory Council, there were four options put to the Chief Minister. For reasons unknown, she elected to choose the least popular one; the one that was supported by, from memory, four out of 16 respondents. I have my own theories as to why this is. I suspect that the Chief Minister much prefers publicity stunts to actually working towards proper outcomes for women of the Northern Territory.
What she did in Alice Springs was turn up and pay lip service to the women there. I spoke with a lot of the women who attended, one of whom I spoke with later in the day, deliberately boycotted this forum - she is a well known woman in Alice Springs - because she remains very angry at not only the axing of the Women’s Advisory Council and the Business Women’s Consultative Council, but she is furious that government has not implemented anything other than sessions with women four times a year to get together to have a bit of a chat.
I am pleased on the one hand to hear that the Chief Minister acknowledges that women do have issues of concern. However, all I can say is that this Chief Minister says that she cares about women about their issues of interest and concern and nothing happens.
I also understood that part of the deal was that women could go along to Community Cabinets. Of course, this is fantastic because it suggests that women were not previously invited to Community Cabinets and it did not happen anyway because only the Chief Minister and the Minister for Family and Community Services bothered to turn up to Alice Springs.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Araluen, your time has expired.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I was not going to respond because that was one of the most ridiculous responses we have heard in these reports. Let me tackle briefly what the member for Araluen is accusing government of. Meeting four times a year: if the member for Araluen had listened, there will be 10 women’s forums this year …
Ms Carney interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: … and already, there have been 200 women who have had access to government. Really, a defining thing in this is that we have the member for Araluen carping from the outside. If the member for Araluen had been genuinely interested, she could have come to the women’s forum in Alice Springs to judge for herself. She would have heard the breadth of issues that were raised and heard that women’s issues are all issues, that issues ranging from the perceptions of a community that they live in to economic development opportunities to education to employment, a broad range of issues. The member from Araluen shows, very sadly, her ignorance.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Members, I attended that forum for the first hour and a half when the issues were raised. There were over a hundred women who attended in Alice Springs, which was extraordinary compared with some of the other meetings, and I look forward to the report from the committee because the number of issues raised were right across the board, some very specific and some very general.
Mr Kiely: It would have been 101 if you went.
Ms Carney: Oh, shut up, you fool!
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker. The member for Araluen is persistently offensive and I would urge you to have her withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Araluen, withdraw. Just withdraw.
Ms CARNEY: I withdraw it, and ask him to be quiet, Madam Speaker.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I hope we have as much excitement with this report. During the last sittings, I reported to the House on the outcomes of the most comprehensive review of Correctional Services …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister! I am waiting for people to settle down.
Dr TOYNE: Madam Speaker, I will start again. During the last sittings, I reported to the House on the outcomes of the most comprehensive review of Correctional Services ever to take place in the Northern Territory.
This sittings, I am pleased to report that this government is continuing to move the Territory towards these reforms in our prisons. Prison officers and their associations are fully involved in the reform process. A number of association members have been taken off line to work full-time on rolling out the review recommendations across our two prisons.
Last week, I attended the first meeting of the Implementation Committee. The work of this committee is to bring about changes to our correctional system recommended by the review, and these include:
to develop the prison workforce through increased training and increased ability to
recruit and retain quality prison officers;
to ensure security is maintained at the highest levels; and
to attack crime and the causes of crime within the correctional system and our prison
officers working to prevent re-offending.
Already, these reforms are well underway. Officer numbers have been agreed to now at 181 in Darwin and 152 in Alice Springs. We are moving to build up that base staffing and prison officer-in-training courses will commence in August to further build our work force. An additional 10 officers across the two institutions will come on board over the next 12 months to relieve serving officers of their duties while they undertake intensive training and refresher courses.
One of the world’s most experienced prison officials, Mr Jens Tolstrup has been appointed as the new head of Northern Territory Correctional Services following a national and international recruitment process. Over nearly four decades, Mr Tolstrup has assisted governments from several countries, including Denmark, South Africa and Israel, to reform and establish modern correctional services. With a proven track record, he will be driving reform across the Territory correctional services system to achieve our key aim and that is of preventing crime by preventing re-offending.
The reforms go live in Alice Springs at the beginning of next year. Case managers supervise programs targeted to the specific offending patterns of individual prisoners. I know the member for Nelson will be pleased to hear that we expect the recommendations relating to prison industries, particularly work camps and prison farms, to be well advanced in that time period.
To guide the move to living units, Territory prison officers will travel interstate to visit those institutions where this system is in place and working well. A permanent exchange program to allow prison officers from the Territory to access professional development opportunities interstate is also being examined.
Construction of the new $8m low security area will start in 2004-05, and the Implementation Committee is already looking at the review recommendations to identify capital works required in future years.
I place on record my appreciation of the work of the Implementation Committee, the departmental executive and our prison officers and associations in moving this reform forward. These reforms will give the Territory the most progressive correctional centres in Australia.
Madam Speaker, through implementing the recommendations of the review report, this government is continuing to attack the causes of crime and build safer Territory communities.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I thank the Attorney-General for his report. I am not sure whether we will have quite as much fun with this one as we did the last one. However, I raised some matters in my budget reply a couple of nights ago and they are worth repeating. The minister was galloping around the Northern Territory after the review saying that everyone was very happy with it. That was not the case because we know that for a period of about six weeks he and his department were in negotiations with prison officers who had issues, which caused the establishment of this review. We do want to know whether it was the case, I am told that it is true, that either the minister or his representatives threatened the prison officers that he would withdraw the promise of about $28m worth of funding unless they supported him and the reforms. I think that is outrageous. We do want to know whether yet another certificate of exemption was granted to the review team. As I said the other night, just line up and you can get a certificate of exemption from this government, it seems.
There is a written question for Estimates about this, and that is: Was $1m diverted from last year’s budget that was intended for a sex offender’s program? We all know the appalling rate of crime in the Northern Territory. We all know the level of violence against women in particular, and why it is that the sex offenders program was put on the back burner, I do not know.
I would also like to know why it is that the minister has been saying for about 18 months that an integrated offender management program would commence yet apparently very little has happened.
In conclusion, it is very interesting in the Northern Territory under this review, under this government, we will have people with criminal records guarding criminals in our gaols. Again, I think that is outrageous and I think most Territorians would share my view.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report. The Correctional Services review would be far better debated in parliament if it were a ministerial statement because it is a very important issue in which many people in our community are interested.
I welcome the minister’s statement that prison industries, work camps and farms and the like are being looked at, and I presume a report on that will come to parliament. That is one of the most important areas that we should be looking at, considering that most people in prisons are Aboriginal people. For many people, alternatives to the big concrete blocks that we have in Alice Springs and Darwin are needed.
I remember talking to a particular gentleman, whose name I cannot remember at the moment, who used to run the King River Station for young people who had …
Mr Ah Kit: Billy Fordham.
Mr WOOD: Yes, Bill Fordham, who used to run that as a program for kids who had gone off the track a bit. That was an excellent program. He has now moved out to Arnhem Land. He is hoping he will get some funds. I am not sure what has happened there, but we should be putting a lot more emphasis on those programs because it is important that these people have a second chance. I do not believe the big concrete block-type gaols are the appropriate place. People certainly have to pay for wrong doings they have committed, but we have to look at other ways in the Territory to make sure they do not end up in custody again.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, quite a few of the questions that the member opposite raised can be addressed at Estimates. There is plenty of time to deal with them at that stage, or give me a question in Question Time.
The only thing I want to say about this is that we are embarking on a major change process within Correctional Services, and I ask all members to be aware of that in that there will be tensions from time to time, I am sure, through the next four years as these changes are introduced through the system. There will be groups of people disenchanted with it at times. The overwhelming bulk of the prison officers are already prepared to give this a go. I am sure, as the reforms roll out, more and more of them will see the benefit not only to their own professional life, but to the Northern Territory as well.
Mr AH KIT (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, I visited Katherine on the weekend on my way to the Barunga Cultural and Sports Festival. As I mentioned to the House last sittings, Katherine is a community close to my heart. Katherine is also close to the heart of the Martin Labor government. Last sittings, I reported to the House on the Katherine Community Harmony Project and the great success it is having. I will touch on that in a second, but today, I want to report to the House on planned upgrades to the Katherine sports ground. The Martin Labor government has committed $0.5m to the project.
I was extremely happy last week to congratulate Katherine’s new mayor, Anne Shepherd, and present her with a cheque for $500 000 to move Katherine sports facilities ahead. We are proud of our great Territory lifestyle; it is unique and the best in Australia.
When the Katherine Town Council presented to me a strategic plan for the sports ground last October, I was more than happy to back it because I knew it would improve the lifestyle for the people of Katherine and the surroundings regions. I understand that the upgrades are all ready to go, and this is fantastic.
The money will go to the Katherine Town Council as a capital grant, and the council works department will get straight onto the job. This is good use of taxpayers’ money, allowing the people at the heart of the issue, those people who have identified the need, to ensure that the job is done right and within budget. This is a good example of how this government is prepared to work with the community to get the best possible outcome for everyone.
Some of the money for the sports ground will go towards flood lighting. I understand that two lighting towers have already been installed to industry standard on Oval 1 by the council. This funding will complete lighting for Ovals 1 and 3. On Oval 1, additional towers will now go up at a cost of $75 000. The flood lighting on Oval 3 will also be upgraded at a cost of $200 000.
The basketball and netball courts are going to be resurfaced. A roof is going to be built over the top of the courts that will keep out the rain and help reduce the heat. Lights will also be installed to allow night games and training.
An extensive safety and security audit has been carried out by the council’s Sports Ground Advisory Committee in consultation with the Office of Crime Prevention, and I thank the minister for Justice for his department’s assistance. The audit recommended extra pedestrian and security lighting, and we are funding that to the tune of $15 000. Such additional measures will help to keep both users of the ground and facilities safe.
The sports ground has a new entry off Chambers Drive and, for $10 000, some cluster signage will go up, providing direction into the main access points of the sports ground and to all of the different areas within the facility. A mobile grandstand is going to be constructed. This will allow council to respond to spectator demand for seating at the various ovals. The grandstand will cost $50 000, and I am sure it will be a welcome addition.
The Martin Labor government is supporting Katherine because we believe it is a great place. I lived there, and I loved it. Last sittings, I reported that it was very unfortunate that, on the CLP’s web site, a media release attributed to the member for Katherine remained available to the public. On the web site for all the world to see, she has denigrated the good people of Katherine. It has been there for three months. I gave the member a chance last sittings to retract her description of Katherine as a ‘war zone’, a chance she did not take. It came out in your name, member for Katherine: the buck stops with you. If they are not your words, as you have claimed, you should tell the parliament and you should remove it from the web site forthwith. This is your second chance to correct …
Mr Dunham: You are so pious! What? You are making threats now, are you?
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Well, if the member for Drysdale supports the ‘war zone’ …
Mr Dunham: You are so pious! You have never done anything wrong, hey? He called the hospital a war zone!
Mr AH KIT: … so be it. This is your second chance to correct the public record, member for Katherine. If you do not wish to do so, as it seems, I will have no option other than to inform the public of Katherine.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I was going to thank the minister for this wonderful generous offer of the $500 000 for the sports ground. I know that the Katherine Town Council has worked very hard to get that money for the sports ground. I thank him very much for lighting up the grounds at night.
I was also very pleased to see that he mentioned that we have a new Mayor and I welcome our new Mayor, Mrs Anne Shepherd.
Katherine is very close to my heart as well. I live there now and I take great pride in representing the people of Katherine. I would also like to know that Katherine is not going to be under water again this next year and would like this government, who came to Katherine when we were experiencing such terrible times at the beginning of this year and under a lot of water, and who did make some promises to the people of Katherine that that problems would be fixed in this Dry Season.
I would like to know if this government loves Katherine so much, what do you have in your budget to keep Katherine out of the water this coming year? There is absolutely nothing in this budget to keep Katherine from flooding again this year. I would like to know from the minister across the floor who thinks that Katherine is closer to his heart – well, it is closer to mine, but I would like my feet dry, thank you.
Mr AH KIT (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, what a pathetic contribution from the member for Katherine, referring to me as ‘the minister across the floor’. Thank you very much. That is the first time it is been done in parliament.
I thank her for patting me on the back in working with council to get the $0.5m for the sports ground facilities. However, Madam Speaker, as I mentioned at the tail end of my ministerial report, I have asked her twice now to take that media release off the web site. She dodged the question. She does not want to take that off the CLP web site. She therefore believes truly that Katherine is a war zone. If I am going to spend $500 000 helping to promote sports facilities in the war zone, so be it.
Member for Katherine, I have no option now but to report to the public of Katherine that you still believe, along with your colleagues, that that is a war zone and you stand condemned.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Okay, can we settle down now? That was most provocative, minister.
Dr BURNS (Parks and Wildlife): Madam Speaker, I rise to report to the House on a matter of great importance to the many recreational hunters who live in the Northern Territory, the annual water fowl season. The start of the water fowl season is an eagerly awaited event each year for hunters. I am sure that the news I bring to the House today will bring a smile to many faces, particularly those with a hankering for magpie goose pie.
As members would know, the taking of magpie geese in the Territory is controlled according to the provisions contained within the management program for the magpie goose, Anseranas semipalmata, in the Northern Territory of Australia, which was approved on 26 April last year. The management program in this plan identifies a usual hunting season of three months duration from 1 September to 30 November. Extension or reduction of this season depends on the assessment of the population status and seasonal conditions relating to nesting and successful breeding.
I am pleased to inform the House that nesting for the 2003-04 Wet Season has been very good and should result in good hatchings in 2004. Additionally, good rainfall during the past Wet Season and late Wet and early Dry Season should result in good feed availability during the Dry Season and will facilitate successful breeding in 2004. This will result in good population growth in 2004, primarily as a consequence of the early November and December rains
Modelling of magpie goose nesting by the Key Centre for Tropical Wildlife Management indicates that late October-November and early December rain is critical to a successful nesting season. It has long been known that climatic conditions play a major role in determining the relative success of water fowl nesting and migration.
The El Nino effect has been raised as one example of how prevailing weather conditions can impact on water fowl breeding patterns. Current predictions based on the Southern Oscillation Index indicate that this year is unlikely to be an El Nino year. Usually, an El Nino year results in a long Dry Season and a delayed Wet Season.
Work undertaken by officers in the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment has shown that when the current population estimate of 1.6 to 1.8 million is combined with the expectation of good recruitment and survivorship, maintenance of four-month season in 2004 is unlikely to have any negative impact on the magpie goose population.
Based on this information and ongoing consultation with the Northern Territory Firearms Council and other community organisations, I am now announcing that a hunting season of four months duration, from 18 August 2004 to 14 December 2004 will apply this year.
Parks and Wildlife research suggests that recreational hunting has a relatively minor impact on bird numbers compared with other causes of mortality. Naturally, research of water fowl populations will continue and controls will be implemented if it is deemed necessary.
Hunters need to be mindful of certain conditions related to water fowl hunting in the Northern Territory.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I thought I heard – was that a goose?
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Dr BURNS: A giant goose! As members may be aware …
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Do not go out in the hunting season, that’s for sure.
As members may be aware, a ban on the use of lead shot applies to all Parks and Wildlife hunting reserves in order to prevent the build-up of lead in these wetland environments. The reserves to which the ban applies are Shoal Bay Coastal Reserve, Howard Springs Hunting Reserve, Lambells Lagoon and Harrison Dam Hunting Reserve. This ban is a result of an identified serious problem of lead-shot poisoning water fowl and is part of an overall national strategy to combat the problem.
It is also important to remember that all hunters are required to obtain a permit for hunting magpie geese, whether hunting in hunting reserves or on private property. Permits will be available well before the commencement of the season, and the location of where such permits can be acquired will be advertised soon.
The hunting of water fowl is part of the Territory lifestyle. It is our responsibility to manage it and ensure that water fowl numbers are sustainable. I wish everyone well in the water fowl season.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for that. It is good news for hunters of geese in the Top End of the Northern Territory, at least.
When I was Minister for Parks and Wildlife, I extended the season, on the advice of Parks and Wildlife, to allow extended hunting, so it is not a new thing, but I welcome it again this year.
The issue, though, is the permits. You finished on the permits, but you did not say where you could get them. Last year, when you made the same announcement, it was all about some administrative error that would not allow permits to be obtained from sports shops around Darwin, Palmerston and the rural area. That caused great concern in the community for hunters. It made it difficult for Parks and Wildlife officers who had to then distribute these permits.
You have had a year to fix it, and you have not yet told us that we will be able to go to sports shops to get our permits, as we used to in the past. It is a very convenient way of making sure the permits are available to the community. If you would like to elaborate on that and assure Territorians that things are like they were in the past, easy access to permits through sports shops, that would be very good news.
You were the minister who went to Katherine and promised them their drain money, and that they would fix it. It seems to me, minister, to end with a quote for you, that at the moment what you are saying is, Darwin is getting the water fowl; Katherine is getting the foul water.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS (Parks and Wildlife): Madam Speaker, my report was about water fowl and magpie geese. I would welcome a question on the Katherine issue during Question Time today. In terms, of …
Mr Baldwin: Why? Answer it now.
Dr BURNS: No, no. You have your time this afternoon. I could answer it, but in the minute I have left, I want to talk about the relevant issue you have raised. I want to see easier availability of licences to hunters, and I will undertake the report back to the House on that.
Members interjecting.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Appropriation Bill 2004-05 (Serial 234) passing through all stages at this sittings.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly at its rising adjourn until 1 pm on Friday 25 June 2004, or such other time as notified by the Speaker, with one hour’s notice being given to government and opposition whips and members by the Speaker or such other time and/or date as may be advised by the Speaker pursuant to Sessional Order.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the routine of business for Friday, 25 June 2004, be as follows: prayers, petitions, notices, government business pursuant to resolution of the Assembly dated 18 May 2004, and adjournment.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that intervening government business be postponed until after consideration of Government Business Notice No 3 relating to the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Bill 2004 (Serial 239) and Orders of the Day No 1 relating to the Appropriation Bill 2004-05 (Serial 234) in that order.
Motion agreed to.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr STIRLING (Education, Employment and Training): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to regulate the teaching profession in the Northern Territory and to raise the status and standards of teaching.
The bill fulfills the government’s commitment to establish an independent Teacher Registration Board under its own legislation to promote teaching as an attractive employment option and to regulate the profession on behalf of teachers. The bill is the Territory’s contribution to Australia-wide efforts to ensure that we have quality teachers, recognised as professionals, working with children and young people in our government and non-government schools.
Part 2 of the proposed act sets up a 12 member Teacher Registration Board, with 10 members, either teachers or educators, representing teacher employers, teacher unions, indigenous teachers, parents, Charles Darwin University, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and teacher professional associations. The term of appointment is for four years.
The board’s functions are to register teachers, or grant authorisation to an employer to employ an unregistered person, liaise with providers of teacher education and professional development in the Northern Territory, to develop appropriate courses, and to develop a code of ethics for Territory teachers.
The board will promote the profession, establish professional standards for teachers based on broad consultation, and regulate the profession through qualifications and criminal history checks and investigation and prosecution of breaches of this act. The board has the power to suspend or cancel registration or authorisation, to share information with other teacher registration authorities, and to charge a fee for provision of the service.
Part 3 allows for the administration of the board, with a director appointed by the minister. Meeting processes are set out and confidentiality of proceedings and disclosure of interest are required. The board has power to establish committees, which will enable broad teacher participation in the professional work of the board.
Part 4 requires that a register of teachers is kept, and may be inspected on payment of a fee, but that a teacher’s private details, such as personal address, must not be available for inspection. Registration is granted on the basis of a minimum set by the minister on the advice of the board, good character as indicated by criminal history check and other matters the board considers relevant.
Mutual recognition of this teacher registration by other registration authorities in Australia or New Zealand is prescribed by mutual recognition legislation already in place. The director may issue an Interim Certificate of Registration once the qualifications and criminal history checks are satisfied pending board endorsement at its next meeting. This will enable staffing arrangements at schools to be expedited while maintaining the integrity of the checking process. There are appeal provisions against the board’s refusal to register.
Part 5 allows for the board to grant employers authorisation to employ unregistered persons as teachers under circumstances where the employer convinces the board that the educational outcomes for students are safeguarded. The authorisation is granted for no more than a calendar year. There is no appeal against refusal to grant authorisation.
Part 6 creates the inquiry and discipline processes of the board, where the board investigates complaints about a registered teacher’s or authorised employee’s professional conduct or fitness to teach. If it is considered necessary, the board has the capacity to suspend registration or authorisation at any stage after receiving a complaint. Appeals against decisions may be made to the Local Court.
If found guilty of a sexual offence under the Criminal Code, a registered teacher’s registration is automatically cancelled and an authorisation is revoked. An inquiry may be requested to rescind the cancellation or revocation.
Part 7 creates offences of employing unregistered persons, teaching unregistered without authorisation, and false or misleading statements and penalties for these offences.
Part 8 provides for transfer of information between the board, the Commissioner of the Northern Territory Police Service, and the employer in respect of matters that should be investigated by the police. This section also provides for immunity from liability of the director and staff, annual returns and reports, notifications and regulations.
Part 9 allows for transitional provisions for teachers currently employed, but without four-year qualifications. The teachers who have three-year qualifications may be registered if the board is satisfied that the teacher is competent. This will include relief teachers who have been employed on a casual basis in the year that the act commences. Teachers employed before criminal history checks were made must undergo such a check, but will not be required to pay the fee for the check. The registration fee paid in 2004 will cover registration until the end of 2005.
Madam Speaker, this bill provides for the regulation of the teaching profession by the profession through a Teacher Registration Board. Its aim is to deliver quality teaching and probity checks for all teachers in government and non-government schools throughout the Territory. Research shows that good teachers make a difference in the educational achievements of children and young people. I commend the bill to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 16 June 2004.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Madam Speaker, this is a responsible and sustainable budget that will enhance the lifestyle of people in the Northern Territory, provides record cash in respect to infrastructure spending, which will boost the Northern Territory’s economy but will also provide record spending in health, education and community safety.
I do not propose to go into every specific area. They have been dealt with by ministers and other speakers. However, I would like to refer to initiatives in my electorate of Barkly and, if I may, highlight how I believe they will enhance the Barkly’s ongoing social and economic development.
Clearly, one of the big winners in the budget is the Carpentaria Highway. Most members will be aware that for prolonged periods of the year over the last few years, this road has been cut as a result of excessive rain. Obviously, there was a drainage problem at around about the 120 km mark, or near the Tanumbirini area, and that impacted upon the capacity of businesses to get freight into Borroloola and on to Robinson River. It also impacted on the mining industry, those people based out at McArthur River Mine, and on the lifestyle of people who cannot get into Katherine for hospital or for other purposes. Most people will be aware that this flooding occurs over that Christmas period. The $4.8m that has been allocated to the Carpentaria is very significant in the context of growing that region of the Northern Territory.
There are other initiatives that relate to Borroloola. I am very pleased that during the next year or so, there will be two boat ramps constructed in my region; one will be built at Mule Creek near the Bing Bong port. That is an interesting development in the sense that it is a joint operation between the private sector - that is Xtrata, which used to be MRM - and the Northern Territory government. My understanding is that Xtrata is going to provide some of the road infrastructure, the access, and the Territory government will be providing capital dollars for construction. That will enable traditional owners to access the islands, but will also open up recreational fishing. It is the closest point out to the open sea, and I know that it will be used extensively by not only locals at Borroloola, but people travelling to the Gulf region for recreational fishing.
The other boat ramp will be built in Borroloola this year at a site yet to be determined. It will be within the township itself, either on Rocky Creek or on the McArthur River. This will open up recreational fishing opportunities for locals and visitors to Borroloola, but will also grow the recreational fishing tourist industry in Borroloola. I understand there is only one tour operator at the moment in Borroloola and I suspect that if we get the marketing right, Borroloola can grow in terms of recreational fishing opportunities.
The other thing of significance in the area is the $150 000 allocated to the Savannah Highway for marketing. I have often said in his House that the Gulf region is one of the jewels in the crown for our tourism potential but has not been recognised in the past, particularly by the previous CLP government. I am confident that the $150 000 for the Savannah Highway will go a long way to boosting the tourism industry in Borroloola.
Also, in that area there is a small amount allocated to Robinson River School, Mungoorbada, $8000 for a play area. It may not seem significant, but when you are living in the bush it provides a safe haven and pleasant place for the kids to play, so that is very welcome.
I am going to roam all over the Barkly for this exercise because other roads in the Barkly are targeted. There is approximately $110 000 for Rankin Road, which is a beef road connecting Wollogorang from the Tablelands Highway. That will go to fixing some of the trouble spots and is critical for the cattle industry getting its cattle out to market.
I am pleased to be associated with the allocation of $150 000 for the Nutwood Downs jump–up. Nutwood Downs is a cattle property about 110 km east of the Stuart Highway, just past the Highway Inn. In the past, the Nutwood Downs proprietors and people from Hodgson River Station had difficulty getting their cattle out to the Stuart Highway and on to the markets at either Darwin or down south. The reason for that is the jump-up is excessive and they could not access it. They had to bring in a bulldozer or grader to pull the cattle trucks over the jump-up. That is a good initiative and shows that the Martin Labor government is committed to providing appropriate infrastructure that provides opportunities to grow the economy in the bush, particularly pastoral properties, but also people from Miniyeri, Hodgson Downs, also use that road. That will provide a real boost to people in that area.
There is $680 000 for rehabilitation and widening of the Stuart Highway. That has to be done, but the bottom line is it will provide private sector contractors the opportunity to engage in work, which means more jobs, more dollars in to the Territory, more dollars locally.
There is a further $470 000 for pavement rehabilitation on local roads and, again, local contractors are the winners there. They spend locally so it all grows the community.
Out at Canteen Creek, which is an indigenous community about 210 km to the south-east of Tennant Creek, there is $160 000 for new rising mains at that community, which will improve the quality of life for people. There are ongoing dollars for the provision of water to Epenarra, which is a small indigenous community in the same area. They have had difficulties in the past in accessing adequate quantities so the ongoing dollars allocated in this year’s budget will provide a real boost to the people who live there and to people from Epenarra Station. They source the same supply, so it is good for everyone in that area.
I understand there is a $300 000 re-vote for the main drain in Tennant Creek and, like Katherine, although not to the same extent, we also experience flooding. Part of the $300 000 will go towards alleviating flood problems.
There are two little grants that will flow to communities or towns in my electorate. They are not big, but their potential is immense for growing the respective communities. The first one is a $75 000 grant to the Elliott District Council. That is to do some landscaping on the Stuart Highway. For those who may not be familiar, Elliott is a small town with a population of about 600-odd and is reliant on passing tourist trade. I have been in discussions with them for a long time about how they might be able to enhance their town to entice people to stop. This $75 000 is going to go a long way to landscaping the Stuart Highway. I do not know precisely what they are going to do, but I am sure that it will be appropriate and that it will entice people to stop in Elliott. Whilst it does not represent big dollars, its potential in the long term is great.
The other grant for Elliott, again related to tourism, is the Longreach area, which is 15-20 km to the west of town, a world-class wildlife sanctuary, particularly for birds. Work is continuing on that. Discussions are occurring between the traditional owners and the Tourism Commission. It is little things like this that are really important and provide a base for growing the bush communities, and particularly communities in my electorate.
Another one, of which minister Burns will be aware, is Corella Creek. We went out to Brunette Downs and met with the people from Corella Creek. It is a small community of about 30 people on the Tablelands Highway, just past Brunette Downs. We held meetings with them and they indicated very clearly to the minister that they were looking at some sort of tourism enterprise that would grow there community. This year, there has been an allocation of $10 000 to that community. Now, a lot of people might think: ‘What can you do with $10 000?’ There are two options for them. One is to employ consultants to determine how they develop a tourist industry. The other is to add to their existing infrastructure. The community is about 3 km off the road. What they wanted to do is provide a small caravan park with toilet facilities and barbecue facilities essentially to get the passing tourists travelling through to Borroloola from the eastern states and people travelling from Borroloola through to the Barkly Highway. I really hope that $10 000 does grow into something big because it is a way that indigenous communities in the bush should be working and trying to develop options for bringing in dollars. All it really takes is a sign out the front, a few bough sheds you have a bit of a business starting. To the Corella Creek people, I believe that will be very important.
The other real big winner for Tennant Creek this year is the power generation upgrade in Tennant Creek. Electricity has been fairly unreliable in the past, and obviously impacts on businesses and community members. Without a reliable power supply, it is hard to run or plan a business. The provision of $9m for new gas turbine generators in Tennant Creek will provide that reliability and consistency for businesses and people planning ahead.
There is another issue I will raise whilst talking about power generation in Tennant Creek. I have had discussions with ministers in the past about this. It has become an issue and I hope that down the track, we will be able to address it. If you have two gas turbine generators producing X kilowatts, obviously the question is: what do we do with the unused capacity? My advice is that there will be significant unused capacity in the power generation supply. Obviously, there is a challenge now to PowerWater of how they want to use that unused capacity. It would be seem logical to me, and it is subject to the nature of competition, but there is infrastructure at Warrego smelter. There is infrastructure at the Chariot Mine, which started last year. There is also infrastructure in place at the proposed Peko rehabilitation project to the east of town.
At the moment, there is a company from Western Australia providing power by diesel generation and obviously they have been able to do that at a better price. Given that these places have the infrastructure in place, I ask PowerWater to give further consideration to what they might want to do there in the long term because I believe there is immense potential in the Tennant Creek area, particularly in respect of mining, if PowerWater gets in early.
Whilst I am on the mining industry in my electorate, $7m was allocated in the budget for the construction of a bulk handling facility at Darwin’s East Arm Port. That was, as I understand it, very much subject to Bootu Resources, which is developing a mine 110 km to the north of Tennant Creek. It is still subject to some compliance; but I am confident that the mine will go ahead. That is welcome and, again, provides that focus for companies that want to come into the Barkly and the bush, knowing that you have the facilities to offload your product overseas. It grows the economy right across the Territory.
There are some real opportunities in how we as a government approach Bootu and address value-adding to Tennant Creek. I have had discussions with Duncan Beggs, who is a project consultant with Bootu Resources, and with the minister for business, and I know that both parties are very keen to establish some sort of task force or relationship that will provide a focus at a local level in terms of value-adding to the community - not only to businesses, but also to provide employment opportunities. That is something that I look forward to, minister, and I am sure that it will happen.
I pay tribute to the Minister for Mines and Energy, who came to Tennant Creek earlier in the year and had discussions with people from the mining industry, specifically Giants Reef. There was a need for further dollars for geomagnetic surveys in the immediate vicinity around Tennant Creek. I note that there is $600 000 in the budget this year for that purpose. Again, that provides real confidence at a local level to grow jobs. It is interesting to note that since Giants Reef has been in production, there have been a host of other companies that have moved in. The reason is that this government has been very supportive of the mining industry and mining companies at a local level.
The other item of interest is the Peko rehabilitation. My advice is that they will start production of magnetite in August this year; it may be a little bit later. It demonstrates that where you have the private sector working with government and a strong focus from a local community perspective – and I am talking about the town council and the indigenous organisations working together - you can grow the local economy.
Some other initiatives in my electorate, not necessarily in order, but still very significant, include $64 000 and $8000 allocated to Tennant Creek schools for shade. We know how important providing adequate shade is in Tennant and in the bush. It enhances the schools and the kids and it provides extra dollars for local contractors in the community. There is also a re-vote of $1.062m for the renal unit in Tennant Creek and, contrary to thoughts at the time going back a few years where there were a lot of negative points of view put by the opposition that this would not work, I am very pleased and proud to say that it is working well …
Mr Bonson: And saving people’s lives.
Mr McADAM: It is working well and it is saving people’s lives. It shows that where there is a will, there is a way, and if there is a commitment on the part of government to improve the quality of life for people, it can be done. You do not have to put up weak-kneed, contemptuous responses to justify why you do not have the political will. That is great, the $1.62m, because it is going to provide dollars for local builders and the smaller companies in Tennant Creek are also going to get dollars out of that.
Similarly, the $225 000 for the upgrade of the Ali Curung police station is great news. I know the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services is making plans to come down there and open that in the next month or so. I was down there last week and I was quite pleased to see the progress of the work, but, more importantly, to see local contractors doing the work.
I am sure the minister will take this on board: perhaps consideration could be given to a joint opening with the traditional owners or someone chosen by the local council. Ali Curung has a proud history. It is the forerunner to the Kurduju Committee and it would be very fitting if someone like Marjorie Limbiari or Gwen Brown shares the honours at the opening of that building.
There is a re-vote of the $0.5m for the Warrego to Lajamanu Road. I have spoken about it in the House previously and, as I said at the time, it is subject to discussions with the traditional owners and the CLC. Discussions are occurring and are promising and something is going to arise from them. I can fully understand the concerns of the people at Mungawarra who believe that there may be excessive alcohol brought on that road, which is not far from their community, and that will impact upon their lifestyle. They are looking at options in terms of allowing that road to be opened up and, as I say, it will provide an immense boost for the tourist industry. It will be a short-cut through to Western Australia, it will open up mining into that area and provide tourism opportunities. I know those dollars are a re-vote, but it is important that they are there when negotiations have been finalised.
There is a $750 000 allocation to the Tennant Creek Hospital to upgrade fire protection, which is critically required. Another initiative that is very important is the $280 000 allocated to the Battery Hill Mining Centre, Stage 1. Those who have been to the mining centre will recognise that it is a unique tourist entity that has a lot of potential down the track. These dollars will be used for improved signage, vehicle and pedestrian entrances, car parking and visitor amenities. That is welcome and will provide a real boost to the local tourist industry and to local businesses.
There are dollars allocated to the Barkly Regional Tourist Association. Those dollars are part of the $27m allocated for tourism. The Chief Minister is coming down in August to launch that strategy, and my understanding is that there something in excess of $120 000 for that purpose. It will provide a real focus because it is not just going to become tourism, it is marketing, which is the way to grow the industry.
There were some other initiatives that, whilst small, are very important including $145 000 for soccer facilities in Borroloola and Tennant Creek, and I thank the Minister for Sport and Recreation for that. It shows people in the bush that you care about them. For them to have their own change rooms and extra facilities is very important, particularly so visiting teams do not have to get changed under a tree. It just shows that, despite all the criticism, people do care about them. That also applies to the soccer kids in Tennant Creek with $28 000, if I remember rightly, for them, which is all good news.
An important initiative was $70 000 for Ryan’s Bend, which is near Bohemia Downs, which is a small cattle property and has big potential for tourism. That money is to fix up a crossing, so hope the Lanson family, my family out there at Bohemia Downs, is pleased about that because it will give them a lot more access into Bohemia Downs and Borroloola. It will also give them confidence to develop Bohemia Downs as a premier tourist resort. There are plans afoot for that to happen.
This is a sustainable budget; it is a development budget, and, as I have said to people around the Barkly, it takes time to get things done. The last three budgets of the Martin Labor government have provided people in the Barkly and other bush communities a basis upon which to build. If you are providing dollars in terms of infrastructure or tourism and business development, you are allowing a real opportunity for communities in the bush to grow. That is something sadly neglected by the previous CLP government. We know why they did it, and they can answer for that it at any time. That is why I am so proud to be associated with the Martin Labor government, with a Treasurer who recognises the significance and importance of people who live in the bush and provide appropriate dollar resources for its development. To the Treasurer, I say a job well done, and I look forward to even more goodies next year.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, this is my first response to an Appropriation Bill since I was elected member for Katherine last October.
Mr Ah Kit: Member for the War Zone.
Mrs MILLER: You are the War Zone, minister.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Arnhem, I ask you to withdraw that personal comment. Withdraw it.
Mr AH KIT: I withdraw.
Mrs MILLER: I do not intend to dissect and compare all the figures that are in the budget papers because, as you know, there is a mountain of them to go through, and I am finding them formidable, but I would like to address some areas of concern.
First, the HIH levy has finally been removed, and not before time because it has put a lot of pressure on small business throughout the Territory, and it was an impost that we didn’t need. I especially felt it before I was elected to this Assembly. I had a small business for which we had several vehicles and this levy was very much an impost on us. I know it still is to a lot of small businesses and I know that they will be delighted to see that it is removed. The medium businesses, of course, are going to be fairly happy with the payroll tax cuts that have been introduced in this budget, and rightly so. Do not forget, of course, that there are over 85% of small businesses that have fewer than 10 employees, and all of those businesses are looking for some extra hands to assist them to keep their doors open.
I have been unable to find anywhere in this budget, and I talked about it very briefly this morning, any reference to the drains at Tindal and Katherine. I want to talk a little about this because this affects a lot of people in Katherine. Since Tindal was built some 15 years ago, there has been a lot of new development in that area, from Tindal to Katherine, including the extension of the airport runway which, in turn, has allowed some 300 km2 of surface water to collect in one area at the end of the Tindal runway and it comes underneath the Stuart Highway. That one area of water now heads towards the Katherine Research Station and, this year, flooded it several times. I am talking about the buildings at the research centre, not the grounds.
The water swirls around from that area, goes underneath the Stuart Highway again, through some residential properties and, unfortunately, has flooded several of those houses on several occasions last Wet Season. There was a drain there, built some time ago, but then there are unmarked and undefined areas where the water now collects and heads off towards and underneath Uralla Road, where it has gouged out an unmanned, unmarked drain, and that has also gone through several businesses and homes and has caused a lot of damage.
It continues on until it finally reaches an area at the end of Bicentennial Road and Victoria Highway, where it meets a drain that takes the water right through Katherine; it starts from the other side of Knotts Crossing, comes through the centre of Katherine, past the Katherine Show Grounds and then collects in one area. So we have an accumulation of water at the end of Bicentennial Road and Victoria Highway. The volume that collected there this year had absolutely no hope of being able to be dispersed quickly enough without back-flooding into premises and, of course, the premises so severely affected was Hobbitt’s Auto Electrics. They went under water six times this year, so their frustration is very keen. He has spent a lot of money establishing his business over 15 years in that spot on the corner of Bicentennial Road and Victoria Highway, and not once in that 15 years has he even looked like being flooded, with the exception of 1998, when every single one of us who lived in Katherine was under water.
This situation has been extremely stressful for the people of Katherine, the residents who live on Victoria Highway in the area that is affected and the businesses in that area. As it turned out, in one instance, even the business that my husband still owns and runs, Red Gum Tourist Park, was also severely affected. The minister did visit Katherine the day after that unfortunate incident to witness the challenges faced by the people and businesses along Victoria Highway. I would welcome the minister’s response to the situation and news of what this Labor government is going to do to help Katherine and to ensure that this terrible situation does not happen again in the coming Wet Season. I would like to see where that has been addressed in this budget.
I know that the Katherine Town Council is responsible for the drains that go through the town itself; they have been maintained well and kept clean and clear of debris, so the problem lies in establishing and redefining, widening, and, in some cases, deepening the drains that come from Tindal through Katherine and on towards the river. I am not an engineer, but it does not take an engineer to work out that there are some fairly simple, inexpensive things that could be put in place to ensure that the flow of water gets away a lot quicker than it does. The government is fully aware of the drainage problems in Katherine, and I will ensure that questions are put on the matter in Estimates.
In the area of tourism, the additional funding over the next three years, of course, has been very well received by the industry. It needs a lot of additional funding. In the last two years, a lot of things have happen internationally that have impacted on tourism throughout Australia. However, we did not promote the Territory as much as the other states and territories and, as a result, we are lagging behind. Our figures show that our increase in tourism numbers has not been as good as that of other states and territories, and it is definitely as a result of the lack of marketing dollars to the tourism industry. It has taken us a little longer to recover from what has happened internationally.
I have discovered since becoming a member of this Assembly that a lot of political stuff happens on this floor and people seem to like slamming people on the other side. I do not particularly want to fall into that category, but I must stress that tourism is an extremely important economic factor to this Territory, and I am sure that members are fully aware of its importance. It is a reflection on the Martin Labor government that they took two-and-a-half years to discover the importance of tourism.
We have had four Tourism ministers in that time, and it is very good that the Chief Minister has decided that it is such an important portfolio that she has become the fourth Tourism minister. For that, I am grateful. However, one of the things she has to do is look at tourism resources that are not promoted terribly well. One of them is our lovely Ghan that has been rumbling through the Territory since the beginning of this year. It was the realisation of long-term planning. The government, I know, has put over $100m towards this project. However, one of the things that is vitally important is to ensure some tourism industry packages and the tourism industry’s involvement with Great Southern Rail. Obviously, the government did not collaborate very well with GSR to secure packages for our tourism industry.
It is now extremely difficult to get those packages in place and is presenting quite a challenge to us. I believe that GSR owes people of the Territory a debt to ensure that they allow tourism packages on board The Ghan. They are making one heck of a lot of money; some $30m in passenger tickets since The Ghan started in February, and do not seem to be cooperating terribly well with the tourism industry.
There are far too many complaints from people arriving on The Ghan and not knowing what is available for them to do. I have a few suggestions for them, one of which is tourism ambassadors on the train who could board the train at Alice Springs and come to Darwin. We need several trained, of course, because there would be one per week. They would also need to do the return trip so that they are able to explain to passengers on The Ghan exactly what is available for them at each stop. This may take 12 months for The Ghan to realise how important it is, but I could guarantee that response from passengers on the train to what is available to them up and down the track would be much better. There would be fewer negative reports and I am sure that you would find the passengers would have overall satisfaction.
Another area that is extremely important that the government needs to address is railway stations. At Tennant Creek, it is unfortunate that they have to pull in at night, so it is a little difficult for them to see a lot. In Katherine, we have them early morning, around eight o’clock. The railway stations were built in a big hurry. I compliment the builders and contractors that were involved in making sure that they were completed on time.
We have gone through the initial rush and the excitement of The Ghan arriving, but we are not going back to finish those railway stations properly. There are far too many complaints. I will talk about Katherine only at this stage; because Katherine’s railway station is quite cold, hard and unwelcoming. Most passengers are elderly and they are looking for a nice, relaxing, one-off major holiday to the Territory and they have been waiting for a long time to do it on the train through the centre of Australia. Most of them have a little challenge: the great big drop from the train step to the platform. It has presented quite a few problems. We have not taken care of our passengers being able to get off those trains. We need some steps with railings to be provided so that people can get off the train, step down and hang on to the railing as they are getting down. We need those for exit from and entry to the train.
Because The Ghan is such a long train, we need to have a pick-up facility of some sort. I watched some elderly people, who quite distressed, trying to get back on to the train. It was such a long distance for them to walk, and some of them were handicapped in some way, some disability. A poor man on the first train had spent a fortune - he and his wife were in their eighties and they had the honeymoon car. I thought that was rather sweet - and he had paid for his two daughters, husbands and children to travel on that train. When he went to reboard in Katherine, the train doors on his carriage were locked, as they were on all of the carriages bar two. The poor gentleman didn’t know that and walked to the end of the train, then in a distressed state walked back and had to go another three carriages down the platform and board at that carriage, then complete the walk again through the carriages. We need to look at how we are helping our passengers feel welcome and special.
At the moment, they have to do the big jump on to the platform, then they have to stand in the midday sun. This time of the year, they are standing in the sun and, for us, it is beautifully pleasant, but for a lot of people from down south, it is far too hot. We have no shelter. Of course, in the Wet Season, we are not going to have any shelter from the rain.
You can imagine pulling up at a station on The Ghan and seeing no shade, no way of being able to exit and re-enter the carriage and no way of getting in to the railway station quickly. It needs to be addressed very quickly because I have had quite a few complaints on my e-mail, by regular mail and arising from personal visits to my office, which is situated in the main street. I invite these people to come in and they do let me know about it.
There also needs to be a lot of signage installed at the railway stations to let people know what there is around the area and what is relevant to that area and for some people who have chosen not to, for one reason or another, come in to the town to look around, there is absolutely nothing inside this railway station to keep them stimulated. There should be videos set up in the corner of the station that has a video loop explaining everything that there is in the Territory because they are there long enough to be able to learn about the whole Territory, not just about one region, but an overview of the NT.
I emphasise the importance of a tourism ambassador boarding the train in Alice Springs and doing the return trip. GSR needs to be accountable for the comfort, safety and the overall satisfaction of their passengers. We need to make sure that we supply all that and then it is a win-win for all.
Another area that is mentioned in the budget and has been discussed is roadside stops. The importance of having roadside stops within the Territory was highlighted, unfortunately, by the tragic death last week of a tourist south of Katherine who was driving his four-wheel drive towing a caravan and obviously felt the need to have a rest. I am not sure of the circumstances relating to this dreadful tragedy, but it resulted in a road train running in to the side of the vehicle and the gentleman was killed.
One of the ways we can overcome a recurrence of this terrible tragedy is if roadside rest areas are on either side of the road at the same location so that there is no need for a tourist to try to cross the centre line and to go on to the wrong side of the road. That is one way of doing it.
Roadside areas present another challenge. Several years ago, the Caravan Industry Association of the Northern Territory and the regional tourist associations voted to get rid of roadside stops in several locations and the reason for that vote at the time was that too many travellers were using them as overnight stops. Not only did they use them as overnight stops, but there are no facilities there - and I would certainly never recommend that there be facilities there – and people were using the surrounding areas as toilets, leaving their rubbish and, generally, roadside stops were becoming quite an eyesore. It was a problem to maintain them, so we proposed to the Northern Territory government that we would have roadside stops removed in several locations, which did happen, and I am grateful for that. The maintenance of these is very important because they start looking like rubbish dumps so it is important to strategically locate them where they can be maintained.
One of the things I would like to see happen that would end up being a win-win situation for all is for the roadside stops or rest areas to be located next to the wayside inns that are already established. The reason I am suggesting that is because what is happening is that most of these caravaners are self-contained. The modern caravaner is self-contained with shower, toilet and all these …
A member: Air conditioners.
Mrs MILLER: Yes, airconditioning, it has everything on board. They have spent $50 000 on this wonderful mobile home, and they are a little reluctant to go into an accommodation area where they have to pay for power. They do not mind doing that every second, third or fourth night, but most times they like to stay somewhere for free because they are able to do that.
What I am suggesting that the wayside inns and roadhouses, which are now going through a pretty rough time because we have these people in their wonderful caravans and four-wheel-drives pulling up nearby. They come and use the toilet facilities, they go through - and I know this might seem very superficial to this House, but it is extremely irritating to most of these providers - and one area alone uses a dozen toilet rolls a day and would never have a retail sale so they are pretty annoyed about this.
A solution would be to establish these roadside stop areas next to wayside inns. What would happen is that the tourists are still going to come in and use the toilets and other facilities and take the free coffee or tea, because there is always a free coffee or tea, and leave. They would still do this, but what we need to do is pay the wayside inn owners and roadhouses to maintain and clean those areas. If the government paid them to maintain those roadside stops or rest areas and they were clearly defined next to the wayside inns and roadhouses, it would be a win-win for all. At present, it is very difficult for these owners not to be slightly annoyed with the tourists instead of welcoming them. I suggest that we make it a win-win for everyone; we would have the roadside inns, wayside inns, roadhouses, and travellers all happy.
As for rest areas between locations, most of the stops are very strategically placed. There are roadhouses and wayside inns, in some instances, every 100 km, but some people like to stop out in the middle of nowhere. I suggest to the government that roadside rest areas need to be set up on either side of the road, half way between these established wayside inns. Hopefully, we will never see a recurrence of the incident that occurred last week with the tragic death of a traveller.
Gateways are another area that I would like to see addressed. Our first major stops inside the Territory border should have well stocked information bays of generic product to give the tourist a taste of the choices they have. For example, at Kulgera, either at Threeways or Barkly Homestead …
Mr Elferink: Avon Downs.
Mrs MILLER: Yes! And Timber Creek are the first stops inside the border and, of course, we have Hell’s Gate or Woollogorang coming across there and especially Threeways is crucial to supplying information north and south, which could decide which way the road tourist will travel.
There is plenty of travelling distance for the co-driver to be reading all this material and exploring tour options before their arrival at the next town or region. This also gives the possibility for another night’s stay to explore.
One of the areas in tourism that was addressed in the Tourism Development Master Plan 2000-05 is that some major Top End visitor attractions are closed for up to seven months of the year, and the Territory cannot continue to legitimately market these areas as all-round destinations. Some major Top End visitor attractions are closed for such a significant length of time because of access issues. That is a really important issue for us to look at.
One of the other areas that I noticed in the budget figures is that the spend by the affluent traveller is pretty great, and we need to encourage the affluent traveller to the Territory. One of the ways to do that is to provide facilities at which they would be encouraged to stay. Recommendations at page 40 of the Tourism Development Master Plan 2000-05 included:
promote and facilitate the development of destinational resorts in Darwin and Alice Springs;
promote and facilitate the development of themed wilderness lodges in or adjacent to Northern
Territory national parks; and
promote and facilitate the development of safari camps of appropriate standards in national parks
and other identified locations.
I cannot stress enough the importance of lifting the profile of the Territory to international tourists. We have international tourists arriving in Sydney and in Darwin who are met by a specified driver. I will use as an example Far Out Adventures, which was established in Katherine and now operates from interstate. He has very high-paying customers who are quite happy to spend up to $10 000 each on a two-week trip from Sydney, but mainly focussed on the Northern Territory and the top end of Western Australia. We have tourists who have the money; we need to supply the facilities. If we can encourage more to come - because there are plenty there who are prepared to come to the Territory; it is still seen as an adventure area - I suggest it is in the government’s interests to address those areas for the affluent adventurer.
There was to have been a feasibility study by 2003 addressing the issue of a coastal resort in Darwin. I would like to know from the government whether it has been done, where the report is, and the outcomes of the report.
There are some good times ahead for tourism, but we must not fail to consider the affluent adventure tourist from whom we can make a lot more dollars for the Territory. I look forward to seeing what is going to happen in the next 12 months.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, today I support budget 2004-05, a great budget. I congratulate the Treasurer for a budget that delivers less tax, more jobs and great lifestyle.
This is a budget that sees record health, education and police budgets. It also sees the highest infrastructure spending - $441m - which will sustain 4000 jobs and see upgrades to schools, including Nightcliff Primary School, and Royal Darwin Hospital. There is also a record $60m injection for tourism infrastructure and $119m for roads.
I will cover some of the main points of the budget and then look at some of the specifics in relation to my own electorate of Nightcliff.
The budget delivered record tax cuts for business, resulting in the Territory becoming the lowest taxing jurisdiction for small business. Locally-based Territory businesses with a payroll of less than $1m will not pay any payroll tax at all from 1 July 2005, removing a disincentive to business growth and employment. From 1 July this year, the threshold moves from $600 000 to $800 000. This means that, from July 2005, $7.2m a year will be saved by business, and this will effect around 162 businesses with the average saving for a locally-based Territory business being $20 500 per business, a great incentive for small businesses to take on more staff and grow their businesses.
One of the most significant items in the budget is the removal of the HIH levy. This levy has been abolished on all workers compensation policies written on or after 18 May 2004, eight years early. The government is now absorbing the full cost of the outstanding claims left after the collapse of HIH. This is a huge saving for business with $2.7m saved by 6600 Territory businesses in 2004-05. It means that a small business with 20 employees will be on average $800 a year better off, while medium sized businesses with 40 employees will save on average $1600. I know that these business initiatives have been very well received by small business. I have attended a couple of business forums since the coming down of the budget and they are very pleased with initiatives in the budget and believe they will assist in the continued growth of the business community in Darwin.
Another area of the budget that will also see the delivery of jobs in Territory is the huge infrastructure budget of $441m. The infrastructure program is targeted at tourism, roads and strategic development. It includes record cash spending in capital works, minor new works and repairs and maintenance. This spending is estimated to sustain 4000 jobs. The total program for Territory roads and national highways totals $108.7m with a cash spend of $79.8m. These figures mean that this government has spent $1.3bn on strategic infrastructure since coming to government, a fantastic spend.
As part of this package, there is a significant boost in upgrading public housing with $7m to replace and improve government housing; $6m to construct new government employee housing; $3m for the renewal of public housing; and $1m to construct public housing in Alice Springs. These initiatives are essential and to be applauded. Good quality, well maintained public housing is essential in a civil society and I know that the residents of public housing in my electorate, particularly those of John Stokes Square, will be very happy this continued program of upgrades and maintenance. I congratulate the Minister for Housing for this work.
The budget also contains new infrastructure funding targeted at community safety, including $8m for a new low security gaol at the Darwin Correction Centre, a much-needed facility. I congratulate the Attorney-General for this and the review of the correctional services area, which will result in significant reforms in corrections.
Tourism is vital to the growth of the Territory and this budget delivers on tourism infrastructure, specifically $60m of infrastructure. Driving holidays are one of the highlights of our Territory tourism industry and I was very pleased to see a spend of $38m to seal the Mereenie Loop Road over three years, with $10m in 2004-05; $15m to seal the Litchfield Loop Road over three years, with $4.5m in 2004-05; and $500 000 for improvements to roadside rests and safety signage. These changes will mean great improvements to the tourism driving experience for Territorians and tourists alike. I particularly look forward to the improvements to the Litchfield Park Loop Road, which will mean families from Darwin and tourists will be able to enjoy day trips to Litchfield and a great Territory experience.
