2003-02-20
- Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
VISITORS
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I wish to draw your attention to the presence in the gallery of a large group from the Filipiniana Senior Citizens Association Incorporated, including Ester Davy, who is the Acting President - Ester, would you like to wave to us? - Tina Black, the Past President and Cynthia Molina, an active member. On behalf of all honourable members I extend a warm welcome to our visitors.
Members: Hear, hear!
Madam SPEAKER: I also advise honourable members of the presence in the gallery of Year 6 students from Holy Family Primary School accompanied by their teacher, Julie Andrews. On behalf of honourable members, I extend a warm welcome to these young visitors.
Members: Hear, hear!
RESPONSE TO PETITION
The CLERK: Pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that a response to petition No 18 has been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the response will be included in the Parliamentary Record.
- Petition No 18
Humpty Doo Rubbish Dump
Date presented: 8 October 2002
Presented by: Mr Maley
Referred to: Minister for Lands and Planning
Date response received: 19 February 2003
Date response presented: 20 February 2003
This petition deals mostly with land and planning issues associated with the dump. Environmental issues
are the responsibility of my colleague the Minister for the Environment, but I will make brief mention of them
in the context of this petition.
The area identified for the Humpty Doo Garbage Depot, which was to be managed by the then Department
of Transport and Works, was approved under the Public Health Ordinance 1952 in April 1977. As part of
the establishment of Litchfield Shire, control and management of the dump was transferred to the new council.
An offer for the grant of a 10 year Crown lease over the land was made to council in February 1988, but at the
time of survey to formally create the parcel from Crown land, it was discovered that the dump was not actually
on the designated land but slightly to the south. This variation was actually appropriate as the original site
is subject to wet season inundation and unsuitable for use as a dump. The Litchfield Area Plan requires a
rubbish dump to have approval of the Development Consent Authority. However, the use of this site as a
dump pre-dates the plan and is therefore a lawful existing use. No new offers for title over the land have
been made, due to the need to clarify some issues.
The construction of Spencely Road linking the Arnhem Highway to the industrial development south of
Strangways Road has changed the dimensions of Section 2942, the dump site, and the extent of the land
to be offered to council is still to be determined. Also, at least part of the dump site is being considered for
future industrial purposes in the Planning Scheme, as there is a lack of available land in the shire suitable
for industrial development.
The issues of the siting of a regional dump and the upgrade to a transfer station of the existing dump also
raise questions as to the amount of land that should be offered to council. It is worth noting that in
December 2000 council was asked to consider, as an interim measure, accepting an Occupation Licence over
all of Section 2492. No response was received.
The Litchfield Planning Concepts and Land Use Objectives outlines the continued operation of the
Humpty Doo landfill site pending development of a regional waste disposal site. Operation of the landfill
continues to be the responsibility of the Litchfield Shire Council. Council has spent considerable amounts
of money over the last few years to upgrade the standard of landfill management. I understand that staff of
the Office of Environment and Heritage and the Department of Health and Community Services have assisted
council with these improvements.
- Options for the relocation of the facility to another location are being actively pursued by both levels
of government. Government officers held a meeting with aggrieved residents on 12 February 2003 to
advise them of progress with this issue.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Public Housing – Security Measures
Public Housing – Security Measures
Mr AH KIT (Housing): Madam Speaker, I provide this report to the Assembly on progress on another important Martin Labor government initiative, to provide safe and secure housing for Territorians.
Earlier this week, I had the privilege to officially launch the next stage of the government’s program to install security screens on all of the Territory’s public housing assets. While the government’s initiatives in crime prevention are demonstrating positive results in reducing crime, it is important that all of our public housing tenants have the additional personal security that is provided by household security screens.
Last year, the government completed the installation of security screens in all of the Territory’s larger complexes of public housing flats and units. This program has resulted in the installation of security screens on more than 3000 flats and units to date, at a cost of $2.2m. The next stage of the roll-out has commenced. The cost of this expanded program is estimated at $10.7m over the next three years. This phase will extend the security screening to some 3500 houses over the next three years. Contracts have been finalised to screen 367 houses in Darwin and Palmerston. Contracts will be let later this month for a further 125 houses in Alice Springs, Katherine and Tennant Creek.
Members will have noticed in today’s NT News the advertising of the tender for this work relating to public housing in Tennant Creek. In total, almost 500 houses will be screened before the end of April this year in this phase of the roll-out. Highest priority in rolling out this initiative will be given to households with disabled, aged and single parent tenants. The government has also provided capacity within this initiative for priority screening to be provided for tenants in special circumstances who might not otherwise meet the priority criteria. This measure is intended to provide flexibility to respond quickly to unusual and deserving circumstances. The government’s new security screening policy was endorsed in April last year and provides for all dwellings with disabled modifications and safe rooms to be fully screened during the current financial year.
All new public housing dwellings are built with a range of security measures, including bars to windows and security doors. Additional security screening is installed for those tenants who are victims of domestic violence. Security screening of all public housing dwellings is an important component in providing safe and secure housing for public housing tenants. Our public housing tenants deserve to live in secure homes for their own peace of mind.
Madam Speaker, this initiative is another election commitment of the Martin Labor government. I am pleased to advise Territorians that the program is continuing to roll out. This is one more component of the government’s plans to provide safe communities for all Territorians. It is a program that is very much welcomed by public housing tenants.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, the opposition welcomes the government’s announcement. The $2.2m that has already been spent and the $10.7m will be money well spent in the Territory to make sure that disabled people, single people and the aged feel safe in their homes. However, it is a real pity that this government has let law and order go so far down the track that we have to do this.
Members interjecting.
Dr LIM: It is such a pity. It is great to protect Territorians and they should feel safe in their own homes, but it is such a pity that law and order has got so bad, that crime is so rife, that people now feel …
Ms Lawrie: You never screened.
Ms Scrymgour: Why didn’t you do it?
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! If the member for Greatorex wants to mislead the House about law and order problems increasing, he needs to do so by way of substantive motion because independent documents have been tabled in this House that show that property crime is actually creeping down against when they were in government.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order but, member for Greatorex, do make your response in line with the minister’s report. Make it relevant.
Dr LIM: Madam Speaker, I am speaking about the need for secure housing for the Territory and I said it is a pity that, because this government has allowed law and order to decline so badly - and here are all the newspaper clippings for the last six months about how bad law and order has gone. Documented evidence is there in the NT News for you …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker. Again, the member for Greatorex is misleading the House. He cannot point to newspaper clippings. We have tabled independent reports in this House that show that property crime has decreased by 17%.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order and members, you are really putting it on for our visitors, aren’t you? I am sure they are more than surprised by your bad manners. The member for Greatorex has the floor, and you only have 30 seconds left.
Dr LIM: Thank you, Madam Speaker. That is how the Leader of Government Business tries to waste my time. Again, let me congratulate the government for doing what has been necessary, but let me add the rider that it is a pity that they could not get law and order under control better.
Mr AH KIT (Housing): Madam Speaker, we know the real intention of the CLP with the shadow housing minister publicly declaring that they are against security screening throughout the public housing sector.
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! In much the same way as the Leader of Government Business believed that the House was being misled, that is in direct contrast with what the member has just said.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order. Minister, keep to your response.
Mr Dunham: You are a liar, Jack.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, withdraw that!
Mr DUNHAM: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Mr AH KIT: Madam Speaker, let me rephrase that: when the CLP wins government, it is obvious to Territorians that they will take the security screening away because they will have crime and order under control. It is also very obvious that crime was not a problem up until 18 August 2001 when we won government. They believed everything was hunky-dory in the world that they lived in.
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired, Minister. Members, would you please settle down.
Filipiniana Senior Citizens Association
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, one of the many active ethnic organisations in the Northern Territory is a seniors group called the Filipiniana Senior Citizens Association. Members of the group are sitting in the gallery today, and I welcome them. Incorporated in 1994, the association has approximately 80 financial members, with members aged between 50 and 90-plus. However, age does not deter them and they refuse to just sit back and do nothing.
One major objective of the association is to enhance the wellbeing of members, especially the uplifting of their physical and emotional health conditions, together with their spirituality. To meet this objective, the association provides appropriate social and cultural activities for its members. One of its first projects, soon after the association’s establishment, was to conduct a survey designed to identify the settlement needs of the aged Filipinos living in Darwin and Palmerston.
Using survey results as a guide, the association was able to plan activities that responded to the needs identified. Weekly social meetings are held every Monday, and these provide opportunities for information sharing, traditional and modern dance, music and choir practice, not to mention food-sharing, a very important part of social activities. These help break the social isolation some members feel and provide an outlet for creative expression. But activities are not confined to indoor fun. There were organised picnics, billiard games and even a walkathon at East Point Reserve.
We have here a group of senior citizens who believe that they should allocate time for their enjoyment; thus the creation of a dance group, a choir - as you must be aware, every Filipino loves to sing - at one point, also a band and a drama group. One remarkable characteristic of the group is that they have very strong community spirit. During the early days of its establishment, association members believe that they should not selfishly think only of their own enjoyment, because there are many in the wider community who may need or wish to share what they could offer. This led to the creation of a scheme aptly named Outreach.
The Outreach program involves a group of members visiting nursing homes, schools, church functions, senior citizen groups and other ethnic organisations in Darwin in order to provide entertainment by way of songs, dance and music. I take my hat off to the dance group members who spend hours practicing traditional Filipino dance steps in order to please others. These Outreach visits bring laughter and joy to others in the community.
Filipinos in Katherine were the recipient of an Outreach visit in 1998 which provided much welcomed relief from the devastation caused by flooding. An extension of the community spirit exhibited by the Filipiniana Senior Citizens Association was its becoming a community support group for refugees. That means they have taken to welcoming newly arrived refugees in Darwin and assisting them in their initial settlement. A male refugee from Ethiopia was their first assignment in this area. A special bond was soon established with this individual, who, before arriving in Australia, was a refugee in Kenya. Next came a Sudanese family of five. The association is still assisting that family in their settlement period.
The association has the support of other established Filipino groups. The Filipiniana Senior Citizens Association is a very good example of a section of the community that maintains that age is not always a barrier to learning, making friends and sharing. The activities undertaken for the Filipino senior community and the general community is a good role model for other groups to follow. The association’s past and present executive committees should be congratulated for their efforts in building and maintaining the credibility the group enjoys.
The Northern Territory government recognises and acknowledges the association’s contribution to the Territory by continuing to support their activities with some funding through the Ethnic Affairs Sponsoring Program. I commend the Filipiniana Senior Citizens Association to you. I wish its members well, and hope that they continue to give to and share something of themselves with a sense of humour, vitality and last, but not least, unselfish acts of kindness.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I promise I will not be controversial with this. I congratulate the government for their continuing good work with the Filipiniana Senior Citizens which is well represented here in the Speaker’s Gallery.
I recall about three years ago, during Seniors Year, the CLP government gave these good folk a grant to obtain instruments which they used to teach others to play. I remember attending one of their functions and it was terrific to see them. I do not know the names of the instruments, but they played the bamboo instruments and all the string instruments at the function, and I thought the quality and the standard of the performance was tremendous.
You will recall that President Ramos attended this parliament; the only parliament that he attended in the whole of Australia. That was a real achievement of the Northern Territory government to be able to invite the president of another country to visit and address us in this Chamber. I look forward to our Filipino community across the Territory welcoming the 50 nurses that this government has recruited. We have a very strong, supportive Filipino community in every town in this large Territory, from Alice Springs to Tennant Creek. I am great mates with many, many of the groups in the regions, as well as in Darwin, and I look forward to the continuing good work that this government has done with the Filipino people, started by the former CLP government and continued by the ALP.
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, growing old can be very difficult, and I have experience from my own community where people tend to get old, sitting around telling stories and nothing much after that. I have to admit when I was first invited to attend a Filipiniana function, I was very apprehensive because I thought we would be sitting around with a lot of old ladies and men, drinking coffee and telling stories.
I was surprised when I saw the so-called old ladies and men getting up and dancing and singing and playing the traditional Filipiniana instruments. I was so surprised I went back to my community and actually tried to incite some of that excitement to my own aged citizens - with not much luck, I must admit; they preferred to tell stories and drink coffee. However, I enjoy every time I attend functions for the senior citizens because of the colourful costumes that they spend hours making. I enjoy their strength, vitality, and their friendship.
Madam SPEAKER: Do they teach the bamboo dance that we see in Alice Springs?
Mr Henderson: Yes, Madam Speaker. Look out for your ankles.
Australian Health Ministers Conference
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services): Madam Speaker, tomorrow I will be attending the Australian Health Ministers Conference in Melbourne to discuss the all important Australian Health Care Agreements.
It is with real disappointment that I advise the House that the Commonwealth will not be attending this meeting. The meeting has been planned since last November, and was called for by the Commonwealth to follow on from where our discussions left at that time, in relation to ongoing funding in the public health system, and particularly our hospitals.
Mr Reed: You did not even go to the last one.
Mrs AAGAARD: Madam Speaker, I will pick up on that. In fact, I did attend the last meeting, but by telephone. I saved the Territory thousands of dollars. It was not the Health Ministers Conference, it was actually a state and territory ministers conference.
This particular meeting is vital for the Territory, as it is for all states and territories in terms of securing adequate funding for our health system, in light of formulating appropriate health spending by the Commonwealth in the federal budget, for both this coming year, but particularly for the next five years in relation to Medicare agreements.
The federal government appears to be insular to the increasing needs of the states and territories, who are finding it more difficult each day to provide essential health services with insufficient Commonwealth funding. The federal Treasurer has acknowledged publicly on the ABC 7.30 Report last night that he was not inclined to reconsider increasing funding to the level required to keep Australian hospitals fully functional.
State and territory Health ministers accept that a figure in the order of $2bn is required as a minimum to maintain adequate clinical services and hospitals around the country - an irony that about $2.2bn is currently going into private health subsidies.
