2002-03-07
Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 9 students from Marrara Christian School, accompanied by their teacher, Petero Vereakula. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend a warm welcome.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House today of the recipients of the inaugural Chief Minister’s Study Award for Women. It is a fitting time to announce the winners, as I am sure we are all aware tomorrow is International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day was first celebrated over 140 years ago in 1857 when large numbers of women working in the garment and textile factories protested about long working hours and poor pay conditions.
The day was first celebrated in Australia in Sydney in 1928. International Women’s Day has become a time for celebration, a time to reflect on the progress and choices which women have made, or a time for asserting women’s political, social and economic rights. International Women’s Day has come to be regarded as a day for public events, for women to gather, listen to speakers and to simply enjoy each other’s company.
My Study Award for Women was introduced in October 2001 and links with my government’s policy focus on employment and training. The award is made available to women enrolled for study in vocational and tertiary programs in the Territory. Each year, the award makes available $14 000 for a tertiary study program and $6000 for a vocational study program. The award was created to assist women gain formal qualifications and enhance their employment and general life outcomes. It recognises that women are currently under-represented in some occupational sectors, on average earn less than their male counterparts and, again, on average are less financially secure on retirement.
This award was promoted widely throughout each region in the Territory and received high levels of interest and support. Over 320 application forms were requested, with 111 applications received. Fifteen applications were from the Alice Springs region, three from the Barkly, 83 from Darwin, eight from Katherine and two from East Arnhem. The percentage of applications for tertiary courses was 87.4% and 12.6% for vocational courses.
A panel was chaired by Dr Robyn Thompson, Convenor of the Women’s Advisory Council; Professor Ron McKay, Vice-Chancellor of the Northern Territory University and Ms Betty Pearce, Acting Director of the Institute of Aboriginal Development in Alice Springs.
In assessing applications, the panel was particularly mindful of issues relating to social disadvantage, the potential of an application to succeed in the nominated study program, skills areas of importance to the Territory, and commitment of each applicant to the Territory. The panel was impressed by the quality of the applications and the stories told; stories of women balancing work, home, community and family responsibilities; women starting out; women wanting to return or advance in the workforce; women who have undertaken preparatory studies; and women who are simply determined to do their very best.
Madam Speaker and honourable members of the Assembly, I would like to advise that the recipients of the 2002 Chief Minister’s Study Award for Women are Penny Smith and Renae McGarvie.
Penny Nangala Smith is a Jingili women of the Barkly region who lives in Tennant Creek. She will be studying an Associate Diploma of Social Science through Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Education. Penny plans to work with Aboriginal people and their communities to promote healthy lifestyles and help improve the lives of her people as well as non-indigenous people who are affected by alcohol and other drugs. Certainly from this House, congratulations to Penny.
Renae McGarvie is a policewoman from Alyangula and will be studying for a Bachelor of Business through the Northern Territory University. Renae is working to increase the representation in senior policing by women and ethnic and minority groups. She intends to implement best practice management as her contribution to the police force. Again, from this House, congratulations to Renae.
It is inspiring to note that Territory women are committed to professional development, academic studies, career enhancement and the Northern Territory. I would also like to take this opportunity to foreshadow the launch of a new program celebrating the achievements of Northern Territory women. The Tribute to Territory Women will be officially launched at lunch time today, and I look forward to being able to outline this exciting new program.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, first, the opposition congratulates the recipients of the new Women’s Study Award. This, of course, was a variation of the previous government’s Women’s Fellowship Awards. We accept that this new government may be changing some things and rebadging others. Nevertheless, we graciously acknowledge the Chief Minister’s attempts to do positive things for women in the community by awarding them these study awards. Again, we wish the recipients well.
The opposition, however, is very concerned - especially on a day when it seems gender has become something of an issue - at the government’s performance in relatively recent times, and we refer in particular to the fact that the Women’s Advisory Council’s Alicia Johnson Memorial Lecture was almost lost but for the actions of some Labor women and I hope that I had a contribution in that lecture being saved; the abolition of the Business Women’s Consultative Council; and we know that the Women’s Advisory Council is likely to be reviewed.
Last week in an adjournment speech, I called on the Chief Minister to adopt such a review in a bipartisan manner - I have still not heard from the Chief Minister. I should table, Madam Speaker, a letter from the Women’s Electoral Lobby. This was addressed to the Chief Minister; copies were sent to a number of women, including myself - I will table it. It is not just me who is concerned at this government’s approach on women’s issues. The relevant extracts are as follows:
Leave granted.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, it is disappointing to hear the opposition in a begrudging way, recognise what this government is doing. In terms of what happens in the area of women, I would have thought we had a very strong statement in this parliament. For the first time, we have more women than we have ever had before - we have seven in here - and that is the first point. It is very appropriate that this new government takes a look at programs from the past, and to imply that if there is a review of the Women’s Advisory Council, that that somehow is a negative thing, is simply absurd.
We need to be looking at mechanisms we have, we need to be refreshing them, we need to be reviewing them, and we will be doing this to make sure that perhaps aspirations from 20 years ago, which were strong and well argued, are not necessarily applicable to today. That Women’s Advisory Council will be bipartisan. I have made very clear on issues to do with women, I want bipartisan support from this parliament, and I hope I will get it.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I present a ministerial report on the progress of the Desert Knowledge Project. Members of this House will already be aware of Desert Knowledge. This project is a vehicle for drawing together the collective expertise and knowledge of Australians living in our arid zones, and marketing of this knowledge nationally and internationally for the benefit of this region’s economy and society.
The Desert Knowledge precinct on south Stuart Highway will bring together the Desert People’s Centre, CSIRO, Primary Industry, and Parks and Wildlife, creating valuable partnerships. We have previously announced this government’s solid support for the project. Our government has committed $250 000 per annum for three years for project development. In addition, we have committed $10m for capital development for the Desert People’s Centre and Desert Knowledge Precinct.
The planning team for the Desert People’s Centre has made excellent progress with developing a master plan that will be submitted to the Commonwealth government in March seeking matching funding for the construction program. This multi-million dollar construction program will expand the work available to the local building industry.
Another significant part of the project will be the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, the CRC, which is in an advanced stage of planning for submission to the Commonwealth in May. The CRC will encourage partnerships at a national and international level between business, industry, universities, CSIRO, and other private and public sector agencies, building on activities that occur in arid Australia. I am delighted in the appointment of a former Rio Tinto executive, Paul Wand, to the position of Chair of the CRC. Mr Wand’s acceptance is a windfall for the project. His experience, including five years as Vice-President of Aboriginal Relations for Rio Tinto, has given him a deep understanding of the private sector, Commonwealth government relations and indigenous issues. He also understands remote regions and the complex issues that we face.
The focus of the CRC proposal is on how to achieve new economies based on desert knowledge in regions characterised by low and dispersed populations. In the centre of Australia we cannot just use a model of economic growth developed somewhere else - we have to have our own competitive advantages and difficulties which means that we have to develop our own solutions. The CRC will involve small business, indigenous people and other agencies to ensure outcomes that are practical and useful to the region, as well as of national economic and social significance. A successful CRC bid would attract $2m to $3m of Commonwealth money per year for seven years for research and capacity building, providing exceptional long term continuity. The bid will be submitted by the end of May this year and, if successful, funding will commence in July 2003.
A road show has toured regional centres in Desert Australia and was hugely successful. The Mayor of Alice Springs, Fran Kilgariff, and the Desert Knowledge Project Officer, Mike Crowe, led a team of people to Tennant Creek, Mt Isa, Port Augusta, Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie. The visits were aimed at generating interest and support for the CRC, and the central event for Year of the Outback proposed in Alice Springs in September. Meetings in Tennant Creek, Port Augusta,. Broken Hill, Kalgoorlie and Mt Isa attracted considerable attention. The Mt Isa Chamber of Commerce, the State Development Agency, the Mt Isa to Townsville Economic Zone and the Carpentaria Land Council showed particular interest.
Being able to extend the Desert Knowledge concept beyond the Northern Territory border is especially encouraging. Interstate partnerships will be of major importance to the success of Desert Knowledge.
The International Desert Knowledge Innovation Centre is a third activity to be based at the Desert Knowledge precinct, and it offers considerable potential to expand the business and development opportunities in Central Australia. Already, the University of Texas has expressed an interest in being part of this exciting initiative. In this program, the Innovation Centre would become a key node in a national and international research, development and business operation. This network will enable smaller business to be part of a broader capacity for delivering products and services to global desert communities, and in creating ideas for innovation here in the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, I am personally very proud to be given carriage of this by the Chief Minister. We look forward to bipartisan support for what will be one of the key economic development opportunities for the Territory in the next three to four years.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, since travelling to Israel in the last parliamentary term, I have become convinced how effective an arid zone can become in making the desert bloom. Considering that Israel is a country one-tenth the size of my electorate, it manages to feed six million people by its own abilities and skills. Politically stable arid zones are, indeed, a rare thing in the world.
As a consequence, the Desert Knowledge project presents an opportunity to the Northern Territory government, as well as the people of the Northern Territory, to develop its arid zones for the betterment of all. The Desert Knowledge project, which was brought forward by the former government was and is an excellent project which will receive support as long as this government continues to support proper funding processes for it.
It continues to be a total irritation for me that situations like the Ilparpa Swamp in Alice Springs are allowed to continue where we effectively evaporate two billion litres of water off the swamp for no other reason than it is the most inexpensive way to get rid of spare sewerage water. I hope that this Desert Knowledge project learns new ways to use that type of water for economic outcomes rather than seeing it wasted into the atmosphere.
I am encouraged by the expenditure, eventually, of $10m into the project. I have to congratulate Mr Wand on his appointment, but I also would like to congratulate Dr Bruce Walker who was the brains trust behind this from the Centre of Appropriate Technology, who initially drove this idea. Not to mention him at this stage would be utterly remiss. I will keep an eye on this project as it proceeds and, if the Northern Territory government continues to maintain its commitment as stated here in the House today, then I look forward to it. I congratulate the former as well as the current government in pursuing this particular project.
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for the bipartisan support they are offering, and look forward to working on this project into the future.
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I would like to report this morning on two issues of importance to parliament. In the first case, the government has a number of important legislative matters that need to be passed by this parliament before the end of the financial year, including the comprehensive drugs legislative package to be introduced in the May sittings, and amendments to existing laws to ensure they are compatible with the requirements of national competition policy.
As a result of these legislative pressures which have emerged since the legislative timetable was drawn up late last year, parliament will reconvene for three days from 18 to 20 June. There will be no overall increase in the number of sitting days as the last sittings of parliament for the year will be reduced by three days. Thus, the parliament will meet for the three days of 26 to 28 November, meaning the first week of the November sittings has been shifted to June. The June sittings are timed to be outside of the main Territory school holiday period and, at this stage, are not expected to clash with other major events.
Secondly, the timing of the 2002-03 budget. For some years now, the Territory’s budget has been brought down in April or May, with debate and passage of the Appropriation Act in June, so the budget was in place on 1 July, the start of the new budget year. This year, the government will bring down the 2002-03 budget in August. The main reason for the timing of the government’s first full budget is the introduction of budgeting on an accrual basis as part of the implementation of Working for Outcomes. Working for Outcomes is the new financial and performance management framework for the Territory public sector, based on the accrual output methodology. The framework is similar to that adopted in other jurisdictions throughout Australia, and that recommended by Professor Allan in his report on Territory finances last year.
It will complete a process commenced by the former government, and will go much of the way toward addressing concerns about budgetary information that the Auditor-General has frequently raised with respect to performance reporting of government activity. Working for Outcomes will provide a better basis for resource allocation by the government by focussing on outputs and performance, clearly defining links between desired outcomes and outputs produced, and providing information on the full cost of producing those outputs. Whilst the 2002-03 budget will be an accrual budget, appropriation for agency budgets will be made on a cash basis. This will assist agencies in the transition to a full accrual model as reliable, historical accrual information is not available such that it could be included in the budget and, as such, there is the potential for significant movements in accrual numbers in the early years.
Providing funding on a cash basis will prevent the need for large adjustments in appropriation as the accrual components of agency budgets become better understood and the figures more robust. The use of a cash appropriation in the initial years, and with accrual budgets consistent with practice in other jurisdictions, the cash appropriation will be made at the agency level and will be net of agency revenue. This will allow greater flexibility for agencies to manage their budgets. A separate capital appropriation will also be made to fund the capital works and capital items programs of agencies.
A further feature of the 2002-03 budget is that it will be prepared in accordance with the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act. The Under Treasurer will sign off on the underlying assumptions used to develop the budget and the forward estimates. With an August budget, the question of supply arises for the period 1 July to the date of passage of the Appropriation Bill. A Supply Bill will be tabled in the May 2002 sittings, and passed in the June sittings, to facilitate the continuing operations of government in the new financial year until the Appropriation Bill is passed by parliament in September.
Government acknowledges the key advantage of an earlier budget is to provide useful information to the construction sector regarding the government’s capital works programs for the following year. The potential criticism is therefore that the later budget will delay this information going out. I want to assure the construction sector that the government, as it has done since it achieved office, will continue to keep the construction sector aware of new capital works proposals or additional funding for existing works as they emerge. There is no particular reason why these announcements have to be kept to the budget timetable. It is the government’s aim to ensure there is an even flow of work and cash across the Territory as a result of government activity, and government expects to return to the usual April/May timeframe for 2003-04 budget.
Mr STIRLING (Deputy Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly on Grant Tambling who was, until recently, the CLP Senator for the Northern Territory.
Grant Tambling has concluded a distinguished career in public life spanning all spheres of government, an achievement probably very few Australians are able to claim. Often, this side of the House disagreed with Grant Tambling, but I believe it is appropriate for this Chamber to recognise his career.
Grant was born and raised in Darwin, educated in Darwin and Adelaide and started his working life as an insurance consultant with the AMP Society. In 1972, his first foray into politics was with the Darwin City Council, elected as an alderman. He had barely settled to that role when the federal Labor government established a fully elected Legislative Assembly for the Territory. Grant joined the new Country Liberal Party and was pre-selected for the seat of Fannie Bay and won in the first Legislative Assembly elections in 1974.
He held a number of executive posts in that first Assembly, including Treasurer. He lost his seat to Labor’s Pam O’Neil in the 1977 election and returned to his insurance consultancy. He also ran an art gallery, Craftsman Galleries - Darwin. This was a setback for Grant’s political career but not for all that long; he looked further afield to Canberra. In 1980, he got his chance. Grant was pre-selected as the House of Representatives candidate to succeed Sam Calder. During this time in the House of Representatives, he served on a number of committees, particularly those concerned with Aboriginal affairs. In 1983, he was defeated by Labor’s John Reeves and returned to small business, purchasing a newsagency in the Parap-Fannie Bay area.
Members can now see that by 1983, Grant Tambling had already served at the local government level, the state/territory level and the federal level. Bob Collins, never that reverent, was heard to quip about Grant as being ‘One-Term Tambling’, and Grant Tambling himself has made jokes of the number of maiden speeches he has made in his career in public life.
This was not the end of Grant’s political aspirations or, indeed, his achievements. In 1987, he was again pre-selected and again, he won. This time it was the Senate and this was no One-Term Tambling because he was to be there for 14 years. His time in the Senate was busy. He had long held certain values that he pursued in the parliament in relation to indigenous affairs and statehood for the Territory. He was busy in a wide range of committees and leadership roles, holding office in a range of administrations in both opposition and government.
I have not listed the offices or the range of committees on which he served - there simply is not adequate time here this morning. Suffice to say, it does add to an impressive list. During his valedictory debate in the Senate, senators from both sides spoke highly of Grant and the work he put in. Trish Crossin, the Territory’s Labor’s Senator, said in speaking about the cooperation she received:
Bob Collins, our former Labor Senator, has similar recollections about Grant Tambling. Other Senators spoke of their encounters on the committee work that Grant was involved in. He was no time server. He believed in what he was doing and he worked hard to those ends.
In one of his last speeches in the Senate, Grant Tambling spoke on the work that still needs to be done in the Territory, touching on the constitutional development for the Territory and the need to achieve genuine statehood. He also spoke of his views on the euthanasia debate and the implications that constitutional reform would have on Territory legislation. He spoke on transport infrastructure and what has to happen after the railway is completed to maximise the benefits. He outlined issues of taxation in rural and remote Australia and spoke on a range of other issues. There are issues that consistently appeared throughout Grant Tambling’s contributions, and they were his concern for poor health, employment and education outcomes for the indigenous people of the Territory, issues this government is now working hard to address, and it may say something about matters not achieved by the previous administration.
Madam Speaker, it is clear that Grant Tambling is a man of principle, as evidenced by his long and distinguished career in public life, and it was a stand of principle, of course, that led to the demise of his political career. I believe all members should join the government in wishing him every success for his future.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I advise members that I will speak in the Adjournment Debate tonight and also compliment Grant Tambling on his career. I think it is appropriate that this parliament should recognise that.
Reports noted pursuant to sessional order.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
Recently, I announced a number of changes affecting bookmakers including a reduction in the tax rates, the migration of Sportingbet Australia to the Territory, and a proposal to remove the restriction on bookmakers offering odds based on final totalisator dividends. This bill proposes to address the latter of these issues.
Currently, the Racing and Betting Act prohibits bookmakers from offering to pay winnings that are the equivalent to, or based on, a totalisator dividend. The prohibition does not extend to dividends offered by the Northern Territory’s licensed totalisator, NT TAB. Accordingly, a bookmaker, when offering to pay winnings that are the equivalent of a totalisator dividend, can currently only offer the Northern Territory totalisator prices. The particular provision dates back to 1989. It is difficult to understand its rationale in today’s wagering environment. It is difficult to see that limiting a bookmaker to offer a specific tote dividend presents any benefit to the Northern Territory. A number of other jurisdictions do not restrict the offering of odds based on final tote dividends. The current restriction has an impact on current and future Territory operators.
Recently, I announced the arrival of Sportingbet Australia Pty Ltd to Darwin. One of their most popular products enables the client to choose the option of taking the final New South Wales or Victorian tote dividend. Accordingly, the current restriction would prohibit that product and thus jeopardise the potential tax revenue expected from that business. Furthermore, International Allsports currently offer a ‘Diviplus’ product which pays above the highest tote dividend from the range of tote pools in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Removing the restriction will remove any doubt about the legitimacy of that product.
As noted earlier, there appears no basis for the legislative restriction. Its removal will provide punters with greater flexibility and betting options, and is consistent with National Competition Policy Principles. I have an explanatory memorandum with me which I will send across to the shadow minister.
Madam Speaker, I commend the Racing and Betting Amendment Bill 2002 to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 28 November 2001
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I signal straight up that the opposition supports this legislation in its entirety. It also supports the amendment that is proposed with regards to the form of oath or affirmation that will be taken by members and deputy members of the tribunal. That will come through in the committee stages.
It is a good initiative by the new government. It follows, as is indicated in the second reading speech, a promise by the then opposition that they would bring this forward if they came into government. It also follows on the fact that it was part of the Police Consent Agreement by the previous government that we would move forward with this sort of tribunal. So what has come before us today in legislation is essentially the product of what the Police Association wants and continues a process where, under the Police Administration Act, all issues regarding remuneration for police is kept entirely within the confines of the Northern Territory under our own legislative mechanism rather than through the Industrial Relations Commission.
I thank the police minister for the way he has kept me well informed of this legislation, including the amendments. I thank his staff; they have been particularly cooperative in bringing forward information that we required. I had a couple of questions with regard to the legislation on perusing it. They were with regard to the fact that the act provides for an appeal against a decision by the tribunal only to the Supreme Court, and then only on a point of law I wondered why that was not to the Industrial Relations Commission. And if not, why not to the Supreme Court on issues other than a point of law? The answers given to me are worth reading into Hansard because others might have the same questions. I will read them in; they certainly answer my questions:
I do believe it is important that a member of the Industrial Relations Commission is considered to be part of that tribunal wherever possible. Even though changes are being made with PAT, this is a continuation of what has been a practice in the past of keeping these issues within the jurisdiction of the Northern Territory.
Why are appeals are only in a point of law and not on a decision - the answer provided:
Providing appeals to the Supreme Court on questions of law enable decisions to be appealed and reversed and is consistent with various other appeals to the Supreme Court from other courts and judicial bodies. Examples of other NT legislation providing appeals on questions of law only are the Local Court Act and the Work Health Act.
The only other question the minister might answer in his reply, and it is only a small point, but the reference to ‘the Secretary’ in the legislation. I just wonder who the secretary is. Is that just a normal administrative appointment or is it some particular person who is appointed in some other way? It just seems that the secretary has charge of particular facets in terms of informing people, and they are named particularly in the bill.
With those few points, Madam Speaker, we support the legislation and the amendment.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I also support the new bill and the amendments. I had some discussions with the Police Association which, as the Leader of the Opposition has said, strongly supports these changes.
The Association has felt that they have been disadvantaged for a number of years because they are regarded as officers of the Crown and not just normal employees. They emphasised they have never gone on strike, nor do I believe they have ever wanted to because I think they understand the highly responsible job they hold in society. But they have always had a problem with a one person tribunal to hear their complaints and the Association says that it has never won anything in front of the present tribunal and it is probably no wonder that it took a long time for the government to change the status quo.
They also raised the issue of the appeals. They quoted, for instance, where there may be an issue over housing, it is very difficult to appeal on the grounds of law if you have a problem regarding housing. They would like to see some mechanism where, for instance, if you want to appeal on the issues of merit when it comes to housing, there should be some mechanism to do that. Not everything is based on salaries and other things like that.
It is also good to see the matter of the oath and the affirmation being included in the bill. That was an issue that was raised with me and I am sure the Police Association is happy that it has been added.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for the opportunity to put forward my questions on this bill, and I thank the Police Association for their input as well.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in favour of the amendments to the Police Administration Act. Before speaking specifically about the amendments, I would like to once again affirm the high esteem and value that this government places on the Northern Territory Police Force. They are a fine body of men and women who are dedicated to enforcing the law and making our community a safer place.
If I could just digress for a moment, Madam Speaker, it was a pleasure last night, along with members from both sides, to attend a dinner in your office and meet the new Commissioner of Police. It was a very cordial affair, and I thank you for your hospitality, as I am sure many other members do.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr BURNS: Although he is a very quietly spoken man, I am sure our new Commissioner is going to do a fine job. I am sure both sides of this House affirm our support for him in the big job that he has to do as Commissioner of the Northern Territory Police Force.
Returning to the amendments, as has been pointed out, they mainly relate to the Police Arbitral Tribunal which determines matters relating to the remuneration terms and conditions of employment of all Northern Territory police below the rank of Commander. These reforms are tangible evidence of the way in which this government really values and respects our police men and women.
The amendments to the Police Administration Act also represent this government’s commitment to industrial democracy and modern industrial processes. As I said in my maiden speech, I have been a unionist for much of my working life. I am currently a unionist and I am proud of it. I think unions have many constructive contributions to make within our society. I have always said a union is only as good as its membership and, as I have said, I believe that the Police Association is a very fine body of men and women. This bill also fulfils an election promise that we, as a party, made to the Northern Territory Police. It has become evident through this initiative and many others that we have introduced since coming to power that after six months in government, we are moving to effectively implement our election platform of reform in many crucial areas. I am proud of that.
Formerly, the Police Arbitral Tribunal comprised just one person, as the member for Nelson has pointed out. Our amendments make the provision for a tribunal of three: the Chair, who will be appointed by the minister and who has Industrial Relations Commission expertise or is suitably qualified and experienced in another area; the Police Association will also have a nominee to the tribunal and, once again, this underlines our commitment to industrial democracy and our confidence in the Police Association to be an integral part of the tribunal process in order to determine the matters relating to their remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment; and the amendments also provide for a third ministerial nominee who would be a person recommended by the Commissioners of Police and Public Employment.
A crucial and sensible aspect of our amendments is the provision for conciliation before matters can be heard by the tribunal. I believe that this provision promotes amicable and productive negotiations over matters related to remuneration, and terms and conditions of Northern Territory Police officers. This government is committed to conciliation, negotiation and dialogue. Nevertheless, if conciliation fails, the amendments also provides a clear pathway for resolution through hearings of the tribunal. There is also provision to allow either the Commissioner or the Police Association to appeal to the Supreme Court against a decision of the tribunal on a question of law. Once again, a very sensible amendment.
These amendments provide for a sensible and workable framework to resolve industrial disputes involving Northern Territory police officers below the rank of Commander. Such resolution will be fair, just and expeditious. It is also a practical and tangible example of how this government values our public service and our public servants.
Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to honourable members.
Mr STIRLING (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I thank the shadow minister for police for his support of the bill. It certainly was a commitment from our side. I understood it was a commitment of the previous government as well, but we had the happy task of pulling this together. I also thank the member for Johnston for his support of the bill.
A number of people were involved in negotiating just how we would set up this police tribunal, including former Commissioner Brian Bates up until the time he left; current Commissioner Paul White; Andrew Smith and Vince Kelly from the Police Association; and Mr Chris Hayes, who joined us, I think, on a couple of occasions, a man with vast experience in policing and these industrial relations type matters.
We think we have a process that will serve everybody well into the future. We have certainly structured it in that fashion in consultation with the key players in it, so we look forward to getting the tribunal up and running. It is something that obviously we will watch with interest to see if it does meet the needs of the key players. If it needs change at any time, if a case was put to us, we would certainly be looking to amend it in the future. I don’t think that will be the case. I expect this tribunal to settle down and provide a key mechanism for the resolution of different matters that arise from time to time within our police force.
The conciliation process built in is a strong one, and I would hope that that is utilised in the first place with a view to terminating, I suppose, or resolving issues before they actually become matters to be heard before the tribunal. There are minor committee stage amendments, so we will need to go into committee, but I thank members for their support.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Clauses 1 to 3, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 4 agreed to.
Clause 5:
Mr STIRLING: Mr Chairman, this is where we insert the amendment 13.1 standing in my name. The difference here is that we are inserting a section that would require members and deputy members to take an oath or affirmation. I will just read the amending part:
(1) A member of the Tribunal or a deputy of a member of the Tribunal must, before first
exercising his or her powers or performing his or her functions under this Act, make
an oath or affirmation set out in Form 3 in the Schedule.
(2) An oath or affirmation under subsection (1) is to be made before a Justice of the Peace.
I don’t think it is necessary to read the actual terms of the oath. I urge support for that amendment.
Clause 5, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 6 to 8, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Mr STIRLING: Mr Chairman, I move amendment 13.2 standing in my name to insert a new clause. This goes to the actual form of the oath, so we are putting it in by way of a schedule after clause 8, and the schedule is simply amended by adding at the end Form 3, and it is the form of oath to be taken by the member of, or deputy member of, the Police Arbitral Tribunal:
The form of affirmation to be taken by a member of, or deputy member of, the Police Arbitral Tribunal reads:
New Clause 9 agreed to.
Mr STIRLING: If I may, whilst we are in committee, the shadow minister asked, in his second reading, about the reference to secretary and who that would be. I understand that is a departmental officer who would be appointed to look after the administrative matters relating to the work of the tribunal itself. That would be preparation for conciliation and keeping documents together, and preparation for tribunal hearings as well.
Remainder of the bill, by leave, taken as a whole and agreed to.
Bill reported with amendments; report adopted.
Mr STIRLING (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I move the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill 2002 (Serial 34) passing through all stages this sittings.
Motion agreed to.
Continued from 28 February 2002.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I can say from the outset that the opposition supports passage of the bill. The bill complements the recent Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Act No. 1 (2001), the Commonwealth act. It is part of a national scheme. It creates certainty. It is an excellent example of both the states and territories and the Commonwealth working together. In a nutshell, the Northern Territory bill broadens the scope of material which is covered by the current legislation and also creates some new offences of selling or delivering certain publications contrary to conditions.
I can indicate that the opposition supports the bill in its entirety.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I support of the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill (2002). As the minister advised in his second reading speech, states, territories and the Commonwealth have joint responsibility for the classification of all publications, films and computer games. The enforcement of the scheme, however, is the responsibility of each state and territory.
This bill provides for an amendment to the application section of the principal act to ensure that it does not apply to exempt films as defined under the Commonwealth act; the changing of determined marketing and consumer advice on classified publications, computer games, advertisements, etcetera, where a reclassification has taken place under the Commonwealth act; new offences dealing with selling certain publications and films contrary to packaging requirements, or without consumer advice as determined by the National Classification Board under the Commonwealth act; and calling in powers to be vested in the Director of the National Classification Board complementary to various provisions in the Commonwealth act.
Film classification is not about censorship, and these amendments are not about denying adults the right to choose what they watch, read and play. What this bill is about is a realisation that some material, if not managed, can have a detrimental effect on some members of our community, in particular, children and young adolescents. There have been many studies on the effects of violence in media. In one report to the Family and Community Development Committee of the Victorian parliament, the Victorian Community Council Against Violence advised:
2. some people may imitate what they see on television and video (and many do not);
4. the relationship between viewing violent screen images and exhibiting aggressive behaviour
appears to be bi-directional. That is, aggressive people are more likely to watch violence, and
people who watch violence are more likely to be aggressive.
Another study, reported in the American Family Physician, on video games, TV and aggressive behaviour in children noted that, in addition to television, movies and video games are sources of children’s increased exposure to violence. Research has shown that exposure to violence can increase a child’s use of violence to resolve conflict, desensitise children from violence and the victimisation of others, and create the belief that the world is a mean and scary place. The finding of this study also supports the relationship between media viewing and aggressive behaviour in children, and the benefits of reducing children’s media exposure.
It is clear then, that by informing the public of what rating video games have, parents may be able to influence their child’s exposure to risk. The Office of Film and Literature Classification does not arrive at a rating haphazardly but, rather, after quite a lot of consideration. As an example, I would like to share with you some of the deliberations made about a video game entitled Grand Theft Auto III:
(b) minors should be protected from material likely to harm or disturb them; and
(d) the need to take account of community concerns.
The Review Board found:
That is, Refused Classification. I have had a quick look at the latest list on the Internet from the Office of Film and Literature Classification on recent video games which have received a similar rating of RC classification. Some of the titles, I would suggest, hint at the content: Texas Table Dance; Digital Dancing - The Erotic Challenge; Immoral Combat; Immortal Comeback; and Girlie Game - said to be Peach 02, the Girlie Game. Indeed, the member for Katherine indicated in a debate in this House in December 1997 that he recognised the influence multimedia could have on shaping our youth’s attitudes. He stated, and I quote:
I have not reviewed this magazine like the member for Katherine, but I daresay that it is this type of publication which will be directly affected by the packaging requirements brought on by this amendment. I commend the member for Katherine for his vision for reviewing this publication, as well as a number of video tapes, while he was away on parliamentary business in Sydney all those years ago. The member for Katherine forcefully stated that he would continue to pursue the matter of material in the market place that can be used by people to influence young kids. However, it would appear, once again, that it has fallen to this government to once more finish yet another CLP initiative.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the House.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for their indicated support for the bill and the contribution from the member for Sanderson. To put a bit of colour around the issues here, in looking at the classification structure and the reasons for making decisions, it is very clear that not only is it a somewhat lurid topic at times, but it is also very much a moving situation in that the broadcast sector and the IT sector are continually converging so we are finding this kind of information is starting to transmute into all sorts of new, not only forms, but also contexts for use.
It is going to get more and more difficult to juggle the Broadcasting Act and the act regarding classification of products to give overall protection to our communities. I am sure we will be revisiting these issues periodically in this House as the situation changes and new contexts emerge that we have to deal with.
For all that, I think the member for Goyder was quite right; this is a good example of the Commonwealth offering the classificatory function, the states and territories carrying out the enforcement once the classifications are made. I think it is a very good arrangement. It means that there is a centralised judgement of the appropriateness of material and the degree of protection needing to be put around material that might be offensive or damaging to the community, whereas the enforcement, I think, is best done at the local and contextual level. It is a very sensible arrangement and it is one we are now bringing up to date through this bill today, given that the Commonwealth made changes to their act and we now have to respond.
I again apologise to members for having to bring this in on urgency, but 22 March is almost upon us. We need to have our enforcement arrangements in place in line with the new Commonwealth provisions.
Motion agreed to, bill read a second time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General) (by leave): Madam Speaker, as there are no amendments, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to, bill read a third time.
Mr AH KIT (Assisting Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs): Madam Speaker, I am not the first Aboriginal minister in a parliament. That privilege belongs to a countryman from Western Australia. Nevertheless, my position as a minister in the Martin Labor government is an enormous privilege as well as a humbling experience. There is no way, as an Aboriginal kid growing up in the Parap Camp, that I could even have contemplated becoming a parliamentary representative. Indeed, who else could have imagined that a bare-footed ratbag running round the camp would have ended up in this place? However, here I am, and I hope what I learnt as a kid and later in my working life will continue to inform and inspire me in this place.
The first thing I learnt is the importance of family and community. That means learning about my Waanyi heritage through my father’s side and, much later, of my Warrumungu descent, long hidden from me as my mother was taken away as a young Aboriginal girl in Tennant Creek. It meant learning about my other relations and friends of the family at the Parap Camp and beyond. It meant, in the context of old Darwin, knocking around with kids from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds including the Greek, Italian and Chinese communities.
It was when I grew up and started work, first as a labourer and truck driver, my eyes were opened to a life in which I left behind the simple pleasures of childhood. They were opened to the many instances of unfairness and inequality - particularly for Aboriginal people - that were part of Territory society in those days. It awoke in me for the first time a sense of responsibility to my people and a sense of purpose in attempting to achieve justice for my people.
After I graduated, I travelled to many of our Aboriginal communities out bush. Sitting around the camp fire, yarning with the old people and watching the faces of kids in the fire light reminded me of my own childhood and of how the lives of Aboriginal people are inextricably linked with each other through family and community. In an important sense, these links are forged by the social interaction that is symbolised by the way us mob - Aboriginal people - gather together around the camp fire. I remember those camp fires and they are my personal light on the hill. The light on the hill, the family fire in the camp, that will show the path forward and in my darkest moments, that is the image I return to. My work here in this place finds inspiration in that simplest of human activities: gathering around the camp fire in the companionship of family and community, yarning about the past, talking about the present and finding hope for all of us in the future.
Many words have been said in this Assembly in the years since self-government about the state of indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Some of those words have been said with good will and great knowledge; some with hostility; some in plain ignorance. Yet, for all those words, for all those debates over the years, today we must acknowledge some brutal truths about the situation that is faced by Aboriginal Territorians.
Aboriginal Territorians are facing a stark crisis. To say anything else would be to lie, and I believe that now is the time for the truth to be told. We cannot – indeed must not - continue to gild the lily about what is happening on our communities. The lack of transparency about what is happening on our communities is not an indictment of any particular political tendency. Rather, it is an indictment of all governments of all colours over recent decades.
What I am saying here today is aimed at indigenous as well as non-indigenous Territorians. For years, Aboriginal people have been saying that their communities are facing disaster, but not just because of a lack of government resources. Many, many Aboriginal people acknowledge that the rot lies within their own communities: the high rates of sexual assault, domestic and other violence are no more acceptable to Aboriginal people than they are to anyone else. Aboriginal people feel enormous shame at the antisocial behaviour of their countrymen and women, of drunks and beggars in the streets, and of the lack of will from so many Aboriginal people to take charge of their own lives.
As an Aboriginal person, I feel no good when people are hassled and humbugged as they enter shops. I want those Aboriginal people to become a part of our society instead of existing on the fringes. Aboriginal people in the Territory must escape from the cargo cult mentality of government doing everything for them, of relying on the empty rhetoric of playing the victim. Aboriginal organisations must bite the bullet and develop new, innovative strategies to overcome the cancerous ideology of despair.
The other side of that coin is that the government, in partnership with Aboriginal people, must allow the development of forms of governance that allow Aboriginal people the power to control their lives and communities. There is no turning back. The Martin Labor government will not be party to deceiving the Northern Territory electorate. We will tell it like it is, openly and frankly, to both indigenous and non-indigenous citizens from the city to the bush.
The simple fact is that it is almost impossible to find a functional Aboriginal community anywhere in the Northern Territory. I do not just mean the 10 or 15 communities that my department tells me that, at any one stage, are managerial or financial basket cases. The fact that a community may not get their quarterly statements in on time is only a part of the story.
I am talking of the dysfunction that is endemic through virtually all of our communities, both in towns and the bush. We cannot pretend that a community is functional when half the kids do not go to school because they have been up most of the night coping with drunken parents, or because they themselves have been up all night sniffing petrol.
We cannot imagine that a community is functional when less than one in 10 people can read or write, or where people are too ill through chronic disease or substance abuse to hold onto a job let alone receive training, or where kids are born with illnesses that have largely disappeared from most of the Third World and those who survive into adulthood can be expected to die two decades earlier than their non-indigenous counterparts, or where only 14% of our kids reach Year 12 compared to 80% of their non-indigenous brothers and sisters in the cities and major towns.
Madam Speaker, it is a downward spiral of despair for far too many of our fellow Territorians, a spiral of being ill before birth, of being poorly fed in childhood, of being deaf at school, of a life without work that will be cut short by a litany of disease and violence. For far too many people, each week that goes by it is not marked with the simple joys of living, but with the need to organise funerals.
I am not suggesting that these problems are unique to the Northern Territory but one cannot escape the conclusion that things here are markedly worse for indigenous people than in most other areas of the nation. On virtually every measure, Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory are at the bottom of the socioeconomic heap. Indeed, according to the Commonwealth Grants Commission, on nearly every measure, the Northern Territory’s remote ATSIC regions demonstrate amongst the greatest relative needs of any indigenous groups in Australia. The list of statistics demonstrating the dysfunction in our indigenous communities is staggering, so much so that recounting them here in any detail would be pointless. There have been a thousand reports and a hundred inquiries to the point where it is easy to become numb to reality and incapable of acting. But we must not remain numb or blind. We must act.
There are two imperatives as to why we must respond to the crisis I have outlined. First, if we do not begin to turn this spiral of hopelessness around, the Northern Territory will cease to function as anything other than a financial basket case itself. As my colleague, the Minister for Health and Community Services, has already pointed out in this place the increased financial burden of indigenous ill health threatens to blow out the economy faster than it can grow. Renal disease alone has been doubling every four years and threatens to take 56% of our current annual hospital budget, and this in a jurisdiction where we already spend nearly half our hospital budget on acute care - more than any other state or territory. As it is, the hospital separation rate for indigenous people is 460% higher than for non-indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory and higher than anywhere else in Australia.
As my colleague, the minister for Education, pointed out in this place last week the economic cost of poor educational outcomes among indigenous citizens of the Territory is immense, both in direct and opportunity costs.
The enormous growth in the number of non-indigenous people living on Aboriginal communities in the last quarter century is directly attributable to the rising demands and complexities of administration, coupled with an almost complete abandonment by government in providing the fundamentals of education and training required for indigenous people to be running their own affairs. If we do not turn things around for our indigenous citizens we risk the creation of a permanent underclass for which future generations, both indigenous and non-indigenous, will pay potentially overwhelming economic, social and political costs.
Secondly, we must act on the basis of the principles of social justice to which the Martin Labor government has committed itself and on which we will be judged. The objectives of that social justice policy include:
Madam Speaker, what this means for indigenous people of the Northern Territory is that policy will be, for the first time in our history, informed by principles of inclusion rather than the past policies that have contributed to exclusion and inequality. Social justice for the Martin government is not an empty phrase, but a major cornerstone of our approach to good government.
For indigenous communities, equity will mean building their capacity to engage in the economy in a meaningful way and investing in their own future.
For these people, equality will be gauged by how effectively they can exert their rights as citizens of the Northern Territory.
Access to essential services, so long limited or denied indigenous Territorians, will give them the tools to achieve real advancement for themselves and their children.
Access to information will allow informed decision making about their own communities that will enable indigenous people to develop strategic solutions to the problems they face and all of this will enhance and confirm the capacity of indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory to fully participate in the economic, social and political life of the Territory, from within their own communities through to the work of parliament.
Indeed, the critical importance of developing economic partnerships with Aboriginal people was the focus of last year’s Economic Development Summit and has been endorsed by the Martin Labor government as a key to the future development of the Northern Territory.
Since self-government, successive governments in the Northern Territory have seen various forms of local government as the primary interface between Aboriginal community members, their representative structures and government agencies. The primary focus of government has been through the Local Government Act and, in particular, part 5 of the act concerning community government councils. It has been said by many people over the years that the legislation has been innovative and progressive, allowing as it does for the incorporation of at least some traditional decision making structures in the constitutions and operations of these councils.
It has also been said by many people over the years that the community government council structures have allowed Aboriginal people on those communities the freedom to make decisions about a very broad range of services that are provided on their communities. It has been said also that these structures have allowed the potential for great strides towards self-determination.
All of this may well be true, but I believe we must now openly and honestly acknowledge that the community government process has failed in these objectives. In fact, as documents generated by my own department reveal, there is still considerable suspicion of local government across much of the Territory. The fact that many communities have refused to incorporate under the Territory Local Government Act is testament to this.
There is no point in blaming the land councils for this. The two largest land councils, for better or worse, in large part, abdicated the field of local government 15 years ago. And, as for local government generating the capacity for self-determination, where are the results? As I have mentioned before, at any one point in time, a significant number of community government councils are in dire straits, and virtually every one of the other local government structures in the Territory are heavily dependent on external support by government agencies and their officers. None are self-reliant financially or structurally, and as government subsidies have shrunk or been frozen, their capacity for self-determination has withered. Local government in the Northern Territory, as the principal focus of service delivery, or interfaced with other service deliverers in the Northern Territory, has failed abjectly in improving people’s lives.
As I have outlined above, the lot of Aboriginal people is to sit at the bottom of the socioeconomic heap, and on some health and employment measures, their situation is getting worse. A fundamental reason for this failure is the complete lack of local economies providing the basis of productive activity and wage labour on Aboriginal communities in both town and bush. The long term economic basis of Aboriginal communities cannot rely on welfare supporting whole populations. It is critical that regional strategies be developed to provide the basis for local and regional economic development.
The local government reform and development agenda announced by the previous government in November 1998 was not just an exercise in saving money by reducing the number of councils, it was an acknowledgement of failure. This is not an attack on the hundreds of Aboriginal people who have, through their councils, attempted, and continued, to try to make it work. It is not an attack on the hard working members of the public service who, for much of the time, saw their ideas and policy proposals crushed by the ideological position of the previous government. Nor is it a criticism of officers of the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory who have endeavoured so hard to build effective local government on Aboriginal communities.
I believe there are three major reasons for these failures, and these reasons point to a long term strategy towards a solution in local governance on Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
First, the field of local government on Aboriginal communities has for too long been a politicised battlefield in an attempt not to improve people’s lives, but to win the hearts and minds of Aboriginal voters. Previous governments used Aboriginal local government as a part of their trench warfare against the Land Rights Act, and used special purpose grants as political carrots around election times.
Secondly, the Aboriginal community councils have been given far too much to do. Bob Beadman, former head of Local Government and a very experienced public servant in Aboriginal Affairs, pointed out on a number of occasions that Aboriginal community government councils have administrative responsibilities that far outweigh those of the Darwin City Council.
Thirdly, Aboriginal community government councils have been grossly under-resourced in carrying out those responsibilities. I am not just talking money here, though the previous policy of encouraging ever greater numbers of community government councils has meant that the same amount of money has had to be divided between more and more communities. I am also talking about human resources.
Dramatically increased accountability requirements from both the Commonwealth and Territory have exacerbated the need for highly skilled and dedicated council staff. As we all know, it is extremely hard to recruit and retain such staff in remote areas. And we all know the other side of this coin: there have been any number of incompetent or crooked people working for Aboriginal communities. As the Collins Report pointed out, there was no effective strategy by the previous government to supply the education and training necessary for Aboriginal people to run their own lives let alone the complexities of a local government council.
For those dedicated and committed people working on the communities in partnership with Aboriginal people, this has been doubly frustrating as they have watched the fruits of their work wither away due to malign neglect and indifference on the part of former governments. The reform and development agenda in local government is nearly four years old. The Tiwi Islands local government has only a single run of the board. Since I have come to this ministry, the Tiwi Islands local government has had to have financial controllers put in place amidst an atmosphere of widespread discontentment with the amalgamation, and the reason why: it was too rushed. It was pushed through too quickly.
It is my intention that the reform and development agenda be completely recast to look at regional governance issues relating to specific service delivery functions, rather than narrowly looking at the amalgamation of community government councils.
What this means is, first, a whole-of-government, whole-of-community partnership in our approach to regional service delivery. Government agencies will be required at a regional as well as Territory level to work together with indigenous people and their representative organisations in the efficient and equitable distribution of resources and services.
The Martin Labor government will be developing this whole-of-government, whole-of-community approach across all government functions, and will be putting financial and managerial mechanisms into place to ensure the success of these partnerships between the government and the people of the Northern Territory.