I was also pleased to see funding for the upgrade of facilities at the Territory Wildlife Park, including a new Bat Chat area entrance, upgrading of an interpretive display and installing hand rails at the Territory Wildlife Park, as well as $1.3m for maintenance of Darwin’s George Brown Botanic Gardens.
Not only are these initiatives great for our tourism industry, they are great for Territory families and help to further enhance our fabulous lifestyle. The Territory Wildlife Park has, over the years, become a major tourist attraction for Darwin, which is excellent. I would like to see more marketing of the Territory Wildlife Park because it is a family-friendly place at a reasonable cost and is easily accessible from Darwin. I was very pleased to see those improvements for the Territory Wildlife Park in the budget. The Bat Chat area is one I have always enjoyed visiting with my children, although they are getting a bit big now and it is probably a bit too blas for them at this stage in their lives, but we always take family and visitors down there because it is a great place to go for a picnic.
Creating jobs is a focus of the budget and this budget will deliver on the Territory’s first ever Jobs Plan, a $160m three-year blueprint to develop a skilled Territory work force. The funding includes $11.75m to support 2400 apprentices and trainees in around 180 discrete qualifications across 16 industry sectors. There is $1.2m over three years for pre-vocational training programs in the automotive, electrical and aviation sectors; and $38m for a broad range of vocational education and training programs and courses. These are welcome initiatives aimed mainly at young people; the future of the Territory.
Might I say something that this government is really concentrating on is the future of our young people and it is one of the reasons that many of us decide to become members of parliament. Our young people, in whom we really must invest, need to be able to see a future for themselves in the Territory. This is a very good way for us to be investing in them.
It was heartening to see that the budget maintained an emphasis on education, health and community safety, which, of course, were our major election commitments prior to coming to government. Once again, this budget does focus on those. Education’s budget was increased by $10.3m to $540m. I particularly want to note the increase in the budget for student teacher bursaries to $760 000 for 80 teaching students from the Territory attending Charles Darwin University and other accredited Northern Territory training institutions. This measure will assist in the further training of young people as teachers, and this is one of the areas where we particularly need to train more people. This will attract young people into teaching. We need to work very hard on this. There is a national shortage of teachers, and with the median age of teachers being in the mid- to late- 40s, we need to be working very hard to attract young people to teaching as a career, and this is something that will assist.
I welcome the initiative of $4.9m over four years to provide laptops for the 2200 classroom-based teachers working in government schools. I can assure you that this has been welcomed by teachers and will be a great improvement for their capacity to deal with their work. I put on the record my thanks to teachers in all schools; they all work very hard and they deserve to have some of these extras in the budget. I thank them for their continued commitment to the education of our children, and particularly to those teachers who are working in my electorate of Nightcliff.
I welcome the increase in the health budget of $23.7m to $635.4m, including a boost of $18.6m for hospitals.
One of the things we all value living in the Territory is our great lifestyle and I was very pleased to see money in the budget to continue to enhance our way of life. The budget includes funding for further upgrades of recreational fishing infrastructure and facilities as part of a $1.5m boost over three years, including $500 000 for improvements for Palmerston anglers and better access for recreational fishing at Mule Creek and Rocky Creek. This follows last year’s funding for upgrades to Buffalo Creek. Fishing is one of Territorians’ favourite pastimes, and these great improvements over the last couple of years will be warmly welcomed.
I welcome the $1m upgrade for the Hidden Valley Raceway, which I am sure will enhance the very popular V8 Supercar event. I congratulate Paul Cattermole and his team at Major Events for their excellent organisation of this year’s national event. It seems to grow each year and is a tourist attraction as well as a great event for Territory families.
I welcome the $500 000 of funding for the soccer stadium at Marrara and the $500 000 at upgrades at soccer facilities throughout the Territory for the benefit of junior soccer. Soccer is one of the Territory’s most popular sports, and I know that families in my electorate are very pleased with both initiatives.
I welcome funding for special events for the Territory, and I am particularly pleased that BassInTheGrass concerts will continue this year. These are very popular with our young people, and my two sons will certainly be attending. I am aware that groups of young people are planning to attend, and I have heard of friends of ours with children in Katherine and pastoral areas who are planning on visiting Darwin especially for this concert. This a really significant government initiative, one which could become a tourist attraction for young travellers as I am aware that young people travel to the Gold Coast and other places from the Territory and other parts of Australia to attend Big Days Out. Perhaps the Tourist Commission could be looking at special packages to coincide with this special event aimed at young people.
I welcome the additional funding for the Leanyer Water Park; $500 000 for the management of the park. I put on the record my congratulations to the minister and the member for Karama for their involvement in the development of this fantastic facility. My family and many of my friends consider this to be a great place to take the family for an outing so the funding is really welcomed.
I now move to specific items in the budget relating to Nightcliff. Constituents are very pleased with hospice funding and the birthing centre, and initiatives on teachers, particularly to attract more teachers. I have many teachers in my electorate and they have welcomed those initiatives.
In Nightcliff itself, I was very pleased that funding for the undergrounding power project continues, and the first houses have begun to receive underground power. It is planned that 330 Nightcliff lots will be undergrounded by the end of this year, and all of Nightcliff will be undergrounded by July 2005. This was an election commitment in Nightcliff and I am very pleased that the government is delivering it. Residents are very pleased to see it fulfilled. The trenches are being dug in Nightcliff Road as I speak. Some of the houses have started to have the drilling underground going across the street, and we will see poles coming down in the first section very soon. The first lot of poles that came down were near the Woolworths complex. It was very exciting to see the removal of those ugly overhead powerlines being replaced with the new powerlines. It is going to be a fantastic thing for Nightcliff, and should also ensure a better supply of electricity to our suburb. There have been a lot of electrical disturbances over the past few years. In the years I have been living there, which is quite a long time, the power does seem to go off for no particular reason, and this initiative is welcomed by residents.
Debate suspended.
Continued from earlier this day.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, the member for Nightcliff was in the middle of her budget reply. Please continue.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Thank you, Madam Speaker. Urban renewal is something that is very important, particularly for the older suburbs, so I was very pleased that the budget contained funding for more than $600 000 to upgrade the Aralia Street shopping centre and Nightcliff shopping village in Pavonia Place. Both centres are quite old and in need of renewal.
I have had early discussions with businesses at both shopping centres and look forward to working with them and the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment in planning the renewal of these centres. I thank the Minister for Lands and Planning for these initiatives. They have very well received by local businesses and constituents.
I was pleased to see funding of $75 400 for shade for the netball and basketball courts at Nightcliff Primary School. This follows last year’s funding of $25 000 for the upgrade of the courts themselves. The shading of this area is very important in our tropical climate and will assist the school with its sun-safe policy.
Before I finish, I recognise the significant increase in the budget for policing, which will see 200 more police on the beat by 2006. In my electorate, we have seen the effect of these new police, especially the foot patrols, which are seen on a regular basis around the shopping centres, and by the drop in crime, particularly property crime, in Darwin.
Police have also been very noticeable around the streets in my electorate. They have been very helpful, with regular patrols around the Nightcliff Primary and High Schools, the Essington School, and St Paul’s Primary School. I thank them for these regular patrols and for their commitment to our children’s safety as they move to and from the schools. To close, this is a responsible budget, meeting the needs of our community and meeting our election commitments. I congratulate the Treasurer for an excellent budget.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, many have commented on the budget. Those who have looked at it superficially have been led to believe it is a good budget, that there is some immediate relief for many. When you dig into it a bit further, you see that it is all smoke and mirrors. In an age when the GST revenue to the Territory is akin to the federal assistance the Territory received in the early days of self-government, we see very little economic activity from this government.
From an initial fiscal policy of balanced budgets, the government now tells us that this is the last balanced budget we are going to get, and from now on, we will go into deficit. As the Under Treasurer wrote in Budget Paper No 2:
On a cash basis, the estimated outcome for 2003-04 is a surplus of $34m. However this is due to an
additional $36m in GST revenue as a direct result of the higher GST collections estimates in the
Commonwealth Budget released on 11 May 2004. The underlining result is a deficit of $2m,
consistent with that presented in the 2003-04 Mid-Year Report.
Then she goes on to say:
For 2004-05, the government’s target of a balanced cash budget is expected to be achieved, again due
to the higher GST pool.
Then, and this is the problem now facing the government:
The budget is expected to return to deficit in 2005-06 due to continued low growth in GST revenue and
escalations in new initiatives approved during 2003-04.
In other words, in the budget after next financial year, we are going to get caught in a trap laid for themselves and by themselves this current financial year. These budget papers show clearly that the Martin Labor government has dudded Territorians once again, and this in the face of increasing GST distribution from the Federal Treasury to the Northern Territory. Since the Labor government came to power, total GST receipts are almost $1.2bn.
The lifting of payroll tax thresholds and the abolition of the HIH Levy will save Territory businesses around $6.7m, a very commendable thing that the government has done, but that is the same amount of money that the Chief Minister spends on her own ministerial office each year. When you take in the re-vote money from the previous year for infrastructure spending, the new money for infrastructure spending for 2004-05 is about $3m or a 0.7% increase. Now, try to rationalise that in the face of a CPI increase of 2.2% this year. What this means is that there is no real increase in infrastructure spending. Under this government, NT bankruptcy is the fastest growing in Australia, recently showing a 35% increase for the December quarter.
This budget shows that of the 29 government agencies, departments and government business divisions, 18 have had their operating expenses cut. This is a clear indication that this government is failing to manage, failing to deal with agency blow-outs in their budgets over previous financial years, some agencies going well above $50m beyond what was allocated at the start of the current financial year.
The biggest issue facing this government, in my mind, is the continuing population drift from the Territory. Never mind that the government continues to tell us that the population is going up by 0.3%. This minuscule increase is due to the high number of births; a cohort of population that will not be gainfully employed for another 16 years. Relatively speaking, our population will decline when compared with the rest of the country. That signals a loss in GST revenue, which is bolstering everything that this government has done in the past three years. I hate to think what it will be without the torrent of GST funds coming into the Territory.
As our population shrinks relative to the rest of the country, GST revenue will also decrease. What then? At the moment, this government is spending such a large proportion of its revenue in recurrent expenditure that when the GST revenue starts to plateau off or, at best, rise at a slower rate than inflation, we will be into greater deficits than predicted. The problem is that the government is putting all its projections on one major false premise: it projects that Territory GSP will be 5.8% for 2004-05. What a lot of codswallop! The Territory’s economy grew by 0.03% last year, and it is staggering towards the end of this financial year. Do you expect a staggering economy to suddenly find a second wind and leap into 5.8% growth? Who are you trying to mislead? If ever there was a government that has failed to manage, it is this Martin Labor government.
I come now to my shadow portfolios, and I will commence with Employment, Education and Training. The minister was loudly proclaiming how well he has done for the department, getting $13.2m more funding for this year. The fact is that his department had blown out its allocation for 2003-04 by $10.64m. That was conveniently overlooked. There was no explanation of why there was such an overspend in the department; there was nothing in the budget papers. It is clearly a question that needs to be answered, especially in light of the promise that the Martin Labor government is an open and accountable government. I look forward to the minister being open and accountable for such a major mismanagement of his department’s budget.
Furthermore, we all know that the wage rise for teachers far exceeds what he has gained in the budget for the department. I wonder how he is going to juggle the shortfall in the next financial year. Is it that the minister will secure further funding and again report a blow-out for next year’s budget? Is that how they are going to manage it?
As for the coming year and some of the initiatives that he proposed to bring about, I applaud the money that will spent on the Alice Springs Campus of Charles Darwin University. That, undoubtedly, will be good for Alice Springs, the second largest town in the Territory, sadly forgotten by this government for most things. Having an injection of capital works into a town whose building industry is just about non-existent will go some way to helping the ailing economy. Combined with the Commonwealth’s contribution of $2.5m, we will have a small boost in the construction industry.
The Alice Springs Campus of CDU is still quite unsettled since the amalgamation of Centralian College with the Northern Territory University. I hope that the Vice-Chancellor is able to settle things quickly and regain the community’s confidence in that institution.
Sadly, employment has not been a strength of this government. Job loss over the past three years has been one of the greatest burdens that the Territory has had to face for a long time. The lack of Jobs Plan for almost two-and-a-half years of the life of this government has been a problem. They came into government promising that they had a Jobs Plan and nothing was seen for two-and-a-half years. Since the introduction of this Jobs Plan earlier this year, there have been some gains, and I concede that. Imagine what it would have been like had this government had its act together right from the very beginning three years ago. With the loss of jobs has been the loss of population.
I am glad to hear of the new housing program that the Minister for Housing introduced yesterday. That will stimulate significant activity in the housing market and, I hope, a positive migration of Australians into the Territory.
I draw members’ attention to the fact that under this government, primary school student enrolments have decreased by 5%. That supports my contention that there has been a huge loss of population. Does that translate to closures of many primary schools? A loss of nearly 1000 primary school students translates to a loss of three to four primary schools. If the minister is not going to close primary schools, how is he going to deal with those schools that have smaller populations of students?
I am pleased to see that the accelerated literacy program is has significant funding. It is a program that achieves great results among our students, some achieving up to 1 years of learning for each year of training. I look forward to the continuing success of this program and the many students who will benefit from it.
As we progress into the current electronic environment, more and more demands will be placed on information communications and technology. Applying only $2m for IT infrastructure in schools, and a scant $250 000 to increase the bandwidth for LATIS is patently inadequate. Schools are struggling with access to LATIS and adding just 15% more to the bandwidth is going to cause more of a bottleneck than anything else. It is anticipated that there will be up to 2200 teachers provided with laptops. How are these 2200 computer users going to access the Internet through LATIS when the schools are already encountering great problems with bandwidth access? I urge the minister to look into that closely to make sure that LATIS has enough bandwidth so that all students and teachers can have adequate access.
What takes the cake for me in the budget allocation for education is the $1m allocation for redevelopments each at Nakara and Alawa Primary Schools. I do not begrudge the money being provided to those primary schools because they need the money to refurbish some parts of the school, but look at the pattern of funding for primary schools by this government, it is spending millions upon millions of dollars on primary schools in electorates held by government members. I am sure you will recall the millions of dollars spent at Parap Primary School in the seat of Fannie Bay, the Chief Minister’s seat, while students have lessons in libraries in Palmerston. Where is the equity in that? You spend millions upon millions of dollars at Parap Primary School, $1m at Alawa, $1m at Nakara and there are students at Palmerston who have to be taught, not in class rooms, but in the library because there is no class room space left. That is inequitable sharing of government resources.
As the member for Brennan said in his contribution to the Appropriation Bill, for the Department of Employment, Education and Training, the re-votes from 2003-04 to 2004-05 is a re-vote that was new works in 2002-03. I will say that again. For the Department of Employment, Education and Training, the re-vote from 2003-04 to the following year, which is 2004-05, is in reality a re-vote that was classified as new works in 2002-03. This is a capital works program that has not been fulfilled since its announcement in 2002-03.
Let me now come to my shadow portfolio of Ethnic Affairs. I congratulate the government for recognising the importance of ethnic communities in the Territory. We have the most cosmopolitan community in Australia, living harmoniously across the Territory. Funding for the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program, which has not been increased this year, is still greatly appreciated by ethnic communities to help with the cultural activities so generously shared with everyone in the community. It is from this sharing of cultural events that people learn about each other’s culture, leading to a breakdown of barriers and increased understanding of each other’s sensitivities. This leads to the development of respect for one another. The government’s funds to assist ethnic communities to refurbish their existing facilities will be called upon frequently, of that I am certain. There are many facilities, particularly in Darwin, which are shared by many groups and frequently used, as most local members will attest by the many ethnic functions they attended at the weekend.
The government must make sure that smaller groups also have support. It is frequently these small organisations with limited resources that need the most help. I encourage the government to continue to look after this sector as, for every dollar it spends, the ethnic community contributes many times more, as the money is mostly spent on capital improvements that last for many years. The Minister for Ethnic Affairs need not be so smug, though, about how much the government is putting in to this. He can thank the GST for that.
I now move to DCIS. I note the minister’s contribution to the Appropriation Bill on this portfolio and recognise that the department has operated efficiently and kept within the allocation of 2003-04, one of two departments to stay within budget. It is encouraging to note that the department nominally in charge of administrative services has managed itself efficiently. I note that the cost per service on average has gone down slightly, despite a rise in CPI.
I am curious, however, about a program that the minister described, SWIPE, Sector-Wide Induction Program for Employees. I will seek a briefing on this. If it is what I believe it to be, I commend the government for introducing such a program across government. For too long, many of our new recruits in to the Territory have no idea what they are coming to. They leave the comfort of their homes in suburban Melbourne, Adelaide or Sydney and come to the Territory not expecting to find anything different.
I am not sure, Mr Deputy Speaker, whether you are aware of a program in Alice Springs that has been developed for teachers – or it may be for nurses; I am not quite certain. New recruits in to Alice Springs are provided with a comprehensive induction program with cross-cultural training over an initial two-week period. This is followed by four one-week sessions over the course of the next few months to ensure that these new recruits are adequately trained for their remote out-postings. The induction program has produced professionals who are equipped to deal with the difficulties they often encounter in Central Australia, particularly out bush.
I note in the minister’s contribution to the debate the initiatives of e-government. By that, I mean electronic government. For the last couple of years, industry has criticised the tardiness of government in seriously developing e-government. Under the CLP, the Northern Territory government had leading edge information and communication technology and was pushing ahead. Progress has stalled under this government. Therefore, I am pleased to learn that DCIS has initiated, even though it is only in its early days, an interactive voice response bill paying service and web-based technology, such as online motor vehicle registration. All I can say to that is: it is about time. Now that the pilot has proven to be successful, I look forward to the system being implemented soon.
As for the pay within 30 days of receipt of a bill by government, DCIS is obviously endeavouring to get its bills paid on time. It is good to know that the department has improved its performance, with 93% of payments processed within 30 days. I hope the minister will make figures available during Estimates to show how much is outstanding in the remaining 7% that are not being processed within 30 days. Business is hurting out there and cash flow is certainly important to keep many businesses going. Government has to pay its bills on time so that the cash can keep turning around.
I remember a time back in the early 1980s when I was owed a significant amount of money by government for services rendered. No amount of arguing with the pay office was going to get me paid. It took a lot of arguing, anger, much frustration and many telephone calls to many people before I could get my money. There was no interest payable, either.
I turn now to Central Australia. The most relevant issue at the moment is the Minister for Health’s mismanagement of the Alice Springs Hospital. Since the time of the former Minister for Health and Community Services, government’s management of the hospital has been in question. We have lost beds and wards as a consequence of this poor management, all based on the bottom line rather than good patient outcomes.
The Minister for Health continues to proffer the figure of $11m for the Alice Springs Hospital for capital improvement when he knows full well that only $2m will be spent during the coming year. This minister is good at announcing more money and more positions, but he continues to fail to find the professionals to fill these positions. This has been a problem all along, but does the minister recognise this? Never. The minister said that only his government has committed to an intensive care specialist. The minister can promise a brain surgeon for Alice Springs and then make sure lines up as the first patient for a brain transplant, but can he find one to fill the position?
Before the minister even considers an intensive care specialist, he needs to be sure that he can recruit specialist anaesthetists for the hospital. For over a year, we have been warning the government that the staffing situation is at a critical stage, but those warnings have fallen on deaf ears. The former minister failed to address the problems, the present minister is going along the same path. Shoot the messenger; that is what the government has done. Staff complaints have been ignored, the pleadings by the AMA have been dismissed by the government as sectoral interests by a group of people who have been able to get themselves organised. The messages sent by the opposition have been labelled as scaremongering. All the while, services have been eroded through the lack of staff, and the staff who are working excessive hours.
I do not have any problem with the government trying to secure the services of an intensive care specialist. No way! That is a good thing, but what I want to see post haste is the installation of specialist anaesthetist as the baseline at the hospital on a permanent basis. Get that done, then look for the intensive care specialist.
When you have such shortages and when a professional body such as the AMA says that we are in trouble, the minister has to listen. When health professionals say that the hospital is so short-staffed that there is a risk of death if numbers are not addressed soon, the minister must listen. When the Acting Director for Medical Services, Dr Alan Walker, said to me and my colleagues, the members for Araluen and Macdonnell, in a briefing in the presence of others, that is was ‘in crisis’, the minister has to listen. When Mr Ron Parker, a health management expert sent down by the former minister, called it a ‘war zone’, the minister has to listen. Do not shoot the messenger.
When you add up all the funding that has gone into bringing a locum specialist to the hospital, and the fruitless recruitment efforts by the hospital, you have to wonder why the government did not ensure that employment conditions are such that the ones who are already there would want to stay. I refer to doctors like Dr Mario Frediani, who was recruited to the Alice Springs Hospital and installed as Head of the Anaesthetic Department. He has been there for several years now and has provided good service for the community. He is married to a doctor who had been working in the Emergency Department. He had been able to secure the services of two specialist anaesthetists to join him at the Alice Springs Hospital, but could those doctors get employment contracts with the hospital? Not on your life. They could not. Out of frustration, they withdrew their applications. You heard the member for Port Darwin mention Dr Steven Lightfoot yesterday. He wrote a scathing letter to the Centralian Advocate on 11 November 2003. His letter says it all, and I read it in its entirety:
Sir,
I am an anaesthetist who, this week, should be working at the Alice Springs Hospital,
providing a medical service to the people of Central Australia.
However, the administrators of the Alice Springs Hospital have ensured that I am
interstate working in New South Wales.
Alice Springs Hospital has been advertising for an anaesthetist for some time now, and
two months ago, I applied to fill a two week locum position.
As a condition of my employment, I asked that my partner, also a doctor, be given work
while we were in Alice Springs.
Eventually we were both offered jobs, which we accepted.
I then asked for written confirmation of the locum positions. From that time on, it became
unclear whether the administrators actually wanted us.
This was despite the head of the Department of Anaesthetics telling me he was ‘desperate’
for locum anaesthetists.
The administrators would not send us written confirmation of our employment. Instead, we
continued to receive verbal assurances that everything was okay, but ‘we are waiting on
signatures from Darwin’.
Two weeks before our job’s starting date, we were getting worried. It would take us four days to drive
to Alice Springs, and we needed to be sure we would be working once we got there.
Finally, after days of unreturned phone calls and further verbal 99.9% guarantees that Darwin would
‘sign the papers’ we were informed that ‘Darwin would not sign the papers’ for my partner’s locum
Emergency Department position.
Not only did the administrators lack the courtesy to ring me to inform me of this decision, but we found
out just four working days from when we were supposed to be commencing the locums.
The behaviour of the administrators and the decision not to employ my partner led us to seek work in
other regional areas.
I question the wisdom of the administrators of the Alice Springs Hospital and their interest in the health
of the population they serve.
Dr Steven Lightfoot,
New Lambton, New South Wales.
Here is a doctor, with a spouse who is also a doctor, willing to come to Alice Springs. All he encountered were obstacles to his recruitment. Do you wonder why we do not have doctors?
I move from the anaesthetic department to deal with junior doctors.
I call your attention to the state of the House, Mr Deputy Speaker. I believe we should ring the bells.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. We have a quorum. Continue, member for Greatorex.
Dr LIM: Until the minister gets on top of his portfolio, the whole mess is going to continue to plague him. The opposition is not going to let up. When the minister chooses to deliberately slate Alice Springs, the opposition will not let up. The minister continues to play with weasel words to try to extricate himself from his untenable position. Had he not gone the way of this headline, and you saw the headline before: ‘Hospital crisis: intensive care closes. Minister says it’s open’. Had he not done that, the staff may not have gone to the media. However, as a result of his actions, they did. I tell the minister: do not keep on with your weasel words or you may provoke more reaction from staff.
When it came to hospital management signing contracts with doctors, I recall commenting on how well Remote Health has been able to recruit doctors. I understand that when they had a surplus of recruits, they passed on the surplus to the Alice Springs Hospital. However, there is no follow-up on these doctors, so they look elsewhere.
Moving from health, I look forward to a strong Central Australian economy. I want to see Central Australia prosper, be vibrant, be strong. However, it means we need more population, more construction, more available land, more tourists walking along our streets. On all counts, this government has failed. I am still waiting for the first block of residential land in Larapinta Stage 4 to be released in Alice Springs.
The Minister for Central Australia is on record as saying he will put his own home up for sale if no residential land is released by January 2004, which was corrected by the then Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Environment to a release of residential land by early 2004. Minister for Central Australia, early 2004 ends on 30 June, 13 days away. I wait with bated breath. As for the minister crowing that government has allocated $1m for headworks at Mt John Valley, that will mean a small culvert and perhaps 100 metres of cross-over to get into the land. The government needs to do more than just put in $1m in headworks.
Land should be released from Mt John Valley to the south of Stevens Road now and there should be a steady release of some 100 blocks per year into the next 10 years. Otherwise there will be little or no growth in Alice Springs. When there is no construction, there is no work and families leave. The government knows full well that Alice Springs has been losing a family a week since they have come to government.
Tourism is a major industry for us in Alice Springs and we depend on it for much of our livelihood. The member for Katherine spoke about The Ghan and its effect on Katherine. Similarly for us in Alice Springs, The Ghan brings in 400 tourists on each train. Those who are on the train that goes through to Darwin have only a four-hour stopover, hardly long enough to do anything. The ride in this magnificent train into the town’s railway station is great, but then the magnificence stops. From then on, much of the experience is less than satisfactory.
While The Ghan might belong to Great Southern Railways, this government has a responsibility to ensure that tourists who come on this private facility are greeted with better facilities than there are at the moment. The member for Katherine spoke about the railway station. That also applies in Alice Springs. She talked about the long train and how elderly passengers cannot walk the one kilometre from the carriage to the railway station. The poor entry into George Crescent is not welcoming, nor is the long walking distance to the township itself or the lack of access for taxis and mini buses to the train carriages to pick up passengers. The corralling of passengers from the Ghan to the Desert Park, not being allowed to go anywhere else, is not satisfactory. They are the issues that must be addressed.
I am glad to see that the government has at long last realised that the sealing of the Mereenie Loop Road is important and has fast tracked it over the next three years. This will make the region one as a community of interest, with a loop road linking Alice Springs with Glen Helen, Kings Canyon, Yulara, down Lasseter’s Highway and up the Stuart Highway. But remember, the CLP built Yulara …
Mrs BRAHAM: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The member’s time has expired.
Dr LIM: Has it?
Ms Lawrie: Yes.
Mr DEPUTY CHAIRMAN: Thank you, member for Braitling.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): I am sorry to do that to you, member for Greatorex, but I have an appointment.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to make a comment on the Appropriation Bill in my role as Speaker, and I want to make that quite clear to everyone, particularly the member for Brennan. I am speaking now as the Speaker.
Members are aware that the Speaker holds responsibility for the Department of the Legislative Assembly, and I wish to present to members a commentary on Budget 2004-05 as it relates to my department and indirectly to them.
I am pleased to note that NT Treasury provided additional funding during the year to meet what is considered by this agency as non-discretionary funding owing to the obligation to meet members’ entitlements flowing from Remuneration Tribunal Determinations. As members are aware, their entitlements are determined by the Remuneration Tribunal and the agency is not in a position to make savings in relation to those administered funds.
As well as that, the non-discretionary component of our budget is more than 50%. In a small agency, capacity to absorb the 2% efficiency dividend is considerably constrained. The agency has continually striven to improve services and find savings required to meet the efficiency dividend. This year, a number of cost saving projects are underway, including waste paper minimisation, FBT savings, electricity savings and a review of grounds maintenance. However, members should be aware that it is very difficult in a small agency like this to absorb the 2% when a considerable part of our budget is non-discretionary.
A key issue for the Department of Legislative Assembly is the need to support increased sitting hours. Members may not be aware, but the number of hours we are sitting in this Assembly is far greater than we have in the past. The agency’s original base budget for the 2002-03 year was premised on parliament sitting for about 240 hours per year. The actual number of sitting hours, though, was 365 in 2002-03, an increase of 125 hours, and this trend continued in 2003-04 with 356 hours, and it is expected to be similar this year with 350 hours.
I was of the understanding that under the output budgeting model, if outputs increased, and this was supported by the government, funding would follow. In 2003-04, the increased costs associated with the increase in sitting hours was able to be absorbed primarily because we did not have regional sittings this financial year, but this task is going to be considerably more difficult in 2004-05 when the Alice Springs regional sittings are to be held. Additional funding was sought through a Cabinet submission, however it was not supported. This may result in funding issues in 2004-05, however every effort will be made by the department to manage within the allocation provided.
Turning to minor new works and repairs and maintenance, my agency has responsibility for the management and presentation of the Territory’s premier building, our beautiful Parliament House. A continual program of repairs and maintenance is required to keep the building to the standard that is required to fill its important role and also to the standard that people expect of a parliament. The reduction in funding for repairs and maintenance and minor new works will have an impact on proposed works for this year. It is noted that the minor new works program for 2004-05 has been significantly reduced to $350 000 compared with a bid of $454 000. This will have an impact on proposed work for 2004-05 for Parliament House and the 25 electorate offices, which are included in the program. We will have to now review our priorities and will attempt in the main to complete the outstanding minor new works security projects identified in the 2003 Security Review.
Our agency, in consultation with the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, compiles an estimate each year of the required repairs and maintenance. This is submitted to Treasury and in prior years has been fully funded. This trend was reversed in 2002-03, when the DIPE estimate was $1.26m and only $939 000 or 74% was provided. In 2003-04, this trend continued, with the DIPE estimate of $1.78m, an increase, obviously, because a lot of the works weren’t done, but only $900 000 or 51% was provided. In the 2004-05 year, the trend was even worse with a DIPE estimate of $2.25m and only $700 000 or 30% of the funding being provided.
Honourable members will understand that in coming years, R&M for Parliament House will increase as a result of ageing of the plant, equipment and facilities and as critical components require replacement. Therefore, further reduction in the R&M program may have a longer term impact on machinery and plant and the state of Parliament House. Agency officers are currently working on the development of a strategic Asset Management Plan for the building, which is aimed at identifying through-life cost of equipment, expected life cost of equipment, forecast replacement years and indicative costs.
I turn now to security. Security in Parliament House over the last 18 months has been a key issue in this era of heightened alert. With limited departmental staff dedicated entirely to security, the use of Chubb Security guards is an important element of maintaining adequate levels of security for Parliament House. At present, the cost of the Chubb contract arrangement is $640 000 per annum. Cabinet submissions to date have failed to attract additional funding for security. The objective is now to find a balance between risk versus cost, and ensure adequate levels of security for members and other building users within tight monetary constraints.
A number of measures are currently in hand to address these issues. At the direction of the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk will be responsible for security policy matters for the agency. This will involve liaison with senior officers in other agencies and organisations to ensure the security of Parliament House reflects local and national standards. This action is an alternative to the requirement of a dedicated senior security manager, as previously outlined in a Cabinet submission that was not supported. The impact on workloads for the Deputy Clerk and the Clerk will be monitored.
In accordance with the now activated security alert states and the detailed security policy, appropriate and agreed levels of security will be implemented subject to the activity of the parliament. This action is designed to reduce the current cost of contract security, which is having a detrimental effect on the department’s operational budget, and this issue was discussed by the House Committee at lunch time. The House Committee has decided that they will write to the Chief Minister to seek additional funding. Through the minor new works program and repairs and maintenance, the agency will continue to upgrade and install electronic surveillance and scanning equipment to offset additional security guards. This project, however, is expected to take two to three years, subject to funding, and will be required to ensure existing equipment remains current and supportable well into the future.
Through the State Square Security Group, initiated by the Legislative Assembly, the agency will continue to work in close cooperation with other organisations in this precinct and with the Northern Territory Police.
The agency has some new initiatives. In Parliamentary Education, I am pleased to advise members of proposals to extend the work of the agency in the area of Parliamentary Education, in particular in the area of Statehood information and awareness programs for students and teachers during the next five years, and continuing support for future initiatives in the Civics and Citizenship Educational National History Project.
The Clerk has written to the Secretary of the Department of Employment, Education and Training proposing discussions on the possible joint funding of a position in the Parliamentary Liaison and Information Unit for a Parliamentary Education Officer with an established education background. This proposal was discussed recently with Ali Garnett of the Parliamentary Education Office of the Commonwealth Parliament, who commended such an appointment and offered the support of her office and the prospect of fellowships to relevant officers of the Legislative Assembly. The proposed position would enable maximisation by the Northern Territory of operational funding provided by the Commonwealth for the Civics and Citizenship and Discovering Democracy projects.
A continuing partnership with the Department of Employment, Education and Training will build on the successful collaboration in recent years between teachers and officers of the Legislative Assembly, which has resulted in the development of bands three, four and five educational resource materials for the new curriculum framework, and the successful conduct of the Discovering Democracy Forum as part of Celebrating Democracy Week, and the conduct of a mini-schools constitutional convention.
The Clerk has noted that this successful collaboration was made possible by the enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism of Ms Colleen Williams in recent years, and previously, Ms Lorraine Caldwell. I look forward to this proposed position being established, and I welcome the support of the Education minister and his department for this proposal.
A further initiative in hand for the coming year is conduct by officers of the Assembly of an Information and Awareness Program in respect of the Members Code of Conduct and Ethics and the proposed Register of Members’ Interest legislation in conjunction with the Auditor-General and the Northern Territory Electoral Commission.
As well, a program of Legislative Development and Review will be undertaken to review the Security Act and develop a draft Parliamentary Services Act.
We have set aside $150 000 funding to cover the 2005 March sittings of the parliament in Alice Springs. This event was highly successful in 2003, and provides a valuable opportunity to bring the parliament to the people of Central Australia.
A Portfolio Budget Statement has been produced by the Department of the Legislative Assembly for 2004-05. The first Portfolio Budget Statement was produced for the 2002-03 financial year as a planning tool for output reporting. It was designed as a means of presenting financial and performance information at the sub-output level, and thus provides greater detail than shown in Budget Paper No 3. The PBS will be distributed to all members for their information. It allows for improved analysis by the agency, its stakeholders and members of performance against planned outcomes, and provides the basis for quarterly reporting to Treasury for compilation of the annual report.
I have a concern that I concede is a bit of a hobby horse. Other parliaments operate under separate legislation and have their agency allocation determined by a committee separate from Executive Government. In the Territory, it has always been Executive Government that has taken our case to Cabinet with the Chief Minister as the minister responsible for the Department of the Legislative Assembly rather that the Speaker because the Speaker is not a member of Cabinet. I ask members to seriously consider that as an option for making sure that the Department of the Legislative Assembly’s budget is agreed to by all members so we can ensure our case is well and truly heard.
Treasury has provided an opportunity for larger departments to present their cases to Cabinet, and I propose that the Clerk be given the opportunity to brief Cabinet on the department’s budget submissions as part of the budget development process. This would allow my agency to have improved opportunity to present its case for adequate funding for the important role it plays in the support of parliament. I urge the Chief Minister to consider that seriously because when we do make Cabinet submissions, which we do quite often, and they are rejected, it is very hard to understand exactly why they were knocked back. If the Clerk or I could go to the Cabinet room and elaborate on the Cabinet submission, we might have more successful results.
I am pleased to say that the agency has worked successfully to ensure that the allocation of funding for this year will mean that service to members, their entitlements and the running of this parliament will be achieved. I want to place on record my thanks to the officers of the agency for the enormous task they undertake in compiling their submissions and records and the professional manner in which they handle the financial affairs of the Legislative Assembly.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Mr Deputy Speaker, in contributing to the Appropriation debate today, it is curious that I sometimes have to remind myself of the importance of an appropriation debate. We hear members talking about matters fiscal all the time, and you begin to groan under the weight of listening to numbers and this little project and that much being spent, but it is important to remind myself and honourable members of exactly what an appropriation debate is.
An appropriation debate is a fetter, if you like, on the ability of the government and the Treasurer to simply go and do as they please. It is worth thinking historically about the things that have been done in order to avoid appropriation debates by Treasurers. What exactly is an appropriation debate? It is the Treasurer coming to the parliament and saying: ‘I want to pass a law. I need you guys to pass a law that says that I can reach into Treasury’. We must remember that Treasury is a group of people who sit there with scarves around their neck in winter and fingerless gloves, clutching desperately close to a small candle in a darkened room - forgive me, Jennifer Prince – saying: ‘No, we are not going to spend any money whatsoever’. These people are the people who guard the coffers of the Northern Territory.
The only way that we are going to convince Treasury, as they warm themselves up against this little candle, their only source of heat and light, that they should part with some of the vast amounts of money they have under their control is to make it a law that they part with that amount of money.
That is not something that the Treasurer can simply go and do; he cannot go and bash on Treasury’s door because Treasury will give him a very short shrift and say: ‘Do you have a law that says we should part with our money?’ and if the Treasurer cannot say: ‘Yes, I have that law; this is an act of parliament,’ then Treasury will say: ‘Sorry, you are not going to get one brass razoo, not a farthing, not a nickel from us’, and so it should be.
What happens next is that the Treasurer has to come with a bill to this House, and that is the law we are discussing at the moment. He says: ‘I need $2.5bn’ or whatever the bottom line is for this budget, and he has to explain to the House what he is going to do with the money. As a consequence, the Treasurer walks in with a pile of budget books - and I notice that my honourable colleague has the pile of books here, which I would guess is about six inches thick - with an explanation as to exactly what he is going to do with this money. This debate allows us to have a look at how money from the last budget has been spent, and for us to consider whether or not we want to pass a law that will make those dreadful people in Treasury give money to the people of the Northern Territory so that we can continue on with the process of governing.
What steps have been taken in the past to avoid having to go through such processes? We cast our mind back to late republican Rome, the dictator Sulla had a unique approach to how to deal with the Senate when he had the same problem. He simply proscribed half the Senate’s property and had them murdered. To sidestep the parliamentary process, be it the Roman Senate or the modern parliamentary process, people have to do pretty drastic things.
I often look at parliaments in the modern Westminster system, to which we are so accustomed, and think to myself: ‘Yes, these are boring debates’, but I do not forget the history of what brought us to this place and why we have these boring debates. In fact, it is very important to have these boring debates, and I take some heart of the fact that they are boring because it means things are going along normally.
King Charles II also had a novel approach. He simply walked into parliament one day and said: ‘You guys do not exist and, by the way, I will take over Treasury.’ There are any number of historical parallels from which you can draw comparisons. It is nice to be participating in a process in which things like proscriptions and winding up of parliaments do not have to occur to get budgets through.
Parliament has a very strong power and if that parliament chose not to pass an appropriation bill or will simply delay one, you could have a constitutional crisis. Australia had a constitutional crisis immediately prior to 11 November 1974, which ultimately had everyone so jumpy that the Governor-General of the day questionably chose to sack the Prime Minister in an effort to get an appropriation bill through the Senate. That caused the downfall of the Whitlam government, and a subsequent election was held. These are very serious debates, and they have a great deal riding on them.
Let us have a look at the Treasurer’s request for his money, so the government can continue running the Northern Territory. It is a useful exercise to see how they dealt with last year’s money and whether I can be convinced by the history of the current Treasurer, and the minister for procurement, I might add. I need to be convinced by their track record that they should be allowed to have continued income so that they can go about the business of government.
I wish to talk about something that has occupied my mind for some time now in relation to how the government spends money, and that is through its procurement process. We had a debate in this House at some length yesterday about the procurement process and how it works. Procurement is a process by which the biggest spender of money in the Territory, the Northern Territory government, organises contracts in the general economy. If you have this monolithic source of money, a lot of people are going to be very interested in how that source of money dishes out contracts. Bearing in mind that the government is in the unique position of being a corporate entity per se, it has to dish contracts fairly and I would go so far as to say democratically. Consequently, the government has to set policies that outline how it spends its money and organises its contracts.
The government has such a policy. It is called the procurement policy to deal with the way it procures services from the community. The procurement policy is an interesting little animal because it says that when the government has contracts in the market place, the government should ask for tenders. If we look at the newspaper every Thursday and go to the Classified Ad section under Tenders or Public Notices, there is a whole list of tenders that are going to come on, that are being invited and tenders that have closed and been awarded. That is the normal process by which government spends money.
However, that is not a process that is always adhered to. The Policy and Procurement Manual has another mechanism built into it by which the government can spend money in circumstances where the government chooses to step outside of its normal tendering process and issue certificates, and those certificates are Certificates of Exemption. A Certificate of Exemption is an exemption from the normal tendering process. There is an overseeing body that looks after this, which is not of government per se, called the Procurement Review Board. It sits there and looks at all of the applications that come before it and it ticks and flicks its way through the Certificates of Exemption from tenders that the government seeks.
There are themes that surround the procurement process. In fact, the policy is based on five principles, which are: (a) open and effective competition; (b) value for money; (c) enhancing capabilities for local business and industry; (d) environmental protection; and (e) ethical behaviour and fair dealing.
If we look at the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services Property and Accounting Manual, it says:
All employees involved in purchasing at any level must bear the above principles in mind.
So that is the flavour of the Policy and Procurement Manual, but the flavour of the Policy and Procurement Manual is this: ethical and fair dealing. It says so. It should be open and effective, and so careful and cautious are governments about how they deal with these sorts of processes, it is interesting to point out that in big bold letters in section 6.2:
It must be emphasised that whatever the means of purchasing, strict compliance to purchasing
guidelines is required.
So you have a document that says we are going to be fair, free, encourage open competition and we expect ethical behaviour, however the document also says that it is entirely possible to sidestep this in certain situations, and that is through the Certificates of Exemption.
With the flavour of this document in mind, one says to oneself: ‘Well, have a look at this. We have a policy that allows is, in rare, extreme or specific cases, to step outside the procurement process’. How careful is the government about the process? This is how careful the government is, and I will quote minister Henderson from the Estimates Committee on Wednesday 25 June 2003. Minister Henderson, of course, is the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. He said:
Picking up on that comment, I can say that I have been, as minister, very rigorous in terms of Certificates of
Exemption that have come up to me. I am not going to specifically name examples, but I have sent a number
back. The Certificates of Exemption really have come up more for expediency purposes in terms of purchasing
requirements rather than a real requirement for a Certificate of Exemption. Due to lack of planning in agencies,
I think there has been a culture evolve that, you know, we can get through the back door by the Certificate of
Exemption based on urgency. It is not something that I am prepared to tolerate.
Let those words resonate through your ears, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I ask honourable members to let those words resonate through their ears because it is very important that we remember what minister Henderson had to say.
So the Treasurer wants to give minister Henderson a certain amount of money, as the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Time and time again, we have been reminded of convention and standing orders about referring to members by their electorate. I have let him go for about five times. I thought it was a try-on and that he will stop, but clearly he is persistent just waiting for this.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, there is a point of order, member for Sanderson, and I would ask the member for Macdonnell to refer to all members by their electorate or portfolio.
Mr ELFERINK: Quite so, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. The Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services has left words resonating in this place. The Treasurer says: ‘We want the parliament to give the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services lots and lots of money so he can do his job as the minister for Police’. That is important. We need to protect our community. Our police need to be paid, and have uniforms on their backs, and police stations and handcuffs, and all the accoutrements of being a police officer.
Here we have a minister for Police who said that he is not prepared to tolerate the expedient use of Certificates of Exemption less than 12 months ago. Let us visit a few months after that. The Commissioner of Police was lying in bed, I presume, at about 3 am, when suddenly he wakes up and says: ‘Oh, my God, I have a problem with the Fire Service. How profound is my problem with the Fire Service? Well, it is seriously problematic. It is not just a small problem with the Fire Service; we had a profound management problem in the Fire Service’. So vital is this problem in the Fire Service that the Commissioner of Police walks into his Human Resource Manager’s office the next morning, 5 August, and says: ‘Manager of Human Resource Management, please sign a Certificate of Exemption for between $100 000 and $250 000 to demonstrate, on super urgency, that we have to go and get a Certificate of Exemption from the minister for Police…’, the man who does not tolerate the use of certificates of exemption, ‘…so we can review the Fire Service’. Dutifully, on 5 August, the Manager of Human Resource Management signed the Certificate of Exemption.
That very same day, 5 August, the Police Commissioner, who is very concerned about this, also signed the Certificate of Exemption, but he knows that he needs the minister’s signature as well. So the very next day, 6 August, the Police Commissioner writes a ministerial briefing, which said we contacted three specialist consultant organisations and asked them to present submissions. Two of those were brought to Darwin and they met with. After meeting these two organisations, we have decided that Metis Consulting is the organisation that absolutely needs to be the organisation that we run with. It is curious to remember that Metis is made up of two people, we have talked about this already in parliament, both with strong ties to the Australian Labor Party. They have no experience in reviewing fire services and this matter is considered to be so urgent that they must have this organisation, Metis Consulting, review the Fire Service.
This then finds its way to the minister’s desk, and the minister is so convinced by the Commissioner of Police that, on the very same day, within 24 hours of the Commissioner asking the Manager of Human Resources to spend the money, however much that amount was, and the minister signs it.
Yesterday, that document came to this parliament with an addendum, which was the Procurement Review Board signing off on this expenditure the very next day after that. Curiously, it did not find its way into the parliament a few months ago when we asked the minister to explain himself. However, he says: ‘But look, here on page 2, I did not sign a blank cheque…’ despite the fact that the amount on the original document tendered was quite blank and without any amount filled in so it is like signing a blank cheque ‘Page 2 clearly says $187 000’. Well, that may be the new document, but this is the problem. This page 2 is not the page 2 that found its way into the government Gazette in late 2003. How do I know? Because the page 2 that found its way into the government Gazette had a value of $170 000 attached to it.
Where is that second piece of paper? That has not been tabled. One has to asked oneself how ethical, remembering the terms of the procurement review system, is the minister being with this House? It was well established yesterday that he has been liberal with the truth.
What is the difference between $170 000 and $187 000? Actually, it is GST. Metis Consulting, Labor mates, have won a contract for which they are not qualified to review the Fire Service, with which neither of the two directors of Metis Consulting have any experience. They have forwarded the bill after the minister signed it, and they forgot to add the GST so they had to put a new entry into the government Gazette six months later, saying: ‘Oops! We forgot the GST. We do not owe them $170 000; we owe them $187 000’. If this were a fish, I would find it very difficult to swallow indeed because it is very smelly. Fish like this are definitely very smelly.
The Treasurer came into this House, as the minister for procurement, and said to us: ‘Gee whiz, I protected my minister for police because I am happy with the way he spends his money. But now I am going to ask the House that we continue giving the minister for police money so that he can get on with his job’. However, the minister for police has convinced me, by his actions, that he is less than entirely straightforward when he deals with this House.
The only thing I cannot understand is why the Commissioner of Police suddenly woke up with a sense of such profound urgency, at 3 o’clock one morning or whenever he decided it was profoundly urgent, to convince the minister to side-step his own procurement process, something that he is not prepared to tolerate in his own words, when, in actual fact, the review said that the minister for police is almost indifferent to how the Fire Service is going, and I quote:
Currently, neither of these two approaches …
It refers to the paragraph before:
… seems to apply. Nor did the Commissioner for Police when asked indicate to the assessors that the
leadership approach he preferred for the Fire and Rescue Service operating is a tri-service structure
under his leadership. The commissioner said he has a ‘hands off’ approach to the Northern Territory
Fire and Rescue Service, and regards Police and Fire and Rescue of having quite separate cultures.
He directed or encouraged the current Director of the NTFRS, the now fired Darryl Pepper, to have a direct relationship with the minister. Here, the minister for police is …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I ask him to withdraw that reference to the Chief Fire Officer being fired. No such thing occurred. He is trying to mislead the Assembly.
Mr ELFERINK: Make it a substantive motion. I do not have to withdraw that, I can tell you that now. You make it a substantive motion.
Ms Lawrie: The man himself is on record as saying he left because of ill-health. You are a weasel.
Mr Elferink: There is a tabled paper on this record that says he was an involuntary redundancy; he as sacked!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me! Could we have a bit of quiet while I seel some advice, thank you, member for Macdonnell.
Mr ELFERINK: May I have the clock stopped, by the way, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes. Member for Macdonnell, my understanding is that there is no record of what you alluded to, that he was fired, and I ask you to withdraw.
Mr ELFERINK: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, as a point of order and without starting the clock again, I tabled in this parliament a PIPS record some time ago, which shows Mr Darryl Pepper as being made involuntarily redundant. Such a record exists, and give me a couple of minutes, in my papers, I am sure I will find it.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, if you just bear with me a moment, I think it is a giant leap to say ‘an involuntary ...
Mr ELFERINK: This was tabled months ago.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is leave sought to table this?
Mr ELFERINK: I have already tabled it.
A member: Have you withdrawn?
Mr ELFERINK: No. I have not been asked to yet.
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I distinctly heard you say that he should withdraw, and he seems to be quarrelling with the Chair. He has a habit of doing this. I ask that you take him to task on this.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, I asked you to withdraw. The simple fact is that the use of the word ‘fired’ is not appropriate on this occasion.
Mr ELFERINK: For the sake of the debate, I withdraw. However, I draw members’ attention to a document tabled in this parliament:
Fire Service Separation Statistics, July 2003-June 2004
Pepper, Darryl ECO3 Headquarters 9/1/2004 redundancy invol.
which means I have a document that says other than what the Treasurer has asserted.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, this is a very interesting situation. We find that we have a commissioner who is indifferent to the operations of the Fire Service. He encourages the Director of the Fire Service to have direct contact with the minister and all of a sudden, he wakes up one morning and says: ‘Oh my god, I have a problem with the Fire Service. I am going to ask the minister to side-step his whole procurement process, and what am I going to do? I going to get the minister to sign off on this whole deal and we are going to go review the Fire Service with a company which is made up of two Labor mates and has no qualifications to review fire services all’.
What are the qualifications of these people? One used to be a staffer for Graham Richardson in Canberra and the other one used to organise the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. They are their qualifications.
That is what has happened and now I am being asked by this Treasurer, who supports his minister, to vote for a bucket of money from Treasury so I can pass a law and he can go out and continue doing his job. It is challenging for me to do that, and I will tell you why: it is frustrating beyond words to have to deal with a government that dodges and weaves questions on these issues, ducks its responsibilities, totally hides behind its ability to keep secrets and does not lay on the Table so much as four or five bits of paper that would help answer these questions when we raised them.
I turn to another part of the budget, which is the source of some curiosity, and that is the budget of the minister for community services who has a responsibility to look after his budget. Having seen all the minus signs in bottom line columns in Budget Paper No 3 this year, he must have missed a Cabinet meeting, or if he did not miss it, he was asleep. The much vaunted, protected and loved Aboriginal Interpreter Service has once again become the subject of the Cabinet room rape by the Community Services ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. There is a standing order in regards to offensive words. To refer to a ‘Cabinet room rape’ is highly offensive and I ask that the member withdraw it.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, I ask you to withdraw.
Mr ELFERINK: Oh, go on! You are kidding.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Simply there are probably more appropriate words …
Mr ELFERINK: May I seek a clarification, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker?
Mr Stirling: If it is found offensive, it is offensive.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: … to describe what you are trying to describe.
Mr ELFERINK: May I seek clarification, speaking to the point of order?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes
Mr ELFERINK: If ‘rape’ is now ruled as unparliamentary, how am I going to talk about that particular crime when it comes up for debate? It is like making the word ‘police’ unparliamentary if you say ‘pool police’.
Ms LAWRIE: Speaking to the point of order, the member well knows he can use the word ‘rape’ in regards to a rape when it is a crime. This is not at all a crime. He is referring to a Cabinet process as a ‘rape’. That is offensive.
Mr Elferink: Oh, grow up! Sit! Just sit!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, on advice, I ask you to withdraw because of the context in which it was used. A man of your intelligence can find better words to describe the circumstances that you wish to describe.
Mr ELFERINK: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I withdraw the word for the sake of the sensitivities of honourable members. The Cabinet room ravishing that the minister went through in terms of how he got his throat totally cut for the budget that he had to look after.
What does our honourable minister do with his funds? Well, he is sport and rec; he should have sport and rec funds. It is worth briefly visiting a letter from the Mataranka Community Government Council to Mr Tim Baldwin MLA, which reads:
Dear Mr Baldwin,
Re. Non-attendance of guest of honour at Never Never Festival.
As you are aware, Council recently conducted its Never Never Festival in Mataranka. This event has
become a celebration of the pastoral and horticultural history of the area combined with a wide variety
of sporting and cultural events, including an opportunity for reconciliation between indigenous and
non-indigenous Territorian sportsmen and sportswomen.
This year, the celebration was combined with the 25th anniversary of self-government in the Northern
Territory, considered locally as an important milestone in our history.
Mataranka Council this year received two small grants from the Northern Territory government in the order
of $2000 each to assist in running the festival. As a mark of respect to the portfolio minister, Mr John Ah Kit,
Council resolved to invite him to attend as a guest of honour of the President and members of the Council
for the festival, including the presentation of trophies to the winning sides in the Never Never Cricket Cup.
In order to carry out this mark of respect, Council chose to comply with political protocol to give preference to
Mr Ah Kit over yourself as the member for Daly in opposition. We have often recognised your own dedication
to matters of interest as the member for the region.