The situation in the Territory is no different from other states in many respects. However, it has been acknowledged that we have larger challenges, due to the vast distances and cost imposts that are incurred as a result of servicing a population that is spread thinly throughout the Northern Territory.
Many people in the Territory and other parts of Australia have significant difficulty accessing basic health services because the Commonwealth has simply not made appropriate resources available to the states and territories. As the minister responsible for delivering essential and accessible health care for Territorians, I believe the federal government has its spending priorities horribly wrong. It is vital that the federal government acts swiftly to address the urgent needs of the nation’s public health services.
The failure of the private health care rebate to reduce pressure on the public health system requires immediate attention. It is my view, and that of my state counterparts, that this subsidy needs to be reconsidered and the money, which is public money, redirected into the public health system. It is becoming more and more clear that health does not appear to be a priority for the Howard federal government. As we all know in this House …
Mr Dunham: Did more than Howe and Carmen and Richo.
Mrs AAGAARD: … the Territory has special needs …
Ms Martin: Listen!
Mr Dunham: More than Howe and Carmen and Richo.
Mrs AAGAARD: Madam Speaker, it is very difficult to continue when B2 keeps making strange interjections.
The Territory has special needs, particularly for our indigenous population who have poor health outcomes. The Martin Labor government, through the review which we have handed down, is committed to substantially improving health outcomes for indigenous Territorians. Part of the solution will only be possible with appropriate federal funding.
Despite the absence of the Commonwealth at Friday’s meeting of state and territory Health ministers, I will be strongly mounting a case for the Territory to be given a substantial injection of funds in order to maintain public health services of a high standard for all Territorians.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for her report. Obviously, one of her key roles is to go down south to fight for extra funding.
I was very concerned a few weeks ago when the minister did not personally attend a meeting down south. I believe use of a phone is not adequate. At this stage in time, because of the importance of the need for extra funding for the Northern Territory, we need to get our minister down there to make sure that she is fighting in person, to work with her colleagues from the other states, to build up relationships. We are a very small jurisdiction, so we need all the friends we can get. This minister is in a very good position to develop friendships with Health ministers from other states and territories so that when it comes time for divvying up the federal pie, because of their relationship with our minister, they will understand our problems more – if she would have been down there developing relationships.
When you go to ministerial conferences and councils, one of the important things to do is go to some of the social events that are attached to them so that you can actually build relationships. It is all part of work. I know what happens. It is part of developing supportive relationships and, because we have a new minister, she should be making every effort to develop relationships with other ministers from other states and territories. I recommend that she does this in person. I believe it is a very important thing to do.
I wish her all the best in the trip later on this week. When she goes there, she will be continuing a proud Territory tradition of our Health ministers going down south and fighting for the Territory. Past Health ministers have done this very, very well. We have done well out of the Commonwealth government and I hope this minister is able to perform just as well.
Mrs AAGAARD (Health and Community Services): Madam Speaker, what a strange response from the member opposite.
Mr Ah Kit: B1
Mrs AAGAARD: Very, very strange. Yes, B1 indeed. Territorians expect their ministers to spend their money properly. This was not actually a Health Ministers Conference two weeks ago; this was a state and territory ministers’ conference. I joined the conference. It was fly in, fly out. There were no social engagements. On the social engagements, I am not quite sure what the member is talking about. Do you mean the business meetings that sometimes are attached to these things? I am quite happy to be involved, but everybody flew in and flew out straight away, so that was a bit strange. I joined by phone.
I would just like to say what I am concerned about from the opposition is where is their call for the Commonwealth to put more funding into health? They are so worried about whether or not this minister …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mrs AAGAARD: … attends by phone and saves thousands of dollars, why aren’t they putting their energy into talking to the Commonwealth? Talk to the Prime Minister. He belongs to their party! They should be contacting him and getting more information.
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired, Minister.
Alcohol Restriction Measures in Alice Springs
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, I undertook to come back to the House regularly with updates on the alcohol restrictions and complementary measures in Alice Springs.
Mr Burke: How much does a two litre cask cost now in Alice Springs?
Dr TOYNE: As this is the last sittings before the trial is concluded, I thought it would be worth updating members at this stage on what has come out of it.
Members will be aware that the trial carries with it a rigorous evaluation of the restrictions and the complementary measures being undertaken. Information presented at the December 2002 meeting of the Evaluation Reference Group, ERG, showed a continuing improvement in public order and in some health outcomes.
I know the opposition does not like to deal with facts on matters, but I am going to give you some anyway. Compared to the same period last year, over the course of the trial from April to October there have been the following outcomes: a 10% reduction in alcohol-related assaults; 28% fewer protective custodies; 10% fewer admissions to the sobering-up shelter despite it being open an additional day per week; a 15% reduction in alcohol-related ambulance callouts; 16% fewer alcohol-related presentations to the Alice Springs Emergency Department; and 7% fewer at the Congress Clinic.
Every one of those figures translates into reduced harm to people like women being assaulted by drunks, to the health profile we are going to be facing in Central Australia into the ensuing years. The overall feeling in town - and we are picking this up quite widely - is that the trial is having some positive effects, especially in terms of public order and especially around the town centre. The ERG is pleased with the community input into monitoring the situation. I certainly - and I am sure the other MLAs down there - would encourage the Alice Springs community to stay vigilant about what is happening in the town and to let the ERG or us know what they are seeing around the town.
Every three or four years, the Department of Health and Community Services conducts a household survey on patterns of alcohol consumption and attitudes to alcohol use in Alice Springs. As the trial coincides with the survey this year, the ERG has taken the opportunity and added some supplementary questions about the restrictions to ascertain what effects, if any, each of the restrictions has had on the households. Questions will be asked about each of the restrictions, the overall trial and the directions for the future. We are looking forward to seeing, directly from the households of Alice Springs, how people are perceiving this trial.
I have said on earlier occasions in this House we are not married to the absolute detail of what was introduced in the initial package. There is a three-year fully funded Commonwealth-Northern Territory government program in place in Alice Springs to allow for the complementary measures to evolve into more and more effective activities in support of whatever the Liquor Commissioner decides to do with the restrictions. The restrictions will stay in place until the Licensing Commission considers the ultimate reports of the trial. At this stage, it is anticipated that the ERG will receive an evaluation report and pass that on to the Liquor Commissioner, along with their own comments about the outcomes and that will happen in June this year. Just to make that clear, the current situation will be maintained at least until June.
Certainly from Ian Crundall’s comments the other day, it seems that it will be more a case of finetuning the restrictions rather than removing them. There are ongoing concerns about the transfer to drinking of port from the earlier cask wines. I am sure the commissioner is pondering what could be done to perhaps reverse the trend to fortified wine, but members can see that there have been some gains out of this exercise. I am very proud of the town of Alice Springs for getting these ideas together and supporting them so far within the trial situation.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, the alcohol restrictions trial in Alice Springs has been going on for some nine months. It was started in April last year and was supposed to end in April of this year. I am surprised to hear the minister say now that is going to be extended to June, whereas prior to it being implemented, Alice Springs was told it was going to be a 12-month trial. Suddenly, we are having a 15-month trial.
I find it peculiar that he rises today to report on the trial when, in fact, a week ago in Alice Springs the ERG announced to the people in Alice Springs that they are doing a survey. Now, wouldn’t it be better that the survey was done independently without that sort of information trying to influence the responses that families will give to the ERG? It is important: leave the results alone. That is trying to skew the results of the survey that is coming up.
We heard an interjection earlier from the Leader of the Opposition - and I think it is very important - about the cost of wines in Alice Springs. Currently, you pay $14 for a two litre cask. In Darwin, you pay $15 or $16 for a five litre cask. What is this? Are we in government for Territorians or are we in government for the Top End and separately for Alice Springs? Why are people in Alice Springs being penalised for this very expensive wine? It is just not right.
Second, what has happened as a result of this differential in cost of buying cask wine is that there is now grog running between Darwin and Alice Springs. People are putting five litre casks in vehicles to take down to Alice Springs, and I do not know what this government is doing about it - and minibuses; that is your problem, Minister for Transport, and you had better fix it up before too long.
Madam Speaker, while the restrictions are being trialled, it is important that the government stays out of it and allows a proper, unbiased survey to be done.
Dr TOYNE (Central Australia): Madam Speaker, it is a pity to see the member for Greatorex losing the plot late in the piece. Until now, he has been fairly supportive of what has been done. I would like him to get up in Alice Springs, perhaps in the next parliament down there, and tell people whether he believes that these gains should be thrown away, or are you going to cave in to the industry? In the time you …
Dr Lim interjecting.
Dr TOYNE: In the time when you where in position to do something about this, you chose to exclude any action on supply of alcohol in Alice Springs. You would only allow activities to be discussed on the demand side of the equation. You stand condemned if you are going to take the line that this is all terribly difficult and we should abandon it.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Take Two Bills Together
Take Two Bills Together
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent bills entitled Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Bill 2003 (Serial 122) and Dangerous Goods Act 1998 Amendment Bill 2003 (Serial 123):
(a) being presented and read a first time together and one motion being put in regard to, respectively,
the second readings; the committee’s report stage; and the third readings of the bills together; and
Motion agreed to.
DANGEROUS GOODS (ROAD AND RAIL TRANSPORT) BILL
(Serial 122)
DANGEROUS GOODS ACT 1998 AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 123)
(Serial 122)
DANGEROUS GOODS ACT 1998 AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 123)
Bills presented and read a first time.
Mr STIRLING (Education, Training and Employment): Madam Speaker, I move that the bills be now read a second time.
Honourable members, the purpose of these two bills is to ensure that the Northern Territory, in company with all other jurisdictions in Australia, introduces uniform and complementary laws related to the road and rail transport of dangerous goods.
This is achieved through amending the Dangerous Goods Act 1998 to delete reference in that legislation to the transport of dangerous goods by road and rail, and by introducing separate but complementary legislation covering the road transport of dangerous goods. These bills make provision for the safe road and rail transport of dangerous goods, maintenance of public safety, protection of the environment, protection of property against damage through the negligent road or rail transport of dangerous goods. As well, these bills meet the requirements of the National Competition Policy by developing uniform national laws.
The impetus for the development of the bills goes back as far as 1991, when the Commonwealth, states and territories, including the Northern Territory, agreed to work towards developing uniform laws covering the road transport of dangerous goods. In 1995, the Commonwealth government introduced the Road Transport Reform Act 1995 and regulations which have become a blueprint to the development of similar legislation across Australia.
The Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Act 2002 in essence adopts most of the Commonwealth Road Transport Reform Act 1995 and those regulations, departing only in minor matters from that act.
To ensure compatibility between the two pieces of legislation, it has been determined necessary to amend the Dangerous Goods Act 1998 so as to remove reference to road and rail transport from that act, and replace those references with the new Dangerous Goods (Road and Rail Transport) Act 2002. This is achieved through the Dangerous Goods Act 1998 Amendment Act 2002.
The development of uniform laws covering the transport of dangerous goods is to be applauded and supported as the development of uniform laws across Australia creates a degree of certainty for the transport industry which, by the nature of its work, regularly crosses jurisdictional boundaries.
The introduction of these bills will see the Territory move toward adopting nationally uniform laws, which will advantage the transport industry by removing jurisdictional differences and support Territorians by providing a legislative framework which protects Territory people, property and our environment.
The bill is further testament to this government’s ongoing resolve to ensure that the Territory’s industries are developed, and that our people are protected by good legislation. I commend the bill to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL (No 3)
(Serial 118)
(Serial 118)
Continued from 28 November 2002.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, the opposition, having considered the contents of the bill and the effect of it, will be supporting it. The Attorney-General made a brief second reading speech which really encapsulates the more important points which the bill addresses.
The amendments are really limited to the laws of the Territory in minor respects. There are no changes which, in our view, reflect a substantive change in policy. One of the purposes of the bill is that it repeals a number of old acts which have been on the statute books for a number of years and, it is fair to say, have served a useful purpose in their time but are now of no effect. They include the Commission of Inquiry (Chamberlain Convictions) Act, the Criminal Law (Regulatory Offences) Act, the Racing, Gaming and Liquor Commission Repeal Act, the Transfer of Powers (Law) Act, the Transfer of Powers (Health) Act, and also a portion of section 3 and the schedule to Prisons (Correctional Services) Act. There is also a correction which has been made to the Real Property Act, section 190, the insertion of the word ‘not’ was an oversight.
From a practical perspective, one amendment this legislation brings into effect which will have an effect on the everyday working life of the Local Court is the amendment to the Local Court Act. Currently, there is a system whereby decisions of the Registrar, by way of an appeal, go to a magistrate. That is the purpose behind the current Local Court Act, but a technical and strict reading of the provisions of the Local Court Act reveal that an order of the court can only be appealed to the Supreme Court. So, really to have fixed that oversight, this amendment makes it clear that a practitioner or a person aggrieved by decision of the Registrar can appeal to a magistrate for a re-hearing.
As I said, the opposition supports the bill. There are a number of minor amendments which I am not going to go into. They are important in the mechanics of some of the legislation they touch upon, but I can just say quite broadly that we support the bill and commend it to honourable members.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for their support and the member for his competent summary of the main features of the bill. As the member said, there are no contentious provisions here; it is a regular act of housekeeping, if you like, of removing bills that have lost currency from our statute books, and of tidying up drafting errors and the like. This certainly falls in that category.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
TRADE MEASUREMENT AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 110)
TRADE MEASUREMENT ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 111)
(Serial 110)
TRADE MEASUREMENT ADMINISTRATION AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 111)
Continued from 27 November 2002.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I indicate that the opposition, having considered the bill and the contents of it, will be supporting the bill.