It also means that we must focus on building the capacity of Aboriginal people and their representative organisations through the recognition of such organisations as fundamental building blocks in regional economic, social and political development in the Northern Territory as well as being accountable to their constituents for the equitable distribution of resources.
At the same time, wherever appropriate and practicable, funds pooling arrangements within service delivery functions should be encouraged, such that funds from all sources in different government agencies, Territory and Commonwealth, are pooled in a single purpose regional service delivery fund. We must also adopt an emphasis on needs-based rather than submission-based funding of services supplied to indigenous communities. And, critically, we must ensure the maintenance of local autonomy on our communities within a framework of regional service delivery.
I am not talking vague theory here. We have a number of models in the Northern Territory that have enjoyed levels of success. The Indigenous Housing Authority NT, commonly known as IHANT, in particular, with the recent evolution of the Papunya model of regional service delivery in housing construction, repair and maintenance, linked with employment and training, is one such model. Another is that of coordinated care trials, such as the Katherine West Health Board. The Katherine West Health Board experience has shown that capacity building in communities is absolutely vital.
Building on these trials, as well as the wealth of experience of Aboriginal community controlled health services, the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum is extending this idea of regional health service delivery and enhanced emphasis on primary health care. The forum, a partnership between the Northern Territory, the Commonwealth, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory and ATSIC, is a good example to the whole nation of a successful model of working together for a common cause. Each of these models fulfils the objectives I have outlined above. They work on the basis of having strong and effective Aboriginal input and control. Each works on the basis of pooled funds so as to achieve economies of scale, and each works on the basis of closely identifying need. Much more work has to be done in strengthening the work of such organisations through a whole-of-government, whole-of-community approach. There will be broader liaison at regional officer level with other agencies such as education, police, sport and recreation, and the arts.
IHANT, Katherine West and the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum provide models for the kinds of organisations that may develop to take on other functions throughout the Northern Territory. Federated - not necessarily amalgamated - community government councils may well take up these challenges in some regions. Service, function-specific bodies may evolve in other areas. The emphasis of the Martin government will be on flexibility and workability rather than the narrowly prescriptive approach that has previously existed in approaches to community governance and indigenous development.
I must emphasise that the sheer scale of the problems will mean that progress will be slow. Indeed, in some areas we are looking at the need for generational change and not quick fixes.
I would like now to announce important initiatives that will make contributions to the approach of the Martin Labor government in indigenous affairs:
(1) an expanded role for IHANT: To complement the renewal this year of the IHANT bilateral agreement
with the Commonwealth through ATSIC, the government has transferred responsibility for essential
services provision to my Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs.
Negotiations have commenced with ATSIC to achieve greater coordination in housing and infrastructure
planning and delivery, especially in remote areas. There is the potential to achieve better outcomes from
the full range of indigenous housing and infrastructure funding to link planning and priority setting in this
area to regional planning and development, and to achieve sustainable training and employment for local
residents.
to any culture. Libraries have come to represent the prime repository of knowledge in our society. But
with the advent of the IT revolution, the shape of libraries is rapidly changing. It is for this reason that I have
directed my department to immediately embark on developing proposals for the establishment of Indigenous Knowledge Centres on a number of Aboriginal communities. These are designed to make full use of a range
of multimedia technologies in the delivery of training, information and content creation, to better accommodate differences of cultures based on oral/visual traditions. The ability to create online content and provide materials
to remote locations, has the capacity to build e-commerce through the dissemination of indigenous knowledge.
Two communities, Galiwinku and the Anmatjere Community Government Council, are well advanced in this development.
It is for this reason that my department is committed to ongoing training and career advancement for staff.
Frontline staff in Territory Housing will be eligible to receive accredited training through the Northern Territory University in public housing management. By improving the skills of frontline staff and by developing their capacity to identify innovative and creative solutions in service delivery, they will be better able to meet the diverse needs of indigenous clients.
to achieving workable regional agreements, particularly in the area of service delivery. The development of
regional agreements must not be a ‘top down’ process, but one driven by indigenous people. My department
has set aside $600 000 immediately, and for the next two years, to assist representative organisations within
regions to build the capacity to negotiate to achieve the best possible outcomes in regional partnership
agreements. There are currently many people in regions who will be able to negotiate, to great effect, with the government. There are also regions where there may not be people who will be readily able to negotiate the best possible arrangements for their people, at least not without assistance.
Fellow members of the Assembly, the time has come to focus our attention on a society here in the Northern Territory that has, at its core, the ideas of social justice. As I have said, social justice is not an empty phrase; it is a fundamental development principle which includes economic development as well as social advancement.
In this context, it is worth noting that the cooperative arrangement between the Northern Territory and ATSIC in the field of indigenous housing does not just achieve better and healthier housing for our people, but it is a major economic stimulus to our economy. In the current year, the impact of this program alone will be $72.4m. Next year, it will come to approximately $79m. Clearly, this benefits all members of the Northern Territory society as well as our economy. It is not good enough, as so many people have done over the years, to speak of indigenous Territorians as ‘the other’, as ‘them’, as ‘the problem’.
As an Aboriginal citizen of the Northern Territory, it is an attitude I have long been aware of; and it is something that has often angered me. Rather than seeing Aboriginal people as being ‘the problem’, the Martin Labor government understands that solutions will be found through inclusive policies guided by the principles of social justice and not policies that exclude or deny a rightful place at the table for more than a quarter of our population.
The Northern Territory has a proud tradition of electing Aboriginal members of parliament. It is a vital part of the development of the democratic traditions here in the Territory. The fact that we now have four indigenous members of parliament can be a source of pride to all Territorians as we move beyond the politics of exclusion towards an open, just society.
Madam Speaker, I began this statement talking about what inspires me to work in this place. Much of that inspiration comes from my life and experiences as an Aboriginal person. But it is also nourished by my friendships with so many Territorians who come from different non-indigenous backgrounds. I am working towards a future where we might all gather around the campfire in the companionship of family and community. In this way, each of us will no longer talk about ‘them’ or ‘the other’. Instead, we will use the phrase ‘us mob’ - and that will include all of us.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, before I do start Question Time, I want to thank those members who turned up for our dedication of the pith helmet. We have left the display in the CPA Lounge for those members who were not able to attend and perhaps you might like to go up and see it. The video is there as well. It was pleasing to see that some former members also attended. If you do get a spare minute, perhaps you might like to go up and see the display. In particular, I thank Ron Keenan who took so much trouble to prepare the plaque and the presentation.
We also, at the same time, did a presentation to Ray Chin, former Clerk of the Assembly, who was to keen to have one of the collage photographs we did in which he was featured. He was pleased to receive those. It was quite a pleasant gathering.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly at its rising adjourn until Tuesday, 14 May 2002 at 10 00am or such other time and/or date as may be set by Madam Speaker pursuant to Sessional Order.
Motion agreed to.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I table the annual report of the Ombudsman for the financial year ending 30 June 2001.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report, and I have leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.
Motion agreed to.
Continued from earlier this day.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement and congratulate him on the statesmanlike manner in which he delivered it. He articulated many aspects of Aboriginal matters that I find I can wholly support. I hope that members opposite will take comments made by myself in the spirit in which they are delivered.
Only someone like the minister or Noel Pearson can be seen or be heard to say that many Aboriginal people acknowledge that the rot lies within their own communities, and that they must escape from the cargo cult mentality of government doing everything for them. Anyone else saying such things will be labelled racist in the current environment of political correctness.
In many debates past, when any members of the CLP even dared to mention any of the matters mentioned by the minister, we would be accused of being racist or of blaming the victims. I say to all members in this House: it does not take an Aboriginal person to empathise with the plight of Aboriginal people.
I welcome the minister’s openness and frankness in this statement. We must all see Aboriginal issues as a national problem and there must be a national commitment and effort made to resolve some or many of the problems. All on this side of the House are as committed to improving the social, physical and economic fortunes of all Aboriginal people. We might take different paths to get there, but I submit that we do it with the best of all intentions to ensure that Aboriginal Territorians have their rightful and equal place in society.
The Country Liberal Party governments of the past 26 years can take great credit in introducing many of the positive actions to improve the lives of many remote Territorians, but therein lies the irony. While many communities are described by the minister as poorly functional, the fact is that as more was being done by government, the more was found that needed to be done - the irony of ‘civilisation’. As remote Territorians became aware of services, the level of self-referrals increased, and so it should be. The promulgation of services including publicity and educational programs is to ensure that people come forward to receive those services, and hence the apparent increase in the levels of need.
The minister asked that we do not pretend that a community is functional when children do not turn up to school because of social or domestic disruption, or when illiteracy levels are high, or physical health is poor. At the risk of being labelled as blaming the victims, I say that people must take a large proportion of responsibility for self: drugs and alcohol, personal hygiene, nutrition are all, in part, in the hands of the person. It is no good saying that government must do it all for the person. Just as the minister recognised, the government cannot do it all. The opportunity to avail oneself of services that have been made for all Territorians cannot be disputed. What I will add is that opportunity does not always equate to access and it is here that I look forward to the measures that the minister proposes to bring forward to ensure that access to opportunity also exists for all Territorians.
I share the minister’s lament that many Aboriginal people are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. It confuses me, however, to know that Aboriginal people, through their various organisations and land trusts, own over 50% of the land mass of the Territory. Here we have a group of people with this massive land holding, yet are at the lowest socioeconomic level. What has gone wrong? What has the land not delivered and why has the land not delivered? What processes have inhibited the development of this land from which Aboriginal landholders can benefit?
The Territory can be proud of the many services already delivered into its most remote parts. Where on earth would you find an aero-medical evacuation service into the most remote parts of the world, where there are nurses and health workers, where doctors fly in using state-of-the-art aircraft? I do not know of any.
The minister spoke about the increase in non-indigenous population in Aboriginal communities, reflecting on the demands and complexities of administration. I am certain that with time and further exposure, the minister will come to realise that such administration is essential if public monies are to be accounted for. It is unfortunate that in this environment of self-determination and political correctness, many courses now being delivered are not of a standard that delivers adequate skills.
I do not intend to go into the details, but will use the example of medical graduates in my former home of Malaysia. Indigenous students were given an easier pathway through medical school so that they could graduate following the same duration of training, never mind that the level of comprehension of these specialised skills was limited. However, when these medical practitioners went into the market, the populace, both indigenous and non-indigenous, stayed away in droves. They were not prepared to trust those doctors.
What I am saying is that we should not short change our indigenous students. They have come from far and wide to study, to gain skills which they wish to take back to help their communities. We must make sure that these skills are genuine skills with associated understanding of the whys and wherefores of the skills. It is important that their qualifications are of a level that are transferable. What does it mean when a person has a qualification that is only good for that particular community? Where does that person go with the qualification? What does it mean to the person when he or she attempts to relocate with that qualification and finds that it is not acceptable to another party? I am certain that where qualifications are genuine, these graduates would be able to handle the complexities of administration and bring about a wave of Aboriginalisation of jobs in remote communities.
The establishment of schools in remote communities and the advent of the Institute of Aboriginal Development in Alice Springs, Batchelor College, the Centre for Appropriate Technology and the Northern Territory University are precisely to deliver education to meet the needs of remote Territorians also. These were actively encouraged and fostered by the CLP government. There were hiccups on the way, I freely admit to it. Tell me which government has had no hiccups while in government? I am certain this Labor government will have just as many.
While the minister commenced his statement on Aboriginal Development, he soon turned to local government and, in fact, dwelled on this aspect for the bulk of the statement. The history of local government in the Territory is not long, especially community governments under the Local Government Act. At a time when it was thought to be the right thing to do, communities were encouraged to undertake local government responsibilities. Commonwealth funding was attracted through this measure so that services normally delivered to urban Territorians could be delivered to Aboriginal Territorians.
In all, we have 63 community governments. For reasons the minister touched upon, such as the difficulty to find good, ethical council clerks and other council officers, people sufficiently educated in the process of running a community in a lawful and meaningful manner, management of community councils became very problematic. The rationale of encouraging neighbouring community councils to amalgamate is sound. It brings about the ability to share resources and engage people with appropriate principles and skills. It brings about a hope that community governance will improve.
The minister then commented that there is considerable suspicion of local government in the communities. I suggest that, rather than being suspicious, people in communities are not fully aware of what community governments means and are therefore necessarily cautious about local government. Accordingly, they preferred to take their time about the matter. But that is not suspicion; it is caution, and cautious they should be as they take upon themselves a level of responsibility they never had before including the matter of accountability for public funds.
I find it curious that the minister said that the two largest land councils had abdicated the field of local government 15 years ago. I was under the impression that the land councils are there to manage land trusts on behalf of their Aboriginal constituents. Perhaps it was a Freudian slip that the land councils have been governing Aboriginal people in communities under the guise of land management.
Mr Bonson: You would not negotiate with them.
Dr LIM: One cannot but agree - and that interjection is very foolish, member for Millner.
One cannot but agree with the minister that many community councils are in difficulties and need external support from government agencies. The Office of Local Government was clearly aware of the difficulties and went about rationalising the number of community councils through the local government reform and development agenda. It was not an acknowledgment of failure, but another step in the delivery of good local government by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people.
I agree with the minister that there has been a significant lack of productive activity, but the minister failed to question why people with control of over 50% of the Territory have failed to make the country bear fruit for themselves. Perhaps the leadership of the land councils have to be brought to account to explain why, in all these years since 1976, they have failed Aboriginal people in the delivery of more than just a land bank.
Many communities have lamented the loss of skills which once kept a flourishing cottage industry. There were communities which had market gardens, tanneries, and ran herds of cattle. All these skills have been lost. The minister accused that local government had been politicised to improve the electoral fortunes of party politics. If that is the case, then the minister must be referring to his own Labor Party as it is the one that has politicised Aboriginal votes more than any other. The evidence in this Chamber, with the predominance of rural seats in the hands of the Labor Party, is evidence that the Labor Party has successfully politicised the bush, not the Country Liberal Party.
I accept that many communities have administrative responsibilities that may be burdensome and by far outweigh those of the Darwin City Council. Well, it may be in a relative sense, but clearly not in an absolute sense. It is a fact of life that community councils need to deal with issues such as the supply of water and sewerage, power, and even be involved in the supply of health care. That is precisely the reason for the reform and development agenda and the local government partnership agreements. We need to concentrate the skills that are required to run local government properly. We need to bring together government and local government processes. We all recognise that many community councils are short of resources, and that the removal of the reform and development agenda is not the way to resolve the shortfall.
What the minister implied is that he supports the dissolution of the reform and development agenda, and put in its place a bigger bureaucracy run by the land councils. He spoke about a federation of community councils. In the Central Australian context, already the Central Land Council has been undermining the reform and development agenda and offering in its place another body, aptly called CANCA, or the Combined Aboriginal Nations of Central Australia. This body will be administered by the Central Land Council, with participating community councils surrendering local administration responsibilities to the central body.
What are we creating here?
Dr Toyne: What?
Dr LIM: ‘What?’, says the member for Stuart. What are we creating here? Is this an attempt to replace the hated colonial yoke for another? Another that is run by the land council? The minister has to answer how he proposes to bring about this federation of community councils. Is this a back door way of bringing about a separate Aboriginal nation in this country?
Members interjecting.
Dr LIM: The minister belittles the Country Liberal Party’s attempt to amalgamate community councils and referred to ‘the single run on the board’. Well, I am proud of the amalgamation of the Tiwi Islands community councils and one resource centre. It took several years to bring about that change at the request of the local communities. It was through deliberate, yet gradual and inclusive consultations with the community that the amalgamation came about.
Yet the minister, in the same page of his statement, accuses that it was all too rushed. Either we rush and get more runs on the board, or we do it through a careful and gradual process, taking community desires into account. The minister wants to recast the reform and development agenda, and wants to emphasise needs-based rather than submission-based funding of services supplied to indigenous communities. When I read it, I thought: ‘This is a schizophrenic statement; I do not know what it means’. I ask the minister to clarify who would assess the needs, and how would the needs be then collated for submission for funding? One has to go with the other.
The minister listed the good things that have happened in the Territory. He mentioned IHANT and the coordinated care trials. These were proud initiatives that the Country Liberal government brought about to ensure equitable sharing of resources out bush. The IHANT program was held in high esteem throughout the country, and I commend the minister for securing more funding for these programs.
I remind the minister that it was through a Housing Ministerial Council, chaired by me in Alice Springs, which showcased what remote Aboriginal living is like: the good, the bad and the very bad. It provoked empathy amongst my peers and a subsequent distribution of funds to the Territory by the federal government. I do not have any major difficulties with the four initiatives that the minister proposes to bring about. IHANT has done a good job and I am sure will continue to do a good job. I look forward to the minister giving IHANT wide tolerance in its activities to bring about better housing in remote communities. The combination of Indigenous Knowledge Centres and training of front-line staff will help in the development of a skills base to better serve Territorians, indigenous and non-indigenous.
The minister’s speech also caused me to consider what the differences might be between the ministry for Community Development and the ministry of Community Services. Perhaps in his reply closing debate, the minister could elaborate on the differences between these two ministries.
Madam Speaker, I welcome the statement by the minister. It contains much that only a person such as he or Noel Pearson could have delivered. I remind the minister, and all those on the other side of the House, that there are people just as committed as they are to the improvement of the social, fiscal and economic fortunes of all Aboriginal people; and this side of the House feel likewise. The Country Liberal Party governments can stand proud and take credit in introducing many of the positive actions to improve the lives of many remote Territorians.
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the minister’s statement. It was a very powerful statement and long overdue in this House from a government. It was a real call to arms and he is quite right to describe the degree of crisis that has developed, particularly in our remote communities and with our indigenous people in general. This is the number one priority for the Martin government. If we do nothing else in the next four years - and I am sure we will do plenty else - if we did not do this properly; if we do not make some inroads on these issues that are embodied in this statement, anything else that we have done will not make us a success as a government.
It is a massive challenge. To turn this around, the minister quite rightly pointed out that there are attitudes in the indigenous community itself - which any of the bush members in this House are well aware of - which are self-destructive and counter-productive in terms of finding a way out of the present mess. While the government is announcing our acceptance of this challenge today, we have to have the partnership the minister spoke about with indigenous people if we are going to make some progress in turning this around. We are committing, as a team - every member of this government is united in taking this effort up. We will be all building it into our work, regardless of what particular role we play in the government. We are a team and we are committing to this as a team.
For indigenous people, there are some very difficult things that they will have to face, and the minister alluded to many of those. It is going to take much self-realisation, self-analysis of where you can do things differently because the continuation of the dependency that has developed over the 20 years I have been involved in remote communities and indigenous affairs is leading to only one result: that is a further deterioration in all the indicators that the minister built into his statement.
For public servants, there is a huge challenge there right through to every section of the government system. We have to look at new ways and novel ways of approaching the supply of services to the communities and to facilitating the economic development, particularly in our remote areas, that is so vital to any improvement in the current state of affairs.
Non-government organisations such as the land councils, such as the health services, also have to be looking along with us for novelty, for new approaches and more powerful approaches than have been used in the past. We cannot allow the status quo. The status quo is what got us into this situation in the first place. We have to find a new start, a new way of doing things; a new commitment of pushing forward with innovations rather than giving up the moment we strike difficulties. The private sector has to be fully involved in this. It is very important to note that at the Economic Development Summit, the major part of the communique dealt with the need for the full involvement of Aboriginal people and joint ventures with Aboriginal people if we are going to move the economy and our social situation forward.
We have great people out there in the communities; we have great people in our government agencies and there are great people working in the private sector and other non-government organisations. We have to be very careful not to be overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the reforms that we need to be addressing as a result of this statement. When you look back at the history of programs and developments addressing indigenous people, while the overriding weight of it has been downwards - and that has certainly been freely admitted in the minister’s statement - there has been deterioration. You see such small lights glowing through the gloom. Wherever you go around the Northern Territory, at any time, you will come across these things. You will find successful innovations that have been drawn directly out of the human spirit, whether it is the indigenous community members who have got together and formed something like a night patrol or a media association or some small enterprise development or some large enterprise development. Whether it is a non-indigenous person who has gone in there and for the good of the cause and out of their commitment to that community and to indigenous people there, and through their friendships with them, have put body and soul into dragging these things from nowhere and making them work, no matter what. They are there and they have always been there; they are there today and they are all points at which you can grow bigger and better things as we move in this direction.
They are all, however, vulnerable to the continuation of inappropriate arrangements for governance, case by case. The first thing that will erode the motivation of people in a community is the overall weight of the government system and other forces that come to bear on a community. Some communities are subject to the actions of anything up to 100 or more different organisations at the federal level, state/territory level and non-government organisations. There is a bewildering complexity to that. What eats away more energy than anything else is where the local community, with the initiatives it is trying to follow, has to constantly defend those priorities against the priorities that might come in through the organisations. Funding is great to get, but with funding comes all the strings to all the decisions that are being made elsewhere.
The minister was quite right to point out that we need to have new models for resource provision. We need to cash the whole thing up so that the full resource base can be provided to local governance entities of one sort or another and formed up around the priorities and style that that local community wants to follow, obviously with accountability arrangements in place to protect the integrity of the funding organisation. Equally, in joint partnerships with the private sector, there needs to be very strong understanding and agreement about the way things are going to proceed.
You cannot afford, in a single locality, following a local agenda, to be trying to juggle 100 or so disparate and conflicting pressures on what can and cannot be done there. I very much welcome the idea of the development and support of these local arrangements for the pursuit of these programs and developments.
I do not take the member for Greatorex’s point at all. No one here is talking about a black nation. What we are talking about is more effective ways of applying resources to programs and to the ambitions of people. He would be really battling to find any sizeable number of indigenous people in the Northern Territory who do not want to be belong to the Northern Territory. What we are dealing with here is more the practicalities of how to make programs work; the absolute need to reassure indigenous people and non-indigenous people working in our remote communities and in our urban centres that they have some power to control their destiny; that they have some certainty that the government will be there to support them when they take up an ambition; and that they are going to have the respect of the style in which they want to work.
That is all we are saying, and we are saying that that is nothing peculiar to this situation. People all over the world live and, in some cases, die for those rights - the right to choose their culture, to choose their own destinies - and I do not see why it is such a major ideological problem here for some members opposite.
The initiatives in this statement also have very strong synergies to other matters that have been dealt with during these sittings. The Desert Knowledge program, which has been touched on several times in the last couple of weeks, is going to have a very strong relationship to these Indigenous Learning Centres that the minister is establishing. The Desert Knowledge program is not a piece of land in Alice Springs. The Desert Knowledge Project is a network of related activities throughout arid areas of Australia. We want networks to work through, whether that network is a virtual connection to a remote community to allow the joint pursuit of, say, of a CD-ROM development, or of a video project, or a higher education arrangement, or whether it is the ability for people in different locations to combine on a concerted piece of research or development. All of those things are inherent in the Desert Knowledge program. These are inherent also in the Indigenous Learning Centres that were announced today.
We will be talking about the remote digital network. That is the technology that we need to take up a lot of those working relationships. We want to do two things that might seem contradictory at first blush but actually do complement each other: one is to strengthen local autonomy, the sense of destiny and of being, that each grouping of people in our Northern Territory want to preserve; the other is to increase the interaction and the ability to work together. To work together you have to know who you are yourself so there is no conflict between greater autonomy and greater networking and joint venturing.
The third theme that relates very much to this statement is the implementation of the Collins report which deals with the absolute critical need to renovate our outcomes and our approaches to both education and health. You put them all together, economic development, we have all the ingredients that would be needed to turn this situation around provided it is all couched within the right provisions for governance.
We have to do all of them. Everyone in this House has a role in promoting this huge effort that is going to be needed. We are not talking about throwing money at things; we are talking about throwing respect and support at things. Money can be productive or it can be counter-productive. It depends entirely on whether the means to which it is being applied are true expressions of what people are really wanting to do to promote their own well being.
Madam Speaker, there are responsibilities here for the indigenous people, as has been pointed out on several occasions, and we will have to see that every one of those ingredients is brought to bear on this. I commit to it. This government commits to it. I congratulate the minister on bringing the statement forward. Its time has come, and the time has come for a huge effort. Let’s join together and do it.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I would like to say at the outset something I have said several times in this House and that is the new government of the Northern Territory now has the ball in their court, and they have their chance to prove themselves in an effort to bring around some change in some fairly important areas. As I have also stated in the House, I hope that they achieve it, and the reason that I hope that they achieve it is because whatever happens inside this building here, whether we come or we go, the effect that I am worried about is the effect that I see in Kintore, Yuendumu, Docker River, and all of those other places.
At the end of the day, even if I lost my job in here, I would not starve to death. I am sure that I would be able to go and get a job somewhere else. I am not suggesting that people in these communities are starving to death, but if I look at the standard of life that I enjoy compared with the standard of life of many people who live in remote communities, then I think that everybody in this Chamber would agree that there are issues of basic standards where I enjoy a much higher standard of living - health, education and those kinds of things.
I will start with a few comments. Having looked at the minister’s speech and listened carefully to it today, it strikes me as being vaguely schizophrenic, and that is not an attack on the minister. The reason I say that is because it is not consistent in its approach. I will give members an example. The minister, in a very noble fashion – statesmanlike, I believe the member for Greatorex referred to it as - said that this was beyond government. This was an issue that was beyond government; it was beyond blaming any particular government, blaming any particular person, institution; it is about time that the responsibility fell on the shoulders of the people who needed to take that responsibility. Yet a little bit further on in the speech, there is the usual finger pointing.
I take the minister’s point from the early part of his speech, and I agree: governments are not going to solve the problems that we see out in the bush. But the Labor government is going to struggle with this in the same way that the former CLP government struggled with it endlessly. I would like to be wrong on that issue, but I find very little that is happening out in the remote parts of the Northern Territory that convince me otherwise.
I will pick up on a point that the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General made where he made some global observations about what is happening around the world. Indeed, I agree with the minister that land rights, as we do it here in the Northern Territory and Australia, is done in a very, very civilised fashion. If you look closely at the politics, emotions, thoughts, beliefs behind the battles which are currently being fought in Israel, it is a land rights issue. If you look closely at the politics and beliefs of what is happening currently in Zimbabwe, it is a land rights issue.
These sorts of issues have been fought in all corners of the world in different fashions - in Canada, the United States, South America, New Zealand and here in Australia. One of the joys of how we do it in Australia is that we do it a civilised fashion and the rule of law applies. I am forever grateful that that situation exists because whilst the rule of law continues to operate, then people can sleep safe in their beds at night. Land rights issues are very, very passionate issues indeed. I would be very surprised if any member in this Chamber was prepared to contradict me on that.
However, having gone through the land rights process here in the Northern Territory, the sunset clause has come and gone, I believe that nearly all of the outstanding matters have been dealt with. The boundaries of the land rights affected areas are now settled. The great land rights battle of the past is over in terms of the operation of the Land Rights Act. What belongs to certain individuals is now clearly delineated and there is only a bit of mopping up to do.
That brings me to my next point, and for that I turn to this volume here, and I would like to read a quote and I start:
The second lesson is that successes can be mutually beneficial and profitable between such companies and Aboriginal joint venturers. While it is the strong desire of Aboriginal people to wholly manage commercial enterprises, we simply do not yet have the capital base, collective skills and knowledge to be able to do so on any scale in the immediate future. We can, however, enter agreements where we can utilise the skills of others, as well as reaping mutual benefits from mutual desires to achieve commercial success. From Injinoo to the Tiwi Islands, from Nitmuluk to Ti Tree, joint ventures are playing an increasingly significant role in Aboriginal engagements with capitalism.
I am sure that the minister would recognise these words because indeed these are the minister’s words from his offering on page 58 of Our Land is Our Life, a book put out by the Central and Northern Land Councils some two or three years ago. I wholeheartedly agree with the minister in relation to this. The movement forward with Aboriginal capitalism is indeed the solution to sorting out or providing for the people who own this land.
The question I raise here is that with this speech, which is divided up into its various sections - the minister’s personal history, the almost Pearsean comments in relation to Aboriginal problems that exist in Australia today, he then whittles down very quickly to local government failures. Indeed, this is the area where the minister has the greatest amount of influence. With his portfolio area he is able to bring about very, very direct results in terms of spending and how that spending occurs throughout the Northern Territory with the money allocated to him through the Northern Territory budget to run local government. To that end, he has introduced a four point plan after outlining his statements of beliefs, specifically: the equity; the access to information; the equality of rights; and the essential services part of his speech. To that end, I think the four point plan that he has is going to struggle, and the reason I say that is not because I think it is a bad idea, but it is not casting a wide enough net.
I hope the minister is considering working closely with the federal government on this issue as well as non-government organisations, as well as the private sector. One of the comments I made recently in this House is that I am often concerned that policy delivery is mutually exclusive across the board. I wonder how the minister is going to be able to deal with the indirect effects of welfare which he refers in his speech when it comes to spending the Northern Territory money set aside for local government. The fact of the matter is that unless the government opposite is in direct contact with the federal government as to how they can control the wayward effects of welfare and how it operates in those communities, specifically the drug problems that we hear about - ganja or cannabis is now starting to rear its ugly head in a major way along with the traditional problems of kava and liquor - how is the minister’s spending in these areas going to flow through to a direct effect in those areas?
The minister, I hope, is going to cast a much wider net. I looked through the minister’s statement with great care hoping to find some model, some technique that he hopes to apply so that these issues are going to be addressed by the spending that he intends to engage in.
He talks of a federalism, or a federal approach, to the funding of community government councils. What I am worried about is the lack of detail which he has gone into. This approach, which I am not necessarily against because I cannot tell because of the lack of detail, raises more questions than it answers. Who is going to be administering these funds? Is it going to be the Department of Local Government? Is it going to be a federation of local government communities? Is it going to be done in consultation with individual people in communities? Is it going to be done just through council clerks? How are the funds going to be administered with input from the councils? How large are these federations going to be? Are we talking about federations which are half the size of the Northern Territory?
This is a very important question because you run into the cultural boundaries that exist in traditional shapes and forms in the Northern Territory. I will digress just for a moment to share with members a little experience I had about two years ago which switched on a light in my head in terms of how many traditional people see themselves. The experience on that occasion, and the only occasion I might add, was where I was asked a question by a person in Hermannsberg. The question he asked me was: ‘Explain it to me’. So, in the best terms that I could, I explained the reconciliation process and the emotional structures behind it as well as the legal structures. It took me some half an hour to go through the process and I tried to explain it as clearly and as unbiased as I possibly could. The gentleman sat down and listened to me very carefully, obviously paying very close heed to what I said, and at the end of it he said something that totally caught me off guard. His response was, ‘Well, I don’t have any problem with white fellas; it’s those Warlpiri so and so’s I don’t like’.
That is an extraordinary thing, because it taught me one thing about my own prejudices and that is from my perspective, of course, I see terms in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, that is the way that I have learnt to understand those terms. But if I was to ask a Frenchman what he was, he would not say he was a white man; he would say he is French. A German would be in the same boat. These people who live in my electorate have a diverse range of languages and a diverse range of cultures. They are different people in the same way that Germans are different from Frenchmen, and that is in my electorate alone. I shudder to think what the effect would be if I talked to somebody in Perth and somebody in Far North Queensland, how different those cultures would be. So fundamentally different.
This was something that I was very mindful of when the former Minister for Local Government was saying we need to amalgamate councils. Now, there are good economic reasons for doing so, but what concerned me was that if you tried to push the wrong groups of people together, it could lead to some very serious problems. That is the advice and counsel that I gave the former Minister for Local Government and I know that he took heed of that advice. I am just curious to find out that through the federating process which the current minister proposes whether or not he is taking this particular issue into consideration. What is of grave concern to me is that the differences between the various cultures which occur throughout the Northern Territory, if you cast too wide a net, you will be causing great upheaval and great distress to many people out there. I am certain the minister is no stranger to these issues. However, I seek some reassurance for people who live in my electorate, as well as the rest of the people in the Northern Territory, that he has considered these issues. So the breadth of the net that he proposes to throw across the Northern Territory needs to be tempered with an understanding of what he is setting out to achieve.
He also spoke of dysfunctional communities. I often spend time wondering what is actually the measure of a dysfunctional community. I see history in largely economic terms and for me the dysfunctional community is often a community which is not able to make its own way. To that end, I very much agree with the minister’s observations that many of these communities are still very dependent on economic sources outside their own grasp. That saddens me because I prefer to see people live in communities which are essentially economically independent and do not have to rely on outside sources of income. Aboriginal land in the traditional sense has always provided for the people who own that land, and I do not think it is a great leap of philosophy, certainly a leap in technique, but it is not a great leap in philosophy to suggest that that land can continue to provide for the people who own that land. Indeed, if we look at the battles we see around the world, part of the desire for ownership of land, amongst the spiritual issues, but a very important part of that desire is the ability to have economic self control.
I strongly urge, and I know that the minister agrees with me on this issue because he has written it in this book, Our Land is Our Life, and he talks about the Aboriginal engagements with capitalism. So, indeed, his mind is turned to this issue, and I am glad to see that it is so because I would ultimately like to live in a Northern Territory where everybody makes their own crust and they do not need a local government authority, or a Territory government authority, or a federal government authority to underpin them. I would like to live in a Northern Territory where, if a person who lived in Hermannsberg wanted to buy their own home in Hermannsberg, they could do so, freely and through open trade with the owners of the land. The people who own the land at the moment in Hermannsberg cannot even sell it to the people who want to buy the land who live in Hermannsberg at the moment. I enjoy the right to trade freely in land. I have done so - with the assistance of a couple of banks, I might add - but I have done so in the past in the Northern Territory, and I want to see a situation arise or develop where this dictation as to what you should do with property you own should be lifted off the shoulders of all people who have those dictates impressed upon them.
This is not some sort of resentment of seeing that Aboriginal people own land; I have no problem with what colour a person is who owns the land – does not bother me in the least. What does concern me is that, if the land is bound down by a legal structure in such a way that it cannot provide for the people who live there, then it concerns me that we will continue to try to pour money into these problems through government departments like local government, without actually freeing up the people into a position where they can help themselves.
Now, if what the minister is suggesting here takes all of those issues into account, then I would be well comforted and I would applaud and support him. I hope to see a day where these sorts of policies will be totally unnecessary by virtue of the fact that self-governance is occurring at an individual level, without any reference to a person’s race, by virtue of the fact that they are making their own money from their own land. That is the ultimate goal that I see: where they can treat, where they can develop, where people who own land can enjoy all of the products that that land has to offer.
I know that we are not there yet. I understand the reasons why some of the bars that are in the way are there, but I would like to hear a lot more detail from the minister, rather than the simple two pages that are in his ministerial statement with actual programs, detailed submissions as to how the money is going to be disbursed, who is going to manage the money, who is going to guide these projects, who is going to have input into these projects, and how large the areas under question are. If the minister can provide all of these details, and I would be comforted if he could, then I look forward to the day where he continues on and I can support him in his endeavours.
However, this statement, although noble, is not detailed; it does not give us the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of what the minister is planning to do. I am not bagging the statement on the grounds that it does not contain enough information, and therefore it is impossible for me to be critical or otherwise. So I look forward to the minister’s reply in debate, and I hope that he can set my mind at ease and the minds of those people who live in my electorate, and throughout the rest of the Northern Territory, at ease.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement. The Labor government should be proud of the leadership that they have shown to tackle the issues outlined in the statement. Unlike the member for Greatorex’s response to the statement, which was just regurgitated, old CLP rhetoric from a bygone era, I am going to be talking in a more positive sense about the statement and what I believe indigenous Australians and Territorians can be looking forward to.
Last year, I attended an indigenous youth summit held in Tennant Creek organised by the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance in the Northern Territory. It was attended by a large number of Aboriginal kids from across the Territory, from urban Alice Springs to school kids from bush communities and Utopia. What struck me strongly was that many indigenous kids live in a vacuum; they lack direction, many of them lack hope. It is a well-recognised saying: ‘Where there is hope, there is life.’ This is more than the problems faced by youth in mainstream Australia of boredom, unemployment, depression, substance abuse, and even suicide, although all of these are endemic amongst Aboriginal kids in the Territory
It is also a struggle for youth today to put a value on their cultural beliefs when they drift towards the hip-hop and R and B culture trends that seem to have gained notoriety within the mainstream culture. I believe this is about a lack of leadership from so many Aboriginal adults in so many of our communities, both in town and in the bush. In this, I am not talking about the many Aboriginal people who work tirelessly for their people. That group of Aboriginal Australians deserve all the respect, and more, that they have gained during their life-times. I am talking about those adults who have lost their way and abandoned their responsibilities to their people and, most importantly, to themselves. It is these Aboriginal adults who have sat on the side while their families and communities have collapsed around them. They are the people who, through their inaction, have watched as violence and sexual assault, never condoned under traditional law or any recognised human standards, has ruined the lives of so many of their countrymen and women. It is they who have turned away when people have committed suicide.
There is a very strong ideal in Aboriginal society, and that is the concept of shame, and it is shame that should be felt by so many Aboriginal Australians who have failed their people and themselves. And it is shame that they should have imposed on them by many Aboriginal people, especially the women, who are working so hard to improve the lives of their people. Shame should also be experienced by some of the members opposite, who, over the last 27 years, have presided over what I can best describe as a policy of contempt and neglect - contempt for human rights of indigenous Territorians and neglect of their welfare, health and education.
I do not say that lightly, but I put it to the House that this historic legacy of contempt and neglect has a direct relationship with a feeling of a lack of direction and lack of hope and lack of pride that is felt by many indigenous youth these days. This lack of pride can only be overcome by indigenous youth themselves. All of us must move away from the years of divisiveness fostered in the past. Now is the time for indigenous people of the Northern Territory to take the future into their own hands. It means seeing one’s self as indigenous as being a positive, and as a bonus to the makeup of the Northern Territory. It means whether you come from the bush or town, whether you are active in ceremony or not, whether you are well educated or not, now is the time to shake off the past and move towards rebuilding indigenous communities with pride and strength. It means getting on with the job for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
The feeling of despair amongst our indigenous youth that I have previously described is something that diminishes all of us as citizens of the Northern Territory. It is something that we as members of parliament must work to overcome in partnership with indigenous people, communities and organisations. I believe it is a duty of every Territorian to ensure that indigenous Territorians start at the same starting line. My mother often states that every person should be given the same opportunities; that means the opportunity to start the race of life at the same or similar starting point as every Australian. At present, Aboriginal Australians are starting a 100 metre race 30 metres behind other Australians. I believe that two things will help indigenous Territorians. The first is positive government policy that provides for equal and fair opportunities while recognising their disadvantage. Secondly, personal pride, determination and courage, and endeavour. It is often said, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’
A member interjecting.
Mr BONSON: Indigenous people - and youth in particular - must recognise and embrace their real worth to the wider community. If we, as Territorians, are able to improve the economic and social well being of 28% of our population, then our economy and our society will only benefit.
Last week, we heard the Deputy Chief Minister and minister for Education and Employment outline the importance of education for indigenous Territorians and the commitment we in the Martin Labor government have to improve educational outcomes of our brother and sister Territorians in the bush.
The minister assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs has today complemented that statement in his overview of the crisis facing our people on communities. Quite rightly, he is not just talking about bush communities; he is also referring to Aboriginal communities within urban areas. They, too, have suffered the total contempt and neglect of the previous government. Many of them, too, are largely dysfunctional.
Today’s ministerial statement spoke of the need to tell the truth about what is happening in indigenous affairs. The truth is always a hard beast to tame. Selective use of the truth can be used in a manipulative way to condemn people who are so often the victims. Properly used, as the Bible tells us, the truth can set us free. In years to come, I hope this day will be seen as the beginning of a truth-telling in this Assembly about indigenous affairs. I commend the minister’s statement to the House.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, I congratulate the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs for his statement.
There is a crisis facing most remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. I am not talking about an immediate and obvious crisis like a flood or an epidemic but, rather, a gradually developing crisis reflected in poor health indicators, deteriorating educational outcomes, minimal real economic activity and associated employment, and a decline in respect for traditional values and authority systems.
It would not come as any surprise to any other members of this Assembly that this issue, which has been highlighted in the statement delivered by the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs, has been the subject of concerned discussions amongst Aboriginal people for a very long time. In these discussions, we have appreciated comments from others if it is sincere, constructive and well informed. One view was to the effect that our remote communities needed comprehensive assistance program in the nature of a mini-Marshall Plan. I am by no means an authority on European history, but I understand that the Marshall Plan was an aid initiative on a massive scale conceived by the United States at the end of World War II. Its purpose was to kick-start the reconstruction of the scattered societies and economies of Europe. The Marshall Plan was a resounding success, but it is perhaps not the best historical example to use when looking for a strategy model to apply to Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The idea behind the Marshall Plan was that injections of money, resources, and targeted expertise would enable Europeans to re-establish modern economies which would reintegrate with the world economy. Damaged but, in many cases, still semi-functional pre-war factories, plants and transport systems were the starting point which enabled the reconstruction program to proceed.
By contrast with the European experience, Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory do not have a memory to recapture of having once built up and controlled their own industrialised, economic infrastructure. Instead, their experience has been either pastoral invasion or benign neglect of welfare settlements - sometimes a mixture of both. While Aboriginal culture and law has survived, sometimes in the face of what must have appeared impossible odds along with much of the core knowledge that enabled some maintenance of a traditional subsistence economy, Aboriginal people do not have a starting point to refer back to when it comes to establishing modern, local economies that could mesh and integrate with the mainstream economy.
So, when it comes to looking for an historical example to inspire us in tackling the task of building a future beyond welfare and beyond subsistence - a future that can bring our remote communities into the modern Australian economy as independent players on their own terms - I think we need to look further east than Europe. I have only travelled overseas once; it was in the early 1990s. The place where I spent most of the time was in Japan. I learnt that until the American gun boats opened up Japan to international trade in the 1800s, Japan had been a subsistence agricultural-based society governed in accordance with ancient traditional and spiritual beliefs and practices. During the Meiji period, Japan underwent an astonishingly rapid and comprehensive process of industrialisation which laid the foundation for what is still, despite the stagnation and loss of momentum of the last decade, one of the largest and most important economies in the world.
The point about how Japan successfully negotiated the change from an agricultural-based society to an industrial society in such a short space of time that makes its experience relevant to indigenous populations in the Northern Territory, is that while embracing modern technology and principles of economic organisation, the Japanese maintained their own traditional cultural and spiritual values. They recognised that modernisation and the technological tools and practices that accompany it is not the prerogative of any particular race or culture but is, rather, a racially and culturally neutral mechanism available to any society. The Japanese rejected European religion and culture but embraced the scientific, engineering, and commercial knowledge that would enable them to preserve and strengthen their own way of life into the 20th century.
Aboriginal people in my electorate, and throughout the Territory, also wish to preserve their culture and their traditional way of life. The leaders and thinkers amongst them want to improve their standard of living in terms of health, education and real jobs. It is only the narrow-minded and ill-informed who equate Aboriginal traditional culture and value with what they consider to be a rudimentary, nomadic, subsistence economy. Yes, our skills in terms of fishing, hunting and gathering have throughout our history been part and parcel of our lifestyle, and our pride in those skills will remain. But our pride in that regard, and our continued adherence to the beliefs and obligations associated with our dreaming and ceremonies, does not mean that Aboriginal communities cannot develop modern skills - including skills involving the use of state-of-the-art machinery and computer software. These are the types of skills that will be needed to enable Aboriginal enterprises to compete in the mainstream economy.
The main precondition for success in pursuing such modernisation is control. In the real sense of self-governance at the local and regional level, the Japanese would never have been able to achieve their industrialisation miracle if they had regulatory structures imposed on them and true decision-making authority withheld from them. Aboriginal communities and regional populations need to be in a position to take responsibility not just for tasks and functions that are, as a matter of course, allocated to local government bodies, but also for self-governance at a higher level, in particular where health and education and the regulated exploitation of economic opportunities are concerned.
The creation of amalgamated entities which are, in truth, merely glorified community government councils under Part 5 of the Local Government Act, is definitely not the answer to our problems. The forms and structures of governance that need to be established to enable Aboriginal communities and regional populations residing on their traditional country to take back control over their lives should be considered and developed methodically but steadily. We must always bear in mind that forms and structures will not work if they are regarded as having been imposed by outsiders. The economic outlook for most of our Aboriginal communities and regional populations is bleak. The reason for this is not just because of the social dysfunction, substance abuse and welfare dependency. We must also acknowledge the cold, hard fact that because of the geographical locations and circumstances of most - although not all - remote Aboriginal communities, real opportunities for large scale, meaningful employment will be few and far between, if they arise at all.
It is for this reason that we must look at the problem from regional perspectives, in which regional assets and locational advantages can be utilised. This applies to both economic and service delivery. It is in this context the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs cited service delivery models such as the coordinated health care trials. The work of the Katherine West Health Board, which I am most familiar with, has demonstrated how Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory, when in control of health delivery, can achieve much in a very short time. Katherine West has improved the delivery of health services to Aboriginal people of the region. It has also achieved much better health services to non-indigenous people of the Victoria River region, as well as providing, for the first time, the presence of doctors in a region that is increasingly important to our tourist industry. It has been a win-win for all residents of the region as well as the economy.