I am directed to advise you that Mr Ah Kit formally accepted the Council’s invitation approximately four weeks
prior to the festival and as CEO, I liaised closely with his Personal Assistant, Kylie Bell, the Marketing and Media
Manager of Sport and Recreation, Bianca Prosser, and the Major Events Company representative Stephen Close
to ensure that every opportunity was made available to recognise the Northern Territory’s government’s efforts and
to give the minister the opportunity to take political credit for the event.
Accordingly, Council ran a promotion on its advertising material and particularly on the specific promotion ...
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I ask the member to table that document.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, just a second, please. I am sorry, what was the point of order?
Mr KIELY: I ask that he tables that letter when he finishes, please.
Mr ELFERINK: Absolutely, I will table the letter. I was intending to, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. With great joy and gusto, I will.
... He was booked to be accommodated at the Mataranka Homestead, a resort property owned by
the Council’s Vice-President, Councillor Mark McLean.
The festival began on Friday 14th and the CEO, when returning to the office between events at approximately
5.30 pm that day, intercepted a faxed message originating from the minister’s office at 2.25 pm that day advising
that he could not attend. He cited: ‘I am now unable to, as the Chief Minister has requested my presence to
remain in Darwin to attend functions on her behalf.
The letter goes on to say:
The minister did not appoint a colleague or even a senior bureaucrat to represent him in his stead and the festival
was left with no guest of honour and no one to attend the welcoming reception, which was planned for the minister
on Sunday afternoon.
My Council would like to know, firstly, what type of function would force the Minister for Local Government to resile
from an arranged attendance as guest of honour at a council function? What type of function would prevent the
Minister for Sport and Recreation from honouring an arranged attendance at the weekend of sporting activities,
which his own portfolio had sponsored and at which he had to accept a major role? What type of function would
prevent the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs from being in attendance to present prizes
to a large gathering of indigenous cricketers?
Needless to say the Mataranka Council is embarrassed and angry at this discourtesy and feels that it has lost face
with its constituents after having promoted the minister’s attendance so widely.
This incident has thrown doubt on to whether the Northern Territory government has any respect for the constituents
of the Daly electorate and Mataranka in particular.
The Council will be interested to know the answers to some of these questions.
Yours faithfully,
Geoff Colver
CEO
Members interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: This Treasurer has to convince me a whole lot more before I am going to support his Appropriation Bill. That is why we have an Estimates process next week, and, gee whiz, I would like to be convinced by this Treasurer that they are going to be straight shooters with the money that he is asking for, and that they are going to be straight shooters with Territorians when they seek assistance.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all members for contributing to the debate on the 2004-05 Appropriation Bill.
I listened very closely, with interest, to the majority of comments by members, but I have to say with the sole exception of the ramblings of the member for Macdonnell. I cannot understand why a council wanting to know why a particular minister was unable to fulfil an engagement would not ask the minister. On what basis would they ask the local member? Why would they ask Tim Baldwin the reason for John Ah Kit not being at a particular function? That beggars belief. Then this idiot comes in here and runs this through. It is a big beat-up. If anyone was going to raise it, why wouldn’t it be the local member, the member for Daly? Obviously, he used his budget time on matters of budget consequence rather than the absolute nonsense and drivel that …
Mr Elferink interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: You know, this place costs over $5000 an hour to run. Grubs like this use up …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! The word ‘grub’ has been ruled out repeatedly by Madam Speaker.
Mr STIRLING: I withdraw, Mr Deputy Speaker. I withdraw. Some people make more use of the $5000 an hour that it costs to run this Assembly than others.
I am pleased that the budget has been well received by the business community and the community as a whole. It is seen throughout the community as a budget that keeps the Territory moving ahead, that delivers jobs and growth. We are driving growth hard because it means jobs for Territorians, and jobs and economic growth is the best answer to this question of population growth. I am particularly pleased the government has effectively managed the economy thus far as to be able to deliver record tax cuts, a record infrastructure spend, significant tourism expenditure, record health, education and police budgets, but still managed the fiscal front effectively.
Three years ago we inherited a financial position that would not allow this combination of action by the government, given the excessive and ill-directed budgets of the late 1990s. To turn around the Territory’s financial position as quickly as we have deserves credit, and it is evident from the Opposition Leader’s reply to the budget, that if the Territory’s finances and economy were ever to be put in the hands of the Leader of the Opposition, we would certainly be sent reeling backwards: loan deficits, ill-directed funding, a failure to properly cash capital works, less and less financial flexibility to respond to economic difficulty. That is the hallmark that the budgets delivered by successive CLP governments, while the member for Blain, indeed, was in this House. He saw it for himself.
Budget 2004’s record tax cuts come in the form of payroll tax threshold movement, the abolition of the HIH Levy and the abolition of the bank debits tax. Changes to the payroll tax threshold means the Territory will now have the lowest recurrent tax of any jurisdiction for small business, and even for business with payrolls from around $1.6m and 40 staff. It means the Territory government will have a tax level of $6834 for small businesses with 20 staff, with the nearest state being Western Australia with a taxation take on a similar sized company of $11 444. We need to compare our position of $6800 with Victoria where an equivalent business would pay $32 140. For businesses with 40 staff, on 1 July 2005, the taxation level in the Territory will be $48 320. In the nearest state, the ACT, that taxation take would be $53 945 and, in Victoria, the taxation take on a similar sized company would be $110 835. The Territory is certainly better placed than any other state to develop a small and medium size business. This government is championing small business to grow, and backing them to grow. Members only have to look at pages 6 and 7 of Business Highlights from Budget 2004 to see those comparisons for themselves. As a result of the payroll tax shifts, 1400 businesses are better off; 162 will not have to pay payroll tax at all as of 1 July 2005 and, of those, 127 of the 162 are locally-based Territory businesses. That is a great result for business.
The infrastructure spend is about building the Territory and generating jobs. In this budget, we have packaged infrastructure expenditure to ensure that it is focused on strategic development projects, tourism and road projects. All of these projects are designed to increase Territory growth and to lever further private sector investment. Greater levels of private investment will supplement the government’s infrastructure effort and generate even further jobs.
The decision to seal the Litchfield Loop, as an example, should have the effect of generating greater tourism levels throughout the entire length of that road. This promotes small business, establishing more tourism-related infrastructure. It could even promote the establishment of a motel in that area. That will mean more investment and more jobs. The same could be said for the Mereenie Loop and, certainly, of the infrastructure expenditure on road side inns, parks and other tourism projects.
Similarly, the government’s decision to invest in the Desert Peoples Centre, a project that will stimulate the construction industry in Alice Springs, provide long-term economic benefits to the region and will trigger the development of the smart economy in the Centre, generating growth from a new source. The government has developed a pattern of hard work to achieve a long-term outcome. In Alice Springs, again, the painstaking negotiation with traditional owners means that within the space of less than one term in office, we have achieved a major breakthrough in the availability of land in that town, something that will generate more jobs, more growth and greater development, something the opposition could not achieve in 10 years.
The decision to back the establishment of a bulk loading facility at the port if the mining projects designed to utilise it get up and going demonstrates our investment in the future growth and direction of the economy.
The Darwin waterfront will provide an economic stimulus not just to the construction industry, but will mark Darwin as a major convention centre in the important tourism and business sector. It provides us with a new tool to sell our capital city to the world. This project, driven hard by the Chief Minister, will change the face of Darwin; it will provide the city with a signature.
This budget invests in the future. It provides the Territory with a development path. It has been crafted deliberately to reflect our vision for future growth. One thing that concerns me is that throughout responses to this budget from members opposite, both in the Chamber and elsewhere, there is a theme of antisocial development expenditure.
The government is proudly spending around $40m ongoing on education infrastructure and repairs and maintenance. Not only does it provide benefit to the construction industry, it serves a key goal of lifting our educational effort. There is a significant view that up-to-date facilities assist the educational outcomes of students. In the bush, we are trying to overcome 20 years of real neglect. In town, there are 40-year-old schools that have had little done to them, a legacy of the previous administration and one we are proudly turning around.
I am happy to be criticised for spending money in this way. The government and I believe it is a sound investment in our future. The intriguing thing about trying to deal with opposition members’ responses to the budget is the lack of a consistent view being expressed. In the space of a couple of weeks, we have had three or four different positions put on stamp duty for first home buyers. The member for Brennan articulated opposition policy, although he is not the Shadow Treasurer. He argued for the lifting of the threshold to $350 000. The next day, he went on the radio and argued the threshold should be $280 000. Yesterday, his leader supported HomeNorth; overnight had a bit of change of heart and decided all stamp duty transactions for first home buyers should be abolished.
The Opposition Leader’s position on first home buyers comes just under a month after his budget reply when he articulated a completely different approach. In his budget reply laying out what he would do, he tells one story, but then has a different policy position. It is hard to follow. The inconsistency is not new. It does make the job of pinning down just who the real Leader of the Opposition is difficult, and what their policies on tax matters are really are.
We were criticised for not spending enough in critical areas of health by the shadow minister. Then we were criticised for increasing the health budget through the course of the year. The Opposition Leader articulated promises in his budget response that would cost the budget around $50m. He and his shadow ministers have continued to add millions to that list.
This is true to form for the Country Liberal Party; they are articulating enormously high deficit strategies. That is their choice and we accept that, but high deficit strategies invariably lead to three things: cuts in services, and we have seen that; additional taxes to rein them in; and increasing government debt, which means increasing interest payments and, inevitably, a budget in crisis. Over $500 000 a day interest we inherited from you blokes, over $500 000 a day. That is a huge level of services that you cannot deliver by simply paying the interest rate required to sustain the loans that the CLP government left Territorians with.
It seems that every time an issue arises, the Opposition Leader determines that he will drop another tax. That is fine. It may play well out there on the stage, but the question is: how do you pay for it? He says there will be an increase in economic activity. It simply does not add up. If economic activity was to be used to pay for his stamp duty promises in the budget response, there would have to be 30% increase in stamp duty on conveyancing transactions out there in the community for that to occur. That is an awful lot more houses and units having to be sold all the time in order to get back to where you were. It is just not going to happen.
The Leader of the Opposition has to pay for his promises in some way or the budget goes into tailspin and maybe they are prepared to accept that. I believe that he intends to pay for them by introducing broad-based taxes and the person who told us …
Mr Burke interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: The member for Brennan laughs. The person who told us that is what he would do is the Leader of the Opposition himself. I quote from his budget speech of 19 May:
The burden of taxation now falls on too few members of our community.
If that is not the broadest, strongest possible hint about the introduction of broad-based taxes by the Leader of the Opposition, then I do not know what it is. These are taxes that he will introduce: the Land Tax, the Fire Tax, the Emergency Services Tax; all taxes that apply in all other jurisdictions around Australia; taxes that do not apply here.
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: Do you want to know the difference between a medium-sized business paying $48 000 tax in the Northern Territory and $110 000 tax in Victoria? There is the difference. There is the difference: the Land Tax, the Fire Tax, the Emergency Services Tax. They are all part of the extra $60 000 to $70 000 that the small business in Victoria pays and that small business does not pay here. That is how he will claw this back. He will apply these taxes right across the small business world. He will apply them to every householder. That is how he pays for these promises. It will not be enough though. He will have to go on to reduced services.
Territory public servants ought to be very worried about what the Leader of the Opposition is saying. Not only has he demonstrated his willingness in here to attack public servants directly, he is also quick to criticise and knock the public service as a whole. During his censure of me in the last sittings, he referred to the way our agencies operate in budgeting. He said:
You have developed this economy, this fiscal strategy that is so accustomed to a slack hand, poor
accountability and dishonest reporting that you have a system with little discipline in it.
It is remarkably similar to what we inherited. That is an apt description of what we inherited back in 2001. If that is not having a serious go at public servants, I do not know what is.
So public servants will be targetted by the Leader of the Opposition and by the party opposite if they have the opportunity. We have seen it this week and we saw it in the previous sittings.
In addition, as the squeeze comes in from ever-increasing debt and deficit, he will have to reduce job numbers and services. So increased taxation, cuts to public service positions and cuts to services is the clear sub-text of the Opposition Leader’s reply to this budget.
Budget 2004-05 does keep the Territory moving ahead. It is pro-business, it is pro-jobs and pro-growth. It delivers record tax cuts, a record infrastructure budget and money to boost our great lifestyle. I strongly believe it is a budget that positions us well for the future. I commend it to the House, even to the member for Macdonnell, but I would not be disappointed if he does not support the vote in the House, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker.
Motion agreed to, bill read a second time.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members will be aware that the remaining stages of the Appropriation Bill 2004-05 will be considered by the Assembly on Friday, 25 June 2004, pursuant to resolution of the Assembly on 18 May 2004.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Northern Territory Employment and Training Amendment Bill 2004 (Serial 220) passing through all stages at this sitting.
Motion agreed to.
Continued from 20 May 2004.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the opposition has no difficulty with this bill. It is another National Competition Policy initiative to bring consistency and quality across vocational education and training.
While I support this bill, I hasten to add that not all National Competition Policy initiatives are suitable for the Northern Territory and because we support this bill at this time, it does not mean that we will do it all the time.
With regards to vocational education and training, obviously it is important to have national consistency so that our trainees, on receiving their awards, will know that their training and qualifications are transferable across any part of Australia. On that basis, they know that employers from interstate can be certain that Territory trained people are as good as anyone from interstate.
The issue of consistency is obviously a matter for all academic institutions to agree upon, based on fairly firm criteria proposed by the Australian National Training Authority. Having a single registration makes life a lot easier for registered training organisations. For instance, when an RTO seeks registration, rather than applying to be registered state by state, the registration is uniform across the country.
In respect of registration, it is preferable that an RTO is assessed by the Northern Territory Employment and Training Authority. One of the things I thought was a little inconsistent with a level playing field, not that I am against it, mind you, but I draw the minister’s attention to clause 31B(3)(b):
The Authority considers the applicant’s principal place of business is, or all or most of its operations
will be conducted, in this jurisdiction;
and then it would be registered in the Northern Territory. I wonder whether that means an entity that does 51% of its training in South Australia cannot be registered in the Territory. Why do you want to do that? A registered training organisation, once you are providing courses in the Territory …
Mr Stirling: I do not think that is the case. No, it is not the case.
Dr LIM: Look, it is a minor issue. Having RTOs registered in the Territory and then nationally is fine and having nationally consistent standards is fine. I do not think there is any difficulty there. Having the appeals process well and clearly defined is good so that RTOs can go through a process by which they can find out why they have been denied registration.
With those few words, I support the bill.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex and the shadow spokesperson on Employment, Education and Training for his supportive comments.
I got the gist of the question about RTO registration. If an RTO is registered in South Australia, they are able to operate here. Similarly, a company registered in the Northern Territory would be able to operate in South Australia. This is all part of trying to drive the highest quality standards of training right across Australia at a level that is nationally consistent.
We would all agree with the principle that a 17 year-old doing a traineeship in a particular area in the Northern Territory ought be satisfied and ought to have some assurance that the level of training and the exposure to all aspects of the job, whether they do that in Palmerston or Darwin, would be the same as if they were doing it out of Brisbane, Sydney or Adelaide. That is the thrust of having the model clauses in there.
It is not, in fact, a National Competition Policy bill. It came out of the November 2002 Ministerial Council, Australian National Training Authority and Training Ministers Council. The decision made at the time was that if all jurisdictions could have this legislation in place by 1 July 2004, everyone would be happy. We will make that line here in the Northern Territory.
Dr Lim: Excluding an RTO in Alice Springs providing 51% of courses in the Pit lands. You have a problem. Have you an RTO in Alice Springs, providing courses into the Pit lands, and 51% of its work is in the Pit lands, this locks it out.
Mr STIRLING: I am assured by my colleague from Employment and Training that there is not an issue there …
Dr Lim: Do you want to into committee stage and we will talk about it a bit more?
Mr STIRLING: Do you want to go in to committee?
Dr Lim: Yes, and just talk a bit more about it.
Mr STIRLING: Well, I am told there is no problem. If you want to go into committee, I would be happy to, but I am not quite sure I understand your question.
Madam Speaker, I am happy to go into committee. I am quite sure there is not a problem here, but I do not want the member for Greatorex to think that there is a problem and that we are not following it properly.
I thank the staff at Employment and Training, Rodney Crier, Brenda Elferink and Kim Jenkinson in particular for their work on this bill, and getting it through by 1 July. Let us go into committee stage so that we can sort this out.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
Dr LIM: Madam Deputy Chair, I draw the minister’s attention to clause 31B(3)(b), which reads:
(3) The Authority must not grant the application unless –
(b) the Authority considers the applicant’s principal place of business is, or all or
most of its operations will be conducted, in this jurisdiction;
I will give you a hypothetical. You may have a registered training organisation based in Alice Springs with courses developed specifically for indigenous people. It runs courses from Hermannsburg to Finke, everywhere else in the Territory. The Pit lands decide that they will have this course, too. Assuming that the northern half of South Australia has enough students to take up courses from this registered training organisation in Alice Springs and, in fact, the RTO delivers more courses in South Australia than in the Northern Territory, suddenly this RTO loses its registration in the Northern Territory.
My question is: if an RTO is based in Alice Springs and the bills says:
(3) The Authority must not grant the application unless –
(b) the Authority considers the applicant’s principal place of business is, or all or
most of its operations will be conducted, in this jurisdiction;
The jurisdiction is the Northern Territory. It is registered in the Northern Territory and services South Australia. We do that all the time. Lots of organisation in Alice Springs service South Australia.
Mr STIRLING: I thank the member for his question. I understand that the reason that we have clause 31B(3)(b) is so there is some sanction around RTOs not cherry picking the cheapest jurisdiction in the whole of Australia to be registered and to then conduct operations where they will.
I was just advised, that a New South Wales registered company that conducts a whole range of business up here – in fact, the majority of its business - now chooses to register in the Northern Territory. You are coming at it from the other position where a company is located in Alice Springs, but delivers the majority of its service in another state; that is South Australia, and clause 31B(3)(b) would seem to rule out Northern Territory registration where it says:
the Authority considers that the applicant’s principal place of business is, …
In that case you would have to say yes, that is a principal place of business:
… or all or most of its operations will be conducted, in this jurisdiction;
In your case, you would have to say the principal place of business is Alice Springs. That is where it is located, but its operations are conducted in South Australia. It is an interesting question and the answer, from the advice I have been given, is that it would have to be registered in South Australia. If that is a likely problem, and we are not aware of it being a problem, I would be happy to look at that clause again. I understand the purpose of it and I think you do, too. However, if there is an unintended consequence like that, we would be happy to receive representation from any business or RTO that felt aggrieved by this clause and reconsider it.
Dr LIM: My concern is that we do not want to disadvantage any legitimately registered training organisation undertaking its normal course of business in Alice Springs that, over time, starts to offer more courses in a place other than the Northern Territory. Through no fault of its own, the clients are in another state. This RTO would have to leave the Territory and register in South Australia because it is doing the majority of its work in that state.
If the legislation is consistent in throughout Australia, this clause ought to appear in the South Australian legislation. That RTO would have to leave the Territory. Why are we making it difficult for our businesses?
Mr STIRLING: I accept what you are saying. I am not aware of any RTO being in this situation. As I said, I am happy to take any representation. If you were to write to me and say we have knocked over this particular RTO because they cannot now be registered because all of their work is across the border, we would look at it with a view to correcting it. I am happy for it to stand until and unless there is a situation of disadvantage to a Northern Territory-based RTO.
Dr LIM: Minister, may I suggest that you bring it to at least 50-50 rather than 51%. I do not know of any RTOs in Alice Springs that might be disadvantaged by this clause, but if it does happen once the bill is passed, which is going to be today, the RTO suddenly goes out of business and that is a problem. There is going to be a period of time before the RTO can be registered back in the Territory subject to amendment to your legislation.
Mr STIRLING: As part of this national consistency, Madam Deputy Chair, with national registration, they can deliver anywhere. So it is not going to knock them out; it is not going force an RTO to move, to relocate or we lose an RTO. That is part of this national consistency.
Dr LIM: I am not a lawyer, but I read it differently.
Mr STIRLING: That is the advice I have. I accept what you are saying as a reasonable hypothetical, but it is a hypothetical. You are not aware of any company, I am not aware of any company, the agency is not aware of any company. If there were a company in that situation, I would be prepared to move on it.
Dr LIM: I have your undertaking, thank you.
Bill, as printed, agreed to.
Bill reported; report adopted.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, I lay on the Table a statement under section 19(4) of the Financial Management Act.
An increase in Treasurer’s Advance by a total $20m is required to transfer appropriation of $8.083m to other purposes based on budget adjustments incorporated for the revised 2003-04 estimate and to provide capacity of $12m potentially required by agencies for unforeseen circumstances for the remainder of the financial year.
This capacity will make it easier to manage the end of the year financial requirements of agencies. The additional capacity for Treasurer’s Advance will not result in additional expenditure in total as any requirements for increased funding in some agencies will be more than offset by under-expenditure in other agencies. The alternative of transferring expenditure capacity between agencies is difficult to manage, as in many instances the exact level of excess capacity available for transfer is not known until after 30 June.
It is appropriate for Treasurer’s Advance to be used in these circumstances because of the one-off nature of end-of-year agency requirements.
The tabled instrument increases the allocation to Treasurer’s Advance by $20m under section 19 of the Financial Management Act. Under the Financial Management Act, the limit for transfer to Treasurer’s Advance is 5% of total allocations, as per the Appropriation Act, and there must be sufficient funds available in the Central Holding Authority. Both criteria have been met as the $20m increase represents less than 1% of total Appropriation Bill allocations, $2129m and there will be adequate balances in the
Central Holding Authority due to receipt of additional GST revenue from the Commonwealth to effect the increase in Treasurer’s Advance.
The approval of His Honour the Administrator to increase allocation to the Treasurer’s Advance was given by Executive Council on 31 May 2004.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that consideration of Government Business Orders of the Day No 4 relating to the Ministerial Statement on Crime Prevention be called on forthwith.
Motion agreed to.
Continued from 31 March 2004.
Dr BURNS (Transport and Infrastructure): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to support the Ministerial Statement on Crime Prevention. This government was elected substantially on a basis of addressing crime and criminal activity in the Northern Territory.
I remember, as a candidate, knocking on doors and finding a lot of disquiet in the community, particularly about property crime. People asked me: ‘If you are elected, what are you going to do about property crime? We can’t even park our cars out on the streets without them being broken into and robbed. Last week, people broke into our house and took this and that and what are you going to do about it?’ As an opposition, the government proposed a six-point plan on crime.
The first point was punishing offenders and preventing crime: serious crime means serious time. There is no doubt, unfortunately, that our gaols are full to over-flowing. Basically, it is as a result of this government’s six-point plan on crime. I commend the police, and I will talk in more depth about them soon, for apprehending these criminals in a strategic and targeted way and putting them behind bars where they belong.
That dove-tails into the next one: making you safe at home. Of course, if you are getting the criminals off the street, if you are reducing property crime, people do feel safe at home and that has been the feedback that I have had as I have continued to door knock in my electorate.
The third one is: getting help from police when you need it. How many times did I hear as a candidate: ‘I rang the police and it took them two hours to come here.’ With this government’s investment in the police force, $75m over 4 years, the recruitment of 200 extra police, we are already seeing the results of increased recruitment of police and shortened response time. I have heard positive feedback by police at public meetings, and I will come to that soon as well, within my electorate about how they have more staff in the police to address calls that come through and the concerns of residents. That has been very positively commented upon in my electorate.
Putting victims first: we certainly put victims first. We made adjustments to the Victims of Crime compensation scheme and added resources. I remember the member for Araluen complaining that if crime is going down, how come there is more work for the unit dealing with victims of crime? It stands to reason that there are more apprehensions, there are more resources and people feel more confident about approaching this unit and getting help.
Getting tough on the causes of crime is another part of the plan. We have done a lot on addressing drug abuse issues, which were absolutely rampant within our community prior to the last election. A case in point is Foils at Moil, the famous Foils at Moil. Every taxi driver in Darwin knew where Foils at Moil was. Every resident within blocks away knew where Foils at Moil was. It was a public joke. This government passing tough legislation on drug houses and drug dealers has resulted in Foils at Moil being closed. That is just an ordinary block of units now, after many years. I would not even start to think about how long Foils at Moil was there.
My predecessor, the former member for Jingili, used to say to locals: ‘There is nothing that I can do about it. We send the police around there, and then within an hour they are back there and they are dealing again. There is nothing we can do about it’. Well this government did something about it and it is closed. We introduced drug house legislation and the place is closed. Residents in that area deeply appreciate the fact that Foils at Moil is no more. It was a joke. It was a standing joke.
Mrs Miller: We do not want any drug houses.
Dr BURNS: I hear the member for Katherine. Maybe she had not heard about Foils at Moil down in Katherine, but certainly everyone in Darwin knew of Foils at Moil. You would go past there and there would a line up of cabs outside, and this was a complaint of the neighbours. This was a 24-hour business: people coming and going, dealing in drugs, there is crime, the customers of Foils at Moil were knocking off things from people’s cars and houses. I am not exaggerating. It was a major problem in that area and, according to the former local member, the former government, there was nothing that could be done about it because as soon as the police moved in and busted someone, basically they would be dealing again within an hour or two.
We did something about it. We introduced drug house legislation. We tightened confiscation of property related to crime legislation and we put the brakes on that sort of activity. I am proud to be part of a government that has done that.
Establishing a central crime prevention agency was another plank in that policy. I will be talking about the Office of Crime Prevention later in my speech. I have already mentioned that we focussed down on illicit drugs and their supply, and our tough on drugs strategy, I really believe, is biting in our community.
For police, I have already mentioned $75m over four years, 200 extra police on the beat. There are some groups in my electorate, one of which is the Wagaman Residents Committee, whose meetings are regularly attended by Officer Murray Taylor and other officers. They meet on a monthly basis in my electorate office. At the last meeting, the OIC, Murray Taylor, told them that there was virtually zero crime in the Wagaman suburb. There had been one break-in of a vehicle but beyond that, there was not very much at all. ‘Historic’, he said. It was the first time in his memory that something like that could be reported to residents. Remember, here is the local policeman talking to the local residents from the Wagaman area. They know what is going on in their area, and they agreed with him.
In terms of property crime, there has been a marked, sharp decrease over a sustained period within Wagaman. Why? Because there is a greater police presence. There are increased bicycle patrols, and they are a welcome sight within Wagaman and beyond. Right throughout the northern suburbs, you see them all the time doing a fantastic job. There is a very strong police presence and it discourages crime and criminals. I commend the police. I commend Casuarina police in particular, and I commend the officers on the bike patrol because you really need to be fit to be on those patrols. Those young men and women are so fit, and they move from one suburb to another on the case of criminals, not letting them get away with anything; apprehending villains. It is a welcome sight in our neighbourhood. As part of this government’s initiatives, the police have $75m over four years; 200 extra police. The CLP let the police force rot in terms of recruitment in the early 1990s. This is a government that is serious about policing, the police force and about resourcing it. It is having a positive result, and the figures bear that out.
In terms of the quarterly crime statistics released by the minister, here we go! In Alice Springs in the past 12 months, a 37% drop in house break-ins according to the December 2003 Northern Territory Crime and Justice Statistics released that day, 22 March 2004. Palmerston has recorded a 14% drop in house break-ins over the past 12 months along with a 25% drop in house break-ins over the same period according to the same December Northern Territory quarterly statistics. In Darwin, there was a 32% drop in house break-ins over the 12 months and, basically, that translates to 570 less offences than for the previous 12 months. That is 570 less houses or vehicles that were broken into. That is fantastic news.
Ms Carney: Fewer, fewer!
Dr BURNS: The member for Araluen has her head in her hands. She does not want to hear this story.
Ms Carney: I am talking about the language you are using. You say ‘less people, less houses’, the word is ‘fewer’, you dill!
Dr BURNS: Really, member for Araluen, I suppose less crime means that there is less work for lawyers. That is the only group that might be complaining a little about it. I love it. This is fantastic stuff.
Ms Carney: It is fewer people; fewer offences.
Dr BURNS: Now! There are concerning trends, particularly in terms of assaults and crimes against the person. We are facing up to that. That is obvious, particularly in Katherine, where there was a 76% increase over the 12 months and that is cause for concern. There were rises in other Territory centres.
Mr Deputy Speaker, as you well know, a lot of these assaults are alcohol-related. Unfortunately, a lot of them involve indigenous people. We have a lot of work to do in relation to alcohol in the Northern Territory, and this is government is introducing an Alcohol Framework. There has to be a big community debate about alcohol and the harm it causes in the Northern Territory. I believe the community is ready for that debate. My personal view is that there are too many alcohol outlets in the Northern Territory. That is something we have to look at very closely.
I am evincing a personal view here, but it is something we have to come to terms with. There is no doubt that the per capita consumption of alcohol, as measured by pure ethanol in the Northern Territory, is substantially higher than elsewhere in Australia. In some areas of the Territory, it is even higher again. We all know that dose equates to harm when you are looking at alcohol, and alcohol is at the bottom of a lot of these very serious assaults against the person. As a government, as a community, and as members of this House, we have to come to terms with that. We have to have a debate about it and address the issue because it is simply unacceptable, particularly since a lot of those assaults are against women. That is completely unacceptable.
Looking at the trend, particularly over the last year to two years, it is a positive trend and the government’s report card, on any assessment, is good. However, we cannot afford to be complacent; we must be focussed on this. We must continue the effort and continue to bring results home to the Northern Territory community.
I would like to talk at a local level about crime prevention issues. I have already mentioned the Wagaman Residents Committee. It was formed in 1999 and I compliment my predecessor, the member for Jingili; who set up that committee and, prior to the last election, worked closely with it because there was a problem around Amsterdam Circuit in terms of youth gangs, antisocial behaviour, youths moving through the walkways and causing all sorts of problems for the local residents.
On election, I gave a commitment to that group that I would continue to work with them, to advocate for them and support them as much as I could. Basically, they received an NTsafe grant and some support from Darwin City Council. In October 2001, three high powered lights were installed in Amsterdam Park and that has alleviated a lot of the problems in the area. They have also, since 1999, fought for laneway closures and over that intervening four years, there have been different laneways closed between Amsterdam Circuit and Trower Road and Vanderlin Drive. There are three laneways involved and there have been various combinations laneways being open and closed. The committee has kept a close eye on the effects of the trials and they have continued to meet and discuss and debate their effects. It has caused some heat in the neighbourhood because some people want laneways closed, some want them open, and the dialogue has been quite heated at times. At the end of the day, people have respected one another and the group has always tried to move to a consensus position.
I was glad to support the committee and support changes to the local government road opening and closing regulations in 2002 to ensure that laneways could be closed permanently and that such closure complied with the law. This government supported a change to the regulations to enable the residents, if they wanted to, to close these laneways permanently. The residents then decided that they wanted to open and close the laneways. In other words, have the laneways closed at night with a gate, and then have them open during daylight hours. That was trialled and local residents volunteered to open and close the laneways. They took that responsibility on themselves in the initial parts of the trial and I believe that the council has now taken responsibility for them now. From memory, they open at about 6 am.
The impact of the lane closures on the lives of the people living in the area has been fantastic. The suburb has become quieter, vandalism has dissipated, graffiti to some degree has diminished, and loitering has been discouraged. Kids feel free again to use the park for play and families meet and socialise more freely. That is not to say that there is still not an ongoing problem from time to time with itinerancy in that area, but it has decreased substantially.
On the basis of their laneway trials and their work, the committee has recently been nominated for an Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Award. They are a shining example to other resident groups fighting antisocial behaviour in their respective suburbs. I know that the minister will be coming along to a meeting of the Wagaman Residents Group later in the year, and they are looking forward to that. He will be able to hear and see first hand and have input in to a meeting of the group.
As with any group, the Wagaman Residents Committee is made up of hard working people, residents who are ever-vigilant to ensure that their lifestyle is safe and secure. I pay tribute to the former Chairman of this group, who is now living in New Zealand, Mr Asad Mohsin. Asad was Chairman for many years and did a hell of a lot of work. He worked very hard and brought the group together. An effective chair of meetings, might I add. It was very sad when he left. To some degree, he is a very hard act to follow, but Mr George Lambrinidis is now the Chair. George is a young man, someone who works very hard for his local community. He recently stood in the Darwin City Council elections and polled very well on first preferences but, unfortunately, the notorious preferencing system within the Darwin City Council elections and the way that people preference one another to some degree, he missed out, but he polled very well. It is a measure of his popularity in the work he has put in to that community over a number of years.
The committee is made up of stalwarts like Paul Birch, June and Patrick Daley, Tony Eckert, Simmy Lee, Kathleen Lawrence, Poppy Gatis, Paul Hempstock, Zita Hall and there is support from the NT Police who attend regularly, especially Senior Sergeant Murray Taylor, OIC of Casuarina, Geoff Pickering of Neighbourhood Watch, Marcia Russell of NT Crime Prevention, Garry Lambert of the Darwin City Council and representatives of the Casuarina shopping centre. Not only are there local residents, there are police, Neighbourhood Watch, Darwin City Council, Casuarina Square and as the local member, I get there as often as I can. Meetings are held in my electorate office. I highly commend this group. They have been successful in leading the community’s fight against crime and antisocial behaviour. There are a number of groups throughout Darwin in other suburbs who have looked closely at what the Wagaman Residents Group has done.
In Jingili, in November 2002, residents around the Borella Park area sought advice on how to deal with antisocial behaviour in the park. The park is located near the cemetery and the Airport Hotel on one side, and on the other side are the Jingili shops. There has been a problem for quite some time. They had a look at what the Wagaman Residents Group had done, and the Wagaman group was willing to share experiences. On 5 December, I letter boxed the area, called a public meeting and a committee was formed. They call themselves the Borella Park Residents Group. They wanted to identify strategies to combat antisocial behaviour and, in their own words, ‘take back the park’. This group wanted to take back the park for themselves and their children.
In January 2003, a safety audit was undertaken, under the Crime Prevention NT Small Grants Scheme and in September, another public meeting was called to announce the award of a $15 000 grant to further the committee’s work.
In an effort to help local residents with their concerns, not only was the Crime Prevention Group involved, but also the Council, the police and myself. It was very similar in a way to the group that came to support the Wagaman Residents Group. I was working very hard because I realised that some of the problems were related to the Airport Hotel and the way in which some itinerant people were going to the hotel, walking into the driveway, buying grog and then drinking right next door at the cemetery or in the park across the road. After some discussion with the Airport Hotel, management decided that they would change their policy on takeaway liquor and ban walk-up sales. That meant people would have to drive in to get alcohol.
I have put on the record a number of times that the problem around the Airport Hotel has reduced substantially, if not nearly all together. Where you would see bands of people, some of them heavily intoxicated, wondering across McMillans Road from one side to the other, people fighting, people carrying on, people living in the park opposite, you do not see that now. Once again, I point to problems with alcohol being a driving force in terms of itinerancy and antisocial behaviour. That is why, as a community, as a government, as a parliament, we really have to look closely at alcohol and the service of alcohol being a root cause of some of these problems.
That was a positive, although residents were still concerned that some of the itinerants were walking through Borella Park, sometimes fighting in the park, sometimes sleeping in the park on their way to get grog at the Jingili shops. Once again, there was quite a lot of support for this group and a few things have been done.
The government has negotiated with Darwin City Council, and I commend my colleague, the Minister for Community Development and Local Government, and identified funds for erection of a fence around the cemetery, which will be a further deterrent to itinerants using the corridor from the airport to the shopping centre. Furthermore, relatives of people buried in the cemetery have been were quite upset at the behaviour and goings on in that cemetery. It is only right that government and council should get together and put a fence around it to stop some of the shenanigans in the cemetery. I believe that a contract has been let and the fence will be erected in the near future.
Residents on the committee include Trevor Edwards as Chairman, Jane Burford, who is Secretary, Tracey Ellis, Sally Edwards, Blair Grace, Bill Denniss and Terry Brown, with fantastic support from Marcia Russell, once again, from the Office of Crime Prevention. The Darwin City Council is represented at the meetings, usually by Dave Perry, who does a fantastic job. Once again, Murray Taylor from NT Police comes to the meetings. He has good input and receives feedback from the residents. The residents now talk about the very effective and quick response by the police to any concerns or complaints that they might have, so that is very positive. All these groups have worked to bring about changes to the park and to deter itinerants and antisocial behaviour.
The grant money is being used to remove trees, which were used as hiding places, install lighting, upgrade park equipment, provide seating, install signage and maintain facilities. I am pleased to report that most of those works have been completed. There was a barbecue earlier this month, which I attended, which was very well attended by residents. I reckon there would have been about 40 residents there, and there was a very good mood among the residents. They feel that they are making progress and that they have reclaimed the park. Two of the residents whose homes border the park were discussing the black plastic across their fences. It was installed to give some privacy in their yards and because they did not want to see what was going on in the park. They are now saying: ‘I may pull that black plastic down because the park has become more amenable. The kids are playing there’. One resident said: ‘I do not have to turn the television up of an evening so much, because the fighting has gone, the swearing has gone. Basically, all I can hear now is the happy sound of children playing in the park’. That is the sort of thing that people want to hear.
That is not to say that the problem is solved. There is still a bit of traffic that goes through the park. There is still a bit of bad behaviour in the park, but the lights that have been installed, the new furniture, the clearing away of the underbrush all fits together to increase amenity, decrease antisocial behaviour, and as families use the park more, it will discourage those people from carrying on in the park. One thing leads to another, and we must be very vigilant. I am not saying the job is done by any stretch of the imagination, but it just shows what can be accomplished when people work together and support one another.
This is a government that came to office with a plan to address crime in our community; to try to reduce crime and support victims of crime. We are not saying it is complete, but the figures speak for themselves. They have been backed up by the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ national Recorded Crime - Victims that show the same sort of decreases in property crime in particular over the Territory. These are independently audited crime figures.
We have our crime figures that come through the Justice Department from the police, and the two are very similar. They both show that there have been big decreases in property crime in the Northern Territory. This government had a plan. We had to inject substantial resources, but we have not baulked at that. I particularly commend the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General for his efforts and the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services because he argued very strongly for a report into the police services and what resources were needed.
There was a substantial investment in the O’Sullivan Report, which identified $75m over four years. We have come up with that money. There is a lot of talk on the opposition side: ‘You have all this extra money from GST revenue’. Yes, we may have extra money from GST revenue, but we are investing it where they never invested funds. We are investing them in policing and crime prevention and it is bearing fruit. I know the Northern Territory community has recognised that.
However, I have also identified some areas that we need to be very focussed on, and one of them is crimes against the person; assaults and sexual assaults. I contend that a lot of that is tied up with alcohol and drunkenness, and the whole issue of alcohol in our community is one that we have to look at seriously.
In conclusion, I support the statement. I am proud to be part of a government that is kicking goals in this area. That is what I was elected to do, and I will continue to do it. I will continue to support my colleagues. Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement to the House.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the crime prevention statement. Today, during Question Time, we heard the minister for Justice give a response to a question on crime statistics. He pointed out how the Territory was tracking over the last quarter and, in fact, over the last year. I would like to go over some of those figures again.
The minister pointed out that statistics, both from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and from the Office of Crime Prevention, show that there have been consistent drops. For the benefit of members opposite, I will go over them. There were almost 3000 fewer victims in 2003 than in the previous year. We have seen a recorded drop in 11 of the 14 offence categories. We have seen a major change in sexual assaults - down 8.5%; unlawful entry with intent dropped by 25%; and motor vehicle theft, down 13%.
There has been an increase in the number of assaults in 2003, which were up by 6.8%. However, we are addressing that by targeting police, our Harmony strategy and the development of the Alcohol Framework. We are putting something like $5m towards those initiatives. We are continuing to work with the community in consultation. We are bringing together all these issues to attack the causes of crime to make our society a better place for all Territorians.
As the minister said, when you have a look at the figures from 2001 to 2003, comparing the incidence of reported crime between the two governments, from when the opposition was in power compared with us, there were 2000 fewer unlawful entries in 2003 than under the CLP; 1500 fewer victims of property theft; and 200 fewer motor vehicle thefts. As the minister said, we have not eradicated crime and we will not. No government, no society, will ever be able to do away with it. However, we are working hard to get rid of the causes of crime to make the Territory a far better place to live.
In my own electorate, we have been proactive on a number of issues to address the causes of crime. Last year, and I plan to do the same this year, I held public forums for a safer Sanderson. I must say that the initiative for these forums came from the member for Karama who runs successful programs in her electorate. What we did in Sanderson was to get together the NT Crime Prevention Team, members of the police service, Neighbourhood Watch and the community for hour-long meetings at Wulagi and Anula Primary Schools. Light refreshments were served. We asked community members to come and share their ideas on improving community safety with your local member.
What we did, with the help of the relevant school principals, was set up a panel discussion in the library. The panel comprised members from NT Crime Prevention, police, Neighbourhood Watch and myself. We asked: ‘What can we do to make these suburbs a safer place to live?’ The feedback was pretty good; that as a government, we are tackling the causes of crime, that the initiatives arising from the O’Sullivan Report, the extra $75m for police, the initiatives arising from the Justice minister’s portfolio, were biting, were starting to have good results.
The member for Johnston mentioned Foils at Moil. This had a pretty big run in one of the forums and the point was being made that crime had decreased in the electorate of Sanderson once we got rid of that place. What was happening at Foils at Moil, apart from selling drugs and peddling all this dope, they were enticing young people to break the law and to steal goods. All up and down the walkways and the parklands, people discovered that their fishing rods were going missing out of their boats – a rod and reel is worth a few bob – and break-ins of opportunity were occurring. If people were able to look through a window and see a stack of CDs, a bag or a purse, or a small and portable attractive item, that house would be broken into. Smash and grab, in and out, and where did they go? Foils at Moil and places like that. They were exchanging stolen goods for bags of dope. That is what was going on.
These places were exchanges. When we got rid of Foils at Moil, we got rid of that problem. There was a really good downstream effect. We achieved that by working with the police and the community. As the member for Johnston said, it is now just a normal block of flats. This is a tremendous thing. We hear talk about these static places selling drugs being shut down but what we are seeing is more mobile activity. I have people come into my office and report on a place that has started selling on Matthews Road selling. We gave that intelligence to the police. I tell you what: the places do not last long because when people become aware, and because of the legislation we have, they are on to the police, they are on to the Drug Squad and actions taken because we have given the police the powers to act. For years and years, the opposition was incapable of these laws for one reason or another.
Why they would not do it is a mystery. It is not rocket science to introduce such laws. It is a great community law and we did it. The people in Sanderson, definitely the people in Johnston, and, I would say, Nightcliff, Fannie Bay, Karama, down in Braitling and Greatorex and Katherine are all thankful for this law because we are cleaning it up. Yes, we still have problems with the higher end drugs, and chances are that the breaks-ins going on now are more attributable to them.
As we said, we acknowledge that it is impossible to eradicate crime. A few weeks back, the local fish and chip shop was burgled, but the nature of that crime did not indicate it was a youth-related break in; it was a very slick operation and the police feel that this was perpetrated by people with a lot of knowledge on how to break and enter who were not just looking for a quick $50 and out the door. They were looking for more substantial benefit for their effort.
Wulagi is a very proactive community. The shop-keeper at Wulagi Supermarket, Anthony Scott - you might be aware that he received a Police Commendation; he was on the front page of the NT News because he was alert. There was an armed hold up, I think it was at Moil Shops, and the perpetrator got away. Police were looking for him, broadcast his identikit and a profile. Scotty, as he is known in the neighbourhood, kept an eye open. There was a chap hanging around who was casing the shops looking for opportunity. Scotty was alert and got on to the police. They acted swiftly and efficiently and, sure enough, they got this chap. There is good, active community participation by a shop-keeper working with the community and police to get an alleged perpetrator. That is excellent.
I came home one Saturday night and was in the kitchen and heard some kids screaming out on the street. It was a real scream of fright and anguish. I went out to see what was going on, and there was a pretty heavy domestic across the road, a family violence situation in which one member of the family was on the ground and another member on top punching and the kids were upset. I went over and yelled at them to stop and broke it up. The woman was being punched. She broke away from the fight and then the male got up, went inside and returned with a knife. I immediately phoned 000.
By this time, I had the woman and kids in my house and they were with my wife and family, but when I saw this rather big bloke advancing with a knife, I was a bit concerned. I yelled out to him to stop and told him that the police were coming. He propped on his front fence and threw the knife into the yard. The police turned up, first one wagon and then, a little bit later, another. This was fairly good response time. I daresay that when I said the chap is armed with a knife, this might have stimulated a fairly quick response.
What impressed me most about what was going on was the compassion. Two police officers, a man and a woman, came over to see her. They were interviewing her and it was a pretty horrific circumstance she was in, but the compassion with which they dealt with the woman to get the information from her - they took her up to hospital; they looked after her. She had had a few cuts and abrasions. She had not been stabbed, thank God. They looked after her very well. Other police in attendance went over and spoke to the perpetrator. They did not just grab him and wrestle him to the ground; they managed the situation quite well.
What we had in the end was the woman being taken to hospital, took statements and they arrested the alleged perpetrator and took him away. It was very professional, very well done. I was extremely impressed by the efficiency, compassion, professionalism of the police officers. I wrote to the commissioner and told him what his officers had done was tremendous. He wrote back to me. I have the letter here and, if you would like, I will table it. It is from the Police Commissioner, and is dated 8 March 2004:
Dear Mr Kiely,
Thank you for your letter dated 4 March 2004 regarding the professionalism of the Northern Territory
Police members who responded to a family violence incident in Anula on 21 February 2004.
As Commissioner, it is extremely pleasing to hear such reports and the members, Constables Beverley
Hagston, Guy Ford and Ross Martin and Aboriginal Community Police Officer Jimmy Lolias are to be
congratulated.
I will ensure that your letter of appreciation is passed on to the members, together with my thanks for a
job well done.
That is a great response by our police service to a terrible situation, which is too prevalent within our society, and one that we are really attempting, through our different programs, to tackle this. This is one of the most serious crimes that goes on in our society, which is …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, do you wish to table that document?
Mr KIELY: Yes, Mr Deputy Speaker. I seek leave to table it.
Leave granted.
Mr KIELY: If we can get on top of that, we are doing a great job in our community.
We have a very active Neighbourhood Watch in Sanderson. It is headed up by John Lair. They do all sorts of things in the community. It is not just a matter of having meetings and going away. They do bike engraving, hold special events to bring the community together, particularly their Christmas function, which they have at Anula Primary School, and for which I sponsor sausages and cakes. Last year, they had such a great event, they invited in lots of school groups, such as the skipping teams and the chorale. They put on all sorts of entertainment and had a really good response.
They also run a bit of an information program. On Wednesday 2 June, they had Gaby Lengyel, who is the Service Coordinator with Darwin Youth Beat, as a guest speaker. I had reason to talk to Gaby about some other youth issues in the Malak area, and Youth Beat addressed those. As a matter of fact, I got on to Youth Beat through Sergeant Murray Taylor, who we have heard the member for Johnston commend. He is the OIC of Casuarina and a lot of us, as members, have dealings with him. He is very professional, as are all his officers. He is in there supporting the community. It is a wonderful thing.
I will read from the minutes of Sanderson Neighbourhood Watch because it is important for the House to know what goes on.
Gaby Lengyel is the Service Coordinator of Darwin Youth Beat. Gaby outlined the service they are providing
for wayward youth in the northern suburbs at night time resulting from family breakdown, homelessness,
substance abuse, self-harm behaviour, antisocial behaviour, peer group pressure, boredom and poor
self-esteem.
They patrol areas which have been identified as hot spots, and their aim is to improve young people’s safety by
diverting young people from risky behaviour and crime. They link young people with family, community,
education and recreation through mentoring and referral, also to support families to care for and to take
responsibility of their children.
Many questions were raised to Gaby and lengthy discussions followed. Sergeant Murray Taylor spoke of the
excellent work being done by Youth Beat, and the close contact they have with the police. Peter Styles also
confirmed the problems faced in our community relating to his work as a school-based constable.
Alderman Robyne Burridge suggested the possibility of council doing an audit of all services and facilities
that may be of assistance for Youth Beat.
No doubt, Youth Beat has our full support for the very important work they are doing, and with some
considerable success.
Thank you, Gaby.
Our strategies and work with the community is not just about ‘banging people up’, to use a colloquialism. It is not just about arresting people and locking them away. It is about looking at a range of different strategies to make our community a safer, better place to live.
You can see that in budget 2004-05. There is an information sheet headed More Police on the Beat with the sub-heading Safer communities through crime prevention. It is important that we have this on the record:
$2.52m for the Office of Crime Prevention to continue leading crime prevention strategies, including:
$400 000 for crime prevention grants;
$150 000 to continue the process of building law and justice plans in remote communities.
Further whole-of-government crime prevention initiatives include:
$1.5m to improve safety and security of public housing;
$680 000 for eight School Attendance Officers to deal with truancy;
$200 000 to develop better reintegration strategies for prisoners being released,
a first step in breaking the re-offending cycle;
That is an initiative you never saw when the opposition was in government.
$100 000 to maintain an Alice Springs office providing a range of justice services including the
Office of Crime Prevention and Consumer and Business Affairs.
We also have the Itinerants Strategy. We do not have the same issues with alcohol-affected itinerants as some other places in the Territory. I put that down to the fact that we do not have any pubs in the Sanderson electorate. If you are looking for a link between antisocial behaviour and alcohol, have a look at my electorate where we do not have takeaways of that nature. We have outlets through the supermarkets and the clubs, but they promote a policy of responsible retailing. You do not see people sitting around in the parks, or fights and blues through the suburbs of Sanderson. That is a credit to the shop-keepers in the area, but also reinforces the member for Johnston’s position on community debate in relation to the Alcohol Framework. We have to address the issue of alcohol consumption; there are no two says about it. The substance abuse committee has seen that time and time again.
For the Itinerants Strategy:
$2.75m to tackle antisocial behaviour and itinerancy. This money will deliver
infrastructure and intervention programs across the Territory to tackle the problem.
We are pretty dinkum about this. Then we look at Safer communities through improved facilities such as:
$18.5m to implement the recommendations of the review into Correctional Services …;
$8m for a new low security gaol at the Darwin Correctional Centre;
$1.8m to upgrade 66 police houses …;
$1m for a police post at Numbulwar
$1.56m for short-term accommodation and day centres within the Community Harmony Project;
$680 000 to modify and upgrade police cells at Batchelor, Maranboy and Ti Tree.
We are taking a very broad approach to crime prevention within the Territory under the Martin government and the good officers of the minister for Justice, the member for Stuart. We do not see crime as belonging to one segment of the community. We are not in the business of mandatory sentencing to hold up some whipping boy and put all the blame there. Crime appears in all strata of our society, and we are tackling it. What is more, we are looking to improve our society by addressing the causes of crime and looking to remedy that situation so that we can have a better society for all.
I thank the minister for all the work he has put into this, and I look forward to the results that it will deliver into the future.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Deputy Speaker, earlier this year I was pleased to be able to highlight, for the benefit of all members, how this government is delivering on its promise to attack crime and the causes of crime.
I, and the members on this side, provided example after example of this government building safer Territory communities. The contributions of Labor members set out how we are achieving our objective through targeted law enforcement and policing; by giving police the tools they need to do their job; through legislation targeting property crime and laws to put drug houses out of business; by forming partnerships with the community to develop local solutions to local issues; and funding those local communities to get on with the job.
My ministerial colleague, the member for Wanguri, outlined this government’s commitment to building a better police force with a funding injection of $75m over four years and 200 extra police officers on the street by the end of 2006. A record police budget of $174.2m in 2004-05 included: $13m for more police personnel, enabling record rates of recruitment; $2m for a new police and fire facility at Humpty Doo; $1m for a new police post at Numbulwar; and $680 000 to modify and upgrade cells at Batchelor, Maranboy and Ti Tree.
The member for Arnhem and Minister for Community Development, Sport, and Cultural Affairs is justifiably proud of our great Territory lifestyle. I listened with great interest to the member’s comments about the important role of sport and recreation in helping to put potentially wayward young people on the right track. Indeed, the member for Arnhem credits his long involvement with sport as a player and coach as something that helped him through his larrikin days. Leadership, discipline and team work are qualities that he gained through sports. He went on to outline the way in which this government is working to give vulnerable young people these skills and opportunities.
With funding under the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme, programs are operating across the Territory to give young people more opportunities and prevent crime before it starts. $400 000 is made available each year to community organisations for community safety and crime prevention projects. The $400 000 scheme is a powerful resource to attack the causes of crime and support our crime prevention partnerships with local communities: During 2004-05:
$13 000 will go to Tennant Creek SK8 park, a skate park at the local pool, which has a strong
emphasis on diversion from antisocial behaviour;
Western Aranda Relekha Crime Prevention Committee aims to tackle the causes of crime rather
than the symptoms and it is tackling youth boredom and substance abuse with $15 000 under the
grants scheme;
$10 000 for On To The Grind, a program in Palmerston that aims to deliver and expand out-of-hours
youth-focussed sport and recreation options and activities in the Palmerston CBD. The program is
designed to influence a reduction in youth-related property crime, violence, substance abuse and
antisocial behaviour;
in Alice Springs, Deadly Treadlies continue their excellent work with $14 500 for a bike rebuilding
program that trains young people in a variety of skills, team work and planning, mechanical and retail,
personal development and enterprise development;
Palmerston High School together with the Tomorrow’s Leaders Camp Aboriginal Corporation will receive
over $10 000 to give at-risk young men and women the opportunity to visit and work on a remote cattle
station. Bill Fordham at Mawangi Station is to be commended for his commitment and energy in helping
our vulnerable young people. In addition to this project, Bill is currently facilitating a diversionary
program with young men from the East Arnhem region, learning stock and station skills in addition to
literacy and numeracy.