The introduction of this amending legislation is the Territory’s contribution to a uniform scheme of trade measurements across Australia. Historically - and the minister in his second reading speech touched upon it - there was an agreement reached in 1990 between the states and territories across Australia that there would be a uniform system introduced. There was an advisory committee set up, I think sometime in 1994-95, and I understand all jurisdictions have introduced amendments or some more substantive legislation to make sure that there is a uniform scheme.
The amendments which are contained in the Trade Measurement Amendment Bill (Serial 110) and the Trade Measurement Administration Amendment Bill (Serial 111) amend current Northern Territory legislation. The amendments, I suppose, are of a minor nature in the scheme of things, but they do touch upon two or three matters which are worth noting.
The amendments do create some greater flexibility in the enforcement of the legislation where you have an inspector who can now give a person a time limit in which to correct or calibrate a measuring item. It creates a new offence relating to the misuse of a measuring instrument. There are categories of measuring instruments and some categories - for example those instruments which are used to weigh baggage at the airport - have a particular use. That machine cannot be transported and used in another industry sector which is outside the general category of the weighing of baggage.
There are two amendments which are, in effect, good for business. The changes which are made to the Trade Measurement Act will remove, as the Attorney-General said in his second reading speech, the regulatory burden of marking the weights on agricultural products which will have a cost saving.
There is a further amendment which will allow persons in partnership to be jointly licensed under one servicing or weighbridge licence. That amendment will reduce the impost upon business and smaller companies and individuals obtaining a separate licence from a weighbridge licence or a servicing licence.
Madam Speaker, we have looked at this bill. The opposition will be supporting it. I commend it to honourable members.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, again I thank the opposition for their support. This is a sensible package of amendments to the Trade Measurement Act and brings us into line with the national arrangements within this area of public policy. The amendments are otherwise dealing with impediments identified over time, both by business and legislators, as to earlier operations of this act. We are all going to win out of this. There will be a more streamlined and a more focussed set of arrangements and a common arrangement around Australia.
Motion agreed to; bills read a second time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bills be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bills read a third time.
TABLED PAPER
Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report 2002-03
Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report 2002-03
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I lay on the Table the Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report for 2002-03.
MOTION
Note Paper - Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report 2002-03
Note Paper - Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report 2002-03
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the report.
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: I take note of the derision and some glee, understandably so, from the member for Katherine and others, Madam Speaker, because I really should have had one of these framed and presented it to the member for Katherine, the former Treasurer. I am advised that in the five years or so under the uniform presentation framework that the former Treasurer was presenting mid-year reports, he failed to ever stand in the Assembly and table one.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr STIRLING: Madam Speaker, not only that, the mid-year report that we have presented under the Financial Integrity and Transparency Act contains a lot of information - pages of explanation against each of the categories in the report - unlike the tables and figures that we used to get under the CLP. The fact is, it went up on the Internet a little earlier than we would have expected or been prepared for. It really is another sign of just how honest, transparent and accountable ...
Members interjecting.
Mr STIRLING: … sometimes a little premature, Madam Speaker. Nothing to hide with this government and as soon as we knew of concern around the population figures, I took the first opportunity available in this House as Treasurer to draw members’ and Territorians’ attention to the fact that, yet again, we were going to be very badly done by with the population estimates.
As honourable members will know, the mid-year report is required under the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act and it provides a means of updating financial information for the budget year and forward estimates. It also meets the Territory’s mid-year reporting obligations under the uniform presentation framework agreement. The report was finalised on 12 February 2003 and provided to the Government Printer on 13 February in preparation for these sittings. The report takes into account the effect of updated assumptions and known information as at 12 February 2003, which may affect the financial statements for 2002-03 and the forward estimates. It includes statements for the general government and public non-financial sectors in accordance with the requirements for government finance statistics as determined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It also includes an updated Loan Council allocation.
The report reports a change to the Territory’s population growth factors of 2002-03 and forward estimates which affects the estimate of funding from the Commonwealth, but it does not include the rebasing of the Territory’s population following the 2001 Census as released by the ABS on 18 February 2003, having been, of course, put together one week earlier.
As the Chief Minister explained yesterday, the Territory’s population is extremely difficult to estimate for two reasons. The first is the high level of interstate migration that the Territory has recorded for more than two decades which makes intercensal estimation more difficult than for other jurisdictions. This report uses lower population growth factors for 2002-03 and forward estimates than were used at budget time, and have been adjusted to align with those used in the Commonwealth mid-year financial report. Population growth in 2002-03 has been revised down to 0.7% as an estimated reduction in GST revenue of $6m in 2002-03, rising to $19m in 2005-06 which is an overall reduction of $51m over the budget and forward estimates period.
It is important to note that the population estimates for 2002-03 will be revised again in June 2003. Growth rates for future years are revised on a regular basis.
The second major difficultly in estimating a Territory’s population relates to census estimates which are considered to be less reliable for the Territory than for other jurisdictions, and is due to the greater difficulty in undertaking census counts in rural and remote areas. Also, the very different demographic characteristics in the Territory mean the methods used by the ABS to estimate occupancy levels in dwellings for which the census form was not returned is not as readily applicable to the Territory as other jurisdictions.
The revised population estimate from the 2001 Census was released by the ABS on 18 February 2003 and is, therefore, not included in this mid-year report. The revised population estimates from the census do no relate to population growth factors, but reflect the current view of the ABS regarding the Territory’s total population.
The Territory has significant concerns with these estimates, particularly their variation from the preliminary census estimates released in 2002, and we will be taking up those concerns with the ABS and the Commonwealth as a matter of urgency. If the estimates are not changed, the effect on 2002-03 and future years would be in the order of $20m to $25m per annum.
It is important to recognise that, in addition to population estimates, there are several other factors that will influence funding levels in 2002-03 and future years. These include the CPI outcome, Commonwealth Grants Commission relativities, the size of the GST revenue pool, and the outcome of the Treasurers Conference. The mid-year report has been prepared at a point in time and does not speculate on these potential influences on funding levels.
Returning to the mid-year report, the estimated cash deficit remains as it was at the time of the budget. Overall expenditure is consistent with expectations in August 2002. The increases approved during 2002-03, notably the additional funds for Health and Community Services, will be provided from the Treasurer’s Advance.
The estimate of the Territory’s own source revenue has increased since the time of the budget. It is primarily due to one-off unexpected business-related transactions which increased conveyance-related stamp duty, and a small increase in the value of a range of other transactions subject to Territory taxes. The increase in tax revenue is due to higher levels of activity rather than an increase in rates of taxes.
Turning to the accrual figures, the changes in the operating balance are due to minor reclassifications of some items accounting for less than 1% of operating expenses, and are associated with the refinement of accrual management systems. The details of these changes are outlined in the report. It is expected that further refinement will continue to occur over the next 12 to 18 months, a period shorter than the experience in other jurisdictions.
I would also like to table a revised page 10 of the mid-year report. Following the printing of the report, it was noted that a mathematical error had occurred in Figure 7.
Mr Reed: Which you referred to yesterday as a ‘rounding up’.
Mr STIRLING: This has now been corrected and I table the corrected page 10 figures.
The 2002-03 financial year has marked a substantial change in the Territory’s fiscal management practices. Milestone achievements have been the introduction of accrual budgetting, accounting and reporting, the application of the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act, the introduction of a new fiscal strategy as required by the act, specification of outputs and performance measures in the budget papers and, now, the 2002-03 mid-year report. I commend the report to the House.
In relation to the comment that the former Treasurer just made, he has form in regard to these sorts of things. His deceit, as practised on the people of the Northern Territory, goes back a fair way. Because he comes from the position and a mindset like that, he immediately accuses and thinks that we as a government, and myself as Treasurer, act the same way.
What I was referring to by way of nett operating balance was, of course, the accrual position, and the focus of this government is on what the cash deficit will be in the years going forward until accruals are well and truly bedded down. We said at the outset in August last year, that we would go for a $95m deficit this year. Despite the news about the population, we expect to hold the line on that, and the forthcoming year would be a $25m deficit, and 2004-05 with a budget back in balance and 2005-06, we are looking at a $13m surplus. It is at that stage, and that stage only, that we can begin to attack that enormous burden and amount of debt that successive CLP governments have saddled this and future generations of Territorians with for years to come. A big part of that debt, although it does not accrue on any one day, is employee entitlements including superannuation; around $1.7bn in its own right.
Of all the superannuation schemes in the Northern Territory, it is notable that the CLP took the time and the effort in the early days to fund that superannuation scheme relating to members of this House, the Legislative Assembly Members’ Superannuation Scheme, but they never bothered to fund the big one out there for the public servants. Those liabilities continue to accrue until such time as a government begins to put money in on an ongoing basis, year by year, and it is something that budget Cabinet will be looking very closely at.
However, to say in 2000-01 - and to tell Territorians loud and clear - that you are going to produce a budget with a $45m deficit and to come in at $275m under - now, you do ask what they were doing. From 1994 on - I suppose it was from the post-Perron days - the picture began to get blacker. Shane Stone as Chief Minister probably understood the budgetary process but did not care about it. The then Chief Minister, Denis Burke, did not understand it, unfortunately. I used to think that the member for Katherine, the former Treasurer, had a good grasp on these things, but I wonder. When you look back at the historic sense, whether he was overruled by Cabinet who said: ‘To hell with debt; we are going to do it, no matter what and do not worry about the bottom line. Future Territorians will have to pay for that one way or another’, or whether he simply did not understand the burden that he was stacking up for the future. One can only speculate.
The fact is he was on deck. He was the Treasurer who had carriage of these budgets over these years; these massive blow-outs. To tell Territorians at the time of the election – again - that you are bringing forward a budget with a $12m deficit, the best we could get a figure on at the time of the mini-budget in November 2001, was $126m. The Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report shows clearly how we were able to rein that in to $83m, a saving on future debt or on a nett debt of $43m. Of course, that will continue to flow through.
Madam Speaker, it is a comprehensive report. It gives explanations that the CLP’s mid-year reports simply did not do. I commend the report to members.
Debate adjourned.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Greenhouse Gas Strategy
Greenhouse Gas Strategy
Dr BURNS (Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, earlier today I released for public comment the government’s greenhouse discussion paper. The discussion paper entitled Developing a Strategy for the Northern Territory Greenhouse Action has been …
Mr BALDWIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, just hang on a moment.
Mr BALDWIN: I would ask the minister to table the document that he released this morning because the statement does talk about the document and this side of the House has not seen it. It is only appropriate that, at the beginning of the delivery of a statement, the document the subject of the statement is tabled.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, do you have that paper available to be distributed?
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I will arrange for it to be distributed at the earliest possible opportunity.
Madam SPEAKER: Perhaps ministerial officers or the Leader of Government Business could have that distributed. Minister, yes, continue your statement.
Dr BURNS: The discussion paper entitled Developing a Strategy for Northern Territory Greenhouse Action has been produced to facilitate input from the community into the development of a new Territory-focussed greenhouse strategy. The discussion paper outlines greenhouse-related issues for the Northern Territory to address, suggests some possible options and invites suggestions from the community on actions which could be incorporated in the Territory’s proposed new greenhouse strategy. Development of the greenhouse strategy in consultation with business and the community is one of this government’s key commitments. Through the greenhouse policy framework which was endorsed in April 2002, government has committed to the development and delivery of comprehensive practical and achievable greenhouse initiatives for the Northern Territory.
All Territorians and other interested people are invited to participate in the process of developing the new Territory greenhouse strategy. I hope that we receive constructive comments not only from the community, but also from our counterparts in opposition.
Human induced climate change has become one of the most significant global environmental issues facing the world today. It is a matter that requires action from all members of the community if we are to provide a healthy environment for our children and their children after. Developing appropriate responses to climate change is challenging. Complex interactions between economic, social, political, climatic and environmental processes are played out at global, regional and local levels. This government believes a debate on greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to impacts of climate change requires a timely response to uncertain risks. Achieving the right balance will position the Territory for a vibrant, economically sound and environmentally sustainable future. It will mean jobs for Territorians in which we all play a part to resolve a global problem. There are challenges, but there are also tremendous opportunities.
This is also a timely opportunity to outline the status of Territory greenhouse emissions, the progress this government has made to manage greenhouse gas emissions and the challenges that lie before us. Activities in the Northern Territory contributed to about 14.4 million tonnes of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere in 2000. This was equivalent to 2.7% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions. This equates to about 74 tonnes of greenhouse gases per capita, which is the highest of any state or territory and nearly three times the national average of approximately 27 tonnes per capita. The Territory’s high per capita emissions are primarily due to large emissions from extensive savanna burning, but our small population base, our relatively high per capita use of energy, and transportation of freight and passengers over long distances contribute to the level of our per capita emissions.
In 2000, savanna burning accounted for 47% of Northern Territory greenhouse gas emissions. By comparison, only 2.9% of Australia’s emissions are from savanna burning inclusive of emissions from the Territory. Under current management practices, large areas of the Top End burn intensely, predominantly in the late Dry Season. This government recognises the potential for substantial reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from uncontrolled fires by implementing strategic burning early in the Dry Season. In essence, this involves re-establishing traditional, Aboriginal fire management regimes. Government is seeking Commonwealth recognition of this abatement as an offset for industrial emissions. It is recognised that the methods used to estimate emissions from savanna burning need to be further refined. This is the subject of proposed research through the Cooperative Research Centre for Tropical Savannas, of which this government is a partner.
Not only will reducing greenhouse gas emissions from savanna fires provide a positive greenhouse abatement measure, it can also positive outcomes for biodiversity, conservation, human health and local employment.
The stationary energy sector was the second highest contributor to the Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions, producing 22% of emissions. By contrast, nationally, the stationary energy sector accounts for 49% of Australia’s emissions. Clearly, the Northern Territory greenhouse gas emissions profile is currently very different from the Australian average and the challenge for this government is the development of greenhouse strategies which focus on achieving outcomes for our particular circumstances.
The Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions increased by 49% between 1990 and 2000 primarily as a result of increased emissions from savanna burning. This increase is related to emissions from extensive savanna fires during the late 1990s due to the dry conditions of an El Nino episode. In the future, our greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to further increase across most sectors as a result of population growth and economic development, particularly in the mining and gas sectors. Based on these projects that have been subjected to environmental assessment, prospective major developments in the Territory are projected to increase Territory greenhouse gas emissions by 180% compared with 1990 levels. This figure is expected to be revised upwards with any new development proposals.
The last fortnight has seen MIM and Alcan announce plans for major expansions to their operations. This, coupled with proposals for onshore gas processing, provides exciting opportunities for diversifying and growing the Territory economy. This government is working tirelessly to ensure that these opportunities for jobs for Territorians are realised in an environmentally sustainable manner.
The proposed gas-based projects will increase Australia’s and the Territory’s contribution of greenhouse gas emissions. However, we must always be looking at ways to offset these emissions. For example, Alcan is considering shifting from fuel oil to gas in its expanded operations with associated benefits in terms of greenhouse emissions. Nor should we constrain our outlook merely to the Territory. By selling LNG from the Territory into the global market place, we will help other countries to reduce their reliance on more greenhouse intensive fossil fuel such as coal and oil.
The implications of mining and gas-based projects for the Territory are significant. Even with major technological change in the next 10 to 20 years, it will not be possible to contain our total greenhouse gas emissions at current levels if major projects proceed. But why should we be disadvantaged simply because our major development is occurring now rather than over the past 100 years?
This government believes that its focus needs to be more where the best returns can be made, taking into account the needs of the global, national and local environment, and the Territory’s social and economic situation.
To continue in our efforts to become more economically independent, it is important for the Northern Territory to ensure that at a national level, the different greenhouse response capacities of the states and territories are recognised. This will help prevent adverse and inequitable impacts on economies and future developments. Similarly, there is a need to recognise that some sectors can reduce emissions more cost effectively than others. Differentiation within sectors requires recognition. For example, the electricity industry in the Northern Territory is relatively efficient compared with other states. Approximately 90% of the Territory’s commercial electricity is generated using natural gas as a fuel source, and renewable energy is used in remote communities where projects are feasible.
This government is committed to promoting the use of renewable power generation, particularly in remote areas. Electricity generated from renewable sources reduces reliance on diesel for electricity generation. To this end, government is supportive of the Renewable Remote Power Generation Program which provides cash rebates of up to 50% for the converting of diesel-based electricity supplies and water pumping systems to renewable energy technologies. $38.2m in Commonwealth funding is available for this purpose.
Increasing the uptake of renewable energy technology in remote areas of Australia will help in providing an effective, reliable electricity supply to remote users; assist the development of the Australian renewable energy industry; help meet the energy infrastructure needs of indigenous communities; and lead to long-term greenhouse gas reductions. Eligible target groups are small communities and households including outstations and small indigenous communities; commercial operations including pastoral properties and tourist operations; large communities including towns and large indigenous communities; and industrial operations including mine sites.
There has been a steady uptake of rebates in the Territory. To date, a total of 82 projects with rebate funding totalling more than $3.39m have been approved, including $3.2m for solar power projects and $190 000 for solar water pumping projects. Projects in indigenous communities have accounted for more than $1.5m of the rebates approved.
In November last year, I had the pleasure of opening the solar facility at Bulman community, where 800 solar panels generate 56 kW of electricity. It was fantastic to be able to see first hand the community support for this project which will reduce greenhouse emissions by decreasing reliance on diesel fuel. In addition, Kings Canyon is soon to be the recipient of a solar array generating 225 kW. This facility is expected to be operational mid-year, producing greenhouse gas savings of 345 tonnes per annum.
This government’s commitment to renewable energy projects is also demonstrated through the Power and Water Corporation’s investment of $2.4m into a grid connected biomass to electricity pilot plant that uses the noxious weed Mimosa pigra as fuel. This plant is to be located on the Adelaide River flood plain, and the innovative power plant will integrate briquetting, gasification and power generation technologies in a modular transportable form. The power plant is expected to generate a minimum of 350 kW of power, which represents about 0.25% of Darwin’s electricity consumption, while saving over 1500 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.
In total, the Territory’s renewable energy program is likely to reduce diesel fuel consumption by over 10 million litres per annum, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 500 000 tonnes over 20 years. Although this will not make a large impact on the Territory’s total greenhouse gas emissions, renewables certainly have an important role to play in limiting our reliance on fossil fuels and aiding in technology transfer.
Government has also been active in supporting the introduction, on 1 January 2003, of minimum energy performance requirements for residential and commercial buildings into the Building Code of Australia. These minimum energy performance requirements will aid in reducing electricity consumed in Northern Territory buildings, which will help to reduce energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Even little changes can help. I was recently informed of an initiative implemented by Western Mining Corporation. The company found that they could reduce greenhouse gas emissions simply by changing the colour of the sheds housing their diesel engines. A small amount, but significant enough for them to repaint all such sheds across Australia.
Transport is another area where greenhouse savings can be made. This government recognises the many benefits of reducing private vehicle use, both in minimising greenhouse gas emissions and improving public health. The continuing implementation of the NT bicycle plan helps promote cycling in the community by providing an extensive network of cycle paths in urban areas. Darwin Bus Service is in the process of implementing innovative dual fuel technology that will allow its buses to use both LPG and diesel in such a way that emissions of both noxious pollutants and greenhouse gases will be significantly reduced. This technology is expected to be incorporated into a third of the bus fleet.
Government is also showing leadership in other tangible ways. In May 2002, government took delivery of two Toyota Prius hybrid cars for evaluation purposes. The upfront costs associated with these cars are higher than for vehicles of a similar size. However, by combining electric power with a petrol engine, the hybrid cars are emitting approximately 30% less greenhouse gases than regular cars of a similar size. One of the cars is based with the NT Greenhouse Unit in Darwin, and the other with the Desert Knowledge Project in Alice Springs. There has been considerable community interest in these cars, and they are demonstrated at school events and science days. Further investigations are under way to determine whether it is feasible to introduce larger numbers of these or similar cars into the NT fleet.
As a society we must look not only at minimising our greenhouse gas emissions, but also at adapting to the environmental changes that may result from global warming.
Government has been successful in attracting funding from the Australian Greenhouse Office for a climate change adaptation project investigating responses to saltwater intrusion in the Mary River catchment. On a local scale, the saltwater intrusion into the wetlands can provide insight into the problems we may face with sea level rises induced by global warming. The project is part of a national program which aims to provide information to enhance the knowledge base regarding the impacts of climate change on natural and human systems.
A major component of the project is to undertake a cost benefit analysis of the program currently being undertaken to combat saltwater intrusion on the Mary River, particularly focussing on intangible values such as biodiversity and tourism. A resource economist has been engaged to undertake the cost benefit analysis component of the project. Key interest groups in the Mary River catchment attended a workshop this month that aimed to gather information and insights to be used in the cost benefit analysis project.
Since Labor came to government, a number of actions have been implemented to increase awareness of greenhouse issues in the Northern Territory. These include the launch of the greenhouse web site in April 2002. The site includes information about the Territory Greenhouse Unit which coordinates government greenhouse policy and related activity, fact sheets on the greenhouse effect and greenhouse gas emissions, and links to related web sites which provide additional information about matters associated with greenhouse gas management and climate change issues. The greenhouse web site also features the Northern Territory greenhouse policy framework.
Global warming is not an issue we can take a head-in-the-sand approach to. There are scaremongers out there in the community who will say that the greenhouse issue will destroy our economy. Well, this government is about dealing with the realities of a world that is grappling with global warming. We are about seizing opportunities for sustainable development for Territorians not living in a state of denial.
There has been much publicity recently regarding the Kyoto Protocol. I recently visited the Australian Greenhouse Office for a briefing on this issue. Notwithstanding that the Commonwealth government does not wish to sign the Kyoto Protocol, it has, nevertheless, committed to working towards Australia’s Kyoto target. The Kyoto target would see greenhouse emissions capped at 108% of 1990 levels averaged over the five year period 2008-12.
So the need to control greenhouse gas emissions is there already, regardless of Kyoto. Control over greenhouse gas emissions is very important and is inevitable. Whether it be by Kyoto or another protocol or mechanism, greenhouse emissions must be controlled, and they will be controlled. The real issue is how we, as a nation, are to achieve control.
Nevertheless, I make it clear that this government supports, in principle, the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. This government is also absolutely committed to reducing our emissions where we can, but we need to see these emissions in perspective. We are equally committed to ensuring that the Territory is not disadvantaged by arrangements that favour those states which produce most of the emissions simply because they got there first.
Greenhouse emission controls have the potential to open up new opportunities and the Territory needs to be in a position to take advantage of these. This government, along with many greenhouse analysts, believes that economies that understand this reality and prepare for this reality will prosper. The head-in-the-sand approach that refuses to accept this and refuses to prepare is the approach that will be left behind.
This government is going to be proactive and treat the greenhouse emissions control as an economic opportunity. Gas is one such opportunity. As the world moves towards cleaner sources of energy there will be increased demand for gas. We are already seeing this, and the demand will continue to increase. Gas onshore in Darwin will put the Northern Territory in a position to supply this demand.
Might I say that this is just another reason why gas is so important, and another reason why I believe the federal government needs to ratify the Timor Sea Treaty.
At the outset, I said that human induced climate change has become one of the most significant global issues facing the world. It is about our future and about those who will come after us. It has the potential to impact on every aspect of our lives - indeed, the sustainability of life itself. We have a responsibility to bequeath to future generations a healthy planet that has developed a sustainable pattern of economic and environmental interaction.
Today I am pleased to have released a document which will promote community awareness and discussion. I look forward to the Northern Territory developing a greenhouse strategy that will not only assist us in meeting our responsibilities, but enable us to capture future opportunity.
In conclusion, our goal is generating economic growth with jobs as a priority but preserving our environment, our quality of life and our great Territory lifestyle.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Madam Speaker, we did receive the statement after some delay, and there was extraordinary delay in delivering this document. The statement is all about this document and this government’s strategy for dealing with greenhouse emissions. I welcome the document because it is an ongoing addition to much work that has been done in the past. I find it extraordinary, though, that we have to wait for the minister to get here to deliver his statement on greenhouse emissions, and that the whole of his statement is based on the release of a discussion paper, which evidently he released publicly this morning, that could have been circulated last night, this morning or any other time prior to the minister getting to his feet.
Ms Martin: You never circulated those documents. They would have been tabled with the statement in the House.
Mr Baldwin: Absolutely!
Ms Martin: Rubbish! Rubbish! You got the statement in plenty of time.
Mr BALDWIN: I will pick up on that interjection, Madam Speaker. Absolutely that is tabled - when you rise to your feet if your statement is about that particular document. They should have the courtesy to do the same if we are going to debate and comment on a particular document. Absolutely, and I agree with the Chief Minister.
Madam Speaker, I cannot contribute in my debate to what is in this document because we have not had enough time to go through it, obviously. However, I can make comment on the statement that has been delivered. I welcome, as I said, the production of this document and, as I did indicate, it is another document in a long, drawn-out lot of work that has been done by various agencies from the previous government, now through this government. I must say that the thrust of this statement is in accord with where the CLP started this process. There is nothing different in here as to the philosophy that has been
Mr Kiely: Then why can’t you talk on it?
Mr BALDWIN: I beg your pardon?
Mr Kiely: Why can’t you talk of it?
Mr BALDWIN: I am talking about the statement. There is nothing in the statement – the statement - that is different from the philosophy that the CLP followed. I will demonstrate that in a moment. The thrust is very simple: whilst greenhouse emissions are a very important aspect that we have to deal with globally, nationally and obviously at our own jurisdictional level, the Northern Territory government would support the fact - as did the former CLP government - that we in the Northern Territory, while doing everything possible to reduce greenhouse gases, do not want to be penalised as a developing jurisdiction. That was the argument that was used by Senator Hill in the Kyoto conferences as far as the Australian nation went: we had a lot of developing still to achieve, we are a resource rich nation, and we did not want to be penalised over and above anybody else, and that they had to have recognition of differentiation, they call it, between nations. That is the same argument that we followed as far as the Northern Territory went, and it is the same argument that is being pursued through this statement.
I applaud that because it is a very important principle that we are not penalised because we still have a lot of developing to achieve; and the statement dealt with development potential. We all know of the oil and gas, the mining and so on. We must maintain our position to allow us to continue to develop in that way.
I support the thrust, however there are some things in there I would like to pick up. Just as some background for members, in September 1998 the then Chief Minister, Hon Marshall Perron, established the Advisory Committee on the Greenhouse Effect to provide advice about the greenhouse effect including possible implications of that effect on the Northern Territory, and recommended appropriate actions to take. That was an advisory committee made up of a number of departmental agencies including the CSIRO the Northern Territory University, North Australia Research Unit and the Bureau of Meteorology.
In 1990, the Northern Territory government funded a four-year CSIRO research program into the potential impacts of the enhanced greenhouse effect on the Northern Territory, and a further three-year consultancy project was undertaken from 1994 to 1996 to model climate change under enhanced greenhouse conditions in the Northern Territory. This project was conducted by CSIRO with support funding from the governments of the Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia, and from the Commonwealth via the National Greenhouse Research Program.
Additionally, the advisory committee developed the greenhouse strategy for the Northern Territory. In 1993, they prepared two public reports on the greenhouse effect, and in 1996 assisted in the development of the Northern Territory reports on the implementation of the 1992 National Greenhouse Response Strategy which later evolved into the 1998 National Greenhouse Strategy.
The Territory, along with other Australian jurisdictions, has been party to the development of the National Greenhouse Strategy and, in October 1998, the then Chief Minister supported the National Greenhouse Strategy subject to the following reservations: implementation of only those greenhouse abatement policies that do not compromise the creation of jobs and which do not diminish the competitive position of Territory industry; a recognition of differentation within Australia; implementation of the strategy to the extent that the Territory bears an equitable share of the burden of change given its special development needs; and so on and so forth.