Aboriginal people are trying to struggle out of a position of disadvantage. It is precisely for that reason that when economic development opportunities do exist that relate to the use of their traditional land or adjacent waters, the government of this Territory needs to do everything in its power to try to ensure that Aboriginal people and enterprises are given priority in the utilisation of such opportunities.
The unashamed and deliberate prioritisation of remote Aboriginal communities and regional populations when it comes to economic self-help is the only way that we as a government can meaningfully strive towards the goal of replacing welfare dependency with self sufficiency and engagement in the mainstream economy. The achievement of that goal would benefit all Territorians. It would benefit us not just financially, but perhaps just as importantly in terms of our pride in ourselves as a population within the Australian federation ready for and entitled to the responsibilities of full statehood.
Madam Speaker, the measures proposed by the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs are vital first steps along the path towards the goal of creating economic equity for our Aboriginal population.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, first I would also like to congratulate the minister for his ministerial statement. It is a very good statement. Many of the points that he raises are valid and that does not mean that I necessarily agree with them all, but I think it is a very good starting point. It has so many issues in it, it is a pity that I have such a short time to respond because I think you could probably sit down with this document for a week or so before you replied to it fully. Just an example of that was the excellent response from the member for Arafura who gave us plenty of food for thought. That was just one side of this debate. There are plenty of other issues involved in this statement.
This paper covers issues with most of them interrelated in some way: health, housing, education, local government, autonomy, social issues, etcetera. Any relatively short comment I may give in parliament would not be able to cover anywhere near adequately the complexities of the issues involved. One of the difficulties involved in speaking on these matters is that you can sometimes upset people. You can maybe even be called a racist. You can be told it is none of your business. And sometimes, just as politics can get in the road of debate in this Chamber, Aboriginal politics can do the same.
I agree with the minister, and I think that he was hinting at the same matter, when he said: ‘We will tell it like it is; openly and frankly to both indigenous and non-indigenous citizens from the city to the bush’, and I think that is what it should be like.
There is a notion that Aboriginal people are some homogenous group who have the same ideas, cultural background, religion, political thought, lifestyle, etcetera. This is not the case. Although the definition of an Aborigine is very broad, the people who recognise themselves under that definition can be different as chalk and cheese. That is a problem when sometimes urban Aboriginal people speak for traditional or community-based Aboriginal people. It reminds me of the city-country divide that is often spoken about. The reason I draw this to people’s attention today is that there is a tendency to say: ‘Well, we are Aboriginal and therefore that gives us the right to speak as if we are the spokesmen for our people’. I think, once again, the minister was referring to that in his very last statement. He said: ‘In this way, each of us will no longer talk about “them” or “the other”. Instead, we will use the phrase “us mob” and that will include all of us,’ and I welcome that statement.
What we need in this debate is to put more emphasis on the rights of people as human beings, not put them in the same bucket or just say ‘Aboriginal’. We need to look at this issue, although it is primarily an indigenous issue, as one of basic human rights; of intrinsic responsibilities that go with those rights; of a belief that this is not an issue of colour and therefore can only be spoken about by people of that colour; of trying to address issues which centre around small, isolated communities where the chances for long term, sustainable, meaningful employment for a large number of young people especially is extremely difficult. This is a huge challenge, and I use the word ‘challenge’ deliberately because the minister for Education was talking about what we normally refer to as ‘problems’, and he said we should not refer to them as problems. He said we keep trying to overcome those problems; they are therefore a challenge.
So this is a huge challenge for everyone, for the Territory and for the nation, but it is a bigger challenge for Aboriginal people because all the actions and ideas in the world will not make one iota of difference if Aboriginal people are not a real part of that process, and that there is real determination by those people that in the end responsibility for any long term changes will be theirs. We have to support them where we can but the bottom line is theirs. The problems faced are enormous. Naturally, some of these can be traced back to when Europeans first came to this land, some to the welfare system, to western technology, to cultural misunderstandings or just plain ignorance, to alcohol, to a materialistic society, and the list could go on.
I can remember when electricity and running water and sewerage was installed at Nguiu on Bathurst Island. People started to receive new housing, the houses had electric stoves and electric hot water systems - very culturally appropriate. Most of all, these changes were free except for perhaps a small rent. Were the people asked? No. I am not saying they did not like the idea of running water and electricity, but did anyone tell them that the provision of these services costs money? It was not until many years later that the government introduced a payment scheme for water and electricity. Can you blame people for complaining about paying when it had all been introduced without any consultation and then given out free? We were more worried about what the world thought about Aboriginal people or how they were being treated than worrying about how they thought they should be treated.
Maybe this is what happened with local government. Again, when I started work at Nguiu in 1973, just before the cyclone, there were three non-Tiwis on the staff: the town clerk, the mechanic and myself as works supervisor. Everyone else was Tiwi. There were over 100 Tiwis working for the council and the functions of the council were straightforward: maintaining the roads, picking up rubbish, collection of firewood, maintenance of parks, ovals and the cemetery, we had a nursery, assist with the unloading of the barge, and airstrip maintenance. For a short period we also maintained the power house while it was still in the main street. We kept the bores going and, believe it or not, we had control over town planning. Core local government responsibilities, but what do we have today? Councils have been asked to take on housing, Commonwealth agencies, health and numerous other matters. Why? Is it a case of both the NT government and Commonwealth government abrogating their responsibilities by attaching responsibilities which should not have really been local government? You have to ask: how many other local governments in Australia take on those responsibilities? Some do, but in the Territory the municipalities do not.
Local government has become a large, bureaucratic body trying to cover matters which should not have been their responsibility, and by creating a bigger bureaucracy with more complicated reporting and accounting procedures, the chances of Aboriginal people running their own affairs becomes more remote. The skills required for these councils - and I have mentioned before one of the problems with the amalgamation of the Tiwi Council - is not matched by the skills of the Aboriginal people. I believe that the whole issue of Aboriginal local government needs to be reassessed. I could not put it more strongly that LGANT still should be a key factor. The Local Government Association has nearly every Aboriginal local government within it. It has a lot of experience and I think it is very sympathetic to Aboriginal community development. It is not a government body, and that is a good reason for talking to it.
I have said before that if we are to introduce a reform agenda for local government, then there needs to be a definition of what is local government. I wrote a letter to most members of parliament earlier this year. I would like to once again give a definition of what I think local government should be: ‘Local government is a body which receives funding to supply essential services to members of a community, regardless of their position, race, religion, etcetera. It allows anyone in that community to be elected as a member of that council. It allows any person in that community to vote in a democratic election directly for the members of that council and supplies the essential services for which it is funded to those people who directly elected that council’.
I believe that definition, or a definition, needs to be put forward first; so before we go saying: ‘This is local government’, we have to define what it is. Otherwise, what are we talking about? One of the major differences or difficulties is that local government throughout Australia encompasses private and public land with the public land generally being owned by the council, for example roads, drains, tips, parks and cemeteries. On Aboriginal land, that so called public land that would normally be owned by the local council is owned not by the council, but by the traditional owners or the owners of the land, so the council cannot operate on this land without approval of the owners.
If we are looking at reform to the act, then a clear set of guidelines must be established for local government before it can operate, and it must be clear that local government must operate under the guidelines as stated before. In other words, it needs approval from the traditional owners before it can operate. If that does not happen, then it is not local government. There needs to be a clear distinction between the roles of the traditional government, that is maintained by traditional owners of the land, and the role of local government. Both parties need to clearly understand their roles.
Local government is not about traditional matters. After all, the collection of rubbish, the filling of pot holes, the mowing of the grass and keeping the town tidy are core functions of a council, not necessarily a traditional right, but more a human right. All the time we must keep in our mind that for local government to function in a community, it first has to obtain approval from traditional land owners. But after approval it should not be a function of the traditional owners to interfere in the decision making process of the council unless they are elected to that council. The filling of a pot hole should not be based on a hierarchy or authority, but based on the fact that the hole needs filling.
In summary, I believe that the definition of local government must be developed as part of the whole-of-government approach. I would be concerned if we started to look at regional councils or even involving a land council.
Much as I agree that we should have some rationalisation of councils, there is one important thing about having these small groups is that it does empower people to take control of their own affairs. If it gets too big, that empowerment will be lost and people will feel less and less able to make decisions about their own area. We have to balance carefully these rights against traditional matters and that is not always easy.
Another matter you raised, Minister, was the many problems that exist in these communities: health, housing, education and employment. What a huge challenge. I know it is often said that with land rights, many things would change. But have they? Is land the elixir? It is naturally important, but since land rights were established, has Aboriginal peoples’ living improved? They are more than ever dependent on social security. For me, one of the great quandaries is: has the disposition of land created the wealth of problems in Aboriginal society? Now, I am not arguing against Aboriginal land rights, but I find it ironic that at a place where I used to work, and I mentioned before Bathurst Island, the land was never lost nor occupied. It was and still is owned by the Tiwis. There was influence from the Catholic Church, but I always felt that the Tiwi were and still are, very strong culturally. Yet with all this land, with the strong culture, with its beautiful beaches, estuaries, springs, bush, animals, wallabies, carpet snakes, bandicoots, lizards and all the bush tucker, mobs of fish, with a club, sport, two schools, women’s centre, council, housing, Bima Wear, Tiwi Designs, tourism, museum, good airstrip and many other things, we have one of the highest suicide rates among young males in Australia. I ask why? I can only guess. Perhaps it is the alcohol and the ganja that has done it. Maybe. Alcohol is one of the prime reasons why many programs are doomed to failure. It destroys communities.
But perhaps - and this is not confined to indigenous people, because we know suicide is a big issue elsewhere in Australia - just perhaps we have a society whose great emphasis on material goods, on pleasure and on money whether its cars, gambling, sex, drugs, is that the problem? Do we have a society which does not at least question why we are here? Do people have no goals in life? Have no belief in anything anymore? Is it because we have a godless society? Has Aboriginal spirituality been replaced with materialism? I say all that not because I want to brow beat people with my particular religious point of view, but I just feel that we keep looking for answers which government can provide, and maybe there is something else in this complicated equation that is just as important in overcoming some of the challenges we are facing. I wonder.
I would just like to comment on another issue, and I will just put this up as food for thought, and that is about royalties and housing. Most Aboriginal housing is public housing. The government funds these houses. In urban centres, people buy their own houses or go on a waiting list for public housing. Isn’t it time perhaps that Aboriginal people were able to actually own their own home, not rent it? Wouldn’t this enable people to have a little bit more pride in something they own? How could they finance it? Well, maybe - and it would not be that popular with some - perhaps all the royalties go into a central or community bank where cheap housing loans can be available to Aboriginal people so they can possibly buy a home. That way more people may be able to have a share in the wealth of the Territory and people may own a house quicker than waiting for a government-funded house.
Finally, once again I thank the minister for his statement. I wish he had perhaps given us about a month to go through it because it is really full of very thought provoking ideas. As I said, perhaps I do not always agree with them all, but I must admit when he started talking about sitting round the fire light, and obviously I am not Aboriginal, but I have very strong memories of my early days at Daly River sitting round a corroboree, which is a word you don’t hear much these days, and being told what the story was and laughing my head off because I realised after a while a lot of the stories Aboriginal people told were not only keeping up their traditions, but they were entertainment. We had some really good nights, and similar times at Bathurst Island as well.
I thank the minister for his discussion paper. This issue will not go away. I agree with the minister that this is going to be a long, slow process. Sometimes we have call a spade a spade and even though we might not agree with the member for Greatorex, he is entitled to a point of view. That is worthwhile in this particular matter because it is a matter that concerns us all. I am happy because at least I know my children have been lucky enough to get a good education, they have good jobs and the same with my wife. She came from a background; perhaps things fell the right way for her, but when I see people in places like Daly River still who were there when I was there and they have become, I suppose, captive to the problems of alcohol and gambling, it is a sad situation. I look forward to the next few years and let’s see if there will be any changes.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for raising, for the first time in this House, an analysis of the state of indigenous communities in the Northern Territory that tells it like it is. The minister has posed two major challenges that face the Northern Territory. The first is for indigenous communities and their representative organisations to come forward with concrete proposals to achieve the kinds of social and economic development that will be crucial to these communities’ sustainability. The second challenge is for government to listen to these ideas and respond in a whole-of-government fashion to the crisis that the minister quite rightly points to.
Much has been made over the years of the costs of social and public disorder in the Northern Territory. Unfortunately, the responses to the problems have generated a lot of heat, but very little light. There has been much name calling and abuse, often on racial grounds, but not much in the way of sensible debate. Much of the debate has been carried out in the media through the letters column or sensationalist headlines. Social and public disorder, it is said, poses major threats to the image of our cities and towns, to our tourism industry, and indeed, to the community in general. By and large, homeless and substance abusing indigenous people are targeted as the chief culprits, and it is normal law abiding non-indigenous citizens who are seen as the victims of this kind of behaviour. Like many things in the media, these views are a mix of truth and distortion. I do not resile from the fact that the major causes of social and public disorder in the Northern Territory come from within the indigenous community, just as the major victims of social and public disorder disproportionately affects indigenous people. Tragically, this situation is getting worse not better.
I will now refer to some figures which relate to the Police and Emergency Services report and it is specific to the southern region of the Northern Territory. Last year, there was a 36% increase in social and public disorder offences; the figure being 4008 up to 6480. Protective custodies rose by 21% from 11 381 to 13 377. Indigenous people make up 95% of all those protective custodies, with 23% over that period being related to indigenous females in protective custody. Also in the southern region, offences against the person increased from 1118 to 1436, an increase of 41%. The vast majority of these offences were committed by indigenous people against indigenous people.
This is but a brief snapshot that I have outlined, as it is indicative of the broader crisis facing indigenous people that the minister described earlier. The days of ad hoc, knee-jerk responses by government that we have seen in the past cannot be allowed to continue. It is absolutely critical that the whole of the community supports the Martin Labor government in a whole-of-government response to public and social disorder issues.
By the same token, the days of indigenous people ignoring what is happening around them can no longer be supported. It is just not acceptable to bash the wife and not care for the kids - never has been, and never will be. Nor is it acceptable for people to commit mayhem on the streets of Territory towns, fuelled by grog and dope. Nor is it acceptable to blame others for their own faults. I sincerely believe that indigenous people can no longer hide behind victimhood. Indeed, the shackles of victimhood must be broken. What we need is a fundamental rethink about law and order as it affects indigenous people within the Territory, and that rethink must happen in the context of rebuilding social infrastructure as part of a broader strategy of community and economic development. The rethink has to happen from the bottom up.
First, we must look at the role of Aboriginal community police officers - their powers, functions and their capacity to develop a career path. Implicit in this is that we must move towards increased numbers of qualified indigenous police officers to build on the much admired role police have across the Northern Territory.
Secondly, we must look to dedicated community policing units to target social and public disorder, working in an integrated way with night patrols.
Thirdly, we must look at the causes of social breakdown and the disjuncture that exists between indigenous and non-indigenous law. A key to this will be to look at the kinds of pressures that exist in communities and where traditional law is ill-equipped to cope with modern pressures. I direct the attention of members of this House to the law and justice plans that have been developed in Ali Curung and which are being developed at Lajamanu and Yuendumu. What is being developed by these communities offers real hope as developing models of integrated traditional social and power structures with the needs of the communities undergoing rapid and social transformation. I believe this House would be pleased to know that these plans have so impressed the federal government that a Commonwealth ministerial visit to these communities will occur later on this year.
Fourth, we must also look to the support and development of programs such as the Tennant Creek Safe Community strategy which is looking at a range of options including a restructure of local court sittings, the greater use of local JPs and community panels in regards to sentencing.
Fifth, an indigenous police advisory panel or steering committee is long overdue in the Northern Territory. While we know there is a strong commitment from the police service towards developing appropriate policing strategies on indigenous communities, it is equally important that indigenous people get greater access to knowing how the service works and to influence its policies and strategies through direct input.
However, it must be emphasised that none of this will work unless indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory bite the bullet and start developing strategies and proposals that will work. Yes, it is true that one of the great faults of the past is that we have had to deal with models imposed by others from above, but there is little point in complaining if indigenous people do not put their back into doing the job as well. The level at which society has to put up with social and public disorder problems indicates the health of that society. The level of social and public disorder in the Northern Territory indicates to me that we face chronic problems now and into the future, and if they are not addressed by all of us, we will all suffer.
The statement today by the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs paints a broad picture of social dysfunction on indigenous communities. I believe I have outlined the detail of but one aspect of this problem. What is perfectly clear, as I mentioned, is that there is a challenge that must be met by government as well as by indigenous people. It is also a challenge that must be met by those Territorians who have tended in the past to think that indigenous affairs were none of their business. It is important to note that we constitute over a quarter of the population of the Territory. If the social infrastructure of indigenous people improves, so does the social wealth of all citizens of the Territory.
Mr AH KIT (Assisting Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs): Madam Speaker, in closing the debate I would like to pick up a couple of the points from members opposite, especially the member for Macdonnell and the member for Greatorex. I pass on to them that this is a debate that has to be held. It is something that we will continue to debate through the life of this parliament. But we have to turn the corner, we have to acknowledge that there are real problems out there, and we have to deal with them. It is not good to continue to ignore it or to stick our heads in the sand. We all know what it is like; all of us have been to Aboriginal communities and had a first hand look at what the situation is really like, and we cannot deny it.
I hear the member for Macdonnell and many of the supporting comments that he made in this debate. I don’t know whether he has had the opportunity to sit down with a lot of elderly people, especially the bosses, and get a really good understanding of land ownership and how seriously Aboriginal people view that. Over the years since he has been elected, I hear the member for Macdonnell talk about the Land Rights Act and criticise that, and that Aboriginal people are the biggest real estate owners in the Northern Territory, and that to solve all these problems in the communities they should have the ability to sell their land. Well, as a member with many Aboriginal people in his electorate, I am really confused that he does not seem to really understand how Aboriginal people view their relationship with their country. But he will learn, and I wish him well along that journey.
The other thing he mentioned was ‘Where is the detail?’ I said in the statement this morning in regards to – it is on page 11 at the bottom - and I will quote, under the heading of community capacity building and developing regional agreements, point 4; I will read an extract:
We will give the department opportunities to talk about ideas, about detail. They will liaise with me; I will provide direction; we will have consultation. We have to get it right, we are not going to put something together and just ram it down people’s throats. People are sick and tired of that. I am amazed that there is criticism of detail. This statement was put together, deliberately, without going into detail. I did not have any preconceived ideas from my position as a minister, or from our Cabinet, about what should be put in place. This has to be consultation with the people; people have to be involved and have a feeling of ownership of it. This is exactly what I talk about when I talk about whole-of-government, whole-of-community partnership. I mentioned the four major initiatives this morning. I will read them into Hansard once again, just the titles: an expanded role for IHANT, the Indigenous Housing Authority of the NT; indigenous knowledge centres; training and development for frontline housing staff; and community capacity building in developing regional agreements.
I thank members for their contributions - the members for Nelson, Greatorex and Macdonnell, and also members on this side of the House who are in government. Their contribution has been readily accepted. The member for Arafura, no doubt, speaks with much experience in terms of her experience with the Tiwi Islands people, with Aboriginal people in general and, more recently, with the good work that she did in assisting in establishing the Katherine West Health Board; as does the member for Barkly and his experience throughout Central Australia and South Australia, and being in contact with many of our Aboriginal leaders. His contribution was no doubt accepted in that he spoke about his experiences and his support for the statement.
Hopefully, this is a statement that can receive bipartisan support. Let’s acknowledge the CLP had a go and it did not work. We are in government; we want to have a go; we want their support. If we can depoliticise it as much as possible, it is going to work better for the runs on the board that we need to achieve.
I make the point that the progress will be slow, but the Martin Labor government is absolutely committed. I had a question, at about 1.15 pm at the press conference, about why is it that I am not the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and that the Chief Minister is. The question was put in a manner that the portfolio and my responsibilities were not taken seriously because I was not the minister totally responsible. What people need to understand, when we say whole-of-government, whole-of-community partnership, we mean whole-of-government, and we back that up by ensuring that the Chief Minister is the minister responsible, and the Chief Minister is involved in all of the processes as her responsibility for being the Minister for Indigenous Affairs.
The comments from the member for Nelson in regards to housing ownership: I can only say that I would also love to see many Aboriginal people owning houses that they could call their own, and that they could pass on to younger generations. I would like to see many Territorians - regardless of race, colour or creed - being assisted to purchase their own house. I am talking to people in the department about some of the ideas, and we are yet to work through those. I believe there are some good initiatives in the housing area in Tasmania, and we need to look at some of the other states.
I do not know where you go in response to pooling royalty monies. That is a decision for the traditional owners. That is a decision for them and for them only, unless there is a federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs who wishes to make amendments to the Land Rights Act that can redirect the royalties away from the traditional owners and into a housing trust fund, etcetera. With my experience, I doubt whether the minister would wish to entertain that concept. Maybe I am wrong.
His statement was definitely thought provoking, and that is what it aimed to do. It was not a paper that was going to dilly dally around and not be serious and be a half-hearted attempt to recognise that there are some difficulties out there, and that we need to turn a blind eye. It was deliberately couched in a way that it can, and will, provoke a lot of thought, and from those thoughts a lot of good ideas, hopefully, will emerge that can be raised with our government, and especially with me as the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister, so that we can take on board these ideas and work collectively to ensure that we have a better situation in terms of the living conditions, employment, training, education and health opportunities for our people in the bush.
The contributions have been noted. I certainly hope that we do get a form of bipartisan approach to this. We need to depoliticise it as much as possible. At the end of the day, I would be moving to try to visit Canberra to talk to ministers responsible because if I am able to, with the Chief Minister’s assistance, convince them that - by laying foundation through this statement - this strategy is workable and can happen, then they need to come on board in terms of providing additional dollars that will assist us in turning the situation around a lot faster.
I am disappointed that the member for Daly, who has a large Aboriginal electorate, has decided not to contribute to this debate. One would have thought that it would be important for him to do so. But, nevertheless, he may be busy on other matters.
Madam Speaker, I am very happy that it has received a fairly positive response. There is a lot of work ahead of us, as a government, to start the consultation and discussion, to get the debate going. I am glad that today’s statement, hopefully, is going to open the way to turning things around in the Aboriginal community. If we can do it properly here in the Northern Territory, then maybe other states and territories can have a look at us and how we have turned it around, and maybe take a leaf out of our book.
Members: Hear, hear!
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Telecommunication Infrastructure and Services
Dr TOYNE (Communications): Madam Speaker, I present a statement regarding telecommunication infrastructure and services, which is a key component of the economic and social development for all Territorians.
The Territory has a proud history of involvement in telecommunications and information technologies, a history which spans the establishment of the Overland Telegraph and the use of short wave radio through to the implementation of a government-wide area network. However, a critical point has been reached where rapidly increasing use of information technology and telecommunications in business activities, service delivery by government and non-government organisations, and for social interactions in the community, may marginalise people in the Northern Territory, particularly those who live in remote areas.
The Martin government has made it clear its key priorities include providing a sustainable economic base to underpin Territory growth and development. Ensuring economic growth for the Territory’s future means focussing on regional and remote communities as well as urban and larger rural centres.
The government’s Economic Development Summit held in November last year identified the importance of stronger partnerships between business, industry, community groups and government. It showed the need for cooperation between Aboriginal business people, industry and government to foster indigenous economic development. The summit acknowledged the need to encourage opportunities for Territorians from rural and remote areas and identified the unique opportunities that exist in the Territory to develop specialised knowledge-based industries, services and research based on our tropical and arid zone regions.
The Desert Knowledge Project is one example of the potential to harness telecommunication networks to lead economic and social development in regions which are characterised by low and dispersed populations. The Desert Knowledge project will draw together the collective expertise and knowledge of Australians living in our arid zones and will market this knowledge nationally and internationally.
As well as economic development, this government is also committed to achieving social justice in the Territory through equitable access to employment, education and training services and activities, improved access to health services, better community support and management, and improved access to justice services. Again, improving the opportunities for Territorians living in remote and very remote regions is crucial. The information technology and telecommunication sector underpins the government’s and the Territory’s ability to realise this vision. We need IT and telecommunications infrastructure or, in other words, a digital network throughout the Territory which is accessible, powerful, seamless, reliable and affordable. We need a connected Territory for all Territorians.
Wide access to the digital network underpins many of the policies and commitments the government will be working to achieve over this term. Without a digital network and related services, a key component of the economic and social development of the Territory will be missing. We will all be limited in what we can achieve.
The challenge of remote telecommunications is a key challenge for the Martin government, and that is the establishment of a quality digital network throughout our remote communities - not only a key challenge, but a unique one for the Northern Territory given its characteristics compared with most of the rest of mainland Australia. The Territory comprises about 18% of Australia’s land mass and yet its 195 000 residents account for only 1% of the Australian population. The Territory is the least densely populated state or territory in Australia and a high proportion of its population lives in isolated areas. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia shows that approximately half the population included in the Census count in the Northern Territory live in areas which are classified as remote or very remote. Of the 312 indigenous communities of the Territory, 299 are located in remote or very remote areas and the majority of indigenous people in the Territory live in these remote or very remote communities.
It is a very distressing fact that people living in remote communities experience unemployment, homelessness, overcrowding, poverty, disease and mortality rates far higher than the rest of Australia. For example, school participation rates among 16 year olds across Australia is around 80%, but for those living in small, geographically remote communities, it stands at only 30%. The unemployment rate for indigenous people is estimated at 26% whereas the rate for the general Australian population is 7%. The growth in jobs for indigenous Australians is likely to keep pace with the rise in the indigenous working age population unless we take action to reverse this trend. Death rates for Northern Territory Aboriginal men in 1996-97 were 2.6 times the national average; and for Aboriginal women, the rates are even higher at 3.2 times the average Australian rate for females. In the period 1979-95, nearly one quarter of all deaths were from preventable chronic diseases like diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, respiratory failure and renal failure.
Those statistics describe a tragic situation. Expanding IT and telecommunications capacity is obviously not an answer in itself, but many indigenous people feel that a major contributing factor to the continued failure of programs to overcome this massive disadvantage is inadequate knowledge and awareness, and a limited access to education, health services and other opportunities that people living in urban centres take for granted.
Given the remote location of many of these communities, the development of a strong and sustainable digital network is an essential and urgent prerequisite to help break the vicious cycle of poverty and disadvantage. A digital network can promote economic growth by providing the equipment and services for e-businesses and e-government activities. Managed telecommunication services in the communities will create jobs and provide access to services in remote locations. It can bring better government, business, health, education, justice and social services from all levels of government, the private sector and the non-government sector to remote locations.
Finally, it can promote cultural and community activities in remote areas by providing those communities with the means to communicate and interact with each other. Let me give you some practical examples. Economic and community development can be promoted by the use of a digital network to create employment opportunities and take indigenous culture to the world. The need to maintain facilities and equipment and manage services will provide employment opportunities to properly train local residents. Joint ventures between remote communities and private or government sector partners can be more effectively sought and negotiated using telephone, fax and video conferencing facilities. Instead of potential partners or members of communities having to travel vast distances to attend meetings, many negotiations can be held over video conferencing facilities, increasing the frequency of meetings and leading to better, and hopefully more fruitful, discussions.
Aboriginal art can be marketed and sold through the Internet, and distance education information sessions can be conducted through the Internet and video conferencing. Video conferencing also provides the means for distance teaching about indigenous culture to a non-indigenous audience. For example, senior people on remote communities can lecture directly to sociology, anthropology and art students at universities in cities throughout the world. A digital network can be used by remote communities to participate in multimedia productions. The search for content is the hallmark of the multimedia industry, and the indigenous and non-Aboriginal environmental, cultural and historical stories from remote areas of the Northern Territory are ripe for inclusion in multimedia productions.
This government’s Desert Knowledge Project and the Desert Cultural Centre will provide opportunities for each community to be involved in multimedia productions. Telecommunication services can also be used by indigenous people living on remote communities to make cultural arrangements. For example, attendance at ceremonies, particularly travelling ceremonies, and for Sorry Business attendance and finishing up ceremonies. Those services can be used by elders based in different communities to settle feuds or paybacks, and by communities to organise and participate in social events such as sports weekends, local workshops or seminars, and cultural events.
A project already underway in Central Australia is a great example of the cultural possibilities that access to a digital network opens up in remote communities. On Saturday, 2 March, elders at the Yuendumu community in Central Australia participated in an international video conference and webcast with folklore graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania in the US. This event explored traditional Aboriginal story telling, language and how these activities can be practiced electronically. I understand it was very well received. The Chairman of the Tanami Network, Robyn Japanangka Granites, moderated the event and the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association, the Warlpiri Media Association and other local film makers, musicians, artists and teachers were also involved. A second video conference is planned for Saturday, 5 April. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Tanami Network, and in particular Robyn Japanangka Granites and Sebastian Jakes for their vision and hard work in getting this initiative off the ground.
Video conferencing can also be used as a powerful tool to increase the participation and involvement of communities in meetings which affect them, like local council or community store management committee meetings. Use of video conferencing allows people to fully participate in meetings or to be directly informed by experts. At community stores management committee meetings for example, committee members can seek advice or information directly from accountants or lawyers. That access allows direct questioning, better understanding of the issues and better decisions to be made by fully informed committee members. Networking among and between remote communities will achieve significant advances in regional service delivery and contribute to cost effective cooperation between communities. This, rather than enforced amalgamation of local government, will enhance indigenous governance in remote areas.
Better engagement with government processes and improved government service delivery can also be delivered through increased access to a digital network. An example of this in education: many programs can be successfully delivered online. Literacy, computer skills and numeracy programs can be provided through distance education, as can language maintenance and development, adult learning and e-learning opportunities, two-way interactive classrooms and the opportunity for continued advanced access for indigenous people as they move from one area to another.
The possibilities were recognised by the Collins report, Learning Lessons, which reviewed indigenous education in the Northern Territory. Recommendation 19 of the Collins report was that the Department of Education harness ‘the advancing wave of communications capacity coming with the new communications systems and services to network all schools including major remote sites’. The department’s LATIS Network is providing electronic links to 70 remote schools in the Territory. I believe that out of all the crisis areas in the bush, none is greater than the delivery of secondary education. The development of a strong, remote digital network will enable town based specialist teachers to deliver secondary subjects to groups of students living in remote areas. This will help to overcome the difficulty of recruiting teachers for remote areas and to provide students with access to a wide range of teachers who are necessary for a comprehensive secondary education.
In health, online services can be immensely beneficial for people living on remote communities. They can provide health management, case management, basic nutrition and healthy lifestyle information, better primary health care training, remote diagnosis and advice, and backup for isolated health care workers and assistance in emergency cases. An ophthalmologist in Alice Springs described to me how she could easily examine patients’ eyes online and provide diagnoses. All she needed was for the communities to be connected and for the installation of fairly simple equipment in the community clinics.
For police, justice and corrections, online capacity provides the opportunity to report crimes, to respond to calls for help, to support community efforts to deal with the particular problem areas in communities, to track offenders, to hear the evidence of witnesses in bush courts by video link-ups, to provide interpreter services, to allow court appearances online and to provide facilities for prisoners to communicate through video conferencing with family members from their home communities.
For the Electoral Commission, a digital network can provide the opportunity for stronger democracy and participation through electronic registration and online awareness raising and training to inform people living on communities of their rights, responsibilities and opportunities as participants in the democratic system.
For PAWA, a digital network can allow remote monitoring of generators and bores, and other power and water infrastructure to provide speedier response time when equipment breaks down. Online service will also enable training and specialist technical backup for its remotely based essential service officers to improve electrical service in remote communities.
The possibilities are not just limited though to the Northern Territory government. Linking communities to a digital network could enable Centrelink agencies to extend direct access to their services into more areas of the Northern Territory; ATSIC to conduct its council meetings by video conference, potentially enabling more regular contact with its client communities; and the Native Title Tribunal to hold hearings and gather some evidence through the use of video conferencing facilities. These are just some examples of other areas.
Similarly, non-government organisations can benefit from extended telecommunications coverage in remote areas. The land councils, for example, could use video conferencing for some of their communications with traditional owners, and independent health services could also use the network for service provision. The possibilities and potential uses of a remote digital network are almost endless.
Turning to the development of a planning framework and strategic blueprint, providing a digital network to remote areas is a challenge. Factors like geographical isolation and small markets need to be addressed, but this government believes that the remote areas of the Territory should have access to the same services that are provided in the urban areas. All Territorians must be able to engage in the information world; the sustained economic and social development of the Northern Territory depends on it. The establishment of that network requires a strong commitment to work with the Commonwealth, the communities, local government and the private sector. The Martin government has that determination and commitment and will ensure that communities are connected and services are delivered in a planned, coherent way. We are developing a remote telecommunications planning framework and a strategic blueprint to ensure equitable access to a digital network for all Territorians, the coordinated expansion of services to regional and remote areas of the Territory, and the integration of activities of government at all levels - Territory, federal and local - the private sector, the non-government sector, and the community to work together to achieve a connected Territory.
For the first time, services will be mediated in a planned, coordinated way to leverage the best possible result for the Territory, rather than relying on the piecemeal approach of the past. A priority area for remote telecommunications is the provision of high capacity, affordable data communication links to remote communities, the encouragement of local service providers, and the development and delivery of services that meet the special needs of indigenous customers. Through the planning framework and strategic blueprint, the NT government will support the extension of a high capacity data communication service by aggregating government demand at all levels and by encouraging the use of the services by the private sector and non-government sector.
Planning and future programs will build on and integrate existing initiatives such as:
Networking the Nation is a huge opportunity for our remote communities. It is important that this government takes advantage of all the available opportunities for federal funding to ensure its vision of a connected Territory. The Networking the Nation program provides federal funds raised from the two sales of Telstra to address the disadvantages that Australians living in regional and remote areas face in their access to communications services. The program provides funding to states and territories to improve access to telecommunications infrastructure and services; to increase training and educational opportunities; and to provide better quality communications and information services for regional and remote businesses, public institutions, and residents. Those services and opportunities are sorely lacking in the remote parts of the Northern Territory. The approach that has been taken in the past to securing this funding has been uncoordinated. As a result, the funding has not been used to its full potential and most of the people living in remote and very remote communities in the Northern Territory are still as disadvantaged as they were before the successive sales of Telstra took place. So far, 20 projects from the Northern Territory have received funding but only two major initiatives for the Territory have been successful. A number of projects coordinated by the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory were allocated a total of $6.6m to provide computers, Internet access, training and online business systems for remote councils, and the Electronic Outback Project, which I have already mentioned, was allocated $4.2m in funding. I take this opportunity to congratulate LGANT on bringing forward their project and we look forward to working closely with them.
However, the rest of the Networking the Nation funding which has been allocated to date to the Northern Territory was provided for projects which had no significant impact on carrier capacity. Expanding this capacity through new infrastructure is the essential prerequisite to establishing a digital network throughout the Territory. The only way this can be achieved is by working with the Commonwealth, and ensuring that bids for Commonwealth funds are coordinated through a strategic framework and blueprint. The Martin government will work closely with the Commonwealth government in a bipartisan way and is committed to making the most of the opportunities for federal funding for telecommunication projects in the Territory.
I turn now to the Outback Digital Network bids. The government is doing all it can to ensure a major Territory infrastructure project receives over $20m of funding under the National Communications Fund and Networking the Nation programs. The Outback Digital Network is seeking $17m under the Networking the Nation program and $3.3m under the National Communications Fund - and the government is strongly supporting those bids. Let me give you some background on the Outback Digital Network, or ODN. ODN is an indigenous owned and managed not-for-profit company which was formed by five indigenous regional organisations. They are the Tanami Network Pty Ltd in Central Australia; the Tennant Creek Regional Infrastructure Program, or TRIP; the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association TEABBA; the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation from Queensland; and the Broome Aboriginal Media Association from Western Australia. Those organisations realised that, by banding together, their vision for improved telecommunication infrastructure and services to indigenous communities would be realised. The ODN’s vision is:
1. to create an ordered, viable, sustainable matrix of telecommunications infrastructure throughout
the participating communities in regional and remote areas of Australia; and
2. through that infrastructure, to collectively bring about the most significant improvements in the
standard of living and quality of life of the people of Central and Northern Australia.
The ODN’s bids represent a significant opportunity for the Territory. If they are successful, over $20m will become available to deliver a high capacity telecommunications service to another 39 remote communities in the Northern Territory, with sites also in Darwin, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek operating as regional hubs. The ODN is already working on projects in Cape York in Queensland and is hoping to expand into the Kimberley-Pilbara region in Western Australia. This funding could start to realise the vision of a regional digital communication network operating and delivering services across the whole of Northern and Central Australia.
The ODN’s core business is telecommunications delivery in remote and very remote regions. Its participation in this project would ensure the genuine involvement of remote communities and the successful take-up of services in these locations. Putting telecommunications technology into communities with strong managed support will create the climate necessary for the uptake of telephony and data services. ODN is in a unique position to work with indigenous people living in the remote areas and to provide a level of empowerment not currently enjoyed by those communities.
ODN’s partnership with Telstra, through Telstra Countrywide and Telstra’s Network Design and Construction Limited – NDC - will ensure that the infrastructure constructed during this project will be of carrier grade and that the ODN can provide sustainable, community-oriented digital services. Telstra will provide the ODN with an Integrated Services Digital Network, or ISDN, facility at significantly discounted prices. That network will allow ODN to aggregate customer traffic and provide a wide range of services to communities, such as video conferencing; Internet access; Internet services including business applications; Internet cafes; telephone access; a local call package; a web portal and other web-based facilities; and managed services and other data services.
The ODN is also committed to providing meaningful, accredited training for local people to create employment opportunities on communities. They will work with organisations, people, businesses and government to create jobs that a lack of telecommunications has until now hindered. Overriding the ODN vision is its commitment to establish infrastructure and ongoing services which will last because they have been created within the indigenous culture and community.
One of my highest priorities as Minister for Communications is to provide the means for people in remote communities to participate in and contribute to economic and social development in the Territory. The ODN has been recognised as one of the best models for delivering a digital network into the communities with these associated advantages. Unlike the former government, we are working closely with the ODN and doing everything possible to ensure that the opportunity to provide infrastructure and services to another 39 remote communities in the Northern Territory is realised.
I met recently with Senator Richard Alston, the Commonwealth Minister for Communications, to detail in person the ODN bid and this government’s strong support for that bid. My department has also been working closely with the Commonwealth to try to secure this vital funding for remote communities. The Martin government will ensure that significant Commonwealth funding opportunities which will benefit Territorians are not going to be squandered.
In the area of improving skills and knowledge, we must do more than simply providing the infrastructure and services. We also have to ensure that people have the skills and knowledge they need to take advantage of the opportunities a digital network will create. The government’s vision is of a connected Territory for all Territorians. All Territorians must be able to join the information rich.
A whole-of-government approach is needed to realise this vision. The Office of Communications will play a central role in the policy development, program facilitation and coordination role in the development of the new partnerships. It will work with the other government agencies, communities, local governments, the federal government and the private sector to identify opportunities and capitalise on them. It will also develop monitoring and reporting mechanisms so that the government and the people of the Territory can accurately chart our progress towards achieving our goals.
We are at the beginning of our journey towards the government’s vision of an equitable access for all Territorians, no matter where they live, to the benefits of the information revolution. I look forward to reporting again to this House on our achievements in this important area.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of this statement.
Mr Kiely interjecting.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank God I am deaf, because it always is pleasing - I suspect it was terrible, but thankfully I did not hear the member for Sanderson’s comment. I suspect it was inane.
Nevertheless, thank you, minister for your statement. I, of course, speak in my capacity as shadow minister for Communications. The opposition looks forward to receiving the reports which you will provide to the parliament over coming months and years. I take this opportunity as well to thank you for providing the briefing, one of the better briefings I have had, I might say, from your staff.
Minister, I am aware that communications is an area that is close to your heart, not only because you have a large bush electorate, but because of your history and experience, and it is an area, for different reasons, that is close to my heart as well.
It is very pleasing that the Labor government has in a number of respects - and I do not say this to get into any political tit for tat - but it is pleasing that this government has, in a number of respects, picked up the baton from where the previous government left off. The desire to improve communications throughout the Northern Territory is shared very genuinely by both political parties and we wish this government well in dealing with the challenges that it faces in this difficult area.
In fact, when preparing a response to this statement, I was struck by the similarities of responses or approaches by both this government and the former government. I looked through the material that was available to me and noticed that the former government’s Foundations for Our Future No. 5, Diversifying the Economy through Service Industry Growth, which was published a couple of years ago, said:
It is pleasing that this government, and the former one, did have what appears to me at least very similar philosophies. No doubt this government will call its program something different and no doubt it will change some things, but the principles remain the same. From the minister’s statement, it is very clear that his government will pursue a fairly similar agenda. As the shadow minister for communications, whilst not being a part of the former government, I am very pleased with the undertakings and commitments given in the minister’s statement this afternoon.
The opposition commends the government in its determination to establish a digital network throughout our remote communities, and agrees that this is a unique challenge. It will provide for all Territorians, but especially for those in remote areas, greater opportunities and benefits. To some extent, the sky is the limit in terms of its potential. It will clearly bring improvements in business, health, education, justice and social services.
I commend the government for embracing as well the former government’s Desert Knowledge Project. The Desert Knowledge Project has been touched upon numerous times today and over the last couple of weeks. Again, from Foundations for Our Future, the following quote is noteworthy. It says:
In terms of video conferencing, I note the minister’s references throughout his statement and agree that video conferencing can be and, indeed, is used as a powerful tool, especially in Aboriginal communities. As I said earlier, in my view the minister is very well placed to contribute to growth in this area not only because of his personal interest, but with his links to, what I understand was his former company, Tanami Network, a company that I remember engaging from time to time when I worked in some law firms in Alice Springs. His very real interest in communications and in particular improving communications to remote areas augers well for all of us in the Northern Territory.
I have seen the benefits of video conferencing. In the court system, it already assists the administration and costs of justice in terms of providing witnesses the opportunity of giving evidence without the need to travel. Another use is for prisoners in Alice Springs, for instance, who can appear via video link in particular matters rather than being transported from the gaol to the court. It is also of great assistance to prisoners - especially indigenous prisoners - to communicate with their families in remote communities. Often, family members are unable to travel to the prisons for a number of reasons ranging from resources to weather conditions. Video conferencing also enables those in communities such as community stores management committees to obtain legal and financial advice quickly and efficiently and, obviously, this is cost and time effective. To improve these links is obviously in everyone’s interests. The educational benefits are immense, and it really is the modern day equivalent of the Schools of the Air.
Put simply, this is about communication in its most literal and practical sense. It is also about better service delivery. This government, as far as I understand this statement, has undertaken to continue and, where appropriate, no doubt improve on the work of the previous government. The possibilities are endless and I congratulate the government for accepting the challenge.
In terms of networking among and between remote communities, this again is an important area, especially considering that education can be successfully delivered online. The latest network already, as the minister said in his statement, provides links to 70 remote schools and this is just one practical example of the possibilities that exist. Other possibilities, commendably touched upon by the minister include, but are by no means restricted to, better regional service delivery and better and more cost effective cooperation between communities. As we know, networking also assists in the areas of health, and the minister referred to these advantages in his statement. Online services can, and will, bring immense benefits including basic nutrition, healthy lifestyle information, and better primary health care and training.
All of us understand the difficulties faced by those in remote communities and providing a digital network is certainly a challenge, but one which I am sure can be met and overcome with the commitment and assistance of the federal government. To that end, it is pleasing to see this government support the bid by the Outback Digital Network. The fund from which monies, if successful, will come is Networking the Nation, an initiative of the federal government, a five year $250m regional telecommunications infrastructure fund which helps to bridge the gaps in telecommunication services, access and costs between urban and non-urban Australia.
This is a fabulous initiative by the federal government which aims to assist the economic and social development of regional, rural and remote Australia by funding projects which enhance telecommunications infrastructure and services in these areas; increasing access to and promote use of services available through telecommunications networks; and reducing disparities in access to such services and facilities. In addition to the allocation of $250m there is, as I understand it, a further funding pool available to the tune of $214m which is part of Networking the Nation, but it is another part of it, in addition to the $250m fund. There is, not to put too fine a point on it, good money in big buckets and I support and urge the government to do whatever it can to assist others accessing those funds for the betterment of the Northern Territory.
I am very pleased, of course, to hear the minister’s comments that his government will work closely with the federal government in a bipartisan way. For my part, I would expect nothing less, and I am sure many people in the Northern Territory will be very pleased to hear that undertaking. It is great news that the Outback Digital Network, an indigenous owned and managed not-for-profit company, has bid under the Networking the Nation program. This bid was supported by this government, and is also supported by the opposition.