The contributions from the members for Karama and Casuarina show just how Territorians have embraced the opportunity to form partnerships to prevent crime. The member for Karama continues to be an extremely active founding member of the Karama Crime Prevention Committee. Concern about the high levels of property crime and antisocial behaviour is a result of years of CLP neglect. The member for Karama has worked as part of that community to create a significant difference. As the member for Karama pointed out, these differences have not come about by chance or accident. They have come about through a raft of initiatives and programs put in place by this government to attack crime and the causes of crime. These are: more police on the streets and the tools that they need; significant increases in funding to Neighbourhood Watch; support for the Office of Crime Prevention through the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme; and partnerships with small businesses to build safer communities.
In and around the Karama Shopping Centre, the fruits of these partnerships can be seen in increased security, better lighting and a coordinated approach to dealing with antisocial behaviour. With the support of the Office of Crime Prevention and strong partnerships with businesses and the local community, this committee is going from strength to strength. I congratulate the member for Karama on its success.
The business community, particularly small business, plays an important part in preventing crime in our community. The success of policing strategies such as Operation Ranger, targeting unlawful entries committed on businesses in the Darwin area, is due to a more affective use of police intelligence, increased resources to police and the cooperation and support of the small business community.
Local business operators also play an active part in our regional crime prevention councils. In presenting my statement to the House earlier this year, I made reference to a number of noteworthy projects including: the involvement of Katherine businesses in number of forums and activities coordinated by Neighbourhood Watch and the Katherine Crime Prevention Council; innovative crime prevention and business projects supported under the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme, such as the Casuarina Business Area Security Coordination Project, $10 000 has been provided to protect property, reduce security costs and respond consistently and appropriately to young people using the area.
I am also proud of ShopSafe, an information package about retail safety awareness developed by the Shop Distributive and Allied Services Union. The package includes comprehensive advice on how to respond to violent crime within the work place and what to do in the event of an armed robbery. Protecting small business outlets and young retail employees are a particular focus of the project, which received over $20 000 under the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme.
Community crime prevention initiatives are an important part of this government’s approach to tackling crime and the causes of crime. I welcome the ongoing involvement of the small business community in building a safer community.
Members also provided a snapshot of specific initiatives that are in place in their communities or across the Northern Territory. They include:
assisting victims of crime first and foremost by making sure there are fewer victims. For those
unfortunate enough to be a victim of a crime, amendments to the Sentencing Act requiring courts
to have regard to the sentencing option the victim wants to see in place;
funding Victims of Crime NT to provide assistance and support for those who have experienced a
crime. In addition to the $88 000 for this service, $55 000 each year is provided for targeted
assistance to victims of break-ins;
attacking the drug-crime cycle through laws against dealers and manufacturers. This legislation,
targeted at police operations, has resulted in two premises being declared drug houses. A number
of other premises have been served with drug house notices. We are achieving our objective of
targeting drug suppliers and the harm that they do in our community. I point out that, at this stage,
we stand at about $26m worth of drugs that have been taken off the streets, partly as a result of this
legislation;
reducing demand: our new drug courts allow magistrates to refer alleged offenders for assessment for
treatment at the bail stage.
a $53.8m injection into the child protection system over five years will help protect and nurture our children;
expanding after hour services for children at risk;
$680 000 to employ eight School Attendance Officers to address school truancy across the Northern Territory;
$150 000 to continue the process of building law and justice plans in remote communities.
I thank these members for their great contributions to this important debate.
Let us look at comments made by opposition members. The member for Araluen once again demonstrated that maths is not her strong point. Quarter after quarter, the Office of Crime Prevention releases statistics drawn from PROMIS, the operation data system used by the Northern Territory police. Quarter after quarter, the member for Araluen is briefed on the statistics, how they are extracted and what they mean, yet she still doesn’t seem to understand.
The Crime and Justice Statistics and the latest crime figures released by the ABS show the same thing: that Northern Territory communities are becoming safer. In the 12 months to December 2003, house break-ins fell by 25% or 839 offences; break-ins to commercial premises fell by 29% or 713 offences; motor vehicle theft and related offences fell by 27% or 777 offences; sexual assault fell by 3%.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I was very pleased to see this decrease in sexual crimes, but we are far from complacent about that area of offending. Under the Sexual Assault Task Force and Northern Territory Sexual Assault Prevention Plan, details of which I have already provided to the House, a number of strategies are being implemented to reduce the incidence of sexual crimes in the Northern Territory. This government will develop a targeted, whole-of-government Sexual Assault Prevention Plan, something that never existed under the previous government. The plan will investigate current data, police and legal response to services to survivors and particular issues facing the reporting, investigation and prevention of sexual assault in remote areas.
We recognise that action is required in a number of areas to address this difficult and complex issue: police and legal responses; prevention and education; and services for survivors of sexual assault. We have already made significant reforms to previously inadequate child sexual assault penalties, making the Territory’s regime amongst the toughest in Australia.
I have foreshadowed legislative reform that will further improve the effectiveness of the criminal justice response to sexual assault and specific needs of child witnesses. Unfortunately, we have seen a slight increase, 1%, in the number of assaults quarter on quarter. That translates to 48 more offences in the 12 months to December 2003 than in the same period the previous year. We are increasing our efforts to address offences against the person through targeted policing, our $5m Harmony Strategy and the development of the Alcohol Framework. We will continue to work community by community, and in consultation with the community, to put in place measures to prevent these crimes. The March quarter crime stats will be released in around two weeks’ time. I am confident these figures will show these trends continuing.
Under Labor, sentences are tougher and those who break the law are going to gaol for longer. Yes, our current prison population is high, but this government does not back away from serious crime meaning serious time. We introduced our sentencing regime for aggravated property offences to target these serious crimes and the results are clear. Average sentence lengths for property offenders increased by 49% in the first year of this government. To say that these reforms are not working, to cast doubt on our commitment to serious crime meaning serious time, as the members for Araluen and Macdonnell attempted to do, is patently wrong. Our aggravated property offence regime is targeting the right people and showing the right results.
In respect of incarceration and prison reform, we are looking broadly at ways of preventing crime and reducing incarceration. In late 2003, I commissioned international experts, Dr Ole Ingstrup and Paul Crockall to review Northern Territory prisons. The 71 recommendations of that review have been accepted by this government to pave the way for a new era in Northern Territory Correctional Services. $26.5m has been committed over the next four years to comprehensively reform the Northern Territory’s prison system and target re-offending. A path to good corrections provides the platform that will give the Northern Territory the most progressive adult custodial services in Australia. Already, we have formed strong partnerships with prison officers and their unions to implement these reforms. A number of association members have been taken off-line to provide full-time input to the rolling out of the review recommendations.
As I reported in the House earlier today, last week I attended the first meeting of the implementation committee, comprising departmental executives, representatives from the associations and NT Correctional Services management. The work of this committee is to bring about changes in our correctional system that were recommended in the review:
reducing crime through reducing re-offending by up to 50%. Targeted work and education programs,
as well as programs aimed at stopping prisoners from re-offending, will be introduced into our
correctional centres.
expanding facilities and upgrading equipment. Already, the construction of the $8m low security area
at Darwin Prison is being planned for 2004-05;
tightening security by ensuring we are crisis ready at all times; and
developing our work force, giving greater recognition to prison officers as a profession through
increased training, professional support and providing a clear career path.
A path to good corrections will make significant contribution to reducing crime and building safer Territory communities, actively involving our correctional system and prison officers in the fight against crime.
The member for Katherine is still coming to grips with these issues. She can see at first-hand the positive effect of our crime prevention programs in Katherine, and is on record with her support. At the same time, politically, she has been forced to describe her own town as a ‘war zone’. Let us put aside the politics and talk about the reality of Katherine. In December 2003, crime stats painted a mixed picture for the Katherine community. Break-ins to business premises dropped by 10% in 2003 compared with 2002. Motor vehicle theft fell by 7%, and property damage was down by 9%. However, 105 assaults were recorded in the December quarter, an increase of six offences from the previous quarter. Seven sexual assaults were recorded in the same period, an increase from the six offences recorded in the previous quarter. Significant inroads into property crime, with offences against the person remaining largely stable is the general picture.
However, this government was very concerned about the high level of reported violent crime incidents. We then worked with the statisticians to look more closely at those 105 cases so we had a better idea of what was going on. We know that many of these offences occur within domestic relationships. All reports of domestic violence are rigorously investigated, and the Domestic Violence Liaison Officer at Katherine Police Station ensures that victims are provided with ongoing support and advice.
Police foot patrols are targeting the main street, licensed premises and the shopping centre. Funding for alcohol and drug services in Katherine has seen the operation of a sobering-up shelter supported by community-based Night Patrol and foot patrols.
The Katherine Regional Harmony Group, with $600 000 from this government, is developing a whole-of-community approach to the prevention of crime.
In partnership with Katherine Town Council, this government has provided funding for a community foot patrol in the Katherine central business district to help combat antisocial behaviour.
The Kalano Community Association started the Return Home scheme in February this year, and over 30 people have so far used the scheme to return to their communities. As members will be aware, the costs of these returns are repaid to government through deductions from Centrelink payments. Surveys of itinerants in Katherine indicated that as many as 70% of them will return home if assisted to do so.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, members’ contributions to this debate are very much appreciated. This is a very important topic that all members of this House need to keep a close eye on and keep reviewing. We are very proud, on the government side, of some of the inroads we have made, particularly on property crime. We will continue to monitor the crime stats as they come out quarter by quarter, and deal with the hot spots of crime as they appear with both appropriate police and community responses. We will be targeting crimes of violence and looking particularly at sexual assaults through the Sexual Assault Task Force, but also general crimes of violence, particularly domestic violence, through our work on substance abuse and on community-based initiatives. We are making progress; we have a long way to go. I am certainly not cocky about the improvements that we have made so far, although I am convinced that there has been a sustainable decrease in the property crime area. I look forward to seeing some progress in the area of crimes of violence.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I noticed a recent media release by the Chief Minister detailing a number of grants from the Northern Territory Film, Television and Media Office to, obviously, worthy organisations.
I want to speak tonight about the NT Filmmakers Association, which has been a recipient of grants in the past. I make a plea to government that, as the Northern Territory Film, Television and Media Office gets itself going, this small community-based volunteer organisation is not squeezed out of funding channels in favour of more professional organisations. It is obvious by the number of film festivals that are occurring in Darwin, there is competition and, I imagine, some acrimony among certain sections of the arts community as to who should get what.
The NT Filmmakers Association, known as the NTFA, is a non-profit community arts organisation that was formed in July 2001 by a group of film enthusiasts and amateur filmmakers in Darwin upon discovering their common interest, passion and enthusiasm from meeting as participants at a film making workshop presented by a southern film professional. Soon after that first meeting, this group defined and declared their mission as:
to promote and support independent film makers and to develop a feature film industry in the Northern Territory.
Over the past three years, this association, largely as a result of the self-funded effort of its volunteer executive members and a focussed effective marketing and networking campaigning, has increased its membership and gained a strong local and national profile. Since the time of its formation, the NTFA has remained an effective advocate for the independent film industry in the Northern Territory.
Moreover, the NTFA has refined its goals to reflect a strong community charter. The NTFA is not focussed exclusively on film production and on assisting young and emerging Territorian artists to make films; it is also passionate about and committed to developing a vibrant screen culture for the Territory, screening recent locally produced films and the best international independent films not usually accessed on the commercial circuit for local audiences.
It is perhaps in terms of screen culture that the NTFA has the greatest potential to contribute to arts appreciation in the Territory, and, certainly in terms of its expertise and experience, has the most to offer the local community. I refer, of course, to the NTFA’s initiative commenced in 2003, the Down Under International Film Festival. I have been to both festival award nights. Along with ministers Syd Stirling and Marion Scrymgour, I, and my wife, the Mayor of Palmerston, were guests at the Down Under International Film Festival Awards ceremony on Sunday 2 May, at the Novotel Atrium.
We along, with the Chief Minister, were also guests at the awards ceremony last year at the same venue. This year, the awards ceremony included award presentations, great local entertainment and excerpts from the winning films from the film festival. I enjoyed the evening. I am sure that ministers Scrymgour and Stirling would agree that the hard-working NTFA volunteers deserve to be congratulated for successful outcomes this year and last year of the Down Under International Film Festivals.
By any objective assessment, it is clear that the Northern Territory is a special place and there is great potential for film production. The Territory has the talent, the climate, the locations, the natural landscapes, the stories, the indigenous culture and the characters. Moreover, given the Territory’s proximity to Asia and international interest in Australian films, there are immense opportunities to forge constructive partnerships and creative alliances and secure offshore corporate investment in the Territory’s film industry.
The NTFA has the passion and mission to develop a viable film industry and achieve a higher profile for the Territory’s film makers. Through the Down Under International Film Festival, in seeking entries from overseas independent film makers, the NTFA is actively promoting not only an event, but the film making potential of the Northern Territory. The NTFA’s concentration on promoting the Down Under event and inviting entries from film makers in South-East Asia, our neighbours after all, in particular Indonesia, will ensure a greater regional awareness of the Territory’s artistic and creative assets.
Down Under showcases and promotes the work of local film makers. The international flavour of Down Under allows our film makes to benchmark their recent works against the best in the world. Down Under supports the development of the local film making industry through awards of the Best of the Northern Territory category and other local competitive categories.
This point was highlighted in speeches by two invited southern film industry professionals at the Down Under award ceremony this year, namely Ian David, renowned screen writer and workshop presenter, and Joe Smith, the executive director of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers and organiser of the annual film workshops in the Festival of Darwin: the Territory’s national role in film production has become even more essential and exciting with the advent of globalisation and international trends towards the modification and standardisation of media and entertainment.
Australia’s Sydney-centric film industry has a Hollywood focus on generic production to satisfy the international market. The Territory has the role of making films that are uniquely and identifiably Australian and is arguably the cultural custodian of the Australian national identity in film. These trends auger well for the future of the Territory’s film industry. Territory film makers will assume a more significant role in the Australian film industry. The Northern Territory is uniquely endowed with the opportunity to harness its creative and artistic talent to secure an exciting future for its fledging film industry. As with our population demographics, the Northern Territory is a special place; the Territory has a well established national reputation for a strong and vibrant arts and cultural community.
The NTFA embraces the youth and multiculturalism of Darwin and celebrates the tropical lifestyle of the Top End in its artistic endeavours. From its inception as an idea by the NTFA in late 2002, the Down Under International Film Festival was, and has remained, unique for Darwin and the Northern Territory in that it is the first and only local film festival with a distinctly international flavour. The quest of the NTFA has been to attract interesting, quality entries of international as well as Territorian independent films for the local audience.
Film lies at the interface of art, entertainment and recreation. It is a relatively new and exciting art form and, with the advent of digital technology, independent film making has become more democratic, accessible and affordable. Independent films are the personal and artistic statements of the film makers, true to their vision and reflective of original ideas.
The successful staging of Down Under in its inaugural year in 2003 was contingent upon and achieved through financial sponsorship and in kind assistance from the Darwin business community as well as support from the Darwin arts community and the passion and interest of the volunteers of the NTFA.
NTFA last year and this year also received funding from the Australian Film Commission, and this funding in particular means that the Down Under International Film Festival is now officially recognised as an event on the Australian Film Festival circuit and worthy of financial support.
I probably will not have time to finish all my remarks, but one of the films, The Echidna and the Turtle, which was made by the Namarrkon Year 6-7 class of the Gunbalanya Community Education Centre was quite remarkable. It literally stunned the audience not only in the story that was told, but in the creativity of the kids who put this short film together. It was interesting that I received an email from NTFA to inform me that film has been sourced by the Brisbane International Film Festival, the organisers of which have asked if they can have contact details for The Echidna and the Turtle for possible inclusion in their upcoming festival. This is a major film festival sourcing a small Northern Territory film made by Aboriginal kids in a small community in the Northern Territory. Truly, to see that film, it stops you in your tracks.
That is the sort of work that the NTFA does. As I said, it is in its infancy and is supported by the business community, the government and the Australian Film Commission.
From Down Under 2003, there was a legacy of goodwill generated from the Darwin business community and the experience enhanced the business, planning, marketing, networking and event management skills of NTFA volunteers. I emphasise that they are volunteers. This organisation has a long way to go, but on their efforts so far, they are well and truly on the right track.
The NTFA has a focus on fostering the skills, development and enthusiasm for Territory’s young people and amateur film makers for independent film making through competitions, film making workshops and screenings of their works.
This year to support young emerging artists, the Down Under International Film Festival featured an innovative new section, the Your Territory Short Film Competition, open to all young people, schools, and youth and community organisations in the Territory. It was sponsored by the Northern Territory government. The NTFA conducted film making workshops for young people in Darwin and Katherine. Competitions in the arts have a number of important functions: facilitating interest and providing incentives for young people; identifying new talent; and providing inspiring artists a realistic appraisal what is required to achieve critical and commercial success. The NTFA is keen to continue this strategy in future.
The NTFA’s Your Territory compilation featured a number of recently produced local short films, including those entered for the Your Territory Short Film Competition. The large and appreciative audiences on Friday April 2 for National Youth Week and Friday April 30 during Down Under were testimony to the popularity of screenings with local flavour and colour.
Being a Territorian organisation and event, the NTFA, through the Down Under International Film Festival, was proud to showcase and promote recently produced Territorian films and achieve a higher profile for the Territory’s film makers.
This is certainly the case with the success of the short claymation film entitled The Echidna and the Turtle recently created by the Namarrkon Year 6/7 class of Gunbalanya CEC. The film opened the Your Territory compilation and was the surprise for the Down Under International Film Festival this year. It won the Best of the Northern Territory section and the film, through the promotional efforts of Film Festival Director, Ron Mitchell, has already achieved a significant national profile.
The Echidna and the Turtle first attracted national attention when it was previewed by Phil Kafcaloudes, ArtyFacts presenter with ABC News Radio, in early April this year. Phil Kafcaloudes was the judge for the Best of Northern Territory section and was the MC for the Down Under ceremony awards this year.
He has a high regard for the film and has spoke about the film on air on ABC News Radio a few times, including an interview with Ron Mitchell on Sunday April 25 in a nationally broadcast segment that previewed the Down Under International Film Festival for Darwin.
The NTFA’s invitation to the teacher, the principal and the students involved in the project from Gunbalanya to Darwin for the world premiere of their film on April 30 resulted in an interview and an article entitled From Dreamtime to Hollywood, which appeared in the Northern Territory News on Monday 3 May . In the Down Under Event, Ron Mitchell arranged media interviews with Channel Nine News, ABC NT’s Stateline, which aired and also played The Echidna and the Turtle in full.
Ron Mitchell’s promotional efforts also secured a nationally broadcast segment on ABC Radio National’s The World Today on Monday 10 May. This film, as I said, has been invited to the Brisbane International Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival. The Adelaide International Film Festival is also very interested in the film. Recently, Goolarri GTV 35 at Broome contacted the NTFA to express their interest in screening the film as an inspiration to young indigenous people in the Kimberley. As well, Imparja Television has expressed interest to the NTFA in screening the film.
The NTFA, I am sure, is proud to have been associated with discovering, showcasing and promoting The Echidna and the Turtle. What is truly gratifying for the NTFA and the Territorian film community is not only is this film distinctly and identifiable Territorian, but is also the result of a project that has equipped Gunbalanya school children with literacy and IT skills for the information age while maintaining and preserving their cultural heritage and identity.
The NTFA also organised this year’s animation workshop for Darwin’s young people, presented by acclaimed Indonesian independent film maker, Maria Clementine or Tintin Wulia, who has extensive experience teaching school children and adults about basic and affordable animation techniques. Tintin’s workshops at Humpty Doo Primary School and Corrugated Iron Youth Arts were part of an international project, The World in our Little Minds, a collaborative co-production for children aged 10 to 12 years on three continents: Hamburg, Germany, Flores, Indonesia and Darwin, Australia. The NTFA brought Tintin Wulia to Darwin and were assisted by sponsorship from the NT Department of Employment, Education and Training and the NT Film, Television and New Media Office. Tintin Wulia’s invitation to Darwin Down Under by the NTFA this year attracted the attention of the Indonesian Consulate, which was represented by a full delegation of diplomatic staff at the Down Under awards ceremony this year.
NTFA’s major local corporate sponsor for Down Under 2003, the Novotel Atrium, was so enthusiastic and impressed by the initial success and proven potential of this event and the awards ceremony, that they entered into a sponsorship naming rights agreement for the 2004 event. For their second year of the Down Under International Film Festival, the NTFA was successful in attracting funding from local and NT government agencies. From the response of the management of the Novotel Atrium to the NTFA’s efficient management and successful attendances at the awards ceremony and film industry workshops this year and last year, it seems likely that this sponsorship naming rights agreement will continue into the future.
The NTFA is a young, dynamic organisation and it is clearly evident that it is achieving great outcomes for the NT film industry and for local independent film makers through screening, awarding and promoting their work, providing professional development opportunities and in developing creative and artistic networks within Australia and around the world. It is an effective and efficient organisation comprised of a dedicated team of volunteers.
The Down Under International Film Festival has been planned and presented for two years now on very limited resources. What I would again emphasise is that, as the NT Film and New Media Office gets going, I hope that the NTFA is not forgotten or overlooked in the next funding round. I believe they have great potential. They have achieved their initial outcome with The Echidna and the Turtle, and I applaud the NTFA and everyone involved in it for their efforts.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I shall be brief, but I raise an issue concerning a constituent. I will read a letter that I received today from my constituent into Hansard. The message comes in the form of an e-mail, which I will table at the conclusion of my adjournment debate, from Erwin Chlanda of the Alice Springs News, and I quote:
Hi John. As the Member for Macdonnell, where I usually live, would you please raise this in the
Legislative Assembly for me today?
On Tuesday this week Madam Speaker referred to a photograph published on the front page of the
Alice Springs News on May 7 2003 on occasion of the sittings of the NT Parliament in Alice Springs.
Mrs Braham is holding a placard with the inscription: ‘It’s my town. I feel safe.’
This week she stated (according to the uncorrected Hansard), as follows:
Mr Deputy Speaker, the opposition, with the cooperation of Irwin (sic) Chlanda, of course, took that photo
of me holding that plaque saying that I love this town.
This photograph was not taken by the opposition, but by me. I was not cooperating with anyone. The text report
written by the reporter Keiran Finnane, gave a balanced and fair account of the points made at that demonstration
in which Mrs Braham took place. Her statement is a slur on my professional standard and I demand a retraction.
Later, she requested a copy of the photograph and I obliged. She spoke to Ms Finnane and was clearly delighted
about the use of that photograph on the front page of the Alice Springs News.
Another request for the photo came from the Macdonnell MLA, John Elferink, who said he wanted to use it in his
newsletter. I obliged him as well. When the photo was later used by the CLP party for political propaganda,
I told Mr Elferink I had not allowed him the use of the photo for that purpose. Mr Elferink apologised to me and
I accepted his apology.
Erwin Chlanda,
Managing Editor,
Alice Springs News.
17 June 2004.
I seek leave to table that, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker.
Leave granted.
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, without entering into the misunderstanding between myself and the editor of the Alice Springs News in relation to use of the photograph, my apology to him stands in relation to the misunderstanding. It was incumbent upon me to make clear that there was a meeting of the minds. He was under the impression it was for a newsletter, and I had intended to use it for another purpose.
However, the Editor of the Alice Springs News has asked for that to be placed on the permanent Parliamentary Record, as he felt that the comments by the member for Braitling had caused him some grief and he sought a right of reply through me as his local member. I am more than happy to oblige him.
Mrs Braham: But he still gave it to you and you used it?
Mr ELFERINK: That is fine. I am putting it on the record for his sake.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I speak on the retirement of a fine teacher, Ms Jenny McCormack, who will retire on Friday, 18 June 2004, after 24 years in the teaching service, with the past 10 years at the Nightcliff Primary School as the Early Childhood senior teacher.
I have known Jenny for most of the past 10 years, both through her teaching at Nightcliff Primary School where she taught one of my sons, and through the Anglican Church where she is a dedicated member of the St Peter’s Church at Nightcliff. She is a generous spirited person who works tirelessly for many underprivileged and needy people, including new refugee families.
Jenny moved to the Territory in 1980 from South Australia, became a Year 2/3 teacher at the Rapid Creek Primary School, went on to become senior teacher in Early Childhood and continued to teach students between the ages of four and eight years. After more than 10 years at Rapid Creek, Jenny transferred to Wagaman Primary School and, in 1994, came to Nightcliff Primary School as the Early Childhood senior teacher. Jenny’s strengths include nurturing young children in their move from preschool to transition, and communicating with their parents to ensure an informed, trouble-free start to school life. She has a depth of knowledge of teaching pedagogy, particularly in the areas of literacy and numeracy. Jenny has worked tirelessly to improve the learning outcomes of her students by providing adequate resources and reading books for all classes.
Jenny has spoken of the highlights of her time at Nightcliff as teaching and encouraging students to develop a love of learning and a respectful, caring attitude for one another. In particular, she mentioned her delight in seeing some of her ex-students, now in Year 7, helping the younger students at our athletics carnival.
Nightcliff Primary, despite being a large school, has a wonderful family atmosphere. She also says that she feels blessed by support and help from a large number of parents, including many who flex off from work to assist on sports days and other events. She also says that working with enthusiastic, supportive and very professional colleagues who always put the children first is one of the highlights.
Jenny is moving to Queensland after spending some time in Adelaide looking after her elderly parents.
Madam Speaker, I am very sorry to hear of Jenny’s retirement. Might I say that she looks far too young to be retiring. I certainly will miss her, and I know that the Nightcliff Primary School community will also miss her very happy demeanour and generous and caring manner. I and my family wish her well for the future.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I want to talk this evening about an amendment to some legislation introduced by government in October-November 2002. I speak specifically of the Crimes (Victims Assistance) Act.
Members may recall that in October we debated this matter and the CLP had some difficulty with the government’s amendments. There are a number of reasons for that. Put simply, we were concerned then, and remain concerned, that as a result of the amendments, fewer victims of crime would access claims for crimes compensation. The scheme, as members presumably know, is a scheme whereby if you are a victim of a crime, you can make a claim for compensation. That claim is made usually by lawyers and the claim is either settled before court or heard by the court and an award of compensation is made based on the injuries received and the severity of those injuries.
The facts are, as we expected they would be, that as a result of the government’s amendments, fewer victims are accessing the scheme. What government did was reduce the legal costs that lawyers claimed by 50%.
I make it quite clear from the outset that it would be unwise and pretty close to offensive for people to suggest that the points I make by talking about this issue are muddied by a suggestion - presumably it will be put by government if it has not done so already - that this is all about lawyers being upset because they are not making any money. That is not the point of this adjournment debate and this is not the point of a media release I issued late this afternoon.
The point is this: victims of crime are being denied access to justice. Who would have thought that this would happen under a Labor government anywhere in this country at any time? It is extraordinary in my view that victims of crime or, indeed, any individual is denied access to justice. Yet it has happened as a result of the government’s amendments in 2002.
Interestingly, what traditionally happened before the costs for solicitors were reduced by 50% was that a number of private law firms around the Territory did this sort of work. It was good work for young solicitors to do. It was something they could sink their teeth into. It involved the drafting of court documents, attendances at courts, dealing with clients and health professionals. It was a good place for young lawyers to learn. I am advised now that law firms are not doing these applications. They are refusing to act for victims of crime and therefore younger solicitors are not being trained to do this sort of work, which is terribly unfortunate.
The reason lawyers are not working for victims of crime is that it is completely unaffordable for them to do. I have spoken to a number of solicitors and owners of legal practices both in Alice Springs and Darwin. I will read an extract from a letter, which I will table shortly, but for reasons that I am sure members will appreciate, I have cut off any identifying information from this law firm because the firm is in receipt of some government contract work.
The owner of a law firm wrote to me very recently and said as follows:
You are correct in your assessment that a significant problem has arisen as a result of the amendments to the
Crimes (Victims Assistance) Act in relation to costs.
It is simply no longer cost effective for a private firm to take on Crimes (Victims Assistance) matters.
There is simply no way that a private firm can recoup the costs incurred to the firm in running the matter.
Accordingly, this firm has indeed made a policy decision not to take on Crimes (Victims Assistance) matters
unless in exceptional circumstances.
It is therefore the case that our work in this area has drastically reduced and this decision was based solely
on cost effectiveness.
It was a decision we did not make lightly and it was made with regret because we do consider that it is important
for victims of crime to be properly compensated.
However, you would appreciate that we are also running a business and so cannot afford to take on matters that
are actually going to cost the firm money to run.
As stated previously, we do make exceptions. For example, our main exception is victims of sexual assaults or children
who have been assaulted. We feel that those cases are of significant importance to take on, knowing that we will
actually lose money doing so.
Of course, there is a limit to the amount of such matters we can justify taking on, on a commercial basis.
That is the end of the quote. I seek leave to table an extract of that letter.
Leave granted.
Ms CARNEY: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, that owner of a law firm has been good enough to put her views on this matter in writing. I have spoken to a number of other lawyers. One firm says that they no longer have a policy of accepting clients walking in off the streets. Another law firm says that they only do government work; they do not act for victims of crime. I know victims of crime in Alice Springs have literally gone around town trying desperately to find a lawyer. I am advised that, in essence, in Alice Springs the only firms that are consistently doing any Crimes Compensation work are sole practitioners.
The significance of this cannot be underestimated. Legal aid organisations such as NT Legal Aid and Aboriginal Legal Aid do not act for victims of crime. On occasions they do, but basically, they do not. What they have done traditionally is to refer work to private law firms so people who are potentially legal aid clients and victims of crime are not being serviced by the legal aid bodies. Those same people are not being serviced by private law firms. There is a limit to how much work sole practitioners can take on.
I should say that one solicitor made the observation to me that in his view, because the costs were so ridiculous in terms of what lawyers would recoup in these matters, he believes that there are ill-prepared, ill-considered applications now going before the courts and that, whereas, when it was cost effective, lawyers would perhaps go that extra mile, now they are doing what this solicitor described as ‘garden variety’ applications. That is a terribly serious issue.
There is a concern within the profession that the quantum, that is the dollar amount of compensation or award, is being reduced because of the ill-prepared nature of some applications by some solicitors. It is a concern, surely, that so many victims of crime, given that crime is a serious problem in the Northern Territory, are being denied access to justice.
Members should know that the Crimes (Victims Assistance) Act and its predecessor are beneficial legislation; they are to assist and benefit the public. Yet this government has changed the act in such a way that victims are now being denied access to justice.
When we debated this matter in 2002, we raised the concerns of the profession. There was a lack of consultation in relation to government proposals. We alerted the government to the effect it would have on the capacity of victims to retain lawyers, and our pleas fell on deaf ears.
We did acknowledge that some reforms needed to be made. The government’s initial proposal, from memory, in relation to costs was changed at the 11th hour, but the fact is that a law firm is like any business: it does not exist to assist the world at large. A huge chunk of the work of some law firms around the Territory has now been lost as a result of these amendments.
One reason the government relied upon when it changed the act was that the scheme in toto cost $5.5m to administer. I recall the Attorney-General being discomforted by the fact that $2.5m of that sum was for legal costs. I do not think that $5.5m,which we can round off to $6m, to administer a crimes compensation scheme for victims of crime in the Northern Territory is too much to pay.
I do not think you can put a price on access to justice. I am not surprised that we now see a situation where people are not being assisted to pursue their applications because we raised it at the time and yet the Attorney-General looked both the member for Goyder and I in the eye, and effectively said: ‘There, there. You do not know what you are talking about. It is all under control. I do know what I am talking about’. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Both the member for Goyder and I were solicitors. I did a lot of his work. Over the years, I have acted for hundreds and hundreds of victims. I know how important the scheme of compensation is for them. It is not just me, however. It is not just the member for Goyder. It is the legal profession generally in the Northern Territory that is terribly concerned about these reforms. This government, sadly, has put a price on access to justice. It says that about $6m is too much. I vehemently disagree.
There is a view within the profession that this government wants to abolish the scheme. I understand that was the initial aim, but that the Law Society, through discussions and negotiations, managed to dissuade government from adopting that course.
What we are left with now is that the scheme may well be sabotaged by the back door. If fewer victims are making applications and fewer lawyers are acting for them, it may well be the case that, in due course, the Attorney-General will say that the scheme should be scrapped because no-one is using it. I would be appalled if the Attorney-General reached that conclusion, and I note with interest that about 12 months ago, the Attorney-General said that he was conducting a review into the scheme. I understand that that has gone cold. I do not know why, but perhaps in due course the Attorney-General could assist with that.
It would be outrageous if victims of crime were squeezed out of obtaining compensation by such a devious and deceitful method. That is, to make it so non-cost effective for the legal profession to act for victims that victims give up. In a small town like Alice Springs, they will pick up the phone book and they will ring a few lawyers. Quite a few of those law firms say to those people: ‘No, I am sorry. We do not do this sort of work’. Then it is likely that they will give up. For my part, I am not prepared to stand by and watch that happen. I am surprised that a Labor government, frankly, would not only create this situation, but apparently condone it.
There are many reasons I raised this issue tonight, but I urge the Attorney-General to look into the matter. I suspect he will not because I think the government’s agenda is fairly obvious. It seems to me at least that they want to shut this system down. If they do not, then they are well on the path to doing it anyway. As I said, $6m for an entire scheme that provides costs to the profession but, most importantly, provides compensation to victims, is not too high a price to pay. With those remarks, I conclude.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, last Saturday, there was a performance by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra at Freds Pass Reserve, and it can only be described as magical.
It was one of the highlights of the year and, judging by the number of people who attended, there is a good chance that it will be on again next year, or at least biannually. Much of the credit must go to Barbara Vos who organised the event, and her hard work paid off. Not only were there many locals, but quite a few townies and tourists who came to enjoy great music under the stars.
The theme of the night was Spanish. The music played by the orchestra was Ravel’s Bolero, Bizet’s Carmen Suites I and II, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, Albenniz’s Grenada Serenade, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol and Chabrier’s Espana.
A highlight was when horses appeared and danced or pranced, whatever the correct term, while the music played. I know Pam Crellin, Vicki Lew Fatt, Brooke Hancock and Gillian Jan had something to do with that side of things.
To finish off the night, there was a spectacular display of fireworks, all timed to match the finale, which left everyone to head home feeling pretty good.
I thank Martin Jarvis and the DSO for bringing the orchestra out to Litchfield Shire, which is one place I do not believe it has performed, although it may have performed at the Wildlife Park. A big thanks to Macca who helped prepare the grounds, Karen Ralph and the Freds Pass Management Board. The Girraween Primary School should also give themselves a pat on the back, as they contacted the DSO last year in an attempt to stage a performance at their school as a fundraiser. It was decided, after some deliberation, that a bigger venue would be more suitable, so it was shifted to Freds Pass and Girraween Primary was still able to raise money by having one of the food stalls on the night. The home-made cakes, hot soup and tea and coffee were just right for the beautiful music and a cool and starry night at the pass.
Also last Saturday was the Adelaide River Country Music Talent Quest, which was held at the ARSS. Once again, some of our local talent did very well. James Patrick from Humpty Doo, who has only been playing the guitar since February this year, took first prize for the Open Amateur Instrumental. That was a great effort. The Wilson girls from Howard Springs also competed and they took out first prize in the Junior Group Duet, also a terrific effort. They were so in demand at the weekend that they could not collect their prize and had to perform at the Palmerston Troppo Festival.
On 5 June, we had the Mango Ball, which was a top evening. When we have a Mango Ball, there is certainly plenty of fun. This year, it was held at the Berry Springs Reserve Hall, attended by the Administrator, Ted Egan, the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries, Kon Vatskalis and the President of the Northern Territory Horticultural Association, Mr Tom Harris. It was a super night. There were prizes coming out our ears at one stage. There was plenty of dancing and great games; it was a great night for families. There were children enjoying dancing with their parents, and even I had a chance to dance with quite a number of people including some of the members of the Mango Ball committee who put in all the hard work. They were Lee Berryman, Anne Arthur, Michelle Nuske, Jinx Smith, Cheryl Owens, Maryanne St Clair and Chris Ross-Carol. They did a terrific job. The tables were beautifully decked out, the chairs covered.
We were at Berry Springs, but we could have been at the MGM Grand Ballroom because it was just as beautifully decked out. It was a great night. There was money raised for St John for which they have not quite finalised the total. It was a night to promote the industry, and a great community event for the Litchfield Shire and the rural area in general.
The week before last, we had an education forum at the Girraween Primary School. This was attended by Steve Borbo from the Priority Education Review, John Glasby from DEET, Bill Griffiths from Catholic Education Office, Alan Perrin from the Australian Education Union, and about 20 people who were interested in many of the issues arising from the secondary school review. Those issues included what effect precincts might have on the local high school, Taminmin High School, the possible closure of the Northern Territory Open College was high on people’s priority list as something they did not believe should happen; and practical things such as if you took Year 7s out of all the primary schools in the rural area, how would you fit them into Taminmin High? There were other issues such as: is this the way to go or can we look at other ways of improving our literacy and numeracy without going down this fairly expensive path? People got a lot out of it. Steve and John took copious notes, and they can feed that back to the review committee.
Last night, I attended the Extractive Minerals Association dinner and spoke about the problems on Middle Arm and the future of the industry because in my electorate, the extractive minerals industry is very important. It is an industry for which we must plan. We need it because you need 35 tonnes of sand to build one house and when the HomeNorth scheme gets going, we are going to need plenty of sand to build houses.
I raised a number of issues with which the extractive mining industry has to deal relating to rehabilitation and from where we take gravel and sand. Another issue is: are we locking up resources that we need for the future by tying up land for extractive industry use? There were a number of issues raised at the dinner.
By attending that dinner, I missed the minister’s HomeNorth statement, but having read his statement, it is an excellent idea and will help a lot of people. My feeling is that this may reduce the need for public housing because the amount of money that people would spend on renting public housing might be the same amount to build a house under this scheme.
The one area we really need to look at, and I have spoken about this before, is promoting Aboriginal ownership of houses. I will have a guess, but it would be well over 90% of Aboriginal people in communities do not live in a house that they can call their own. It is a rented house and it is time that we put an effort in seeing whether people can buy their own houses. If they could, it would be a great boon for the housing industry, and it would start to eat away at the shortage of houses on some of our communities. Port Keats is a classic example where there is an enormous shortage of houses. If the government can find a way of bringing this HomeNorth scheme into Aboriginal communities, it will really have achieved something. That is where we have the shortage of houses. We have plenty of houses in Darwin and Palmerston and the rural area, and this scheme helps people buy them, but in Aboriginal communities, we have a shortage of houses. I would hope that the minister makes another statement on ownership of houses in Aboriginal communities and how HomeNorth might be able to assist in what I call priority area for housing.
I should also comment on the Law of Property Amendment Bill. I am not allowed to debate it because it will soon come before the House, but we have sent a copy of the draft legislation to various organisations such as the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory, the Northern Territory Law Society, the Conveyancing Institute and I have received very good feedback from the Real Estate Institute. I had a meeting with them earlier this week and, with the exception of a couple of minor amendments they would like to see, they are fully supportive. In fact, I was reading their newsletter and my proposed amendment is mentioned in it. They suggested a couple of slight amendments. They thought that my definition of ‘gazumping’ did not quite match their definition, but we have ironed that out. It was good to see the Real Estate Institute supporting the amendment bill.
I received a letter from one conveyancing company, which supported it as well, and a real estate agent - who was actually the reason I introduced the bill - wrote a very nice note saying I was on the right path, which nearly knocked me over because his company was the reason I introduced the amendment.
I will finish with some congratulations. One of our local residents who used to be a councillor with me on the Litchfield Shire Council, Paul Gooding, received an OAM for his work with diabetes. I rang him to congratulate him the other day. Paul is a very busy person; he moves between Adelaide and Melbourne. He is involved in computer technology at which he is a whiz. At the same time, he has been able to put a lot of work into diabetes. I think he was President of the Northern Territory Diabetes Association. I congratulate Paul.
Sally Jacka was conferred with an environmental award and scholarship. Sally works at Charles Darwin University. If you have been out to the rural area, you will see green triangle signs at many residences. They say ‘Land for Wildlife’. Sally is the person who got that scheme off the ground. Sadly, the scheme doesn’t exist any more. The money ran out and there were some issues about support. She has since gone back to university to upgrade her qualifications, but in the meantime, she has been recognised for the terrific amount of work that she has done in the rural area. I thank Sally because Land for Wildlife is really a great scheme. Hopefully, it will be resurrected one day.
Finally, there has been debate on contracts and procurement this week. It is difficult as an Independent to become too involved in censure motions because I do not have all the evidence before me one way or the other. I have read through the Hansard from yesterday’s debate and I have some concern about the way some contracts appear to have been awarded. There have been questions asked about whether an interest should have been declared. Some of those questions have not been answered.
It is very important. When I was on the Litchfield Shire Council, in cases of conflict of interest, you would put your hand up if you even had a smell of conflict. You had to be so careful. The Local Government Act is very precise on conflicts of interest. There were questions asked yesterday that I do not believe were answered as to whether conflicts of interest were declared when some of these contracts were awarded. That is a worry and should be cleared up. Yesterday’s debate does say to the government that when it comes to contracts, you must keep arm’s length. If you have relations with people or political affiliations with the owners of companies or consultants, you must ensure that people know that up front so that everything is squeaky clean.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, that is all I have. I will see everyone next week at the Estimates Committee.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, this month saw the passing of a lady who lived in Alice Springs for most of her life. Her name was Pearl Powell.
Pearl and her family have lived in Alice Springs off and on since her parents came to Alice Springs to live. I will now read from the eulogy of her son at her funeral service a few weeks ago. Her son’s name is Tom Bird, and I quote:
Mum was born in Adelaide in December 1909, the fifth in a family of seven, but tragedy was to be with mum and the rest of her family for a long time.
Mum also had a precarious start in life, weighing in at only 2 pounds 2 ounces at birth – what a survivor!
Of the family, sister Hilda was born May 1899, but died of the Spanish ‘flu aged 20. In January 1901, Ivy was born,
but died 11 months later of meningitis. In September 1904, brother Cyril came along, and in April 1906, sister Molly,
later becoming Mrs Ted Dixon of Wait River, was born. Sadly, on that same day, Cyril died of meningitis.
Molly, unfortunately, contracted paralysis, but with a lot of warm sea water and massaging, she was cured to all but
a slight limp. She became an extraordinary horsewoman of the Centre, as did mum. Then came mum. After mum came
Alf in March 1912, who spent all his life in the Centre. Last was Ron, born May 1914, but he was killed in a freak
accident, aged 24.
In 1916, while working for the PMG, Mum’s father, the late Fred Price, was appointed Postmaster of the Old
Telegraph Station at Stuart. The family of five left Adelaide in late February 1917 for Stuart. Mum had started
her long association with the Centre. Mum’s family operated the Old Telegraph Station until April 1924. At that
time, mum’s dad became ill and had to go south for treatment. While the family were at the Old Telegraph Station,
mum’s dad bought two lots of land 200km north of Alice Springs, Woola Downs and Harper Springs. After a short while
in Adelaide because of his illness, mum’s father passed away on 12 August 1924. He was 57 years old. That left only
five. Mum’s mother, Molly, Pearl, Alf and Ron.
So strong were the ties of the Centre that when all of the estate details where settled, the mother sold the big
house in Adelaide, packed up everything else she could and started the second trip up the track to Stuart. Mum’s
mother was a sheepish person, so she arranged to have 200 sheep and about 20 goats sent on to Oodnadatta from
Burra. At Oodnadatta, more goods were bought, food, wire netting, etcetera. It was going to be a long trip. Mum’s
mother was 48, and the four kids ranged from 10 to 17. They arrived at Harper Springs in 1925. There was nothing on
the place except a 12-foot deep well and a hollowed out tree trunk for a trough. With the help of Bob Pervis, of
Woodgreen Station about 30 miles away, and some Aborigines, they put up a bough shed to live in until they could
build a better homestead.
Time moved on, the sheep flock grew to 1500 and the goats to 700. At this time, mum was 17, when one day a
middle-aged man, Jim Bird, called in on his way south from the Top End. He was looking around for a property
to settle on. Jim was a drover across the Top End between Waye Hill and Cloncurry, but had decided to give it up.
I am not sure whether that was before or after meeting mum. However, after a few more meetings in the next few
months, dad was again going through Ti Tree with some cattle when mum’s mother was there picking up the mail.
He asked if he could marry my mum, and was told to wait until she was 18, then talk about it. In June 1927, dad again
came through, this time to the homestead. While there, he asked mum to marry him.
In October, three of the family and dad travelled south to Mount Gambier for the wedding, which was held on
10 October 1927, after which mum and dad returned to Bushy Park.
Dad and Mum had four children - Fred, Ruth, Eileen and Tom, and 60 descendants. Life in those times could be lonely
for the women folk, with the men away doing stock work. It was at one of these times that Fred got a bellyache. The car
at the time was a T Ford up on blocks. With the help of some native women, she was able to get it on its wheels, pump
up the tyres and head for town 110 km away. Twenty kilometres into the trip, she called into a bore where her brother
Alf was working and they went on together. On reaching the hills at Bond Springs, they had to camp the night because
the Ford had no lights. In the morning, Fred was okay, with no bellyache, but mum went on anyway to get more
supplies. She took Fred to the hospital for a check up, and was told that he had appendicitis and that had the
appendix burst, he would have died in a few hours had she not taken him in. I would have suffered the same fate,
but this time dad was home and he had a bigger and faster car, a Chev ute. I was in hospital in about 1 hours.
Then came the second war and the change in lifestyle in Alice Springs. In 1945, Fred had finished school, so mum took
us other three children south to college in Adelaide. Ruth and Eileen finished their schooling and got married. I finished
my time, then returned to Alice Springs to help start Indiana Station with dad and Fred.
In 1957, mum’s mother passed away at 81, then her sister Molly in 1978.
After mum’s second husband died, mum decided to come back to Alice Springs to where her heart still was. But in
1994, Mum’s eldest son Fred passed away. Then in 1995, her brother Alf died, which left mum the only surviving
member of the Price family, yet she started life at only 2lb 2oz! The end of an era.
Those words were spoken by Tom Bird, the son of Pearl Powell. She had 18 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren when she passed away.
In talking about Pearl, this book, called By Packhorse and Buggy was written by Pearl and her daughter, Eileen McRae. On the back cover of the book, describing Pearl, this is written:
Pearl was born in Adelaide on 14 December 1909 but, from 1917 until 1946, she lived in Central Australia. After
her husband’s death, Pearl returned to Alice Springs. The late Allan Wauchope once asked her why she had not
thought of writing about her parents’ experiences. ‘I can’t spell too good or write very well’, but Allan encouraged
her to start, and soon she had a collection of hand-written notes. When Eileen …
That is her daughter:
… retired from the work force, she typed all the notes into a story for her mother. Pearl has been living at the
Old Timers now for four years, just taking it easy.
This was written in 1996.
The book was published with assistance from the Northern Territory History Awards committee, which provided a grant. Dorothy Grimm helped edit the manuscript. Bruce McRae provided his time, assistance and a computer. Staff of the Alice Springs Education Centre provided help, as did Nigel Clarke of the then Apple Centre. Mike Klarenbeek printed the book.
The book, which I have not quite finished, relates the story of a woman and her family, which started way back in 1867. Her father was born in the north of South Australia in 1867 and her mother was born in the UK. When her father was 24, he was posted to Palmerston in the Northern Territory. That was the name of what we now call the city of Darwin. That was about 1891. This woman and her family have had links with the Northern Territory since 1891.
He came here to work with the Cable Company, a branch of the Adelaide General Post Office. Here, he also formed the first Palmerston Choir. Pearl’s mother was born in Nottingham, England in April 1876. She ended up in Australia because she came to visit her sister, who happened to live on Thursday Island. Staying on Thursday Island, she found it quite difficult, so she sailed over to Palmerston, and found she liked it and ended up staying. She became great friends with many of the locals, one of whom was a Mrs Ryan, who owned the Hotel Victoria.
This is a fascinating book, with all the history of Darwin and Alice Springs. She recalled a terrible cyclone that hit this part of the world in 1897, and noted that the Hotel Victoria was extensively damaged by the fierce winds.
Pearl’s mother and father were married in the Palmerston Wesleyan Church on 5 March 1898. The church still stands today.
As I have said, Pearl Powell was born weighing 2lb 2oz in December 1909, eight weeks premature. I cannot imagine - nearly 100 years ago, a baby born eight weeks premature and weighing 2lb - what the obstetric care would have been like, never mind the chances of a child surviving, but survive she did.
Pearl wrote:
Mum never saw me for the first month and for the next two months they wrapped me in cotton wool. Each day the
wrappings were taken off a little at a time and I wiped over with oil then re-wrapped with new cotton wool.
I remember that when I was watching my mother nursing my younger siblings back ...
Ms Carter: In the olden days.
Dr LIM: … in the olden days. Babies’ skins were always rubbed with oil. Maybe this prevented scaling and drying.
Anyway, as I continued to read through the book, they talk about Afghans, the northern part of South Australia, Hergott Springs, where they all lived for a while, and then Pearl Powell’s father working with the PMG, Pearl meeting her husband-to-be, the trek the Powell family undertook when Pearl’s father got the job of Post Master in the town of Stuart, which is now Alice Springs, based at the Old Telegraph Station. That is where they lived when they first arrived in Alice Springs.
The journey was, literally on foot in a camel train. They caught a train from Adelaide to Oodnadatta. There, they collected their food supplies and a man by the name of Gerhardt Johannson was the contractor to the GPO came to Oodnadatta to take them to Stuart or Alice Springs. With the camel train they walked all the way to Alice Springs. Imagine that: sleeping on the ground, learning first experiences about dingos, perenties, and goannas, walking through little townships like Bloods Creek Station, Charlotte Waters and crossing the Finke River at Horseshoe Bend.
I seek leave to table this book for the record and to be kept in our archives in Parliament House for future generations. It is something fantastic; the life of a woman nearly 100 years old who passed away just recently.
Leave granted.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Community Cabinet – Women’s Forums
Community Cabinet – Women’s Forums
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, late last year, my government introduced Women’s Forums as part of Community Cabinet. Women’s Forums replaced the Women’s Advisory Council as a means of engaging with women right across the Territory.
The Women’s Advisory Council was established in 1983. At the time, the need for the council was strong and well-argued, however the council and its activities had not been reviewed since its establishment 20 years ago. As members opposite will be aware, I appointed a bipartisan team to review the council and to consider how it might adopt different structures and approaches to suit changing times. Following public consultation and a call for written submissions, the review team’s report was presented to government in June last year. Based on the findings of the review report, I announced new consultative and advisory mechanisms for Territory women in August.
The structure my government has put in place, Women’s Forums, is innovative and exciting. They open the way for more Territory women than ever before to have direct contact with government. Women’s Forums have been a great success. Four forums have been run to date in Maningrida, Palmerston, Katherine and, last week, in Alice Springs. Nearly 200 women from a range of diverse cultural and social backgrounds have attended the forums: working women, mothers, indigenous women, women from non-English speaking backgrounds, and young women still attending school. Some journeyed significant distances to attend. The Katherine forum, for example, was attended by a woman from the community of Borroloola; a remarkable commitment and statement about the important mechanism forums provide to communicate the concerns of women to government.
A range of issues have been raised by women attending the forums. Some of them are those that might be considered traditional women’s issues, such as maternity services, breast and cervical cancer screening services, and a significant public health issue confronting the Northern Territory: domestic and Aboriginal family violence. Others are those of concern to the broader community: education, provision of and access to health services, foster care and child protection, housing, substance abuse, safety and policing, employment opportunities, economic development, lifelong learning, and this one is very significant: supporting and building our regions.
My government is committed to responding to issues raised by women at these forums. As a result of the Women’s Forum at Maningrida, education sessions have been provided on domestic and Aboriginal family violence.
In Palmerston, a group of women from non-English speaking backgrounds who recently arrived in Australia stated that they found it difficult to access information on interpreter services.
In Alice Springs, women stressed the importance of easily accessible information, given the transient nature of the Territory population.
As a result of the Women’s Forums in Palmerston and in Alice Springs, I have asked the Department of the Chief Minister to explore options for providing easily accessible information on government and other services for the local community.
Importantly, when raising issues of concern, women also present recommendations, solutions and action plans for consideration by government. All issues and solutions raised and presented at Women’s Forums are referred to the responsible government department for consideration.
Women’s Forums are being held in communities, towns and suburbs, wherever women live and work. Six more forums are planned for regional areas as part of Community Cabinet during this year, with an additional two meetings to be held in Darwin at the end of the year.