That is how long this work has been going on - right back to 1988 - and it culminated in 1998, some 10 years later, when the Northern Territory government, in October 1998, endorsed the National Greenhouse Strategy subject to those reservations, but particularly including the competitive position of Territory industry and differentation within Australia. They are important principles that have been carried on at least in this statement. I am glad to see that because they are very important principles that we must uphold here in the Territory because of our low emission rate but our potential, a low base - not per capita, of course - that is sure to easily double with gas coming onshore or any other major developments.
There was a plan implemented similar to this one that has been rebadged, one would assume - but I do not know that yet because I have not looked into it. It is good to see that we have the Territory’s proposed new greenhouse strategy. As I said, I will have a look at it.
As far as new initiatives go, when you look at the statement, it is 21 pages, and to find any new initiatives by this government, you have to turn to page 16 to find one. There is a paragraph there:
- Since Labor came to government a number of actions have been implemented to increase awareness
of greenhouse issues in the Northern Territory and these include the launch of a greenhouse web site.
Well, that is great, I believe in allowing Territorians additional awareness, but if that is the only action that can be listed in a 21-page statement, then that is a bit poor, I would suggest.
As you go through the statement, there are some interesting comments, one might imagine: savanna burning, bushfires, whatever you want to call them, accounting for 47% of the Northern Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions compared with only 2.9% across the rest of Australia. That is very significant and obviously something that has to be managed. But then, when you get to the management bit, which is in the next paragraph, the statement says:
- Under current management practices, large areas of the Top End burn intensely, predominantly in the
late Dry Season
And that is true; there are some big bushfires late in the Dry, we all know that:
- This government recognises the potential for substantial reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from
uncontrolled fires by implementing strategic burning early in the Dry Season.
That is something that has been going on for 20 years, so I am not sure what the point is. Yes, we have some late fires, but we carry out fuel minimisation strategies by burning early in the Dry Season. That has been going on for a long time. It then goes on to say:
- In essence, this involves re-establishing traditional Aboriginal fire management regimes.
The minister might like to explain that. Are you saying that the early burn is the re-establishment of traditional burning regimes, or that we have to re-establish traditional burning regimes? I thought they were early in the year because nobody usually lights fires late in the Dry Season purposely. Certainly, from a traditional point of view, I did not think so, but you might have some different information there. What we have been doing is the exact regime that you have outlined in here, but you talk about re-establishing some of these things, so perhaps you could explain that to me.
It is very important that we continue with that early burning to manage the fuel loads in the Northern Territory. In fact, it is imperative that we do that. We have seen what happens with late fires in the Dry, whether it is down south in the Central Australian region or in the Arnhem Land region, and I am sure you have had briefings from the Bushfires Council people in regard to wild fires in the Arnhem Land region. There are a lot of wild fires in that region, being a very vast area, some of it very rugged in its terrain and hard to access. You can go at any time to the Bushfires Council and ask them to pull up the satellite visuals that are taken over a year period, or any period for that matter, and they can show you right across the Territory where fires have been. That is an area that is traditionally inhabited by indigenous Territorians, and I am sure they undertake early burning practices so they can move around through the bush, and to attract fauna to that area to hunt and so on.
The regime that has been going on in the Territory for as long as I can remember is a good regime. There is a lot of work being done, I know, by various agencies to have a look at hot fire burning and how practical that is for the reduction of woody weeds and so on. However, the fact of the matter is that the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is going to be a problem if you are going to try and reduce the burning and have a balance between burning for safety reasons and not allowing a build-up of material that will one day go up in smoke. This can cause all sorts of problems and be a threat to property and life, as we have seen in the southern regions just over the last few months and, of course, as we saw in Alice Springs last year. So that picks up on that and the importance of the fire management regime. That does add a significant factor to greenhouse gas emissions, albeit a lot bigger than emissions you can find in the rest of Australia, but still coming from a very low base overall in the Northern Territory compared with the rest of Australia.
The statement mentions mining companies, MIM and Alcan, and their announced plans for major expansions of their operations, and I welcome that news. That is good for the Northern Territory. Obviously they are, at the moment, on crude oil energy generation or diesel fuel generation, and it will be imperative to their expansion and to reduction in greenhouse gases that they do get an alternative form of energy. I know my colleague, the member for Drysdale, will be talking some more on that. It is going to be very significant for them and their expansion plans and, of course, the reduction of greenhouse gases, to get a commitment to hook-up to an alternative fuel.
I see the government is committed to promoting the use of renewable power generation, particularly in remote areas, and I say congratulations. I hope they are committed to that. Electricity generated through renewable sources is something that we would all like to see. A reduction in reliance on diesel for electricity generation would be a great thing, not only for the Territory economy, but also for gas emissions and reduction. It would be fantastic if something could be done there, but I see that to this end, the statement says:
- Government is supportive of renewable, remote power generation program.
Well, that is a federal program and there is nothing in here that says what the Northern Territory government is doing to contribute to renewable energy generation; it all seems to rely on the program that is running, and has run for some time, by the federal government, which is a great program. It is causing quite a bit of change in remote areas and remote energy generation. I fully support the federal government in that program and I would like to see it enhanced at some stage, and a contribution by the Northern Territory government would be a great way of enhancing that.
The minister talked about going down to Bulman, another great project if we talk about solar energy. He had the pleasure of opening the solar facility. Well, he had the pleasure of opening the extension of that solar facility. That solar facility has been there for a long, long time, as the member for Arnhem would know, and has been highly successful as a pilot program. It has been treated as a pilot program to sort out and test the technology and it is highly commendable - commendable also that the CLP had the initiative to put it there in the first place. The opening of the extension to that program was an initiative that could be followed up in other communities. This is obviously proving to be a very viable project, although they are still capital cost intensive. They have, as we all know, long-term benefits.
Just on the renewable energy in remote areas, the statement deals with renewable energy, minimising diesel generation, which is good, as I said before, both for gas emissions but also cost in generating. The minister talked about the Power and Water Corporation’s investment into a $2.4m grid-connected biomass electricity pilot plant that uses Mimosa pigra, another great CLP initiative that is going to be good to see come on line and see how that works. I look forward to that. There is another way of introducing initiatives to reduce diesel generation in remote areas and that is obviously to connect them to the grid.
The grid is currently generated by gas generators, although there will be a problem if we do not get gas onshore as to the extent of the supply that we source from the Central Australian basin area. But to connect some of those remote and rural areas up to the grid, something that the CLP worked on, as money becomes available - I am not saying you have to go out there and spend a lot money; I know you promised to put it on the Woolianna Road and I expect to see that in this year’s budget for next year, but the one you are deliberating on in your budget meetings keep Woolianna right up there. The people down there are expecting to see that in the forthcoming budget. In fact, some of them have been told by people close to yourselves that they can expect to see it. So, I hope it is there. But that is one way, even though that is connected to diesel generation at its source, you will get rid of all the little diesel generators along the road which are running a lot less efficiently than the major source. That is one way of doing it in the local area.
Obviously, the far more preferred way of doing it will be to connect to the Territory’s grid communities or rural areas, for that matter, which can turn off their generators and hook up to a gas powered electricity grid, and not only save themselves in cost over a term - although there could be some higher capital costs - but also reduce gas emissions. That is something that needs looking at. There are many ways of extending grids these days. With the corporatisation of PowerWater, it would have to look for a CSO from government and it is something I am sure the Minister for Environment will be pushing his colleague, the minister responsible for PowerWater operations and the Treasurer as the stakeholder, that you need to do: define some CSOs to take some of those communities - whether they are small towns or remote area communities or a community of rural areas - where a grid can be installed in a viable way. It is something that needs to be looked at and something the CLP was very proud to do in terms of extension of powerlines into areas like the rural areas of Katherine and so forth. It brings other great benefits not only to do with gas emissions, but it acts as an economic driver.
We all know that people who are passionate about farming will do almost anything to farm that land, but what you really need to provide for sustainable, long-term farming is to provide good road networks, power, as well as other facilities such as schools and so on. That is an initiative that is not in there.
I will pick up, too, that government has been active on supporting the introduction on 1 January 2003 of a minimum energy performance requirement for residential and commercial buildings into the Building Code of Australia. This is something that I wrote to the former Minister for the Environment about in August last year - and got a reply, by the way. However, you have some explaining to do to the Territory community regarding this area. I would like to hear from you whether or not there have been workshops throughout the Territory explaining what this means to the building industry, and what it means to consumers in terms of extra costs to householders. You might be able to elaborate on those costs; the extra costs in implementing this on 1 January 2003 to an average residential dwelling. I have a feeling it might be substantial. So you might want to elaborate on that. Perhaps the minister responsible for building will elaborate on that.
I also noticed that:
- Government has been successful in attracting funding from Australian Greenhouse Office for a climate
change adaptation project investigating a response to saltwater intrusion in the Mary River catchment
and at a local scale, the saltwater intrusion into the wetlands can provide insight into problems that we
may face at sea level rises induced by global warming.
It is great to see more money coming into there. I see that the study is particularly focussing on intangible values such as biodiversity and tourism, and that the project is to undertake a cost benefit analysis of the works currently being undertaken to combat saltwater intrusion. The work that is being undertaken and has been undertaken for the past six, seven, eight, possibly 10 years, including all the saltwater barrages and things. It will be very interesting - and I would like you to make that cost benefit analysis available when it is completed - because is will determine future spending in the Mary River catchment area.
Whilst we took a decision to do everything possible to stop saltwater intrusion into the fresh water wetlands of the Mary River, a cost benefit analysis may say that that was money not well spent from a purely cost benefit point of view. I hope it does not say that; I hope it says the opposite. I hope it also takes into account not only the biodiversity and tourism, but includes the value of the property output in the area and the recreational values including fishing. I note that, in this year’s budget, you have reduced spending on the barrages in the Mary River wetland compared with what we had in the budget, $1m, I think; and you reduced it $0.5m or $0.6m, but you might like to clarify that. I would hate to see a decision taken in the future based only on a cost benefit analysis that reduced that funding further, and we allow saltwater to inundate that very …
Mr Henderson: Your father has a different point of view on that, Tim.
Mr BALDWIN: No, no. My father and I - I am glad you brought that up because - Madam Speaker, you might be interested - my father has been to many of these people on the opposite side because he has particular views on the environment, very good views, I might say.
Mr Henderson: He has – very well considered.
Mr BALDWIN: He has written a lot about it. He has written to many of those on the other side. He has written to many on this side and he is very, very passionate about the Mary River wetlands.
Mr Henderson: He is. He is a nice fella, a top fella.
Mr BALDWIN: Absolutely. I welcome that comment. He is a very nice fellow, not just because he is my dad, but because he is a bit of a visionary. We debate these things all …
Ms Lawrie: Unlike his son.
Mr BALDWIN: No, I might not be like that, but I am not saying I am. I am saying he is the visionary. He and I debate these issues all the time, and whilst we do not agree all the time on a particular point, we agree that it is very important that we look after the environment, particularly the environment close to our hearts, which is the Mary River wetlands.
In conclusion, I welcome this document. I am disappointed that we did not have it earlier so I could comment on it, and compare it to the strategy plan we released because there could be some words in here that are the same - who knows? I look forward to the comments that might come in from the public, and hope to move forward on all of the greenhouse actions that we need to undertake as a Territory.
[Editor’s Note: Debate continues later this day.]
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Madam SPEAKER: The member for Goyder has asked to make a personal explanation, and I have agreed.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I feel that I have been misquoted by the member for Johnston, so I sought leave to make a personal explanation. I will read a short portion of the column which I wrote in the Litchfield Times dated 19 February which I seek leave to table:
- Prior to the last election both the CLP and the then Labor opposition gave a commitment to close both the
Adelaide River and Bynoe Harbour to commercial fishing and crabbing. It’s been nearly two years since
that election and all that the Labor Party has done is announce the formation of a committee at the Annual
General Meeting of the Amateur Fishermen’s Association, which was held last Sunday, to work through the
process and discuss the issues with the various interest groups.
Once again, this will incur extra costs to the taxpayer with more bureaucracy, sitting fees and government
by committee. The government must carry out its election promise and stop dithering, and the commercial
fishermen need to be properly compensated on just terms. Other areas of coastline further away from
Darwin should be made available for the use of commercial fishermen so that their industry and the massive
amount of employment it creates also continues to thrive.
Recreational fishermen have been badly let down by the Labor government, which cannot make a decision
and panders to the Northern Land Council.
I seek leave to table that.
Leave granted.
MOTION
Note Statement – Greenhouse Gas Strategy
Note Statement – Greenhouse Gas Strategy
Continued from earlier this day.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I was not originally intending to speak on this statement but there some areas where I can contribute to this debate. What we are talking about here with greenhouse emissions is truly a global issue. What bought that home to me personally was a parliamentary trip I did very early in my parliamentary career when I went to the island of Tarawa in the Republic of Kiribati in Micronesia. I was standing on the island of Tarawa and the local people proudly pointed to Mount Tarawa which was some four metres high. That is the highest point on the island of Tarawa. Tarawa is a coral atoll and is basically a thin layer of sand on the top of a coral reef. For the people of Kiribati, the 30 000 people who live on Tarawa, greenhouse protocols are absolutely life and death issues. Even at this stage on that island during any sort of fierce storm, pieces get blown out of the island. They mobilise the island population, picks and shovels, to repair breaches in the horseshoe that constitutes the atoll that people are living on. That is how serious it is for the people of Kiribati.