We support very strongly this government’s attempts to meet its objectives; objectives that, on my reading, do not differ in any significant way to the objectives of the former government. In closing, however, I would like to make just two criticisms of the statement, and I am fairly sure that the minister will have predicted them. The first is that there is an absence of timelines in the statement. I know, perhaps more than others, that this is a very complicated area, but I do hope that perhaps in the minister’s next report to parliament he will be able to provide us with some timeframes.
The second criticism I have is that the minister said in the final paragraph of his statement, and I quote from it:
We are at the beginning of the journey… towards equitable access for all Territorians…
My criticism is that in fact the journey began many years ago and it would have begun regardless of which political party was in office, because, in this day and age, no government in this country, nor indeed many others, can ignore the wonderful opportunities that have been created for all of us by this thing called the information age. Because of the incredible advances made in technology in the last 10 years, all governments now have the opportunity to resolve some of the difficulties that have always existed.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the limitations that have constrained and frustrated governments of all political colours over the years can increasingly be set aside and overcome. So the journey did begin some years ago and it so happens that the CLP was in government at the time it started. Now the ALP happens to be in government and has the opportunity to consolidate some previous initiatives and it has the opportunity of perhaps taking us all into unchartered waters. The opposition wishes the government well.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, that was a nice long trip down virtual reality, wasn’t it?
Ms Carney: You are just a bad mannered, ill-bred little turd!
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Withdraw that please, member for Araluen.
Ms CARNEY: I will withdraw the turd reference, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Mr KIELY: That is the level of debate and humour that one expects from that side …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, start the debate, please.
Mr KIELY: Bring it on. Mr Deputy Speaker, James Slevin relates in his book The Internet Society, a story about an information poor citizen living on the outskirts of Windhoek in Namibia. The story is about a man called Negumbo Johannes. It goes like this: Johannes awakes every morning at six. He sleeps on the floor of a friends house in Wanaheda. The house is a concrete block rectangle about the size of a one-car garage in the United States. His street is gravel. His life has become almost an obsession with finding a job. What he does not know is that his situation is getting worse. The information age has arrived in Africa and new systems are being established. Those systems totally exclude him. Newspapers cost $1.50, 10% of his daily wage on days when he has a wage, so he does not buy them. Television is broadcast by the state but few of his neighbours have a TV and the broadcasts are in English, a language he does not know. Radio has one station broadcasting in Oshiwambo, his only source of news. Professional information excludes him because he has no profession. Organisational information bypasses him as well. His personal information is virtually non-existent. As for the wired future, he will never in his life see a computer, much less one to communicate or learn.
I use this example to depict an extreme about the information poor. Whilst this example comes from another continent, I see some parallels with our remote community lifestyle. I can advise that life on remote communities is difficult in a lot of respects and access to information is limited.
Indeed, in a paper by Dr Jennifer Curtin entitled A Digital Divide in Rural and Regional Australia, she observed there are questions about inequality of access within nation states. For example, she posed the question: are particular groups in Australian society systematically excluded from using the Internet? Do factors such as income, education, age, gender and ethnicity have an impact on access to the Internet leading to further disadvantage for some Australians in terms of access to work, education, community networks, information and political participation? In other words, if there is an uneven distribution of new technology use, to what extent do socioeconomic factors influence this outcome?
I would like to pick up on a few of the demographics I have highlighted. In respect of income, more significant differences were found with respect to income whereby the higher the income, the more likely an individual is to have access to the Internet at home. Those on over $84 000 per annum are almost eight times more likely to have Internet access at home than those under $19 000 per annum. Furthermore, the growth in access was greater amongst those in higher income brackets suggesting that, at least in the short term, an income derived digital divide will continue to exist.
In regard to education, qualifications are also important in predicting Internet access. The higher qualified the individual, the more likely that person is to have Internet access at home. Overall, the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, NATSEM, analysis reveals that those with lower education and blue collar occupation, those over 55 years of age and women are less likely to be connected online. Dr Curtin also noted that the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in rural electorates is significantly higher than in city electorates, and many live in remote parts of rural and remote Australia. The NATSEM report did not investigate access to computer and the Internet by indigenous communities. However, recent reports commissioned by governments in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory indicate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are less likely to have a computer at home and are much less likely to have access to the Internet.
If I make just a casual observation, and one that is not based on any empirical studies, I believe the case in NT communities is such that very few homes would have the PC with Internet connection.
Those living in rural and remote Australia have significantly less choice of which Internet service provider they use, and not all of these are accessible at the cost of an untimed local call. The issue of untimed local calls is an important one while telephone lines remain the main source of Internet connection. For example, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission found that the high cost of linking outlying rural homes and schools to the Internet has a negative impact on the survival of many small towns as well as cementing disadvantages faced by children in these small towns.
The cost differential is greater during peak hours which can impact on businesses that need to be on-line during business hours. This becomes a further disadvantage if the data speeds are also slower, thereby extending the amount of time required on-line to download data. Research undertaken by the OECD suggests that access to the physical network and high bandwidth capabilities will affect the future takeup and implementation of electronic commerce activities, particularly for small and medium sized enterprises located outside urban centres.
We should not consider the issues I have just raised as impediments, but rather as challenges we must overcome. And why must we overcome? It can be stated in one word: equity. Many Australians do have reasonable access to the Internet. A small percentage, those who live in rural and remote Australia in particular, have very limited access. But it is precisely this majoritarian position which is problematic for those who live in rural and remote Australia and feel their service levels seem to matter less because the majority of Australians are well serviced. It is this perception held by those in remote and rural Australia that underpins one of the original objectives of Australian federalism which had, as part of its foundation, a commitment to equity over density of population. First expressed through equal representation of the states in the Senate, in 1934 it was entrenched with the creation of the Commonwealth Grants Commission which explicitly introduced the principle of horizontal fiscal equalisation as a core organisational maxim of Australian federalism.
While the provision of telecommunications is no longer solely provided by government, there was a time, which is still fresh in the memories of many rural and remote Australians, when they could at least expect the right to similar services. In other words, there has been a policy tradition underlying the principle of horizontal equalisation which has formed rural and remote peoples’ expectations of entitlement to the same level of service as those in metropolitan Australia. Apart from that policy tradition, it is not unreasonable for those people to expect similar service, hence the recommendation for the extension of the Universal Service Obligations to cover Internet access for those who live in country Australia.
The minister has spoken about the Outback Digital Network which is a non-profit consortium of five indigenous regional organisations and their bid for over $20m of federal funding to improve telecommunications infrastructure and services to indigenous communities. Hopefully, this consortium, working in partnership with Telstra, will be successful in their bid and will be able to address the challenges I have spoken about. This, in turn, will open the doorway to improving the living conditions of indigenous Territorians by enhancing their access to the basic health, education, social and business services most Australians take for granted.
Mr Deputy Speaker, unemployment brings with it a loss of income and self-esteem, and loss of contact with new work practices. Similarly, so does underemployment, both of these are prevalent in our remote communities. However, should the ODN consortium successfully roll out its remote communications strategy, they will be able to address a severe deficiency in remote community life: the deficiency of lack of access to information - information about training, job vacancies, voluntary work, etcetera.
Access to communication networks can provide timely access to information. As an example, I point to the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development’s ministerial statement on indigenous initiatives in the mining sector. The minister advised the House in his statement of the partnerships between the resource companies and communities. In particular, he mentioned the joint training ventures aimed at developing the local workforce to a point where they comprised a human resource pool of local labour that the companies could call on rather than importing an external workforce at the mine sites.
I perceive that if we can successfully address the needs of communities in regard to remote communications, then these companies and other businesses will be able to establish online training centres for community people. I also believe that when communities get improved remote communications that there will be individuals who will see the opportunities presented by being part of the virtual community and we may have all see an emerging entrepreneurial e-business market from within rather than from without the community.
There will also be opportunities in the form of new jobs associated with the introduction of information technology appliances. I think that all of us here understand the new workforce that has been created to support the hardware and software associated with information technology and multimedia. I am sure such a workforce will emerge on communities over time. It is really a bit akin to the chicken and the egg, Mr Deputy Speaker - something you may well know.
We first need to get this complex technology into communities in order to ensure that the divide between information rich and information poor is narrowed rather than widened. There will probably be a period where a lot of expertise has to be imported from outside the community. However, by using the tools at hand, communities will be able over time to learn the skills required to fully utilise and capitalise on the benefits that present themselves.
As Bob Collins mentions in his Learning Lessons report:
Any education system that does not equip students with core computer literacy will fail to provide a skill as
essential as basic literacy for life in the 21st century. Failure to deliver sound IT skills in remote and sparsely
populated regions for both indigenous and non-indigenous students will compound their disadvantage. Similarly,
any large complex organisation that does not take full advantage of IT&T systems to radically improve efficiency
and decision making processes will not survive in the new millennium.
The Minister for Education, Employment and Training has previously advised the House that the Martin government is implementing the Collins report. This government clearly understands the basic requirement for remote communities to share and benefit from emerging information technologies. These are the people who need to be given the opportunity to acquire computer literacy skills and, more fundamentally, to have access to educational opportunities. So it becomes clear; it becomes clear that this government is taking a whole-of-government approach in ensuring equitable access to a digital network. This government understands it is not just good enough to connect the inorganic to the network; there is also a strong need to develop the organic component of the digital network in order to maximise the potential benefits. In short, you can have the most up-to-date communications equipment and software systems but if you do not invest in people, it all amounts to nil.
I would like to finish this with a quick look at what futures may lay ahead for remote community residents if we get it right together. Large shopping centres have been tied to automobiles and urbanisation. Remote communities are highly unlikely to ever reach the mass that could support such infrastructure. However, buying a consumer product, be it a shirt, dress, car, picking a bank, arranging travel, all of these things can be done over the network. This will bring in competitive advantage for community residents and may well result in better value for their dollar. Entertainment options may well be improved as a new array of entertainment opportunities emerge which extend beyond television. Access to online magazines and newspapers, journals and Internet articles, online broadcast of sport and other feature entertainment such as national and international acts. Educational options will be greatly extended. Individuals will have a far greater range of choice and will not be restricted to the community school. Rather, they will become very much a part of the global village.
Community networks, such as the Blackburg Electronic Village, which has as its mission:
This is indeed an ambitious program, however, I believe we could see some of its aims have been picked up in our remote communities - aims such as business and professional uses to support information links between business and communities, especially between customers, for example, e-mail between health clinics and patients, home banking, electronic shopping and tele-community. Specific uses: providing the foundation for an electronic community council with which people can communicate via e-mail; bulletin boards to electronic conferences.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the need to have our remote communities online has it roots all the way back to 1934 and is steeped in our forebears’ desire that all Australians be treated equal. This government recognises these features as well as recognising the social and economic benefits that bridging a digital divide will bring not only to remote community Territorians but to all Territorians and indeed all Australians as we sign up to the global village.
Dr TOYNE (Communications): Mr Deputy Speaker, at the outset I am very pleased to hear not only the support in the House for the statement, but also the bipartisan support. I thank the opposition for that. This is far too important to play around with in terms of party politics. We certainly undertake to keep the opposition fully informed on how things go, particularly with the bid.
Taking a couple of points from the shadow spokesperson, the timeline of the bid for the Networking the Nation goes in at the end of this month. We should hear well and truly by the middle of the year, so by June we will have a clear idea of what is going to roll out in the Territory over anything up to three years. As to the actual detail of which places are coming online in what sequence, we will get that to the House as soon as we’re apprised of that by the ODN. What I can flag at this stage is that if the bid proves to be successful, and we are very optimistic it will, that will touch off a systematic process going through all of the government agencies. We will be looking for contexts of service delivery which would incorporate the use of not only the new infrastructure that the ODN will be putting in, but the existing infrastructure with EOP and with LATIS and so on.
The purpose of the strategic plan is to make sure that everything is connectable and that we take full advantage of the synergies between one project and another. It is not to absorb or subvert the intention of the earlier projects.
The comment that the member made about honouring the previous government’s history in this, it is inherent in the statement; four of those initiatives were started under the CLP. The wide area network for its time was absolutely groundbreaking in terms of a government operating in a dispersed population area. But there were two vital elements that were missing up to the time that we took on this process to build it on: one was an overall strategic coordination of the various projects that were going out there. That is not in our judgement; it was in the judgement of the federal government and the funding units that were providing federal funds. They were worried about the lack of a coordinated approach here. We have thrown this strategic framework around the existing and future developments here, so that we can convince the federal government, which we are asking to provide the money, that we do have a coordinated approach.
The second thing that was missing in the earlier approaches was a very strong partnership that we are seeking with indigenous people through the ODN and the previous ministers really could not bring themselves to take that leap of faith - and maybe they had good reasons in the way they were viewing the world - but we are going in that direction as we have indicated in the statement and we believe that is the key. That is the key that will bring this stuff into a sustainable form out in our remote areas.
The other key, of course, is that the ODN is not just a Territory project; it is a northern Australian project. And to get the economies of scales to allow you to use satellite carrier space, to be able to make wholesale agreements with the big carriers like Telstra and Optus, you have to have the scale that ODN has planned for which is over 100 participating communities. When you have a 100 communities sharing the costs of maintenance, of carrier space, access to bandwidth, where you have the bargaining position of speaking for the whole of northern Australia, you are really in business then. I mean that literally, the ODN is accepted quite widely as the only viable business model that has been put up for a remote area rollout of this type of infrastructure.
We want it to make enough money to be sustainable into the future. The ODN has the business model, they have the figures that show that they can run a viable digital network across northern Australia. That is where we want to go. We do not want to see things started and then falling over because there is not the revenue to maintain the equipment, to keep the workers paid. This should be a project that will run for as long as it is relevant to the needs of the people.
Mr Deputy Speaker, with those few comments, I will close. Again, I thank members for their contribution. Today has been a visionary day, I suppose, in that we have had the member for Arnhem’s statement regarding indigenous programs, and now this about one very important aspect of those - very much related one to the other. Thank you very much for your support and let’s get into it and make this happen.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Mr HENDERSON (Business, Industry and Resource Development): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the sad passing of a constituent, and stalwart of the Labor Party, in my electorate of Wanguri. Pam Kerin, a long term resident of Wanguri, passed away on 2 February this year. Pam was just a few weeks shy of her 75th birthday. Pam was a long time Territorian and a long time resident of Wanguri. She lived in the Northern Territory for 36 years; 20 of those years were spent at 62 Wanguri Terrace. She knew the electorate well, and all her neighbours in Wanguri speak very fondly of her.
Pam was involved in Northern Territory education as a preschool teacher for a number of years and retired from Leanyer Primary School in 1987. Pam was very active in politics and a fierce supporter of the Labor Party. She was a long time member of the Northern Territory ALP and was an office bearer for the former Wanguri branch. Pam was a tireless campaigner for the Northern Territory Labor Party and during elections, she was always available. She volunteered for everything, from the mundane task of folding and stuffing envelopes to handing out how-to-votes on polling day. Pam assisted on both of my Wanguri campaigns and was determined to do so. She even rang me directly during the last general election to make sure I would not give her a spot on the how-to-vote roster on polling day to a younger person.
It was the continual efforts and hard work over many years by Pam Kerin that contributed to the Northern Territory election win on 18 August being so special and so poignant. Pam was a true believer. Former Wanguri MLA, John Bailey, and all four electorate officers during this time - Andrew Fyles, Des Gellert, Michael Gunner and Ryan Neve - join me in expressing heartfelt condolences to the Kerin family and recognise that Pam’s help in the electorate office was an invaluable resource and greatly appreciated.
Pam is survived by her three children, Sarah, Wendy and Tim. Sarah, Pam’s daughter, delivered a moving eulogy and I take this opportunity to read it into the public record:
I also pay tribute tonight to the long and valued service of Dr Rex Pyne, the Deputy Director of Fisheries in my Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development. Rex’s early work included time spent in Papua New Guinea where he was based on the east coast managing the Commonwealth Torres Strait Fisheries. During this time he completed his PhD in tropical rock lobsters. Rex transferred from the Commonwealth Department of Primary Industries in Canberra to the Northern Territory Public Service in 1978 as Officer-in-Charge of Research and Development, Fisheries Branch. During his career, Rex faced many challenges and was responsible for many successful programs in which he played a pivotal role during the negotiation and implementation of the offshore constitutional settlement that determined the Northern Territory’s right to manage most of its fish resources from low water to the extent of the Australian Economic Zone.
He was instrumental in setting up the seven Aboriginal Fisheries Consultative Committees that have improved communications between the Fisheries Division and Aboriginal people, and he led the nationally applauded aquatic pest management program that was set up after the Northern Territory’s successful eradication of the black striped mussel. Rex represented the Northern Territory Fisheries Division for many years on a number of national committees.
I wish Rex and his wife, Colleen, all the best in the next phase of their life and hope they enjoy the pleasure and happiness that a well earned and honourable retirement brings and that they certainly deserve. Rex retires from his career within Fisheries to take up residence in New Zealand.
I also take the opportunity tonight to congratulate Wanguri and Leanyer schools which have won recent Territory Tidy Towns School Awards. The Territory Tidy Towns School Awards are presented to schools or to individual students for outstanding work they have done in keeping their school environment clean. These awards vary from small vouchers to formal awards. I am happy to inform the Assembly that of the 135 awards presented Territory-wide last year, 15 of them were to schools within or with a close association to the Wanguri electorate.
Dripstone High School was awarded the prestigious and highly acclaimed Best High School Grounds Award. This is a testament to their staff and students, and I congratulate Principal Marion Guppy.
Leanyer Primary School collected five awards, including the Best Urban School Award. One of the most prized and contested awards, it is a distinct credit to Principal Henry Gray, and all his hardworking staff, and the excellent group of students they have at Leanyer Primary.
Leanyer Primary also won an award and cash bonus of $300 for a mosaic tile path the upper school created, and I congratulate art teacher Margaret Ferguson and her student art committee who organised and implemented the project. There were several individual award winners at Leanyer Primary. Students, Danielle Spittle, Chivasa Jongoe and Erin Stewart all won awards for their T-shirt designs. The designs had to be related to the environment and keeping it clean.
In total, Wanguri Primary School received nine Territory Town School Awards. It is my understanding that this is the most by any school in a year. Wanguri won the prestigious, highly acclaimed, and certainly a mouthful, Outstanding Whole of School Commitment to Environmental Improvement Award. Wanguri came in second for the Schools Environment Award; they collected an award and $120 for Buff the Croc, a school project where lower primary students had to turn trash into treasure by only using empty cartons and other such materials to design the croc, all recycled goods.
Wanguri also did a fantastic job in receiving $500 and first place for the nine to 12-year-old category. Their entry was the Life in a Rotten Log musical which followed on from a past project, converting a run down concrete pipe into a learning mural in the school yard.
I would also like to convey my personal congratulations to the seven students who picked up individual prizes for Wanguri: Susan Glencross, Sarah Conway, Elise Baldock, Melissa Ursino, Janna Li and Irini Ergos, who won creative literary awards for their poster designs; and Kara McAdam and Elise Baldock, again, who won awards in the trash to treasure competition with their creative designs.
I would like to congratulate all the students from all the schools for their participation and efforts. The awards are prestigious and effective because of the time taken by schools to enter. The principals of these schools - Marion Guppy at Dripstone, Henry Gray at Leanyer, and Viv Jennings at Wanguri - deserve mention and congratulation for having schools committed to the environment.
Mr Deputy Speaker, It is not their effort alone, and due recognition is given to all the staff, students and parents who helped the schools in achieving their success. It is great to see children who are willing to be committed to keeping the environment clean and hopefully it will stay with them for many years to come.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, I was pleased this morning to hear the Leader of Government Business pay tribute to ex-Senator Grant Tambling, who retired prior to the last election, for the long and many years of service he has given the Territory. I was a little disappointed that not anyone from the CLP opposition side stood up to support those remarks, and I hope that they will do so, perhaps in the future some time.
I would like to pay my tribute to Grant Tambling who retired after many years of meritorious service. Grant Tambling is one of those few Australians who has been involved in all levels of government - as far back as 1972, when he was elected as alderman on the Darwin City Council; as a member of the CLP elected to the first Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974; to the House of Representatives in 1980; and a s a Senator for the Northern Territory in 1987. That is a total of 14 years of service. It must be unique in Australia, that someone has gone through all those different levels. We know of people who have gone from local government and then the next step into state or federal politics, but not into both Houses at the federal level.
I suppose it is a compliment to his reputation that members from both sides of the Senate spoke in fitting tributes to his service and contribution. I have a copy of the Valedictory that the Senate has produced for Grant Tambling and it shows people such as Senators Crossin, McGauran, Faulkner - a variety of senators - paid tribute to Senator Grant Tambling in the Senate. Later on, I would like to table some of these papers for members to see.
Grant was born in Queensland - I did not realise that - in 1943, during the World War II evacuation of Darwin. He and his wife, Sandy, have two children, a son and a daughter. I think we all know Sandy. She is a lovely lady, is a registered nurse and has been very supportive of Grant throughout his career. He obviously had a long involvement in Darwin business and was a member of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission after Cyclone Tracy. He held statutory appointments on the NT Planning Authority and the former Darwin Community College which evolved into the Northern Territory University.
Grant tells me he considers his most valuable work came following the election of the Howard government in 1996. It is always nice to be in government because you feel then you can actually achieve things. He became a member of the federal Executive Council and was elected Deputy Leader of the Senate for the National Party. He was also Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Regional Development, for Social Security, and the last portfolio was Health and Aged Care. It was during those years that he was able to lobby extensively for the Territory, and he lifted Commonwealth expenditure from $1.2bn per annum to $1.9bn, a task that I hope our new senator can achieve. Grant did that through the network he had established in Canberra, and the way he went around lobbying ministers and saying: ‘Don’t forget, do this for the Northern Territory in the budget. Make sure this is in’. It is that network that we have probably lost now and that the new senator will have to establish.
One of the previous members of this House, a CLP member, told me today that the thing he remembers about Grant was, if anyone went to Canberra, no matter what side they were from, he was always there to help them. He would set up meetings with different people in Canberra, his office was extremely accessible and he was always very helpful to visitors from the Northern Territory.
It is a bit of a shame that his retirement was forced because it reflects badly on the CLP, particularly as it was based on differences mainly associated with the gambling bill and, I guess, with the self-interest of some members of the CLP. It was a shame, especially when you remember that Grant Tambling was a founding member of the CLP - he goes back that far. He has always shown loyalty to them so I do not think he deserved what they did to him in the way they disendorsed his pre-selection because of his refusal to bow to their demands to vote against a bill which he had certain principles about. I think they demonstrated their complete disregard for parliamentary democracy by doing this.
The whole scenario, of course, is not over. A court decision was brought down in Grant’s favour. May I say it must have cost the CLP heaps; Grant was awarded $55 000 for costs. The CLP had to pay an extra $20 000, I think, of his costs plus their own, so I calculate that court case must have cost them about $130 000. I wonder how members of the party feel, knowing that that amount of money was paid out of party coffers when, in fact, that money should have been used for the party, not for a stubborn decision that they made.
The whole debacle is still not over. The Senate Privileges Committee is still to report. The Terms of Reference are very clear. The Terms of Reference for the Privileges Standing Committee state:
Pretty obviously, they did.
Pretty obviously they did; they disendorsed him,
I will be interested to hear the outcome of that inquiry and see what the verdict is, and how the party comes out of it.
Grant Tambling can be really proud of what he has done over the many years in the Northern Territory. Let’s face it, he is a well-known face, not just in the urban areas. Grant Tambling has travelled to many of the Aboriginal areas; he has many friends in Aboriginal communities; his son has worked there. He established a huge network that I feel, perhaps, will be hard for us to maintain and keep there. I wish he and Sandy all the best for the years ahead.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to table the Valedictory from the Senate; his Press Club speech which was his final speech; his final report, his farewell edition; and a short biography of Grant Tambling.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Deputy Speaker, I cannot agree more with the member for Braitling. I had the pleasure to know Senator Grant Tambling and met him again this morning. I have to admit he was very impressed with what was said in parliament this morning about himself. What I liked of Senator Tambling was the fact that he had brains; he had political brains. It does not matter which side of politics you were affiliated with, he would sit down and argue or agree with you. It was very interesting: he was not a fanatic; he was a political animal and he knew how to discuss politics very well.
A member: He’s a good bloke.
Mr VATSKALIS: And a good bloke, too. I have to agree with that.
One of the community groups that regularly access my facilities in my electorate office is the University of the Third Age. The group is made up of mature citizens who are determined not to fade into retirement but instead, continue their zest for living and learning. They produce an interesting and informative newsletter on a monthly basis, photocopied in my office. They tend to come there very regularly - they like the coffee, probably. This newsletter is produced by Ian Winstanley and his team of volunteers. The group, which is headed by Nan Bell as President and Elizabeth Bignell as Vice-President, is supported by the NTU and the CSIRO.
The NTU provides an interesting schedule of lectures throughout the year by a great variety of speakers related to history, culture and society, while the CSIRO provides lectures on the environment. The lectures from outside the NTU include one by Professor Bob Catley on the US war on terrorism. Professor Catley has recently been appointed to the NTU as the Foundation Professor in Governance. Another lecture will be presented by Bob Pascoe on artificial and natural intelligence later in the month. Bob Pascoe is an Associate Professor in the School of Informatics in the SITE Faculty, and this particular lecture follows on from a popular one he presented towards the end of last year on artificial intelligence.
The first meeting for the year of the Brinkin/Alawa/Nakara Neighbourhood Watch Group was held at the end of last month in my electorate office at Casuarina. The coordinator of the group, Bill Rainbird invited Craig Seiler from the Red Cross Youth Drop-In Centre at Casuarina, which is also known as The Shack, to speak on youth-related issues. Craig formerly worked at Casey House, but was really pleased to be appointed as coordinator of The Shack because, by encouraging access to the centre and the facilities, he hopes that some youths may be prevented from following the path of delinquency which lands them in Casey House.
Craig is currently working with Donna Kittle from Jessie’s Wish on coordinating a drug and alcohol free fundraising event for National Youth Week in April. Called The Shack Rocks, funds raised by The Shack at this event will go towards upgrading facilities at the centre for the youth of the Casuarina area.
Bill Rainbird has invited Tony Pederson from the NT Police to speak at the next meeting of the Brinkin/Alawa/Nakara Neighbourhood Watch Group scheduled for later this month. Tony will be speaking about crime levels in the Casuarina area and preventative measures which can be taken by residents to avoid break-in and theft.
Those two groups might be very dissimilar, but they are doing a great job in the community: one targeting people of the third age who refuse to be called senior citizens - some of them feel younger than we do and they are sometimes younger - and the other one, the Neighbourhood Watch Group. It is a great job done by Bill Rainbird and his colleagues. They provide an extremely useful service to the community in the Casuarina area.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to salute former Senator Grant Tambling. I find it curious that the comments that have been raised have - I don’t know whether they have been brought in to elevate and revere the work of Mr Tambling or to perhaps attach another agenda to that. I most sincerely would like to separate that which has gone on behind the scenes from the work of the man.
Any Territorian can see the tremendous contribution that Grant Tambling has made to the Northern Territory, no matter on what side of the fence we may sit. It is not to do with politics on this particular occasion; it is just to celebrate the contribution that has been made and to his good wife, Sandy, together a tremendous couple and personally they have been great support to me. Just to temper some of the excitement that we might have on the other side of the fence to look and to interpret and to suit the interpretation to another agenda, Grant Tambling is still alive and well. He is still a great supporter in particular of Nigel Scullion and Dave Tollner. It is tremendous to see that. He will not change in that regard because he is true; as he has been in the past, he is still going to continue in the future.
Things that did occur behind the scenes are not my prerogative to air here. That was a matter of a democratic decision that was made by the party to which the former senator belonged. It is not fitting at all to reflect on that other than to say it was a comprehensive process that did weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of members of the CLP. The wisdom of that decision is for others to judge. Notwithstanding that, I would have to say do not misunderstand the fact that nobody stood up this morning as implying a lack of support. It was a complete surprise that such a tribute was to be paid and it would not be done in a political sense, but genuinely to reflect on the great work that Senator Grant Tambling has contributed to the growth and development of the Northern Territory and he is to be saluted.
I take the opportunity to follow on from the member for Greatorex. My interest in the Chinese New Year is that there is a different form of horoscope. I am not one who is a great believer in fortune telling and horoscopes, but I thought it might be worth visiting the Chinese Horoscope for 2002 and look at it from a particular point of view. It may be of some illumination and cause us to consider what may lie ahead.
Dr Burns: Fortune telling! Christians don’t do that. That’s true. It’s a curse!
Mr MILLS: Oh, there, there. It is not a curse. I am going to read what I have discovered in this book that my colleague read to you when he informed us about the Year of the Horse. I thought it might be of interest to look at if a child was born, on say, 18 August, I wondered what sort of animal that would be. You would be surprised to find – and I did not know this - but the new government, being born on 18 August, is a Snake and a Metal Snake. The CLP, which came into being in 1974, I think June or July, is a Tiger, a Wooden Tiger. So we have a Metal Snake and a Wooden Tiger.
To consult this book, first of all, we have to look at the personality as described in this Chinese fortune telling book. A Metal Snake has this personality: quiet, confident and fiercely independent but prefers to work on his own and will only let a very privileged few into his confidence; quick to spot opportunities and set about achieving objectives with determination; quite astute in financial matters; has a liking for the finer things in life and a good appreciation for the arts and good food; usually has a small group of extremely good friends and can be generous to loved ones.
Going on to some of the prospects as foretold, we have some interesting things to foretell and we will see what happens; whether, member for Greatorex, there is something in this. It says it is going to be a reasonable year for the Snake, but it is going to have its trickier aspects. Many Snakes, it says, have seen some recent changes in their work and will be relatively new to the position and should view the early part of the year as an ideal time to familiarise themselves with their new role. Now is the time to build a base. It says that Snakes new to their position will be establishing or seeking work and should take up any training that is offered - and I would suggest that there has been some training that has been offered by the Tigers, too. But competition, it says, is going to be very fierce.
This is the Year of the Horse, as the member for Greatorex told us, but the challenge that the Year of the Horse places on a Snake is that it is to avoid taking risks and shortcuts or jumping to conclusions about what others want. The Snake may want to progress and show himself in a good light, but he needs to remain aware of the view of all his colleagues and be tactful and discreet. It says here, interestingly, that an ill-considered remark or lapse in judgement could work to serious detriment.
Don’t worry - I am going to balance this up in the interest bipartisanship to look at the fortunes of Tigers this year. It says here that they are going to have, and it probably has already come true, a lively social life, will enjoy meeting up with friends as well as attending a whole variety of social gatherings. Should any Snake be tempted to act in a way which could lead to difficulties or embarrassing situations, remember that the Year of the Horse is not a good for playing with fire or taking risks. And some final words of good advice: you must ensure that you get sufficient rest and exercise as well as having a nutritious and balanced diet. Certainly this year, more than any year, is not a year to neglect oneself.
The key word in this Year of the Horse is to take care. The watch words are take care. Please don’t be complacent or take risks, says the fortune teller. Now, just to probably put another face on this, these are also some famous Snakes: Muhammed Ali fits in the same class; Yasser Arafat; Ronnie Barker; Tony Blair; Cassanova; Chubby Checker; Mahatma Gandhi; W E Gladstone is an interesting one, he is actually Lord Palmerston after which Palmerston was named; Cyndi Lauper; Mao Zedong; Aristotle Onassis; and Oprah Winfrey.
Just to be fair, the thing rolls both ways, what about Tigers? The Tiger’s personality is a very friendly and pleasant; a bit less dependent than some of the other types of Tigers, and is more prepared to work with others to secure desired outcomes; usually very popular; has a large circle of friends and invariably leads a busy and enjoyable social life; and has a good sense of humour.
There are some interesting things here. It says this year can bring its problems and uncertainties. It will also contain some very agreeable times, and the Tiger can look forward to some splendid occasions with both family and friends, especially in the last quarter of the year. It would be a good time to go and visit friends or relations, which I have interpreted as making sure we keep in touch with our friends and relations in our electorates.
There is an indicator that things are looking up for Tigers in this Year of the Horse, but there is something very interesting here and I think we should all be watching it. It says here that the Tiger - and you will be able to help me with this, member for Greatorex: how would you interpret this? - will also enjoy many of the family activities that take place during the year, which could be the parliamentary sittings, and it could be an excellent cause for a memorable celebration, including perhaps, an addition to the family.
Dr Lim: Aha! There may be a by-election coming up.
Mr MILLS: I smell a by-election here foretold. It says the year, just to finish off this part of it, holds fine prospects this year for the Wood Tiger, rests with him to take full advantage of the opportunities that arise. There are plenty of other things here, but I thought that was particularly interesting. Look at the company of Tigers. We have Kofi Annan; Sir David Attenborough; Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands; Beethoven; Chuck Berry; Sir Richard Branson; Garth Brooks; Tom Cruise; Charles de Gaulle; Dwight Eisenhower; Hugh Heffner, probably to balance Cassanova on the other side there; Germaine Greer - do we have Germaine Greer on this side? We do - Marco Polo; Karl Marx, Groucho Marx; H G Wells; Oscar Wilde; and Stevie Wonder.
I just thought I would put that on the record, just as a balance to the Year of the Horse that the member for Greatorex has placed on the record and also in the interests of our multicultural Northern Territory. I will check the book for you, good sir.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Mr Deputy Speaker, this evening I would like to focus attention on the outstanding efforts of some of the young people in Tennant Creek. Stephen Daniels was recently named Youth Citizen of the Year. Stephen successfully runs his own business in his spare time and is presently studying Year 12 at Tennant Creek High School. He is involved in many community activities including St John Ambulance, Scouts and Cadets. Stephen is an excellent role model to all youth and I applaud him for his efforts.
Diane Lehto and Maria Williams have recently returned from Canberra where they attended an AusDance summer dance school. Whilst in Armidale recently with Arid Zone Dancers, they were alerted to the summer school that I have just referred to. Seeing it as a great opportunity, they successfully raised the required funds and attended. As a result of this, Diane and Maria will be holding workshops in Tennant Creek for young people during the Youth and Desert Harmony week. Both Diane and Maria are also looking to dance and arts as a career. I am sure that with their determination, they will be successful. Diane is also an accomplished singer and with careful guidance, I believe that she has a potential to achieve a great deal in this area.
Another fine example of how goals can be reached with determination and talent is Shirleen Alum. Shirleen completed her schooling at Tennant Creek High School, achieving good results in Year 12. Shirleen has always demonstrated an interest and talent for outdoor education. As a result of that, Shirleen, some years back, approached Normandy Mining to see if she could do her work experience with their environmental section. After demonstrating excellent work effort and initiative, and a genuine interest in her chosen field, Normandy offered Shirleen a traineeship in horticulture after she completed her schooling. Most people will be aware that Normandy has closed their operations in Tennant Creek and as a result of that Sherlene was retrenched, but she went on to complete her Level 3 in Horticultural Landscaping and Design. Shirleen now works as a lecturer with the NTU teaching five different groups in horticulture. She fits all this into her morning sessions as she is currently part time with the NTU. Her goal for the year is to be full time with NTU and complete a Level 4 certificate. Shirleen is another great role model and her friends, family and community, and particularly the people in Elliott, are very, very proud of Shirleen and her efforts over the last few years.
I would also like to just very briefly mention some events that will be occurring in the Barkly region over the next few months, and I will obviously refer to these in other adjournments. Anyinginyi Sports and Recreation Centre is giving youth in Tennant Creek an opportunity to design and paint murals on their centre. It is a brand new building which is going to serve the young people in Tennant Creek well. This is basically designed to involve young people in the ownership of their community. To George Butler and Shirley Lewis, Kim Braham and others, I congratulate them on their commitment to the community and particularly their commitment to the young people.
Ali Curung Council – we have heard people mention this community previously in respect to their law and order strategy and, again, I think it is indicative of the council in respect to its forward looking and innovative approach in dealing with problems - will be holding a Youth Expo which will be focussing on healthy lifestyle including work habits, good diet, alcohol and drugs. In that community, I would like to pay tribute to Gwen Brown who is the President of Ali Curung Council and also an Aboriginal community police officer, and also LJ - Lionel Jackson. Both of these people have for a very long time contributed significantly to their community, and I applaud their efforts.
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight to pay tribute to a Territorian of long standing who died on 25 February, and that is Roger Rooney. Roger died after a very long illness. He really had the most extraordinary career, and I would like to put that on the public record because he made a great contribution to the Territory.
Roger was born in Dublin in 1942. He was raised in England, and was there until he was about 20, and he worked as a stockbroker and ran a bowling hall. In 1963, he did the reverse of what many in Australia did, which was to travel overland to Europe. He actually drove in a Mini Minor with his friend, Bruce Ricks, from the UK to India which must, in 1963, have been the most extraordinary trip. From India, he shipped the car to Australia and he arrived, in 1964, in Darwin.
Roger and Bruce started work with VB Perkins, and Roger initially was a cook. He then worked with Karl Atkinson doing diving work around Darwin, later getting involved with teaching water skiing and an outboard motor business. A couple of years later, he moved to South Australia where he was involved with aerial spraying and he alternated that between the wheat season in South Australia and the cotton season in Kununurra.
In 1971, he came back to Darwin and again worked with VB Perkins as General Manager. He remained there for some 13 years. During that time he pioneered coastal shipping routes and NT links with Southeast Asia, and pioneered live cattle exports using barges. In the early 1980s, with his brother Chris, he was really in the forefront of the commercialisation of the Territory’s mango industry.
Roger was heavily involved in the construction of Frances Bay Fishing Boat Basin. He was involved with Seven Spirit Bay and the land clearing at Hudson Creek, which has now seen quite a substantial industrial area begin around Hudson Creek.
In 1984, with his brother Chris, he started Rooney Shipping which was based in Darwin. It was primarily a tug and barge business initially specialising in work for mining and oil companies in remote areas across Southeast Asia which often required innovative solutions to overcome the difficulties from the isolation and also problems in local terrain. In 1993, he converted two cargo ships for carrying live cattle. The ships, designed to carry cattle north and cargo south, were an innovative approach and enabled the pioneering of new trade routes. Other ships were simply unable to do this.
As well as in Southeast Asia, Rooney Ships have operated to Egypt, Libya, Korea, South Africa, Namibia, Mauritius and Mexico. Roger was very proud of the fact that he started Rooney Shipping and that no other businesses were affected but that new business was generated. Rooney Shipping has been able to adapt to various cargos and the irregular demands that are often the problems that businesses do face in the Top End.
Rooney Shipping grew to six ships just prior to the Asian economic collapse at which time the fleet was about to expand to seven ships. Rooney Shipping managed to survive this economic downturn until business expanded following the East Timor crisis in 1999. At the time of that crisis, Roger donated the MV Carabao to the Red Cross for the delivery of humanitarian aid and that vessel was the first aid vessel to dock in Dili. Rooney Shipping has continued to operate to East Timor and is currently the principle stevedoring operator at the Port of Dili.
The company had a great understanding of the flow of cargo in Southeast Asia and Australia and the opportunities that were available.
It was an extraordinary business developed by Roger and his brother, Chris, and certainly one that has expanded and taken opportunities as they have come up to build that business.
Roger Rooney was also a driving force in the creation of Territory Expo. I was there the night that he was inaugurated into the Exporters Hall of Fame - that was at the 2001 Export Awards. He was also involved in many community activities.
I wanted to place on record tonight his enormous contribution to the Territory and acknowledge that. It is very sad that at a relatively young age, following a long illness, that he died on 25 February. He was widely respected in the community and I am sure all honourable members extend their deepest sympathy to Roger’s wife, Judy, and their children Oliver, Simon, Timothy and Emily.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of Year 9 students from Marrara Christian School, accompanied by their teacher, Petero Vereakula. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend a warm welcome.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Chief Minister’s Study Award for Women
Chief Minister’s Study Award for Women
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to inform the House today of the recipients of the inaugural Chief Minister’s Study Award for Women. It is a fitting time to announce the winners, as I am sure we are all aware tomorrow is International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day was first celebrated over 140 years ago in 1857 when large numbers of women working in the garment and textile factories protested about long working hours and poor pay conditions.
The day was first celebrated in Australia in Sydney in 1928. International Women’s Day has become a time for celebration, a time to reflect on the progress and choices which women have made, or a time for asserting women’s political, social and economic rights. International Women’s Day has come to be regarded as a day for public events, for women to gather, listen to speakers and to simply enjoy each other’s company.
My Study Award for Women was introduced in October 2001 and links with my government’s policy focus on employment and training. The award is made available to women enrolled for study in vocational and tertiary programs in the Territory. Each year, the award makes available $14 000 for a tertiary study program and $6000 for a vocational study program. The award was created to assist women gain formal qualifications and enhance their employment and general life outcomes. It recognises that women are currently under-represented in some occupational sectors, on average earn less than their male counterparts and, again, on average are less financially secure on retirement.
This award was promoted widely throughout each region in the Territory and received high levels of interest and support. Over 320 application forms were requested, with 111 applications received. Fifteen applications were from the Alice Springs region, three from the Barkly, 83 from Darwin, eight from Katherine and two from East Arnhem. The percentage of applications for tertiary courses was 87.4% and 12.6% for vocational courses.
A panel was chaired by Dr Robyn Thompson, Convenor of the Women’s Advisory Council; Professor Ron McKay, Vice-Chancellor of the Northern Territory University and Ms Betty Pearce, Acting Director of the Institute of Aboriginal Development in Alice Springs.
In assessing applications, the panel was particularly mindful of issues relating to social disadvantage, the potential of an application to succeed in the nominated study program, skills areas of importance to the Territory, and commitment of each applicant to the Territory. The panel was impressed by the quality of the applications and the stories told; stories of women balancing work, home, community and family responsibilities; women starting out; women wanting to return or advance in the workforce; women who have undertaken preparatory studies; and women who are simply determined to do their very best.
Madam Speaker and honourable members of the Assembly, I would like to advise that the recipients of the 2002 Chief Minister’s Study Award for Women are Penny Smith and Renae McGarvie.
Penny Nangala Smith is a Jingili women of the Barkly region who lives in Tennant Creek. She will be studying an Associate Diploma of Social Science through Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Education. Penny plans to work with Aboriginal people and their communities to promote healthy lifestyles and help improve the lives of her people as well as non-indigenous people who are affected by alcohol and other drugs. Certainly from this House, congratulations to Penny.
Renae McGarvie is a policewoman from Alyangula and will be studying for a Bachelor of Business through the Northern Territory University. Renae is working to increase the representation in senior policing by women and ethnic and minority groups. She intends to implement best practice management as her contribution to the police force. Again, from this House, congratulations to Renae.
It is inspiring to note that Territory women are committed to professional development, academic studies, career enhancement and the Northern Territory. I would also like to take this opportunity to foreshadow the launch of a new program celebrating the achievements of Northern Territory women. The Tribute to Territory Women will be officially launched at lunch time today, and I look forward to being able to outline this exciting new program.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, first, the opposition congratulates the recipients of the new Women’s Study Award. This, of course, was a variation of the previous government’s Women’s Fellowship Awards. We accept that this new government may be changing some things and rebadging others. Nevertheless, we graciously acknowledge the Chief Minister’s attempts to do positive things for women in the community by awarding them these study awards. Again, we wish the recipients well.
The opposition, however, is very concerned - especially on a day when it seems gender has become something of an issue - at the government’s performance in relatively recent times, and we refer in particular to the fact that the Women’s Advisory Council’s Alicia Johnson Memorial Lecture was almost lost but for the actions of some Labor women and I hope that I had a contribution in that lecture being saved; the abolition of the Business Women’s Consultative Council; and we know that the Women’s Advisory Council is likely to be reviewed.
Last week in an adjournment speech, I called on the Chief Minister to adopt such a review in a bipartisan manner - I have still not heard from the Chief Minister. I should table, Madam Speaker, a letter from the Women’s Electoral Lobby. This was addressed to the Chief Minister; copies were sent to a number of women, including myself - I will table it. It is not just me who is concerned at this government’s approach on women’s issues. The relevant extracts are as follows:
- WEL NT is concerned …
- …it was undertaken as cost-cutting exercise without consultation with BWCC members or the
wider community …
- WEL NT believes that it is important for women’s voices to be heard …
Leave granted.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, it is disappointing to hear the opposition in a begrudging way, recognise what this government is doing. In terms of what happens in the area of women, I would have thought we had a very strong statement in this parliament. For the first time, we have more women than we have ever had before - we have seven in here - and that is the first point. It is very appropriate that this new government takes a look at programs from the past, and to imply that if there is a review of the Women’s Advisory Council, that that somehow is a negative thing, is simply absurd.
We need to be looking at mechanisms we have, we need to be refreshing them, we need to be reviewing them, and we will be doing this to make sure that perhaps aspirations from 20 years ago, which were strong and well argued, are not necessarily applicable to today. That Women’s Advisory Council will be bipartisan. I have made very clear on issues to do with women, I want bipartisan support from this parliament, and I hope I will get it.
Members: Hear, hear!