We are still learning about how best to run women’s forums and how to ensure all women have the opportunity to present issues of concern to them. In remote communities where the population is small, it is possible to run forums with limited structure. In larger regional centres like Katherine and Alice Springs, where we had 65 and a 100 women respectively, more structure is required to ensure that the large number of women participating have an opportunity to establish the key concerns to be raised with minister Scrymgour and myself during the feedback session. The feedback provided by women at the end of each women’s forum will be critical in informing our approach to those run in the future. We are also working through the best way of providing feedback on issues raised and when this should be provided. I will shortly be writing to the women of Palmerston about the issues they have raised and feedback will also be provided on the government’s web site.
It is important to stress that all governments are limited in their ability to respond to all issues raised by the electorate. Some issues will be easy to address and may simply require the provision of information on existing services and programs available to the general community and how these can be accessed. Others will require careful consideration and will have to be balanced against other competing priorities.
Women’s forums are a new way of engaging with women in the Territory. The new process is more representative and meets more frequently in more locations. I am confident that this new consultative mechanism will continue to be a success in providing broadened access for Territory women directly to government.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I thank the Chief Minister for her report. Can I say how pleasing it is to hear that she now apparently acknowledges that women have specific and particular issues of concern. I understood from the Estimates Committee hearing last year that, really, women were to be thrown in one group and that the Chief Minister was generally disinclined to separate them.
I remind members and the Chief Minister that after the review of the Women’s Advisory Council, there were four options put to the Chief Minister. For reasons unknown, she elected to choose the least popular one; the one that was supported by, from memory, four out of 16 respondents. I have my own theories as to why this is. I suspect that the Chief Minister much prefers publicity stunts to actually working towards proper outcomes for women of the Northern Territory.
What she did in Alice Springs was turn up and pay lip service to the women there. I spoke with a lot of the women who attended, one of whom I spoke with later in the day, deliberately boycotted this forum - she is a well known woman in Alice Springs - because she remains very angry at not only the axing of the Women’s Advisory Council and the Business Women’s Consultative Council, but she is furious that government has not implemented anything other than sessions with women four times a year to get together to have a bit of a chat.
I am pleased on the one hand to hear that the Chief Minister acknowledges that women do have issues of concern. However, all I can say is that this Chief Minister says that she cares about women about their issues of interest and concern and nothing happens.
I also understood that part of the deal was that women could go along to Community Cabinets. Of course, this is fantastic because it suggests that women were not previously invited to Community Cabinets and it did not happen anyway because only the Chief Minister and the Minister for Family and Community Services bothered to turn up to Alice Springs.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Araluen, your time has expired.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I was not going to respond because that was one of the most ridiculous responses we have heard in these reports. Let me tackle briefly what the member for Araluen is accusing government of. Meeting four times a year: if the member for Araluen had listened, there will be 10 women’s forums this year …
Ms Carney interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: … and already, there have been 200 women who have had access to government. Really, a defining thing in this is that we have the member for Araluen carping from the outside. If the member for Araluen had been genuinely interested, she could have come to the women’s forum in Alice Springs to judge for herself. She would have heard the breadth of issues that were raised and heard that women’s issues are all issues, that issues ranging from the perceptions of a community that they live in to economic development opportunities to education to employment, a broad range of issues. The member from Araluen shows, very sadly, her ignorance.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Members, I attended that forum for the first hour and a half when the issues were raised. There were over a hundred women who attended in Alice Springs, which was extraordinary compared with some of the other meetings, and I look forward to the report from the committee because the number of issues raised were right across the board, some very specific and some very general.
Mr Kiely: It would have been 101 if you went.
Ms Carney: Oh, shut up, you fool!
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker. The member for Araluen is persistently offensive and I would urge you to have her withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Araluen, withdraw. Just withdraw.
Ms CARNEY: I withdraw it, and ask him to be quiet, Madam Speaker.
Correctional Services Reforms - Implementation
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I hope we have as much excitement with this report. During the last sittings, I reported to the House on the outcomes of the most comprehensive review of Correctional Services …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister! I am waiting for people to settle down.
Dr TOYNE: Madam Speaker, I will start again. During the last sittings, I reported to the House on the outcomes of the most comprehensive review of Correctional Services ever to take place in the Northern Territory.
This sittings, I am pleased to report that this government is continuing to move the Territory towards these reforms in our prisons. Prison officers and their associations are fully involved in the reform process. A number of association members have been taken off line to work full-time on rolling out the review recommendations across our two prisons.
Last week, I attended the first meeting of the Implementation Committee. The work of this committee is to bring about changes to our correctional system recommended by the review, and these include:
to develop the prison workforce through increased training and increased ability to
recruit and retain quality prison officers;
to ensure security is maintained at the highest levels; and
to attack crime and the causes of crime within the correctional system and our prison
officers working to prevent re-offending.
Already, these reforms are well underway. Officer numbers have been agreed to now at 181 in Darwin and 152 in Alice Springs. We are moving to build up that base staffing and prison officer-in-training courses will commence in August to further build our work force. An additional 10 officers across the two institutions will come on board over the next 12 months to relieve serving officers of their duties while they undertake intensive training and refresher courses.
One of the world’s most experienced prison officials, Mr Jens Tolstrup has been appointed as the new head of Northern Territory Correctional Services following a national and international recruitment process. Over nearly four decades, Mr Tolstrup has assisted governments from several countries, including Denmark, South Africa and Israel, to reform and establish modern correctional services. With a proven track record, he will be driving reform across the Territory correctional services system to achieve our key aim and that is of preventing crime by preventing re-offending.
The reforms go live in Alice Springs at the beginning of next year. Case managers supervise programs targeted to the specific offending patterns of individual prisoners. I know the member for Nelson will be pleased to hear that we expect the recommendations relating to prison industries, particularly work camps and prison farms, to be well advanced in that time period.
To guide the move to living units, Territory prison officers will travel interstate to visit those institutions where this system is in place and working well. A permanent exchange program to allow prison officers from the Territory to access professional development opportunities interstate is also being examined.
Construction of the new $8m low security area will start in 2004-05, and the Implementation Committee is already looking at the review recommendations to identify capital works required in future years.
I place on record my appreciation of the work of the Implementation Committee, the departmental executive and our prison officers and associations in moving this reform forward. These reforms will give the Territory the most progressive correctional centres in Australia.
Madam Speaker, through implementing the recommendations of the review report, this government is continuing to attack the causes of crime and build safer Territory communities.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I thank the Attorney-General for his report. I am not sure whether we will have quite as much fun with this one as we did the last one. However, I raised some matters in my budget reply a couple of nights ago and they are worth repeating. The minister was galloping around the Northern Territory after the review saying that everyone was very happy with it. That was not the case because we know that for a period of about six weeks he and his department were in negotiations with prison officers who had issues, which caused the establishment of this review. We do want to know whether it was the case, I am told that it is true, that either the minister or his representatives threatened the prison officers that he would withdraw the promise of about $28m worth of funding unless they supported him and the reforms. I think that is outrageous. We do want to know whether yet another certificate of exemption was granted to the review team. As I said the other night, just line up and you can get a certificate of exemption from this government, it seems.
There is a written question for Estimates about this, and that is: Was $1m diverted from last year’s budget that was intended for a sex offender’s program? We all know the appalling rate of crime in the Northern Territory. We all know the level of violence against women in particular, and why it is that the sex offenders program was put on the back burner, I do not know.
I would also like to know why it is that the minister has been saying for about 18 months that an integrated offender management program would commence yet apparently very little has happened.
In conclusion, it is very interesting in the Northern Territory under this review, under this government, we will have people with criminal records guarding criminals in our gaols. Again, I think that is outrageous and I think most Territorians would share my view.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report. The Correctional Services review would be far better debated in parliament if it were a ministerial statement because it is a very important issue in which many people in our community are interested.
I welcome the minister’s statement that prison industries, work camps and farms and the like are being looked at, and I presume a report on that will come to parliament. That is one of the most important areas that we should be looking at, considering that most people in prisons are Aboriginal people. For many people, alternatives to the big concrete blocks that we have in Alice Springs and Darwin are needed.
I remember talking to a particular gentleman, whose name I cannot remember at the moment, who used to run the King River Station for young people who had …
Mr Ah Kit: Billy Fordham.
Mr WOOD: Yes, Bill Fordham, who used to run that as a program for kids who had gone off the track a bit. That was an excellent program. He has now moved out to Arnhem Land. He is hoping he will get some funds. I am not sure what has happened there, but we should be putting a lot more emphasis on those programs because it is important that these people have a second chance. I do not believe the big concrete block-type gaols are the appropriate place. People certainly have to pay for wrong doings they have committed, but we have to look at other ways in the Territory to make sure they do not end up in custody again.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, quite a few of the questions that the member opposite raised can be addressed at Estimates. There is plenty of time to deal with them at that stage, or give me a question in Question Time.
The only thing I want to say about this is that we are embarking on a major change process within Correctional Services, and I ask all members to be aware of that in that there will be tensions from time to time, I am sure, through the next four years as these changes are introduced through the system. There will be groups of people disenchanted with it at times. The overwhelming bulk of the prison officers are already prepared to give this a go. I am sure, as the reforms roll out, more and more of them will see the benefit not only to their own professional life, but to the Northern Territory as well.
Katherine Sports Ground - Upgrade
Mr AH KIT (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, I visited Katherine on the weekend on my way to the Barunga Cultural and Sports Festival. As I mentioned to the House last sittings, Katherine is a community close to my heart. Katherine is also close to the heart of the Martin Labor government. Last sittings, I reported to the House on the Katherine Community Harmony Project and the great success it is having. I will touch on that in a second, but today, I want to report to the House on planned upgrades to the Katherine sports ground. The Martin Labor government has committed $0.5m to the project.
I was extremely happy last week to congratulate Katherine’s new mayor, Anne Shepherd, and present her with a cheque for $500 000 to move Katherine sports facilities ahead. We are proud of our great Territory lifestyle; it is unique and the best in Australia.
When the Katherine Town Council presented to me a strategic plan for the sports ground last October, I was more than happy to back it because I knew it would improve the lifestyle for the people of Katherine and the surroundings regions. I understand that the upgrades are all ready to go, and this is fantastic.
The money will go to the Katherine Town Council as a capital grant, and the council works department will get straight onto the job. This is good use of taxpayers’ money, allowing the people at the heart of the issue, those people who have identified the need, to ensure that the job is done right and within budget. This is a good example of how this government is prepared to work with the community to get the best possible outcome for everyone.
Some of the money for the sports ground will go towards flood lighting. I understand that two lighting towers have already been installed to industry standard on Oval 1 by the council. This funding will complete lighting for Ovals 1 and 3. On Oval 1, additional towers will now go up at a cost of $75 000. The flood lighting on Oval 3 will also be upgraded at a cost of $200 000.
The basketball and netball courts are going to be resurfaced. A roof is going to be built over the top of the courts that will keep out the rain and help reduce the heat. Lights will also be installed to allow night games and training.
An extensive safety and security audit has been carried out by the council’s Sports Ground Advisory Committee in consultation with the Office of Crime Prevention, and I thank the minister for Justice for his department’s assistance. The audit recommended extra pedestrian and security lighting, and we are funding that to the tune of $15 000. Such additional measures will help to keep both users of the ground and facilities safe.
The sports ground has a new entry off Chambers Drive and, for $10 000, some cluster signage will go up, providing direction into the main access points of the sports ground and to all of the different areas within the facility. A mobile grandstand is going to be constructed. This will allow council to respond to spectator demand for seating at the various ovals. The grandstand will cost $50 000, and I am sure it will be a welcome addition.
The Martin Labor government is supporting Katherine because we believe it is a great place. I lived there, and I loved it. Last sittings, I reported that it was very unfortunate that, on the CLP’s web site, a media release attributed to the member for Katherine remained available to the public. On the web site for all the world to see, she has denigrated the good people of Katherine. It has been there for three months. I gave the member a chance last sittings to retract her description of Katherine as a ‘war zone’, a chance she did not take. It came out in your name, member for Katherine: the buck stops with you. If they are not your words, as you have claimed, you should tell the parliament and you should remove it from the web site forthwith. This is your second chance to correct …
Mr Dunham: You are so pious! What? You are making threats now, are you?
Members interjecting.
Mr AH KIT: Well, if the member for Drysdale supports the ‘war zone’ …
Mr Dunham: You are so pious! You have never done anything wrong, hey? He called the hospital a war zone!
Mr AH KIT: … so be it. This is your second chance to correct the public record, member for Katherine. If you do not wish to do so, as it seems, I will have no option other than to inform the public of Katherine.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I was going to thank the minister for this wonderful generous offer of the $500 000 for the sports ground. I know that the Katherine Town Council has worked very hard to get that money for the sports ground. I thank him very much for lighting up the grounds at night.
I was also very pleased to see that he mentioned that we have a new Mayor and I welcome our new Mayor, Mrs Anne Shepherd.
Katherine is very close to my heart as well. I live there now and I take great pride in representing the people of Katherine. I would also like to know that Katherine is not going to be under water again this next year and would like this government, who came to Katherine when we were experiencing such terrible times at the beginning of this year and under a lot of water, and who did make some promises to the people of Katherine that that problems would be fixed in this Dry Season.
I would like to know if this government loves Katherine so much, what do you have in your budget to keep Katherine out of the water this coming year? There is absolutely nothing in this budget to keep Katherine from flooding again this year. I would like to know from the minister across the floor who thinks that Katherine is closer to his heart – well, it is closer to mine, but I would like my feet dry, thank you.
Mr AH KIT (Sport and Recreation): Madam Speaker, what a pathetic contribution from the member for Katherine, referring to me as ‘the minister across the floor’. Thank you very much. That is the first time it is been done in parliament.
I thank her for patting me on the back in working with council to get the $0.5m for the sports ground facilities. However, Madam Speaker, as I mentioned at the tail end of my ministerial report, I have asked her twice now to take that media release off the web site. She dodged the question. She does not want to take that off the CLP web site. She therefore believes truly that Katherine is a war zone. If I am going to spend $500 000 helping to promote sports facilities in the war zone, so be it.
Member for Katherine, I have no option now but to report to the public of Katherine that you still believe, along with your colleagues, that that is a war zone and you stand condemned.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Okay, can we settle down now? That was most provocative, minister.
Water Fowl Hunting Season
Dr BURNS (Parks and Wildlife): Madam Speaker, I rise to report to the House on a matter of great importance to the many recreational hunters who live in the Northern Territory, the annual water fowl season. The start of the water fowl season is an eagerly awaited event each year for hunters. I am sure that the news I bring to the House today will bring a smile to many faces, particularly those with a hankering for magpie goose pie.
As members would know, the taking of magpie geese in the Territory is controlled according to the provisions contained within the management program for the magpie goose, Anseranas semipalmata, in the Northern Territory of Australia, which was approved on 26 April last year. The management program in this plan identifies a usual hunting season of three months duration from 1 September to 30 November. Extension or reduction of this season depends on the assessment of the population status and seasonal conditions relating to nesting and successful breeding.
I am pleased to inform the House that nesting for the 2003-04 Wet Season has been very good and should result in good hatchings in 2004. Additionally, good rainfall during the past Wet Season and late Wet and early Dry Season should result in good feed availability during the Dry Season and will facilitate successful breeding in 2004. This will result in good population growth in 2004, primarily as a consequence of the early November and December rains
Modelling of magpie goose nesting by the Key Centre for Tropical Wildlife Management indicates that late October-November and early December rain is critical to a successful nesting season. It has long been known that climatic conditions play a major role in determining the relative success of water fowl nesting and migration.
The El Nino effect has been raised as one example of how prevailing weather conditions can impact on water fowl breeding patterns. Current predictions based on the Southern Oscillation Index indicate that this year is unlikely to be an El Nino year. Usually, an El Nino year results in a long Dry Season and a delayed Wet Season.
Work undertaken by officers in the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment has shown that when the current population estimate of 1.6 to 1.8 million is combined with the expectation of good recruitment and survivorship, maintenance of four-month season in 2004 is unlikely to have any negative impact on the magpie goose population.
Based on this information and ongoing consultation with the Northern Territory Firearms Council and other community organisations, I am now announcing that a hunting season of four months duration, from 18 August 2004 to 14 December 2004 will apply this year.
Parks and Wildlife research suggests that recreational hunting has a relatively minor impact on bird numbers compared with other causes of mortality. Naturally, research of water fowl populations will continue and controls will be implemented if it is deemed necessary.
Hunters need to be mindful of certain conditions related to water fowl hunting in the Northern Territory.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: I thought I heard – was that a goose?
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Dr BURNS: A giant goose! As members may be aware …
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS: Do not go out in the hunting season, that’s for sure.
As members may be aware, a ban on the use of lead shot applies to all Parks and Wildlife hunting reserves in order to prevent the build-up of lead in these wetland environments. The reserves to which the ban applies are Shoal Bay Coastal Reserve, Howard Springs Hunting Reserve, Lambells Lagoon and Harrison Dam Hunting Reserve. This ban is a result of an identified serious problem of lead-shot poisoning water fowl and is part of an overall national strategy to combat the problem.
It is also important to remember that all hunters are required to obtain a permit for hunting magpie geese, whether hunting in hunting reserves or on private property. Permits will be available well before the commencement of the season, and the location of where such permits can be acquired will be advertised soon.
The hunting of water fowl is part of the Territory lifestyle. It is our responsibility to manage it and ensure that water fowl numbers are sustainable. I wish everyone well in the water fowl season.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for that. It is good news for hunters of geese in the Top End of the Northern Territory, at least.
When I was Minister for Parks and Wildlife, I extended the season, on the advice of Parks and Wildlife, to allow extended hunting, so it is not a new thing, but I welcome it again this year.
The issue, though, is the permits. You finished on the permits, but you did not say where you could get them. Last year, when you made the same announcement, it was all about some administrative error that would not allow permits to be obtained from sports shops around Darwin, Palmerston and the rural area. That caused great concern in the community for hunters. It made it difficult for Parks and Wildlife officers who had to then distribute these permits.
You have had a year to fix it, and you have not yet told us that we will be able to go to sports shops to get our permits, as we used to in the past. It is a very convenient way of making sure the permits are available to the community. If you would like to elaborate on that and assure Territorians that things are like they were in the past, easy access to permits through sports shops, that would be very good news.
You were the minister who went to Katherine and promised them their drain money, and that they would fix it. It seems to me, minister, to end with a quote for you, that at the moment what you are saying is, Darwin is getting the water fowl; Katherine is getting the foul water.
Members interjecting.
Dr BURNS (Parks and Wildlife): Madam Speaker, my report was about water fowl and magpie geese. I would welcome a question on the Katherine issue during Question Time today. In terms, of …
Mr Baldwin: Why? Answer it now.
Dr BURNS: No, no. You have your time this afternoon. I could answer it, but in the minute I have left, I want to talk about the relevant issue you have raised. I want to see easier availability of licences to hunters, and I will undertake the report back to the House on that.
Members interjecting.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Pass all stages
Pass all stages
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Appropriation Bill 2004-05 (Serial 234) passing through all stages at this sittings.
Motion agreed to.
SPECIAL ADJOURNMENT
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly at its rising adjourn until 1 pm on Friday 25 June 2004, or such other time as notified by the Speaker, with one hour’s notice being given to government and opposition whips and members by the Speaker or such other time and/or date as may be advised by the Speaker pursuant to Sessional Order.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Routine of Business
Routine of Business
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the routine of business for Friday, 25 June 2004, be as follows: prayers, petitions, notices, government business pursuant to resolution of the Assembly dated 18 May 2004, and adjournment.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Postponement of Business
Postponement of Business
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that intervening government business be postponed until after consideration of Government Business Notice No 3 relating to the Teacher Registration (Northern Territory) Bill 2004 (Serial 239) and Orders of the Day No 1 relating to the Appropriation Bill 2004-05 (Serial 234) in that order.
Motion agreed to.
TEACHER REGISTRATION (NORTHERN TERRITORY) BILL
(Serial 239)
(Serial 239)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr STIRLING (Education, Employment and Training): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The purpose of this bill is to regulate the teaching profession in the Northern Territory and to raise the status and standards of teaching.
The bill fulfills the government’s commitment to establish an independent Teacher Registration Board under its own legislation to promote teaching as an attractive employment option and to regulate the profession on behalf of teachers. The bill is the Territory’s contribution to Australia-wide efforts to ensure that we have quality teachers, recognised as professionals, working with children and young people in our government and non-government schools.
Part 2 of the proposed act sets up a 12 member Teacher Registration Board, with 10 members, either teachers or educators, representing teacher employers, teacher unions, indigenous teachers, parents, Charles Darwin University, Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and teacher professional associations. The term of appointment is for four years.
The board’s functions are to register teachers, or grant authorisation to an employer to employ an unregistered person, liaise with providers of teacher education and professional development in the Northern Territory, to develop appropriate courses, and to develop a code of ethics for Territory teachers.
The board will promote the profession, establish professional standards for teachers based on broad consultation, and regulate the profession through qualifications and criminal history checks and investigation and prosecution of breaches of this act. The board has the power to suspend or cancel registration or authorisation, to share information with other teacher registration authorities, and to charge a fee for provision of the service.
Part 3 allows for the administration of the board, with a director appointed by the minister. Meeting processes are set out and confidentiality of proceedings and disclosure of interest are required. The board has power to establish committees, which will enable broad teacher participation in the professional work of the board.
Part 4 requires that a register of teachers is kept, and may be inspected on payment of a fee, but that a teacher’s private details, such as personal address, must not be available for inspection. Registration is granted on the basis of a minimum set by the minister on the advice of the board, good character as indicated by criminal history check and other matters the board considers relevant.
Mutual recognition of this teacher registration by other registration authorities in Australia or New Zealand is prescribed by mutual recognition legislation already in place. The director may issue an Interim Certificate of Registration once the qualifications and criminal history checks are satisfied pending board endorsement at its next meeting. This will enable staffing arrangements at schools to be expedited while maintaining the integrity of the checking process. There are appeal provisions against the board’s refusal to register.
Part 5 allows for the board to grant employers authorisation to employ unregistered persons as teachers under circumstances where the employer convinces the board that the educational outcomes for students are safeguarded. The authorisation is granted for no more than a calendar year. There is no appeal against refusal to grant authorisation.
Part 6 creates the inquiry and discipline processes of the board, where the board investigates complaints about a registered teacher’s or authorised employee’s professional conduct or fitness to teach. If it is considered necessary, the board has the capacity to suspend registration or authorisation at any stage after receiving a complaint. Appeals against decisions may be made to the Local Court.
If found guilty of a sexual offence under the Criminal Code, a registered teacher’s registration is automatically cancelled and an authorisation is revoked. An inquiry may be requested to rescind the cancellation or revocation.
Part 7 creates offences of employing unregistered persons, teaching unregistered without authorisation, and false or misleading statements and penalties for these offences.
Part 8 provides for transfer of information between the board, the Commissioner of the Northern Territory Police Service, and the employer in respect of matters that should be investigated by the police. This section also provides for immunity from liability of the director and staff, annual returns and reports, notifications and regulations.
Part 9 allows for transitional provisions for teachers currently employed, but without four-year qualifications. The teachers who have three-year qualifications may be registered if the board is satisfied that the teacher is competent. This will include relief teachers who have been employed on a casual basis in the year that the act commences. Teachers employed before criminal history checks were made must undergo such a check, but will not be required to pay the fee for the check. The registration fee paid in 2004 will cover registration until the end of 2005.
Madam Speaker, this bill provides for the regulation of the teaching profession by the profession through a Teacher Registration Board. Its aim is to deliver quality teaching and probity checks for all teachers in government and non-government schools throughout the Territory. Research shows that good teachers make a difference in the educational achievements of children and young people. I commend the bill to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
APPROPRIATION BILL 2004-05
(Serial 234)
(Serial 234)
Continued from 16 June 2004.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Madam Speaker, this is a responsible and sustainable budget that will enhance the lifestyle of people in the Northern Territory, provides record cash in respect to infrastructure spending, which will boost the Northern Territory’s economy but will also provide record spending in health, education and community safety.
I do not propose to go into every specific area. They have been dealt with by ministers and other speakers. However, I would like to refer to initiatives in my electorate of Barkly and, if I may, highlight how I believe they will enhance the Barkly’s ongoing social and economic development.
Clearly, one of the big winners in the budget is the Carpentaria Highway. Most members will be aware that for prolonged periods of the year over the last few years, this road has been cut as a result of excessive rain. Obviously, there was a drainage problem at around about the 120 km mark, or near the Tanumbirini area, and that impacted upon the capacity of businesses to get freight into Borroloola and on to Robinson River. It also impacted on the mining industry, those people based out at McArthur River Mine, and on the lifestyle of people who cannot get into Katherine for hospital or for other purposes. Most people will be aware that this flooding occurs over that Christmas period. The $4.8m that has been allocated to the Carpentaria is very significant in the context of growing that region of the Northern Territory.
There are other initiatives that relate to Borroloola. I am very pleased that during the next year or so, there will be two boat ramps constructed in my region; one will be built at Mule Creek near the Bing Bong port. That is an interesting development in the sense that it is a joint operation between the private sector - that is Xtrata, which used to be MRM - and the Northern Territory government. My understanding is that Xtrata is going to provide some of the road infrastructure, the access, and the Territory government will be providing capital dollars for construction. That will enable traditional owners to access the islands, but will also open up recreational fishing. It is the closest point out to the open sea, and I know that it will be used extensively by not only locals at Borroloola, but people travelling to the Gulf region for recreational fishing.
The other boat ramp will be built in Borroloola this year at a site yet to be determined. It will be within the township itself, either on Rocky Creek or on the McArthur River. This will open up recreational fishing opportunities for locals and visitors to Borroloola, but will also grow the recreational fishing tourist industry in Borroloola. I understand there is only one tour operator at the moment in Borroloola and I suspect that if we get the marketing right, Borroloola can grow in terms of recreational fishing opportunities.
The other thing of significance in the area is the $150 000 allocated to the Savannah Highway for marketing. I have often said in his House that the Gulf region is one of the jewels in the crown for our tourism potential but has not been recognised in the past, particularly by the previous CLP government. I am confident that the $150 000 for the Savannah Highway will go a long way to boosting the tourism industry in Borroloola.
Also, in that area there is a small amount allocated to Robinson River School, Mungoorbada, $8000 for a play area. It may not seem significant, but when you are living in the bush it provides a safe haven and pleasant place for the kids to play, so that is very welcome.
I am going to roam all over the Barkly for this exercise because other roads in the Barkly are targeted. There is approximately $110 000 for Rankin Road, which is a beef road connecting Wollogorang from the Tablelands Highway. That will go to fixing some of the trouble spots and is critical for the cattle industry getting its cattle out to market.
I am pleased to be associated with the allocation of $150 000 for the Nutwood Downs jump–up. Nutwood Downs is a cattle property about 110 km east of the Stuart Highway, just past the Highway Inn. In the past, the Nutwood Downs proprietors and people from Hodgson River Station had difficulty getting their cattle out to the Stuart Highway and on to the markets at either Darwin or down south. The reason for that is the jump-up is excessive and they could not access it. They had to bring in a bulldozer or grader to pull the cattle trucks over the jump-up. That is a good initiative and shows that the Martin Labor government is committed to providing appropriate infrastructure that provides opportunities to grow the economy in the bush, particularly pastoral properties, but also people from Miniyeri, Hodgson Downs, also use that road. That will provide a real boost to people in that area.
There is $680 000 for rehabilitation and widening of the Stuart Highway. That has to be done, but the bottom line is it will provide private sector contractors the opportunity to engage in work, which means more jobs, more dollars in to the Territory, more dollars locally.
There is a further $470 000 for pavement rehabilitation on local roads and, again, local contractors are the winners there. They spend locally so it all grows the community.
Out at Canteen Creek, which is an indigenous community about 210 km to the south-east of Tennant Creek, there is $160 000 for new rising mains at that community, which will improve the quality of life for people. There are ongoing dollars for the provision of water to Epenarra, which is a small indigenous community in the same area. They have had difficulties in the past in accessing adequate quantities so the ongoing dollars allocated in this year’s budget will provide a real boost to the people who live there and to people from Epenarra Station. They source the same supply, so it is good for everyone in that area.
I understand there is a $300 000 re-vote for the main drain in Tennant Creek and, like Katherine, although not to the same extent, we also experience flooding. Part of the $300 000 will go towards alleviating flood problems.
There are two little grants that will flow to communities or towns in my electorate. They are not big, but their potential is immense for growing the respective communities. The first one is a $75 000 grant to the Elliott District Council. That is to do some landscaping on the Stuart Highway. For those who may not be familiar, Elliott is a small town with a population of about 600-odd and is reliant on passing tourist trade. I have been in discussions with them for a long time about how they might be able to enhance their town to entice people to stop. This $75 000 is going to go a long way to landscaping the Stuart Highway. I do not know precisely what they are going to do, but I am sure that it will be appropriate and that it will entice people to stop in Elliott. Whilst it does not represent big dollars, its potential in the long term is great.
The other grant for Elliott, again related to tourism, is the Longreach area, which is 15-20 km to the west of town, a world-class wildlife sanctuary, particularly for birds. Work is continuing on that. Discussions are occurring between the traditional owners and the Tourism Commission. It is little things like this that are really important and provide a base for growing the bush communities, and particularly communities in my electorate.
Another one, of which minister Burns will be aware, is Corella Creek. We went out to Brunette Downs and met with the people from Corella Creek. It is a small community of about 30 people on the Tablelands Highway, just past Brunette Downs. We held meetings with them and they indicated very clearly to the minister that they were looking at some sort of tourism enterprise that would grow there community. This year, there has been an allocation of $10 000 to that community. Now, a lot of people might think: ‘What can you do with $10 000?’ There are two options for them. One is to employ consultants to determine how they develop a tourist industry. The other is to add to their existing infrastructure. The community is about 3 km off the road. What they wanted to do is provide a small caravan park with toilet facilities and barbecue facilities essentially to get the passing tourists travelling through to Borroloola from the eastern states and people travelling from Borroloola through to the Barkly Highway. I really hope that $10 000 does grow into something big because it is a way that indigenous communities in the bush should be working and trying to develop options for bringing in dollars. All it really takes is a sign out the front, a few bough sheds you have a bit of a business starting. To the Corella Creek people, I believe that will be very important.
The other real big winner for Tennant Creek this year is the power generation upgrade in Tennant Creek. Electricity has been fairly unreliable in the past, and obviously impacts on businesses and community members. Without a reliable power supply, it is hard to run or plan a business. The provision of $9m for new gas turbine generators in Tennant Creek will provide that reliability and consistency for businesses and people planning ahead.
There is another issue I will raise whilst talking about power generation in Tennant Creek. I have had discussions with ministers in the past about this. It has become an issue and I hope that down the track, we will be able to address it. If you have two gas turbine generators producing X kilowatts, obviously the question is: what do we do with the unused capacity? My advice is that there will be significant unused capacity in the power generation supply. Obviously, there is a challenge now to PowerWater of how they want to use that unused capacity. It would be seem logical to me, and it is subject to the nature of competition, but there is infrastructure at Warrego smelter. There is infrastructure at the Chariot Mine, which started last year. There is also infrastructure in place at the proposed Peko rehabilitation project to the east of town.
At the moment, there is a company from Western Australia providing power by diesel generation and obviously they have been able to do that at a better price. Given that these places have the infrastructure in place, I ask PowerWater to give further consideration to what they might want to do there in the long term because I believe there is immense potential in the Tennant Creek area, particularly in respect of mining, if PowerWater gets in early.
Whilst I am on the mining industry in my electorate, $7m was allocated in the budget for the construction of a bulk handling facility at Darwin’s East Arm Port. That was, as I understand it, very much subject to Bootu Resources, which is developing a mine 110 km to the north of Tennant Creek. It is still subject to some compliance; but I am confident that the mine will go ahead. That is welcome and, again, provides that focus for companies that want to come into the Barkly and the bush, knowing that you have the facilities to offload your product overseas. It grows the economy right across the Territory.
There are some real opportunities in how we as a government approach Bootu and address value-adding to Tennant Creek. I have had discussions with Duncan Beggs, who is a project consultant with Bootu Resources, and with the minister for business, and I know that both parties are very keen to establish some sort of task force or relationship that will provide a focus at a local level in terms of value-adding to the community - not only to businesses, but also to provide employment opportunities. That is something that I look forward to, minister, and I am sure that it will happen.
I pay tribute to the Minister for Mines and Energy, who came to Tennant Creek earlier in the year and had discussions with people from the mining industry, specifically Giants Reef. There was a need for further dollars for geomagnetic surveys in the immediate vicinity around Tennant Creek. I note that there is $600 000 in the budget this year for that purpose. Again, that provides real confidence at a local level to grow jobs. It is interesting to note that since Giants Reef has been in production, there have been a host of other companies that have moved in. The reason is that this government has been very supportive of the mining industry and mining companies at a local level.
The other item of interest is the Peko rehabilitation. My advice is that they will start production of magnetite in August this year; it may be a little bit later. It demonstrates that where you have the private sector working with government and a strong focus from a local community perspective – and I am talking about the town council and the indigenous organisations working together - you can grow the local economy.
Some other initiatives in my electorate, not necessarily in order, but still very significant, include $64 000 and $8000 allocated to Tennant Creek schools for shade. We know how important providing adequate shade is in Tennant and in the bush. It enhances the schools and the kids and it provides extra dollars for local contractors in the community. There is also a re-vote of $1.062m for the renal unit in Tennant Creek and, contrary to thoughts at the time going back a few years where there were a lot of negative points of view put by the opposition that this would not work, I am very pleased and proud to say that it is working well …
Mr Bonson: And saving people’s lives.
Mr McADAM: It is working well and it is saving people’s lives. It shows that where there is a will, there is a way, and if there is a commitment on the part of government to improve the quality of life for people, it can be done. You do not have to put up weak-kneed, contemptuous responses to justify why you do not have the political will. That is great, the $1.62m, because it is going to provide dollars for local builders and the smaller companies in Tennant Creek are also going to get dollars out of that.
Similarly, the $225 000 for the upgrade of the Ali Curung police station is great news. I know the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services is making plans to come down there and open that in the next month or so. I was down there last week and I was quite pleased to see the progress of the work, but, more importantly, to see local contractors doing the work.
I am sure the minister will take this on board: perhaps consideration could be given to a joint opening with the traditional owners or someone chosen by the local council. Ali Curung has a proud history. It is the forerunner to the Kurduju Committee and it would be very fitting if someone like Marjorie Limbiari or Gwen Brown shares the honours at the opening of that building.
There is a re-vote of the $0.5m for the Warrego to Lajamanu Road. I have spoken about it in the House previously and, as I said at the time, it is subject to discussions with the traditional owners and the CLC. Discussions are occurring and are promising and something is going to arise from them. I can fully understand the concerns of the people at Mungawarra who believe that there may be excessive alcohol brought on that road, which is not far from their community, and that will impact upon their lifestyle. They are looking at options in terms of allowing that road to be opened up and, as I say, it will provide an immense boost for the tourist industry. It will be a short-cut through to Western Australia, it will open up mining into that area and provide tourism opportunities. I know those dollars are a re-vote, but it is important that they are there when negotiations have been finalised.
There is a $750 000 allocation to the Tennant Creek Hospital to upgrade fire protection, which is critically required. Another initiative that is very important is the $280 000 allocated to the Battery Hill Mining Centre, Stage 1. Those who have been to the mining centre will recognise that it is a unique tourist entity that has a lot of potential down the track. These dollars will be used for improved signage, vehicle and pedestrian entrances, car parking and visitor amenities. That is welcome and will provide a real boost to the local tourist industry and to local businesses.
There are dollars allocated to the Barkly Regional Tourist Association. Those dollars are part of the $27m allocated for tourism. The Chief Minister is coming down in August to launch that strategy, and my understanding is that there something in excess of $120 000 for that purpose. It will provide a real focus because it is not just going to become tourism, it is marketing, which is the way to grow the industry.
There were some other initiatives that, whilst small, are very important including $145 000 for soccer facilities in Borroloola and Tennant Creek, and I thank the Minister for Sport and Recreation for that. It shows people in the bush that you care about them. For them to have their own change rooms and extra facilities is very important, particularly so visiting teams do not have to get changed under a tree. It just shows that, despite all the criticism, people do care about them. That also applies to the soccer kids in Tennant Creek with $28 000, if I remember rightly, for them, which is all good news.
An important initiative was $70 000 for Ryan’s Bend, which is near Bohemia Downs, which is a small cattle property and has big potential for tourism. That money is to fix up a crossing, so hope the Lanson family, my family out there at Bohemia Downs, is pleased about that because it will give them a lot more access into Bohemia Downs and Borroloola. It will also give them confidence to develop Bohemia Downs as a premier tourist resort. There are plans afoot for that to happen.
This is a sustainable budget; it is a development budget, and, as I have said to people around the Barkly, it takes time to get things done. The last three budgets of the Martin Labor government have provided people in the Barkly and other bush communities a basis upon which to build. If you are providing dollars in terms of infrastructure or tourism and business development, you are allowing a real opportunity for communities in the bush to grow. That is something sadly neglected by the previous CLP government. We know why they did it, and they can answer for that it at any time. That is why I am so proud to be associated with the Martin Labor government, with a Treasurer who recognises the significance and importance of people who live in the bush and provide appropriate dollar resources for its development. To the Treasurer, I say a job well done, and I look forward to even more goodies next year.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, this is my first response to an Appropriation Bill since I was elected member for Katherine last October.
Mr Ah Kit: Member for the War Zone.
Mrs MILLER: You are the War Zone, minister.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Arnhem, I ask you to withdraw that personal comment. Withdraw it.
Mr AH KIT: I withdraw.
Mrs MILLER: I do not intend to dissect and compare all the figures that are in the budget papers because, as you know, there is a mountain of them to go through, and I am finding them formidable, but I would like to address some areas of concern.
First, the HIH levy has finally been removed, and not before time because it has put a lot of pressure on small business throughout the Territory, and it was an impost that we didn’t need. I especially felt it before I was elected to this Assembly. I had a small business for which we had several vehicles and this levy was very much an impost on us. I know it still is to a lot of small businesses and I know that they will be delighted to see that it is removed. The medium businesses, of course, are going to be fairly happy with the payroll tax cuts that have been introduced in this budget, and rightly so. Do not forget, of course, that there are over 85% of small businesses that have fewer than 10 employees, and all of those businesses are looking for some extra hands to assist them to keep their doors open.
I have been unable to find anywhere in this budget, and I talked about it very briefly this morning, any reference to the drains at Tindal and Katherine. I want to talk a little about this because this affects a lot of people in Katherine. Since Tindal was built some 15 years ago, there has been a lot of new development in that area, from Tindal to Katherine, including the extension of the airport runway which, in turn, has allowed some 300 km2 of surface water to collect in one area at the end of the Tindal runway and it comes underneath the Stuart Highway. That one area of water now heads towards the Katherine Research Station and, this year, flooded it several times. I am talking about the buildings at the research centre, not the grounds.
The water swirls around from that area, goes underneath the Stuart Highway again, through some residential properties and, unfortunately, has flooded several of those houses on several occasions last Wet Season. There was a drain there, built some time ago, but then there are unmarked and undefined areas where the water now collects and heads off towards and underneath Uralla Road, where it has gouged out an unmanned, unmarked drain, and that has also gone through several businesses and homes and has caused a lot of damage.
It continues on until it finally reaches an area at the end of Bicentennial Road and Victoria Highway, where it meets a drain that takes the water right through Katherine; it starts from the other side of Knotts Crossing, comes through the centre of Katherine, past the Katherine Show Grounds and then collects in one area. So we have an accumulation of water at the end of Bicentennial Road and Victoria Highway. The volume that collected there this year had absolutely no hope of being able to be dispersed quickly enough without back-flooding into premises and, of course, the premises so severely affected was Hobbitt’s Auto Electrics. They went under water six times this year, so their frustration is very keen. He has spent a lot of money establishing his business over 15 years in that spot on the corner of Bicentennial Road and Victoria Highway, and not once in that 15 years has he even looked like being flooded, with the exception of 1998, when every single one of us who lived in Katherine was under water.
This situation has been extremely stressful for the people of Katherine, the residents who live on Victoria Highway in the area that is affected and the businesses in that area. As it turned out, in one instance, even the business that my husband still owns and runs, Red Gum Tourist Park, was also severely affected. The minister did visit Katherine the day after that unfortunate incident to witness the challenges faced by the people and businesses along Victoria Highway. I would welcome the minister’s response to the situation and news of what this Labor government is going to do to help Katherine and to ensure that this terrible situation does not happen again in the coming Wet Season. I would like to see where that has been addressed in this budget.
I know that the Katherine Town Council is responsible for the drains that go through the town itself; they have been maintained well and kept clean and clear of debris, so the problem lies in establishing and redefining, widening, and, in some cases, deepening the drains that come from Tindal through Katherine and on towards the river. I am not an engineer, but it does not take an engineer to work out that there are some fairly simple, inexpensive things that could be put in place to ensure that the flow of water gets away a lot quicker than it does. The government is fully aware of the drainage problems in Katherine, and I will ensure that questions are put on the matter in Estimates.
In the area of tourism, the additional funding over the next three years, of course, has been very well received by the industry. It needs a lot of additional funding. In the last two years, a lot of things have happen internationally that have impacted on tourism throughout Australia. However, we did not promote the Territory as much as the other states and territories and, as a result, we are lagging behind. Our figures show that our increase in tourism numbers has not been as good as that of other states and territories, and it is definitely as a result of the lack of marketing dollars to the tourism industry. It has taken us a little longer to recover from what has happened internationally.
I have discovered since becoming a member of this Assembly that a lot of political stuff happens on this floor and people seem to like slamming people on the other side. I do not particularly want to fall into that category, but I must stress that tourism is an extremely important economic factor to this Territory, and I am sure that members are fully aware of its importance. It is a reflection on the Martin Labor government that they took two-and-a-half years to discover the importance of tourism.
We have had four Tourism ministers in that time, and it is very good that the Chief Minister has decided that it is such an important portfolio that she has become the fourth Tourism minister. For that, I am grateful. However, one of the things she has to do is look at tourism resources that are not promoted terribly well. One of them is our lovely Ghan that has been rumbling through the Territory since the beginning of this year. It was the realisation of long-term planning. The government, I know, has put over $100m towards this project. However, one of the things that is vitally important is to ensure some tourism industry packages and the tourism industry’s involvement with Great Southern Rail. Obviously, the government did not collaborate very well with GSR to secure packages for our tourism industry.
It is now extremely difficult to get those packages in place and is presenting quite a challenge to us. I believe that GSR owes people of the Territory a debt to ensure that they allow tourism packages on board The Ghan. They are making one heck of a lot of money; some $30m in passenger tickets since The Ghan started in February, and do not seem to be cooperating terribly well with the tourism industry.
There are far too many complaints from people arriving on The Ghan and not knowing what is available for them to do. I have a few suggestions for them, one of which is tourism ambassadors on the train who could board the train at Alice Springs and come to Darwin. We need several trained, of course, because there would be one per week. They would also need to do the return trip so that they are able to explain to passengers on The Ghan exactly what is available for them at each stop. This may take 12 months for The Ghan to realise how important it is, but I could guarantee that response from passengers on the train to what is available to them up and down the track would be much better. There would be fewer negative reports and I am sure that you would find the passengers would have overall satisfaction.
Another area that is extremely important that the government needs to address is railway stations. At Tennant Creek, it is unfortunate that they have to pull in at night, so it is a little difficult for them to see a lot. In Katherine, we have them early morning, around eight o’clock. The railway stations were built in a big hurry. I compliment the builders and contractors that were involved in making sure that they were completed on time.
We have gone through the initial rush and the excitement of The Ghan arriving, but we are not going back to finish those railway stations properly. There are far too many complaints. I will talk about Katherine only at this stage; because Katherine’s railway station is quite cold, hard and unwelcoming. Most passengers are elderly and they are looking for a nice, relaxing, one-off major holiday to the Territory and they have been waiting for a long time to do it on the train through the centre of Australia. Most of them have a little challenge: the great big drop from the train step to the platform. It has presented quite a few problems. We have not taken care of our passengers being able to get off those trains. We need some steps with railings to be provided so that people can get off the train, step down and hang on to the railing as they are getting down. We need those for exit from and entry to the train.
Because The Ghan is such a long train, we need to have a pick-up facility of some sort. I watched some elderly people, who quite distressed, trying to get back on to the train. It was such a long distance for them to walk, and some of them were handicapped in some way, some disability. A poor man on the first train had spent a fortune - he and his wife were in their eighties and they had the honeymoon car. I thought that was rather sweet - and he had paid for his two daughters, husbands and children to travel on that train. When he went to reboard in Katherine, the train doors on his carriage were locked, as they were on all of the carriages bar two. The poor gentleman didn’t know that and walked to the end of the train, then in a distressed state walked back and had to go another three carriages down the platform and board at that carriage, then complete the walk again through the carriages. We need to look at how we are helping our passengers feel welcome and special.
At the moment, they have to do the big jump on to the platform, then they have to stand in the midday sun. This time of the year, they are standing in the sun and, for us, it is beautifully pleasant, but for a lot of people from down south, it is far too hot. We have no shelter. Of course, in the Wet Season, we are not going to have any shelter from the rain.
You can imagine pulling up at a station on The Ghan and seeing no shade, no way of being able to exit and re-enter the carriage and no way of getting in to the railway station quickly. It needs to be addressed very quickly because I have had quite a few complaints on my e-mail, by regular mail and arising from personal visits to my office, which is situated in the main street. I invite these people to come in and they do let me know about it.
There also needs to be a lot of signage installed at the railway stations to let people know what there is around the area and what is relevant to that area and for some people who have chosen not to, for one reason or another, come in to the town to look around, there is absolutely nothing inside this railway station to keep them stimulated. There should be videos set up in the corner of the station that has a video loop explaining everything that there is in the Territory because they are there long enough to be able to learn about the whole Territory, not just about one region, but an overview of the NT.
I emphasise the importance of a tourism ambassador boarding the train in Alice Springs and doing the return trip. GSR needs to be accountable for the comfort, safety and the overall satisfaction of their passengers. We need to make sure that we supply all that and then it is a win-win for all.
Another area that is mentioned in the budget and has been discussed is roadside stops. The importance of having roadside stops within the Territory was highlighted, unfortunately, by the tragic death last week of a tourist south of Katherine who was driving his four-wheel drive towing a caravan and obviously felt the need to have a rest. I am not sure of the circumstances relating to this dreadful tragedy, but it resulted in a road train running in to the side of the vehicle and the gentleman was killed.
One of the ways we can overcome a recurrence of this terrible tragedy is if roadside rest areas are on either side of the road at the same location so that there is no need for a tourist to try to cross the centre line and to go on to the wrong side of the road. That is one way of doing it.
Roadside areas present another challenge. Several years ago, the Caravan Industry Association of the Northern Territory and the regional tourist associations voted to get rid of roadside stops in several locations and the reason for that vote at the time was that too many travellers were using them as overnight stops. Not only did they use them as overnight stops, but there are no facilities there - and I would certainly never recommend that there be facilities there – and people were using the surrounding areas as toilets, leaving their rubbish and, generally, roadside stops were becoming quite an eyesore. It was a problem to maintain them, so we proposed to the Northern Territory government that we would have roadside stops removed in several locations, which did happen, and I am grateful for that. The maintenance of these is very important because they start looking like rubbish dumps so it is important to strategically locate them where they can be maintained.
One of the things I would like to see happen that would end up being a win-win situation for all is for the roadside stops or rest areas to be located next to the wayside inns that are already established. The reason I am suggesting that is because what is happening is that most of these caravaners are self-contained. The modern caravaner is self-contained with shower, toilet and all these …
A member: Air conditioners.
Mrs MILLER: Yes, airconditioning, it has everything on board. They have spent $50 000 on this wonderful mobile home, and they are a little reluctant to go into an accommodation area where they have to pay for power. They do not mind doing that every second, third or fourth night, but most times they like to stay somewhere for free because they are able to do that.
What I am suggesting that the wayside inns and roadhouses, which are now going through a pretty rough time because we have these people in their wonderful caravans and four-wheel-drives pulling up nearby. They come and use the toilet facilities, they go through - and I know this might seem very superficial to this House, but it is extremely irritating to most of these providers - and one area alone uses a dozen toilet rolls a day and would never have a retail sale so they are pretty annoyed about this.
A solution would be to establish these roadside stop areas next to wayside inns. What would happen is that the tourists are still going to come in and use the toilets and other facilities and take the free coffee or tea, because there is always a free coffee or tea, and leave. They would still do this, but what we need to do is pay the wayside inn owners and roadhouses to maintain and clean those areas. If the government paid them to maintain those roadside stops or rest areas and they were clearly defined next to the wayside inns and roadhouses, it would be a win-win for all. At present, it is very difficult for these owners not to be slightly annoyed with the tourists instead of welcoming them. I suggest that we make it a win-win for everyone; we would have the roadside inns, wayside inns, roadhouses, and travellers all happy.
As for rest areas between locations, most of the stops are very strategically placed. There are roadhouses and wayside inns, in some instances, every 100 km, but some people like to stop out in the middle of nowhere. I suggest to the government that roadside rest areas need to be set up on either side of the road, half way between these established wayside inns. Hopefully, we will never see a recurrence of the incident that occurred last week with the tragic death of a traveller.
Gateways are another area that I would like to see addressed. Our first major stops inside the Territory border should have well stocked information bays of generic product to give the tourist a taste of the choices they have. For example, at Kulgera, either at Threeways or Barkly Homestead …
Mr Elferink: Avon Downs.
Mrs MILLER: Yes! And Timber Creek are the first stops inside the border and, of course, we have Hell’s Gate or Woollogorang coming across there and especially Threeways is crucial to supplying information north and south, which could decide which way the road tourist will travel.
There is plenty of travelling distance for the co-driver to be reading all this material and exploring tour options before their arrival at the next town or region. This also gives the possibility for another night’s stay to explore.
One of the areas in tourism that was addressed in the Tourism Development Master Plan 2000-05 is that some major Top End visitor attractions are closed for up to seven months of the year, and the Territory cannot continue to legitimately market these areas as all-round destinations. Some major Top End visitor attractions are closed for such a significant length of time because of access issues. That is a really important issue for us to look at.
One of the other areas that I noticed in the budget figures is that the spend by the affluent traveller is pretty great, and we need to encourage the affluent traveller to the Territory. One of the ways to do that is to provide facilities at which they would be encouraged to stay. Recommendations at page 40 of the Tourism Development Master Plan 2000-05 included:
promote and facilitate the development of destinational resorts in Darwin and Alice Springs;
promote and facilitate the development of themed wilderness lodges in or adjacent to Northern
Territory national parks; and
promote and facilitate the development of safari camps of appropriate standards in national parks
and other identified locations.
I cannot stress enough the importance of lifting the profile of the Territory to international tourists. We have international tourists arriving in Sydney and in Darwin who are met by a specified driver. I will use as an example Far Out Adventures, which was established in Katherine and now operates from interstate. He has very high-paying customers who are quite happy to spend up to $10 000 each on a two-week trip from Sydney, but mainly focussed on the Northern Territory and the top end of Western Australia. We have tourists who have the money; we need to supply the facilities. If we can encourage more to come - because there are plenty there who are prepared to come to the Territory; it is still seen as an adventure area - I suggest it is in the government’s interests to address those areas for the affluent adventurer.
There was to have been a feasibility study by 2003 addressing the issue of a coastal resort in Darwin. I would like to know from the government whether it has been done, where the report is, and the outcomes of the report.
There are some good times ahead for tourism, but we must not fail to consider the affluent adventure tourist from whom we can make a lot more dollars for the Territory. I look forward to seeing what is going to happen in the next 12 months.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, today I support budget 2004-05, a great budget. I congratulate the Treasurer for a budget that delivers less tax, more jobs and great lifestyle.
This is a budget that sees record health, education and police budgets. It also sees the highest infrastructure spending - $441m - which will sustain 4000 jobs and see upgrades to schools, including Nightcliff Primary School, and Royal Darwin Hospital. There is also a record $60m injection for tourism infrastructure and $119m for roads.
I will cover some of the main points of the budget and then look at some of the specifics in relation to my own electorate of Nightcliff.
The budget delivered record tax cuts for business, resulting in the Territory becoming the lowest taxing jurisdiction for small business. Locally-based Territory businesses with a payroll of less than $1m will not pay any payroll tax at all from 1 July 2005, removing a disincentive to business growth and employment. From 1 July this year, the threshold moves from $600 000 to $800 000. This means that, from July 2005, $7.2m a year will be saved by business, and this will effect around 162 businesses with the average saving for a locally-based Territory business being $20 500 per business, a great incentive for small businesses to take on more staff and grow their businesses.
One of the most significant items in the budget is the removal of the HIH levy. This levy has been abolished on all workers compensation policies written on or after 18 May 2004, eight years early. The government is now absorbing the full cost of the outstanding claims left after the collapse of HIH. This is a huge saving for business with $2.7m saved by 6600 Territory businesses in 2004-05. It means that a small business with 20 employees will be on average $800 a year better off, while medium sized businesses with 40 employees will save on average $1600. I know that these business initiatives have been very well received by small business. I have attended a couple of business forums since the coming down of the budget and they are very pleased with initiatives in the budget and believe they will assist in the continued growth of the business community in Darwin.