Here in the Northern Territory, we cannot responsibly take a position that says we have a very low population density, we have very early stages of development and relatively very small amounts of land clearing. Yes, all of those things are true. But the fact is that we have to realise that this is a global problem, a problem of enormous import to not only places such as Kiribati, but to any human population living on the coastal areas of any countries which have a coastline. The capacity for the greenhouse emissions to raise the sea levels of the world is not seriously doubted as the enormous body of science builds up supporting that proposition.
We might be a very small jurisdiction, we might have a relatively small contributions to make to the overall global build-up of greenhouse gases, but we have to be there doing our part. How do we do it? The issue for us is to act locally, work on what we can control and to act smartly: figure out better and smarter ways of achieving alleviation of our own contribution to greenhouse. When I looked through the discussion paper, there is a very good summary of the main issues on greenhouse gas emissions. I was somewhat bemused to see that the member for Daly, with his background in these types of issues, could not, very quickly, gauge what was in this paper. It is certainly not rocket science. These are areas that we are generally familiar with if we have been living in the Territory for some time or, indeed, discussing these issues in parliament.
Taking some the areas in the discussion paper, I would just like to make some comments on particular viewpoints I have on this. Savanna burning: quite rightly the paper points out that the pattern of burning off - not always traditional these days - vegetation on our range lands and other areas of the Territory very much affects how much carbon dioxide the Territory contributes to the atmosphere. It is not longer easy to contemplate a future where indigenous people return back to a fully traditional regime of burning off. Land tenure arrangements pretty well preclude that possibility. More importantly, in many parts of the Territory, we have exotic plant species such as Buffel grass and Gamba grass up here in the north that have completely changed the nature of the fuel load that is on these areas of country.
When you have hot burning: with fire going through a very thick layers of Buffel grass around a part of the landscape - particularly at the tail end of a Dry Season when everything is really tinder dry – it can not only cause a very hot and extensive fire, but it can also be so hot that it actually prevents normal regeneration of vegetation in those areas by native species, even to the point where you get death of small to medium trees and shrubs with very little regeneration. We have seen in the last couple of years down in Central Australia very hot fires and, looking at those tracts of country, you do not see the normal regeneration of smaller shrubs and trees. You might get one in 10, one in 20 regenerating, rather than having almost all of them coming back. So clearly, that is going to thin out and retard the regeneration of vital vegetation in those areas which is bad for greenhouse at the time the fires are occurring. It is also bad for greenhouse in the reduction of ground cover and photosynthesis happening in that area. It is also bad in terms of the loss of stability of the soils and water courses.
So, we lose all round if we do not adjust the way in which country stewardship occurs. Where do we figure this all out? There is a lot of science that has been done in the old Department of Primary Industry for many years: work on the different types of plant cover, and doing assessments of rangelands and other environments. There is a good database now, base lines of different types of country throughout the Territory.
We need to take that back to indigenous forums and have indigenous people look at this new landscape that we are now living in together, and adjust the traditional practices that might have been applied in those areas for tens of thousands of years to this new set of circumstances. Where can that happen? Where it could happen in Central Australia is with the Desert Knowledge Project and the Desert People’s Centre. Those are structures that are being now set up specifically for the purpose of looking at these contemporary issues in very strong partnership with indigenous groups.
I would like to see that whole burning regime issue taken up formally by Desert Knowledge. We could see the Bushfires Council and the Department of Primary Industry get involved with the science, and those forums could produce management regimes that could be taken out with educational programs and consultation to the communities to change the way people are going about their business at the moment.
The other issue in respect of land use and land management is enteric fermentation. On some occasions out bush, I have found myself asking: ‘Who’s mowing their lawn?’ and when I turn around, it is actually a passing bullock venting gases. So, there is no doubt that it is a major problem when you have large numbers of cattle in an area that - well, not to put too fine a point on it, they fart a lot because of their type of digestion. The question is: is there actually anything you can do to change the organic activity that is going on out there? I have seen articles on medication, long-term pills, that can be lodged into the stomach of cattle which changes the process of digestion so that the production of these gases is reduced over time. I do not know what the cost benefit of all that would be, but it is something that our cattle industry should have a look at.
With land clearing in this same area, we have seen through Cabinet, in one of our discussions on this issue, the Daly River land clearing plan. That is a very good example of a state-of-the-art approach to the partial removal of vegetation from an area which is being set up for primary production. We would not say for a moment that we should hold back the development of agriculture in the Northern Territory - it is one of the most exciting sectors of our primary industries around the Katherine and Daly River area. If we are going to extend the areas that are available for that type of production, there are good and bad ways of doing it, and I am very pleased to say that we seem to have some very strong science into the way that we are going about the development of these new industries.
Perhaps we are lucky in the Territory in that we have learnt from the pretty gross mistakes that have been made elsewhere in Australia with land clearing. We are in a position where we can actually learn from that and apply it, particularly when you have such advanced GIS systems in the Northern Territory. We can look in very high detail at what satellite images are saying about our terrain, and use that to plan extremely effective clearing regimes to get the best out of the country, maintain the biodiversity of areas and, at the same time, freeing cleared areas for agricultural and horticultural production.
Moving now to energy production, which is another major source of greenhouse gases, I would like to take a particular place in my electorate, which is the small community of Mulga Bore - it is probably about 10 houses, mostly old tin houses. It is a community that has a water supply to those houses, it has a telephone that works some of the time, and it has no power supply. Why doesn’t it have a power supply? Mulga Bore has been there for probably 15 to 20 years now. It is because it has fallen in between the two regimes of ATSIC and Northern Territory government, and that is something I know the Minister Assisting the Chief Minister on Indigenous Affairs is working actively on to try and resolve. Be that as it may, Mulga Bore is one of the places you would have to have in mind if you were going to look at where we go with renewable energy installations. There is a community that could have a couple of concentrated dishes to provide solar power to that number of houses to power their bore, and to put to rest once and for all the tiresome business of having to truck in diesel fuel, 44 gallon drums at a time, and to maintain diesel generating equipment which, in the case of Mulga Bore, takes the form of at least three very small generators which are notoriously unreliable and very noisy, so people living miles from anywhere have more ambient noise coming from where they are living than you would experience in Darwin or Alice Springs.
The general status of the renewable remote power generation program makes interesting reading. The total rebates available for the Northern Territory are $38.2m, so it is a very substantial program. To date, there has been some $3m of that committed, and when you look at the range of places where that commitment has been made to date: pastoral stations, some 18 of them, have been put onto renewable energy arrangements; indigenous communities, 19 of those; tourism-related places, one; households, two. The total greenhouse gas saving of those 40 installations is some 616 tonnes of CO per year and that is through a saving of 228 200 litres of diesel fuel that will no longer be required. So, it is a really smart way to go about a reduction in greenhouse emissions in the Northern Territory.
The last thing I want to say is in the area of transport. Clearly, with the huge distances around the Northern Territory and the very dispersed population centres, the amount of fuel used in moving people around between the centres makes a major contribution to our greenhouse emissions. While a high degree of travel will always be necessary in the Northern Territory - there are many reasons why people have to physically get together - we have a huge opportunity in the immediate future to use ITC infrastructure that is now being rolled out into our remote communities in very large order. To forgo some areas of travel we are doing things like linking up through communications, database connections, that would previously have required, say, a field officer to go out to a community, or a community group to come into town.
It would be interesting to work out the savings in fuel if, for example, a store committee in a remote community had to have an accountant come out and attend a store committee meeting on a quarterly basis to monitor the financial affairs of that store. There are four trips of perhaps up, to let us say 500 km to 1000 km depending on where those communities are. It is a lot of fuel just for that one purpose. If you multiply that by the huge number of times that people go out from urban centres with a particular specialist skill - lawyers, advisors, technical advisors such as Transport and Works people – you are looking at absolutely huge amounts of fuel and, therefore, huge amounts of greenhouse emissions. Even if we can take 5% or 10% off the amount of fuel that we are using for vehicles, planes and so on, it will make a significant dent in the greenhouse emissions from the Northern Territory.
In closing, I will make the plea on behalf of the people of Kiribati: they do not want to go up to their necks in sea water. Every citizen of this world has to play an active part in doing something about this global problem. Yes, we are a very small jurisdiction. The contribution we make may seem minuscule compared to the amount of greenhouse emissions in places like the United States of America or Europe, but let us do our part; let’s be responsible citizens of our planet.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, not surprisingly, I rise to support the sentiments of the statement and I would like to think: ‘Who wouldn’t?’ We are all concerned about greenhouse emissions and we all, whether we are governments or individuals, bear some responsibility to ensure that we all do our bit for the preservation of the planet for future generations.
It is important that we in the Territory - and the member for Stuart touched on some peculiar aspects of our small jurisdiction - have a part to play, particularly the reduction of greenhouse emissions from uncontrolled fires in the Dry Season. Clearly, that is something to be looked at.
I briefly make a couple of comments in my capacity as shadow parks and wildlife minister. There was one part of the statement, in particular, that was of some interest. That was the reference on page 12 of the statement to Mimosa pigra. This is an area of great interest to me and, I would have thought, to all of us. We know that this is a particularly noxious weed and it has posed, and will continue to pose, great risks to Territory parks. The minister referred to a $2.4m investment into a grid-connected biomass, to an electricity pilot plant, that will use the mimosa weed, which will be located on the Adelaide River floodplain. However, the minister triumphantly suggested to this parliament that the power plant ‘will integrate briquetting, gasification and power generation technologies in a modular transportable form’. What the minister did not say, and what is excluded from this statement, is that that was the CLP’s idea.
I am not sure whether the minister is aware of this, but it is the case that the former CLP government put in a lot of time and energy to build the infrastructure. Indeed, it was not so long ago that an announcement was made by former minister Dunham and the federal minister Robert Hill. After much negotiation, the Territory and the Commonwealth negotiated an agreement whereby the Commonwealth would provide funding to assist with the proposal.
For the ALP to suggest - and it is implicit from the minister’s statement - that it was the ALP’s idea is simply misleading. All of those people involved in Parks and Wildlife and other areas do know the history of this. That omission needs to be brought to the attention of those people listening to today’s broadcast and to other people who will subsequently read the Hansard. The idea was initiated, as I said, by the CLP. It shows a clear commitment on the part of the CLP to reduce greenhouse emissions. So, for the Labor Party to claim any moral ground on this issue is simply wrong. We all have an interest in doing our bit. We all have an interest, regardless of who is governing the Territory, to do what we can. If that means working with the Commonwealth to put together various ideas and to work on proposals, then it is incumbent on all of us to do it. Certainly, the CLP did it.
There is not much else in this statement, I might say, that is new. It was the member for Daly who fairly thoroughly went through the statement and got to about page 16 before he came up with something new.
In any event, in terms of the mimosa problem and in the context of this statement, I thought it was fairly interesting that, in relation to the paragraph that dealt with mimosa, there was no additional sentence or, indeed passing reference, to what else the government is going to do about this problem. Again in that context, I thought that I might use this opportunity to raise a matter that has been brought to my attention fairly recently; and that is that the Labor government has curtailed the mimosa eradication control program. If that is true, I would be very grateful for the minister to turn his mind to it in his reply - and he can certainly accept my assurance that I and many others will be keeping a watchful eye on this.
The minister should be aware that successive CLP governments, over many years, invested millions of dollars in the management of mimosa and, if his government has not been as diligent, then all of those years of hard work will have been for nothing. It is well known that the mimosa weed produces about 10 000 seeds per square metre. So if, under this government - this minister or his predecessor - there has been any form of slowing down or halting of the mimosa eradication program, it would be a sad outcome for all of us.
The questions I would like the minister to address are: have the previous programs for eradication of mimosa been fully maintained by government? If so, to what extent? Have they been fully maintained, or are they partly in place or, indeed, have they stopped? Second, apart from following through with the former CLP government’s revolutionary idea to use mimosa for power generation, what other strategies does this government have to control mimosa? There is nothing mentioned in the statement on that.
I am well aware why this statement has been brought into the House; I know it is about greenhouse gas emissions. However, the one paragraph reference to mimosa is somewhat troubling, and I would be very grateful indeed to receive further advice on this issue.
Having said that, in my capacity as shadow minister for parks and wildlife, the sentiments of the statement are supported and, as I said at the outset: who wouldn’t support them?
Mr VATSKALIS (Lands and Planning): Madam Speaker, I speak in support of my colleague’s ministerial statement about the release of the Greenhouse Discussion Paper.
It is true that human activities have wreaked havoc with climate and scientific evidence has indicated that since the industrial revolution, we have really affected the climate of our planet, and we see the results now. A few years ago, we had the scare with the ozone layer and all the industrial and developed nations took immediate steps to reduce the emissions of some of the gases that actually affect the ozone; to restore the ozone layer to its previous condition. I believe, from what I have read in the past few months, that we have succeeded so far and the rate of reduction of the ozone layer has been reduced significantly.
Of course, now we are faced with another issue: the change of climate due to the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxides and certain other compounds that directly create a greenhouse effect with unprecedented results for our planet. Scientific evidence has shown that the temperature of our planet gradually is increasing and, as my colleague mentioned, Kiribati and some of the islands in the Pacific Ocean now face obliteration because melting of the polar ice caps will result in the rise of sea levels and some of these low lying areas will definitely be affected.
On the other hand, even scientists in Europe predict that the rise of the sea level may affect some of the European cities. Some of the very old European cities are actually ports, and they might find their low lying areas under water within the next 100 years or so. We have to act very quickly in order reduce or reverse the effects on climatic conditions.
Industrial and developing countries put together the Kyoto Agreement in the same way they had compiled the Montreal Convention. Unfortunately, the Australian government refused to ratify the Kyoto Agreement. I recall very well here in parliament a couple of years ago - I think it was in October 2001 - the member for Daly asked me if I supported the Kyoto Agreement. Of all other countries, only Romania had signed the Kyoto Agreement. He asked why Australia should be the second industrial country to sign the Kyoto Agreement. I predicted then Romania was the first of many countries to sign the Kyoto Agreement, and I am proved right. Many industrial countries, including the European Community, have now ratified the Kyoto Agreement, and the only ones who actively resist are Australia and the United States of America.