Desert Knowledge Project - Progress
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I present a ministerial report on the progress of the Desert Knowledge Project. Members of this House will already be aware of Desert Knowledge. This project is a vehicle for drawing together the collective expertise and knowledge of Australians living in our arid zones, and marketing of this knowledge nationally and internationally for the benefit of this region’s economy and society.
The Desert Knowledge precinct on south Stuart Highway will bring together the Desert People’s Centre, CSIRO, Primary Industry, and Parks and Wildlife, creating valuable partnerships. We have previously announced this government’s solid support for the project. Our government has committed $250 000 per annum for three years for project development. In addition, we have committed $10m for capital development for the Desert People’s Centre and Desert Knowledge Precinct.
The planning team for the Desert People’s Centre has made excellent progress with developing a master plan that will be submitted to the Commonwealth government in March seeking matching funding for the construction program. This multi-million dollar construction program will expand the work available to the local building industry.
Another significant part of the project will be the Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre, the CRC, which is in an advanced stage of planning for submission to the Commonwealth in May. The CRC will encourage partnerships at a national and international level between business, industry, universities, CSIRO, and other private and public sector agencies, building on activities that occur in arid Australia. I am delighted in the appointment of a former Rio Tinto executive, Paul Wand, to the position of Chair of the CRC. Mr Wand’s acceptance is a windfall for the project. His experience, including five years as Vice-President of Aboriginal Relations for Rio Tinto, has given him a deep understanding of the private sector, Commonwealth government relations and indigenous issues. He also understands remote regions and the complex issues that we face.
The focus of the CRC proposal is on how to achieve new economies based on desert knowledge in regions characterised by low and dispersed populations. In the centre of Australia we cannot just use a model of economic growth developed somewhere else - we have to have our own competitive advantages and difficulties which means that we have to develop our own solutions. The CRC will involve small business, indigenous people and other agencies to ensure outcomes that are practical and useful to the region, as well as of national economic and social significance. A successful CRC bid would attract $2m to $3m of Commonwealth money per year for seven years for research and capacity building, providing exceptional long term continuity. The bid will be submitted by the end of May this year and, if successful, funding will commence in July 2003.
A road show has toured regional centres in Desert Australia and was hugely successful. The Mayor of Alice Springs, Fran Kilgariff, and the Desert Knowledge Project Officer, Mike Crowe, led a team of people to Tennant Creek, Mt Isa, Port Augusta, Broken Hill and Kalgoorlie. The visits were aimed at generating interest and support for the CRC, and the central event for Year of the Outback proposed in Alice Springs in September. Meetings in Tennant Creek, Port Augusta,. Broken Hill, Kalgoorlie and Mt Isa attracted considerable attention. The Mt Isa Chamber of Commerce, the State Development Agency, the Mt Isa to Townsville Economic Zone and the Carpentaria Land Council showed particular interest.
Being able to extend the Desert Knowledge concept beyond the Northern Territory border is especially encouraging. Interstate partnerships will be of major importance to the success of Desert Knowledge.
The International Desert Knowledge Innovation Centre is a third activity to be based at the Desert Knowledge precinct, and it offers considerable potential to expand the business and development opportunities in Central Australia. Already, the University of Texas has expressed an interest in being part of this exciting initiative. In this program, the Innovation Centre would become a key node in a national and international research, development and business operation. This network will enable smaller business to be part of a broader capacity for delivering products and services to global desert communities, and in creating ideas for innovation here in the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, I am personally very proud to be given carriage of this by the Chief Minister. We look forward to bipartisan support for what will be one of the key economic development opportunities for the Territory in the next three to four years.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, since travelling to Israel in the last parliamentary term, I have become convinced how effective an arid zone can become in making the desert bloom. Considering that Israel is a country one-tenth the size of my electorate, it manages to feed six million people by its own abilities and skills. Politically stable arid zones are, indeed, a rare thing in the world.
As a consequence, the Desert Knowledge project presents an opportunity to the Northern Territory government, as well as the people of the Northern Territory, to develop its arid zones for the betterment of all. The Desert Knowledge project, which was brought forward by the former government was and is an excellent project which will receive support as long as this government continues to support proper funding processes for it.
It continues to be a total irritation for me that situations like the Ilparpa Swamp in Alice Springs are allowed to continue where we effectively evaporate two billion litres of water off the swamp for no other reason than it is the most inexpensive way to get rid of spare sewerage water. I hope that this Desert Knowledge project learns new ways to use that type of water for economic outcomes rather than seeing it wasted into the atmosphere.
I am encouraged by the expenditure, eventually, of $10m into the project. I have to congratulate Mr Wand on his appointment, but I also would like to congratulate Dr Bruce Walker who was the brains trust behind this from the Centre of Appropriate Technology, who initially drove this idea. Not to mention him at this stage would be utterly remiss. I will keep an eye on this project as it proceeds and, if the Northern Territory government continues to maintain its commitment as stated here in the House today, then I look forward to it. I congratulate the former as well as the current government in pursuing this particular project.
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for the bipartisan support they are offering, and look forward to working on this project into the future.
Parliamentary Sitting Dates and Budget Sittings for 2002
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I would like to report this morning on two issues of importance to parliament. In the first case, the government has a number of important legislative matters that need to be passed by this parliament before the end of the financial year, including the comprehensive drugs legislative package to be introduced in the May sittings, and amendments to existing laws to ensure they are compatible with the requirements of national competition policy.
As a result of these legislative pressures which have emerged since the legislative timetable was drawn up late last year, parliament will reconvene for three days from 18 to 20 June. There will be no overall increase in the number of sitting days as the last sittings of parliament for the year will be reduced by three days. Thus, the parliament will meet for the three days of 26 to 28 November, meaning the first week of the November sittings has been shifted to June. The June sittings are timed to be outside of the main Territory school holiday period and, at this stage, are not expected to clash with other major events.
Secondly, the timing of the 2002-03 budget. For some years now, the Territory’s budget has been brought down in April or May, with debate and passage of the Appropriation Act in June, so the budget was in place on 1 July, the start of the new budget year. This year, the government will bring down the 2002-03 budget in August. The main reason for the timing of the government’s first full budget is the introduction of budgeting on an accrual basis as part of the implementation of Working for Outcomes. Working for Outcomes is the new financial and performance management framework for the Territory public sector, based on the accrual output methodology. The framework is similar to that adopted in other jurisdictions throughout Australia, and that recommended by Professor Allan in his report on Territory finances last year.
It will complete a process commenced by the former government, and will go much of the way toward addressing concerns about budgetary information that the Auditor-General has frequently raised with respect to performance reporting of government activity. Working for Outcomes will provide a better basis for resource allocation by the government by focussing on outputs and performance, clearly defining links between desired outcomes and outputs produced, and providing information on the full cost of producing those outputs. Whilst the 2002-03 budget will be an accrual budget, appropriation for agency budgets will be made on a cash basis. This will assist agencies in the transition to a full accrual model as reliable, historical accrual information is not available such that it could be included in the budget and, as such, there is the potential for significant movements in accrual numbers in the early years.
Providing funding on a cash basis will prevent the need for large adjustments in appropriation as the accrual components of agency budgets become better understood and the figures more robust. The use of a cash appropriation in the initial years, and with accrual budgets consistent with practice in other jurisdictions, the cash appropriation will be made at the agency level and will be net of agency revenue. This will allow greater flexibility for agencies to manage their budgets. A separate capital appropriation will also be made to fund the capital works and capital items programs of agencies.
A further feature of the 2002-03 budget is that it will be prepared in accordance with the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act. The Under Treasurer will sign off on the underlying assumptions used to develop the budget and the forward estimates. With an August budget, the question of supply arises for the period 1 July to the date of passage of the Appropriation Bill. A Supply Bill will be tabled in the May 2002 sittings, and passed in the June sittings, to facilitate the continuing operations of government in the new financial year until the Appropriation Bill is passed by parliament in September.
Government acknowledges the key advantage of an earlier budget is to provide useful information to the construction sector regarding the government’s capital works programs for the following year. The potential criticism is therefore that the later budget will delay this information going out. I want to assure the construction sector that the government, as it has done since it achieved office, will continue to keep the construction sector aware of new capital works proposals or additional funding for existing works as they emerge. There is no particular reason why these announcements have to be kept to the budget timetable. It is the government’s aim to ensure there is an even flow of work and cash across the Territory as a result of government activity, and government expects to return to the usual April/May timeframe for 2003-04 budget.
Hon Grant Tambling – Former Senator
Mr STIRLING (Deputy Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I wish to report to the Assembly on Grant Tambling who was, until recently, the CLP Senator for the Northern Territory.
Grant Tambling has concluded a distinguished career in public life spanning all spheres of government, an achievement probably very few Australians are able to claim. Often, this side of the House disagreed with Grant Tambling, but I believe it is appropriate for this Chamber to recognise his career.
Grant was born and raised in Darwin, educated in Darwin and Adelaide and started his working life as an insurance consultant with the AMP Society. In 1972, his first foray into politics was with the Darwin City Council, elected as an alderman. He had barely settled to that role when the federal Labor government established a fully elected Legislative Assembly for the Territory. Grant joined the new Country Liberal Party and was pre-selected for the seat of Fannie Bay and won in the first Legislative Assembly elections in 1974.
He held a number of executive posts in that first Assembly, including Treasurer. He lost his seat to Labor’s Pam O’Neil in the 1977 election and returned to his insurance consultancy. He also ran an art gallery, Craftsman Galleries - Darwin. This was a setback for Grant’s political career but not for all that long; he looked further afield to Canberra. In 1980, he got his chance. Grant was pre-selected as the House of Representatives candidate to succeed Sam Calder. During this time in the House of Representatives, he served on a number of committees, particularly those concerned with Aboriginal affairs. In 1983, he was defeated by Labor’s John Reeves and returned to small business, purchasing a newsagency in the Parap-Fannie Bay area.
Members can now see that by 1983, Grant Tambling had already served at the local government level, the state/territory level and the federal level. Bob Collins, never that reverent, was heard to quip about Grant as being ‘One-Term Tambling’, and Grant Tambling himself has made jokes of the number of maiden speeches he has made in his career in public life.
This was not the end of Grant’s political aspirations or, indeed, his achievements. In 1987, he was again pre-selected and again, he won. This time it was the Senate and this was no One-Term Tambling because he was to be there for 14 years. His time in the Senate was busy. He had long held certain values that he pursued in the parliament in relation to indigenous affairs and statehood for the Territory. He was busy in a wide range of committees and leadership roles, holding office in a range of administrations in both opposition and government.
I have not listed the offices or the range of committees on which he served - there simply is not adequate time here this morning. Suffice to say, it does add to an impressive list. During his valedictory debate in the Senate, senators from both sides spoke highly of Grant and the work he put in. Trish Crossin, the Territory’s Labor’s Senator, said in speaking about the cooperation she received:
- The times when Senator Tambling and I would talk in corners or in corridors, we were known to be having
a ‘Territory caucus’ and people would often be suspicious about what we were up to. But it was always, and
this is to Senator Tambling’s credit, in the best interest of Territorians, no matter what their background was
and no matter what they did in the Territory – but particularly for businesses.
Bob Collins, our former Labor Senator, has similar recollections about Grant Tambling. Other Senators spoke of their encounters on the committee work that Grant was involved in. He was no time server. He believed in what he was doing and he worked hard to those ends.
In one of his last speeches in the Senate, Grant Tambling spoke on the work that still needs to be done in the Territory, touching on the constitutional development for the Territory and the need to achieve genuine statehood. He also spoke of his views on the euthanasia debate and the implications that constitutional reform would have on Territory legislation. He spoke on transport infrastructure and what has to happen after the railway is completed to maximise the benefits. He outlined issues of taxation in rural and remote Australia and spoke on a range of other issues. There are issues that consistently appeared throughout Grant Tambling’s contributions, and they were his concern for poor health, employment and education outcomes for the indigenous people of the Territory, issues this government is now working hard to address, and it may say something about matters not achieved by the previous administration.
Madam Speaker, it is clear that Grant Tambling is a man of principle, as evidenced by his long and distinguished career in public life, and it was a stand of principle, of course, that led to the demise of his political career. I believe all members should join the government in wishing him every success for his future.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I advise members that I will speak in the Adjournment Debate tonight and also compliment Grant Tambling on his career. I think it is appropriate that this parliament should recognise that.
Reports noted pursuant to sessional order.
RACING AND BETTING AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 35)
(Serial 35)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
Recently, I announced a number of changes affecting bookmakers including a reduction in the tax rates, the migration of Sportingbet Australia to the Territory, and a proposal to remove the restriction on bookmakers offering odds based on final totalisator dividends. This bill proposes to address the latter of these issues.
Currently, the Racing and Betting Act prohibits bookmakers from offering to pay winnings that are the equivalent to, or based on, a totalisator dividend. The prohibition does not extend to dividends offered by the Northern Territory’s licensed totalisator, NT TAB. Accordingly, a bookmaker, when offering to pay winnings that are the equivalent of a totalisator dividend, can currently only offer the Northern Territory totalisator prices. The particular provision dates back to 1989. It is difficult to understand its rationale in today’s wagering environment. It is difficult to see that limiting a bookmaker to offer a specific tote dividend presents any benefit to the Northern Territory. A number of other jurisdictions do not restrict the offering of odds based on final tote dividends. The current restriction has an impact on current and future Territory operators.
Recently, I announced the arrival of Sportingbet Australia Pty Ltd to Darwin. One of their most popular products enables the client to choose the option of taking the final New South Wales or Victorian tote dividend. Accordingly, the current restriction would prohibit that product and thus jeopardise the potential tax revenue expected from that business. Furthermore, International Allsports currently offer a ‘Diviplus’ product which pays above the highest tote dividend from the range of tote pools in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Removing the restriction will remove any doubt about the legitimacy of that product.
As noted earlier, there appears no basis for the legislative restriction. Its removal will provide punters with greater flexibility and betting options, and is consistent with National Competition Policy Principles. I have an explanatory memorandum with me which I will send across to the shadow minister.
Madam Speaker, I commend the Racing and Betting Amendment Bill 2002 to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
POLICE ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT BILL (No 2)
(Serial 32)
(Serial 32)
Continued from 28 November 2001
Mr BURKE (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I signal straight up that the opposition supports this legislation in its entirety. It also supports the amendment that is proposed with regards to the form of oath or affirmation that will be taken by members and deputy members of the tribunal. That will come through in the committee stages.
It is a good initiative by the new government. It follows, as is indicated in the second reading speech, a promise by the then opposition that they would bring this forward if they came into government. It also follows on the fact that it was part of the Police Consent Agreement by the previous government that we would move forward with this sort of tribunal. So what has come before us today in legislation is essentially the product of what the Police Association wants and continues a process where, under the Police Administration Act, all issues regarding remuneration for police is kept entirely within the confines of the Northern Territory under our own legislative mechanism rather than through the Industrial Relations Commission.
I thank the police minister for the way he has kept me well informed of this legislation, including the amendments. I thank his staff; they have been particularly cooperative in bringing forward information that we required. I had a couple of questions with regard to the legislation on perusing it. They were with regard to the fact that the act provides for an appeal against a decision by the tribunal only to the Supreme Court, and then only on a point of law I wondered why that was not to the Industrial Relations Commission. And if not, why not to the Supreme Court on issues other than a point of law? The answers given to me are worth reading into Hansard because others might have the same questions. I will read them in; they certainly answer my questions:
The Police Arbitral Tribunal, PAT, is established under the Police Administration Act, a law of the
Northern Territory. Industrial issues involving police have not been ceded to the Australian
Industrial Relations Commission as they remain matters over which the NT wishes to exercise full
control. The PAT has jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters relating to the remuneration and
terms and conditions of service of members of the police force other than for the Commissioner, the
Deputy Commissioner, an Assistant Commissioner or a member of the rank of Commander.
- It is therefore the Police Administration Tribunal under the Police Administration Act which is the proper
forum for industrial matters concerning members of the NT Police Force and not the Australian Industrial
Relations Commission under the Workplace Relations Act of the Commonwealth. The appropriate appeal
is to the Northern Territory Supreme Court.
I do believe it is important that a member of the Industrial Relations Commission is considered to be part of that tribunal wherever possible. Even though changes are being made with PAT, this is a continuation of what has been a practice in the past of keeping these issues within the jurisdiction of the Northern Territory.
Why are appeals are only in a point of law and not on a decision - the answer provided:
Providing appeals to the Supreme Court on questions of law enable decisions to be appealed and reversed and is consistent with various other appeals to the Supreme Court from other courts and judicial bodies. Examples of other NT legislation providing appeals on questions of law only are the Local Court Act and the Work Health Act.
The only other question the minister might answer in his reply, and it is only a small point, but the reference to ‘the Secretary’ in the legislation. I just wonder who the secretary is. Is that just a normal administrative appointment or is it some particular person who is appointed in some other way? It just seems that the secretary has charge of particular facets in terms of informing people, and they are named particularly in the bill.
With those few points, Madam Speaker, we support the legislation and the amendment.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I also support the new bill and the amendments. I had some discussions with the Police Association which, as the Leader of the Opposition has said, strongly supports these changes.
The Association has felt that they have been disadvantaged for a number of years because they are regarded as officers of the Crown and not just normal employees. They emphasised they have never gone on strike, nor do I believe they have ever wanted to because I think they understand the highly responsible job they hold in society. But they have always had a problem with a one person tribunal to hear their complaints and the Association says that it has never won anything in front of the present tribunal and it is probably no wonder that it took a long time for the government to change the status quo.
They also raised the issue of the appeals. They quoted, for instance, where there may be an issue over housing, it is very difficult to appeal on the grounds of law if you have a problem regarding housing. They would like to see some mechanism where, for instance, if you want to appeal on the issues of merit when it comes to housing, there should be some mechanism to do that. Not everything is based on salaries and other things like that.
It is also good to see the matter of the oath and the affirmation being included in the bill. That was an issue that was raised with me and I am sure the Police Association is happy that it has been added.
Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for the opportunity to put forward my questions on this bill, and I thank the Police Association for their input as well.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in favour of the amendments to the Police Administration Act. Before speaking specifically about the amendments, I would like to once again affirm the high esteem and value that this government places on the Northern Territory Police Force. They are a fine body of men and women who are dedicated to enforcing the law and making our community a safer place.
If I could just digress for a moment, Madam Speaker, it was a pleasure last night, along with members from both sides, to attend a dinner in your office and meet the new Commissioner of Police. It was a very cordial affair, and I thank you for your hospitality, as I am sure many other members do.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr BURNS: Although he is a very quietly spoken man, I am sure our new Commissioner is going to do a fine job. I am sure both sides of this House affirm our support for him in the big job that he has to do as Commissioner of the Northern Territory Police Force.
Returning to the amendments, as has been pointed out, they mainly relate to the Police Arbitral Tribunal which determines matters relating to the remuneration terms and conditions of employment of all Northern Territory police below the rank of Commander. These reforms are tangible evidence of the way in which this government really values and respects our police men and women.
The amendments to the Police Administration Act also represent this government’s commitment to industrial democracy and modern industrial processes. As I said in my maiden speech, I have been a unionist for much of my working life. I am currently a unionist and I am proud of it. I think unions have many constructive contributions to make within our society. I have always said a union is only as good as its membership and, as I have said, I believe that the Police Association is a very fine body of men and women. This bill also fulfils an election promise that we, as a party, made to the Northern Territory Police. It has become evident through this initiative and many others that we have introduced since coming to power that after six months in government, we are moving to effectively implement our election platform of reform in many crucial areas. I am proud of that.
Formerly, the Police Arbitral Tribunal comprised just one person, as the member for Nelson has pointed out. Our amendments make the provision for a tribunal of three: the Chair, who will be appointed by the minister and who has Industrial Relations Commission expertise or is suitably qualified and experienced in another area; the Police Association will also have a nominee to the tribunal and, once again, this underlines our commitment to industrial democracy and our confidence in the Police Association to be an integral part of the tribunal process in order to determine the matters relating to their remuneration and other terms and conditions of employment; and the amendments also provide for a third ministerial nominee who would be a person recommended by the Commissioners of Police and Public Employment.
A crucial and sensible aspect of our amendments is the provision for conciliation before matters can be heard by the tribunal. I believe that this provision promotes amicable and productive negotiations over matters related to remuneration, and terms and conditions of Northern Territory Police officers. This government is committed to conciliation, negotiation and dialogue. Nevertheless, if conciliation fails, the amendments also provides a clear pathway for resolution through hearings of the tribunal. There is also provision to allow either the Commissioner or the Police Association to appeal to the Supreme Court against a decision of the tribunal on a question of law. Once again, a very sensible amendment.
These amendments provide for a sensible and workable framework to resolve industrial disputes involving Northern Territory police officers below the rank of Commander. Such resolution will be fair, just and expeditious. It is also a practical and tangible example of how this government values our public service and our public servants.
Madam Speaker, I commend this bill to honourable members.
Mr STIRLING (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I thank the shadow minister for police for his support of the bill. It certainly was a commitment from our side. I understood it was a commitment of the previous government as well, but we had the happy task of pulling this together. I also thank the member for Johnston for his support of the bill.
A number of people were involved in negotiating just how we would set up this police tribunal, including former Commissioner Brian Bates up until the time he left; current Commissioner Paul White; Andrew Smith and Vince Kelly from the Police Association; and Mr Chris Hayes, who joined us, I think, on a couple of occasions, a man with vast experience in policing and these industrial relations type matters.
We think we have a process that will serve everybody well into the future. We have certainly structured it in that fashion in consultation with the key players in it, so we look forward to getting the tribunal up and running. It is something that obviously we will watch with interest to see if it does meet the needs of the key players. If it needs change at any time, if a case was put to us, we would certainly be looking to amend it in the future. I don’t think that will be the case. I expect this tribunal to settle down and provide a key mechanism for the resolution of different matters that arise from time to time within our police force.
The conciliation process built in is a strong one, and I would hope that that is utilised in the first place with a view to terminating, I suppose, or resolving issues before they actually become matters to be heard before the tribunal. There are minor committee stage amendments, so we will need to go into committee, but I thank members for their support.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Clauses 1 to 3, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 4 agreed to.
Clause 5:
Mr STIRLING: Mr Chairman, this is where we insert the amendment 13.1 standing in my name. The difference here is that we are inserting a section that would require members and deputy members to take an oath or affirmation. I will just read the amending part:
(1) A member of the Tribunal or a deputy of a member of the Tribunal must, before first
exercising his or her powers or performing his or her functions under this Act, make
an oath or affirmation set out in Form 3 in the Schedule.
(2) An oath or affirmation under subsection (1) is to be made before a Justice of the Peace.
I don’t think it is necessary to read the actual terms of the oath. I urge support for that amendment.
Clause 5, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 6 to 8, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Mr STIRLING: Mr Chairman, I move amendment 13.2 standing in my name to insert a new clause. This goes to the actual form of the oath, so we are putting it in by way of a schedule after clause 8, and the schedule is simply amended by adding at the end Form 3, and it is the form of oath to be taken by the member of, or deputy member of, the Police Arbitral Tribunal:
- I, [and the name, of course] do swear that I will bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second,
Her Heirs and Successors according to law, that I will well and truly serve Her while acting as a member of the
Police Arbitral Tribunal and that I will faithfully and impartially perform the duties of a member of the Police
Arbitral Tribunal. So help me God!
The form of affirmation to be taken by a member of, or deputy member of, the Police Arbitral Tribunal reads:
- I, [and the name], do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will bear true allegiance to
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors according to law, that I will
well and truly serve Her while acting as a member of the Police Arbitral Tribunal and that I will
faithfully and impartially perform the duties of a member of the Police Arbitral Tribunal.
New Clause 9 agreed to.
Mr STIRLING: If I may, whilst we are in committee, the shadow minister asked, in his second reading, about the reference to secretary and who that would be. I understand that is a departmental officer who would be appointed to look after the administrative matters relating to the work of the tribunal itself. That would be preparation for conciliation and keeping documents together, and preparation for tribunal hearings as well.
Remainder of the bill, by leave, taken as a whole and agreed to.
Bill reported with amendments; report adopted.
Mr STIRLING (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I move the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Pass Bill through all Stages
Pass Bill through all Stages
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill 2002 (Serial 34) passing through all stages this sittings.
Motion agreed to.
CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLICATIONS, FILMS AND COMPUTER GAMES AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 34)
(Serial 34)
Continued from 28 February 2002.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I can say from the outset that the opposition supports passage of the bill. The bill complements the recent Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Act No. 1 (2001), the Commonwealth act. It is part of a national scheme. It creates certainty. It is an excellent example of both the states and territories and the Commonwealth working together. In a nutshell, the Northern Territory bill broadens the scope of material which is covered by the current legislation and also creates some new offences of selling or delivering certain publications contrary to conditions.
I can indicate that the opposition supports the bill in its entirety.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I support of the Classification of Publications, Films and Computer Games Amendment Bill (2002). As the minister advised in his second reading speech, states, territories and the Commonwealth have joint responsibility for the classification of all publications, films and computer games. The enforcement of the scheme, however, is the responsibility of each state and territory.
This bill provides for an amendment to the application section of the principal act to ensure that it does not apply to exempt films as defined under the Commonwealth act; the changing of determined marketing and consumer advice on classified publications, computer games, advertisements, etcetera, where a reclassification has taken place under the Commonwealth act; new offences dealing with selling certain publications and films contrary to packaging requirements, or without consumer advice as determined by the National Classification Board under the Commonwealth act; and calling in powers to be vested in the Director of the National Classification Board complementary to various provisions in the Commonwealth act.
Film classification is not about censorship, and these amendments are not about denying adults the right to choose what they watch, read and play. What this bill is about is a realisation that some material, if not managed, can have a detrimental effect on some members of our community, in particular, children and young adolescents. There have been many studies on the effects of violence in media. In one report to the Family and Community Development Committee of the Victorian parliament, the Victorian Community Council Against Violence advised:
- The council would like to say that what causes violence and what causes some to be victims of violence is very
complex and can be influenced by the interplay of a range of factors. It is difficult to isolate one cause, but the
council takes the view that TV and multimedia have pervasive influence in our community and society and have
played a role in promoting and supporting what we would call a culture of violence.
- In general, the research on television and multimedia violence suggests three main classes of effect:
Aggression: viewing televised violence can lead to increases in aggressive behaviour and/or
changes in attitudes and values favouring the use of aggression to solve conflicts;
greater willingness to tolerate increasing levels of violence in society;
in which viewers overestimate their risk of victimisation.
- 10. parents have an important role to play in supervising their children’s viewing, teaching children about
the differences between television or film violence and real-life situations, and encouraging critical
evaluation of onscreen images;
2. some people may imitate what they see on television and video (and many do not);
4. the relationship between viewing violent screen images and exhibiting aggressive behaviour
appears to be bi-directional. That is, aggressive people are more likely to watch violence, and
people who watch violence are more likely to be aggressive.
Another study, reported in the American Family Physician, on video games, TV and aggressive behaviour in children noted that, in addition to television, movies and video games are sources of children’s increased exposure to violence. Research has shown that exposure to violence can increase a child’s use of violence to resolve conflict, desensitise children from violence and the victimisation of others, and create the belief that the world is a mean and scary place. The finding of this study also supports the relationship between media viewing and aggressive behaviour in children, and the benefits of reducing children’s media exposure.
It is clear then, that by informing the public of what rating video games have, parents may be able to influence their child’s exposure to risk. The Office of Film and Literature Classification does not arrive at a rating haphazardly but, rather, after quite a lot of consideration. As an example, I would like to share with you some of the deliberations made about a video game entitled Grand Theft Auto III:
- In reaching this decision, the Review Board took into account the Guidelines, which state:
- These guidelines are, at the direction of Commonwealth, state and territory ministers, to be applied
more strictly than those for the classification of film and videotape. The ministers are concerned that
games, because of their ‘interactive nature’, may have greater impact, and therefore greater potential
for harm or detriment, on young minds than film or videotape.
- Under this scheme, classification decisions are to give effect, as far as is possible, to the principles
spelt out in the Code that:
(b) minors should be protected from material likely to harm or disturb them; and
(d) the need to take account of community concerns.
Grand Theft Auto III is a violent game that requires a mature perspective from the gamer. The Review Board
considered that possibly most of the game’s target audience would have this mature perspective (that is, those
over 18 and some people aged 15 and over, but not most 15, 16 and 17 year olds).
It is possible to play this game as a pure vendetta against sex workers and attack them to take money,
particularly after what has the appearance of having sex with them, for which the gamer has paid.
However, the Review Board believed that while the only women depicted in the game are a crime boss,
sex workers and victims, that the denigration of women, or portrayal of women in demeaning roles, is not
the game’s purpose and that gamers who indulged in extremes of such play would not be following the game
as intended. The Review Board has to consider the likely impact of the majority of gamers. Indeed, all the
people in the game (male, female, or any or all races) are either criminals or victims.
The Review Board believes that the primary market for the game is males. While some females might play this
game it has few rewards for women and according to the study commissioned by the OFLC women are not
attracted to driving games. Women are not portrayed in valued roles, except for one female Asian (albeit crime) boss.
The Review Board is required to reflect contemporary community standards in its decisions.
The Review Board considered whether “revenge” on women or women who looked like the girlfriend (ie sex
workers) was a specific aim of the game. Whilst this is possible and is rewarded by money and increasing health
if sex workers are targeted (the only group which gives this benefit), the Review Board considered that gamers
would not necessarily pursue this action. However, given the easily available advice on how to improve health
by beating sex workers it is possible that this would be a common action by gamers.
The Review Board considered whether the game should be refused classification on the grounds of “sexualised
violence” as outlined by the Classification Board.
The Review Board found:
- The impact of the violence goes beyond that which most people would consider reasonable, particularly if some
of the cheats and guides are used to increase the gore levels, even for this type of game.
In considering the evidence before it, it was the decision of the Review Board that Grand Theft Auto III contained
material which, on a cumulative basis and given a high degree of flexibility and control by the gamer who could
increase the already serious levels of violence, was unsuitable for a minor to see or play.
In the absence of an R-rating for computer games, as is available to the Review Board for films and videotapes,
the Review Board classified the game RC.
That is, Refused Classification. I have had a quick look at the latest list on the Internet from the Office of Film and Literature Classification on recent video games which have received a similar rating of RC classification. Some of the titles, I would suggest, hint at the content: Texas Table Dance; Digital Dancing - The Erotic Challenge; Immoral Combat; Immortal Comeback; and Girlie Game - said to be Peach 02, the Girlie Game. Indeed, the member for Katherine indicated in a debate in this House in December 1997 that he recognised the influence multimedia could have on shaping our youth’s attitudes. He stated, and I quote:
- In an atmosphere of changed values, greater independence and freedom in our society, there also exists easy
access to materials that can be used to influence the young and susceptible. Explicit videos, books and
magazines are available in astounding variety, as I found during a recent visit to some outlets in Sydney.
While many of these products are based on adult relationships, they could be used to influence teenagers, and
it is not difficult to find publications that could be applied directly to them. An example is the magazine Freshman,
which makes reference to a teacher-student relationship in a ‘back-to-school special’, lending itself to the interpretation
that the behaviour being portrayed is not out of the ordinary in schools.
I have not reviewed this magazine like the member for Katherine, but I daresay that it is this type of publication which will be directly affected by the packaging requirements brought on by this amendment. I commend the member for Katherine for his vision for reviewing this publication, as well as a number of video tapes, while he was away on parliamentary business in Sydney all those years ago. The member for Katherine forcefully stated that he would continue to pursue the matter of material in the market place that can be used by people to influence young kids. However, it would appear, once again, that it has fallen to this government to once more finish yet another CLP initiative.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to the House.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for their indicated support for the bill and the contribution from the member for Sanderson. To put a bit of colour around the issues here, in looking at the classification structure and the reasons for making decisions, it is very clear that not only is it a somewhat lurid topic at times, but it is also very much a moving situation in that the broadcast sector and the IT sector are continually converging so we are finding this kind of information is starting to transmute into all sorts of new, not only forms, but also contexts for use.
It is going to get more and more difficult to juggle the Broadcasting Act and the act regarding classification of products to give overall protection to our communities. I am sure we will be revisiting these issues periodically in this House as the situation changes and new contexts emerge that we have to deal with.
For all that, I think the member for Goyder was quite right; this is a good example of the Commonwealth offering the classificatory function, the states and territories carrying out the enforcement once the classifications are made. I think it is a very good arrangement. It means that there is a centralised judgement of the appropriateness of material and the degree of protection needing to be put around material that might be offensive or damaging to the community, whereas the enforcement, I think, is best done at the local and contextual level. It is a very sensible arrangement and it is one we are now bringing up to date through this bill today, given that the Commonwealth made changes to their act and we now have to respond.
I again apologise to members for having to bring this in on urgency, but 22 March is almost upon us. We need to have our enforcement arrangements in place in line with the new Commonwealth provisions.
Motion agreed to, bill read a second time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General) (by leave): Madam Speaker, as there are no amendments, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to, bill read a third time.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Indigenous Issues
Indigenous Issues
Mr AH KIT (Assisting Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs): Madam Speaker, I am not the first Aboriginal minister in a parliament. That privilege belongs to a countryman from Western Australia. Nevertheless, my position as a minister in the Martin Labor government is an enormous privilege as well as a humbling experience. There is no way, as an Aboriginal kid growing up in the Parap Camp, that I could even have contemplated becoming a parliamentary representative. Indeed, who else could have imagined that a bare-footed ratbag running round the camp would have ended up in this place? However, here I am, and I hope what I learnt as a kid and later in my working life will continue to inform and inspire me in this place.
The first thing I learnt is the importance of family and community. That means learning about my Waanyi heritage through my father’s side and, much later, of my Warrumungu descent, long hidden from me as my mother was taken away as a young Aboriginal girl in Tennant Creek. It meant learning about my other relations and friends of the family at the Parap Camp and beyond. It meant, in the context of old Darwin, knocking around with kids from a variety of different ethnic backgrounds including the Greek, Italian and Chinese communities.
It was when I grew up and started work, first as a labourer and truck driver, my eyes were opened to a life in which I left behind the simple pleasures of childhood. They were opened to the many instances of unfairness and inequality - particularly for Aboriginal people - that were part of Territory society in those days. It awoke in me for the first time a sense of responsibility to my people and a sense of purpose in attempting to achieve justice for my people.
After I graduated, I travelled to many of our Aboriginal communities out bush. Sitting around the camp fire, yarning with the old people and watching the faces of kids in the fire light reminded me of my own childhood and of how the lives of Aboriginal people are inextricably linked with each other through family and community. In an important sense, these links are forged by the social interaction that is symbolised by the way us mob - Aboriginal people - gather together around the camp fire. I remember those camp fires and they are my personal light on the hill. The light on the hill, the family fire in the camp, that will show the path forward and in my darkest moments, that is the image I return to. My work here in this place finds inspiration in that simplest of human activities: gathering around the camp fire in the companionship of family and community, yarning about the past, talking about the present and finding hope for all of us in the future.
Many words have been said in this Assembly in the years since self-government about the state of indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. Some of those words have been said with good will and great knowledge; some with hostility; some in plain ignorance. Yet, for all those words, for all those debates over the years, today we must acknowledge some brutal truths about the situation that is faced by Aboriginal Territorians.
Aboriginal Territorians are facing a stark crisis. To say anything else would be to lie, and I believe that now is the time for the truth to be told. We cannot – indeed must not - continue to gild the lily about what is happening on our communities. The lack of transparency about what is happening on our communities is not an indictment of any particular political tendency. Rather, it is an indictment of all governments of all colours over recent decades.
What I am saying here today is aimed at indigenous as well as non-indigenous Territorians. For years, Aboriginal people have been saying that their communities are facing disaster, but not just because of a lack of government resources. Many, many Aboriginal people acknowledge that the rot lies within their own communities: the high rates of sexual assault, domestic and other violence are no more acceptable to Aboriginal people than they are to anyone else. Aboriginal people feel enormous shame at the antisocial behaviour of their countrymen and women, of drunks and beggars in the streets, and of the lack of will from so many Aboriginal people to take charge of their own lives.
As an Aboriginal person, I feel no good when people are hassled and humbugged as they enter shops. I want those Aboriginal people to become a part of our society instead of existing on the fringes. Aboriginal people in the Territory must escape from the cargo cult mentality of government doing everything for them, of relying on the empty rhetoric of playing the victim. Aboriginal organisations must bite the bullet and develop new, innovative strategies to overcome the cancerous ideology of despair.
The other side of that coin is that the government, in partnership with Aboriginal people, must allow the development of forms of governance that allow Aboriginal people the power to control their lives and communities. There is no turning back. The Martin Labor government will not be party to deceiving the Northern Territory electorate. We will tell it like it is, openly and frankly, to both indigenous and non-indigenous citizens from the city to the bush.
The simple fact is that it is almost impossible to find a functional Aboriginal community anywhere in the Northern Territory. I do not just mean the 10 or 15 communities that my department tells me that, at any one stage, are managerial or financial basket cases. The fact that a community may not get their quarterly statements in on time is only a part of the story.
I am talking of the dysfunction that is endemic through virtually all of our communities, both in towns and the bush. We cannot pretend that a community is functional when half the kids do not go to school because they have been up most of the night coping with drunken parents, or because they themselves have been up all night sniffing petrol.
We cannot imagine that a community is functional when less than one in 10 people can read or write, or where people are too ill through chronic disease or substance abuse to hold onto a job let alone receive training, or where kids are born with illnesses that have largely disappeared from most of the Third World and those who survive into adulthood can be expected to die two decades earlier than their non-indigenous counterparts, or where only 14% of our kids reach Year 12 compared to 80% of their non-indigenous brothers and sisters in the cities and major towns.
Madam Speaker, it is a downward spiral of despair for far too many of our fellow Territorians, a spiral of being ill before birth, of being poorly fed in childhood, of being deaf at school, of a life without work that will be cut short by a litany of disease and violence. For far too many people, each week that goes by it is not marked with the simple joys of living, but with the need to organise funerals.
I am not suggesting that these problems are unique to the Northern Territory but one cannot escape the conclusion that things here are markedly worse for indigenous people than in most other areas of the nation. On virtually every measure, Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory are at the bottom of the socioeconomic heap. Indeed, according to the Commonwealth Grants Commission, on nearly every measure, the Northern Territory’s remote ATSIC regions demonstrate amongst the greatest relative needs of any indigenous groups in Australia. The list of statistics demonstrating the dysfunction in our indigenous communities is staggering, so much so that recounting them here in any detail would be pointless. There have been a thousand reports and a hundred inquiries to the point where it is easy to become numb to reality and incapable of acting. But we must not remain numb or blind. We must act.
There are two imperatives as to why we must respond to the crisis I have outlined. First, if we do not begin to turn this spiral of hopelessness around, the Northern Territory will cease to function as anything other than a financial basket case itself. As my colleague, the Minister for Health and Community Services, has already pointed out in this place the increased financial burden of indigenous ill health threatens to blow out the economy faster than it can grow. Renal disease alone has been doubling every four years and threatens to take 56% of our current annual hospital budget, and this in a jurisdiction where we already spend nearly half our hospital budget on acute care - more than any other state or territory. As it is, the hospital separation rate for indigenous people is 460% higher than for non-indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory and higher than anywhere else in Australia.
As my colleague, the minister for Education, pointed out in this place last week the economic cost of poor educational outcomes among indigenous citizens of the Territory is immense, both in direct and opportunity costs.
The enormous growth in the number of non-indigenous people living on Aboriginal communities in the last quarter century is directly attributable to the rising demands and complexities of administration, coupled with an almost complete abandonment by government in providing the fundamentals of education and training required for indigenous people to be running their own affairs. If we do not turn things around for our indigenous citizens we risk the creation of a permanent underclass for which future generations, both indigenous and non-indigenous, will pay potentially overwhelming economic, social and political costs.
Secondly, we must act on the basis of the principles of social justice to which the Martin Labor government has committed itself and on which we will be judged. The objectives of that social justice policy include:
- equity in which all citizens of the Northern Territory receive a fair distribution of economic
resources and power;
equality of rights in which equal, effective and comprehensive rights are available to all our people;
access to essential services in which there is fair access to employment, education, training, transport,
health care, housing and child care;
access to information so as to protect privacy as well as ensure freedom of information; and
the rights to full participation in social and community decision making which affect our citizens.
Madam Speaker, what this means for indigenous people of the Northern Territory is that policy will be, for the first time in our history, informed by principles of inclusion rather than the past policies that have contributed to exclusion and inequality. Social justice for the Martin government is not an empty phrase, but a major cornerstone of our approach to good government.
For indigenous communities, equity will mean building their capacity to engage in the economy in a meaningful way and investing in their own future.
For these people, equality will be gauged by how effectively they can exert their rights as citizens of the Northern Territory.
Access to essential services, so long limited or denied indigenous Territorians, will give them the tools to achieve real advancement for themselves and their children.
Access to information will allow informed decision making about their own communities that will enable indigenous people to develop strategic solutions to the problems they face and all of this will enhance and confirm the capacity of indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory to fully participate in the economic, social and political life of the Territory, from within their own communities through to the work of parliament.
Indeed, the critical importance of developing economic partnerships with Aboriginal people was the focus of last year’s Economic Development Summit and has been endorsed by the Martin Labor government as a key to the future development of the Northern Territory.
Since self-government, successive governments in the Northern Territory have seen various forms of local government as the primary interface between Aboriginal community members, their representative structures and government agencies. The primary focus of government has been through the Local Government Act and, in particular, part 5 of the act concerning community government councils. It has been said by many people over the years that the legislation has been innovative and progressive, allowing as it does for the incorporation of at least some traditional decision making structures in the constitutions and operations of these councils.
It has also been said by many people over the years that the community government council structures have allowed Aboriginal people on those communities the freedom to make decisions about a very broad range of services that are provided on their communities. It has been said also that these structures have allowed the potential for great strides towards self-determination.
All of this may well be true, but I believe we must now openly and honestly acknowledge that the community government process has failed in these objectives. In fact, as documents generated by my own department reveal, there is still considerable suspicion of local government across much of the Territory. The fact that many communities have refused to incorporate under the Territory Local Government Act is testament to this.
There is no point in blaming the land councils for this. The two largest land councils, for better or worse, in large part, abdicated the field of local government 15 years ago. And, as for local government generating the capacity for self-determination, where are the results? As I have mentioned before, at any one point in time, a significant number of community government councils are in dire straits, and virtually every one of the other local government structures in the Territory are heavily dependent on external support by government agencies and their officers. None are self-reliant financially or structurally, and as government subsidies have shrunk or been frozen, their capacity for self-determination has withered. Local government in the Northern Territory, as the principal focus of service delivery, or interfaced with other service deliverers in the Northern Territory, has failed abjectly in improving people’s lives.
As I have outlined above, the lot of Aboriginal people is to sit at the bottom of the socioeconomic heap, and on some health and employment measures, their situation is getting worse. A fundamental reason for this failure is the complete lack of local economies providing the basis of productive activity and wage labour on Aboriginal communities in both town and bush. The long term economic basis of Aboriginal communities cannot rely on welfare supporting whole populations. It is critical that regional strategies be developed to provide the basis for local and regional economic development.
The local government reform and development agenda announced by the previous government in November 1998 was not just an exercise in saving money by reducing the number of councils, it was an acknowledgement of failure. This is not an attack on the hundreds of Aboriginal people who have, through their councils, attempted, and continued, to try to make it work. It is not an attack on the hard working members of the public service who, for much of the time, saw their ideas and policy proposals crushed by the ideological position of the previous government. Nor is it a criticism of officers of the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory who have endeavoured so hard to build effective local government on Aboriginal communities.
I believe there are three major reasons for these failures, and these reasons point to a long term strategy towards a solution in local governance on Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory.
First, the field of local government on Aboriginal communities has for too long been a politicised battlefield in an attempt not to improve people’s lives, but to win the hearts and minds of Aboriginal voters. Previous governments used Aboriginal local government as a part of their trench warfare against the Land Rights Act, and used special purpose grants as political carrots around election times.
Secondly, the Aboriginal community councils have been given far too much to do. Bob Beadman, former head of Local Government and a very experienced public servant in Aboriginal Affairs, pointed out on a number of occasions that Aboriginal community government councils have administrative responsibilities that far outweigh those of the Darwin City Council.
Thirdly, Aboriginal community government councils have been grossly under-resourced in carrying out those responsibilities. I am not just talking money here, though the previous policy of encouraging ever greater numbers of community government councils has meant that the same amount of money has had to be divided between more and more communities. I am also talking about human resources.
Dramatically increased accountability requirements from both the Commonwealth and Territory have exacerbated the need for highly skilled and dedicated council staff. As we all know, it is extremely hard to recruit and retain such staff in remote areas. And we all know the other side of this coin: there have been any number of incompetent or crooked people working for Aboriginal communities. As the Collins Report pointed out, there was no effective strategy by the previous government to supply the education and training necessary for Aboriginal people to run their own lives let alone the complexities of a local government council.