Another area of the budget that will also see the delivery of jobs in Territory is the huge infrastructure budget of $441m. The infrastructure program is targeted at tourism, roads and strategic development. It includes record cash spending in capital works, minor new works and repairs and maintenance. This spending is estimated to sustain 4000 jobs. The total program for Territory roads and national highways totals $108.7m with a cash spend of $79.8m. These figures mean that this government has spent $1.3bn on strategic infrastructure since coming to government, a fantastic spend.
As part of this package, there is a significant boost in upgrading public housing with $7m to replace and improve government housing; $6m to construct new government employee housing; $3m for the renewal of public housing; and $1m to construct public housing in Alice Springs. These initiatives are essential and to be applauded. Good quality, well maintained public housing is essential in a civil society and I know that the residents of public housing in my electorate, particularly those of John Stokes Square, will be very happy this continued program of upgrades and maintenance. I congratulate the Minister for Housing for this work.
The budget also contains new infrastructure funding targeted at community safety, including $8m for a new low security gaol at the Darwin Correction Centre, a much-needed facility. I congratulate the Attorney-General for this and the review of the correctional services area, which will result in significant reforms in corrections.
Tourism is vital to the growth of the Territory and this budget delivers on tourism infrastructure, specifically $60m of infrastructure. Driving holidays are one of the highlights of our Territory tourism industry and I was very pleased to see a spend of $38m to seal the Mereenie Loop Road over three years, with $10m in 2004-05; $15m to seal the Litchfield Loop Road over three years, with $4.5m in 2004-05; and $500 000 for improvements to roadside rests and safety signage. These changes will mean great improvements to the tourism driving experience for Territorians and tourists alike. I particularly look forward to the improvements to the Litchfield Park Loop Road, which will mean families from Darwin and tourists will be able to enjoy day trips to Litchfield and a great Territory experience.
I was also pleased to see funding for the upgrade of facilities at the Territory Wildlife Park, including a new Bat Chat area entrance, upgrading of an interpretive display and installing hand rails at the Territory Wildlife Park, as well as $1.3m for maintenance of Darwin’s George Brown Botanic Gardens.
Not only are these initiatives great for our tourism industry, they are great for Territory families and help to further enhance our fabulous lifestyle. The Territory Wildlife Park has, over the years, become a major tourist attraction for Darwin, which is excellent. I would like to see more marketing of the Territory Wildlife Park because it is a family-friendly place at a reasonable cost and is easily accessible from Darwin. I was very pleased to see those improvements for the Territory Wildlife Park in the budget. The Bat Chat area is one I have always enjoyed visiting with my children, although they are getting a bit big now and it is probably a bit too blas for them at this stage in their lives, but we always take family and visitors down there because it is a great place to go for a picnic.
Creating jobs is a focus of the budget and this budget will deliver on the Territory’s first ever Jobs Plan, a $160m three-year blueprint to develop a skilled Territory work force. The funding includes $11.75m to support 2400 apprentices and trainees in around 180 discrete qualifications across 16 industry sectors. There is $1.2m over three years for pre-vocational training programs in the automotive, electrical and aviation sectors; and $38m for a broad range of vocational education and training programs and courses. These are welcome initiatives aimed mainly at young people; the future of the Territory.
Might I say something that this government is really concentrating on is the future of our young people and it is one of the reasons that many of us decide to become members of parliament. Our young people, in whom we really must invest, need to be able to see a future for themselves in the Territory. This is a very good way for us to be investing in them.
It was heartening to see that the budget maintained an emphasis on education, health and community safety, which, of course, were our major election commitments prior to coming to government. Once again, this budget does focus on those. Education’s budget was increased by $10.3m to $540m. I particularly want to note the increase in the budget for student teacher bursaries to $760 000 for 80 teaching students from the Territory attending Charles Darwin University and other accredited Northern Territory training institutions. This measure will assist in the further training of young people as teachers, and this is one of the areas where we particularly need to train more people. This will attract young people into teaching. We need to work very hard on this. There is a national shortage of teachers, and with the median age of teachers being in the mid- to late- 40s, we need to be working very hard to attract young people to teaching as a career, and this is something that will assist.
I welcome the initiative of $4.9m over four years to provide laptops for the 2200 classroom-based teachers working in government schools. I can assure you that this has been welcomed by teachers and will be a great improvement for their capacity to deal with their work. I put on the record my thanks to teachers in all schools; they all work very hard and they deserve to have some of these extras in the budget. I thank them for their continued commitment to the education of our children, and particularly to those teachers who are working in my electorate of Nightcliff.
I welcome the increase in the health budget of $23.7m to $635.4m, including a boost of $18.6m for hospitals.
One of the things we all value living in the Territory is our great lifestyle and I was very pleased to see money in the budget to continue to enhance our way of life. The budget includes funding for further upgrades of recreational fishing infrastructure and facilities as part of a $1.5m boost over three years, including $500 000 for improvements for Palmerston anglers and better access for recreational fishing at Mule Creek and Rocky Creek. This follows last year’s funding for upgrades to Buffalo Creek. Fishing is one of Territorians’ favourite pastimes, and these great improvements over the last couple of years will be warmly welcomed.
I welcome the $1m upgrade for the Hidden Valley Raceway, which I am sure will enhance the very popular V8 Supercar event. I congratulate Paul Cattermole and his team at Major Events for their excellent organisation of this year’s national event. It seems to grow each year and is a tourist attraction as well as a great event for Territory families.
I welcome the $500 000 of funding for the soccer stadium at Marrara and the $500 000 at upgrades at soccer facilities throughout the Territory for the benefit of junior soccer. Soccer is one of the Territory’s most popular sports, and I know that families in my electorate are very pleased with both initiatives.
I welcome funding for special events for the Territory, and I am particularly pleased that BassInTheGrass concerts will continue this year. These are very popular with our young people, and my two sons will certainly be attending. I am aware that groups of young people are planning to attend, and I have heard of friends of ours with children in Katherine and pastoral areas who are planning on visiting Darwin especially for this concert. This a really significant government initiative, one which could become a tourist attraction for young travellers as I am aware that young people travel to the Gold Coast and other places from the Territory and other parts of Australia to attend Big Days Out. Perhaps the Tourist Commission could be looking at special packages to coincide with this special event aimed at young people.
I welcome the additional funding for the Leanyer Water Park; $500 000 for the management of the park. I put on the record my congratulations to the minister and the member for Karama for their involvement in the development of this fantastic facility. My family and many of my friends consider this to be a great place to take the family for an outing so the funding is really welcomed.
I now move to specific items in the budget relating to Nightcliff. Constituents are very pleased with hospice funding and the birthing centre, and initiatives on teachers, particularly to attract more teachers. I have many teachers in my electorate and they have welcomed those initiatives.
In Nightcliff itself, I was very pleased that funding for the undergrounding power project continues, and the first houses have begun to receive underground power. It is planned that 330 Nightcliff lots will be undergrounded by the end of this year, and all of Nightcliff will be undergrounded by July 2005. This was an election commitment in Nightcliff and I am very pleased that the government is delivering it. Residents are very pleased to see it fulfilled. The trenches are being dug in Nightcliff Road as I speak. Some of the houses have started to have the drilling underground going across the street, and we will see poles coming down in the first section very soon. The first lot of poles that came down were near the Woolworths complex. It was very exciting to see the removal of those ugly overhead powerlines being replaced with the new powerlines. It is going to be a fantastic thing for Nightcliff, and should also ensure a better supply of electricity to our suburb. There have been a lot of electrical disturbances over the past few years. In the years I have been living there, which is quite a long time, the power does seem to go off for no particular reason, and this initiative is welcomed by residents.
Debate suspended.
APPROPRIATION BILL 2004-05
(Serial 234)
(Serial 234)
Continued from earlier this day.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, the member for Nightcliff was in the middle of her budget reply. Please continue.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Thank you, Madam Speaker. Urban renewal is something that is very important, particularly for the older suburbs, so I was very pleased that the budget contained funding for more than $600 000 to upgrade the Aralia Street shopping centre and Nightcliff shopping village in Pavonia Place. Both centres are quite old and in need of renewal.
I have had early discussions with businesses at both shopping centres and look forward to working with them and the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment in planning the renewal of these centres. I thank the Minister for Lands and Planning for these initiatives. They have very well received by local businesses and constituents.
I was pleased to see funding of $75 400 for shade for the netball and basketball courts at Nightcliff Primary School. This follows last year’s funding of $25 000 for the upgrade of the courts themselves. The shading of this area is very important in our tropical climate and will assist the school with its sun-safe policy.
Before I finish, I recognise the significant increase in the budget for policing, which will see 200 more police on the beat by 2006. In my electorate, we have seen the effect of these new police, especially the foot patrols, which are seen on a regular basis around the shopping centres, and by the drop in crime, particularly property crime, in Darwin.
Police have also been very noticeable around the streets in my electorate. They have been very helpful, with regular patrols around the Nightcliff Primary and High Schools, the Essington School, and St Paul’s Primary School. I thank them for these regular patrols and for their commitment to our children’s safety as they move to and from the schools. To close, this is a responsible budget, meeting the needs of our community and meeting our election commitments. I congratulate the Treasurer for an excellent budget.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, many have commented on the budget. Those who have looked at it superficially have been led to believe it is a good budget, that there is some immediate relief for many. When you dig into it a bit further, you see that it is all smoke and mirrors. In an age when the GST revenue to the Territory is akin to the federal assistance the Territory received in the early days of self-government, we see very little economic activity from this government.
From an initial fiscal policy of balanced budgets, the government now tells us that this is the last balanced budget we are going to get, and from now on, we will go into deficit. As the Under Treasurer wrote in Budget Paper No 2:
On a cash basis, the estimated outcome for 2003-04 is a surplus of $34m. However this is due to an
additional $36m in GST revenue as a direct result of the higher GST collections estimates in the
Commonwealth Budget released on 11 May 2004. The underlining result is a deficit of $2m,
consistent with that presented in the 2003-04 Mid-Year Report.
Then she goes on to say:
For 2004-05, the government’s target of a balanced cash budget is expected to be achieved, again due
to the higher GST pool.
Then, and this is the problem now facing the government:
The budget is expected to return to deficit in 2005-06 due to continued low growth in GST revenue and
escalations in new initiatives approved during 2003-04.
In other words, in the budget after next financial year, we are going to get caught in a trap laid for themselves and by themselves this current financial year. These budget papers show clearly that the Martin Labor government has dudded Territorians once again, and this in the face of increasing GST distribution from the Federal Treasury to the Northern Territory. Since the Labor government came to power, total GST receipts are almost $1.2bn.
The lifting of payroll tax thresholds and the abolition of the HIH Levy will save Territory businesses around $6.7m, a very commendable thing that the government has done, but that is the same amount of money that the Chief Minister spends on her own ministerial office each year. When you take in the re-vote money from the previous year for infrastructure spending, the new money for infrastructure spending for 2004-05 is about $3m or a 0.7% increase. Now, try to rationalise that in the face of a CPI increase of 2.2% this year. What this means is that there is no real increase in infrastructure spending. Under this government, NT bankruptcy is the fastest growing in Australia, recently showing a 35% increase for the December quarter.
This budget shows that of the 29 government agencies, departments and government business divisions, 18 have had their operating expenses cut. This is a clear indication that this government is failing to manage, failing to deal with agency blow-outs in their budgets over previous financial years, some agencies going well above $50m beyond what was allocated at the start of the current financial year.
The biggest issue facing this government, in my mind, is the continuing population drift from the Territory. Never mind that the government continues to tell us that the population is going up by 0.3%. This minuscule increase is due to the high number of births; a cohort of population that will not be gainfully employed for another 16 years. Relatively speaking, our population will decline when compared with the rest of the country. That signals a loss in GST revenue, which is bolstering everything that this government has done in the past three years. I hate to think what it will be without the torrent of GST funds coming into the Territory.
As our population shrinks relative to the rest of the country, GST revenue will also decrease. What then? At the moment, this government is spending such a large proportion of its revenue in recurrent expenditure that when the GST revenue starts to plateau off or, at best, rise at a slower rate than inflation, we will be into greater deficits than predicted. The problem is that the government is putting all its projections on one major false premise: it projects that Territory GSP will be 5.8% for 2004-05. What a lot of codswallop! The Territory’s economy grew by 0.03% last year, and it is staggering towards the end of this financial year. Do you expect a staggering economy to suddenly find a second wind and leap into 5.8% growth? Who are you trying to mislead? If ever there was a government that has failed to manage, it is this Martin Labor government.
I come now to my shadow portfolios, and I will commence with Employment, Education and Training. The minister was loudly proclaiming how well he has done for the department, getting $13.2m more funding for this year. The fact is that his department had blown out its allocation for 2003-04 by $10.64m. That was conveniently overlooked. There was no explanation of why there was such an overspend in the department; there was nothing in the budget papers. It is clearly a question that needs to be answered, especially in light of the promise that the Martin Labor government is an open and accountable government. I look forward to the minister being open and accountable for such a major mismanagement of his department’s budget.
Furthermore, we all know that the wage rise for teachers far exceeds what he has gained in the budget for the department. I wonder how he is going to juggle the shortfall in the next financial year. Is it that the minister will secure further funding and again report a blow-out for next year’s budget? Is that how they are going to manage it?
As for the coming year and some of the initiatives that he proposed to bring about, I applaud the money that will spent on the Alice Springs Campus of Charles Darwin University. That, undoubtedly, will be good for Alice Springs, the second largest town in the Territory, sadly forgotten by this government for most things. Having an injection of capital works into a town whose building industry is just about non-existent will go some way to helping the ailing economy. Combined with the Commonwealth’s contribution of $2.5m, we will have a small boost in the construction industry.
The Alice Springs Campus of CDU is still quite unsettled since the amalgamation of Centralian College with the Northern Territory University. I hope that the Vice-Chancellor is able to settle things quickly and regain the community’s confidence in that institution.
Sadly, employment has not been a strength of this government. Job loss over the past three years has been one of the greatest burdens that the Territory has had to face for a long time. The lack of Jobs Plan for almost two-and-a-half years of the life of this government has been a problem. They came into government promising that they had a Jobs Plan and nothing was seen for two-and-a-half years. Since the introduction of this Jobs Plan earlier this year, there have been some gains, and I concede that. Imagine what it would have been like had this government had its act together right from the very beginning three years ago. With the loss of jobs has been the loss of population.
I am glad to hear of the new housing program that the Minister for Housing introduced yesterday. That will stimulate significant activity in the housing market and, I hope, a positive migration of Australians into the Territory.
I draw members’ attention to the fact that under this government, primary school student enrolments have decreased by 5%. That supports my contention that there has been a huge loss of population. Does that translate to closures of many primary schools? A loss of nearly 1000 primary school students translates to a loss of three to four primary schools. If the minister is not going to close primary schools, how is he going to deal with those schools that have smaller populations of students?
I am pleased to see that the accelerated literacy program is has significant funding. It is a program that achieves great results among our students, some achieving up to 1 years of learning for each year of training. I look forward to the continuing success of this program and the many students who will benefit from it.
As we progress into the current electronic environment, more and more demands will be placed on information communications and technology. Applying only $2m for IT infrastructure in schools, and a scant $250 000 to increase the bandwidth for LATIS is patently inadequate. Schools are struggling with access to LATIS and adding just 15% more to the bandwidth is going to cause more of a bottleneck than anything else. It is anticipated that there will be up to 2200 teachers provided with laptops. How are these 2200 computer users going to access the Internet through LATIS when the schools are already encountering great problems with bandwidth access? I urge the minister to look into that closely to make sure that LATIS has enough bandwidth so that all students and teachers can have adequate access.
What takes the cake for me in the budget allocation for education is the $1m allocation for redevelopments each at Nakara and Alawa Primary Schools. I do not begrudge the money being provided to those primary schools because they need the money to refurbish some parts of the school, but look at the pattern of funding for primary schools by this government, it is spending millions upon millions of dollars on primary schools in electorates held by government members. I am sure you will recall the millions of dollars spent at Parap Primary School in the seat of Fannie Bay, the Chief Minister’s seat, while students have lessons in libraries in Palmerston. Where is the equity in that? You spend millions upon millions of dollars at Parap Primary School, $1m at Alawa, $1m at Nakara and there are students at Palmerston who have to be taught, not in class rooms, but in the library because there is no class room space left. That is inequitable sharing of government resources.
As the member for Brennan said in his contribution to the Appropriation Bill, for the Department of Employment, Education and Training, the re-votes from 2003-04 to 2004-05 is a re-vote that was new works in 2002-03. I will say that again. For the Department of Employment, Education and Training, the re-vote from 2003-04 to the following year, which is 2004-05, is in reality a re-vote that was classified as new works in 2002-03. This is a capital works program that has not been fulfilled since its announcement in 2002-03.
Let me now come to my shadow portfolio of Ethnic Affairs. I congratulate the government for recognising the importance of ethnic communities in the Territory. We have the most cosmopolitan community in Australia, living harmoniously across the Territory. Funding for the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program, which has not been increased this year, is still greatly appreciated by ethnic communities to help with the cultural activities so generously shared with everyone in the community. It is from this sharing of cultural events that people learn about each other’s culture, leading to a breakdown of barriers and increased understanding of each other’s sensitivities. This leads to the development of respect for one another. The government’s funds to assist ethnic communities to refurbish their existing facilities will be called upon frequently, of that I am certain. There are many facilities, particularly in Darwin, which are shared by many groups and frequently used, as most local members will attest by the many ethnic functions they attended at the weekend.
The government must make sure that smaller groups also have support. It is frequently these small organisations with limited resources that need the most help. I encourage the government to continue to look after this sector as, for every dollar it spends, the ethnic community contributes many times more, as the money is mostly spent on capital improvements that last for many years. The Minister for Ethnic Affairs need not be so smug, though, about how much the government is putting in to this. He can thank the GST for that.
I now move to DCIS. I note the minister’s contribution to the Appropriation Bill on this portfolio and recognise that the department has operated efficiently and kept within the allocation of 2003-04, one of two departments to stay within budget. It is encouraging to note that the department nominally in charge of administrative services has managed itself efficiently. I note that the cost per service on average has gone down slightly, despite a rise in CPI.
I am curious, however, about a program that the minister described, SWIPE, Sector-Wide Induction Program for Employees. I will seek a briefing on this. If it is what I believe it to be, I commend the government for introducing such a program across government. For too long, many of our new recruits in to the Territory have no idea what they are coming to. They leave the comfort of their homes in suburban Melbourne, Adelaide or Sydney and come to the Territory not expecting to find anything different.
I am not sure, Mr Deputy Speaker, whether you are aware of a program in Alice Springs that has been developed for teachers – or it may be for nurses; I am not quite certain. New recruits in to Alice Springs are provided with a comprehensive induction program with cross-cultural training over an initial two-week period. This is followed by four one-week sessions over the course of the next few months to ensure that these new recruits are adequately trained for their remote out-postings. The induction program has produced professionals who are equipped to deal with the difficulties they often encounter in Central Australia, particularly out bush.
I note in the minister’s contribution to the debate the initiatives of e-government. By that, I mean electronic government. For the last couple of years, industry has criticised the tardiness of government in seriously developing e-government. Under the CLP, the Northern Territory government had leading edge information and communication technology and was pushing ahead. Progress has stalled under this government. Therefore, I am pleased to learn that DCIS has initiated, even though it is only in its early days, an interactive voice response bill paying service and web-based technology, such as online motor vehicle registration. All I can say to that is: it is about time. Now that the pilot has proven to be successful, I look forward to the system being implemented soon.
As for the pay within 30 days of receipt of a bill by government, DCIS is obviously endeavouring to get its bills paid on time. It is good to know that the department has improved its performance, with 93% of payments processed within 30 days. I hope the minister will make figures available during Estimates to show how much is outstanding in the remaining 7% that are not being processed within 30 days. Business is hurting out there and cash flow is certainly important to keep many businesses going. Government has to pay its bills on time so that the cash can keep turning around.
I remember a time back in the early 1980s when I was owed a significant amount of money by government for services rendered. No amount of arguing with the pay office was going to get me paid. It took a lot of arguing, anger, much frustration and many telephone calls to many people before I could get my money. There was no interest payable, either.
I turn now to Central Australia. The most relevant issue at the moment is the Minister for Health’s mismanagement of the Alice Springs Hospital. Since the time of the former Minister for Health and Community Services, government’s management of the hospital has been in question. We have lost beds and wards as a consequence of this poor management, all based on the bottom line rather than good patient outcomes.
The Minister for Health continues to proffer the figure of $11m for the Alice Springs Hospital for capital improvement when he knows full well that only $2m will be spent during the coming year. This minister is good at announcing more money and more positions, but he continues to fail to find the professionals to fill these positions. This has been a problem all along, but does the minister recognise this? Never. The minister said that only his government has committed to an intensive care specialist. The minister can promise a brain surgeon for Alice Springs and then make sure lines up as the first patient for a brain transplant, but can he find one to fill the position?
Before the minister even considers an intensive care specialist, he needs to be sure that he can recruit specialist anaesthetists for the hospital. For over a year, we have been warning the government that the staffing situation is at a critical stage, but those warnings have fallen on deaf ears. The former minister failed to address the problems, the present minister is going along the same path. Shoot the messenger; that is what the government has done. Staff complaints have been ignored, the pleadings by the AMA have been dismissed by the government as sectoral interests by a group of people who have been able to get themselves organised. The messages sent by the opposition have been labelled as scaremongering. All the while, services have been eroded through the lack of staff, and the staff who are working excessive hours.
I do not have any problem with the government trying to secure the services of an intensive care specialist. No way! That is a good thing, but what I want to see post haste is the installation of specialist anaesthetist as the baseline at the hospital on a permanent basis. Get that done, then look for the intensive care specialist.
When you have such shortages and when a professional body such as the AMA says that we are in trouble, the minister has to listen. When health professionals say that the hospital is so short-staffed that there is a risk of death if numbers are not addressed soon, the minister must listen. When the Acting Director for Medical Services, Dr Alan Walker, said to me and my colleagues, the members for Araluen and Macdonnell, in a briefing in the presence of others, that is was ‘in crisis’, the minister has to listen. When Mr Ron Parker, a health management expert sent down by the former minister, called it a ‘war zone’, the minister has to listen. Do not shoot the messenger.
When you add up all the funding that has gone into bringing a locum specialist to the hospital, and the fruitless recruitment efforts by the hospital, you have to wonder why the government did not ensure that employment conditions are such that the ones who are already there would want to stay. I refer to doctors like Dr Mario Frediani, who was recruited to the Alice Springs Hospital and installed as Head of the Anaesthetic Department. He has been there for several years now and has provided good service for the community. He is married to a doctor who had been working in the Emergency Department. He had been able to secure the services of two specialist anaesthetists to join him at the Alice Springs Hospital, but could those doctors get employment contracts with the hospital? Not on your life. They could not. Out of frustration, they withdrew their applications. You heard the member for Port Darwin mention Dr Steven Lightfoot yesterday. He wrote a scathing letter to the Centralian Advocate on 11 November 2003. His letter says it all, and I read it in its entirety:
Sir,
I am an anaesthetist who, this week, should be working at the Alice Springs Hospital,
providing a medical service to the people of Central Australia.
However, the administrators of the Alice Springs Hospital have ensured that I am
interstate working in New South Wales.
Alice Springs Hospital has been advertising for an anaesthetist for some time now, and
two months ago, I applied to fill a two week locum position.
As a condition of my employment, I asked that my partner, also a doctor, be given work
while we were in Alice Springs.
Eventually we were both offered jobs, which we accepted.
I then asked for written confirmation of the locum positions. From that time on, it became
unclear whether the administrators actually wanted us.
This was despite the head of the Department of Anaesthetics telling me he was ‘desperate’
for locum anaesthetists.
The administrators would not send us written confirmation of our employment. Instead, we
continued to receive verbal assurances that everything was okay, but ‘we are waiting on
signatures from Darwin’.
Two weeks before our job’s starting date, we were getting worried. It would take us four days to drive
to Alice Springs, and we needed to be sure we would be working once we got there.
Finally, after days of unreturned phone calls and further verbal 99.9% guarantees that Darwin would
‘sign the papers’ we were informed that ‘Darwin would not sign the papers’ for my partner’s locum
Emergency Department position.
Not only did the administrators lack the courtesy to ring me to inform me of this decision, but we found
out just four working days from when we were supposed to be commencing the locums.
The behaviour of the administrators and the decision not to employ my partner led us to seek work in
other regional areas.
I question the wisdom of the administrators of the Alice Springs Hospital and their interest in the health
of the population they serve.
Dr Steven Lightfoot,
New Lambton, New South Wales.
Here is a doctor, with a spouse who is also a doctor, willing to come to Alice Springs. All he encountered were obstacles to his recruitment. Do you wonder why we do not have doctors?
I move from the anaesthetic department to deal with junior doctors.
I call your attention to the state of the House, Mr Deputy Speaker. I believe we should ring the bells.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Ring the bells. We have a quorum. Continue, member for Greatorex.
Dr LIM: Until the minister gets on top of his portfolio, the whole mess is going to continue to plague him. The opposition is not going to let up. When the minister chooses to deliberately slate Alice Springs, the opposition will not let up. The minister continues to play with weasel words to try to extricate himself from his untenable position. Had he not gone the way of this headline, and you saw the headline before: ‘Hospital crisis: intensive care closes. Minister says it’s open’. Had he not done that, the staff may not have gone to the media. However, as a result of his actions, they did. I tell the minister: do not keep on with your weasel words or you may provoke more reaction from staff.
When it came to hospital management signing contracts with doctors, I recall commenting on how well Remote Health has been able to recruit doctors. I understand that when they had a surplus of recruits, they passed on the surplus to the Alice Springs Hospital. However, there is no follow-up on these doctors, so they look elsewhere.
Moving from health, I look forward to a strong Central Australian economy. I want to see Central Australia prosper, be vibrant, be strong. However, it means we need more population, more construction, more available land, more tourists walking along our streets. On all counts, this government has failed. I am still waiting for the first block of residential land in Larapinta Stage 4 to be released in Alice Springs.
The Minister for Central Australia is on record as saying he will put his own home up for sale if no residential land is released by January 2004, which was corrected by the then Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Environment to a release of residential land by early 2004. Minister for Central Australia, early 2004 ends on 30 June, 13 days away. I wait with bated breath. As for the minister crowing that government has allocated $1m for headworks at Mt John Valley, that will mean a small culvert and perhaps 100 metres of cross-over to get into the land. The government needs to do more than just put in $1m in headworks.
Land should be released from Mt John Valley to the south of Stevens Road now and there should be a steady release of some 100 blocks per year into the next 10 years. Otherwise there will be little or no growth in Alice Springs. When there is no construction, there is no work and families leave. The government knows full well that Alice Springs has been losing a family a week since they have come to government.
Tourism is a major industry for us in Alice Springs and we depend on it for much of our livelihood. The member for Katherine spoke about The Ghan and its effect on Katherine. Similarly for us in Alice Springs, The Ghan brings in 400 tourists on each train. Those who are on the train that goes through to Darwin have only a four-hour stopover, hardly long enough to do anything. The ride in this magnificent train into the town’s railway station is great, but then the magnificence stops. From then on, much of the experience is less than satisfactory.
While The Ghan might belong to Great Southern Railways, this government has a responsibility to ensure that tourists who come on this private facility are greeted with better facilities than there are at the moment. The member for Katherine spoke about the railway station. That also applies in Alice Springs. She talked about the long train and how elderly passengers cannot walk the one kilometre from the carriage to the railway station. The poor entry into George Crescent is not welcoming, nor is the long walking distance to the township itself or the lack of access for taxis and mini buses to the train carriages to pick up passengers. The corralling of passengers from the Ghan to the Desert Park, not being allowed to go anywhere else, is not satisfactory. They are the issues that must be addressed.
I am glad to see that the government has at long last realised that the sealing of the Mereenie Loop Road is important and has fast tracked it over the next three years. This will make the region one as a community of interest, with a loop road linking Alice Springs with Glen Helen, Kings Canyon, Yulara, down Lasseter’s Highway and up the Stuart Highway. But remember, the CLP built Yulara …
Mrs BRAHAM: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker. The member’s time has expired.
Dr LIM: Has it?
Ms Lawrie: Yes.
Mr DEPUTY CHAIRMAN: Thank you, member for Braitling.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): I am sorry to do that to you, member for Greatorex, but I have an appointment.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to make a comment on the Appropriation Bill in my role as Speaker, and I want to make that quite clear to everyone, particularly the member for Brennan. I am speaking now as the Speaker.
Members are aware that the Speaker holds responsibility for the Department of the Legislative Assembly, and I wish to present to members a commentary on Budget 2004-05 as it relates to my department and indirectly to them.
I am pleased to note that NT Treasury provided additional funding during the year to meet what is considered by this agency as non-discretionary funding owing to the obligation to meet members’ entitlements flowing from Remuneration Tribunal Determinations. As members are aware, their entitlements are determined by the Remuneration Tribunal and the agency is not in a position to make savings in relation to those administered funds.
As well as that, the non-discretionary component of our budget is more than 50%. In a small agency, capacity to absorb the 2% efficiency dividend is considerably constrained. The agency has continually striven to improve services and find savings required to meet the efficiency dividend. This year, a number of cost saving projects are underway, including waste paper minimisation, FBT savings, electricity savings and a review of grounds maintenance. However, members should be aware that it is very difficult in a small agency like this to absorb the 2% when a considerable part of our budget is non-discretionary.
A key issue for the Department of Legislative Assembly is the need to support increased sitting hours. Members may not be aware, but the number of hours we are sitting in this Assembly is far greater than we have in the past. The agency’s original base budget for the 2002-03 year was premised on parliament sitting for about 240 hours per year. The actual number of sitting hours, though, was 365 in 2002-03, an increase of 125 hours, and this trend continued in 2003-04 with 356 hours, and it is expected to be similar this year with 350 hours.
I was of the understanding that under the output budgeting model, if outputs increased, and this was supported by the government, funding would follow. In 2003-04, the increased costs associated with the increase in sitting hours was able to be absorbed primarily because we did not have regional sittings this financial year, but this task is going to be considerably more difficult in 2004-05 when the Alice Springs regional sittings are to be held. Additional funding was sought through a Cabinet submission, however it was not supported. This may result in funding issues in 2004-05, however every effort will be made by the department to manage within the allocation provided.
Turning to minor new works and repairs and maintenance, my agency has responsibility for the management and presentation of the Territory’s premier building, our beautiful Parliament House. A continual program of repairs and maintenance is required to keep the building to the standard that is required to fill its important role and also to the standard that people expect of a parliament. The reduction in funding for repairs and maintenance and minor new works will have an impact on proposed works for this year. It is noted that the minor new works program for 2004-05 has been significantly reduced to $350 000 compared with a bid of $454 000. This will have an impact on proposed work for 2004-05 for Parliament House and the 25 electorate offices, which are included in the program. We will have to now review our priorities and will attempt in the main to complete the outstanding minor new works security projects identified in the 2003 Security Review.
Our agency, in consultation with the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment, compiles an estimate each year of the required repairs and maintenance. This is submitted to Treasury and in prior years has been fully funded. This trend was reversed in 2002-03, when the DIPE estimate was $1.26m and only $939 000 or 74% was provided. In 2003-04, this trend continued, with the DIPE estimate of $1.78m, an increase, obviously, because a lot of the works weren’t done, but only $900 000 or 51% was provided. In the 2004-05 year, the trend was even worse with a DIPE estimate of $2.25m and only $700 000 or 30% of the funding being provided.
Honourable members will understand that in coming years, R&M for Parliament House will increase as a result of ageing of the plant, equipment and facilities and as critical components require replacement. Therefore, further reduction in the R&M program may have a longer term impact on machinery and plant and the state of Parliament House. Agency officers are currently working on the development of a strategic Asset Management Plan for the building, which is aimed at identifying through-life cost of equipment, expected life cost of equipment, forecast replacement years and indicative costs.
I turn now to security. Security in Parliament House over the last 18 months has been a key issue in this era of heightened alert. With limited departmental staff dedicated entirely to security, the use of Chubb Security guards is an important element of maintaining adequate levels of security for Parliament House. At present, the cost of the Chubb contract arrangement is $640 000 per annum. Cabinet submissions to date have failed to attract additional funding for security. The objective is now to find a balance between risk versus cost, and ensure adequate levels of security for members and other building users within tight monetary constraints.
A number of measures are currently in hand to address these issues. At the direction of the Clerk, the Deputy Clerk will be responsible for security policy matters for the agency. This will involve liaison with senior officers in other agencies and organisations to ensure the security of Parliament House reflects local and national standards. This action is an alternative to the requirement of a dedicated senior security manager, as previously outlined in a Cabinet submission that was not supported. The impact on workloads for the Deputy Clerk and the Clerk will be monitored.
In accordance with the now activated security alert states and the detailed security policy, appropriate and agreed levels of security will be implemented subject to the activity of the parliament. This action is designed to reduce the current cost of contract security, which is having a detrimental effect on the department’s operational budget, and this issue was discussed by the House Committee at lunch time. The House Committee has decided that they will write to the Chief Minister to seek additional funding. Through the minor new works program and repairs and maintenance, the agency will continue to upgrade and install electronic surveillance and scanning equipment to offset additional security guards. This project, however, is expected to take two to three years, subject to funding, and will be required to ensure existing equipment remains current and supportable well into the future.
Through the State Square Security Group, initiated by the Legislative Assembly, the agency will continue to work in close cooperation with other organisations in this precinct and with the Northern Territory Police.
The agency has some new initiatives. In Parliamentary Education, I am pleased to advise members of proposals to extend the work of the agency in the area of Parliamentary Education, in particular in the area of Statehood information and awareness programs for students and teachers during the next five years, and continuing support for future initiatives in the Civics and Citizenship Educational National History Project.
The Clerk has written to the Secretary of the Department of Employment, Education and Training proposing discussions on the possible joint funding of a position in the Parliamentary Liaison and Information Unit for a Parliamentary Education Officer with an established education background. This proposal was discussed recently with Ali Garnett of the Parliamentary Education Office of the Commonwealth Parliament, who commended such an appointment and offered the support of her office and the prospect of fellowships to relevant officers of the Legislative Assembly. The proposed position would enable maximisation by the Northern Territory of operational funding provided by the Commonwealth for the Civics and Citizenship and Discovering Democracy projects.
A continuing partnership with the Department of Employment, Education and Training will build on the successful collaboration in recent years between teachers and officers of the Legislative Assembly, which has resulted in the development of bands three, four and five educational resource materials for the new curriculum framework, and the successful conduct of the Discovering Democracy Forum as part of Celebrating Democracy Week, and the conduct of a mini-schools constitutional convention.
The Clerk has noted that this successful collaboration was made possible by the enthusiasm, dedication and professionalism of Ms Colleen Williams in recent years, and previously, Ms Lorraine Caldwell. I look forward to this proposed position being established, and I welcome the support of the Education minister and his department for this proposal.
A further initiative in hand for the coming year is conduct by officers of the Assembly of an Information and Awareness Program in respect of the Members Code of Conduct and Ethics and the proposed Register of Members’ Interest legislation in conjunction with the Auditor-General and the Northern Territory Electoral Commission.
As well, a program of Legislative Development and Review will be undertaken to review the Security Act and develop a draft Parliamentary Services Act.
We have set aside $150 000 funding to cover the 2005 March sittings of the parliament in Alice Springs. This event was highly successful in 2003, and provides a valuable opportunity to bring the parliament to the people of Central Australia.
A Portfolio Budget Statement has been produced by the Department of the Legislative Assembly for 2004-05. The first Portfolio Budget Statement was produced for the 2002-03 financial year as a planning tool for output reporting. It was designed as a means of presenting financial and performance information at the sub-output level, and thus provides greater detail than shown in Budget Paper No 3. The PBS will be distributed to all members for their information. It allows for improved analysis by the agency, its stakeholders and members of performance against planned outcomes, and provides the basis for quarterly reporting to Treasury for compilation of the annual report.
I have a concern that I concede is a bit of a hobby horse. Other parliaments operate under separate legislation and have their agency allocation determined by a committee separate from Executive Government. In the Territory, it has always been Executive Government that has taken our case to Cabinet with the Chief Minister as the minister responsible for the Department of the Legislative Assembly rather that the Speaker because the Speaker is not a member of Cabinet. I ask members to seriously consider that as an option for making sure that the Department of the Legislative Assembly’s budget is agreed to by all members so we can ensure our case is well and truly heard.
Treasury has provided an opportunity for larger departments to present their cases to Cabinet, and I propose that the Clerk be given the opportunity to brief Cabinet on the department’s budget submissions as part of the budget development process. This would allow my agency to have improved opportunity to present its case for adequate funding for the important role it plays in the support of parliament. I urge the Chief Minister to consider that seriously because when we do make Cabinet submissions, which we do quite often, and they are rejected, it is very hard to understand exactly why they were knocked back. If the Clerk or I could go to the Cabinet room and elaborate on the Cabinet submission, we might have more successful results.
I am pleased to say that the agency has worked successfully to ensure that the allocation of funding for this year will mean that service to members, their entitlements and the running of this parliament will be achieved. I want to place on record my thanks to the officers of the agency for the enormous task they undertake in compiling their submissions and records and the professional manner in which they handle the financial affairs of the Legislative Assembly.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Mr Deputy Speaker, in contributing to the Appropriation debate today, it is curious that I sometimes have to remind myself of the importance of an appropriation debate. We hear members talking about matters fiscal all the time, and you begin to groan under the weight of listening to numbers and this little project and that much being spent, but it is important to remind myself and honourable members of exactly what an appropriation debate is.
An appropriation debate is a fetter, if you like, on the ability of the government and the Treasurer to simply go and do as they please. It is worth thinking historically about the things that have been done in order to avoid appropriation debates by Treasurers. What exactly is an appropriation debate? It is the Treasurer coming to the parliament and saying: ‘I want to pass a law. I need you guys to pass a law that says that I can reach into Treasury’. We must remember that Treasury is a group of people who sit there with scarves around their neck in winter and fingerless gloves, clutching desperately close to a small candle in a darkened room - forgive me, Jennifer Prince – saying: ‘No, we are not going to spend any money whatsoever’. These people are the people who guard the coffers of the Northern Territory.
The only way that we are going to convince Treasury, as they warm themselves up against this little candle, their only source of heat and light, that they should part with some of the vast amounts of money they have under their control is to make it a law that they part with that amount of money.
That is not something that the Treasurer can simply go and do; he cannot go and bash on Treasury’s door because Treasury will give him a very short shrift and say: ‘Do you have a law that says we should part with our money?’ and if the Treasurer cannot say: ‘Yes, I have that law; this is an act of parliament,’ then Treasury will say: ‘Sorry, you are not going to get one brass razoo, not a farthing, not a nickel from us’, and so it should be.
What happens next is that the Treasurer has to come with a bill to this House, and that is the law we are discussing at the moment. He says: ‘I need $2.5bn’ or whatever the bottom line is for this budget, and he has to explain to the House what he is going to do with the money. As a consequence, the Treasurer walks in with a pile of budget books - and I notice that my honourable colleague has the pile of books here, which I would guess is about six inches thick - with an explanation as to exactly what he is going to do with this money. This debate allows us to have a look at how money from the last budget has been spent, and for us to consider whether or not we want to pass a law that will make those dreadful people in Treasury give money to the people of the Northern Territory so that we can continue on with the process of governing.
What steps have been taken in the past to avoid having to go through such processes? We cast our mind back to late republican Rome, the dictator Sulla had a unique approach to how to deal with the Senate when he had the same problem. He simply proscribed half the Senate’s property and had them murdered. To sidestep the parliamentary process, be it the Roman Senate or the modern parliamentary process, people have to do pretty drastic things.
I often look at parliaments in the modern Westminster system, to which we are so accustomed, and think to myself: ‘Yes, these are boring debates’, but I do not forget the history of what brought us to this place and why we have these boring debates. In fact, it is very important to have these boring debates, and I take some heart of the fact that they are boring because it means things are going along normally.
King Charles II also had a novel approach. He simply walked into parliament one day and said: ‘You guys do not exist and, by the way, I will take over Treasury.’ There are any number of historical parallels from which you can draw comparisons. It is nice to be participating in a process in which things like proscriptions and winding up of parliaments do not have to occur to get budgets through.
Parliament has a very strong power and if that parliament chose not to pass an appropriation bill or will simply delay one, you could have a constitutional crisis. Australia had a constitutional crisis immediately prior to 11 November 1974, which ultimately had everyone so jumpy that the Governor-General of the day questionably chose to sack the Prime Minister in an effort to get an appropriation bill through the Senate. That caused the downfall of the Whitlam government, and a subsequent election was held. These are very serious debates, and they have a great deal riding on them.
Let us have a look at the Treasurer’s request for his money, so the government can continue running the Northern Territory. It is a useful exercise to see how they dealt with last year’s money and whether I can be convinced by the history of the current Treasurer, and the minister for procurement, I might add. I need to be convinced by their track record that they should be allowed to have continued income so that they can go about the business of government.
I wish to talk about something that has occupied my mind for some time now in relation to how the government spends money, and that is through its procurement process. We had a debate in this House at some length yesterday about the procurement process and how it works. Procurement is a process by which the biggest spender of money in the Territory, the Northern Territory government, organises contracts in the general economy. If you have this monolithic source of money, a lot of people are going to be very interested in how that source of money dishes out contracts. Bearing in mind that the government is in the unique position of being a corporate entity per se, it has to dish contracts fairly and I would go so far as to say democratically. Consequently, the government has to set policies that outline how it spends its money and organises its contracts.
The government has such a policy. It is called the procurement policy to deal with the way it procures services from the community. The procurement policy is an interesting little animal because it says that when the government has contracts in the market place, the government should ask for tenders. If we look at the newspaper every Thursday and go to the Classified Ad section under Tenders or Public Notices, there is a whole list of tenders that are going to come on, that are being invited and tenders that have closed and been awarded. That is the normal process by which government spends money.
However, that is not a process that is always adhered to. The Policy and Procurement Manual has another mechanism built into it by which the government can spend money in circumstances where the government chooses to step outside of its normal tendering process and issue certificates, and those certificates are Certificates of Exemption. A Certificate of Exemption is an exemption from the normal tendering process. There is an overseeing body that looks after this, which is not of government per se, called the Procurement Review Board. It sits there and looks at all of the applications that come before it and it ticks and flicks its way through the Certificates of Exemption from tenders that the government seeks.
There are themes that surround the procurement process. In fact, the policy is based on five principles, which are: (a) open and effective competition; (b) value for money; (c) enhancing capabilities for local business and industry; (d) environmental protection; and (e) ethical behaviour and fair dealing.
If we look at the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services Property and Accounting Manual, it says:
All employees involved in purchasing at any level must bear the above principles in mind.
So that is the flavour of the Policy and Procurement Manual, but the flavour of the Policy and Procurement Manual is this: ethical and fair dealing. It says so. It should be open and effective, and so careful and cautious are governments about how they deal with these sorts of processes, it is interesting to point out that in big bold letters in section 6.2:
It must be emphasised that whatever the means of purchasing, strict compliance to purchasing
guidelines is required.
So you have a document that says we are going to be fair, free, encourage open competition and we expect ethical behaviour, however the document also says that it is entirely possible to sidestep this in certain situations, and that is through the Certificates of Exemption.
With the flavour of this document in mind, one says to oneself: ‘Well, have a look at this. We have a policy that allows is, in rare, extreme or specific cases, to step outside the procurement process’. How careful is the government about the process? This is how careful the government is, and I will quote minister Henderson from the Estimates Committee on Wednesday 25 June 2003. Minister Henderson, of course, is the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. He said:
Picking up on that comment, I can say that I have been, as minister, very rigorous in terms of Certificates of
Exemption that have come up to me. I am not going to specifically name examples, but I have sent a number
back. The Certificates of Exemption really have come up more for expediency purposes in terms of purchasing
requirements rather than a real requirement for a Certificate of Exemption. Due to lack of planning in agencies,
I think there has been a culture evolve that, you know, we can get through the back door by the Certificate of
Exemption based on urgency. It is not something that I am prepared to tolerate.
Let those words resonate through your ears, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I ask honourable members to let those words resonate through their ears because it is very important that we remember what minister Henderson had to say.
So the Treasurer wants to give minister Henderson a certain amount of money, as the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! Time and time again, we have been reminded of convention and standing orders about referring to members by their electorate. I have let him go for about five times. I thought it was a try-on and that he will stop, but clearly he is persistent just waiting for this.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, there is a point of order, member for Sanderson, and I would ask the member for Macdonnell to refer to all members by their electorate or portfolio.
Mr ELFERINK: Quite so, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. The Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services has left words resonating in this place. The Treasurer says: ‘We want the parliament to give the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services lots and lots of money so he can do his job as the minister for Police’. That is important. We need to protect our community. Our police need to be paid, and have uniforms on their backs, and police stations and handcuffs, and all the accoutrements of being a police officer.
Here we have a minister for Police who said that he is not prepared to tolerate the expedient use of Certificates of Exemption less than 12 months ago. Let us visit a few months after that. The Commissioner of Police was lying in bed, I presume, at about 3 am, when suddenly he wakes up and says: ‘Oh, my God, I have a problem with the Fire Service. How profound is my problem with the Fire Service? Well, it is seriously problematic. It is not just a small problem with the Fire Service; we had a profound management problem in the Fire Service’. So vital is this problem in the Fire Service that the Commissioner of Police walks into his Human Resource Manager’s office the next morning, 5 August, and says: ‘Manager of Human Resource Management, please sign a Certificate of Exemption for between $100 000 and $250 000 to demonstrate, on super urgency, that we have to go and get a Certificate of Exemption from the minister for Police…’, the man who does not tolerate the use of certificates of exemption, ‘…so we can review the Fire Service’. Dutifully, on 5 August, the Manager of Human Resource Management signed the Certificate of Exemption.
That very same day, 5 August, the Police Commissioner, who is very concerned about this, also signed the Certificate of Exemption, but he knows that he needs the minister’s signature as well. So the very next day, 6 August, the Police Commissioner writes a ministerial briefing, which said we contacted three specialist consultant organisations and asked them to present submissions. Two of those were brought to Darwin and they met with. After meeting these two organisations, we have decided that Metis Consulting is the organisation that absolutely needs to be the organisation that we run with. It is curious to remember that Metis is made up of two people, we have talked about this already in parliament, both with strong ties to the Australian Labor Party. They have no experience in reviewing fire services and this matter is considered to be so urgent that they must have this organisation, Metis Consulting, review the Fire Service.
This then finds its way to the minister’s desk, and the minister is so convinced by the Commissioner of Police that, on the very same day, within 24 hours of the Commissioner asking the Manager of Human Resources to spend the money, however much that amount was, and the minister signs it.
Yesterday, that document came to this parliament with an addendum, which was the Procurement Review Board signing off on this expenditure the very next day after that. Curiously, it did not find its way into the parliament a few months ago when we asked the minister to explain himself. However, he says: ‘But look, here on page 2, I did not sign a blank cheque…’ despite the fact that the amount on the original document tendered was quite blank and without any amount filled in so it is like signing a blank cheque ‘Page 2 clearly says $187 000’. Well, that may be the new document, but this is the problem. This page 2 is not the page 2 that found its way into the government Gazette in late 2003. How do I know? Because the page 2 that found its way into the government Gazette had a value of $170 000 attached to it.
Where is that second piece of paper? That has not been tabled. One has to asked oneself how ethical, remembering the terms of the procurement review system, is the minister being with this House? It was well established yesterday that he has been liberal with the truth.
What is the difference between $170 000 and $187 000? Actually, it is GST. Metis Consulting, Labor mates, have won a contract for which they are not qualified to review the Fire Service, with which neither of the two directors of Metis Consulting have any experience. They have forwarded the bill after the minister signed it, and they forgot to add the GST so they had to put a new entry into the government Gazette six months later, saying: ‘Oops! We forgot the GST. We do not owe them $170 000; we owe them $187 000’. If this were a fish, I would find it very difficult to swallow indeed because it is very smelly. Fish like this are definitely very smelly.
The Treasurer came into this House, as the minister for procurement, and said to us: ‘Gee whiz, I protected my minister for police because I am happy with the way he spends his money. But now I am going to ask the House that we continue giving the minister for police money so that he can get on with his job’. However, the minister for police has convinced me, by his actions, that he is less than entirely straightforward when he deals with this House.
The only thing I cannot understand is why the Commissioner of Police suddenly woke up with a sense of such profound urgency, at 3 o’clock one morning or whenever he decided it was profoundly urgent, to convince the minister to side-step his own procurement process, something that he is not prepared to tolerate in his own words, when, in actual fact, the review said that the minister for police is almost indifferent to how the Fire Service is going, and I quote:
Currently, neither of these two approaches …
It refers to the paragraph before:
… seems to apply. Nor did the Commissioner for Police when asked indicate to the assessors that the
leadership approach he preferred for the Fire and Rescue Service operating is a tri-service structure
under his leadership. The commissioner said he has a ‘hands off’ approach to the Northern Territory
Fire and Rescue Service, and regards Police and Fire and Rescue of having quite separate cultures.
He directed or encouraged the current Director of the NTFRS, the now fired Darryl Pepper, to have a direct relationship with the minister. Here, the minister for police is …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I ask him to withdraw that reference to the Chief Fire Officer being fired. No such thing occurred. He is trying to mislead the Assembly.
Mr ELFERINK: Make it a substantive motion. I do not have to withdraw that, I can tell you that now. You make it a substantive motion.
Ms Lawrie: The man himself is on record as saying he left because of ill-health. You are a weasel.
Mr Elferink: There is a tabled paper on this record that says he was an involuntary redundancy; he as sacked!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Excuse me! Could we have a bit of quiet while I seel some advice, thank you, member for Macdonnell.
Mr ELFERINK: May I have the clock stopped, by the way, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes. Member for Macdonnell, my understanding is that there is no record of what you alluded to, that he was fired, and I ask you to withdraw.
Mr ELFERINK: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, as a point of order and without starting the clock again, I tabled in this parliament a PIPS record some time ago, which shows Mr Darryl Pepper as being made involuntarily redundant. Such a record exists, and give me a couple of minutes, in my papers, I am sure I will find it.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, if you just bear with me a moment, I think it is a giant leap to say ‘an involuntary ...
Mr ELFERINK: This was tabled months ago.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Is leave sought to table this?
Mr ELFERINK: I have already tabled it.
A member: Have you withdrawn?
Mr ELFERINK: No. I have not been asked to yet.
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I distinctly heard you say that he should withdraw, and he seems to be quarrelling with the Chair. He has a habit of doing this. I ask that you take him to task on this.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, I asked you to withdraw. The simple fact is that the use of the word ‘fired’ is not appropriate on this occasion.
Mr ELFERINK: For the sake of the debate, I withdraw. However, I draw members’ attention to a document tabled in this parliament:
Fire Service Separation Statistics, July 2003-June 2004
Pepper, Darryl ECO3 Headquarters 9/1/2004 redundancy invol.
which means I have a document that says other than what the Treasurer has asserted.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, this is a very interesting situation. We find that we have a commissioner who is indifferent to the operations of the Fire Service. He encourages the Director of the Fire Service to have direct contact with the minister and all of a sudden, he wakes up one morning and says: ‘Oh my god, I have a problem with the Fire Service. I am going to ask the minister to side-step his whole procurement process, and what am I going to do? I going to get the minister to sign off on this whole deal and we are going to go review the Fire Service with a company which is made up of two Labor mates and has no qualifications to review fire services all’.
What are the qualifications of these people? One used to be a staffer for Graham Richardson in Canberra and the other one used to organise the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. They are their qualifications.
That is what has happened and now I am being asked by this Treasurer, who supports his minister, to vote for a bucket of money from Treasury so I can pass a law and he can go out and continue doing his job. It is challenging for me to do that, and I will tell you why: it is frustrating beyond words to have to deal with a government that dodges and weaves questions on these issues, ducks its responsibilities, totally hides behind its ability to keep secrets and does not lay on the Table so much as four or five bits of paper that would help answer these questions when we raised them.
I turn to another part of the budget, which is the source of some curiosity, and that is the budget of the minister for community services who has a responsibility to look after his budget. Having seen all the minus signs in bottom line columns in Budget Paper No 3 this year, he must have missed a Cabinet meeting, or if he did not miss it, he was asleep. The much vaunted, protected and loved Aboriginal Interpreter Service has once again become the subject of the Cabinet room rape by the Community Services ...
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. There is a standing order in regards to offensive words. To refer to a ‘Cabinet room rape’ is highly offensive and I ask that the member withdraw it.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, I ask you to withdraw.
Mr ELFERINK: Oh, go on! You are kidding.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Simply there are probably more appropriate words …
Mr ELFERINK: May I seek a clarification, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker?
Mr Stirling: If it is found offensive, it is offensive.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: … to describe what you are trying to describe.