The Kyoto Agreement now is being considered by industry groups all over the world and in Australia. Some industry groups in Australia predict that Australia will lose more by not signing the Kyoto Agreement because the European Community has indicated that it will not trade actively with countries that refuse to sign the Kyoto Agreement.
But to come back to Australia and specifically the NT. The Territory is a relatively young jurisdiction with very small industrial development. Despite the small industrial base and the low emission of greenhouse gases, we find that our share of greenhouse emissions is 70 tonnes of greenhouse gases per capita. When you compare that with the rest of Australia, which is actually 27 tonnes per capita - and before everyone jumps up and down about producing a lot of greenhouses gases, we have to look at the size of the Territory, our industrial base and the very small population we have.
The reality is that the Territory makes only 2.7% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Not only that, 50% of those emissions are not actually generated by industrial processes; they are generated by burning savannas. This is something that we have to address, and I have asked my department to have a look at that issue; not only accidental fires, but also deliberately lit fires. We had significant fires in Central Australia last year, and that significantly contributed to the emission of greenhouse gases. Very soon, I will put to my Cabinet colleagues a proposal to increase fines for deliberately lighting fires, from the very small amount it is today to multiple and severe fines for individuals and companies. At the same time, we are looking now at how we better manage savanna burning. The reality is between the 1990s and 2000, we had a 50% increase of the emission from burning savanna and scientists attributed that to the dry conditions of the El Nino. However, as my colleague suggested, we have to go back and have a serious look at how we can manage savannas better; how we can manage burning of savannas.
The reality is we have to burn some of these areas. We do not want the events that happened in Canberra and Sydney, where their equivalent of Parks and Wildlife did not proceed with controlled burning at the beginning of the season with terrible effects afterwards. We have to draw from the experience of the indigenous inhabitants of this country, and we have to adapt it with modern scientific techniques to achieve the best results and reduce further the emissions from burning savannas.
At the same time, it is not only accidental fires in the woodlands or the savannas that contribute to greenhouse emissions, but also human process and activities. We live in a society that relies heavily upon energy, especially electricity, and the electricity generation sector in the Territory generates about 22% of greenhouse emissions. Of course, that might seem a lot. The reality is, because we rely exclusively on gas, especially in Darwin and Alice Springs, emission of these greenhouse gases is significantly less if we compare it with coal or heavy fuel or diesel. The reality is that the global warming potential of methane - compared to carbon dioxide which is the unit of measure - is 21 times. That means that methane is 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide, where nitrate oxide is 310 times more potent. If we are talking about sulphur hexafluoride, it is 24 000 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Using clean fuel like gas, where the by-products of burning is carbon dioxide mainly, rather than the other products, is more desirable.
In addition, transport in the Territory has a significant impact on the emission of greenhouse gases. That is because we have long distances to travel, not only in private cars, but also in heavy vehicles, buses and aeroplanes. In the Territory, we tend to travel seven times more by air than any other jurisdiction in Australia and, of course, aeroplanes emit a significant amounts of greenhouse gases.
There is the problem of savanna burning - and not only that, but also the cattle industry, as my colleague graphically described about the cow flatulence and the problems we have with the significant emission of greenhouse gases, and the attempts by CSIRO and other scientists to produce a vaccine to reduce the production of methane in the gastrointestinal tract of cattle.
Land clearing is a significant contributor to greenhouse gases. In the Territory we have less than 1% of our land cleared, and that significantly contributes to the absorption of carbon dioxide and binding as carbon through photosynthesis. The Territory might not be the appropriate climate for the development of good quality timber, and we might not be able to produce timber through plantations that can provide us not only the timber, but also tie down carbon, but we can utilise the vast expanse of the Territory for non-timber production plants that can still bind carbon from the atmosphere and generate biomass either in their leaves, trunks, branches or even in their root system. Carbon sinks in the Territory have huge potential. We have 1.5 million square kilometres, a vast expanse of land that can be utilised better than today.
We have renewable energy; we try to reduce greenhouse emissions and there have been many initiatives. One of them is the solar panel arrays in different communities that my colleague, the Minister for Essential Services opened in Bulman and is going to open in Kings Canyon. They are small at the moment - they are experimental - but they have a bright future in the Territory considering the solar energy pelting down from the sky most of the day throughout the Territory. Not only that, but we found that, by using a solar hot water system, you can actually remove as much greenhouse gas from the atmosphere as a small car will emit in one year.
Another initiative is the Cool Communities where people learn to utilise renewable energy to make their houses cooler by using natural means and, of course, insulation. Let us not forget, it will take much more to cool down an uninsulated house than an insulated one, and will also keep the cool air longer in the environment of an insulated house.
With transport, we have to use clever solutions. Currently, the Darwin Bus Service is experimenting with the conversion of the bus fleet to dual fuel, LPG and diesel. The reality is that LPG is much cleaner than diesel and is nearly as efficient as diesel. It will not be long before most of our vehicles will move around town with an LPG rather than a diesel engine. That is one of the recent advances of technology in Europe and other countries. As you are probably aware - and I am proud of it - I am the first minister who actually acquired, or persuaded the public service to acquire, two hybrid cars to actually test them. I am very, very pleased to say that the greenhouse emissions from these cars are 30% less than the equivalent car. Also, despite a higher price than normal cars, these cars have a significantly reduced fuel consumption. For an indication, one of our colleagues travelled 1000 km in this car, travelling, I believe, from Katherine to Alice Springs, utilising only one tank of petrol. So those significant developments are contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Another thing that we tend to overlook is the utilisation of energy. We talk about renewable energy and gas for the production of energy. One of the things that we, as humans, create is by-products, like waste. Most rubbish tips we utilise throughout Australia at the moment are leaking methane, one of the most potent Greenhouse gases. However, there are some communities that decided to cap the gas emitted by the waste disposal sites, and utilise it to generate electricity. Sometimes councils use this electricity to provide municipal light. If we manage to remove the carbon dioxide immediately from rubbish tips and utilise it to produce energy, not only do we prevent noxious gas escaping to the atmosphere, but we do not have to use gas or other fuel to generate electricity for everyday activities. That is a significant issue that we - not only the Territory but all over Australia - have to look at, because is it a significant source of gas which we can utilise very efficiently. There are engines now that can work with different fuels. There are examples that diesel engines with small modifications have been used to utilise methane as fuel.
Not only that, but we have products for tidal or wave energy. The Territory has significant tides, a variation of 7 m twice a day, and this has been used successfully in other areas to generate energy - once again, electricity. I believe Western Australia is looking at a plan of this type, and I will be watching very, very closely because, despite the fact that I am not the Minister for Environment any more or the Minister for Essential Services, I share the interest with my colleagues and other Territorians about our environment.
As I said before, we have managed to affect the climate of our planet, and we will continue to do so unless we take some drastic measures to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.
In the Territory, we have the problem of being a small jurisdiction. We have not developed, we have not evolved as early as other jurisdictions. There is fear about the ratification of the Kyoto Agreement. How is it going to affect the Territory? Does it mean that it will prevent further industrial development in the Territory? I do not believe so, and we can successfully argue for differentiation. The Territory has to be seen in a different light from other jurisdictions. Yes, with the gas industry coming onshore, with MIM generator using gas or other fuel for their process, Alcan is going to see a significant increase of the gas emissions in the Territory, maybe 100% increase of emissions in the Territory.
However, from 2.7% of the emissions, when compared to the rest of Australia, 100% increase will be less than 5%. Let’s face it: we are not in a position, we are not going to develop to such a degree, or so quickly, that we are going to make a significant impact on the overall Australian emissions. We have yet to be treated differently because the Territory has to be developed. We cannot rely upon Canberra’s handouts all the time. We have to have industrial development. The reality is industrial development will be imposed upon us. We will continue to support the Defence force in the Territory, we will have the Eurocopters coming here, we will have patrol boats coming here. Both of these projects require a significant support base if they are going to be here, so this development is imposed upon us by other centres, namely Canberra. So, like it or not, the Territory is going to be developed, and the type of industry we are going to see, we do not know yet. We will have here the first LNG plant - hopefully, after the ratification of the treaty by the Commonwealth. We will see it start to be built soon, and the gas is going to emit some greenhouse gases. But, again, we should not see it in a parochial point of view. It is going to get so much increase of the greenhouse in the Territory.
The reality is, this gas is going to generate electricity in other countries, thus removing emission from coal, diesel, or heavy oil. In the global sense, there will be a significant reduction of greenhouse gases. So there will be a benefit. It might not be a reduction in greenhouse gases in the Territory, but it will be an overall reduction in greenhouse gases in the world.
It is a significant paper. I commend my colleague, the Minister for Environment.
One of the things I would like to touch upon is renewable energy. We mentioned solar energy. One thing we did not mention was the use of biomass to produce electricity. Certainly, the minister referred to the Mimosa pigra project. The member for Araluen said that it was a CLP idea. Nobody denies it was a CLP idea. The reality, though, is to move from an idea to the real thing. They are totally different. You can have an idea, you can put it on paper. However, if you do not have money to make the project a reality, it will always be an idea. I have to say that, when I went to Perth for a different purpose, for Lands and Planning issues, one of the things I did was meet with people from Woodside to discuss exactly that - Mimosa pigra. I had a tour of the Curtin University facilities where Woodside is investing a lot of money, not only for generating electricity from biomass, but also other products like the injection of gas in ice, which is a very promising project, and the creation of a mini-LNG distillery.
However on Mimosa pigra, it was this government, the Labor government, that put the money on the table. It was this government that actually agreed with Woodside, and it will start with Woodside to utilise Mimosa pigra in Adelaide River for the generation of electricity, thus not only removing a noxious weed from the environment, but also benefiting the overall environment and the atmosphere by the reduction of greenhouse gases. Regarding the control of Mimosa pigra, the accusation was that the Labor Party has refused funding for Mimosa pigra. That is not true - absolutely untrue. What has happened is that the government, and previous governments, had allocated funds to pastoralists and other interested parties to remove Mimosa pigra. Unfortunately, some pastoralists took the money, and did not do much about Mimosa pigra removal and eradication. I instructed my department to hold an inquiry into the utilisation of those monies and find out where the money went, how it was used, if it was used for the purpose intended. I will have the results very soon and I intend to make them public.
I commend my colleague’s statement and the release of a paper on greenhouse gases. It is an exciting issue that should concern everybody. I am very pleased to see bipartisan support on this issue because the reality is we both live on the same planet, and nobody is going to escape it or benefit if something goes wrong with the environment.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, yes, the statement does cover a lot of old ground. I had a wave of nostalgia as the previous member was speaking. I recalled Noel Padgham-Purich, then the member for Koolpinyah, talking about flatulence in sheep in this parliament and, in her eccentric and quaint way, it was quite a good scientific contribution nonetheless.
These are matters that have been debated in this House for a while . Many of the initiatives in this paper are not new, but that does not derogate from the minister’s statement. It is a good thing that he has raised them. Some of these statements should be brought forward on a regular basis so that we can have updates.
In this one, as my colleague has pointed out, the only real update on new things is the fact that there is a web site and the fact that there is this paper, which is very good. In fact, I would like to see this widely available through the education system. It is very readable. Some of the debate uses terminology that lots of people continue to use but do not really understand, and it is good that there is a glossary of terms in it. The difference between Australia and the NT is good in a tabulated form with the pie charts on page 7, and I commend the minister for those two initiatives at least.
I will walk through the paper because that is probably the best way to talk about it in a debate in this parliament. There will always be a difficulty in this part of the world and having a national government sign up for things that hurt us. That is certainly the case with Kyoto, and it is certainly the case with benchmarks that are arbitrarily put in place. I note page 4 of the minister’s statement refers to savanna burning and the fact that tropical savanna burning accounted for 47% of the Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions, but only 2.9% in an Australian circumstance. That is for quite obvious reasons: there is a lot of tropical savanna here in the Northern Territory, and a lot of it is in virtual wilderness areas where there is not the same level of fire mitigation in place as there is in more built-up areas.
The other thing that should be pointed out is our Bushfires Council has been, for some time, conducting cool burns at the start of the Dry Season for a reduction of the fuel hazard. That is something that they will be looking at, given what has happened in the southern states recently. I am sure they will be looking to controlled burns within state parks at least, and measures to reduce the fuel hazard within some of those fuel repositories that are adjacent to residential areas. You will see, therefore, some movement in that figure, but it does not necessarily indicate a big problem for the Northern Territory in how we go about managing land.
I am very pleased that the Centre for Cooperative Research is looking into tropical savannas. This is a critical issue. I know they have been looking at it for a while now, regarding biodiversity and the mortality and fatality rate of fires on various species of flora and fauna. That is good work that will be done that will provide advice for us in the future.
Talking about the stationary energy sector, which touches on my shadow responsibilities, there is a big problem in Australia. If you look at stationary energy, it contributes to 50% of Australia’s greenhouse gas sources, whereas up here it is 22%. There are a few reasons for that. One is we are not a high manufacturing state so we do not have the same levels of energy consumption as you have in other places. But that should not mean that that is not an option available to us. In fact, the Territory should be taking great steps to increase our potential in manufacturing. I am sure both sides of the House would agree with that. Along with manufacturing will come higher energy use, and along with that will come greenhouse emissions. So, to draw a benchmark for Australia, and then have the high manufacturing states given a target for reduction and the low manufacturing places like the Northern Territory given the same benchmarks, is difficult for us.
You will note, too, the critical date of 1990 for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. That will be difficult here because, prior to the advent of the Channel Island gas-fired power station, we had heavy oil fuel being burnt at Stokes Hill, adjacent to the city. Channel Island was a great innovation. It was something that we should take some credit for being a jurisdiction that moved quickly from a noxious, toxic emissions into the atmosphere on one form of power generation to a much more green one. None of that has been taken into consideration because of this arbitrary 1990 date and the fact that we have a low manufacturing base.