For those dedicated and committed people working on the communities in partnership with Aboriginal people, this has been doubly frustrating as they have watched the fruits of their work wither away due to malign neglect and indifference on the part of former governments. The reform and development agenda in local government is nearly four years old. The Tiwi Islands local government has only a single run of the board. Since I have come to this ministry, the Tiwi Islands local government has had to have financial controllers put in place amidst an atmosphere of widespread discontentment with the amalgamation, and the reason why: it was too rushed. It was pushed through too quickly.
It is my intention that the reform and development agenda be completely recast to look at regional governance issues relating to specific service delivery functions, rather than narrowly looking at the amalgamation of community government councils.
What this means is, first, a whole-of-government, whole-of-community partnership in our approach to regional service delivery. Government agencies will be required at a regional as well as Territory level to work together with indigenous people and their representative organisations in the efficient and equitable distribution of resources and services.
The Martin Labor government will be developing this whole-of-government, whole-of-community approach across all government functions, and will be putting financial and managerial mechanisms into place to ensure the success of these partnerships between the government and the people of the Northern Territory.
It also means that we must focus on building the capacity of Aboriginal people and their representative organisations through the recognition of such organisations as fundamental building blocks in regional economic, social and political development in the Northern Territory as well as being accountable to their constituents for the equitable distribution of resources.
At the same time, wherever appropriate and practicable, funds pooling arrangements within service delivery functions should be encouraged, such that funds from all sources in different government agencies, Territory and Commonwealth, are pooled in a single purpose regional service delivery fund. We must also adopt an emphasis on needs-based rather than submission-based funding of services supplied to indigenous communities. And, critically, we must ensure the maintenance of local autonomy on our communities within a framework of regional service delivery.
I am not talking vague theory here. We have a number of models in the Northern Territory that have enjoyed levels of success. The Indigenous Housing Authority NT, commonly known as IHANT, in particular, with the recent evolution of the Papunya model of regional service delivery in housing construction, repair and maintenance, linked with employment and training, is one such model. Another is that of coordinated care trials, such as the Katherine West Health Board. The Katherine West Health Board experience has shown that capacity building in communities is absolutely vital.
Building on these trials, as well as the wealth of experience of Aboriginal community controlled health services, the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum is extending this idea of regional health service delivery and enhanced emphasis on primary health care. The forum, a partnership between the Northern Territory, the Commonwealth, the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory and ATSIC, is a good example to the whole nation of a successful model of working together for a common cause. Each of these models fulfils the objectives I have outlined above. They work on the basis of having strong and effective Aboriginal input and control. Each works on the basis of pooled funds so as to achieve economies of scale, and each works on the basis of closely identifying need. Much more work has to be done in strengthening the work of such organisations through a whole-of-government, whole-of-community approach. There will be broader liaison at regional officer level with other agencies such as education, police, sport and recreation, and the arts.
IHANT, Katherine West and the Northern Territory Aboriginal Health Forum provide models for the kinds of organisations that may develop to take on other functions throughout the Northern Territory. Federated - not necessarily amalgamated - community government councils may well take up these challenges in some regions. Service, function-specific bodies may evolve in other areas. The emphasis of the Martin government will be on flexibility and workability rather than the narrowly prescriptive approach that has previously existed in approaches to community governance and indigenous development.
I must emphasise that the sheer scale of the problems will mean that progress will be slow. Indeed, in some areas we are looking at the need for generational change and not quick fixes.
I would like now to announce important initiatives that will make contributions to the approach of the Martin Labor government in indigenous affairs:
(1) an expanded role for IHANT: To complement the renewal this year of the IHANT bilateral agreement
with the Commonwealth through ATSIC, the government has transferred responsibility for essential
services provision to my Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs.
Negotiations have commenced with ATSIC to achieve greater coordination in housing and infrastructure
planning and delivery, especially in remote areas. There is the potential to achieve better outcomes from
the full range of indigenous housing and infrastructure funding to link planning and priority setting in this
area to regional planning and development, and to achieve sustainable training and employment for local
residents.
to any culture. Libraries have come to represent the prime repository of knowledge in our society. But
with the advent of the IT revolution, the shape of libraries is rapidly changing. It is for this reason that I have
directed my department to immediately embark on developing proposals for the establishment of Indigenous Knowledge Centres on a number of Aboriginal communities. These are designed to make full use of a range
of multimedia technologies in the delivery of training, information and content creation, to better accommodate differences of cultures based on oral/visual traditions. The ability to create online content and provide materials
to remote locations, has the capacity to build e-commerce through the dissemination of indigenous knowledge.
Two communities, Galiwinku and the Anmatjere Community Government Council, are well advanced in this development.
It is for this reason that my department is committed to ongoing training and career advancement for staff.
Frontline staff in Territory Housing will be eligible to receive accredited training through the Northern Territory University in public housing management. By improving the skills of frontline staff and by developing their capacity to identify innovative and creative solutions in service delivery, they will be better able to meet the diverse needs of indigenous clients.
In a first for Australia, this will be on-the-job training utilising an e-learning program called Blackboard.
This initiative will boost the level of base-level frontline staff from AO2 to a broad-band AO2-AO3. As
officers progress through off-the-job training and the acquisition of on-the-job skills, pay levels will
increase commensurately.
to achieving workable regional agreements, particularly in the area of service delivery. The development of
regional agreements must not be a ‘top down’ process, but one driven by indigenous people. My department
has set aside $600 000 immediately, and for the next two years, to assist representative organisations within
regions to build the capacity to negotiate to achieve the best possible outcomes in regional partnership
agreements. There are currently many people in regions who will be able to negotiate, to great effect, with the government. There are also regions where there may not be people who will be readily able to negotiate the best possible arrangements for their people, at least not without assistance.
It is not the intention to be too rigid, for the moment, about what projects or activities might be funded under
this initiative, and we appreciate that there may be different needs between regions. However, it is important
that when people come to the table, they are in the best possible position to negotiate arrangements for which
they, and those they represent, are prepared to be held accountable.
Fellow members of the Assembly, the time has come to focus our attention on a society here in the Northern Territory that has, at its core, the ideas of social justice. As I have said, social justice is not an empty phrase; it is a fundamental development principle which includes economic development as well as social advancement.
In this context, it is worth noting that the cooperative arrangement between the Northern Territory and ATSIC in the field of indigenous housing does not just achieve better and healthier housing for our people, but it is a major economic stimulus to our economy. In the current year, the impact of this program alone will be $72.4m. Next year, it will come to approximately $79m. Clearly, this benefits all members of the Northern Territory society as well as our economy. It is not good enough, as so many people have done over the years, to speak of indigenous Territorians as ‘the other’, as ‘them’, as ‘the problem’.
As an Aboriginal citizen of the Northern Territory, it is an attitude I have long been aware of; and it is something that has often angered me. Rather than seeing Aboriginal people as being ‘the problem’, the Martin Labor government understands that solutions will be found through inclusive policies guided by the principles of social justice and not policies that exclude or deny a rightful place at the table for more than a quarter of our population.
The Northern Territory has a proud tradition of electing Aboriginal members of parliament. It is a vital part of the development of the democratic traditions here in the Territory. The fact that we now have four indigenous members of parliament can be a source of pride to all Territorians as we move beyond the politics of exclusion towards an open, just society.
Madam Speaker, I began this statement talking about what inspires me to work in this place. Much of that inspiration comes from my life and experiences as an Aboriginal person. But it is also nourished by my friendships with so many Territorians who come from different non-indigenous backgrounds. I am working towards a future where we might all gather around the campfire in the companionship of family and community. In this way, each of us will no longer talk about ‘them’ or ‘the other’. Instead, we will use the phrase ‘us mob’ - and that will include all of us.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
STATEMENT BY SPEAKER
Dedication to Tiger Brennan
Dedication to Tiger Brennan
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, before I do start Question Time, I want to thank those members who turned up for our dedication of the pith helmet. We have left the display in the CPA Lounge for those members who were not able to attend and perhaps you might like to go up and see it. The video is there as well. It was pleasing to see that some former members also attended. If you do get a spare minute, perhaps you might like to go up and see the display. In particular, I thank Ron Keenan who took so much trouble to prepare the plaque and the presentation.
We also, at the same time, did a presentation to Ray Chin, former Clerk of the Assembly, who was to keen to have one of the collage photographs we did in which he was featured. He was pleased to receive those. It was quite a pleasant gathering.
Members: Hear, hear!
SPECIAL ADJOURNMENT
Mr STIRLING (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly at its rising adjourn until Tuesday, 14 May 2002 at 10 00am or such other time and/or date as may be set by Madam Speaker pursuant to Sessional Order.
Motion agreed to.
TABLED PAPER
Ombudsman, Annual Report, 2000-01
Ombudsman, Annual Report, 2000-01
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I table the annual report of the Ombudsman for the financial year ending 30 June 2001.
MOTION
Print paper - Ombudsman, Annual Report, 2000-01
Print paper - Ombudsman, Annual Report, 2000-01
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note paper - Ombudsman, Annual Report, 2000-01
Note paper - Ombudsman, Annual Report, 2000-01
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report, and I have leave to continue my remarks at a later hour.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Statement – Indigenous Issues
Note Statement – Indigenous Issues
Continued from earlier this day.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement and congratulate him on the statesmanlike manner in which he delivered it. He articulated many aspects of Aboriginal matters that I find I can wholly support. I hope that members opposite will take comments made by myself in the spirit in which they are delivered.
Only someone like the minister or Noel Pearson can be seen or be heard to say that many Aboriginal people acknowledge that the rot lies within their own communities, and that they must escape from the cargo cult mentality of government doing everything for them. Anyone else saying such things will be labelled racist in the current environment of political correctness.
In many debates past, when any members of the CLP even dared to mention any of the matters mentioned by the minister, we would be accused of being racist or of blaming the victims. I say to all members in this House: it does not take an Aboriginal person to empathise with the plight of Aboriginal people.
I welcome the minister’s openness and frankness in this statement. We must all see Aboriginal issues as a national problem and there must be a national commitment and effort made to resolve some or many of the problems. All on this side of the House are as committed to improving the social, physical and economic fortunes of all Aboriginal people. We might take different paths to get there, but I submit that we do it with the best of all intentions to ensure that Aboriginal Territorians have their rightful and equal place in society.
The Country Liberal Party governments of the past 26 years can take great credit in introducing many of the positive actions to improve the lives of many remote Territorians, but therein lies the irony. While many communities are described by the minister as poorly functional, the fact is that as more was being done by government, the more was found that needed to be done - the irony of ‘civilisation’. As remote Territorians became aware of services, the level of self-referrals increased, and so it should be. The promulgation of services including publicity and educational programs is to ensure that people come forward to receive those services, and hence the apparent increase in the levels of need.
The minister asked that we do not pretend that a community is functional when children do not turn up to school because of social or domestic disruption, or when illiteracy levels are high, or physical health is poor. At the risk of being labelled as blaming the victims, I say that people must take a large proportion of responsibility for self: drugs and alcohol, personal hygiene, nutrition are all, in part, in the hands of the person. It is no good saying that government must do it all for the person. Just as the minister recognised, the government cannot do it all. The opportunity to avail oneself of services that have been made for all Territorians cannot be disputed. What I will add is that opportunity does not always equate to access and it is here that I look forward to the measures that the minister proposes to bring forward to ensure that access to opportunity also exists for all Territorians.
I share the minister’s lament that many Aboriginal people are at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder. It confuses me, however, to know that Aboriginal people, through their various organisations and land trusts, own over 50% of the land mass of the Territory. Here we have a group of people with this massive land holding, yet are at the lowest socioeconomic level. What has gone wrong? What has the land not delivered and why has the land not delivered? What processes have inhibited the development of this land from which Aboriginal landholders can benefit?
The Territory can be proud of the many services already delivered into its most remote parts. Where on earth would you find an aero-medical evacuation service into the most remote parts of the world, where there are nurses and health workers, where doctors fly in using state-of-the-art aircraft? I do not know of any.
The minister spoke about the increase in non-indigenous population in Aboriginal communities, reflecting on the demands and complexities of administration. I am certain that with time and further exposure, the minister will come to realise that such administration is essential if public monies are to be accounted for. It is unfortunate that in this environment of self-determination and political correctness, many courses now being delivered are not of a standard that delivers adequate skills.
I do not intend to go into the details, but will use the example of medical graduates in my former home of Malaysia. Indigenous students were given an easier pathway through medical school so that they could graduate following the same duration of training, never mind that the level of comprehension of these specialised skills was limited. However, when these medical practitioners went into the market, the populace, both indigenous and non-indigenous, stayed away in droves. They were not prepared to trust those doctors.
What I am saying is that we should not short change our indigenous students. They have come from far and wide to study, to gain skills which they wish to take back to help their communities. We must make sure that these skills are genuine skills with associated understanding of the whys and wherefores of the skills. It is important that their qualifications are of a level that are transferable. What does it mean when a person has a qualification that is only good for that particular community? Where does that person go with the qualification? What does it mean to the person when he or she attempts to relocate with that qualification and finds that it is not acceptable to another party? I am certain that where qualifications are genuine, these graduates would be able to handle the complexities of administration and bring about a wave of Aboriginalisation of jobs in remote communities.
The establishment of schools in remote communities and the advent of the Institute of Aboriginal Development in Alice Springs, Batchelor College, the Centre for Appropriate Technology and the Northern Territory University are precisely to deliver education to meet the needs of remote Territorians also. These were actively encouraged and fostered by the CLP government. There were hiccups on the way, I freely admit to it. Tell me which government has had no hiccups while in government? I am certain this Labor government will have just as many.
While the minister commenced his statement on Aboriginal Development, he soon turned to local government and, in fact, dwelled on this aspect for the bulk of the statement. The history of local government in the Territory is not long, especially community governments under the Local Government Act. At a time when it was thought to be the right thing to do, communities were encouraged to undertake local government responsibilities. Commonwealth funding was attracted through this measure so that services normally delivered to urban Territorians could be delivered to Aboriginal Territorians.
In all, we have 63 community governments. For reasons the minister touched upon, such as the difficulty to find good, ethical council clerks and other council officers, people sufficiently educated in the process of running a community in a lawful and meaningful manner, management of community councils became very problematic. The rationale of encouraging neighbouring community councils to amalgamate is sound. It brings about the ability to share resources and engage people with appropriate principles and skills. It brings about a hope that community governance will improve.
The minister then commented that there is considerable suspicion of local government in the communities. I suggest that, rather than being suspicious, people in communities are not fully aware of what community governments means and are therefore necessarily cautious about local government. Accordingly, they preferred to take their time about the matter. But that is not suspicion; it is caution, and cautious they should be as they take upon themselves a level of responsibility they never had before including the matter of accountability for public funds.
I find it curious that the minister said that the two largest land councils had abdicated the field of local government 15 years ago. I was under the impression that the land councils are there to manage land trusts on behalf of their Aboriginal constituents. Perhaps it was a Freudian slip that the land councils have been governing Aboriginal people in communities under the guise of land management.
Mr Bonson: You would not negotiate with them.
Dr LIM: One cannot but agree - and that interjection is very foolish, member for Millner.
One cannot but agree with the minister that many community councils are in difficulties and need external support from government agencies. The Office of Local Government was clearly aware of the difficulties and went about rationalising the number of community councils through the local government reform and development agenda. It was not an acknowledgment of failure, but another step in the delivery of good local government by Aboriginal people for Aboriginal people.
I agree with the minister that there has been a significant lack of productive activity, but the minister failed to question why people with control of over 50% of the Territory have failed to make the country bear fruit for themselves. Perhaps the leadership of the land councils have to be brought to account to explain why, in all these years since 1976, they have failed Aboriginal people in the delivery of more than just a land bank.
Many communities have lamented the loss of skills which once kept a flourishing cottage industry. There were communities which had market gardens, tanneries, and ran herds of cattle. All these skills have been lost. The minister accused that local government had been politicised to improve the electoral fortunes of party politics. If that is the case, then the minister must be referring to his own Labor Party as it is the one that has politicised Aboriginal votes more than any other. The evidence in this Chamber, with the predominance of rural seats in the hands of the Labor Party, is evidence that the Labor Party has successfully politicised the bush, not the Country Liberal Party.
I accept that many communities have administrative responsibilities that may be burdensome and by far outweigh those of the Darwin City Council. Well, it may be in a relative sense, but clearly not in an absolute sense. It is a fact of life that community councils need to deal with issues such as the supply of water and sewerage, power, and even be involved in the supply of health care. That is precisely the reason for the reform and development agenda and the local government partnership agreements. We need to concentrate the skills that are required to run local government properly. We need to bring together government and local government processes. We all recognise that many community councils are short of resources, and that the removal of the reform and development agenda is not the way to resolve the shortfall.
What the minister implied is that he supports the dissolution of the reform and development agenda, and put in its place a bigger bureaucracy run by the land councils. He spoke about a federation of community councils. In the Central Australian context, already the Central Land Council has been undermining the reform and development agenda and offering in its place another body, aptly called CANCA, or the Combined Aboriginal Nations of Central Australia. This body will be administered by the Central Land Council, with participating community councils surrendering local administration responsibilities to the central body.
What are we creating here?
Dr Toyne: What?
Dr LIM: ‘What?’, says the member for Stuart. What are we creating here? Is this an attempt to replace the hated colonial yoke for another? Another that is run by the land council? The minister has to answer how he proposes to bring about this federation of community councils. Is this a back door way of bringing about a separate Aboriginal nation in this country?
Members interjecting.
Dr LIM: The minister belittles the Country Liberal Party’s attempt to amalgamate community councils and referred to ‘the single run on the board’. Well, I am proud of the amalgamation of the Tiwi Islands community councils and one resource centre. It took several years to bring about that change at the request of the local communities. It was through deliberate, yet gradual and inclusive consultations with the community that the amalgamation came about.
Yet the minister, in the same page of his statement, accuses that it was all too rushed. Either we rush and get more runs on the board, or we do it through a careful and gradual process, taking community desires into account. The minister wants to recast the reform and development agenda, and wants to emphasise needs-based rather than submission-based funding of services supplied to indigenous communities. When I read it, I thought: ‘This is a schizophrenic statement; I do not know what it means’. I ask the minister to clarify who would assess the needs, and how would the needs be then collated for submission for funding? One has to go with the other.
The minister listed the good things that have happened in the Territory. He mentioned IHANT and the coordinated care trials. These were proud initiatives that the Country Liberal government brought about to ensure equitable sharing of resources out bush. The IHANT program was held in high esteem throughout the country, and I commend the minister for securing more funding for these programs.
I remind the minister that it was through a Housing Ministerial Council, chaired by me in Alice Springs, which showcased what remote Aboriginal living is like: the good, the bad and the very bad. It provoked empathy amongst my peers and a subsequent distribution of funds to the Territory by the federal government. I do not have any major difficulties with the four initiatives that the minister proposes to bring about. IHANT has done a good job and I am sure will continue to do a good job. I look forward to the minister giving IHANT wide tolerance in its activities to bring about better housing in remote communities. The combination of Indigenous Knowledge Centres and training of front-line staff will help in the development of a skills base to better serve Territorians, indigenous and non-indigenous.
The minister’s speech also caused me to consider what the differences might be between the ministry for Community Development and the ministry of Community Services. Perhaps in his reply closing debate, the minister could elaborate on the differences between these two ministries.
Madam Speaker, I welcome the statement by the minister. It contains much that only a person such as he or Noel Pearson could have delivered. I remind the minister, and all those on the other side of the House, that there are people just as committed as they are to the improvement of the social, fiscal and economic fortunes of all Aboriginal people; and this side of the House feel likewise. The Country Liberal Party governments can stand proud and take credit in introducing many of the positive actions to improve the lives of many remote Territorians.
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the minister’s statement. It was a very powerful statement and long overdue in this House from a government. It was a real call to arms and he is quite right to describe the degree of crisis that has developed, particularly in our remote communities and with our indigenous people in general. This is the number one priority for the Martin government. If we do nothing else in the next four years - and I am sure we will do plenty else - if we did not do this properly; if we do not make some inroads on these issues that are embodied in this statement, anything else that we have done will not make us a success as a government.
It is a massive challenge. To turn this around, the minister quite rightly pointed out that there are attitudes in the indigenous community itself - which any of the bush members in this House are well aware of - which are self-destructive and counter-productive in terms of finding a way out of the present mess. While the government is announcing our acceptance of this challenge today, we have to have the partnership the minister spoke about with indigenous people if we are going to make some progress in turning this around. We are committing, as a team - every member of this government is united in taking this effort up. We will be all building it into our work, regardless of what particular role we play in the government. We are a team and we are committing to this as a team.
For indigenous people, there are some very difficult things that they will have to face, and the minister alluded to many of those. It is going to take much self-realisation, self-analysis of where you can do things differently because the continuation of the dependency that has developed over the 20 years I have been involved in remote communities and indigenous affairs is leading to only one result: that is a further deterioration in all the indicators that the minister built into his statement.
For public servants, there is a huge challenge there right through to every section of the government system. We have to look at new ways and novel ways of approaching the supply of services to the communities and to facilitating the economic development, particularly in our remote areas, that is so vital to any improvement in the current state of affairs.
Non-government organisations such as the land councils, such as the health services, also have to be looking along with us for novelty, for new approaches and more powerful approaches than have been used in the past. We cannot allow the status quo. The status quo is what got us into this situation in the first place. We have to find a new start, a new way of doing things; a new commitment of pushing forward with innovations rather than giving up the moment we strike difficulties. The private sector has to be fully involved in this. It is very important to note that at the Economic Development Summit, the major part of the communique dealt with the need for the full involvement of Aboriginal people and joint ventures with Aboriginal people if we are going to move the economy and our social situation forward.
We have great people out there in the communities; we have great people in our government agencies and there are great people working in the private sector and other non-government organisations. We have to be very careful not to be overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the reforms that we need to be addressing as a result of this statement. When you look back at the history of programs and developments addressing indigenous people, while the overriding weight of it has been downwards - and that has certainly been freely admitted in the minister’s statement - there has been deterioration. You see such small lights glowing through the gloom. Wherever you go around the Northern Territory, at any time, you will come across these things. You will find successful innovations that have been drawn directly out of the human spirit, whether it is the indigenous community members who have got together and formed something like a night patrol or a media association or some small enterprise development or some large enterprise development. Whether it is a non-indigenous person who has gone in there and for the good of the cause and out of their commitment to that community and to indigenous people there, and through their friendships with them, have put body and soul into dragging these things from nowhere and making them work, no matter what. They are there and they have always been there; they are there today and they are all points at which you can grow bigger and better things as we move in this direction.
They are all, however, vulnerable to the continuation of inappropriate arrangements for governance, case by case. The first thing that will erode the motivation of people in a community is the overall weight of the government system and other forces that come to bear on a community. Some communities are subject to the actions of anything up to 100 or more different organisations at the federal level, state/territory level and non-government organisations. There is a bewildering complexity to that. What eats away more energy than anything else is where the local community, with the initiatives it is trying to follow, has to constantly defend those priorities against the priorities that might come in through the organisations. Funding is great to get, but with funding comes all the strings to all the decisions that are being made elsewhere.
The minister was quite right to point out that we need to have new models for resource provision. We need to cash the whole thing up so that the full resource base can be provided to local governance entities of one sort or another and formed up around the priorities and style that that local community wants to follow, obviously with accountability arrangements in place to protect the integrity of the funding organisation. Equally, in joint partnerships with the private sector, there needs to be very strong understanding and agreement about the way things are going to proceed.
You cannot afford, in a single locality, following a local agenda, to be trying to juggle 100 or so disparate and conflicting pressures on what can and cannot be done there. I very much welcome the idea of the development and support of these local arrangements for the pursuit of these programs and developments.
I do not take the member for Greatorex’s point at all. No one here is talking about a black nation. What we are talking about is more effective ways of applying resources to programs and to the ambitions of people. He would be really battling to find any sizeable number of indigenous people in the Northern Territory who do not want to be belong to the Northern Territory. What we are dealing with here is more the practicalities of how to make programs work; the absolute need to reassure indigenous people and non-indigenous people working in our remote communities and in our urban centres that they have some power to control their destiny; that they have some certainty that the government will be there to support them when they take up an ambition; and that they are going to have the respect of the style in which they want to work.
That is all we are saying, and we are saying that that is nothing peculiar to this situation. People all over the world live and, in some cases, die for those rights - the right to choose their culture, to choose their own destinies - and I do not see why it is such a major ideological problem here for some members opposite.
The initiatives in this statement also have very strong synergies to other matters that have been dealt with during these sittings. The Desert Knowledge program, which has been touched on several times in the last couple of weeks, is going to have a very strong relationship to these Indigenous Learning Centres that the minister is establishing. The Desert Knowledge program is not a piece of land in Alice Springs. The Desert Knowledge Project is a network of related activities throughout arid areas of Australia. We want networks to work through, whether that network is a virtual connection to a remote community to allow the joint pursuit of, say, of a CD-ROM development, or of a video project, or a higher education arrangement, or whether it is the ability for people in different locations to combine on a concerted piece of research or development. All of those things are inherent in the Desert Knowledge program. These are inherent also in the Indigenous Learning Centres that were announced today.
We will be talking about the remote digital network. That is the technology that we need to take up a lot of those working relationships. We want to do two things that might seem contradictory at first blush but actually do complement each other: one is to strengthen local autonomy, the sense of destiny and of being, that each grouping of people in our Northern Territory want to preserve; the other is to increase the interaction and the ability to work together. To work together you have to know who you are yourself so there is no conflict between greater autonomy and greater networking and joint venturing.
The third theme that relates very much to this statement is the implementation of the Collins report which deals with the absolute critical need to renovate our outcomes and our approaches to both education and health. You put them all together, economic development, we have all the ingredients that would be needed to turn this situation around provided it is all couched within the right provisions for governance.
We have to do all of them. Everyone in this House has a role in promoting this huge effort that is going to be needed. We are not talking about throwing money at things; we are talking about throwing respect and support at things. Money can be productive or it can be counter-productive. It depends entirely on whether the means to which it is being applied are true expressions of what people are really wanting to do to promote their own well being.
Madam Speaker, there are responsibilities here for the indigenous people, as has been pointed out on several occasions, and we will have to see that every one of those ingredients is brought to bear on this. I commit to it. This government commits to it. I congratulate the minister on bringing the statement forward. Its time has come, and the time has come for a huge effort. Let’s join together and do it.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I would like to say at the outset something I have said several times in this House and that is the new government of the Northern Territory now has the ball in their court, and they have their chance to prove themselves in an effort to bring around some change in some fairly important areas. As I have also stated in the House, I hope that they achieve it, and the reason that I hope that they achieve it is because whatever happens inside this building here, whether we come or we go, the effect that I am worried about is the effect that I see in Kintore, Yuendumu, Docker River, and all of those other places.
At the end of the day, even if I lost my job in here, I would not starve to death. I am sure that I would be able to go and get a job somewhere else. I am not suggesting that people in these communities are starving to death, but if I look at the standard of life that I enjoy compared with the standard of life of many people who live in remote communities, then I think that everybody in this Chamber would agree that there are issues of basic standards where I enjoy a much higher standard of living - health, education and those kinds of things.
I will start with a few comments. Having looked at the minister’s speech and listened carefully to it today, it strikes me as being vaguely schizophrenic, and that is not an attack on the minister. The reason I say that is because it is not consistent in its approach. I will give members an example. The minister, in a very noble fashion – statesmanlike, I believe the member for Greatorex referred to it as - said that this was beyond government. This was an issue that was beyond government; it was beyond blaming any particular government, blaming any particular person, institution; it is about time that the responsibility fell on the shoulders of the people who needed to take that responsibility. Yet a little bit further on in the speech, there is the usual finger pointing.
I take the minister’s point from the early part of his speech, and I agree: governments are not going to solve the problems that we see out in the bush. But the Labor government is going to struggle with this in the same way that the former CLP government struggled with it endlessly. I would like to be wrong on that issue, but I find very little that is happening out in the remote parts of the Northern Territory that convince me otherwise.
I will pick up on a point that the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General made where he made some global observations about what is happening around the world. Indeed, I agree with the minister that land rights, as we do it here in the Northern Territory and Australia, is done in a very, very civilised fashion. If you look closely at the politics, emotions, thoughts, beliefs behind the battles which are currently being fought in Israel, it is a land rights issue. If you look closely at the politics and beliefs of what is happening currently in Zimbabwe, it is a land rights issue.
These sorts of issues have been fought in all corners of the world in different fashions - in Canada, the United States, South America, New Zealand and here in Australia. One of the joys of how we do it in Australia is that we do it a civilised fashion and the rule of law applies. I am forever grateful that that situation exists because whilst the rule of law continues to operate, then people can sleep safe in their beds at night. Land rights issues are very, very passionate issues indeed. I would be very surprised if any member in this Chamber was prepared to contradict me on that.
However, having gone through the land rights process here in the Northern Territory, the sunset clause has come and gone, I believe that nearly all of the outstanding matters have been dealt with. The boundaries of the land rights affected areas are now settled. The great land rights battle of the past is over in terms of the operation of the Land Rights Act. What belongs to certain individuals is now clearly delineated and there is only a bit of mopping up to do.
That brings me to my next point, and for that I turn to this volume here, and I would like to read a quote and I start:
The second lesson is that successes can be mutually beneficial and profitable between such companies and Aboriginal joint venturers. While it is the strong desire of Aboriginal people to wholly manage commercial enterprises, we simply do not yet have the capital base, collective skills and knowledge to be able to do so on any scale in the immediate future. We can, however, enter agreements where we can utilise the skills of others, as well as reaping mutual benefits from mutual desires to achieve commercial success. From Injinoo to the Tiwi Islands, from Nitmuluk to Ti Tree, joint ventures are playing an increasingly significant role in Aboriginal engagements with capitalism.
I am sure that the minister would recognise these words because indeed these are the minister’s words from his offering on page 58 of Our Land is Our Life, a book put out by the Central and Northern Land Councils some two or three years ago. I wholeheartedly agree with the minister in relation to this. The movement forward with Aboriginal capitalism is indeed the solution to sorting out or providing for the people who own this land.
The question I raise here is that with this speech, which is divided up into its various sections - the minister’s personal history, the almost Pearsean comments in relation to Aboriginal problems that exist in Australia today, he then whittles down very quickly to local government failures. Indeed, this is the area where the minister has the greatest amount of influence. With his portfolio area he is able to bring about very, very direct results in terms of spending and how that spending occurs throughout the Northern Territory with the money allocated to him through the Northern Territory budget to run local government. To that end, he has introduced a four point plan after outlining his statements of beliefs, specifically: the equity; the access to information; the equality of rights; and the essential services part of his speech. To that end, I think the four point plan that he has is going to struggle, and the reason I say that is not because I think it is a bad idea, but it is not casting a wide enough net.
I hope the minister is considering working closely with the federal government on this issue as well as non-government organisations, as well as the private sector. One of the comments I made recently in this House is that I am often concerned that policy delivery is mutually exclusive across the board. I wonder how the minister is going to be able to deal with the indirect effects of welfare which he refers in his speech when it comes to spending the Northern Territory money set aside for local government. The fact of the matter is that unless the government opposite is in direct contact with the federal government as to how they can control the wayward effects of welfare and how it operates in those communities, specifically the drug problems that we hear about - ganja or cannabis is now starting to rear its ugly head in a major way along with the traditional problems of kava and liquor - how is the minister’s spending in these areas going to flow through to a direct effect in those areas?
The minister, I hope, is going to cast a much wider net. I looked through the minister’s statement with great care hoping to find some model, some technique that he hopes to apply so that these issues are going to be addressed by the spending that he intends to engage in.
He talks of a federalism, or a federal approach, to the funding of community government councils. What I am worried about is the lack of detail which he has gone into. This approach, which I am not necessarily against because I cannot tell because of the lack of detail, raises more questions than it answers. Who is going to be administering these funds? Is it going to be the Department of Local Government? Is it going to be a federation of local government communities? Is it going to be done in consultation with individual people in communities? Is it going to be done just through council clerks? How are the funds going to be administered with input from the councils? How large are these federations going to be? Are we talking about federations which are half the size of the Northern Territory?
This is a very important question because you run into the cultural boundaries that exist in traditional shapes and forms in the Northern Territory. I will digress just for a moment to share with members a little experience I had about two years ago which switched on a light in my head in terms of how many traditional people see themselves. The experience on that occasion, and the only occasion I might add, was where I was asked a question by a person in Hermannsberg. The question he asked me was: ‘Explain it to me’. So, in the best terms that I could, I explained the reconciliation process and the emotional structures behind it as well as the legal structures. It took me some half an hour to go through the process and I tried to explain it as clearly and as unbiased as I possibly could. The gentleman sat down and listened to me very carefully, obviously paying very close heed to what I said, and at the end of it he said something that totally caught me off guard. His response was, ‘Well, I don’t have any problem with white fellas; it’s those Warlpiri so and so’s I don’t like’.
That is an extraordinary thing, because it taught me one thing about my own prejudices and that is from my perspective, of course, I see terms in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, that is the way that I have learnt to understand those terms. But if I was to ask a Frenchman what he was, he would not say he was a white man; he would say he is French. A German would be in the same boat. These people who live in my electorate have a diverse range of languages and a diverse range of cultures. They are different people in the same way that Germans are different from Frenchmen, and that is in my electorate alone. I shudder to think what the effect would be if I talked to somebody in Perth and somebody in Far North Queensland, how different those cultures would be. So fundamentally different.
This was something that I was very mindful of when the former Minister for Local Government was saying we need to amalgamate councils. Now, there are good economic reasons for doing so, but what concerned me was that if you tried to push the wrong groups of people together, it could lead to some very serious problems. That is the advice and counsel that I gave the former Minister for Local Government and I know that he took heed of that advice. I am just curious to find out that through the federating process which the current minister proposes whether or not he is taking this particular issue into consideration. What is of grave concern to me is that the differences between the various cultures which occur throughout the Northern Territory, if you cast too wide a net, you will be causing great upheaval and great distress to many people out there. I am certain the minister is no stranger to these issues. However, I seek some reassurance for people who live in my electorate, as well as the rest of the people in the Northern Territory, that he has considered these issues. So the breadth of the net that he proposes to throw across the Northern Territory needs to be tempered with an understanding of what he is setting out to achieve.
He also spoke of dysfunctional communities. I often spend time wondering what is actually the measure of a dysfunctional community. I see history in largely economic terms and for me the dysfunctional community is often a community which is not able to make its own way. To that end, I very much agree with the minister’s observations that many of these communities are still very dependent on economic sources outside their own grasp. That saddens me because I prefer to see people live in communities which are essentially economically independent and do not have to rely on outside sources of income. Aboriginal land in the traditional sense has always provided for the people who own that land, and I do not think it is a great leap of philosophy, certainly a leap in technique, but it is not a great leap in philosophy to suggest that that land can continue to provide for the people who own that land. Indeed, if we look at the battles we see around the world, part of the desire for ownership of land, amongst the spiritual issues, but a very important part of that desire is the ability to have economic self control.
I strongly urge, and I know that the minister agrees with me on this issue because he has written it in this book, Our Land is Our Life, and he talks about the Aboriginal engagements with capitalism. So, indeed, his mind is turned to this issue, and I am glad to see that it is so because I would ultimately like to live in a Northern Territory where everybody makes their own crust and they do not need a local government authority, or a Territory government authority, or a federal government authority to underpin them. I would like to live in a Northern Territory where, if a person who lived in Hermannsberg wanted to buy their own home in Hermannsberg, they could do so, freely and through open trade with the owners of the land. The people who own the land at the moment in Hermannsberg cannot even sell it to the people who want to buy the land who live in Hermannsberg at the moment. I enjoy the right to trade freely in land. I have done so - with the assistance of a couple of banks, I might add - but I have done so in the past in the Northern Territory, and I want to see a situation arise or develop where this dictation as to what you should do with property you own should be lifted off the shoulders of all people who have those dictates impressed upon them.
This is not some sort of resentment of seeing that Aboriginal people own land; I have no problem with what colour a person is who owns the land – does not bother me in the least. What does concern me is that, if the land is bound down by a legal structure in such a way that it cannot provide for the people who live there, then it concerns me that we will continue to try to pour money into these problems through government departments like local government, without actually freeing up the people into a position where they can help themselves.
Now, if what the minister is suggesting here takes all of those issues into account, then I would be well comforted and I would applaud and support him. I hope to see a day where these sorts of policies will be totally unnecessary by virtue of the fact that self-governance is occurring at an individual level, without any reference to a person’s race, by virtue of the fact that they are making their own money from their own land. That is the ultimate goal that I see: where they can treat, where they can develop, where people who own land can enjoy all of the products that that land has to offer.
I know that we are not there yet. I understand the reasons why some of the bars that are in the way are there, but I would like to hear a lot more detail from the minister, rather than the simple two pages that are in his ministerial statement with actual programs, detailed submissions as to how the money is going to be disbursed, who is going to manage the money, who is going to guide these projects, who is going to have input into these projects, and how large the areas under question are. If the minister can provide all of these details, and I would be comforted if he could, then I look forward to the day where he continues on and I can support him in his endeavours.
However, this statement, although noble, is not detailed; it does not give us the nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of what the minister is planning to do. I am not bagging the statement on the grounds that it does not contain enough information, and therefore it is impossible for me to be critical or otherwise. So I look forward to the minister’s reply in debate, and I hope that he can set my mind at ease and the minds of those people who live in my electorate, and throughout the rest of the Northern Territory, at ease.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement. The Labor government should be proud of the leadership that they have shown to tackle the issues outlined in the statement. Unlike the member for Greatorex’s response to the statement, which was just regurgitated, old CLP rhetoric from a bygone era, I am going to be talking in a more positive sense about the statement and what I believe indigenous Australians and Territorians can be looking forward to.
Last year, I attended an indigenous youth summit held in Tennant Creek organised by the Aboriginal Medical Service Alliance in the Northern Territory. It was attended by a large number of Aboriginal kids from across the Territory, from urban Alice Springs to school kids from bush communities and Utopia. What struck me strongly was that many indigenous kids live in a vacuum; they lack direction, many of them lack hope. It is a well-recognised saying: ‘Where there is hope, there is life.’ This is more than the problems faced by youth in mainstream Australia of boredom, unemployment, depression, substance abuse, and even suicide, although all of these are endemic amongst Aboriginal kids in the Territory
It is also a struggle for youth today to put a value on their cultural beliefs when they drift towards the hip-hop and R and B culture trends that seem to have gained notoriety within the mainstream culture. I believe this is about a lack of leadership from so many Aboriginal adults in so many of our communities, both in town and in the bush. In this, I am not talking about the many Aboriginal people who work tirelessly for their people. That group of Aboriginal Australians deserve all the respect, and more, that they have gained during their life-times. I am talking about those adults who have lost their way and abandoned their responsibilities to their people and, most importantly, to themselves. It is these Aboriginal adults who have sat on the side while their families and communities have collapsed around them. They are the people who, through their inaction, have watched as violence and sexual assault, never condoned under traditional law or any recognised human standards, has ruined the lives of so many of their countrymen and women. It is they who have turned away when people have committed suicide.
There is a very strong ideal in Aboriginal society, and that is the concept of shame, and it is shame that should be felt by so many Aboriginal Australians who have failed their people and themselves. And it is shame that they should have imposed on them by many Aboriginal people, especially the women, who are working so hard to improve the lives of their people. Shame should also be experienced by some of the members opposite, who, over the last 27 years, have presided over what I can best describe as a policy of contempt and neglect - contempt for human rights of indigenous Territorians and neglect of their welfare, health and education.
I do not say that lightly, but I put it to the House that this historic legacy of contempt and neglect has a direct relationship with a feeling of a lack of direction and lack of hope and lack of pride that is felt by many indigenous youth these days. This lack of pride can only be overcome by indigenous youth themselves. All of us must move away from the years of divisiveness fostered in the past. Now is the time for indigenous people of the Northern Territory to take the future into their own hands. It means seeing one’s self as indigenous as being a positive, and as a bonus to the makeup of the Northern Territory. It means whether you come from the bush or town, whether you are active in ceremony or not, whether you are well educated or not, now is the time to shake off the past and move towards rebuilding indigenous communities with pride and strength. It means getting on with the job for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
The feeling of despair amongst our indigenous youth that I have previously described is something that diminishes all of us as citizens of the Northern Territory. It is something that we as members of parliament must work to overcome in partnership with indigenous people, communities and organisations. I believe it is a duty of every Territorian to ensure that indigenous Territorians start at the same starting line. My mother often states that every person should be given the same opportunities; that means the opportunity to start the race of life at the same or similar starting point as every Australian. At present, Aboriginal Australians are starting a 100 metre race 30 metres behind other Australians. I believe that two things will help indigenous Territorians. The first is positive government policy that provides for equal and fair opportunities while recognising their disadvantage. Secondly, personal pride, determination and courage, and endeavour. It is often said, ‘God helps those who help themselves.’
A member interjecting.
Mr BONSON: Indigenous people - and youth in particular - must recognise and embrace their real worth to the wider community. If we, as Territorians, are able to improve the economic and social well being of 28% of our population, then our economy and our society will only benefit.
Last week, we heard the Deputy Chief Minister and minister for Education and Employment outline the importance of education for indigenous Territorians and the commitment we in the Martin Labor government have to improve educational outcomes of our brother and sister Territorians in the bush.
The minister assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs has today complemented that statement in his overview of the crisis facing our people on communities. Quite rightly, he is not just talking about bush communities; he is also referring to Aboriginal communities within urban areas. They, too, have suffered the total contempt and neglect of the previous government. Many of them, too, are largely dysfunctional.
Today’s ministerial statement spoke of the need to tell the truth about what is happening in indigenous affairs. The truth is always a hard beast to tame. Selective use of the truth can be used in a manipulative way to condemn people who are so often the victims. Properly used, as the Bible tells us, the truth can set us free. In years to come, I hope this day will be seen as the beginning of a truth-telling in this Assembly about indigenous affairs. I commend the minister’s statement to the House.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, I congratulate the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs for his statement.
There is a crisis facing most remote Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. I am not talking about an immediate and obvious crisis like a flood or an epidemic but, rather, a gradually developing crisis reflected in poor health indicators, deteriorating educational outcomes, minimal real economic activity and associated employment, and a decline in respect for traditional values and authority systems.
It would not come as any surprise to any other members of this Assembly that this issue, which has been highlighted in the statement delivered by the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs, has been the subject of concerned discussions amongst Aboriginal people for a very long time. In these discussions, we have appreciated comments from others if it is sincere, constructive and well informed. One view was to the effect that our remote communities needed comprehensive assistance program in the nature of a mini-Marshall Plan. I am by no means an authority on European history, but I understand that the Marshall Plan was an aid initiative on a massive scale conceived by the United States at the end of World War II. Its purpose was to kick-start the reconstruction of the scattered societies and economies of Europe. The Marshall Plan was a resounding success, but it is perhaps not the best historical example to use when looking for a strategy model to apply to Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory. The idea behind the Marshall Plan was that injections of money, resources, and targeted expertise would enable Europeans to re-establish modern economies which would reintegrate with the world economy. Damaged but, in many cases, still semi-functional pre-war factories, plants and transport systems were the starting point which enabled the reconstruction program to proceed.
By contrast with the European experience, Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory do not have a memory to recapture of having once built up and controlled their own industrialised, economic infrastructure. Instead, their experience has been either pastoral invasion or benign neglect of welfare settlements - sometimes a mixture of both. While Aboriginal culture and law has survived, sometimes in the face of what must have appeared impossible odds along with much of the core knowledge that enabled some maintenance of a traditional subsistence economy, Aboriginal people do not have a starting point to refer back to when it comes to establishing modern, local economies that could mesh and integrate with the mainstream economy.
So, when it comes to looking for an historical example to inspire us in tackling the task of building a future beyond welfare and beyond subsistence - a future that can bring our remote communities into the modern Australian economy as independent players on their own terms - I think we need to look further east than Europe. I have only travelled overseas once; it was in the early 1990s. The place where I spent most of the time was in Japan. I learnt that until the American gun boats opened up Japan to international trade in the 1800s, Japan had been a subsistence agricultural-based society governed in accordance with ancient traditional and spiritual beliefs and practices. During the Meiji period, Japan underwent an astonishingly rapid and comprehensive process of industrialisation which laid the foundation for what is still, despite the stagnation and loss of momentum of the last decade, one of the largest and most important economies in the world.
The point about how Japan successfully negotiated the change from an agricultural-based society to an industrial society in such a short space of time that makes its experience relevant to indigenous populations in the Northern Territory, is that while embracing modern technology and principles of economic organisation, the Japanese maintained their own traditional cultural and spiritual values. They recognised that modernisation and the technological tools and practices that accompany it is not the prerogative of any particular race or culture but is, rather, a racially and culturally neutral mechanism available to any society. The Japanese rejected European religion and culture but embraced the scientific, engineering, and commercial knowledge that would enable them to preserve and strengthen their own way of life into the 20th century.