Mr ELFERINK: May I seek clarification, speaking to the point of order?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes
Mr ELFERINK: If ‘rape’ is now ruled as unparliamentary, how am I going to talk about that particular crime when it comes up for debate? It is like making the word ‘police’ unparliamentary if you say ‘pool police’.
Ms LAWRIE: Speaking to the point of order, the member well knows he can use the word ‘rape’ in regards to a rape when it is a crime. This is not at all a crime. He is referring to a Cabinet process as a ‘rape’. That is offensive.
Mr Elferink: Oh, grow up! Sit! Just sit!
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, on advice, I ask you to withdraw because of the context in which it was used. A man of your intelligence can find better words to describe the circumstances that you wish to describe.
Mr ELFERINK: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I withdraw the word for the sake of the sensitivities of honourable members. The Cabinet room ravishing that the minister went through in terms of how he got his throat totally cut for the budget that he had to look after.
What does our honourable minister do with his funds? Well, he is sport and rec; he should have sport and rec funds. It is worth briefly visiting a letter from the Mataranka Community Government Council to Mr Tim Baldwin MLA, which reads:
Dear Mr Baldwin,
Re. Non-attendance of guest of honour at Never Never Festival.
As you are aware, Council recently conducted its Never Never Festival in Mataranka. This event has
become a celebration of the pastoral and horticultural history of the area combined with a wide variety
of sporting and cultural events, including an opportunity for reconciliation between indigenous and
non-indigenous Territorian sportsmen and sportswomen.
This year, the celebration was combined with the 25th anniversary of self-government in the Northern
Territory, considered locally as an important milestone in our history.
Mataranka Council this year received two small grants from the Northern Territory government in the order
of $2000 each to assist in running the festival. As a mark of respect to the portfolio minister, Mr John Ah Kit,
Council resolved to invite him to attend as a guest of honour of the President and members of the Council
for the festival, including the presentation of trophies to the winning sides in the Never Never Cricket Cup.
In order to carry out this mark of respect, Council chose to comply with political protocol to give preference to
Mr Ah Kit over yourself as the member for Daly in opposition. We have often recognised your own dedication
to matters of interest as the member for the region.
I am directed to advise you that Mr Ah Kit formally accepted the Council’s invitation approximately four weeks
prior to the festival and as CEO, I liaised closely with his Personal Assistant, Kylie Bell, the Marketing and Media
Manager of Sport and Recreation, Bianca Prosser, and the Major Events Company representative Stephen Close
to ensure that every opportunity was made available to recognise the Northern Territory’s government’s efforts and
to give the minister the opportunity to take political credit for the event.
Accordingly, Council ran a promotion on its advertising material and particularly on the specific promotion ...
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I ask the member to table that document.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Macdonnell, just a second, please. I am sorry, what was the point of order?
Mr KIELY: I ask that he tables that letter when he finishes, please.
Mr ELFERINK: Absolutely, I will table the letter. I was intending to, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. With great joy and gusto, I will.
... He was booked to be accommodated at the Mataranka Homestead, a resort property owned by
the Council’s Vice-President, Councillor Mark McLean.
The festival began on Friday 14th and the CEO, when returning to the office between events at approximately
5.30 pm that day, intercepted a faxed message originating from the minister’s office at 2.25 pm that day advising
that he could not attend. He cited: ‘I am now unable to, as the Chief Minister has requested my presence to
remain in Darwin to attend functions on her behalf.
The letter goes on to say:
The minister did not appoint a colleague or even a senior bureaucrat to represent him in his stead and the festival
was left with no guest of honour and no one to attend the welcoming reception, which was planned for the minister
on Sunday afternoon.
My Council would like to know, firstly, what type of function would force the Minister for Local Government to resile
from an arranged attendance as guest of honour at a council function? What type of function would prevent the
Minister for Sport and Recreation from honouring an arranged attendance at the weekend of sporting activities,
which his own portfolio had sponsored and at which he had to accept a major role? What type of function would
prevent the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs from being in attendance to present prizes
to a large gathering of indigenous cricketers?
Needless to say the Mataranka Council is embarrassed and angry at this discourtesy and feels that it has lost face
with its constituents after having promoted the minister’s attendance so widely.
This incident has thrown doubt on to whether the Northern Territory government has any respect for the constituents
of the Daly electorate and Mataranka in particular.
The Council will be interested to know the answers to some of these questions.
Yours faithfully,
Geoff Colver
CEO
Members interjecting.
Mr ELFERINK: This Treasurer has to convince me a whole lot more before I am going to support his Appropriation Bill. That is why we have an Estimates process next week, and, gee whiz, I would like to be convinced by this Treasurer that they are going to be straight shooters with the money that he is asking for, and that they are going to be straight shooters with Territorians when they seek assistance.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all members for contributing to the debate on the 2004-05 Appropriation Bill.
I listened very closely, with interest, to the majority of comments by members, but I have to say with the sole exception of the ramblings of the member for Macdonnell. I cannot understand why a council wanting to know why a particular minister was unable to fulfil an engagement would not ask the minister. On what basis would they ask the local member? Why would they ask Tim Baldwin the reason for John Ah Kit not being at a particular function? That beggars belief. Then this idiot comes in here and runs this through. It is a big beat-up. If anyone was going to raise it, why wouldn’t it be the local member, the member for Daly? Obviously, he used his budget time on matters of budget consequence rather than the absolute nonsense and drivel that …
Mr Elferink interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: You know, this place costs over $5000 an hour to run. Grubs like this use up …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! The word ‘grub’ has been ruled out repeatedly by Madam Speaker.
Mr STIRLING: I withdraw, Mr Deputy Speaker. I withdraw. Some people make more use of the $5000 an hour that it costs to run this Assembly than others.
I am pleased that the budget has been well received by the business community and the community as a whole. It is seen throughout the community as a budget that keeps the Territory moving ahead, that delivers jobs and growth. We are driving growth hard because it means jobs for Territorians, and jobs and economic growth is the best answer to this question of population growth. I am particularly pleased the government has effectively managed the economy thus far as to be able to deliver record tax cuts, a record infrastructure spend, significant tourism expenditure, record health, education and police budgets, but still managed the fiscal front effectively.
Three years ago we inherited a financial position that would not allow this combination of action by the government, given the excessive and ill-directed budgets of the late 1990s. To turn around the Territory’s financial position as quickly as we have deserves credit, and it is evident from the Opposition Leader’s reply to the budget, that if the Territory’s finances and economy were ever to be put in the hands of the Leader of the Opposition, we would certainly be sent reeling backwards: loan deficits, ill-directed funding, a failure to properly cash capital works, less and less financial flexibility to respond to economic difficulty. That is the hallmark that the budgets delivered by successive CLP governments, while the member for Blain, indeed, was in this House. He saw it for himself.
Budget 2004’s record tax cuts come in the form of payroll tax threshold movement, the abolition of the HIH Levy and the abolition of the bank debits tax. Changes to the payroll tax threshold means the Territory will now have the lowest recurrent tax of any jurisdiction for small business, and even for business with payrolls from around $1.6m and 40 staff. It means the Territory government will have a tax level of $6834 for small businesses with 20 staff, with the nearest state being Western Australia with a taxation take on a similar sized company of $11 444. We need to compare our position of $6800 with Victoria where an equivalent business would pay $32 140. For businesses with 40 staff, on 1 July 2005, the taxation level in the Territory will be $48 320. In the nearest state, the ACT, that taxation take would be $53 945 and, in Victoria, the taxation take on a similar sized company would be $110 835. The Territory is certainly better placed than any other state to develop a small and medium size business. This government is championing small business to grow, and backing them to grow. Members only have to look at pages 6 and 7 of Business Highlights from Budget 2004 to see those comparisons for themselves. As a result of the payroll tax shifts, 1400 businesses are better off; 162 will not have to pay payroll tax at all as of 1 July 2005 and, of those, 127 of the 162 are locally-based Territory businesses. That is a great result for business.
The infrastructure spend is about building the Territory and generating jobs. In this budget, we have packaged infrastructure expenditure to ensure that it is focused on strategic development projects, tourism and road projects. All of these projects are designed to increase Territory growth and to lever further private sector investment. Greater levels of private investment will supplement the government’s infrastructure effort and generate even further jobs.
The decision to seal the Litchfield Loop, as an example, should have the effect of generating greater tourism levels throughout the entire length of that road. This promotes small business, establishing more tourism-related infrastructure. It could even promote the establishment of a motel in that area. That will mean more investment and more jobs. The same could be said for the Mereenie Loop and, certainly, of the infrastructure expenditure on road side inns, parks and other tourism projects.
Similarly, the government’s decision to invest in the Desert Peoples Centre, a project that will stimulate the construction industry in Alice Springs, provide long-term economic benefits to the region and will trigger the development of the smart economy in the Centre, generating growth from a new source. The government has developed a pattern of hard work to achieve a long-term outcome. In Alice Springs, again, the painstaking negotiation with traditional owners means that within the space of less than one term in office, we have achieved a major breakthrough in the availability of land in that town, something that will generate more jobs, more growth and greater development, something the opposition could not achieve in 10 years.
The decision to back the establishment of a bulk loading facility at the port if the mining projects designed to utilise it get up and going demonstrates our investment in the future growth and direction of the economy.
The Darwin waterfront will provide an economic stimulus not just to the construction industry, but will mark Darwin as a major convention centre in the important tourism and business sector. It provides us with a new tool to sell our capital city to the world. This project, driven hard by the Chief Minister, will change the face of Darwin; it will provide the city with a signature.
This budget invests in the future. It provides the Territory with a development path. It has been crafted deliberately to reflect our vision for future growth. One thing that concerns me is that throughout responses to this budget from members opposite, both in the Chamber and elsewhere, there is a theme of antisocial development expenditure.
The government is proudly spending around $40m ongoing on education infrastructure and repairs and maintenance. Not only does it provide benefit to the construction industry, it serves a key goal of lifting our educational effort. There is a significant view that up-to-date facilities assist the educational outcomes of students. In the bush, we are trying to overcome 20 years of real neglect. In town, there are 40-year-old schools that have had little done to them, a legacy of the previous administration and one we are proudly turning around.
I am happy to be criticised for spending money in this way. The government and I believe it is a sound investment in our future. The intriguing thing about trying to deal with opposition members’ responses to the budget is the lack of a consistent view being expressed. In the space of a couple of weeks, we have had three or four different positions put on stamp duty for first home buyers. The member for Brennan articulated opposition policy, although he is not the Shadow Treasurer. He argued for the lifting of the threshold to $350 000. The next day, he went on the radio and argued the threshold should be $280 000. Yesterday, his leader supported HomeNorth; overnight had a bit of change of heart and decided all stamp duty transactions for first home buyers should be abolished.
The Opposition Leader’s position on first home buyers comes just under a month after his budget reply when he articulated a completely different approach. In his budget reply laying out what he would do, he tells one story, but then has a different policy position. It is hard to follow. The inconsistency is not new. It does make the job of pinning down just who the real Leader of the Opposition is difficult, and what their policies on tax matters are really are.
We were criticised for not spending enough in critical areas of health by the shadow minister. Then we were criticised for increasing the health budget through the course of the year. The Opposition Leader articulated promises in his budget response that would cost the budget around $50m. He and his shadow ministers have continued to add millions to that list.
This is true to form for the Country Liberal Party; they are articulating enormously high deficit strategies. That is their choice and we accept that, but high deficit strategies invariably lead to three things: cuts in services, and we have seen that; additional taxes to rein them in; and increasing government debt, which means increasing interest payments and, inevitably, a budget in crisis. Over $500 000 a day interest we inherited from you blokes, over $500 000 a day. That is a huge level of services that you cannot deliver by simply paying the interest rate required to sustain the loans that the CLP government left Territorians with.
It seems that every time an issue arises, the Opposition Leader determines that he will drop another tax. That is fine. It may play well out there on the stage, but the question is: how do you pay for it? He says there will be an increase in economic activity. It simply does not add up. If economic activity was to be used to pay for his stamp duty promises in the budget response, there would have to be 30% increase in stamp duty on conveyancing transactions out there in the community for that to occur. That is an awful lot more houses and units having to be sold all the time in order to get back to where you were. It is just not going to happen.
The Leader of the Opposition has to pay for his promises in some way or the budget goes into tailspin and maybe they are prepared to accept that. I believe that he intends to pay for them by introducing broad-based taxes and the person who told us …
Mr Burke interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: The member for Brennan laughs. The person who told us that is what he would do is the Leader of the Opposition himself. I quote from his budget speech of 19 May:
The burden of taxation now falls on too few members of our community.
If that is not the broadest, strongest possible hint about the introduction of broad-based taxes by the Leader of the Opposition, then I do not know what it is. These are taxes that he will introduce: the Land Tax, the Fire Tax, the Emergency Services Tax; all taxes that apply in all other jurisdictions around Australia; taxes that do not apply here.
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: Do you want to know the difference between a medium-sized business paying $48 000 tax in the Northern Territory and $110 000 tax in Victoria? There is the difference. There is the difference: the Land Tax, the Fire Tax, the Emergency Services Tax. They are all part of the extra $60 000 to $70 000 that the small business in Victoria pays and that small business does not pay here. That is how he will claw this back. He will apply these taxes right across the small business world. He will apply them to every householder. That is how he pays for these promises. It will not be enough though. He will have to go on to reduced services.
Territory public servants ought to be very worried about what the Leader of the Opposition is saying. Not only has he demonstrated his willingness in here to attack public servants directly, he is also quick to criticise and knock the public service as a whole. During his censure of me in the last sittings, he referred to the way our agencies operate in budgeting. He said:
You have developed this economy, this fiscal strategy that is so accustomed to a slack hand, poor
accountability and dishonest reporting that you have a system with little discipline in it.
It is remarkably similar to what we inherited. That is an apt description of what we inherited back in 2001. If that is not having a serious go at public servants, I do not know what is.
So public servants will be targetted by the Leader of the Opposition and by the party opposite if they have the opportunity. We have seen it this week and we saw it in the previous sittings.
In addition, as the squeeze comes in from ever-increasing debt and deficit, he will have to reduce job numbers and services. So increased taxation, cuts to public service positions and cuts to services is the clear sub-text of the Opposition Leader’s reply to this budget.
Budget 2004-05 does keep the Territory moving ahead. It is pro-business, it is pro-jobs and pro-growth. It delivers record tax cuts, a record infrastructure budget and money to boost our great lifestyle. I strongly believe it is a budget that positions us well for the future. I commend it to the House, even to the member for Macdonnell, but I would not be disappointed if he does not support the vote in the House, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker.
Motion agreed to, bill read a second time.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members will be aware that the remaining stages of the Appropriation Bill 2004-05 will be considered by the Assembly on Friday, 25 June 2004, pursuant to resolution of the Assembly on 18 May 2004.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Pass all Stages
Pass all Stages
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Northern Territory Employment and Training Amendment Bill 2004 (Serial 220) passing through all stages at this sitting.
Motion agreed to.
NORTHERN TERRITORY EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 220)
(Serial 220)
Continued from 20 May 2004.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the opposition has no difficulty with this bill. It is another National Competition Policy initiative to bring consistency and quality across vocational education and training.
While I support this bill, I hasten to add that not all National Competition Policy initiatives are suitable for the Northern Territory and because we support this bill at this time, it does not mean that we will do it all the time.
With regards to vocational education and training, obviously it is important to have national consistency so that our trainees, on receiving their awards, will know that their training and qualifications are transferable across any part of Australia. On that basis, they know that employers from interstate can be certain that Territory trained people are as good as anyone from interstate.
The issue of consistency is obviously a matter for all academic institutions to agree upon, based on fairly firm criteria proposed by the Australian National Training Authority. Having a single registration makes life a lot easier for registered training organisations. For instance, when an RTO seeks registration, rather than applying to be registered state by state, the registration is uniform across the country.
In respect of registration, it is preferable that an RTO is assessed by the Northern Territory Employment and Training Authority. One of the things I thought was a little inconsistent with a level playing field, not that I am against it, mind you, but I draw the minister’s attention to clause 31B(3)(b):
The Authority considers the applicant’s principal place of business is, or all or most of its operations
will be conducted, in this jurisdiction;
and then it would be registered in the Northern Territory. I wonder whether that means an entity that does 51% of its training in South Australia cannot be registered in the Territory. Why do you want to do that? A registered training organisation, once you are providing courses in the Territory …
Mr Stirling: I do not think that is the case. No, it is not the case.
Dr LIM: Look, it is a minor issue. Having RTOs registered in the Territory and then nationally is fine and having nationally consistent standards is fine. I do not think there is any difficulty there. Having the appeals process well and clearly defined is good so that RTOs can go through a process by which they can find out why they have been denied registration.
With those few words, I support the bill.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank the member for Greatorex and the shadow spokesperson on Employment, Education and Training for his supportive comments.
I got the gist of the question about RTO registration. If an RTO is registered in South Australia, they are able to operate here. Similarly, a company registered in the Northern Territory would be able to operate in South Australia. This is all part of trying to drive the highest quality standards of training right across Australia at a level that is nationally consistent.
We would all agree with the principle that a 17 year-old doing a traineeship in a particular area in the Northern Territory ought be satisfied and ought to have some assurance that the level of training and the exposure to all aspects of the job, whether they do that in Palmerston or Darwin, would be the same as if they were doing it out of Brisbane, Sydney or Adelaide. That is the thrust of having the model clauses in there.
It is not, in fact, a National Competition Policy bill. It came out of the November 2002 Ministerial Council, Australian National Training Authority and Training Ministers Council. The decision made at the time was that if all jurisdictions could have this legislation in place by 1 July 2004, everyone would be happy. We will make that line here in the Northern Territory.
Dr Lim: Excluding an RTO in Alice Springs providing 51% of courses in the Pit lands. You have a problem. Have you an RTO in Alice Springs, providing courses into the Pit lands, and 51% of its work is in the Pit lands, this locks it out.
Mr STIRLING: I am assured by my colleague from Employment and Training that there is not an issue there …
Dr Lim: Do you want to into committee stage and we will talk about it a bit more?
Mr STIRLING: Do you want to go in to committee?
Dr Lim: Yes, and just talk a bit more about it.
Mr STIRLING: Well, I am told there is no problem. If you want to go into committee, I would be happy to, but I am not quite sure I understand your question.
Madam Speaker, I am happy to go into committee. I am quite sure there is not a problem here, but I do not want the member for Greatorex to think that there is a problem and that we are not following it properly.
I thank the staff at Employment and Training, Rodney Crier, Brenda Elferink and Kim Jenkinson in particular for their work on this bill, and getting it through by 1 July. Let us go into committee stage so that we can sort this out.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
Dr LIM: Madam Deputy Chair, I draw the minister’s attention to clause 31B(3)(b), which reads:
(3) The Authority must not grant the application unless –
(b) the Authority considers the applicant’s principal place of business is, or all or
most of its operations will be conducted, in this jurisdiction;
I will give you a hypothetical. You may have a registered training organisation based in Alice Springs with courses developed specifically for indigenous people. It runs courses from Hermannsburg to Finke, everywhere else in the Territory. The Pit lands decide that they will have this course, too. Assuming that the northern half of South Australia has enough students to take up courses from this registered training organisation in Alice Springs and, in fact, the RTO delivers more courses in South Australia than in the Northern Territory, suddenly this RTO loses its registration in the Northern Territory.
My question is: if an RTO is based in Alice Springs and the bills says:
(3) The Authority must not grant the application unless –
(b) the Authority considers the applicant’s principal place of business is, or all or
most of its operations will be conducted, in this jurisdiction;
The jurisdiction is the Northern Territory. It is registered in the Northern Territory and services South Australia. We do that all the time. Lots of organisation in Alice Springs service South Australia.
Mr STIRLING: I thank the member for his question. I understand that the reason that we have clause 31B(3)(b) is so there is some sanction around RTOs not cherry picking the cheapest jurisdiction in the whole of Australia to be registered and to then conduct operations where they will.
I was just advised, that a New South Wales registered company that conducts a whole range of business up here – in fact, the majority of its business - now chooses to register in the Northern Territory. You are coming at it from the other position where a company is located in Alice Springs, but delivers the majority of its service in another state; that is South Australia, and clause 31B(3)(b) would seem to rule out Northern Territory registration where it says:
the Authority considers that the applicant’s principal place of business is, …
In that case you would have to say yes, that is a principal place of business:
… or all or most of its operations will be conducted, in this jurisdiction;
In your case, you would have to say the principal place of business is Alice Springs. That is where it is located, but its operations are conducted in South Australia. It is an interesting question and the answer, from the advice I have been given, is that it would have to be registered in South Australia. If that is a likely problem, and we are not aware of it being a problem, I would be happy to look at that clause again. I understand the purpose of it and I think you do, too. However, if there is an unintended consequence like that, we would be happy to receive representation from any business or RTO that felt aggrieved by this clause and reconsider it.
Dr LIM: My concern is that we do not want to disadvantage any legitimately registered training organisation undertaking its normal course of business in Alice Springs that, over time, starts to offer more courses in a place other than the Northern Territory. Through no fault of its own, the clients are in another state. This RTO would have to leave the Territory and register in South Australia because it is doing the majority of its work in that state.
If the legislation is consistent in throughout Australia, this clause ought to appear in the South Australian legislation. That RTO would have to leave the Territory. Why are we making it difficult for our businesses?
Mr STIRLING: I accept what you are saying. I am not aware of any RTO being in this situation. As I said, I am happy to take any representation. If you were to write to me and say we have knocked over this particular RTO because they cannot now be registered because all of their work is across the border, we would look at it with a view to correcting it. I am happy for it to stand until and unless there is a situation of disadvantage to a Northern Territory-based RTO.
Dr LIM: Minister, may I suggest that you bring it to at least 50-50 rather than 51%. I do not know of any RTOs in Alice Springs that might be disadvantaged by this clause, but if it does happen once the bill is passed, which is going to be today, the RTO suddenly goes out of business and that is a problem. There is going to be a period of time before the RTO can be registered back in the Territory subject to amendment to your legislation.
Mr STIRLING: As part of this national consistency, Madam Deputy Chair, with national registration, they can deliver anywhere. So it is not going to knock them out; it is not going force an RTO to move, to relocate or we lose an RTO. That is part of this national consistency.
Dr LIM: I am not a lawyer, but I read it differently.
Mr STIRLING: That is the advice I have. I accept what you are saying as a reasonable hypothetical, but it is a hypothetical. You are not aware of any company, I am not aware of any company, the agency is not aware of any company. If there were a company in that situation, I would be prepared to move on it.
Dr LIM: I have your undertaking, thank you.
Bill, as printed, agreed to.
Bill reported; report adopted.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
TABLED PAPER
Increase in Treasurer’s Advance
Increase in Treasurer’s Advance
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, I lay on the Table a statement under section 19(4) of the Financial Management Act.
An increase in Treasurer’s Advance by a total $20m is required to transfer appropriation of $8.083m to other purposes based on budget adjustments incorporated for the revised 2003-04 estimate and to provide capacity of $12m potentially required by agencies for unforeseen circumstances for the remainder of the financial year.
This capacity will make it easier to manage the end of the year financial requirements of agencies. The additional capacity for Treasurer’s Advance will not result in additional expenditure in total as any requirements for increased funding in some agencies will be more than offset by under-expenditure in other agencies. The alternative of transferring expenditure capacity between agencies is difficult to manage, as in many instances the exact level of excess capacity available for transfer is not known until after 30 June.
It is appropriate for Treasurer’s Advance to be used in these circumstances because of the one-off nature of end-of-year agency requirements.
The tabled instrument increases the allocation to Treasurer’s Advance by $20m under section 19 of the Financial Management Act. Under the Financial Management Act, the limit for transfer to Treasurer’s Advance is 5% of total allocations, as per the Appropriation Act, and there must be sufficient funds available in the Central Holding Authority. Both criteria have been met as the $20m increase represents less than 1% of total Appropriation Bill allocations, $2129m and there will be adequate balances in the
Central Holding Authority due to receipt of additional GST revenue from the Commonwealth to effect the increase in Treasurer’s Advance.
The approval of His Honour the Administrator to increase allocation to the Treasurer’s Advance was given by Executive Council on 31 May 2004.
MOTION
Routine of Business
Routine of Business
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that consideration of Government Business Orders of the Day No 4 relating to the Ministerial Statement on Crime Prevention be called on forthwith.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Statement – Crime Prevention
Note Statement – Crime Prevention
Continued from 31 March 2004.
Dr BURNS (Transport and Infrastructure): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to support the Ministerial Statement on Crime Prevention. This government was elected substantially on a basis of addressing crime and criminal activity in the Northern Territory.
I remember, as a candidate, knocking on doors and finding a lot of disquiet in the community, particularly about property crime. People asked me: ‘If you are elected, what are you going to do about property crime? We can’t even park our cars out on the streets without them being broken into and robbed. Last week, people broke into our house and took this and that and what are you going to do about it?’ As an opposition, the government proposed a six-point plan on crime.
The first point was punishing offenders and preventing crime: serious crime means serious time. There is no doubt, unfortunately, that our gaols are full to over-flowing. Basically, it is as a result of this government’s six-point plan on crime. I commend the police, and I will talk in more depth about them soon, for apprehending these criminals in a strategic and targeted way and putting them behind bars where they belong.
That dove-tails into the next one: making you safe at home. Of course, if you are getting the criminals off the street, if you are reducing property crime, people do feel safe at home and that has been the feedback that I have had as I have continued to door knock in my electorate.
The third one is: getting help from police when you need it. How many times did I hear as a candidate: ‘I rang the police and it took them two hours to come here.’ With this government’s investment in the police force, $75m over 4 years, the recruitment of 200 extra police, we are already seeing the results of increased recruitment of police and shortened response time. I have heard positive feedback by police at public meetings, and I will come to that soon as well, within my electorate about how they have more staff in the police to address calls that come through and the concerns of residents. That has been very positively commented upon in my electorate.
Putting victims first: we certainly put victims first. We made adjustments to the Victims of Crime compensation scheme and added resources. I remember the member for Araluen complaining that if crime is going down, how come there is more work for the unit dealing with victims of crime? It stands to reason that there are more apprehensions, there are more resources and people feel more confident about approaching this unit and getting help.
Getting tough on the causes of crime is another part of the plan. We have done a lot on addressing drug abuse issues, which were absolutely rampant within our community prior to the last election. A case in point is Foils at Moil, the famous Foils at Moil. Every taxi driver in Darwin knew where Foils at Moil was. Every resident within blocks away knew where Foils at Moil was. It was a public joke. This government passing tough legislation on drug houses and drug dealers has resulted in Foils at Moil being closed. That is just an ordinary block of units now, after many years. I would not even start to think about how long Foils at Moil was there.
My predecessor, the former member for Jingili, used to say to locals: ‘There is nothing that I can do about it. We send the police around there, and then within an hour they are back there and they are dealing again. There is nothing we can do about it’. Well this government did something about it and it is closed. We introduced drug house legislation and the place is closed. Residents in that area deeply appreciate the fact that Foils at Moil is no more. It was a joke. It was a standing joke.
Mrs Miller: We do not want any drug houses.
Dr BURNS: I hear the member for Katherine. Maybe she had not heard about Foils at Moil down in Katherine, but certainly everyone in Darwin knew of Foils at Moil. You would go past there and there would a line up of cabs outside, and this was a complaint of the neighbours. This was a 24-hour business: people coming and going, dealing in drugs, there is crime, the customers of Foils at Moil were knocking off things from people’s cars and houses. I am not exaggerating. It was a major problem in that area and, according to the former local member, the former government, there was nothing that could be done about it because as soon as the police moved in and busted someone, basically they would be dealing again within an hour or two.
We did something about it. We introduced drug house legislation. We tightened confiscation of property related to crime legislation and we put the brakes on that sort of activity. I am proud to be part of a government that has done that.
Establishing a central crime prevention agency was another plank in that policy. I will be talking about the Office of Crime Prevention later in my speech. I have already mentioned that we focussed down on illicit drugs and their supply, and our tough on drugs strategy, I really believe, is biting in our community.
For police, I have already mentioned $75m over four years, 200 extra police on the beat. There are some groups in my electorate, one of which is the Wagaman Residents Committee, whose meetings are regularly attended by Officer Murray Taylor and other officers. They meet on a monthly basis in my electorate office. At the last meeting, the OIC, Murray Taylor, told them that there was virtually zero crime in the Wagaman suburb. There had been one break-in of a vehicle but beyond that, there was not very much at all. ‘Historic’, he said. It was the first time in his memory that something like that could be reported to residents. Remember, here is the local policeman talking to the local residents from the Wagaman area. They know what is going on in their area, and they agreed with him.
In terms of property crime, there has been a marked, sharp decrease over a sustained period within Wagaman. Why? Because there is a greater police presence. There are increased bicycle patrols, and they are a welcome sight within Wagaman and beyond. Right throughout the northern suburbs, you see them all the time doing a fantastic job. There is a very strong police presence and it discourages crime and criminals. I commend the police. I commend Casuarina police in particular, and I commend the officers on the bike patrol because you really need to be fit to be on those patrols. Those young men and women are so fit, and they move from one suburb to another on the case of criminals, not letting them get away with anything; apprehending villains. It is a welcome sight in our neighbourhood. As part of this government’s initiatives, the police have $75m over four years; 200 extra police. The CLP let the police force rot in terms of recruitment in the early 1990s. This is a government that is serious about policing, the police force and about resourcing it. It is having a positive result, and the figures bear that out.
In terms of the quarterly crime statistics released by the minister, here we go! In Alice Springs in the past 12 months, a 37% drop in house break-ins according to the December 2003 Northern Territory Crime and Justice Statistics released that day, 22 March 2004. Palmerston has recorded a 14% drop in house break-ins over the past 12 months along with a 25% drop in house break-ins over the same period according to the same December Northern Territory quarterly statistics. In Darwin, there was a 32% drop in house break-ins over the 12 months and, basically, that translates to 570 less offences than for the previous 12 months. That is 570 less houses or vehicles that were broken into. That is fantastic news.
Ms Carney: Fewer, fewer!
Dr BURNS: The member for Araluen has her head in her hands. She does not want to hear this story.
Ms Carney: I am talking about the language you are using. You say ‘less people, less houses’, the word is ‘fewer’, you dill!
Dr BURNS: Really, member for Araluen, I suppose less crime means that there is less work for lawyers. That is the only group that might be complaining a little about it. I love it. This is fantastic stuff.
Ms Carney: It is fewer people; fewer offences.
Dr BURNS: Now! There are concerning trends, particularly in terms of assaults and crimes against the person. We are facing up to that. That is obvious, particularly in Katherine, where there was a 76% increase over the 12 months and that is cause for concern. There were rises in other Territory centres.
Mr Deputy Speaker, as you well know, a lot of these assaults are alcohol-related. Unfortunately, a lot of them involve indigenous people. We have a lot of work to do in relation to alcohol in the Northern Territory, and this is government is introducing an Alcohol Framework. There has to be a big community debate about alcohol and the harm it causes in the Northern Territory. I believe the community is ready for that debate. My personal view is that there are too many alcohol outlets in the Northern Territory. That is something we have to look at very closely.
I am evincing a personal view here, but it is something we have to come to terms with. There is no doubt that the per capita consumption of alcohol, as measured by pure ethanol in the Northern Territory, is substantially higher than elsewhere in Australia. In some areas of the Territory, it is even higher again. We all know that dose equates to harm when you are looking at alcohol, and alcohol is at the bottom of a lot of these very serious assaults against the person. As a government, as a community, and as members of this House, we have to come to terms with that. We have to have a debate about it and address the issue because it is simply unacceptable, particularly since a lot of those assaults are against women. That is completely unacceptable.
Looking at the trend, particularly over the last year to two years, it is a positive trend and the government’s report card, on any assessment, is good. However, we cannot afford to be complacent; we must be focussed on this. We must continue the effort and continue to bring results home to the Northern Territory community.
I would like to talk at a local level about crime prevention issues. I have already mentioned the Wagaman Residents Committee. It was formed in 1999 and I compliment my predecessor, the member for Jingili; who set up that committee and, prior to the last election, worked closely with it because there was a problem around Amsterdam Circuit in terms of youth gangs, antisocial behaviour, youths moving through the walkways and causing all sorts of problems for the local residents.
On election, I gave a commitment to that group that I would continue to work with them, to advocate for them and support them as much as I could. Basically, they received an NTsafe grant and some support from Darwin City Council. In October 2001, three high powered lights were installed in Amsterdam Park and that has alleviated a lot of the problems in the area. They have also, since 1999, fought for laneway closures and over that intervening four years, there have been different laneways closed between Amsterdam Circuit and Trower Road and Vanderlin Drive. There are three laneways involved and there have been various combinations laneways being open and closed. The committee has kept a close eye on the effects of the trials and they have continued to meet and discuss and debate their effects. It has caused some heat in the neighbourhood because some people want laneways closed, some want them open, and the dialogue has been quite heated at times. At the end of the day, people have respected one another and the group has always tried to move to a consensus position.
I was glad to support the committee and support changes to the local government road opening and closing regulations in 2002 to ensure that laneways could be closed permanently and that such closure complied with the law. This government supported a change to the regulations to enable the residents, if they wanted to, to close these laneways permanently. The residents then decided that they wanted to open and close the laneways. In other words, have the laneways closed at night with a gate, and then have them open during daylight hours. That was trialled and local residents volunteered to open and close the laneways. They took that responsibility on themselves in the initial parts of the trial and I believe that the council has now taken responsibility for them now. From memory, they open at about 6 am.
The impact of the lane closures on the lives of the people living in the area has been fantastic. The suburb has become quieter, vandalism has dissipated, graffiti to some degree has diminished, and loitering has been discouraged. Kids feel free again to use the park for play and families meet and socialise more freely. That is not to say that there is still not an ongoing problem from time to time with itinerancy in that area, but it has decreased substantially.
On the basis of their laneway trials and their work, the committee has recently been nominated for an Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Award. They are a shining example to other resident groups fighting antisocial behaviour in their respective suburbs. I know that the minister will be coming along to a meeting of the Wagaman Residents Group later in the year, and they are looking forward to that. He will be able to hear and see first hand and have input in to a meeting of the group.
As with any group, the Wagaman Residents Committee is made up of hard working people, residents who are ever-vigilant to ensure that their lifestyle is safe and secure. I pay tribute to the former Chairman of this group, who is now living in New Zealand, Mr Asad Mohsin. Asad was Chairman for many years and did a hell of a lot of work. He worked very hard and brought the group together. An effective chair of meetings, might I add. It was very sad when he left. To some degree, he is a very hard act to follow, but Mr George Lambrinidis is now the Chair. George is a young man, someone who works very hard for his local community. He recently stood in the Darwin City Council elections and polled very well on first preferences but, unfortunately, the notorious preferencing system within the Darwin City Council elections and the way that people preference one another to some degree, he missed out, but he polled very well. It is a measure of his popularity in the work he has put in to that community over a number of years.
The committee is made up of stalwarts like Paul Birch, June and Patrick Daley, Tony Eckert, Simmy Lee, Kathleen Lawrence, Poppy Gatis, Paul Hempstock, Zita Hall and there is support from the NT Police who attend regularly, especially Senior Sergeant Murray Taylor, OIC of Casuarina, Geoff Pickering of Neighbourhood Watch, Marcia Russell of NT Crime Prevention, Garry Lambert of the Darwin City Council and representatives of the Casuarina shopping centre. Not only are there local residents, there are police, Neighbourhood Watch, Darwin City Council, Casuarina Square and as the local member, I get there as often as I can. Meetings are held in my electorate office. I highly commend this group. They have been successful in leading the community’s fight against crime and antisocial behaviour. There are a number of groups throughout Darwin in other suburbs who have looked closely at what the Wagaman Residents Group has done.
In Jingili, in November 2002, residents around the Borella Park area sought advice on how to deal with antisocial behaviour in the park. The park is located near the cemetery and the Airport Hotel on one side, and on the other side are the Jingili shops. There has been a problem for quite some time. They had a look at what the Wagaman Residents Group had done, and the Wagaman group was willing to share experiences. On 5 December, I letter boxed the area, called a public meeting and a committee was formed. They call themselves the Borella Park Residents Group. They wanted to identify strategies to combat antisocial behaviour and, in their own words, ‘take back the park’. This group wanted to take back the park for themselves and their children.
In January 2003, a safety audit was undertaken, under the Crime Prevention NT Small Grants Scheme and in September, another public meeting was called to announce the award of a $15 000 grant to further the committee’s work.
In an effort to help local residents with their concerns, not only was the Crime Prevention Group involved, but also the Council, the police and myself. It was very similar in a way to the group that came to support the Wagaman Residents Group. I was working very hard because I realised that some of the problems were related to the Airport Hotel and the way in which some itinerant people were going to the hotel, walking into the driveway, buying grog and then drinking right next door at the cemetery or in the park across the road. After some discussion with the Airport Hotel, management decided that they would change their policy on takeaway liquor and ban walk-up sales. That meant people would have to drive in to get alcohol.
I have put on the record a number of times that the problem around the Airport Hotel has reduced substantially, if not nearly all together. Where you would see bands of people, some of them heavily intoxicated, wondering across McMillans Road from one side to the other, people fighting, people carrying on, people living in the park opposite, you do not see that now. Once again, I point to problems with alcohol being a driving force in terms of itinerancy and antisocial behaviour. That is why, as a community, as a government, as a parliament, we really have to look closely at alcohol and the service of alcohol being a root cause of some of these problems.
That was a positive, although residents were still concerned that some of the itinerants were walking through Borella Park, sometimes fighting in the park, sometimes sleeping in the park on their way to get grog at the Jingili shops. Once again, there was quite a lot of support for this group and a few things have been done.
The government has negotiated with Darwin City Council, and I commend my colleague, the Minister for Community Development and Local Government, and identified funds for erection of a fence around the cemetery, which will be a further deterrent to itinerants using the corridor from the airport to the shopping centre. Furthermore, relatives of people buried in the cemetery have been were quite upset at the behaviour and goings on in that cemetery. It is only right that government and council should get together and put a fence around it to stop some of the shenanigans in the cemetery. I believe that a contract has been let and the fence will be erected in the near future.
Residents on the committee include Trevor Edwards as Chairman, Jane Burford, who is Secretary, Tracey Ellis, Sally Edwards, Blair Grace, Bill Denniss and Terry Brown, with fantastic support from Marcia Russell, once again, from the Office of Crime Prevention. The Darwin City Council is represented at the meetings, usually by Dave Perry, who does a fantastic job. Once again, Murray Taylor from NT Police comes to the meetings. He has good input and receives feedback from the residents. The residents now talk about the very effective and quick response by the police to any concerns or complaints that they might have, so that is very positive. All these groups have worked to bring about changes to the park and to deter itinerants and antisocial behaviour.
The grant money is being used to remove trees, which were used as hiding places, install lighting, upgrade park equipment, provide seating, install signage and maintain facilities. I am pleased to report that most of those works have been completed. There was a barbecue earlier this month, which I attended, which was very well attended by residents. I reckon there would have been about 40 residents there, and there was a very good mood among the residents. They feel that they are making progress and that they have reclaimed the park. Two of the residents whose homes border the park were discussing the black plastic across their fences. It was installed to give some privacy in their yards and because they did not want to see what was going on in the park. They are now saying: ‘I may pull that black plastic down because the park has become more amenable. The kids are playing there’. One resident said: ‘I do not have to turn the television up of an evening so much, because the fighting has gone, the swearing has gone. Basically, all I can hear now is the happy sound of children playing in the park’. That is the sort of thing that people want to hear.
That is not to say that the problem is solved. There is still a bit of traffic that goes through the park. There is still a bit of bad behaviour in the park, but the lights that have been installed, the new furniture, the clearing away of the underbrush all fits together to increase amenity, decrease antisocial behaviour, and as families use the park more, it will discourage those people from carrying on in the park. One thing leads to another, and we must be very vigilant. I am not saying the job is done by any stretch of the imagination, but it just shows what can be accomplished when people work together and support one another.
This is a government that came to office with a plan to address crime in our community; to try to reduce crime and support victims of crime. We are not saying it is complete, but the figures speak for themselves. They have been backed up by the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ national Recorded Crime - Victims that show the same sort of decreases in property crime in particular over the Territory. These are independently audited crime figures.
We have our crime figures that come through the Justice Department from the police, and the two are very similar. They both show that there have been big decreases in property crime in the Northern Territory. This government had a plan. We had to inject substantial resources, but we have not baulked at that. I particularly commend the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General for his efforts and the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services because he argued very strongly for a report into the police services and what resources were needed.
There was a substantial investment in the O’Sullivan Report, which identified $75m over four years. We have come up with that money. There is a lot of talk on the opposition side: ‘You have all this extra money from GST revenue’. Yes, we may have extra money from GST revenue, but we are investing it where they never invested funds. We are investing them in policing and crime prevention and it is bearing fruit. I know the Northern Territory community has recognised that.
However, I have also identified some areas that we need to be very focussed on, and one of them is crimes against the person; assaults and sexual assaults. I contend that a lot of that is tied up with alcohol and drunkenness, and the whole issue of alcohol in our community is one that we have to look at seriously.
In conclusion, I support the statement. I am proud to be part of a government that is kicking goals in this area. That is what I was elected to do, and I will continue to do it. I will continue to support my colleagues. Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the minister’s statement to the House.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to speak on the crime prevention statement. Today, during Question Time, we heard the minister for Justice give a response to a question on crime statistics. He pointed out how the Territory was tracking over the last quarter and, in fact, over the last year. I would like to go over some of those figures again.
The minister pointed out that statistics, both from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and from the Office of Crime Prevention, show that there have been consistent drops. For the benefit of members opposite, I will go over them. There were almost 3000 fewer victims in 2003 than in the previous year. We have seen a recorded drop in 11 of the 14 offence categories. We have seen a major change in sexual assaults - down 8.5%; unlawful entry with intent dropped by 25%; and motor vehicle theft, down 13%.
There has been an increase in the number of assaults in 2003, which were up by 6.8%. However, we are addressing that by targeting police, our Harmony strategy and the development of the Alcohol Framework. We are putting something like $5m towards those initiatives. We are continuing to work with the community in consultation. We are bringing together all these issues to attack the causes of crime to make our society a better place for all Territorians.
As the minister said, when you have a look at the figures from 2001 to 2003, comparing the incidence of reported crime between the two governments, from when the opposition was in power compared with us, there were 2000 fewer unlawful entries in 2003 than under the CLP; 1500 fewer victims of property theft; and 200 fewer motor vehicle thefts. As the minister said, we have not eradicated crime and we will not. No government, no society, will ever be able to do away with it. However, we are working hard to get rid of the causes of crime to make the Territory a far better place to live.
In my own electorate, we have been proactive on a number of issues to address the causes of crime. Last year, and I plan to do the same this year, I held public forums for a safer Sanderson. I must say that the initiative for these forums came from the member for Karama who runs successful programs in her electorate. What we did in Sanderson was to get together the NT Crime Prevention Team, members of the police service, Neighbourhood Watch and the community for hour-long meetings at Wulagi and Anula Primary Schools. Light refreshments were served. We asked community members to come and share their ideas on improving community safety with your local member.
What we did, with the help of the relevant school principals, was set up a panel discussion in the library. The panel comprised members from NT Crime Prevention, police, Neighbourhood Watch and myself. We asked: ‘What can we do to make these suburbs a safer place to live?’ The feedback was pretty good; that as a government, we are tackling the causes of crime, that the initiatives arising from the O’Sullivan Report, the extra $75m for police, the initiatives arising from the Justice minister’s portfolio, were biting, were starting to have good results.
The member for Johnston mentioned Foils at Moil. This had a pretty big run in one of the forums and the point was being made that crime had decreased in the electorate of Sanderson once we got rid of that place. What was happening at Foils at Moil, apart from selling drugs and peddling all this dope, they were enticing young people to break the law and to steal goods. All up and down the walkways and the parklands, people discovered that their fishing rods were going missing out of their boats – a rod and reel is worth a few bob – and break-ins of opportunity were occurring. If people were able to look through a window and see a stack of CDs, a bag or a purse, or a small and portable attractive item, that house would be broken into. Smash and grab, in and out, and where did they go? Foils at Moil and places like that. They were exchanging stolen goods for bags of dope. That is what was going on.
These places were exchanges. When we got rid of Foils at Moil, we got rid of that problem. There was a really good downstream effect. We achieved that by working with the police and the community. As the member for Johnston said, it is now just a normal block of flats. This is a tremendous thing. We hear talk about these static places selling drugs being shut down but what we are seeing is more mobile activity. I have people come into my office and report on a place that has started selling on Matthews Road selling. We gave that intelligence to the police. I tell you what: the places do not last long because when people become aware, and because of the legislation we have, they are on to the police, they are on to the Drug Squad and actions taken because we have given the police the powers to act. For years and years, the opposition was incapable of these laws for one reason or another.
Why they would not do it is a mystery. It is not rocket science to introduce such laws. It is a great community law and we did it. The people in Sanderson, definitely the people in Johnston, and, I would say, Nightcliff, Fannie Bay, Karama, down in Braitling and Greatorex and Katherine are all thankful for this law because we are cleaning it up. Yes, we still have problems with the higher end drugs, and chances are that the breaks-ins going on now are more attributable to them.
As we said, we acknowledge that it is impossible to eradicate crime. A few weeks back, the local fish and chip shop was burgled, but the nature of that crime did not indicate it was a youth-related break in; it was a very slick operation and the police feel that this was perpetrated by people with a lot of knowledge on how to break and enter who were not just looking for a quick $50 and out the door. They were looking for more substantial benefit for their effort.
Wulagi is a very proactive community. The shop-keeper at Wulagi Supermarket, Anthony Scott - you might be aware that he received a Police Commendation; he was on the front page of the NT News because he was alert. There was an armed hold up, I think it was at Moil Shops, and the perpetrator got away. Police were looking for him, broadcast his identikit and a profile. Scotty, as he is known in the neighbourhood, kept an eye open. There was a chap hanging around who was casing the shops looking for opportunity. Scotty was alert and got on to the police. They acted swiftly and efficiently and, sure enough, they got this chap. There is good, active community participation by a shop-keeper working with the community and police to get an alleged perpetrator. That is excellent.
I came home one Saturday night and was in the kitchen and heard some kids screaming out on the street. It was a real scream of fright and anguish. I went out to see what was going on, and there was a pretty heavy domestic across the road, a family violence situation in which one member of the family was on the ground and another member on top punching and the kids were upset. I went over and yelled at them to stop and broke it up. The woman was being punched. She broke away from the fight and then the male got up, went inside and returned with a knife. I immediately phoned 000.
By this time, I had the woman and kids in my house and they were with my wife and family, but when I saw this rather big bloke advancing with a knife, I was a bit concerned. I yelled out to him to stop and told him that the police were coming. He propped on his front fence and threw the knife into the yard. The police turned up, first one wagon and then, a little bit later, another. This was fairly good response time. I daresay that when I said the chap is armed with a knife, this might have stimulated a fairly quick response.
What impressed me most about what was going on was the compassion. Two police officers, a man and a woman, came over to see her. They were interviewing her and it was a pretty horrific circumstance she was in, but the compassion with which they dealt with the woman to get the information from her - they took her up to hospital; they looked after her. She had had a few cuts and abrasions. She had not been stabbed, thank God. They looked after her very well. Other police in attendance went over and spoke to the perpetrator. They did not just grab him and wrestle him to the ground; they managed the situation quite well.
What we had in the end was the woman being taken to hospital, took statements and they arrested the alleged perpetrator and took him away. It was very professional, very well done. I was extremely impressed by the efficiency, compassion, professionalism of the police officers. I wrote to the commissioner and told him what his officers had done was tremendous. He wrote back to me. I have the letter here and, if you would like, I will table it. It is from the Police Commissioner, and is dated 8 March 2004:
Dear Mr Kiely,
Thank you for your letter dated 4 March 2004 regarding the professionalism of the Northern Territory
Police members who responded to a family violence incident in Anula on 21 February 2004.
As Commissioner, it is extremely pleasing to hear such reports and the members, Constables Beverley
Hagston, Guy Ford and Ross Martin and Aboriginal Community Police Officer Jimmy Lolias are to be
congratulated.
I will ensure that your letter of appreciation is passed on to the members, together with my thanks for a
job well done.
That is a great response by our police service to a terrible situation, which is too prevalent within our society, and one that we are really attempting, through our different programs, to tackle this. This is one of the most serious crimes that goes on in our society, which is …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, do you wish to table that document?
Mr KIELY: Yes, Mr Deputy Speaker. I seek leave to table it.
Leave granted.
Mr KIELY: If we can get on top of that, we are doing a great job in our community.
We have a very active Neighbourhood Watch in Sanderson. It is headed up by John Lair. They do all sorts of things in the community. It is not just a matter of having meetings and going away. They do bike engraving, hold special events to bring the community together, particularly their Christmas function, which they have at Anula Primary School, and for which I sponsor sausages and cakes. Last year, they had such a great event, they invited in lots of school groups, such as the skipping teams and the chorale. They put on all sorts of entertainment and had a really good response.
They also run a bit of an information program. On Wednesday 2 June, they had Gaby Lengyel, who is the Service Coordinator with Darwin Youth Beat, as a guest speaker. I had reason to talk to Gaby about some other youth issues in the Malak area, and Youth Beat addressed those. As a matter of fact, I got on to Youth Beat through Sergeant Murray Taylor, who we have heard the member for Johnston commend. He is the OIC of Casuarina and a lot of us, as members, have dealings with him. He is very professional, as are all his officers. He is in there supporting the community. It is a wonderful thing.
I will read from the minutes of Sanderson Neighbourhood Watch because it is important for the House to know what goes on.
Gaby Lengyel is the Service Coordinator of Darwin Youth Beat. Gaby outlined the service they are providing
for wayward youth in the northern suburbs at night time resulting from family breakdown, homelessness,
substance abuse, self-harm behaviour, antisocial behaviour, peer group pressure, boredom and poor
self-esteem.
They patrol areas which have been identified as hot spots, and their aim is to improve young people’s safety by
diverting young people from risky behaviour and crime. They link young people with family, community,
education and recreation through mentoring and referral, also to support families to care for and to take
responsibility of their children.
Many questions were raised to Gaby and lengthy discussions followed. Sergeant Murray Taylor spoke of the
excellent work being done by Youth Beat, and the close contact they have with the police. Peter Styles also
confirmed the problems faced in our community relating to his work as a school-based constable.
Alderman Robyne Burridge suggested the possibility of council doing an audit of all services and facilities
that may be of assistance for Youth Beat.
No doubt, Youth Beat has our full support for the very important work they are doing, and with some
considerable success.
Thank you, Gaby.
Our strategies and work with the community is not just about ‘banging people up’, to use a colloquialism. It is not just about arresting people and locking them away. It is about looking at a range of different strategies to make our community a safer, better place to live.
You can see that in budget 2004-05. There is an information sheet headed More Police on the Beat with the sub-heading Safer communities through crime prevention. It is important that we have this on the record:
$2.52m for the Office of Crime Prevention to continue leading crime prevention strategies, including:
$400 000 for crime prevention grants;
$150 000 to continue the process of building law and justice plans in remote communities.
Further whole-of-government crime prevention initiatives include:
$1.5m to improve safety and security of public housing;
$680 000 for eight School Attendance Officers to deal with truancy;
$200 000 to develop better reintegration strategies for prisoners being released,
a first step in breaking the re-offending cycle;
That is an initiative you never saw when the opposition was in government.
$100 000 to maintain an Alice Springs office providing a range of justice services including the
Office of Crime Prevention and Consumer and Business Affairs.
We also have the Itinerants Strategy. We do not have the same issues with alcohol-affected itinerants as some other places in the Territory. I put that down to the fact that we do not have any pubs in the Sanderson electorate. If you are looking for a link between antisocial behaviour and alcohol, have a look at my electorate where we do not have takeaways of that nature. We have outlets through the supermarkets and the clubs, but they promote a policy of responsible retailing. You do not see people sitting around in the parks, or fights and blues through the suburbs of Sanderson. That is a credit to the shop-keepers in the area, but also reinforces the member for Johnston’s position on community debate in relation to the Alcohol Framework. We have to address the issue of alcohol consumption; there are no two says about it. The substance abuse committee has seen that time and time again.
For the Itinerants Strategy:
$2.75m to tackle antisocial behaviour and itinerancy. This money will deliver
infrastructure and intervention programs across the Territory to tackle the problem.
We are pretty dinkum about this. Then we look at Safer communities through improved facilities such as:
$18.5m to implement the recommendations of the review into Correctional Services …;
$8m for a new low security gaol at the Darwin Correctional Centre;
$1.8m to upgrade 66 police houses …;
$1m for a police post at Numbulwar
$1.56m for short-term accommodation and day centres within the Community Harmony Project;
$680 000 to modify and upgrade police cells at Batchelor, Maranboy and Ti Tree.
We are taking a very broad approach to crime prevention within the Territory under the Martin government and the good officers of the minister for Justice, the member for Stuart. We do not see crime as belonging to one segment of the community. We are not in the business of mandatory sentencing to hold up some whipping boy and put all the blame there. Crime appears in all strata of our society, and we are tackling it. What is more, we are looking to improve our society by addressing the causes of crime and looking to remedy that situation so that we can have a better society for all.
I thank the minister for all the work he has put into this, and I look forward to the results that it will deliver into the future.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Deputy Speaker, earlier this year I was pleased to be able to highlight, for the benefit of all members, how this government is delivering on its promise to attack crime and the causes of crime.
I, and the members on this side, provided example after example of this government building safer Territory communities. The contributions of Labor members set out how we are achieving our objective through targeted law enforcement and policing; by giving police the tools they need to do their job; through legislation targeting property crime and laws to put drug houses out of business; by forming partnerships with the community to develop local solutions to local issues; and funding those local communities to get on with the job.
My ministerial colleague, the member for Wanguri, outlined this government’s commitment to building a better police force with a funding injection of $75m over four years and 200 extra police officers on the street by the end of 2006. A record police budget of $174.2m in 2004-05 included: $13m for more police personnel, enabling record rates of recruitment; $2m for a new police and fire facility at Humpty Doo; $1m for a new police post at Numbulwar; and $680 000 to modify and upgrade cells at Batchelor, Maranboy and Ti Tree.
The member for Arnhem and Minister for Community Development, Sport, and Cultural Affairs is justifiably proud of our great Territory lifestyle. I listened with great interest to the member’s comments about the important role of sport and recreation in helping to put potentially wayward young people on the right track. Indeed, the member for Arnhem credits his long involvement with sport as a player and coach as something that helped him through his larrikin days. Leadership, discipline and team work are qualities that he gained through sports. He went on to outline the way in which this government is working to give vulnerable young people these skills and opportunities.
With funding under the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme, programs are operating across the Territory to give young people more opportunities and prevent crime before it starts. $400 000 is made available each year to community organisations for community safety and crime prevention projects. The $400 000 scheme is a powerful resource to attack the causes of crime and support our crime prevention partnerships with local communities: During 2004-05:
$13 000 will go to Tennant Creek SK8 park, a skate park at the local pool, which has a strong
emphasis on diversion from antisocial behaviour;
Western Aranda Relekha Crime Prevention Committee aims to tackle the causes of crime rather
than the symptoms and it is tackling youth boredom and substance abuse with $15 000 under the
grants scheme;
$10 000 for On To The Grind, a program in Palmerston that aims to deliver and expand out-of-hours
youth-focussed sport and recreation options and activities in the Palmerston CBD. The program is
designed to influence a reduction in youth-related property crime, violence, substance abuse and
antisocial behaviour;
in Alice Springs, Deadly Treadlies continue their excellent work with $14 500 for a bike rebuilding
program that trains young people in a variety of skills, team work and planning, mechanical and retail,
personal development and enterprise development;
Palmerston High School together with the Tomorrow’s Leaders Camp Aboriginal Corporation will receive
over $10 000 to give at-risk young men and women the opportunity to visit and work on a remote cattle
station. Bill Fordham at Mawangi Station is to be commended for his commitment and energy in helping
our vulnerable young people. In addition to this project, Bill is currently facilitating a diversionary
program with young men from the East Arnhem region, learning stock and station skills in addition to
literacy and numeracy.
The contributions from the members for Karama and Casuarina show just how Territorians have embraced the opportunity to form partnerships to prevent crime. The member for Karama continues to be an extremely active founding member of the Karama Crime Prevention Committee. Concern about the high levels of property crime and antisocial behaviour is a result of years of CLP neglect. The member for Karama has worked as part of that community to create a significant difference. As the member for Karama pointed out, these differences have not come about by chance or accident. They have come about through a raft of initiatives and programs put in place by this government to attack crime and the causes of crime. These are: more police on the streets and the tools that they need; significant increases in funding to Neighbourhood Watch; support for the Office of Crime Prevention through the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme; and partnerships with small businesses to build safer communities.
In and around the Karama Shopping Centre, the fruits of these partnerships can be seen in increased security, better lighting and a coordinated approach to dealing with antisocial behaviour. With the support of the Office of Crime Prevention and strong partnerships with businesses and the local community, this committee is going from strength to strength. I congratulate the member for Karama on its success.
The business community, particularly small business, plays an important part in preventing crime in our community. The success of policing strategies such as Operation Ranger, targeting unlawful entries committed on businesses in the Darwin area, is due to a more affective use of police intelligence, increased resources to police and the cooperation and support of the small business community.
Local business operators also play an active part in our regional crime prevention councils. In presenting my statement to the House earlier this year, I made reference to a number of noteworthy projects including: the involvement of Katherine businesses in number of forums and activities coordinated by Neighbourhood Watch and the Katherine Crime Prevention Council; innovative crime prevention and business projects supported under the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme, such as the Casuarina Business Area Security Coordination Project, $10 000 has been provided to protect property, reduce security costs and respond consistently and appropriately to young people using the area.
I am also proud of ShopSafe, an information package about retail safety awareness developed by the Shop Distributive and Allied Services Union. The package includes comprehensive advice on how to respond to violent crime within the work place and what to do in the event of an armed robbery. Protecting small business outlets and young retail employees are a particular focus of the project, which received over $20 000 under the Crime Prevention Grants Scheme.
Community crime prevention initiatives are an important part of this government’s approach to tackling crime and the causes of crime. I welcome the ongoing involvement of the small business community in building a safer community.
Members also provided a snapshot of specific initiatives that are in place in their communities or across the Northern Territory. They include:
assisting victims of crime first and foremost by making sure there are fewer victims. For those
unfortunate enough to be a victim of a crime, amendments to the Sentencing Act requiring courts
to have regard to the sentencing option the victim wants to see in place;
funding Victims of Crime NT to provide assistance and support for those who have experienced a
crime. In addition to the $88 000 for this service, $55 000 each year is provided for targeted
assistance to victims of break-ins;
attacking the drug-crime cycle through laws against dealers and manufacturers. This legislation,
targeted at police operations, has resulted in two premises being declared drug houses. A number
of other premises have been served with drug house notices. We are achieving our objective of
targeting drug suppliers and the harm that they do in our community. I point out that, at this stage,
we stand at about $26m worth of drugs that have been taken off the streets, partly as a result of this
legislation;
reducing demand: our new drug courts allow magistrates to refer alleged offenders for assessment for
treatment at the bail stage.
a $53.8m injection into the child protection system over five years will help protect and nurture our children;
expanding after hour services for children at risk;
$680 000 to employ eight School Attendance Officers to address school truancy across the Northern Territory;
$150 000 to continue the process of building law and justice plans in remote communities.
I thank these members for their great contributions to this important debate.
Let us look at comments made by opposition members. The member for Araluen once again demonstrated that maths is not her strong point. Quarter after quarter, the Office of Crime Prevention releases statistics drawn from PROMIS, the operation data system used by the Northern Territory police. Quarter after quarter, the member for Araluen is briefed on the statistics, how they are extracted and what they mean, yet she still doesn’t seem to understand.
The Crime and Justice Statistics and the latest crime figures released by the ABS show the same thing: that Northern Territory communities are becoming safer. In the 12 months to December 2003, house break-ins fell by 25% or 839 offences; break-ins to commercial premises fell by 29% or 713 offences; motor vehicle theft and related offences fell by 27% or 777 offences; sexual assault fell by 3%.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I was very pleased to see this decrease in sexual crimes, but we are far from complacent about that area of offending. Under the Sexual Assault Task Force and Northern Territory Sexual Assault Prevention Plan, details of which I have already provided to the House, a number of strategies are being implemented to reduce the incidence of sexual crimes in the Northern Territory. This government will develop a targeted, whole-of-government Sexual Assault Prevention Plan, something that never existed under the previous government. The plan will investigate current data, police and legal response to services to survivors and particular issues facing the reporting, investigation and prevention of sexual assault in remote areas.
We recognise that action is required in a number of areas to address this difficult and complex issue: police and legal responses; prevention and education; and services for survivors of sexual assault. We have already made significant reforms to previously inadequate child sexual assault penalties, making the Territory’s regime amongst the toughest in Australia.
I have foreshadowed legislative reform that will further improve the effectiveness of the criminal justice response to sexual assault and specific needs of child witnesses. Unfortunately, we have seen a slight increase, 1%, in the number of assaults quarter on quarter. That translates to 48 more offences in the 12 months to December 2003 than in the same period the previous year. We are increasing our efforts to address offences against the person through targeted policing, our $5m Harmony Strategy and the development of the Alcohol Framework. We will continue to work community by community, and in consultation with the community, to put in place measures to prevent these crimes. The March quarter crime stats will be released in around two weeks’ time. I am confident these figures will show these trends continuing.
Under Labor, sentences are tougher and those who break the law are going to gaol for longer. Yes, our current prison population is high, but this government does not back away from serious crime meaning serious time. We introduced our sentencing regime for aggravated property offences to target these serious crimes and the results are clear. Average sentence lengths for property offenders increased by 49% in the first year of this government. To say that these reforms are not working, to cast doubt on our commitment to serious crime meaning serious time, as the members for Araluen and Macdonnell attempted to do, is patently wrong. Our aggravated property offence regime is targeting the right people and showing the right results.
In respect of incarceration and prison reform, we are looking broadly at ways of preventing crime and reducing incarceration. In late 2003, I commissioned international experts, Dr Ole Ingstrup and Paul Crockall to review Northern Territory prisons. The 71 recommendations of that review have been accepted by this government to pave the way for a new era in Northern Territory Correctional Services. $26.5m has been committed over the next four years to comprehensively reform the Northern Territory’s prison system and target re-offending. A path to good corrections provides the platform that will give the Northern Territory the most progressive adult custodial services in Australia. Already, we have formed strong partnerships with prison officers and their unions to implement these reforms. A number of association members have been taken off-line to provide full-time input to the rolling out of the review recommendations.
As I reported in the House earlier today, last week I attended the first meeting of the implementation committee, comprising departmental executives, representatives from the associations and NT Correctional Services management. The work of this committee is to bring about changes in our correctional system that were recommended in the review:
reducing crime through reducing re-offending by up to 50%. Targeted work and education programs,
as well as programs aimed at stopping prisoners from re-offending, will be introduced into our
correctional centres.
expanding facilities and upgrading equipment. Already, the construction of the $8m low security area
at Darwin Prison is being planned for 2004-05;
tightening security by ensuring we are crisis ready at all times; and
developing our work force, giving greater recognition to prison officers as a profession through
increased training, professional support and providing a clear career path.
A path to good corrections will make significant contribution to reducing crime and building safer Territory communities, actively involving our correctional system and prison officers in the fight against crime.
The member for Katherine is still coming to grips with these issues. She can see at first-hand the positive effect of our crime prevention programs in Katherine, and is on record with her support. At the same time, politically, she has been forced to describe her own town as a ‘war zone’. Let us put aside the politics and talk about the reality of Katherine. In December 2003, crime stats painted a mixed picture for the Katherine community. Break-ins to business premises dropped by 10% in 2003 compared with 2002. Motor vehicle theft fell by 7%, and property damage was down by 9%. However, 105 assaults were recorded in the December quarter, an increase of six offences from the previous quarter. Seven sexual assaults were recorded in the same period, an increase from the six offences recorded in the previous quarter. Significant inroads into property crime, with offences against the person remaining largely stable is the general picture.
However, this government was very concerned about the high level of reported violent crime incidents. We then worked with the statisticians to look more closely at those 105 cases so we had a better idea of what was going on. We know that many of these offences occur within domestic relationships. All reports of domestic violence are rigorously investigated, and the Domestic Violence Liaison Officer at Katherine Police Station ensures that victims are provided with ongoing support and advice.
Police foot patrols are targeting the main street, licensed premises and the shopping centre. Funding for alcohol and drug services in Katherine has seen the operation of a sobering-up shelter supported by community-based Night Patrol and foot patrols.
The Katherine Regional Harmony Group, with $600 000 from this government, is developing a whole-of-community approach to the prevention of crime.
In partnership with Katherine Town Council, this government has provided funding for a community foot patrol in the Katherine central business district to help combat antisocial behaviour.
The Kalano Community Association started the Return Home scheme in February this year, and over 30 people have so far used the scheme to return to their communities. As members will be aware, the costs of these returns are repaid to government through deductions from Centrelink payments. Surveys of itinerants in Katherine indicated that as many as 70% of them will return home if assisted to do so.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, members’ contributions to this debate are very much appreciated. This is a very important topic that all members of this House need to keep a close eye on and keep reviewing. We are very proud, on the government side, of some of the inroads we have made, particularly on property crime. We will continue to monitor the crime stats as they come out quarter by quarter, and deal with the hot spots of crime as they appear with both appropriate police and community responses. We will be targeting crimes of violence and looking particularly at sexual assaults through the Sexual Assault Task Force, but also general crimes of violence, particularly domestic violence, through our work on substance abuse and on community-based initiatives. We are making progress; we have a long way to go. I am certainly not cocky about the improvements that we have made so far, although I am convinced that there has been a sustainable decrease in the property crime area. I look forward to seeing some progress in the area of crimes of violence.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I noticed a recent media release by the Chief Minister detailing a number of grants from the Northern Territory Film, Television and Media Office to, obviously, worthy organisations.
I want to speak tonight about the NT Filmmakers Association, which has been a recipient of grants in the past. I make a plea to government that, as the Northern Territory Film, Television and Media Office gets itself going, this small community-based volunteer organisation is not squeezed out of funding channels in favour of more professional organisations. It is obvious by the number of film festivals that are occurring in Darwin, there is competition and, I imagine, some acrimony among certain sections of the arts community as to who should get what.
The NT Filmmakers Association, known as the NTFA, is a non-profit community arts organisation that was formed in July 2001 by a group of film enthusiasts and amateur filmmakers in Darwin upon discovering their common interest, passion and enthusiasm from meeting as participants at a film making workshop presented by a southern film professional. Soon after that first meeting, this group defined and declared their mission as:
to promote and support independent film makers and to develop a feature film industry in the Northern Territory.
Over the past three years, this association, largely as a result of the self-funded effort of its volunteer executive members and a focussed effective marketing and networking campaigning, has increased its membership and gained a strong local and national profile. Since the time of its formation, the NTFA has remained an effective advocate for the independent film industry in the Northern Territory.
Moreover, the NTFA has refined its goals to reflect a strong community charter. The NTFA is not focussed exclusively on film production and on assisting young and emerging Territorian artists to make films; it is also passionate about and committed to developing a vibrant screen culture for the Territory, screening recent locally produced films and the best international independent films not usually accessed on the commercial circuit for local audiences.
It is perhaps in terms of screen culture that the NTFA has the greatest potential to contribute to arts appreciation in the Territory, and, certainly in terms of its expertise and experience, has the most to offer the local community. I refer, of course, to the NTFA’s initiative commenced in 2003, the Down Under International Film Festival. I have been to both festival award nights. Along with ministers Syd Stirling and Marion Scrymgour, I, and my wife, the Mayor of Palmerston, were guests at the Down Under International Film Festival Awards ceremony on Sunday 2 May, at the Novotel Atrium.
We along, with the Chief Minister, were also guests at the awards ceremony last year at the same venue. This year, the awards ceremony included award presentations, great local entertainment and excerpts from the winning films from the film festival. I enjoyed the evening. I am sure that ministers Scrymgour and Stirling would agree that the hard-working NTFA volunteers deserve to be congratulated for successful outcomes this year and last year of the Down Under International Film Festivals.
By any objective assessment, it is clear that the Northern Territory is a special place and there is great potential for film production. The Territory has the talent, the climate, the locations, the natural landscapes, the stories, the indigenous culture and the characters. Moreover, given the Territory’s proximity to Asia and international interest in Australian films, there are immense opportunities to forge constructive partnerships and creative alliances and secure offshore corporate investment in the Territory’s film industry.
The NTFA has the passion and mission to develop a viable film industry and achieve a higher profile for the Territory’s film makers. Through the Down Under International Film Festival, in seeking entries from overseas independent film makers, the NTFA is actively promoting not only an event, but the film making potential of the Northern Territory. The NTFA’s concentration on promoting the Down Under event and inviting entries from film makers in South-East Asia, our neighbours after all, in particular Indonesia, will ensure a greater regional awareness of the Territory’s artistic and creative assets.
Down Under showcases and promotes the work of local film makers. The international flavour of Down Under allows our film makes to benchmark their recent works against the best in the world. Down Under supports the development of the local film making industry through awards of the Best of the Northern Territory category and other local competitive categories.
This point was highlighted in speeches by two invited southern film industry professionals at the Down Under award ceremony this year, namely Ian David, renowned screen writer and workshop presenter, and Joe Smith, the executive director of the Australian Guild of Screen Composers and organiser of the annual film workshops in the Festival of Darwin: the Territory’s national role in film production has become even more essential and exciting with the advent of globalisation and international trends towards the modification and standardisation of media and entertainment.
Australia’s Sydney-centric film industry has a Hollywood focus on generic production to satisfy the international market. The Territory has the role of making films that are uniquely and identifiably Australian and is arguably the cultural custodian of the Australian national identity in film. These trends auger well for the future of the Territory’s film industry. Territory film makers will assume a more significant role in the Australian film industry. The Northern Territory is uniquely endowed with the opportunity to harness its creative and artistic talent to secure an exciting future for its fledging film industry. As with our population demographics, the Northern Territory is a special place; the Territory has a well established national reputation for a strong and vibrant arts and cultural community.
The NTFA embraces the youth and multiculturalism of Darwin and celebrates the tropical lifestyle of the Top End in its artistic endeavours. From its inception as an idea by the NTFA in late 2002, the Down Under International Film Festival was, and has remained, unique for Darwin and the Northern Territory in that it is the first and only local film festival with a distinctly international flavour. The quest of the NTFA has been to attract interesting, quality entries of international as well as Territorian independent films for the local audience.
Film lies at the interface of art, entertainment and recreation. It is a relatively new and exciting art form and, with the advent of digital technology, independent film making has become more democratic, accessible and affordable. Independent films are the personal and artistic statements of the film makers, true to their vision and reflective of original ideas.
The successful staging of Down Under in its inaugural year in 2003 was contingent upon and achieved through financial sponsorship and in kind assistance from the Darwin business community as well as support from the Darwin arts community and the passion and interest of the volunteers of the NTFA.
NTFA last year and this year also received funding from the Australian Film Commission, and this funding in particular means that the Down Under International Film Festival is now officially recognised as an event on the Australian Film Festival circuit and worthy of financial support.
I probably will not have time to finish all my remarks, but one of the films, The Echidna and the Turtle, which was made by the Namarrkon Year 6-7 class of the Gunbalanya Community Education Centre was quite remarkable. It literally stunned the audience not only in the story that was told, but in the creativity of the kids who put this short film together. It was interesting that I received an email from NTFA to inform me that film has been sourced by the Brisbane International Film Festival, the organisers of which have asked if they can have contact details for The Echidna and the Turtle for possible inclusion in their upcoming festival. This is a major film festival sourcing a small Northern Territory film made by Aboriginal kids in a small community in the Northern Territory. Truly, to see that film, it stops you in your tracks.
That is the sort of work that the NTFA does. As I said, it is in its infancy and is supported by the business community, the government and the Australian Film Commission.
From Down Under 2003, there was a legacy of goodwill generated from the Darwin business community and the experience enhanced the business, planning, marketing, networking and event management skills of NTFA volunteers. I emphasise that they are volunteers. This organisation has a long way to go, but on their efforts so far, they are well and truly on the right track.
The NTFA has a focus on fostering the skills, development and enthusiasm for Territory’s young people and amateur film makers for independent film making through competitions, film making workshops and screenings of their works.
This year to support young emerging artists, the Down Under International Film Festival featured an innovative new section, the Your Territory Short Film Competition, open to all young people, schools, and youth and community organisations in the Territory. It was sponsored by the Northern Territory government. The NTFA conducted film making workshops for young people in Darwin and Katherine. Competitions in the arts have a number of important functions: facilitating interest and providing incentives for young people; identifying new talent; and providing inspiring artists a realistic appraisal what is required to achieve critical and commercial success. The NTFA is keen to continue this strategy in future.
The NTFA’s Your Territory compilation featured a number of recently produced local short films, including those entered for the Your Territory Short Film Competition. The large and appreciative audiences on Friday April 2 for National Youth Week and Friday April 30 during Down Under were testimony to the popularity of screenings with local flavour and colour.
Being a Territorian organisation and event, the NTFA, through the Down Under International Film Festival, was proud to showcase and promote recently produced Territorian films and achieve a higher profile for the Territory’s film makers.
This is certainly the case with the success of the short claymation film entitled The Echidna and the Turtle recently created by the Namarrkon Year 6/7 class of Gunbalanya CEC. The film opened the Your Territory compilation and was the surprise for the Down Under International Film Festival this year. It won the Best of the Northern Territory section and the film, through the promotional efforts of Film Festival Director, Ron Mitchell, has already achieved a significant national profile.
The Echidna and the Turtle first attracted national attention when it was previewed by Phil Kafcaloudes, ArtyFacts presenter with ABC News Radio, in early April this year. Phil Kafcaloudes was the judge for the Best of Northern Territory section and was the MC for the Down Under ceremony awards this year.
He has a high regard for the film and has spoke about the film on air on ABC News Radio a few times, including an interview with Ron Mitchell on Sunday April 25 in a nationally broadcast segment that previewed the Down Under International Film Festival for Darwin.
The NTFA’s invitation to the teacher, the principal and the students involved in the project from Gunbalanya to Darwin for the world premiere of their film on April 30 resulted in an interview and an article entitled From Dreamtime to Hollywood, which appeared in the Northern Territory News on Monday 3 May . In the Down Under Event, Ron Mitchell arranged media interviews with Channel Nine News, ABC NT’s Stateline, which aired and also played The Echidna and the Turtle in full.
Ron Mitchell’s promotional efforts also secured a nationally broadcast segment on ABC Radio National’s The World Today on Monday 10 May. This film, as I said, has been invited to the Brisbane International Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival. The Adelaide International Film Festival is also very interested in the film. Recently, Goolarri GTV 35 at Broome contacted the NTFA to express their interest in screening the film as an inspiration to young indigenous people in the Kimberley. As well, Imparja Television has expressed interest to the NTFA in screening the film.
The NTFA, I am sure, is proud to have been associated with discovering, showcasing and promoting The Echidna and the Turtle. What is truly gratifying for the NTFA and the Territorian film community is not only is this film distinctly and identifiable Territorian, but is also the result of a project that has equipped Gunbalanya school children with literacy and IT skills for the information age while maintaining and preserving their cultural heritage and identity.
The NTFA also organised this year’s animation workshop for Darwin’s young people, presented by acclaimed Indonesian independent film maker, Maria Clementine or Tintin Wulia, who has extensive experience teaching school children and adults about basic and affordable animation techniques. Tintin’s workshops at Humpty Doo Primary School and Corrugated Iron Youth Arts were part of an international project, The World in our Little Minds, a collaborative co-production for children aged 10 to 12 years on three continents: Hamburg, Germany, Flores, Indonesia and Darwin, Australia. The NTFA brought Tintin Wulia to Darwin and were assisted by sponsorship from the NT Department of Employment, Education and Training and the NT Film, Television and New Media Office. Tintin Wulia’s invitation to Darwin Down Under by the NTFA this year attracted the attention of the Indonesian Consulate, which was represented by a full delegation of diplomatic staff at the Down Under awards ceremony this year.
NTFA’s major local corporate sponsor for Down Under 2003, the Novotel Atrium, was so enthusiastic and impressed by the initial success and proven potential of this event and the awards ceremony, that they entered into a sponsorship naming rights agreement for the 2004 event. For their second year of the Down Under International Film Festival, the NTFA was successful in attracting funding from local and NT government agencies. From the response of the management of the Novotel Atrium to the NTFA’s efficient management and successful attendances at the awards ceremony and film industry workshops this year and last year, it seems likely that this sponsorship naming rights agreement will continue into the future.
The NTFA is a young, dynamic organisation and it is clearly evident that it is achieving great outcomes for the NT film industry and for local independent film makers through screening, awarding and promoting their work, providing professional development opportunities and in developing creative and artistic networks within Australia and around the world. It is an effective and efficient organisation comprised of a dedicated team of volunteers.
The Down Under International Film Festival has been planned and presented for two years now on very limited resources. What I would again emphasise is that, as the NT Film and New Media Office gets going, I hope that the NTFA is not forgotten or overlooked in the next funding round. I believe they have great potential. They have achieved their initial outcome with The Echidna and the Turtle, and I applaud the NTFA and everyone involved in it for their efforts.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I shall be brief, but I raise an issue concerning a constituent. I will read a letter that I received today from my constituent into Hansard. The message comes in the form of an e-mail, which I will table at the conclusion of my adjournment debate, from Erwin Chlanda of the Alice Springs News, and I quote:
Hi John. As the Member for Macdonnell, where I usually live, would you please raise this in the
Legislative Assembly for me today?
On Tuesday this week Madam Speaker referred to a photograph published on the front page of the
Alice Springs News on May 7 2003 on occasion of the sittings of the NT Parliament in Alice Springs.
Mrs Braham is holding a placard with the inscription: ‘It’s my town. I feel safe.’
This week she stated (according to the uncorrected Hansard), as follows:
Mr Deputy Speaker, the opposition, with the cooperation of Irwin (sic) Chlanda, of course, took that photo
of me holding that plaque saying that I love this town.
This photograph was not taken by the opposition, but by me. I was not cooperating with anyone. The text report
written by the reporter Keiran Finnane, gave a balanced and fair account of the points made at that demonstration
in which Mrs Braham took place. Her statement is a slur on my professional standard and I demand a retraction.
Later, she requested a copy of the photograph and I obliged. She spoke to Ms Finnane and was clearly delighted
about the use of that photograph on the front page of the Alice Springs News.
Another request for the photo came from the Macdonnell MLA, John Elferink, who said he wanted to use it in his
newsletter. I obliged him as well. When the photo was later used by the CLP party for political propaganda,
I told Mr Elferink I had not allowed him the use of the photo for that purpose. Mr Elferink apologised to me and
I accepted his apology.
Erwin Chlanda,
Managing Editor,
Alice Springs News.
17 June 2004.
I seek leave to table that, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker.
Leave granted.
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, without entering into the misunderstanding between myself and the editor of the Alice Springs News in relation to use of the photograph, my apology to him stands in relation to the misunderstanding. It was incumbent upon me to make clear that there was a meeting of the minds. He was under the impression it was for a newsletter, and I had intended to use it for another purpose.
However, the Editor of the Alice Springs News has asked for that to be placed on the permanent Parliamentary Record, as he felt that the comments by the member for Braitling had caused him some grief and he sought a right of reply through me as his local member. I am more than happy to oblige him.
Mrs Braham: But he still gave it to you and you used it?
Mr ELFERINK: That is fine. I am putting it on the record for his sake.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I speak on the retirement of a fine teacher, Ms Jenny McCormack, who will retire on Friday, 18 June 2004, after 24 years in the teaching service, with the past 10 years at the Nightcliff Primary School as the Early Childhood senior teacher.
I have known Jenny for most of the past 10 years, both through her teaching at Nightcliff Primary School where she taught one of my sons, and through the Anglican Church where she is a dedicated member of the St Peter’s Church at Nightcliff. She is a generous spirited person who works tirelessly for many underprivileged and needy people, including new refugee families.
Jenny moved to the Territory in 1980 from South Australia, became a Year 2/3 teacher at the Rapid Creek Primary School, went on to become senior teacher in Early Childhood and continued to teach students between the ages of four and eight years. After more than 10 years at Rapid Creek, Jenny transferred to Wagaman Primary School and, in 1994, came to Nightcliff Primary School as the Early Childhood senior teacher. Jenny’s strengths include nurturing young children in their move from preschool to transition, and communicating with their parents to ensure an informed, trouble-free start to school life. She has a depth of knowledge of teaching pedagogy, particularly in the areas of literacy and numeracy. Jenny has worked tirelessly to improve the learning outcomes of her students by providing adequate resources and reading books for all classes.
Jenny has spoken of the highlights of her time at Nightcliff as teaching and encouraging students to develop a love of learning and a respectful, caring attitude for one another. In particular, she mentioned her delight in seeing some of her ex-students, now in Year 7, helping the younger students at our athletics carnival.
Nightcliff Primary, despite being a large school, has a wonderful family atmosphere. She also says that she feels blessed by support and help from a large number of parents, including many who flex off from work to assist on sports days and other events. She also says that working with enthusiastic, supportive and very professional colleagues who always put the children first is one of the highlights.
Jenny is moving to Queensland after spending some time in Adelaide looking after her elderly parents.
Madam Speaker, I am very sorry to hear of Jenny’s retirement. Might I say that she looks far too young to be retiring. I certainly will miss her, and I know that the Nightcliff Primary School community will also miss her very happy demeanour and generous and caring manner. I and my family wish her well for the future.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I want to talk this evening about an amendment to some legislation introduced by government in October-November 2002. I speak specifically of the Crimes (Victims Assistance) Act.
Members may recall that in October we debated this matter and the CLP had some difficulty with the government’s amendments. There are a number of reasons for that. Put simply, we were concerned then, and remain concerned, that as a result of the amendments, fewer victims of crime would access claims for crimes compensation. The scheme, as members presumably know, is a scheme whereby if you are a victim of a crime, you can make a claim for compensation. That claim is made usually by lawyers and the claim is either settled before court or heard by the court and an award of compensation is made based on the injuries received and the severity of those injuries.
The facts are, as we expected they would be, that as a result of the government’s amendments, fewer victims are accessing the scheme. What government did was reduce the legal costs that lawyers claimed by 50%.
I make it quite clear from the outset that it would be unwise and pretty close to offensive for people to suggest that the points I make by talking about this issue are muddied by a suggestion - presumably it will be put by government if it has not done so already - that this is all about lawyers being upset because they are not making any money. That is not the point of this adjournment debate and this is not the point of a media release I issued late this afternoon.
The point is this: victims of crime are being denied access to justice. Who would have thought that this would happen under a Labor government anywhere in this country at any time? It is extraordinary in my view that victims of crime or, indeed, any individual is denied access to justice. Yet it has happened as a result of the government’s amendments in 2002.
Interestingly, what traditionally happened before the costs for solicitors were reduced by 50% was that a number of private law firms around the Territory did this sort of work. It was good work for young solicitors to do. It was something they could sink their teeth into. It involved the drafting of court documents, attendances at courts, dealing with clients and health professionals. It was a good place for young lawyers to learn. I am advised now that law firms are not doing these applications. They are refusing to act for victims of crime and therefore younger solicitors are not being trained to do this sort of work, which is terribly unfortunate.
The reason lawyers are not working for victims of crime is that it is completely unaffordable for them to do. I have spoken to a number of solicitors and owners of legal practices both in Alice Springs and Darwin. I will read an extract from a letter, which I will table shortly, but for reasons that I am sure members will appreciate, I have cut off any identifying information from this law firm because the firm is in receipt of some government contract work.
The owner of a law firm wrote to me very recently and said as follows:
You are correct in your assessment that a significant problem has arisen as a result of the amendments to the
Crimes (Victims Assistance) Act in relation to costs.
It is simply no longer cost effective for a private firm to take on Crimes (Victims Assistance) matters.
There is simply no way that a private firm can recoup the costs incurred to the firm in running the matter.
Accordingly, this firm has indeed made a policy decision not to take on Crimes (Victims Assistance) matters
unless in exceptional circumstances.
It is therefore the case that our work in this area has drastically reduced and this decision was based solely
on cost effectiveness.
It was a decision we did not make lightly and it was made with regret because we do consider that it is important
for victims of crime to be properly compensated.
However, you would appreciate that we are also running a business and so cannot afford to take on matters that
are actually going to cost the firm money to run.
As stated previously, we do make exceptions. For example, our main exception is victims of sexual assaults or children
who have been assaulted. We feel that those cases are of significant importance to take on, knowing that we will
actually lose money doing so.
Of course, there is a limit to the amount of such matters we can justify taking on, on a commercial basis.
That is the end of the quote. I seek leave to table an extract of that letter.
Leave granted.
Ms CARNEY: Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, that owner of a law firm has been good enough to put her views on this matter in writing. I have spoken to a number of other lawyers. One firm says that they no longer have a policy of accepting clients walking in off the streets. Another law firm says that they only do government work; they do not act for victims of crime. I know victims of crime in Alice Springs have literally gone around town trying desperately to find a lawyer. I am advised that, in essence, in Alice Springs the only firms that are consistently doing any Crimes Compensation work are sole practitioners.
The significance of this cannot be underestimated. Legal aid organisations such as NT Legal Aid and Aboriginal Legal Aid do not act for victims of crime. On occasions they do, but basically, they do not. What they have done traditionally is to refer work to private law firms so people who are potentially legal aid clients and victims of crime are not being serviced by the legal aid bodies. Those same people are not being serviced by private law firms. There is a limit to how much work sole practitioners can take on.
I should say that one solicitor made the observation to me that in his view, because the costs were so ridiculous in terms of what lawyers would recoup in these matters, he believes that there are ill-prepared, ill-considered applications now going before the courts and that, whereas, when it was cost effective, lawyers would perhaps go that extra mile, now they are doing what this solicitor described as ‘garden variety’ applications. That is a terribly serious issue.
There is a concern within the profession that the quantum, that is the dollar amount of compensation or award, is being reduced because of the ill-prepared nature of some applications by some solicitors. It is a concern, surely, that so many victims of crime, given that crime is a serious problem in the Northern Territory, are being denied access to justice.
Members should know that the Crimes (Victims Assistance) Act and its predecessor are beneficial legislation; they are to assist and benefit the public. Yet this government has changed the act in such a way that victims are now being denied access to justice.
When we debated this matter in 2002, we raised the concerns of the profession. There was a lack of consultation in relation to government proposals. We alerted the government to the effect it would have on the capacity of victims to retain lawyers, and our pleas fell on deaf ears.
We did acknowledge that some reforms needed to be made. The government’s initial proposal, from memory, in relation to costs was changed at the 11th hour, but the fact is that a law firm is like any business: it does not exist to assist the world at large. A huge chunk of the work of some law firms around the Territory has now been lost as a result of these amendments.
One reason the government relied upon when it changed the act was that the scheme in toto cost $5.5m to administer. I recall the Attorney-General being discomforted by the fact that $2.5m of that sum was for legal costs. I do not think that $5.5m,which we can round off to $6m, to administer a crimes compensation scheme for victims of crime in the Northern Territory is too much to pay.
I do not think you can put a price on access to justice. I am not surprised that we now see a situation where people are not being assisted to pursue their applications because we raised it at the time and yet the Attorney-General looked both the member for Goyder and I in the eye, and effectively said: ‘There, there. You do not know what you are talking about. It is all under control. I do know what I am talking about’. Nothing can be further from the truth.
Both the member for Goyder and I were solicitors. I did a lot of his work. Over the years, I have acted for hundreds and hundreds of victims. I know how important the scheme of compensation is for them. It is not just me, however. It is not just the member for Goyder. It is the legal profession generally in the Northern Territory that is terribly concerned about these reforms. This government, sadly, has put a price on access to justice. It says that about $6m is too much. I vehemently disagree.
There is a view within the profession that this government wants to abolish the scheme. I understand that was the initial aim, but that the Law Society, through discussions and negotiations, managed to dissuade government from adopting that course.
What we are left with now is that the scheme may well be sabotaged by the back door. If fewer victims are making applications and fewer lawyers are acting for them, it may well be the case that, in due course, the Attorney-General will say that the scheme should be scrapped because no-one is using it. I would be appalled if the Attorney-General reached that conclusion, and I note with interest that about 12 months ago, the Attorney-General said that he was conducting a review into the scheme. I understand that that has gone cold. I do not know why, but perhaps in due course the Attorney-General could assist with that.
It would be outrageous if victims of crime were squeezed out of obtaining compensation by such a devious and deceitful method. That is, to make it so non-cost effective for the legal profession to act for victims that victims give up. In a small town like Alice Springs, they will pick up the phone book and they will ring a few lawyers. Quite a few of those law firms say to those people: ‘No, I am sorry. We do not do this sort of work’. Then it is likely that they will give up. For my part, I am not prepared to stand by and watch that happen. I am surprised that a Labor government, frankly, would not only create this situation, but apparently condone it.
There are many reasons I raised this issue tonight, but I urge the Attorney-General to look into the matter. I suspect he will not because I think the government’s agenda is fairly obvious. It seems to me at least that they want to shut this system down. If they do not, then they are well on the path to doing it anyway. As I said, $6m for an entire scheme that provides costs to the profession but, most importantly, provides compensation to victims, is not too high a price to pay. With those remarks, I conclude.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, last Saturday, there was a performance by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra at Freds Pass Reserve, and it can only be described as magical.
It was one of the highlights of the year and, judging by the number of people who attended, there is a good chance that it will be on again next year, or at least biannually. Much of the credit must go to Barbara Vos who organised the event, and her hard work paid off. Not only were there many locals, but quite a few townies and tourists who came to enjoy great music under the stars.
The theme of the night was Spanish. The music played by the orchestra was Ravel’s Bolero, Bizet’s Carmen Suites I and II, Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, Albenniz’s Grenada Serenade, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol and Chabrier’s Espana.
A highlight was when horses appeared and danced or pranced, whatever the correct term, while the music played. I know Pam Crellin, Vicki Lew Fatt, Brooke Hancock and Gillian Jan had something to do with that side of things.
To finish off the night, there was a spectacular display of fireworks, all timed to match the finale, which left everyone to head home feeling pretty good.
I thank Martin Jarvis and the DSO for bringing the orchestra out to Litchfield Shire, which is one place I do not believe it has performed, although it may have performed at the Wildlife Park. A big thanks to Macca who helped prepare the grounds, Karen Ralph and the Freds Pass Management Board. The Girraween Primary School should also give themselves a pat on the back, as they contacted the DSO last year in an attempt to stage a performance at their school as a fundraiser. It was decided, after some deliberation, that a bigger venue would be more suitable, so it was shifted to Freds Pass and Girraween Primary was still able to raise money by having one of the food stalls on the night. The home-made cakes, hot soup and tea and coffee were just right for the beautiful music and a cool and starry night at the pass.
Also last Saturday was the Adelaide River Country Music Talent Quest, which was held at the ARSS. Once again, some of our local talent did very well. James Patrick from Humpty Doo, who has only been playing the guitar since February this year, took first prize for the Open Amateur Instrumental. That was a great effort. The Wilson girls from Howard Springs also competed and they took out first prize in the Junior Group Duet, also a terrific effort. They were so in demand at the weekend that they could not collect their prize and had to perform at the Palmerston Troppo Festival.
On 5 June, we had the Mango Ball, which was a top evening. When we have a Mango Ball, there is certainly plenty of fun. This year, it was held at the Berry Springs Reserve Hall, attended by the Administrator, Ted Egan, the Minister for Primary Industry and Fisheries, Kon Vatskalis and the President of the Northern Territory Horticultural Association, Mr Tom Harris. It was a super night. There were prizes coming out our ears at one stage. There was plenty of dancing and great games; it was a great night for families. There were children enjoying dancing with their parents, and even I had a chance to dance with quite a number of people including some of the members of the Mango Ball committee who put in all the hard work. They were Lee Berryman, Anne Arthur, Michelle Nuske, Jinx Smith, Cheryl Owens, Maryanne St Clair and Chris Ross-Carol. They did a terrific job. The tables were beautifully decked out, the chairs covered.
We were at Berry Springs, but we could have been at the MGM Grand Ballroom because it was just as beautifully decked out. It was a great night. There was money raised for St John for which they have not quite finalised the total. It was a night to promote the industry, and a great community event for the Litchfield Shire and the rural area in general.
The week before last, we had an education forum at the Girraween Primary School. This was attended by Steve Borbo from the Priority Education Review, John Glasby from DEET, Bill Griffiths from Catholic Education Office, Alan Perrin from the Australian Education Union, and about 20 people who were interested in many of the issues arising from the secondary school review. Those issues included what effect precincts might have on the local high school, Taminmin High School, the possible closure of the Northern Territory Open College was high on people’s priority list as something they did not believe should happen; and practical things such as if you took Year 7s out of all the primary schools in the rural area, how would you fit them into Taminmin High? There were other issues such as: is this the way to go or can we look at other ways of improving our literacy and numeracy without going down this fairly expensive path? People got a lot out of it. Steve and John took copious notes, and they can feed that back to the review committee.
Last night, I attended the Extractive Minerals Association dinner and spoke about the problems on Middle Arm and the future of the industry because in my electorate, the extractive minerals industry is very important. It is an industry for which we must plan. We need it because you need 35 tonnes of sand to build one house and when the HomeNorth scheme gets going, we are going to need plenty of sand to build houses.
I raised a number of issues with which the extractive mining industry has to deal relating to rehabilitation and from where we take gravel and sand. Another issue is: are we locking up resources that we need for the future by tying up land for extractive industry use? There were a number of issues raised at the dinner.
By attending that dinner, I missed the minister’s HomeNorth statement, but having read his statement, it is an excellent idea and will help a lot of people. My feeling is that this may reduce the need for public housing because the amount of money that people would spend on renting public housing might be the same amount to build a house under this scheme.
The one area we really need to look at, and I have spoken about this before, is promoting Aboriginal ownership of houses. I will have a guess, but it would be well over 90% of Aboriginal people in communities do not live in a house that they can call their own. It is a rented house and it is time that we put an effort in seeing whether people can buy their own houses. If they could, it would be a great boon for the housing industry, and it would start to eat away at the shortage of houses on some of our communities. Port Keats is a classic example where there is an enormous shortage of houses. If the government can find a way of bringing this HomeNorth scheme into Aboriginal communities, it will really have achieved something. That is where we have the shortage of houses. We have plenty of houses in Darwin and Palmerston and the rural area, and this scheme helps people buy them, but in Aboriginal communities, we have a shortage of houses. I would hope that the minister makes another statement on ownership of houses in Aboriginal communities and how HomeNorth might be able to assist in what I call priority area for housing.
I should also comment on the Law of Property Amendment Bill. I am not allowed to debate it because it will soon come before the House, but we have sent a copy of the draft legislation to various organisations such as the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory, the Northern Territory Law Society, the Conveyancing Institute and I have received very good feedback from the Real Estate Institute. I had a meeting with them earlier this week and, with the exception of a couple of minor amendments they would like to see, they are fully supportive. In fact, I was reading their newsletter and my proposed amendment is mentioned in it. They suggested a couple of slight amendments. They thought that my definition of ‘gazumping’ did not quite match their definition, but we have ironed that out. It was good to see the Real Estate Institute supporting the amendment bill.
I received a letter from one conveyancing company, which supported it as well, and a real estate agent - who was actually the reason I introduced the bill - wrote a very nice note saying I was on the right path, which nearly knocked me over because his company was the reason I introduced the amendment.
I will finish with some congratulations. One of our local residents who used to be a councillor with me on the Litchfield Shire Council, Paul Gooding, received an OAM for his work with diabetes. I rang him to congratulate him the other day. Paul is a very busy person; he moves between Adelaide and Melbourne. He is involved in computer technology at which he is a whiz. At the same time, he has been able to put a lot of work into diabetes. I think he was President of the Northern Territory Diabetes Association. I congratulate Paul.
Sally Jacka was conferred with an environmental award and scholarship. Sally works at Charles Darwin University. If you have been out to the rural area, you will see green triangle signs at many residences. They say ‘Land for Wildlife’. Sally is the person who got that scheme off the ground. Sadly, the scheme doesn’t exist any more. The money ran out and there were some issues about support. She has since gone back to university to upgrade her qualifications, but in the meantime, she has been recognised for the terrific amount of work that she has done in the rural area. I thank Sally because Land for Wildlife is really a great scheme. Hopefully, it will be resurrected one day.
Finally, there has been debate on contracts and procurement this week. It is difficult as an Independent to become too involved in censure motions because I do not have all the evidence before me one way or the other. I have read through the Hansard from yesterday’s debate and I have some concern about the way some contracts appear to have been awarded. There have been questions asked about whether an interest should have been declared. Some of those questions have not been answered.
It is very important. When I was on the Litchfield Shire Council, in cases of conflict of interest, you would put your hand up if you even had a smell of conflict. You had to be so careful. The Local Government Act is very precise on conflicts of interest. There were questions asked yesterday that I do not believe were answered as to whether conflicts of interest were declared when some of these contracts were awarded. That is a worry and should be cleared up. Yesterday’s debate does say to the government that when it comes to contracts, you must keep arm’s length. If you have relations with people or political affiliations with the owners of companies or consultants, you must ensure that people know that up front so that everything is squeaky clean.
Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, that is all I have. I will see everyone next week at the Estimates Committee.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, this month saw the passing of a lady who lived in Alice Springs for most of her life. Her name was Pearl Powell.
Pearl and her family have lived in Alice Springs off and on since her parents came to Alice Springs to live. I will now read from the eulogy of her son at her funeral service a few weeks ago. Her son’s name is Tom Bird, and I quote:
Mum was born in Adelaide in December 1909, the fifth in a family of seven, but tragedy was to be with mum and the rest of her family for a long time.
Mum also had a precarious start in life, weighing in at only 2 pounds 2 ounces at birth – what a survivor!
Of the family, sister Hilda was born May 1899, but died of the Spanish ‘flu aged 20. In January 1901, Ivy was born,
but died 11 months later of meningitis. In September 1904, brother Cyril came along, and in April 1906, sister Molly,
later becoming Mrs Ted Dixon of Wait River, was born. Sadly, on that same day, Cyril died of meningitis.
Molly, unfortunately, contracted paralysis, but with a lot of warm sea water and massaging, she was cured to all but
a slight limp. She became an extraordinary horsewoman of the Centre, as did mum. Then came mum. After mum came
Alf in March 1912, who spent all his life in the Centre. Last was Ron, born May 1914, but he was killed in a freak
accident, aged 24.
In 1916, while working for the PMG, Mum’s father, the late Fred Price, was appointed Postmaster of the Old
Telegraph Station at Stuart. The family of five left Adelaide in late February 1917 for Stuart. Mum had started
her long association with the Centre. Mum’s family operated the Old Telegraph Station until April 1924. At that
time, mum’s dad became ill and had to go south for treatment. While the family were at the Old Telegraph Station,
mum’s dad bought two lots of land 200km north of Alice Springs, Woola Downs and Harper Springs. After a short while
in Adelaide because of his illness, mum’s father passed away on 12 August 1924. He was 57 years old. That left only
five. Mum’s mother, Molly, Pearl, Alf and Ron.
So strong were the ties of the Centre that when all of the estate details where settled, the mother sold the big
house in Adelaide, packed up everything else she could and started the second trip up the track to Stuart. Mum’s
mother was a sheepish person, so she arranged to have 200 sheep and about 20 goats sent on to Oodnadatta from
Burra. At Oodnadatta, more goods were bought, food, wire netting, etcetera. It was going to be a long trip. Mum’s
mother was 48, and the four kids ranged from 10 to 17. They arrived at Harper Springs in 1925. There was nothing on
the place except a 12-foot deep well and a hollowed out tree trunk for a trough. With the help of Bob Pervis, of
Woodgreen Station about 30 miles away, and some Aborigines, they put up a bough shed to live in until they could
build a better homestead.
Time moved on, the sheep flock grew to 1500 and the goats to 700. At this time, mum was 17, when one day a
middle-aged man, Jim Bird, called in on his way south from the Top End. He was looking around for a property
to settle on. Jim was a drover across the Top End between Waye Hill and Cloncurry, but had decided to give it up.
I am not sure whether that was before or after meeting mum. However, after a few more meetings in the next few
months, dad was again going through Ti Tree with some cattle when mum’s mother was there picking up the mail.
He asked if he could marry my mum, and was told to wait until she was 18, then talk about it. In June 1927, dad again
came through, this time to the homestead. While there, he asked mum to marry him.
In October, three of the family and dad travelled south to Mount Gambier for the wedding, which was held on
10 October 1927, after which mum and dad returned to Bushy Park.
Dad and Mum had four children - Fred, Ruth, Eileen and Tom, and 60 descendants. Life in those times could be lonely
for the women folk, with the men away doing stock work. It was at one of these times that Fred got a bellyache. The car
at the time was a T Ford up on blocks. With the help of some native women, she was able to get it on its wheels, pump
up the tyres and head for town 110 km away. Twenty kilometres into the trip, she called into a bore where her brother
Alf was working and they went on together. On reaching the hills at Bond Springs, they had to camp the night because
the Ford had no lights. In the morning, Fred was okay, with no bellyache, but mum went on anyway to get more
supplies. She took Fred to the hospital for a check up, and was told that he had appendicitis and that had the
appendix burst, he would have died in a few hours had she not taken him in. I would have suffered the same fate,
but this time dad was home and he had a bigger and faster car, a Chev ute. I was in hospital in about 1 hours.
Then came the second war and the change in lifestyle in Alice Springs. In 1945, Fred had finished school, so mum took
us other three children south to college in Adelaide. Ruth and Eileen finished their schooling and got married. I finished
my time, then returned to Alice Springs to help start Indiana Station with dad and Fred.
In 1957, mum’s mother passed away at 81, then her sister Molly in 1978.
After mum’s second husband died, mum decided to come back to Alice Springs to where her heart still was. But in
1994, Mum’s eldest son Fred passed away. Then in 1995, her brother Alf died, which left mum the only surviving
member of the Price family, yet she started life at only 2lb 2oz! The end of an era.
Those words were spoken by Tom Bird, the son of Pearl Powell. She had 18 grandchildren, 39 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren when she passed away.
In talking about Pearl, this book, called By Packhorse and Buggy was written by Pearl and her daughter, Eileen McRae. On the back cover of the book, describing Pearl, this is written:
Pearl was born in Adelaide on 14 December 1909 but, from 1917 until 1946, she lived in Central Australia. After
her husband’s death, Pearl returned to Alice Springs. The late Allan Wauchope once asked her why she had not
thought of writing about her parents’ experiences. ‘I can’t spell too good or write very well’, but Allan encouraged
her to start, and soon she had a collection of hand-written notes. When Eileen …
That is her daughter:
… retired from the work force, she typed all the notes into a story for her mother. Pearl has been living at the
Old Timers now for four years, just taking it easy.
This was written in 1996.
The book was published with assistance from the Northern Territory History Awards committee, which provided a grant. Dorothy Grimm helped edit the manuscript. Bruce McRae provided his time, assistance and a computer. Staff of the Alice Springs Education Centre provided help, as did Nigel Clarke of the then Apple Centre. Mike Klarenbeek printed the book.
The book, which I have not quite finished, relates the story of a woman and her family, which started way back in 1867. Her father was born in the north of South Australia in 1867 and her mother was born in the UK. When her father was 24, he was posted to Palmerston in the Northern Territory. That was the name of what we now call the city of Darwin. That was about 1891. This woman and her family have had links with the Northern Territory since 1891.
He came here to work with the Cable Company, a branch of the Adelaide General Post Office. Here, he also formed the first Palmerston Choir. Pearl’s mother was born in Nottingham, England in April 1876. She ended up in Australia because she came to visit her sister, who happened to live on Thursday Island. Staying on Thursday Island, she found it quite difficult, so she sailed over to Palmerston, and found she liked it and ended up staying. She became great friends with many of the locals, one of whom was a Mrs Ryan, who owned the Hotel Victoria.
This is a fascinating book, with all the history of Darwin and Alice Springs. She recalled a terrible cyclone that hit this part of the world in 1897, and noted that the Hotel Victoria was extensively damaged by the fierce winds.
Pearl’s mother and father were married in the Palmerston Wesleyan Church on 5 March 1898. The church still stands today.
As I have said, Pearl Powell was born weighing 2lb 2oz in December 1909, eight weeks premature. I cannot imagine - nearly 100 years ago, a baby born eight weeks premature and weighing 2lb - what the obstetric care would have been like, never mind the chances of a child surviving, but survive she did.
Pearl wrote:
Mum never saw me for the first month and for the next two months they wrapped me in cotton wool. Each day the
wrappings were taken off a little at a time and I wiped over with oil then re-wrapped with new cotton wool.
I remember that when I was watching my mother nursing my younger siblings back ...
Ms Carter: In the olden days.
Dr LIM: … in the olden days. Babies’ skins were always rubbed with oil. Maybe this prevented scaling and drying.
Anyway, as I continued to read through the book, they talk about Afghans, the northern part of South Australia, Hergott Springs, where they all lived for a while, and then Pearl Powell’s father working with the PMG, Pearl meeting her husband-to-be, the trek the Powell family undertook when Pearl’s father got the job of Post Master in the town of Stuart, which is now Alice Springs, based at the Old Telegraph Station. That is where they lived when they first arrived in Alice Springs.
The journey was, literally on foot in a camel train. They caught a train from Adelaide to Oodnadatta. There, they collected their food supplies and a man by the name of Gerhardt Johannson was the contractor to the GPO came to Oodnadatta to take them to Stuart or Alice Springs. With the camel train they walked all the way to Alice Springs. Imagine that: sleeping on the ground, learning first experiences about dingos, perenties, and goannas, walking through little townships like Bloods Creek Station, Charlotte Waters and crossing the Finke River at Horseshoe Bend.
I seek leave to table this book for the record and to be kept in our archives in Parliament House for future generations. It is something fantastic; the life of a woman nearly 100 years old who passed away just recently.
Leave granted.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016