Aboriginal people in my electorate, and throughout the Territory, also wish to preserve their culture and their traditional way of life. The leaders and thinkers amongst them want to improve their standard of living in terms of health, education and real jobs. It is only the narrow-minded and ill-informed who equate Aboriginal traditional culture and value with what they consider to be a rudimentary, nomadic, subsistence economy. Yes, our skills in terms of fishing, hunting and gathering have throughout our history been part and parcel of our lifestyle, and our pride in those skills will remain. But our pride in that regard, and our continued adherence to the beliefs and obligations associated with our dreaming and ceremonies, does not mean that Aboriginal communities cannot develop modern skills - including skills involving the use of state-of-the-art machinery and computer software. These are the types of skills that will be needed to enable Aboriginal enterprises to compete in the mainstream economy.
The main precondition for success in pursuing such modernisation is control. In the real sense of self-governance at the local and regional level, the Japanese would never have been able to achieve their industrialisation miracle if they had regulatory structures imposed on them and true decision-making authority withheld from them. Aboriginal communities and regional populations need to be in a position to take responsibility not just for tasks and functions that are, as a matter of course, allocated to local government bodies, but also for self-governance at a higher level, in particular where health and education and the regulated exploitation of economic opportunities are concerned.
The creation of amalgamated entities which are, in truth, merely glorified community government councils under Part 5 of the Local Government Act, is definitely not the answer to our problems. The forms and structures of governance that need to be established to enable Aboriginal communities and regional populations residing on their traditional country to take back control over their lives should be considered and developed methodically but steadily. We must always bear in mind that forms and structures will not work if they are regarded as having been imposed by outsiders. The economic outlook for most of our Aboriginal communities and regional populations is bleak. The reason for this is not just because of the social dysfunction, substance abuse and welfare dependency. We must also acknowledge the cold, hard fact that because of the geographical locations and circumstances of most - although not all - remote Aboriginal communities, real opportunities for large scale, meaningful employment will be few and far between, if they arise at all.
It is for this reason that we must look at the problem from regional perspectives, in which regional assets and locational advantages can be utilised. This applies to both economic and service delivery. It is in this context the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs cited service delivery models such as the coordinated health care trials. The work of the Katherine West Health Board, which I am most familiar with, has demonstrated how Aboriginal people of the Northern Territory, when in control of health delivery, can achieve much in a very short time. Katherine West has improved the delivery of health services to Aboriginal people of the region. It has also achieved much better health services to non-indigenous people of the Victoria River region, as well as providing, for the first time, the presence of doctors in a region that is increasingly important to our tourist industry. It has been a win-win for all residents of the region as well as the economy.
Aboriginal people are trying to struggle out of a position of disadvantage. It is precisely for that reason that when economic development opportunities do exist that relate to the use of their traditional land or adjacent waters, the government of this Territory needs to do everything in its power to try to ensure that Aboriginal people and enterprises are given priority in the utilisation of such opportunities.
The unashamed and deliberate prioritisation of remote Aboriginal communities and regional populations when it comes to economic self-help is the only way that we as a government can meaningfully strive towards the goal of replacing welfare dependency with self sufficiency and engagement in the mainstream economy. The achievement of that goal would benefit all Territorians. It would benefit us not just financially, but perhaps just as importantly in terms of our pride in ourselves as a population within the Australian federation ready for and entitled to the responsibilities of full statehood.
Madam Speaker, the measures proposed by the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs are vital first steps along the path towards the goal of creating economic equity for our Aboriginal population.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, first I would also like to congratulate the minister for his ministerial statement. It is a very good statement. Many of the points that he raises are valid and that does not mean that I necessarily agree with them all, but I think it is a very good starting point. It has so many issues in it, it is a pity that I have such a short time to respond because I think you could probably sit down with this document for a week or so before you replied to it fully. Just an example of that was the excellent response from the member for Arafura who gave us plenty of food for thought. That was just one side of this debate. There are plenty of other issues involved in this statement.
This paper covers issues with most of them interrelated in some way: health, housing, education, local government, autonomy, social issues, etcetera. Any relatively short comment I may give in parliament would not be able to cover anywhere near adequately the complexities of the issues involved. One of the difficulties involved in speaking on these matters is that you can sometimes upset people. You can maybe even be called a racist. You can be told it is none of your business. And sometimes, just as politics can get in the road of debate in this Chamber, Aboriginal politics can do the same.
I agree with the minister, and I think that he was hinting at the same matter, when he said: ‘We will tell it like it is; openly and frankly to both indigenous and non-indigenous citizens from the city to the bush’, and I think that is what it should be like.
There is a notion that Aboriginal people are some homogenous group who have the same ideas, cultural background, religion, political thought, lifestyle, etcetera. This is not the case. Although the definition of an Aborigine is very broad, the people who recognise themselves under that definition can be different as chalk and cheese. That is a problem when sometimes urban Aboriginal people speak for traditional or community-based Aboriginal people. It reminds me of the city-country divide that is often spoken about. The reason I draw this to people’s attention today is that there is a tendency to say: ‘Well, we are Aboriginal and therefore that gives us the right to speak as if we are the spokesmen for our people’. I think, once again, the minister was referring to that in his very last statement. He said: ‘In this way, each of us will no longer talk about “them” or “the other”. Instead, we will use the phrase “us mob” and that will include all of us,’ and I welcome that statement.
What we need in this debate is to put more emphasis on the rights of people as human beings, not put them in the same bucket or just say ‘Aboriginal’. We need to look at this issue, although it is primarily an indigenous issue, as one of basic human rights; of intrinsic responsibilities that go with those rights; of a belief that this is not an issue of colour and therefore can only be spoken about by people of that colour; of trying to address issues which centre around small, isolated communities where the chances for long term, sustainable, meaningful employment for a large number of young people especially is extremely difficult. This is a huge challenge, and I use the word ‘challenge’ deliberately because the minister for Education was talking about what we normally refer to as ‘problems’, and he said we should not refer to them as problems. He said we keep trying to overcome those problems; they are therefore a challenge.
So this is a huge challenge for everyone, for the Territory and for the nation, but it is a bigger challenge for Aboriginal people because all the actions and ideas in the world will not make one iota of difference if Aboriginal people are not a real part of that process, and that there is real determination by those people that in the end responsibility for any long term changes will be theirs. We have to support them where we can but the bottom line is theirs. The problems faced are enormous. Naturally, some of these can be traced back to when Europeans first came to this land, some to the welfare system, to western technology, to cultural misunderstandings or just plain ignorance, to alcohol, to a materialistic society, and the list could go on.
I can remember when electricity and running water and sewerage was installed at Nguiu on Bathurst Island. People started to receive new housing, the houses had electric stoves and electric hot water systems - very culturally appropriate. Most of all, these changes were free except for perhaps a small rent. Were the people asked? No. I am not saying they did not like the idea of running water and electricity, but did anyone tell them that the provision of these services costs money? It was not until many years later that the government introduced a payment scheme for water and electricity. Can you blame people for complaining about paying when it had all been introduced without any consultation and then given out free? We were more worried about what the world thought about Aboriginal people or how they were being treated than worrying about how they thought they should be treated.
Maybe this is what happened with local government. Again, when I started work at Nguiu in 1973, just before the cyclone, there were three non-Tiwis on the staff: the town clerk, the mechanic and myself as works supervisor. Everyone else was Tiwi. There were over 100 Tiwis working for the council and the functions of the council were straightforward: maintaining the roads, picking up rubbish, collection of firewood, maintenance of parks, ovals and the cemetery, we had a nursery, assist with the unloading of the barge, and airstrip maintenance. For a short period we also maintained the power house while it was still in the main street. We kept the bores going and, believe it or not, we had control over town planning. Core local government responsibilities, but what do we have today? Councils have been asked to take on housing, Commonwealth agencies, health and numerous other matters. Why? Is it a case of both the NT government and Commonwealth government abrogating their responsibilities by attaching responsibilities which should not have really been local government? You have to ask: how many other local governments in Australia take on those responsibilities? Some do, but in the Territory the municipalities do not.
Local government has become a large, bureaucratic body trying to cover matters which should not have been their responsibility, and by creating a bigger bureaucracy with more complicated reporting and accounting procedures, the chances of Aboriginal people running their own affairs becomes more remote. The skills required for these councils - and I have mentioned before one of the problems with the amalgamation of the Tiwi Council - is not matched by the skills of the Aboriginal people. I believe that the whole issue of Aboriginal local government needs to be reassessed. I could not put it more strongly that LGANT still should be a key factor. The Local Government Association has nearly every Aboriginal local government within it. It has a lot of experience and I think it is very sympathetic to Aboriginal community development. It is not a government body, and that is a good reason for talking to it.
I have said before that if we are to introduce a reform agenda for local government, then there needs to be a definition of what is local government. I wrote a letter to most members of parliament earlier this year. I would like to once again give a definition of what I think local government should be: ‘Local government is a body which receives funding to supply essential services to members of a community, regardless of their position, race, religion, etcetera. It allows anyone in that community to be elected as a member of that council. It allows any person in that community to vote in a democratic election directly for the members of that council and supplies the essential services for which it is funded to those people who directly elected that council’.
I believe that definition, or a definition, needs to be put forward first; so before we go saying: ‘This is local government’, we have to define what it is. Otherwise, what are we talking about? One of the major differences or difficulties is that local government throughout Australia encompasses private and public land with the public land generally being owned by the council, for example roads, drains, tips, parks and cemeteries. On Aboriginal land, that so called public land that would normally be owned by the local council is owned not by the council, but by the traditional owners or the owners of the land, so the council cannot operate on this land without approval of the owners.
If we are looking at reform to the act, then a clear set of guidelines must be established for local government before it can operate, and it must be clear that local government must operate under the guidelines as stated before. In other words, it needs approval from the traditional owners before it can operate. If that does not happen, then it is not local government. There needs to be a clear distinction between the roles of the traditional government, that is maintained by traditional owners of the land, and the role of local government. Both parties need to clearly understand their roles.
Local government is not about traditional matters. After all, the collection of rubbish, the filling of pot holes, the mowing of the grass and keeping the town tidy are core functions of a council, not necessarily a traditional right, but more a human right. All the time we must keep in our mind that for local government to function in a community, it first has to obtain approval from traditional land owners. But after approval it should not be a function of the traditional owners to interfere in the decision making process of the council unless they are elected to that council. The filling of a pot hole should not be based on a hierarchy or authority, but based on the fact that the hole needs filling.
In summary, I believe that the definition of local government must be developed as part of the whole-of-government approach. I would be concerned if we started to look at regional councils or even involving a land council.
Much as I agree that we should have some rationalisation of councils, there is one important thing about having these small groups is that it does empower people to take control of their own affairs. If it gets too big, that empowerment will be lost and people will feel less and less able to make decisions about their own area. We have to balance carefully these rights against traditional matters and that is not always easy.
Another matter you raised, Minister, was the many problems that exist in these communities: health, housing, education and employment. What a huge challenge. I know it is often said that with land rights, many things would change. But have they? Is land the elixir? It is naturally important, but since land rights were established, has Aboriginal peoples’ living improved? They are more than ever dependent on social security. For me, one of the great quandaries is: has the disposition of land created the wealth of problems in Aboriginal society? Now, I am not arguing against Aboriginal land rights, but I find it ironic that at a place where I used to work, and I mentioned before Bathurst Island, the land was never lost nor occupied. It was and still is owned by the Tiwis. There was influence from the Catholic Church, but I always felt that the Tiwi were and still are, very strong culturally. Yet with all this land, with the strong culture, with its beautiful beaches, estuaries, springs, bush, animals, wallabies, carpet snakes, bandicoots, lizards and all the bush tucker, mobs of fish, with a club, sport, two schools, women’s centre, council, housing, Bima Wear, Tiwi Designs, tourism, museum, good airstrip and many other things, we have one of the highest suicide rates among young males in Australia. I ask why? I can only guess. Perhaps it is the alcohol and the ganja that has done it. Maybe. Alcohol is one of the prime reasons why many programs are doomed to failure. It destroys communities.
But perhaps - and this is not confined to indigenous people, because we know suicide is a big issue elsewhere in Australia - just perhaps we have a society whose great emphasis on material goods, on pleasure and on money whether its cars, gambling, sex, drugs, is that the problem? Do we have a society which does not at least question why we are here? Do people have no goals in life? Have no belief in anything anymore? Is it because we have a godless society? Has Aboriginal spirituality been replaced with materialism? I say all that not because I want to brow beat people with my particular religious point of view, but I just feel that we keep looking for answers which government can provide, and maybe there is something else in this complicated equation that is just as important in overcoming some of the challenges we are facing. I wonder.
I would just like to comment on another issue, and I will just put this up as food for thought, and that is about royalties and housing. Most Aboriginal housing is public housing. The government funds these houses. In urban centres, people buy their own houses or go on a waiting list for public housing. Isn’t it time perhaps that Aboriginal people were able to actually own their own home, not rent it? Wouldn’t this enable people to have a little bit more pride in something they own? How could they finance it? Well, maybe - and it would not be that popular with some - perhaps all the royalties go into a central or community bank where cheap housing loans can be available to Aboriginal people so they can possibly buy a home. That way more people may be able to have a share in the wealth of the Territory and people may own a house quicker than waiting for a government-funded house.
Finally, once again I thank the minister for his statement. I wish he had perhaps given us about a month to go through it because it is really full of very thought provoking ideas. As I said, perhaps I do not always agree with them all, but I must admit when he started talking about sitting round the fire light, and obviously I am not Aboriginal, but I have very strong memories of my early days at Daly River sitting round a corroboree, which is a word you don’t hear much these days, and being told what the story was and laughing my head off because I realised after a while a lot of the stories Aboriginal people told were not only keeping up their traditions, but they were entertainment. We had some really good nights, and similar times at Bathurst Island as well.
I thank the minister for his discussion paper. This issue will not go away. I agree with the minister that this is going to be a long, slow process. Sometimes we have call a spade a spade and even though we might not agree with the member for Greatorex, he is entitled to a point of view. That is worthwhile in this particular matter because it is a matter that concerns us all. I am happy because at least I know my children have been lucky enough to get a good education, they have good jobs and the same with my wife. She came from a background; perhaps things fell the right way for her, but when I see people in places like Daly River still who were there when I was there and they have become, I suppose, captive to the problems of alcohol and gambling, it is a sad situation. I look forward to the next few years and let’s see if there will be any changes.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for raising, for the first time in this House, an analysis of the state of indigenous communities in the Northern Territory that tells it like it is. The minister has posed two major challenges that face the Northern Territory. The first is for indigenous communities and their representative organisations to come forward with concrete proposals to achieve the kinds of social and economic development that will be crucial to these communities’ sustainability. The second challenge is for government to listen to these ideas and respond in a whole-of-government fashion to the crisis that the minister quite rightly points to.
Much has been made over the years of the costs of social and public disorder in the Northern Territory. Unfortunately, the responses to the problems have generated a lot of heat, but very little light. There has been much name calling and abuse, often on racial grounds, but not much in the way of sensible debate. Much of the debate has been carried out in the media through the letters column or sensationalist headlines. Social and public disorder, it is said, poses major threats to the image of our cities and towns, to our tourism industry, and indeed, to the community in general. By and large, homeless and substance abusing indigenous people are targeted as the chief culprits, and it is normal law abiding non-indigenous citizens who are seen as the victims of this kind of behaviour. Like many things in the media, these views are a mix of truth and distortion. I do not resile from the fact that the major causes of social and public disorder in the Northern Territory come from within the indigenous community, just as the major victims of social and public disorder disproportionately affects indigenous people. Tragically, this situation is getting worse not better.
I will now refer to some figures which relate to the Police and Emergency Services report and it is specific to the southern region of the Northern Territory. Last year, there was a 36% increase in social and public disorder offences; the figure being 4008 up to 6480. Protective custodies rose by 21% from 11 381 to 13 377. Indigenous people make up 95% of all those protective custodies, with 23% over that period being related to indigenous females in protective custody. Also in the southern region, offences against the person increased from 1118 to 1436, an increase of 41%. The vast majority of these offences were committed by indigenous people against indigenous people.
This is but a brief snapshot that I have outlined, as it is indicative of the broader crisis facing indigenous people that the minister described earlier. The days of ad hoc, knee-jerk responses by government that we have seen in the past cannot be allowed to continue. It is absolutely critical that the whole of the community supports the Martin Labor government in a whole-of-government response to public and social disorder issues.
By the same token, the days of indigenous people ignoring what is happening around them can no longer be supported. It is just not acceptable to bash the wife and not care for the kids - never has been, and never will be. Nor is it acceptable for people to commit mayhem on the streets of Territory towns, fuelled by grog and dope. Nor is it acceptable to blame others for their own faults. I sincerely believe that indigenous people can no longer hide behind victimhood. Indeed, the shackles of victimhood must be broken. What we need is a fundamental rethink about law and order as it affects indigenous people within the Territory, and that rethink must happen in the context of rebuilding social infrastructure as part of a broader strategy of community and economic development. The rethink has to happen from the bottom up.
First, we must look at the role of Aboriginal community police officers - their powers, functions and their capacity to develop a career path. Implicit in this is that we must move towards increased numbers of qualified indigenous police officers to build on the much admired role police have across the Northern Territory.
Secondly, we must look to dedicated community policing units to target social and public disorder, working in an integrated way with night patrols.
Thirdly, we must look at the causes of social breakdown and the disjuncture that exists between indigenous and non-indigenous law. A key to this will be to look at the kinds of pressures that exist in communities and where traditional law is ill-equipped to cope with modern pressures. I direct the attention of members of this House to the law and justice plans that have been developed in Ali Curung and which are being developed at Lajamanu and Yuendumu. What is being developed by these communities offers real hope as developing models of integrated traditional social and power structures with the needs of the communities undergoing rapid and social transformation. I believe this House would be pleased to know that these plans have so impressed the federal government that a Commonwealth ministerial visit to these communities will occur later on this year.
Fourth, we must also look to the support and development of programs such as the Tennant Creek Safe Community strategy which is looking at a range of options including a restructure of local court sittings, the greater use of local JPs and community panels in regards to sentencing.
Fifth, an indigenous police advisory panel or steering committee is long overdue in the Northern Territory. While we know there is a strong commitment from the police service towards developing appropriate policing strategies on indigenous communities, it is equally important that indigenous people get greater access to knowing how the service works and to influence its policies and strategies through direct input.
However, it must be emphasised that none of this will work unless indigenous citizens of the Northern Territory bite the bullet and start developing strategies and proposals that will work. Yes, it is true that one of the great faults of the past is that we have had to deal with models imposed by others from above, but there is little point in complaining if indigenous people do not put their back into doing the job as well. The level at which society has to put up with social and public disorder problems indicates the health of that society. The level of social and public disorder in the Northern Territory indicates to me that we face chronic problems now and into the future, and if they are not addressed by all of us, we will all suffer.
The statement today by the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs paints a broad picture of social dysfunction on indigenous communities. I believe I have outlined the detail of but one aspect of this problem. What is perfectly clear, as I mentioned, is that there is a challenge that must be met by government as well as by indigenous people. It is also a challenge that must be met by those Territorians who have tended in the past to think that indigenous affairs were none of their business. It is important to note that we constitute over a quarter of the population of the Territory. If the social infrastructure of indigenous people improves, so does the social wealth of all citizens of the Territory.
Mr AH KIT (Assisting Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs): Madam Speaker, in closing the debate I would like to pick up a couple of the points from members opposite, especially the member for Macdonnell and the member for Greatorex. I pass on to them that this is a debate that has to be held. It is something that we will continue to debate through the life of this parliament. But we have to turn the corner, we have to acknowledge that there are real problems out there, and we have to deal with them. It is not good to continue to ignore it or to stick our heads in the sand. We all know what it is like; all of us have been to Aboriginal communities and had a first hand look at what the situation is really like, and we cannot deny it.
I hear the member for Macdonnell and many of the supporting comments that he made in this debate. I don’t know whether he has had the opportunity to sit down with a lot of elderly people, especially the bosses, and get a really good understanding of land ownership and how seriously Aboriginal people view that. Over the years since he has been elected, I hear the member for Macdonnell talk about the Land Rights Act and criticise that, and that Aboriginal people are the biggest real estate owners in the Northern Territory, and that to solve all these problems in the communities they should have the ability to sell their land. Well, as a member with many Aboriginal people in his electorate, I am really confused that he does not seem to really understand how Aboriginal people view their relationship with their country. But he will learn, and I wish him well along that journey.
The other thing he mentioned was ‘Where is the detail?’ I said in the statement this morning in regards to – it is on page 11 at the bottom - and I will quote, under the heading of community capacity building and developing regional agreements, point 4; I will read an extract:
- The Martin Labor government is committed to achieving workable regional agreements, particularly in the area
of service delivery. The development of regional agreements must not be a top-down process, but one driven by
indigenous people.
We will give the department opportunities to talk about ideas, about detail. They will liaise with me; I will provide direction; we will have consultation. We have to get it right, we are not going to put something together and just ram it down people’s throats. People are sick and tired of that. I am amazed that there is criticism of detail. This statement was put together, deliberately, without going into detail. I did not have any preconceived ideas from my position as a minister, or from our Cabinet, about what should be put in place. This has to be consultation with the people; people have to be involved and have a feeling of ownership of it. This is exactly what I talk about when I talk about whole-of-government, whole-of-community partnership. I mentioned the four major initiatives this morning. I will read them into Hansard once again, just the titles: an expanded role for IHANT, the Indigenous Housing Authority of the NT; indigenous knowledge centres; training and development for frontline housing staff; and community capacity building in developing regional agreements.
I thank members for their contributions - the members for Nelson, Greatorex and Macdonnell, and also members on this side of the House who are in government. Their contribution has been readily accepted. The member for Arafura, no doubt, speaks with much experience in terms of her experience with the Tiwi Islands people, with Aboriginal people in general and, more recently, with the good work that she did in assisting in establishing the Katherine West Health Board; as does the member for Barkly and his experience throughout Central Australia and South Australia, and being in contact with many of our Aboriginal leaders. His contribution was no doubt accepted in that he spoke about his experiences and his support for the statement.
Hopefully, this is a statement that can receive bipartisan support. Let’s acknowledge the CLP had a go and it did not work. We are in government; we want to have a go; we want their support. If we can depoliticise it as much as possible, it is going to work better for the runs on the board that we need to achieve.
I make the point that the progress will be slow, but the Martin Labor government is absolutely committed. I had a question, at about 1.15 pm at the press conference, about why is it that I am not the Minister for Indigenous Affairs and that the Chief Minister is. The question was put in a manner that the portfolio and my responsibilities were not taken seriously because I was not the minister totally responsible. What people need to understand, when we say whole-of-government, whole-of-community partnership, we mean whole-of-government, and we back that up by ensuring that the Chief Minister is the minister responsible, and the Chief Minister is involved in all of the processes as her responsibility for being the Minister for Indigenous Affairs.
The comments from the member for Nelson in regards to housing ownership: I can only say that I would also love to see many Aboriginal people owning houses that they could call their own, and that they could pass on to younger generations. I would like to see many Territorians - regardless of race, colour or creed - being assisted to purchase their own house. I am talking to people in the department about some of the ideas, and we are yet to work through those. I believe there are some good initiatives in the housing area in Tasmania, and we need to look at some of the other states.
I do not know where you go in response to pooling royalty monies. That is a decision for the traditional owners. That is a decision for them and for them only, unless there is a federal Minister for Aboriginal Affairs who wishes to make amendments to the Land Rights Act that can redirect the royalties away from the traditional owners and into a housing trust fund, etcetera. With my experience, I doubt whether the minister would wish to entertain that concept. Maybe I am wrong.
His statement was definitely thought provoking, and that is what it aimed to do. It was not a paper that was going to dilly dally around and not be serious and be a half-hearted attempt to recognise that there are some difficulties out there, and that we need to turn a blind eye. It was deliberately couched in a way that it can, and will, provoke a lot of thought, and from those thoughts a lot of good ideas, hopefully, will emerge that can be raised with our government, and especially with me as the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister, so that we can take on board these ideas and work collectively to ensure that we have a better situation in terms of the living conditions, employment, training, education and health opportunities for our people in the bush.
The contributions have been noted. I certainly hope that we do get a form of bipartisan approach to this. We need to depoliticise it as much as possible. At the end of the day, I would be moving to try to visit Canberra to talk to ministers responsible because if I am able to, with the Chief Minister’s assistance, convince them that - by laying foundation through this statement - this strategy is workable and can happen, then they need to come on board in terms of providing additional dollars that will assist us in turning the situation around a lot faster.
I am disappointed that the member for Daly, who has a large Aboriginal electorate, has decided not to contribute to this debate. One would have thought that it would be important for him to do so. But, nevertheless, he may be busy on other matters.
Madam Speaker, I am very happy that it has received a fairly positive response. There is a lot of work ahead of us, as a government, to start the consultation and discussion, to get the debate going. I am glad that today’s statement, hopefully, is going to open the way to turning things around in the Aboriginal community. If we can do it properly here in the Northern Territory, then maybe other states and territories can have a look at us and how we have turned it around, and maybe take a leaf out of our book.
Members: Hear, hear!
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Telecommunication Infrastructure and Services
Dr TOYNE (Communications): Madam Speaker, I present a statement regarding telecommunication infrastructure and services, which is a key component of the economic and social development for all Territorians.
The Territory has a proud history of involvement in telecommunications and information technologies, a history which spans the establishment of the Overland Telegraph and the use of short wave radio through to the implementation of a government-wide area network. However, a critical point has been reached where rapidly increasing use of information technology and telecommunications in business activities, service delivery by government and non-government organisations, and for social interactions in the community, may marginalise people in the Northern Territory, particularly those who live in remote areas.
The Martin government has made it clear its key priorities include providing a sustainable economic base to underpin Territory growth and development. Ensuring economic growth for the Territory’s future means focussing on regional and remote communities as well as urban and larger rural centres.
The government’s Economic Development Summit held in November last year identified the importance of stronger partnerships between business, industry, community groups and government. It showed the need for cooperation between Aboriginal business people, industry and government to foster indigenous economic development. The summit acknowledged the need to encourage opportunities for Territorians from rural and remote areas and identified the unique opportunities that exist in the Territory to develop specialised knowledge-based industries, services and research based on our tropical and arid zone regions.
The Desert Knowledge Project is one example of the potential to harness telecommunication networks to lead economic and social development in regions which are characterised by low and dispersed populations. The Desert Knowledge project will draw together the collective expertise and knowledge of Australians living in our arid zones and will market this knowledge nationally and internationally.
As well as economic development, this government is also committed to achieving social justice in the Territory through equitable access to employment, education and training services and activities, improved access to health services, better community support and management, and improved access to justice services. Again, improving the opportunities for Territorians living in remote and very remote regions is crucial. The information technology and telecommunication sector underpins the government’s and the Territory’s ability to realise this vision. We need IT and telecommunications infrastructure or, in other words, a digital network throughout the Territory which is accessible, powerful, seamless, reliable and affordable. We need a connected Territory for all Territorians.
Wide access to the digital network underpins many of the policies and commitments the government will be working to achieve over this term. Without a digital network and related services, a key component of the economic and social development of the Territory will be missing. We will all be limited in what we can achieve.
The challenge of remote telecommunications is a key challenge for the Martin government, and that is the establishment of a quality digital network throughout our remote communities - not only a key challenge, but a unique one for the Northern Territory given its characteristics compared with most of the rest of mainland Australia. The Territory comprises about 18% of Australia’s land mass and yet its 195 000 residents account for only 1% of the Australian population. The Territory is the least densely populated state or territory in Australia and a high proportion of its population lives in isolated areas. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia shows that approximately half the population included in the Census count in the Northern Territory live in areas which are classified as remote or very remote. Of the 312 indigenous communities of the Territory, 299 are located in remote or very remote areas and the majority of indigenous people in the Territory live in these remote or very remote communities.
It is a very distressing fact that people living in remote communities experience unemployment, homelessness, overcrowding, poverty, disease and mortality rates far higher than the rest of Australia. For example, school participation rates among 16 year olds across Australia is around 80%, but for those living in small, geographically remote communities, it stands at only 30%. The unemployment rate for indigenous people is estimated at 26% whereas the rate for the general Australian population is 7%. The growth in jobs for indigenous Australians is likely to keep pace with the rise in the indigenous working age population unless we take action to reverse this trend. Death rates for Northern Territory Aboriginal men in 1996-97 were 2.6 times the national average; and for Aboriginal women, the rates are even higher at 3.2 times the average Australian rate for females. In the period 1979-95, nearly one quarter of all deaths were from preventable chronic diseases like diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, respiratory failure and renal failure.
Those statistics describe a tragic situation. Expanding IT and telecommunications capacity is obviously not an answer in itself, but many indigenous people feel that a major contributing factor to the continued failure of programs to overcome this massive disadvantage is inadequate knowledge and awareness, and a limited access to education, health services and other opportunities that people living in urban centres take for granted.
Given the remote location of many of these communities, the development of a strong and sustainable digital network is an essential and urgent prerequisite to help break the vicious cycle of poverty and disadvantage. A digital network can promote economic growth by providing the equipment and services for e-businesses and e-government activities. Managed telecommunication services in the communities will create jobs and provide access to services in remote locations. It can bring better government, business, health, education, justice and social services from all levels of government, the private sector and the non-government sector to remote locations.
Finally, it can promote cultural and community activities in remote areas by providing those communities with the means to communicate and interact with each other. Let me give you some practical examples. Economic and community development can be promoted by the use of a digital network to create employment opportunities and take indigenous culture to the world. The need to maintain facilities and equipment and manage services will provide employment opportunities to properly train local residents. Joint ventures between remote communities and private or government sector partners can be more effectively sought and negotiated using telephone, fax and video conferencing facilities. Instead of potential partners or members of communities having to travel vast distances to attend meetings, many negotiations can be held over video conferencing facilities, increasing the frequency of meetings and leading to better, and hopefully more fruitful, discussions.
Aboriginal art can be marketed and sold through the Internet, and distance education information sessions can be conducted through the Internet and video conferencing. Video conferencing also provides the means for distance teaching about indigenous culture to a non-indigenous audience. For example, senior people on remote communities can lecture directly to sociology, anthropology and art students at universities in cities throughout the world. A digital network can be used by remote communities to participate in multimedia productions. The search for content is the hallmark of the multimedia industry, and the indigenous and non-Aboriginal environmental, cultural and historical stories from remote areas of the Northern Territory are ripe for inclusion in multimedia productions.
This government’s Desert Knowledge Project and the Desert Cultural Centre will provide opportunities for each community to be involved in multimedia productions. Telecommunication services can also be used by indigenous people living on remote communities to make cultural arrangements. For example, attendance at ceremonies, particularly travelling ceremonies, and for Sorry Business attendance and finishing up ceremonies. Those services can be used by elders based in different communities to settle feuds or paybacks, and by communities to organise and participate in social events such as sports weekends, local workshops or seminars, and cultural events.
A project already underway in Central Australia is a great example of the cultural possibilities that access to a digital network opens up in remote communities. On Saturday, 2 March, elders at the Yuendumu community in Central Australia participated in an international video conference and webcast with folklore graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania in the US. This event explored traditional Aboriginal story telling, language and how these activities can be practiced electronically. I understand it was very well received. The Chairman of the Tanami Network, Robyn Japanangka Granites, moderated the event and the Warlukurlangu Artists Aboriginal Association, the Warlpiri Media Association and other local film makers, musicians, artists and teachers were also involved. A second video conference is planned for Saturday, 5 April. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Tanami Network, and in particular Robyn Japanangka Granites and Sebastian Jakes for their vision and hard work in getting this initiative off the ground.
Video conferencing can also be used as a powerful tool to increase the participation and involvement of communities in meetings which affect them, like local council or community store management committee meetings. Use of video conferencing allows people to fully participate in meetings or to be directly informed by experts. At community stores management committee meetings for example, committee members can seek advice or information directly from accountants or lawyers. That access allows direct questioning, better understanding of the issues and better decisions to be made by fully informed committee members. Networking among and between remote communities will achieve significant advances in regional service delivery and contribute to cost effective cooperation between communities. This, rather than enforced amalgamation of local government, will enhance indigenous governance in remote areas.
Better engagement with government processes and improved government service delivery can also be delivered through increased access to a digital network. An example of this in education: many programs can be successfully delivered online. Literacy, computer skills and numeracy programs can be provided through distance education, as can language maintenance and development, adult learning and e-learning opportunities, two-way interactive classrooms and the opportunity for continued advanced access for indigenous people as they move from one area to another.
The possibilities were recognised by the Collins report, Learning Lessons, which reviewed indigenous education in the Northern Territory. Recommendation 19 of the Collins report was that the Department of Education harness ‘the advancing wave of communications capacity coming with the new communications systems and services to network all schools including major remote sites’. The department’s LATIS Network is providing electronic links to 70 remote schools in the Territory. I believe that out of all the crisis areas in the bush, none is greater than the delivery of secondary education. The development of a strong, remote digital network will enable town based specialist teachers to deliver secondary subjects to groups of students living in remote areas. This will help to overcome the difficulty of recruiting teachers for remote areas and to provide students with access to a wide range of teachers who are necessary for a comprehensive secondary education.
In health, online services can be immensely beneficial for people living on remote communities. They can provide health management, case management, basic nutrition and healthy lifestyle information, better primary health care training, remote diagnosis and advice, and backup for isolated health care workers and assistance in emergency cases. An ophthalmologist in Alice Springs described to me how she could easily examine patients’ eyes online and provide diagnoses. All she needed was for the communities to be connected and for the installation of fairly simple equipment in the community clinics.
For police, justice and corrections, online capacity provides the opportunity to report crimes, to respond to calls for help, to support community efforts to deal with the particular problem areas in communities, to track offenders, to hear the evidence of witnesses in bush courts by video link-ups, to provide interpreter services, to allow court appearances online and to provide facilities for prisoners to communicate through video conferencing with family members from their home communities.
For the Electoral Commission, a digital network can provide the opportunity for stronger democracy and participation through electronic registration and online awareness raising and training to inform people living on communities of their rights, responsibilities and opportunities as participants in the democratic system.
For PAWA, a digital network can allow remote monitoring of generators and bores, and other power and water infrastructure to provide speedier response time when equipment breaks down. Online service will also enable training and specialist technical backup for its remotely based essential service officers to improve electrical service in remote communities.
The possibilities are not just limited though to the Northern Territory government. Linking communities to a digital network could enable Centrelink agencies to extend direct access to their services into more areas of the Northern Territory; ATSIC to conduct its council meetings by video conference, potentially enabling more regular contact with its client communities; and the Native Title Tribunal to hold hearings and gather some evidence through the use of video conferencing facilities. These are just some examples of other areas.
Similarly, non-government organisations can benefit from extended telecommunications coverage in remote areas. The land councils, for example, could use video conferencing for some of their communications with traditional owners, and independent health services could also use the network for service provision. The possibilities and potential uses of a remote digital network are almost endless.
Turning to the development of a planning framework and strategic blueprint, providing a digital network to remote areas is a challenge. Factors like geographical isolation and small markets need to be addressed, but this government believes that the remote areas of the Territory should have access to the same services that are provided in the urban areas. All Territorians must be able to engage in the information world; the sustained economic and social development of the Northern Territory depends on it. The establishment of that network requires a strong commitment to work with the Commonwealth, the communities, local government and the private sector. The Martin government has that determination and commitment and will ensure that communities are connected and services are delivered in a planned, coherent way. We are developing a remote telecommunications planning framework and a strategic blueprint to ensure equitable access to a digital network for all Territorians, the coordinated expansion of services to regional and remote areas of the Territory, and the integration of activities of government at all levels - Territory, federal and local - the private sector, the non-government sector, and the community to work together to achieve a connected Territory.
For the first time, services will be mediated in a planned, coordinated way to leverage the best possible result for the Territory, rather than relying on the piecemeal approach of the past. A priority area for remote telecommunications is the provision of high capacity, affordable data communication links to remote communities, the encouragement of local service providers, and the development and delivery of services that meet the special needs of indigenous customers. Through the planning framework and strategic blueprint, the NT government will support the extension of a high capacity data communication service by aggregating government demand at all levels and by encouraging the use of the services by the private sector and non-government sector.
Planning and future programs will build on and integrate existing initiatives such as:
- the Electronic Outback Project which, in partnership with Optus, is rolling out satellite telecommunications
infrastructure to 14 remote communities together with community access facilities, or eCAFs, in each of
those communities. Under that model, each eCAF is to be staffed and managed by a trained Community
Service Provider from within each community providing the community with access to telephone, Internet,
video conferencing, and fax facilities. The project will also develop commercial skills amongst community
members and promote technical understanding of the services on offer;
Education’s LATIS Network, which I have already mentioned, is providing electronic links to 70 remote
schools via an Optus satellite service to increase student access to information technology and to improve
educational outcomes;
the local government network which will link community councils to common business systems and services
such as payroll, accounts and asset management, which is under the management of LGANT; and
Rural Transaction Centres, which are operating in two communities, are under construction in another four and
have been proposed for a number of other remote communities in the Territory.
Networking the Nation is a huge opportunity for our remote communities. It is important that this government takes advantage of all the available opportunities for federal funding to ensure its vision of a connected Territory. The Networking the Nation program provides federal funds raised from the two sales of Telstra to address the disadvantages that Australians living in regional and remote areas face in their access to communications services. The program provides funding to states and territories to improve access to telecommunications infrastructure and services; to increase training and educational opportunities; and to provide better quality communications and information services for regional and remote businesses, public institutions, and residents. Those services and opportunities are sorely lacking in the remote parts of the Northern Territory. The approach that has been taken in the past to securing this funding has been uncoordinated. As a result, the funding has not been used to its full potential and most of the people living in remote and very remote communities in the Northern Territory are still as disadvantaged as they were before the successive sales of Telstra took place. So far, 20 projects from the Northern Territory have received funding but only two major initiatives for the Territory have been successful. A number of projects coordinated by the Local Government Association of the Northern Territory were allocated a total of $6.6m to provide computers, Internet access, training and online business systems for remote councils, and the Electronic Outback Project, which I have already mentioned, was allocated $4.2m in funding. I take this opportunity to congratulate LGANT on bringing forward their project and we look forward to working closely with them.
However, the rest of the Networking the Nation funding which has been allocated to date to the Northern Territory was provided for projects which had no significant impact on carrier capacity. Expanding this capacity through new infrastructure is the essential prerequisite to establishing a digital network throughout the Territory. The only way this can be achieved is by working with the Commonwealth, and ensuring that bids for Commonwealth funds are coordinated through a strategic framework and blueprint. The Martin government will work closely with the Commonwealth government in a bipartisan way and is committed to making the most of the opportunities for federal funding for telecommunication projects in the Territory.
I turn now to the Outback Digital Network bids. The government is doing all it can to ensure a major Territory infrastructure project receives over $20m of funding under the National Communications Fund and Networking the Nation programs. The Outback Digital Network is seeking $17m under the Networking the Nation program and $3.3m under the National Communications Fund - and the government is strongly supporting those bids. Let me give you some background on the Outback Digital Network, or ODN. ODN is an indigenous owned and managed not-for-profit company which was formed by five indigenous regional organisations. They are the Tanami Network Pty Ltd in Central Australia; the Tennant Creek Regional Infrastructure Program, or TRIP; the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association TEABBA; the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation from Queensland; and the Broome Aboriginal Media Association from Western Australia. Those organisations realised that, by banding together, their vision for improved telecommunication infrastructure and services to indigenous communities would be realised. The ODN’s vision is:
1. to create an ordered, viable, sustainable matrix of telecommunications infrastructure throughout
the participating communities in regional and remote areas of Australia; and
2. through that infrastructure, to collectively bring about the most significant improvements in the
standard of living and quality of life of the people of Central and Northern Australia.
The ODN’s bids represent a significant opportunity for the Territory. If they are successful, over $20m will become available to deliver a high capacity telecommunications service to another 39 remote communities in the Northern Territory, with sites also in Darwin, Alice Springs and Tennant Creek operating as regional hubs. The ODN is already working on projects in Cape York in Queensland and is hoping to expand into the Kimberley-Pilbara region in Western Australia. This funding could start to realise the vision of a regional digital communication network operating and delivering services across the whole of Northern and Central Australia.
The ODN’s core business is telecommunications delivery in remote and very remote regions. Its participation in this project would ensure the genuine involvement of remote communities and the successful take-up of services in these locations. Putting telecommunications technology into communities with strong managed support will create the climate necessary for the uptake of telephony and data services. ODN is in a unique position to work with indigenous people living in the remote areas and to provide a level of empowerment not currently enjoyed by those communities.
ODN’s partnership with Telstra, through Telstra Countrywide and Telstra’s Network Design and Construction Limited – NDC - will ensure that the infrastructure constructed during this project will be of carrier grade and that the ODN can provide sustainable, community-oriented digital services. Telstra will provide the ODN with an Integrated Services Digital Network, or ISDN, facility at significantly discounted prices. That network will allow ODN to aggregate customer traffic and provide a wide range of services to communities, such as video conferencing; Internet access; Internet services including business applications; Internet cafes; telephone access; a local call package; a web portal and other web-based facilities; and managed services and other data services.
The ODN is also committed to providing meaningful, accredited training for local people to create employment opportunities on communities. They will work with organisations, people, businesses and government to create jobs that a lack of telecommunications has until now hindered. Overriding the ODN vision is its commitment to establish infrastructure and ongoing services which will last because they have been created within the indigenous culture and community.
One of my highest priorities as Minister for Communications is to provide the means for people in remote communities to participate in and contribute to economic and social development in the Territory. The ODN has been recognised as one of the best models for delivering a digital network into the communities with these associated advantages. Unlike the former government, we are working closely with the ODN and doing everything possible to ensure that the opportunity to provide infrastructure and services to another 39 remote communities in the Northern Territory is realised.
I met recently with Senator Richard Alston, the Commonwealth Minister for Communications, to detail in person the ODN bid and this government’s strong support for that bid. My department has also been working closely with the Commonwealth to try to secure this vital funding for remote communities. The Martin government will ensure that significant Commonwealth funding opportunities which will benefit Territorians are not going to be squandered.
In the area of improving skills and knowledge, we must do more than simply providing the infrastructure and services. We also have to ensure that people have the skills and knowledge they need to take advantage of the opportunities a digital network will create. The government’s vision is of a connected Territory for all Territorians. All Territorians must be able to join the information rich.
A whole-of-government approach is needed to realise this vision. The Office of Communications will play a central role in the policy development, program facilitation and coordination role in the development of the new partnerships. It will work with the other government agencies, communities, local governments, the federal government and the private sector to identify opportunities and capitalise on them. It will also develop monitoring and reporting mechanisms so that the government and the people of the Territory can accurately chart our progress towards achieving our goals.
We are at the beginning of our journey towards the government’s vision of an equitable access for all Territorians, no matter where they live, to the benefits of the information revolution. I look forward to reporting again to this House on our achievements in this important area.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of this statement.
Mr Kiely interjecting.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Deputy Speaker, thank God I am deaf, because it always is pleasing - I suspect it was terrible, but thankfully I did not hear the member for Sanderson’s comment. I suspect it was inane.
Nevertheless, thank you, minister for your statement. I, of course, speak in my capacity as shadow minister for Communications. The opposition looks forward to receiving the reports which you will provide to the parliament over coming months and years. I take this opportunity as well to thank you for providing the briefing, one of the better briefings I have had, I might say, from your staff.
Minister, I am aware that communications is an area that is close to your heart, not only because you have a large bush electorate, but because of your history and experience, and it is an area, for different reasons, that is close to my heart as well.
It is very pleasing that the Labor government has in a number of respects - and I do not say this to get into any political tit for tat - but it is pleasing that this government has, in a number of respects, picked up the baton from where the previous government left off. The desire to improve communications throughout the Northern Territory is shared very genuinely by both political parties and we wish this government well in dealing with the challenges that it faces in this difficult area.
In fact, when preparing a response to this statement, I was struck by the similarities of responses or approaches by both this government and the former government. I looked through the material that was available to me and noticed that the former government’s Foundations for Our Future No. 5, Diversifying the Economy through Service Industry Growth, which was published a couple of years ago, said:
- Over the coming years, the Territory’s service industries will change and grow just as they have in previous
decades. The knowledge-based economy will rely on technology, innovation and capabilities to create wealth
and raise the standard of living. It will need a culture which encourages creativity and entrepreneurial approach,
as well as an appetite for change and risk-taking. The Territory, with its entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, is
well placed to embrace these challenges.
It is pleasing that this government, and the former one, did have what appears to me at least very similar philosophies. No doubt this government will call its program something different and no doubt it will change some things, but the principles remain the same. From the minister’s statement, it is very clear that his government will pursue a fairly similar agenda. As the shadow minister for communications, whilst not being a part of the former government, I am very pleased with the undertakings and commitments given in the minister’s statement this afternoon.
The opposition commends the government in its determination to establish a digital network throughout our remote communities, and agrees that this is a unique challenge. It will provide for all Territorians, but especially for those in remote areas, greater opportunities and benefits. To some extent, the sky is the limit in terms of its potential. It will clearly bring improvements in business, health, education, justice and social services.
I commend the government for embracing as well the former government’s Desert Knowledge Project. The Desert Knowledge Project has been touched upon numerous times today and over the last couple of weeks. Again, from Foundations for Our Future, the following quote is noteworthy. It says:
- Shared knowledge developed in and about deserts is used for social, economic and environmental benefit
through the Desert Knowledge consortium. The knowledge is both formal, held and discovered by formal
research organisations, and informal, held and created through the experience of people living in the
desert. The benefits are local and regional, as well as national and international.
In terms of video conferencing, I note the minister’s references throughout his statement and agree that video conferencing can be and, indeed, is used as a powerful tool, especially in Aboriginal communities. As I said earlier, in my view the minister is very well placed to contribute to growth in this area not only because of his personal interest, but with his links to, what I understand was his former company, Tanami Network, a company that I remember engaging from time to time when I worked in some law firms in Alice Springs. His very real interest in communications and in particular improving communications to remote areas augers well for all of us in the Northern Territory.
I have seen the benefits of video conferencing. In the court system, it already assists the administration and costs of justice in terms of providing witnesses the opportunity of giving evidence without the need to travel. Another use is for prisoners in Alice Springs, for instance, who can appear via video link in particular matters rather than being transported from the gaol to the court. It is also of great assistance to prisoners - especially indigenous prisoners - to communicate with their families in remote communities. Often, family members are unable to travel to the prisons for a number of reasons ranging from resources to weather conditions. Video conferencing also enables those in communities such as community stores management committees to obtain legal and financial advice quickly and efficiently and, obviously, this is cost and time effective. To improve these links is obviously in everyone’s interests. The educational benefits are immense, and it really is the modern day equivalent of the Schools of the Air.
Put simply, this is about communication in its most literal and practical sense. It is also about better service delivery. This government, as far as I understand this statement, has undertaken to continue and, where appropriate, no doubt improve on the work of the previous government. The possibilities are endless and I congratulate the government for accepting the challenge.
In terms of networking among and between remote communities, this again is an important area, especially considering that education can be successfully delivered online. The latest network already, as the minister said in his statement, provides links to 70 remote schools and this is just one practical example of the possibilities that exist. Other possibilities, commendably touched upon by the minister include, but are by no means restricted to, better regional service delivery and better and more cost effective cooperation between communities. As we know, networking also assists in the areas of health, and the minister referred to these advantages in his statement. Online services can, and will, bring immense benefits including basic nutrition, healthy lifestyle information, and better primary health care and training.
All of us understand the difficulties faced by those in remote communities and providing a digital network is certainly a challenge, but one which I am sure can be met and overcome with the commitment and assistance of the federal government. To that end, it is pleasing to see this government support the bid by the Outback Digital Network. The fund from which monies, if successful, will come is Networking the Nation, an initiative of the federal government, a five year $250m regional telecommunications infrastructure fund which helps to bridge the gaps in telecommunication services, access and costs between urban and non-urban Australia.
This is a fabulous initiative by the federal government which aims to assist the economic and social development of regional, rural and remote Australia by funding projects which enhance telecommunications infrastructure and services in these areas; increasing access to and promote use of services available through telecommunications networks; and reducing disparities in access to such services and facilities. In addition to the allocation of $250m there is, as I understand it, a further funding pool available to the tune of $214m which is part of Networking the Nation, but it is another part of it, in addition to the $250m fund. There is, not to put too fine a point on it, good money in big buckets and I support and urge the government to do whatever it can to assist others accessing those funds for the betterment of the Northern Territory.
I am very pleased, of course, to hear the minister’s comments that his government will work closely with the federal government in a bipartisan way. For my part, I would expect nothing less, and I am sure many people in the Northern Territory will be very pleased to hear that undertaking. It is great news that the Outback Digital Network, an indigenous owned and managed not-for-profit company, has bid under the Networking the Nation program. This bid was supported by this government, and is also supported by the opposition.
We support very strongly this government’s attempts to meet its objectives; objectives that, on my reading, do not differ in any significant way to the objectives of the former government. In closing, however, I would like to make just two criticisms of the statement, and I am fairly sure that the minister will have predicted them. The first is that there is an absence of timelines in the statement. I know, perhaps more than others, that this is a very complicated area, but I do hope that perhaps in the minister’s next report to parliament he will be able to provide us with some timeframes.
The second criticism I have is that the minister said in the final paragraph of his statement, and I quote from it:
We are at the beginning of the journey… towards equitable access for all Territorians…
My criticism is that in fact the journey began many years ago and it would have begun regardless of which political party was in office, because, in this day and age, no government in this country, nor indeed many others, can ignore the wonderful opportunities that have been created for all of us by this thing called the information age. Because of the incredible advances made in technology in the last 10 years, all governments now have the opportunity to resolve some of the difficulties that have always existed.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the limitations that have constrained and frustrated governments of all political colours over the years can increasingly be set aside and overcome. So the journey did begin some years ago and it so happens that the CLP was in government at the time it started. Now the ALP happens to be in government and has the opportunity to consolidate some previous initiatives and it has the opportunity of perhaps taking us all into unchartered waters. The opposition wishes the government well.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, that was a nice long trip down virtual reality, wasn’t it?
Ms Carney: You are just a bad mannered, ill-bred little turd!
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker!
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Withdraw that please, member for Araluen.
Ms CARNEY: I will withdraw the turd reference, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Mr KIELY: That is the level of debate and humour that one expects from that side …
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, start the debate, please.
Mr KIELY: Bring it on. Mr Deputy Speaker, James Slevin relates in his book The Internet Society, a story about an information poor citizen living on the outskirts of Windhoek in Namibia. The story is about a man called Negumbo Johannes. It goes like this: Johannes awakes every morning at six. He sleeps on the floor of a friends house in Wanaheda. The house is a concrete block rectangle about the size of a one-car garage in the United States. His street is gravel. His life has become almost an obsession with finding a job. What he does not know is that his situation is getting worse. The information age has arrived in Africa and new systems are being established. Those systems totally exclude him. Newspapers cost $1.50, 10% of his daily wage on days when he has a wage, so he does not buy them. Television is broadcast by the state but few of his neighbours have a TV and the broadcasts are in English, a language he does not know. Radio has one station broadcasting in Oshiwambo, his only source of news. Professional information excludes him because he has no profession. Organisational information bypasses him as well. His personal information is virtually non-existent. As for the wired future, he will never in his life see a computer, much less one to communicate or learn.
I use this example to depict an extreme about the information poor. Whilst this example comes from another continent, I see some parallels with our remote community lifestyle. I can advise that life on remote communities is difficult in a lot of respects and access to information is limited.
Indeed, in a paper by Dr Jennifer Curtin entitled A Digital Divide in Rural and Regional Australia, she observed there are questions about inequality of access within nation states. For example, she posed the question: are particular groups in Australian society systematically excluded from using the Internet? Do factors such as income, education, age, gender and ethnicity have an impact on access to the Internet leading to further disadvantage for some Australians in terms of access to work, education, community networks, information and political participation? In other words, if there is an uneven distribution of new technology use, to what extent do socioeconomic factors influence this outcome?
I would like to pick up on a few of the demographics I have highlighted. In respect of income, more significant differences were found with respect to income whereby the higher the income, the more likely an individual is to have access to the Internet at home. Those on over $84 000 per annum are almost eight times more likely to have Internet access at home than those under $19 000 per annum. Furthermore, the growth in access was greater amongst those in higher income brackets suggesting that, at least in the short term, an income derived digital divide will continue to exist.
In regard to education, qualifications are also important in predicting Internet access. The higher qualified the individual, the more likely that person is to have Internet access at home. Overall, the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling, NATSEM, analysis reveals that those with lower education and blue collar occupation, those over 55 years of age and women are less likely to be connected online. Dr Curtin also noted that the percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in rural electorates is significantly higher than in city electorates, and many live in remote parts of rural and remote Australia. The NATSEM report did not investigate access to computer and the Internet by indigenous communities. However, recent reports commissioned by governments in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory indicate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are less likely to have a computer at home and are much less likely to have access to the Internet.
If I make just a casual observation, and one that is not based on any empirical studies, I believe the case in NT communities is such that very few homes would have the PC with Internet connection.
Those living in rural and remote Australia have significantly less choice of which Internet service provider they use, and not all of these are accessible at the cost of an untimed local call. The issue of untimed local calls is an important one while telephone lines remain the main source of Internet connection. For example, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission found that the high cost of linking outlying rural homes and schools to the Internet has a negative impact on the survival of many small towns as well as cementing disadvantages faced by children in these small towns.
The cost differential is greater during peak hours which can impact on businesses that need to be on-line during business hours. This becomes a further disadvantage if the data speeds are also slower, thereby extending the amount of time required on-line to download data. Research undertaken by the OECD suggests that access to the physical network and high bandwidth capabilities will affect the future takeup and implementation of electronic commerce activities, particularly for small and medium sized enterprises located outside urban centres.
We should not consider the issues I have just raised as impediments, but rather as challenges we must overcome. And why must we overcome? It can be stated in one word: equity. Many Australians do have reasonable access to the Internet. A small percentage, those who live in rural and remote Australia in particular, have very limited access. But it is precisely this majoritarian position which is problematic for those who live in rural and remote Australia and feel their service levels seem to matter less because the majority of Australians are well serviced. It is this perception held by those in remote and rural Australia that underpins one of the original objectives of Australian federalism which had, as part of its foundation, a commitment to equity over density of population. First expressed through equal representation of the states in the Senate, in 1934 it was entrenched with the creation of the Commonwealth Grants Commission which explicitly introduced the principle of horizontal fiscal equalisation as a core organisational maxim of Australian federalism.
While the provision of telecommunications is no longer solely provided by government, there was a time, which is still fresh in the memories of many rural and remote Australians, when they could at least expect the right to similar services. In other words, there has been a policy tradition underlying the principle of horizontal equalisation which has formed rural and remote peoples’ expectations of entitlement to the same level of service as those in metropolitan Australia. Apart from that policy tradition, it is not unreasonable for those people to expect similar service, hence the recommendation for the extension of the Universal Service Obligations to cover Internet access for those who live in country Australia.
The minister has spoken about the Outback Digital Network which is a non-profit consortium of five indigenous regional organisations and their bid for over $20m of federal funding to improve telecommunications infrastructure and services to indigenous communities. Hopefully, this consortium, working in partnership with Telstra, will be successful in their bid and will be able to address the challenges I have spoken about. This, in turn, will open the doorway to improving the living conditions of indigenous Territorians by enhancing their access to the basic health, education, social and business services most Australians take for granted.
Mr Deputy Speaker, unemployment brings with it a loss of income and self-esteem, and loss of contact with new work practices. Similarly, so does underemployment, both of these are prevalent in our remote communities. However, should the ODN consortium successfully roll out its remote communications strategy, they will be able to address a severe deficiency in remote community life: the deficiency of lack of access to information - information about training, job vacancies, voluntary work, etcetera.
Access to communication networks can provide timely access to information. As an example, I point to the Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development’s ministerial statement on indigenous initiatives in the mining sector. The minister advised the House in his statement of the partnerships between the resource companies and communities. In particular, he mentioned the joint training ventures aimed at developing the local workforce to a point where they comprised a human resource pool of local labour that the companies could call on rather than importing an external workforce at the mine sites.
I perceive that if we can successfully address the needs of communities in regard to remote communications, then these companies and other businesses will be able to establish online training centres for community people. I also believe that when communities get improved remote communications that there will be individuals who will see the opportunities presented by being part of the virtual community and we may have all see an emerging entrepreneurial e-business market from within rather than from without the community.
There will also be opportunities in the form of new jobs associated with the introduction of information technology appliances. I think that all of us here understand the new workforce that has been created to support the hardware and software associated with information technology and multimedia. I am sure such a workforce will emerge on communities over time. It is really a bit akin to the chicken and the egg, Mr Deputy Speaker - something you may well know.
We first need to get this complex technology into communities in order to ensure that the divide between information rich and information poor is narrowed rather than widened. There will probably be a period where a lot of expertise has to be imported from outside the community. However, by using the tools at hand, communities will be able over time to learn the skills required to fully utilise and capitalise on the benefits that present themselves.
As Bob Collins mentions in his Learning Lessons report:
Any education system that does not equip students with core computer literacy will fail to provide a skill as
essential as basic literacy for life in the 21st century. Failure to deliver sound IT skills in remote and sparsely
populated regions for both indigenous and non-indigenous students will compound their disadvantage. Similarly,
any large complex organisation that does not take full advantage of IT&T systems to radically improve efficiency
and decision making processes will not survive in the new millennium.
The Minister for Education, Employment and Training has previously advised the House that the Martin government is implementing the Collins report. This government clearly understands the basic requirement for remote communities to share and benefit from emerging information technologies. These are the people who need to be given the opportunity to acquire computer literacy skills and, more fundamentally, to have access to educational opportunities. So it becomes clear; it becomes clear that this government is taking a whole-of-government approach in ensuring equitable access to a digital network. This government understands it is not just good enough to connect the inorganic to the network; there is also a strong need to develop the organic component of the digital network in order to maximise the potential benefits. In short, you can have the most up-to-date communications equipment and software systems but if you do not invest in people, it all amounts to nil.
I would like to finish this with a quick look at what futures may lay ahead for remote community residents if we get it right together. Large shopping centres have been tied to automobiles and urbanisation. Remote communities are highly unlikely to ever reach the mass that could support such infrastructure. However, buying a consumer product, be it a shirt, dress, car, picking a bank, arranging travel, all of these things can be done over the network. This will bring in competitive advantage for community residents and may well result in better value for their dollar. Entertainment options may well be improved as a new array of entertainment opportunities emerge which extend beyond television. Access to online magazines and newspapers, journals and Internet articles, online broadcast of sport and other feature entertainment such as national and international acts. Educational options will be greatly extended. Individuals will have a far greater range of choice and will not be restricted to the community school. Rather, they will become very much a part of the global village.
Community networks, such as the Blackburg Electronic Village, which has as its mission:
- To enhance the quality of people’s lives by electronically linking residents of the community to each other
to worldwide network and to information resources in a new and creative way.
This is indeed an ambitious program, however, I believe we could see some of its aims have been picked up in our remote communities - aims such as business and professional uses to support information links between business and communities, especially between customers, for example, e-mail between health clinics and patients, home banking, electronic shopping and tele-community. Specific uses: providing the foundation for an electronic community council with which people can communicate via e-mail; bulletin boards to electronic conferences.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the need to have our remote communities online has it roots all the way back to 1934 and is steeped in our forebears’ desire that all Australians be treated equal. This government recognises these features as well as recognising the social and economic benefits that bridging a digital divide will bring not only to remote community Territorians but to all Territorians and indeed all Australians as we sign up to the global village.
Dr TOYNE (Communications): Mr Deputy Speaker, at the outset I am very pleased to hear not only the support in the House for the statement, but also the bipartisan support. I thank the opposition for that. This is far too important to play around with in terms of party politics. We certainly undertake to keep the opposition fully informed on how things go, particularly with the bid.
Taking a couple of points from the shadow spokesperson, the timeline of the bid for the Networking the Nation goes in at the end of this month. We should hear well and truly by the middle of the year, so by June we will have a clear idea of what is going to roll out in the Territory over anything up to three years. As to the actual detail of which places are coming online in what sequence, we will get that to the House as soon as we’re apprised of that by the ODN. What I can flag at this stage is that if the bid proves to be successful, and we are very optimistic it will, that will touch off a systematic process going through all of the government agencies. We will be looking for contexts of service delivery which would incorporate the use of not only the new infrastructure that the ODN will be putting in, but the existing infrastructure with EOP and with LATIS and so on.
The purpose of the strategic plan is to make sure that everything is connectable and that we take full advantage of the synergies between one project and another. It is not to absorb or subvert the intention of the earlier projects.
The comment that the member made about honouring the previous government’s history in this, it is inherent in the statement; four of those initiatives were started under the CLP. The wide area network for its time was absolutely groundbreaking in terms of a government operating in a dispersed population area. But there were two vital elements that were missing up to the time that we took on this process to build it on: one was an overall strategic coordination of the various projects that were going out there. That is not in our judgement; it was in the judgement of the federal government and the funding units that were providing federal funds. They were worried about the lack of a coordinated approach here. We have thrown this strategic framework around the existing and future developments here, so that we can convince the federal government, which we are asking to provide the money, that we do have a coordinated approach.
The second thing that was missing in the earlier approaches was a very strong partnership that we are seeking with indigenous people through the ODN and the previous ministers really could not bring themselves to take that leap of faith - and maybe they had good reasons in the way they were viewing the world - but we are going in that direction as we have indicated in the statement and we believe that is the key. That is the key that will bring this stuff into a sustainable form out in our remote areas.
The other key, of course, is that the ODN is not just a Territory project; it is a northern Australian project. And to get the economies of scales to allow you to use satellite carrier space, to be able to make wholesale agreements with the big carriers like Telstra and Optus, you have to have the scale that ODN has planned for which is over 100 participating communities. When you have a 100 communities sharing the costs of maintenance, of carrier space, access to bandwidth, where you have the bargaining position of speaking for the whole of northern Australia, you are really in business then. I mean that literally, the ODN is accepted quite widely as the only viable business model that has been put up for a remote area rollout of this type of infrastructure.
We want it to make enough money to be sustainable into the future. The ODN has the business model, they have the figures that show that they can run a viable digital network across northern Australia. That is where we want to go. We do not want to see things started and then falling over because there is not the revenue to maintain the equipment, to keep the workers paid. This should be a project that will run for as long as it is relevant to the needs of the people.
Mr Deputy Speaker, with those few comments, I will close. Again, I thank members for their contribution. Today has been a visionary day, I suppose, in that we have had the member for Arnhem’s statement regarding indigenous programs, and now this about one very important aspect of those - very much related one to the other. Thank you very much for your support and let’s get into it and make this happen.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr HENDERSON (Business, Industry and Resource Development): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to acknowledge the sad passing of a constituent, and stalwart of the Labor Party, in my electorate of Wanguri. Pam Kerin, a long term resident of Wanguri, passed away on 2 February this year. Pam was just a few weeks shy of her 75th birthday. Pam was a long time Territorian and a long time resident of Wanguri. She lived in the Northern Territory for 36 years; 20 of those years were spent at 62 Wanguri Terrace. She knew the electorate well, and all her neighbours in Wanguri speak very fondly of her.
Pam was involved in Northern Territory education as a preschool teacher for a number of years and retired from Leanyer Primary School in 1987. Pam was very active in politics and a fierce supporter of the Labor Party. She was a long time member of the Northern Territory ALP and was an office bearer for the former Wanguri branch. Pam was a tireless campaigner for the Northern Territory Labor Party and during elections, she was always available. She volunteered for everything, from the mundane task of folding and stuffing envelopes to handing out how-to-votes on polling day. Pam assisted on both of my Wanguri campaigns and was determined to do so. She even rang me directly during the last general election to make sure I would not give her a spot on the how-to-vote roster on polling day to a younger person.
It was the continual efforts and hard work over many years by Pam Kerin that contributed to the Northern Territory election win on 18 August being so special and so poignant. Pam was a true believer. Former Wanguri MLA, John Bailey, and all four electorate officers during this time - Andrew Fyles, Des Gellert, Michael Gunner and Ryan Neve - join me in expressing heartfelt condolences to the Kerin family and recognise that Pam’s help in the electorate office was an invaluable resource and greatly appreciated.
Pam is survived by her three children, Sarah, Wendy and Tim. Sarah, Pam’s daughter, delivered a moving eulogy and I take this opportunity to read it into the public record:
- Pam was a long time Territorian with a strong love and commitment to the Territory, its natural environment and
its way of life. She loved the sea with a passion and wherever she lived, Malaysia, Queensland or the Territory,
she was never far from it, on it or in it. In her 20s, she spent a lot of time doing volunteer work on Heron Island
within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, and was rewarded by having a species of clown fish and a parasite,
of all things, named in her honour.
Pam was intensely passionate about history and politics, especially in her support of the Northern Territory
ALP which resulted in an ongoing rivalry between her and her neighbour, Sherry, on the other side of the fence
for 20 years. As each election time came around, each would put up a huge sign in support of their respective
parties and then proceed to poke fun at each other until the polls were counted. If anything, this rivalry
strengthened their relationship, which was close and supportive.
Strong willed and determined, with an acute, perverse sense of humour, Pam had a profound tolerance and
grace when dealing with people, especially little people, which is why she chose to become a preschool teacher
when she was unable to study law.
I also pay tribute tonight to the long and valued service of Dr Rex Pyne, the Deputy Director of Fisheries in my Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development. Rex’s early work included time spent in Papua New Guinea where he was based on the east coast managing the Commonwealth Torres Strait Fisheries. During this time he completed his PhD in tropical rock lobsters. Rex transferred from the Commonwealth Department of Primary Industries in Canberra to the Northern Territory Public Service in 1978 as Officer-in-Charge of Research and Development, Fisheries Branch. During his career, Rex faced many challenges and was responsible for many successful programs in which he played a pivotal role during the negotiation and implementation of the offshore constitutional settlement that determined the Northern Territory’s right to manage most of its fish resources from low water to the extent of the Australian Economic Zone.
He was instrumental in setting up the seven Aboriginal Fisheries Consultative Committees that have improved communications between the Fisheries Division and Aboriginal people, and he led the nationally applauded aquatic pest management program that was set up after the Northern Territory’s successful eradication of the black striped mussel. Rex represented the Northern Territory Fisheries Division for many years on a number of national committees.
I wish Rex and his wife, Colleen, all the best in the next phase of their life and hope they enjoy the pleasure and happiness that a well earned and honourable retirement brings and that they certainly deserve. Rex retires from his career within Fisheries to take up residence in New Zealand.
I also take the opportunity tonight to congratulate Wanguri and Leanyer schools which have won recent Territory Tidy Towns School Awards. The Territory Tidy Towns School Awards are presented to schools or to individual students for outstanding work they have done in keeping their school environment clean. These awards vary from small vouchers to formal awards. I am happy to inform the Assembly that of the 135 awards presented Territory-wide last year, 15 of them were to schools within or with a close association to the Wanguri electorate.
Dripstone High School was awarded the prestigious and highly acclaimed Best High School Grounds Award. This is a testament to their staff and students, and I congratulate Principal Marion Guppy.
Leanyer Primary School collected five awards, including the Best Urban School Award. One of the most prized and contested awards, it is a distinct credit to Principal Henry Gray, and all his hardworking staff, and the excellent group of students they have at Leanyer Primary.
Leanyer Primary also won an award and cash bonus of $300 for a mosaic tile path the upper school created, and I congratulate art teacher Margaret Ferguson and her student art committee who organised and implemented the project. There were several individual award winners at Leanyer Primary. Students, Danielle Spittle, Chivasa Jongoe and Erin Stewart all won awards for their T-shirt designs. The designs had to be related to the environment and keeping it clean.
In total, Wanguri Primary School received nine Territory Town School Awards. It is my understanding that this is the most by any school in a year. Wanguri won the prestigious, highly acclaimed, and certainly a mouthful, Outstanding Whole of School Commitment to Environmental Improvement Award. Wanguri came in second for the Schools Environment Award; they collected an award and $120 for Buff the Croc, a school project where lower primary students had to turn trash into treasure by only using empty cartons and other such materials to design the croc, all recycled goods.
Wanguri also did a fantastic job in receiving $500 and first place for the nine to 12-year-old category. Their entry was the Life in a Rotten Log musical which followed on from a past project, converting a run down concrete pipe into a learning mural in the school yard.
I would also like to convey my personal congratulations to the seven students who picked up individual prizes for Wanguri: Susan Glencross, Sarah Conway, Elise Baldock, Melissa Ursino, Janna Li and Irini Ergos, who won creative literary awards for their poster designs; and Kara McAdam and Elise Baldock, again, who won awards in the trash to treasure competition with their creative designs.
I would like to congratulate all the students from all the schools for their participation and efforts. The awards are prestigious and effective because of the time taken by schools to enter. The principals of these schools - Marion Guppy at Dripstone, Henry Gray at Leanyer, and Viv Jennings at Wanguri - deserve mention and congratulation for having schools committed to the environment.
Mr Deputy Speaker, It is not their effort alone, and due recognition is given to all the staff, students and parents who helped the schools in achieving their success. It is great to see children who are willing to be committed to keeping the environment clean and hopefully it will stay with them for many years to come.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Deputy Speaker, I was pleased this morning to hear the Leader of Government Business pay tribute to ex-Senator Grant Tambling, who retired prior to the last election, for the long and many years of service he has given the Territory. I was a little disappointed that not anyone from the CLP opposition side stood up to support those remarks, and I hope that they will do so, perhaps in the future some time.
I would like to pay my tribute to Grant Tambling who retired after many years of meritorious service. Grant Tambling is one of those few Australians who has been involved in all levels of government - as far back as 1972, when he was elected as alderman on the Darwin City Council; as a member of the CLP elected to the first Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 1974; to the House of Representatives in 1980; and a s a Senator for the Northern Territory in 1987. That is a total of 14 years of service. It must be unique in Australia, that someone has gone through all those different levels. We know of people who have gone from local government and then the next step into state or federal politics, but not into both Houses at the federal level.
I suppose it is a compliment to his reputation that members from both sides of the Senate spoke in fitting tributes to his service and contribution. I have a copy of the Valedictory that the Senate has produced for Grant Tambling and it shows people such as Senators Crossin, McGauran, Faulkner - a variety of senators - paid tribute to Senator Grant Tambling in the Senate. Later on, I would like to table some of these papers for members to see.
Grant was born in Queensland - I did not realise that - in 1943, during the World War II evacuation of Darwin. He and his wife, Sandy, have two children, a son and a daughter. I think we all know Sandy. She is a lovely lady, is a registered nurse and has been very supportive of Grant throughout his career. He obviously had a long involvement in Darwin business and was a member of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission after Cyclone Tracy. He held statutory appointments on the NT Planning Authority and the former Darwin Community College which evolved into the Northern Territory University.
Grant tells me he considers his most valuable work came following the election of the Howard government in 1996. It is always nice to be in government because you feel then you can actually achieve things. He became a member of the federal Executive Council and was elected Deputy Leader of the Senate for the National Party. He was also Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Regional Development, for Social Security, and the last portfolio was Health and Aged Care. It was during those years that he was able to lobby extensively for the Territory, and he lifted Commonwealth expenditure from $1.2bn per annum to $1.9bn, a task that I hope our new senator can achieve. Grant did that through the network he had established in Canberra, and the way he went around lobbying ministers and saying: ‘Don’t forget, do this for the Northern Territory in the budget. Make sure this is in’. It is that network that we have probably lost now and that the new senator will have to establish.
One of the previous members of this House, a CLP member, told me today that the thing he remembers about Grant was, if anyone went to Canberra, no matter what side they were from, he was always there to help them. He would set up meetings with different people in Canberra, his office was extremely accessible and he was always very helpful to visitors from the Northern Territory.
It is a bit of a shame that his retirement was forced because it reflects badly on the CLP, particularly as it was based on differences mainly associated with the gambling bill and, I guess, with the self-interest of some members of the CLP. It was a shame, especially when you remember that Grant Tambling was a founding member of the CLP - he goes back that far. He has always shown loyalty to them so I do not think he deserved what they did to him in the way they disendorsed his pre-selection because of his refusal to bow to their demands to vote against a bill which he had certain principles about. I think they demonstrated their complete disregard for parliamentary democracy by doing this.
The whole scenario, of course, is not over. A court decision was brought down in Grant’s favour. May I say it must have cost the CLP heaps; Grant was awarded $55 000 for costs. The CLP had to pay an extra $20 000, I think, of his costs plus their own, so I calculate that court case must have cost them about $130 000. I wonder how members of the party feel, knowing that that amount of money was paid out of party coffers when, in fact, that money should have been used for the party, not for a stubborn decision that they made.
The whole debacle is still not over. The Senate Privileges Committee is still to report. The Terms of Reference are very clear. The Terms of Reference for the Privileges Standing Committee state:
- … whether any person or body purported to direct Senator Tambling as to how he should exercise a vote
in the Senate.
Pretty obviously, they did.
- … whether a penalty was imposed on Senator Tambling in consequence of his vote in the Senate …
Pretty obviously they did; they disendorsed him,
- … and whether contempts of the Senate were committed in that regard.
I will be interested to hear the outcome of that inquiry and see what the verdict is, and how the party comes out of it.
Grant Tambling can be really proud of what he has done over the many years in the Northern Territory. Let’s face it, he is a well-known face, not just in the urban areas. Grant Tambling has travelled to many of the Aboriginal areas; he has many friends in Aboriginal communities; his son has worked there. He established a huge network that I feel, perhaps, will be hard for us to maintain and keep there. I wish he and Sandy all the best for the years ahead.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to table the Valedictory from the Senate; his Press Club speech which was his final speech; his final report, his farewell edition; and a short biography of Grant Tambling.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Deputy Speaker, I cannot agree more with the member for Braitling. I had the pleasure to know Senator Grant Tambling and met him again this morning. I have to admit he was very impressed with what was said in parliament this morning about himself. What I liked of Senator Tambling was the fact that he had brains; he had political brains. It does not matter which side of politics you were affiliated with, he would sit down and argue or agree with you. It was very interesting: he was not a fanatic; he was a political animal and he knew how to discuss politics very well.
A member: He’s a good bloke.
Mr VATSKALIS: And a good bloke, too. I have to agree with that.
One of the community groups that regularly access my facilities in my electorate office is the University of the Third Age. The group is made up of mature citizens who are determined not to fade into retirement but instead, continue their zest for living and learning. They produce an interesting and informative newsletter on a monthly basis, photocopied in my office. They tend to come there very regularly - they like the coffee, probably. This newsletter is produced by Ian Winstanley and his team of volunteers. The group, which is headed by Nan Bell as President and Elizabeth Bignell as Vice-President, is supported by the NTU and the CSIRO.
The NTU provides an interesting schedule of lectures throughout the year by a great variety of speakers related to history, culture and society, while the CSIRO provides lectures on the environment. The lectures from outside the NTU include one by Professor Bob Catley on the US war on terrorism. Professor Catley has recently been appointed to the NTU as the Foundation Professor in Governance. Another lecture will be presented by Bob Pascoe on artificial and natural intelligence later in the month. Bob Pascoe is an Associate Professor in the School of Informatics in the SITE Faculty, and this particular lecture follows on from a popular one he presented towards the end of last year on artificial intelligence.
The first meeting for the year of the Brinkin/Alawa/Nakara Neighbourhood Watch Group was held at the end of last month in my electorate office at Casuarina. The coordinator of the group, Bill Rainbird invited Craig Seiler from the Red Cross Youth Drop-In Centre at Casuarina, which is also known as The Shack, to speak on youth-related issues. Craig formerly worked at Casey House, but was really pleased to be appointed as coordinator of The Shack because, by encouraging access to the centre and the facilities, he hopes that some youths may be prevented from following the path of delinquency which lands them in Casey House.
Craig is currently working with Donna Kittle from Jessie’s Wish on coordinating a drug and alcohol free fundraising event for National Youth Week in April. Called The Shack Rocks, funds raised by The Shack at this event will go towards upgrading facilities at the centre for the youth of the Casuarina area.
Bill Rainbird has invited Tony Pederson from the NT Police to speak at the next meeting of the Brinkin/Alawa/Nakara Neighbourhood Watch Group scheduled for later this month. Tony will be speaking about crime levels in the Casuarina area and preventative measures which can be taken by residents to avoid break-in and theft.
Those two groups might be very dissimilar, but they are doing a great job in the community: one targeting people of the third age who refuse to be called senior citizens - some of them feel younger than we do and they are sometimes younger - and the other one, the Neighbourhood Watch Group. It is a great job done by Bill Rainbird and his colleagues. They provide an extremely useful service to the community in the Casuarina area.
Mr MILLS (Blain): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to salute former Senator Grant Tambling. I find it curious that the comments that have been raised have - I don’t know whether they have been brought in to elevate and revere the work of Mr Tambling or to perhaps attach another agenda to that. I most sincerely would like to separate that which has gone on behind the scenes from the work of the man.
Any Territorian can see the tremendous contribution that Grant Tambling has made to the Northern Territory, no matter on what side of the fence we may sit. It is not to do with politics on this particular occasion; it is just to celebrate the contribution that has been made and to his good wife, Sandy, together a tremendous couple and personally they have been great support to me. Just to temper some of the excitement that we might have on the other side of the fence to look and to interpret and to suit the interpretation to another agenda, Grant Tambling is still alive and well. He is still a great supporter in particular of Nigel Scullion and Dave Tollner. It is tremendous to see that. He will not change in that regard because he is true; as he has been in the past, he is still going to continue in the future.
Things that did occur behind the scenes are not my prerogative to air here. That was a matter of a democratic decision that was made by the party to which the former senator belonged. It is not fitting at all to reflect on that other than to say it was a comprehensive process that did weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of members of the CLP. The wisdom of that decision is for others to judge. Notwithstanding that, I would have to say do not misunderstand the fact that nobody stood up this morning as implying a lack of support. It was a complete surprise that such a tribute was to be paid and it would not be done in a political sense, but genuinely to reflect on the great work that Senator Grant Tambling has contributed to the growth and development of the Northern Territory and he is to be saluted.
I take the opportunity to follow on from the member for Greatorex. My interest in the Chinese New Year is that there is a different form of horoscope. I am not one who is a great believer in fortune telling and horoscopes, but I thought it might be worth visiting the Chinese Horoscope for 2002 and look at it from a particular point of view. It may be of some illumination and cause us to consider what may lie ahead.
Dr Burns: Fortune telling! Christians don’t do that. That’s true. It’s a curse!
Mr MILLS: Oh, there, there. It is not a curse. I am going to read what I have discovered in this book that my colleague read to you when he informed us about the Year of the Horse. I thought it might be of interest to look at if a child was born, on say, 18 August, I wondered what sort of animal that would be. You would be surprised to find – and I did not know this - but the new government, being born on 18 August, is a Snake and a Metal Snake. The CLP, which came into being in 1974, I think June or July, is a Tiger, a Wooden Tiger. So we have a Metal Snake and a Wooden Tiger.
To consult this book, first of all, we have to look at the personality as described in this Chinese fortune telling book. A Metal Snake has this personality: quiet, confident and fiercely independent but prefers to work on his own and will only let a very privileged few into his confidence; quick to spot opportunities and set about achieving objectives with determination; quite astute in financial matters; has a liking for the finer things in life and a good appreciation for the arts and good food; usually has a small group of extremely good friends and can be generous to loved ones.
Going on to some of the prospects as foretold, we have some interesting things to foretell and we will see what happens; whether, member for Greatorex, there is something in this. It says it is going to be a reasonable year for the Snake, but it is going to have its trickier aspects. Many Snakes, it says, have seen some recent changes in their work and will be relatively new to the position and should view the early part of the year as an ideal time to familiarise themselves with their new role. Now is the time to build a base. It says that Snakes new to their position will be establishing or seeking work and should take up any training that is offered - and I would suggest that there has been some training that has been offered by the Tigers, too. But competition, it says, is going to be very fierce.
This is the Year of the Horse, as the member for Greatorex told us, but the challenge that the Year of the Horse places on a Snake is that it is to avoid taking risks and shortcuts or jumping to conclusions about what others want. The Snake may want to progress and show himself in a good light, but he needs to remain aware of the view of all his colleagues and be tactful and discreet. It says here, interestingly, that an ill-considered remark or lapse in judgement could work to serious detriment.
Don’t worry - I am going to balance this up in the interest bipartisanship to look at the fortunes of Tigers this year. It says here that they are going to have, and it probably has already come true, a lively social life, will enjoy meeting up with friends as well as attending a whole variety of social gatherings. Should any Snake be tempted to act in a way which could lead to difficulties or embarrassing situations, remember that the Year of the Horse is not a good for playing with fire or taking risks. And some final words of good advice: you must ensure that you get sufficient rest and exercise as well as having a nutritious and balanced diet. Certainly this year, more than any year, is not a year to neglect oneself.
The key word in this Year of the Horse is to take care. The watch words are take care. Please don’t be complacent or take risks, says the fortune teller. Now, just to probably put another face on this, these are also some famous Snakes: Muhammed Ali fits in the same class; Yasser Arafat; Ronnie Barker; Tony Blair; Cassanova; Chubby Checker; Mahatma Gandhi; W E Gladstone is an interesting one, he is actually Lord Palmerston after which Palmerston was named; Cyndi Lauper; Mao Zedong; Aristotle Onassis; and Oprah Winfrey.
Just to be fair, the thing rolls both ways, what about Tigers? The Tiger’s personality is a very friendly and pleasant; a bit less dependent than some of the other types of Tigers, and is more prepared to work with others to secure desired outcomes; usually very popular; has a large circle of friends and invariably leads a busy and enjoyable social life; and has a good sense of humour.
There are some interesting things here. It says this year can bring its problems and uncertainties. It will also contain some very agreeable times, and the Tiger can look forward to some splendid occasions with both family and friends, especially in the last quarter of the year. It would be a good time to go and visit friends or relations, which I have interpreted as making sure we keep in touch with our friends and relations in our electorates.
There is an indicator that things are looking up for Tigers in this Year of the Horse, but there is something very interesting here and I think we should all be watching it. It says here that the Tiger - and you will be able to help me with this, member for Greatorex: how would you interpret this? - will also enjoy many of the family activities that take place during the year, which could be the parliamentary sittings, and it could be an excellent cause for a memorable celebration, including perhaps, an addition to the family.
Dr Lim: Aha! There may be a by-election coming up.
Mr MILLS: I smell a by-election here foretold. It says the year, just to finish off this part of it, holds fine prospects this year for the Wood Tiger, rests with him to take full advantage of the opportunities that arise. There are plenty of other things here, but I thought that was particularly interesting. Look at the company of Tigers. We have Kofi Annan; Sir David Attenborough; Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands; Beethoven; Chuck Berry; Sir Richard Branson; Garth Brooks; Tom Cruise; Charles de Gaulle; Dwight Eisenhower; Hugh Heffner, probably to balance Cassanova on the other side there; Germaine Greer - do we have Germaine Greer on this side? We do - Marco Polo; Karl Marx, Groucho Marx; H G Wells; Oscar Wilde; and Stevie Wonder.
I just thought I would put that on the record, just as a balance to the Year of the Horse that the member for Greatorex has placed on the record and also in the interests of our multicultural Northern Territory. I will check the book for you, good sir.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Mr Deputy Speaker, this evening I would like to focus attention on the outstanding efforts of some of the young people in Tennant Creek. Stephen Daniels was recently named Youth Citizen of the Year. Stephen successfully runs his own business in his spare time and is presently studying Year 12 at Tennant Creek High School. He is involved in many community activities including St John Ambulance, Scouts and Cadets. Stephen is an excellent role model to all youth and I applaud him for his efforts.
Diane Lehto and Maria Williams have recently returned from Canberra where they attended an AusDance summer dance school. Whilst in Armidale recently with Arid Zone Dancers, they were alerted to the summer school that I have just referred to. Seeing it as a great opportunity, they successfully raised the required funds and attended. As a result of this, Diane and Maria will be holding workshops in Tennant Creek for young people during the Youth and Desert Harmony week. Both Diane and Maria are also looking to dance and arts as a career. I am sure that with their determination, they will be successful. Diane is also an accomplished singer and with careful guidance, I believe that she has a potential to achieve a great deal in this area.
Another fine example of how goals can be reached with determination and talent is Shirleen Alum. Shirleen completed her schooling at Tennant Creek High School, achieving good results in Year 12. Shirleen has always demonstrated an interest and talent for outdoor education. As a result of that, Shirleen, some years back, approached Normandy Mining to see if she could do her work experience with their environmental section. After demonstrating excellent work effort and initiative, and a genuine interest in her chosen field, Normandy offered Shirleen a traineeship in horticulture after she completed her schooling. Most people will be aware that Normandy has closed their operations in Tennant Creek and as a result of that Sherlene was retrenched, but she went on to complete her Level 3 in Horticultural Landscaping and Design. Shirleen now works as a lecturer with the NTU teaching five different groups in horticulture. She fits all this into her morning sessions as she is currently part time with the NTU. Her goal for the year is to be full time with NTU and complete a Level 4 certificate. Shirleen is another great role model and her friends, family and community, and particularly the people in Elliott, are very, very proud of Shirleen and her efforts over the last few years.
I would also like to just very briefly mention some events that will be occurring in the Barkly region over the next few months, and I will obviously refer to these in other adjournments. Anyinginyi Sports and Recreation Centre is giving youth in Tennant Creek an opportunity to design and paint murals on their centre. It is a brand new building which is going to serve the young people in Tennant Creek well. This is basically designed to involve young people in the ownership of their community. To George Butler and Shirley Lewis, Kim Braham and others, I congratulate them on their commitment to the community and particularly their commitment to the young people.
Ali Curung Council – we have heard people mention this community previously in respect to their law and order strategy and, again, I think it is indicative of the council in respect to its forward looking and innovative approach in dealing with problems - will be holding a Youth Expo which will be focussing on healthy lifestyle including work habits, good diet, alcohol and drugs. In that community, I would like to pay tribute to Gwen Brown who is the President of Ali Curung Council and also an Aboriginal community police officer, and also LJ - Lionel Jackson. Both of these people have for a very long time contributed significantly to their community, and I applaud their efforts.
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight to pay tribute to a Territorian of long standing who died on 25 February, and that is Roger Rooney. Roger died after a very long illness. He really had the most extraordinary career, and I would like to put that on the public record because he made a great contribution to the Territory.
Roger was born in Dublin in 1942. He was raised in England, and was there until he was about 20, and he worked as a stockbroker and ran a bowling hall. In 1963, he did the reverse of what many in Australia did, which was to travel overland to Europe. He actually drove in a Mini Minor with his friend, Bruce Ricks, from the UK to India which must, in 1963, have been the most extraordinary trip. From India, he shipped the car to Australia and he arrived, in 1964, in Darwin.
Roger and Bruce started work with VB Perkins, and Roger initially was a cook. He then worked with Karl Atkinson doing diving work around Darwin, later getting involved with teaching water skiing and an outboard motor business. A couple of years later, he moved to South Australia where he was involved with aerial spraying and he alternated that between the wheat season in South Australia and the cotton season in Kununurra.
In 1971, he came back to Darwin and again worked with VB Perkins as General Manager. He remained there for some 13 years. During that time he pioneered coastal shipping routes and NT links with Southeast Asia, and pioneered live cattle exports using barges. In the early 1980s, with his brother Chris, he was really in the forefront of the commercialisation of the Territory’s mango industry.
Roger was heavily involved in the construction of Frances Bay Fishing Boat Basin. He was involved with Seven Spirit Bay and the land clearing at Hudson Creek, which has now seen quite a substantial industrial area begin around Hudson Creek.
In 1984, with his brother Chris, he started Rooney Shipping which was based in Darwin. It was primarily a tug and barge business initially specialising in work for mining and oil companies in remote areas across Southeast Asia which often required innovative solutions to overcome the difficulties from the isolation and also problems in local terrain. In 1993, he converted two cargo ships for carrying live cattle. The ships, designed to carry cattle north and cargo south, were an innovative approach and enabled the pioneering of new trade routes. Other ships were simply unable to do this.
As well as in Southeast Asia, Rooney Ships have operated to Egypt, Libya, Korea, South Africa, Namibia, Mauritius and Mexico. Roger was very proud of the fact that he started Rooney Shipping and that no other businesses were affected but that new business was generated. Rooney Shipping has been able to adapt to various cargos and the irregular demands that are often the problems that businesses do face in the Top End.
Rooney Shipping grew to six ships just prior to the Asian economic collapse at which time the fleet was about to expand to seven ships. Rooney Shipping managed to survive this economic downturn until business expanded following the East Timor crisis in 1999. At the time of that crisis, Roger donated the MV Carabao to the Red Cross for the delivery of humanitarian aid and that vessel was the first aid vessel to dock in Dili. Rooney Shipping has continued to operate to East Timor and is currently the principle stevedoring operator at the Port of Dili.
The company had a great understanding of the flow of cargo in Southeast Asia and Australia and the opportunities that were available.
It was an extraordinary business developed by Roger and his brother, Chris, and certainly one that has expanded and taken opportunities as they have come up to build that business.
Roger Rooney was also a driving force in the creation of Territory Expo. I was there the night that he was inaugurated into the Exporters Hall of Fame - that was at the 2001 Export Awards. He was also involved in many community activities.
I wanted to place on record tonight his enormous contribution to the Territory and acknowledge that. It is very sad that at a relatively young age, following a long illness, that he died on 25 February. He was widely respected in the community and I am sure all honourable members extend their deepest sympathy to Roger’s wife, Judy, and their children Oliver, Simon, Timothy and Emily.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016