I thought it was pretty brave for Premier Carr to sign up readily to Kyoto and to claim that it would bring economic benefits to his state. This is a state that has the advantage of a very cheap power source in the form of cheap and nasty and environmentally unfriendly brown coal, as has Queensland and, interestingly, Premier Beattie did not jump to the Kyoto bandwagon with such alacrity. There is a reason for that. Unfortunately, a lot of us are really not cognisant of the mechanics of producing power that airconditions the vast voids in places like this. All we want is for the place to be cool, to be lit, and we really do not care how much power this place consumes. So there is a paradigm shift for the consumer.
I know there are places in the world where green power is sold at a premium, and people choose to buy it, and that is where the world is moving, where consumers are going to be saying: ‘Okay, the nation signed up for a treaty, but I want to know what I can do with my behaviour, and modify how I live’. That is the paradigm shift that will be the good thing that will come out of greenhouse and Kyoto because it will force people to look at their behaviours. It will force them to lobby governments sometimes but, at the end of the day, we are addicted to power. We are addicted to heat in the cold, and cool in the heat. We are addicted to having illumination in the dark, and we are addicted to products that are sometimes quite extravagant users of power in their production. These are not things that western society, or even the part of the world we live in, will wean itself off quickly. In some places, that addiction to power is such that there are countries to our near north - and China is one of them - where so strong is their need to produce and use power that they are destroying much of their own lifestyle and country in an effort just to sustain those high levels.
Hopefully, the gas from Timor Sea can redress some of that. Hopefully, the wealthy bounty that we have to our north can be used for countries that are power poor. Hopefully, it can put an alternative into those places to assist not just us in an economic sense, but the world in the sense of grappling with this problem that does not recognise international or other boundaries.
Here in the Territory, we have to look at those differences and we have to make sure we do not sign up, or the nation signs up for something that is absolutely prohibitive on us, in expecting us not to have a surge in manufacturing - which we want and we hope for - and also not recognising the good work that has been put in to move to Palm Valley-Mereenie gas.
The paper goes to that at page 6, where it says:
- Prospective major developments in the Territory are projected to increase Territory greenhouse gas
emissions by 180% compared to 1990 levels.
At page 18, you see what the target is, and at page 18 it says:
- The Kyoto target would see greenhouse gas emissions capped at 108% of 1980 levels, averaged over a
five year period in 2008-2012.
We can see that the predictions of this government are that we will vastly increase our power consumption and our emissions. That goes well and truly above national targets, so I would inject a note of caution about being too ready to accept what might be easy to achieve in other jurisdictions, particularly if they move from brown coal.
The quote:
- The government is working tirelessly to ensure that these opportunities for jobs for Territorians are realised …
is problematic, particularly when you read it in conjunction with the paragraph dealing with Kings Canyon. We talked about this this morning. If you go straight from that sentence where we are looking to increase opportunities for jobs to, on page 11:
- In addition, Kings Canyon is soon to be the recipient of a solar array generating 225 kW. This facility is
expected to be operational mid-year, producing greenhouse gas savings of 345 tonnes per annum.
We are not going to talk about it again. Well, we have to, because there are two big problems with this thing at Kings Canyon. The first is that somebody from outside this place, who was non-conforming and more expensive, won the tender. I know the minister, in his answer, said: ‘Well, (1) the Ombudsman is looking at it and, (2) we are looking at matters relating to procurement’. It does not matter how you look at matters relating to procurement, this was a breach of the system, anyway. However the system is structured, we do not have a disposition to give to others other than the locals - particularly when you are paying a premium price and they are non-conforming. So, it defies belief that this thing could have been signed off under any procurement system.
Where I am most apprehensive - and I would say that I am not attributing any ulterior or family proximity motives to the minister. In fact, I am quite happy to say that loud and long. This is a matter that is systemic, and I do not believe it is a matter that would impugn the minister’s reputation in any way. I am happy to say that loudly. However, it should not have happened.
The second problem we have is that the paper deals with how we are going to go on and do more and more and more, and that is good. However, these people have now got the jump on a local company; they now have a multimillion dollar contract that they can put in their CV or their suite of experience, parade it to governments and say: ‘Well, there is a little margin for error there but, by gosh, they did a good job at Kings Canyon’. So they have the jump by getting in under the line in some way, shape or form, and I hope that the Ombudsman can find that out …
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! This matter is before the Ombudsman under investigation. This discussion may be prejudicial to the outcome of the findings. I do not think prejudging it in this case, at this time, is an appropriate thing to be doing.
Mr DUNHAM: There is no point of order, mate.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mr Kiely: You should run naked around the bushes, son.
Mr DUNHAM: Run naked around the bush! The thing is, as a minister I sometimes referred people to the Ombudsman. I sometimes said: ‘Look, that is something you should probably take to the Ombudsman to investigate’. The Ombudsman is an officer of this parliament. He reports to us. In terms of remediation there is not much he can do. He will make recommendations to us, and have an investigation. However, there are two choices available to the minister. He can look at it himself. He can say - and I can understand the proximity issue why he would want an independent person to do that. However, if the minister chooses to pursue this matter himself, the Ombudsman will then generally say: ‘Well, while it is under the active investigation of the minister, I shall not involve myself’. But it does not preclude the opposite happening; and that is that the minister chooses to investigate it.
Whatever happens with the Ombudsman, I would hope the questions are being asked now. I would hope that the curiosity that I have - and I am sure the minister would have, and, hopefully, even the board would have - of the Power and Water Corporation, would be such to say: ‘Firstly, how could it happen? And, secondly, by whatever means it happened, please make sure that door is shut and it does not happen again’.
So, this is a matter - even though it may seem that I am politicising this matter - of a mistake that is going to be very difficult to redress. I feel for the company concerned, because they have a repertoire of skills and knowledge that is local here; they are training local people, taking on local graduates. That is what we all want. In this House, we say that is what we want - we want to cease to be so dependent on those from elsewhere and train our kids for opportunities that are here.
Now, my curiosity in this matter, thus far, is still curiosity. I would like to see that the matter is fully investigated by an independent, impartial observer; and that may well be the Ombudsman. But it does not mean there is a hiatus for action on behalf of the minister responsible for the Power and Water Corporation.
When we talk about Alcan, and I will quote from page 7 of the report:
- For example, Alcan is considering shifting from fuel oil to gas in its expanded operations with associated
benefits in terms of greenhouse emissions.
That is sort of true and sort of not true. Alcan would be very keen to move to gas, particularly if it was price competitive, but as has been publicly stated by Alcan spokesmen, this is not a deal breaker. This thing can be stood on its own economic legs by using the same oil they are using now which is heavy crude out of Kuwait. The minister and others in this House would know that that is pretty sulphur rich and not very nice oil to be putting through generating and other sets. We would hope that they would move from that. But the fact is they do not have to. There is nothing to make them move from their fuel source now. When they are doing their numbers, when they are stacking up their numbers they have factored in the fact that they may have to use fuel oil.
The issue for government is to be proactive here and that is to say: ‘How can we get gas to Alcan; how can we get gas to the Gove Peninsula?’ It is no good saying MIM is going build an extension to their plant, or Alcan is going to build an extension to their plant. If all you are doing is harvesting the benefits that come from that, you are merely a passive observer. You have to get involve and you have to look at how the Power and Water Corporation could competitively get energy to those sites, particularly the Gove Peninsula, that is much more environmentally friendly than that which they currently have. It is a concern that they will be able to do this. The Annual Report 2001-02 that has been tabled by the Power and Water Corporation-- it was the Authority at the time – at page 30 says:
A decision in May 2002 by the producers of the Mereenie Field in the Amadeus Basin to cease
contracting additional volumes of gas to customers has, together with the departure from the
electricity market of Power and Water as a competitor, placed several constraints on the
Power and Water Authority. Its ambition to develop new markets will be put on hold until
offshore gas in available and in the meantime its current contracts ensuring supply through
to 2009 will need to be managed assiduously.
However you read that, it means we are going to be hard pressed to provide additional gas, particularly if there are big consumers that come on line with high demands.
I was interested to go to a public forum where a sound and light show was produced by the Power and Water Authority’s Chief Executive Officer. He talked about various options available for the Power and Water Corporation to continue to keep the lights on. There are several. I applaud them for looking at that because in the documents that were tabled in this parliament, it is a significant risk for this new government owned corporation, and it is not a risk that has been put in any way, shape or form in any of its documents. Treasury does. When you look at Treasury documents, they deal with some of the risks. This organisation, which is responsible to come to this parliament and outline its risk, has not done so. However, at a public forum it had the good grace to point out that there were a variety of options they had to look at. They include Blacktip and new wells in Palm Valley and the Amadeus Basin, the big finds at Sunrise. But I was quite surprised to see that the fall back option is to use diesel:
- The fall back option is to use diesel to meet such demand increases.
This is a terribly retrograde step. We need cheap, efficient, green power in our community and we need to use it for the major consumers. That is something the government can do. Forget saying: ‘There will be jobs coming from it, we will train kids’, and all that stuff. You can work on this as a major strategy now. You can work on how you are going to get the energy into MIM and you can work on how you are going to get into the Gove Peninsula. If you can do that, you can go some way towards fixing this up. I note my time is nearly out, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, and given the difficulty about obtaining extensions, I shall – pardon?
Dr Burns: You had plenty the other night.
Mr DUNHAM: Well, I am just saying it is a contentious issue, and I shall not test your decision, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker.
A member: Do you want one?
Mr DUNHAM: You don’t have a problem with that?
Mr Henderson: We’ll give you an extra 10.
Mr DUNHAM: Okay.
Dr LIM: Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would allow 10 minutes for my colleague to conclude his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr DUNHAM: Okay. Ten minutes, and I will move quickly through the paper. These are issues for government to work out. In terms of having two cars with dual fuel, these are much more important. They are not insignificant issues, looking at other technologies and modalities, but they are significant arguments.
We need to look at some of the other things, too; for instance the Bulman scheme - that is great. The Jilkminggan initiative is great and it has been going for some time and is portable to other communities. I would hope, given what has happened at Kings Canyon, these contracts can be spread around. I would hope to see local contractors picking up that sort of stuff.
The Mimosa pigra project is good and is something that we have to pursue in terms of everybody winning. As my colleague, the member responsible for parks and wildlife issues, said: you are already harvesting it to eradicate this noxious weed. We were firing it and, therefore, sending tonnes into the atmosphere, and we now have a productive use for what is a weed which is a monoculture and excludes all other plants and often many other animal species. The fact that it is only producing 350 kW is a good thing because in doing so, it is helping us in lots of other ways.
PowerWater I have talked about. The Building Code, I was fortunate to have a brief by Fabio Finocchiaro from the Lands minister’s department. He talked about some energy-smart houses and some of those issues. It was a presentation to people who are mostly builders. They were fairly nonplussed about the difficulties in achieving some of those things. I know it will come as an expense, I know there will be debate about it. I know that debate has to occur and we will be part of it. We will put those changes to the Building Code to the people and we will ask them. It is only by doing this, I might add, that you achieve, as I was saying earlier, a change in attitude and behaviour.
The web site is probably a good idea, but it is the only thing that you can really nail your colours to the mast on in this. The gratuitous statements about gas coming onshore, why John Howard’s government needs to ratify the Timor Sea Treaty - if the gas does come onshore from Bayu-Undan, it is still problematic in how much is available for domestic usage and, in fact, whether that is good gas or dirty gas. There are still some issues about gas onshore. The quote is:
- Gas onshore in Darwin will put the Northern Territory in a position to supply this demand.
It will not.
The gas from Bayu-Undan will be helpful and, hopefully, it will be a catalyst for further development in the Timor Sea region, and there will be an opportunity to bring some of the smaller fields on and even, dare I say, Sunrise. However, given what we have heard about Sunrise, that is certainly a way off and, given the projections from the Power and Water Corporation about 2009, we must have some very strong fall-back options in place. Those options have to be paraded to people who might otherwise walk. We have seen Mt Grace do it, and we have a problem with the speed with which MIM and Alcan want to move. Even the garnet fields, I would suggest, would have a power requirement. I would be hopeful that the transport corridor that we now have available will have also become an easement, a transmission route for power. It certainly is for gas.
Once you start getting those factors together, it would be a fairly short step for all sorts of people who have smart ideas to come forward and say: ‘Well, you have just cracked the code; I have got land, gas, power, water’, whatever it is, and we can start to look at some significant developments along the spine of the Northern Territory.
Talking about people in Kiribati treading water is an emotional argument. It is highly emotional, obviously, for the people of Kiribati but, unlike King Canute, there are people around the world who have harnessed the vagaries of weather, and who have looked at problems and turned them into opportunities, and I believe that still exists for us. There is still a potential to do that. I have visited Holland myself. I have been to Venice, a city where, if it was not for the stoicism and innovation of its populous, they would also be treading water. It is one of those things where, if we can change it, we have to move strongly. If there are things to live with, we have to look at what opportunities they present, and we have to look at the things we have a capacity and power to fix and the things that we don’t.
The issues relating to tidal power are good. I have visited the north of France, where there are tidal stations that work and are efficient and good. I also visited nuclear facilities there. I know it is a verboten place to go, but issues like that should be in the paper. We should be talking about hydro power. It is not in here. We should be talking about nuclear power. It is not in here.
While it is easy to say that is a no-go area and you can never discuss it, I do not think that is how humans should behave rationally. You should look at it. You should make your mind up about it. Certainly, nuclear power is a fact of life in the world and there are plenty of countries that are not as energy rich as us that have had to avail themselves of this power, including Japan, France and probably a dozen other countries.
I am not saying that Australia should embrace nuclear power, but we should at least have the maturity to be able to discuss it. One of the reasons that we can, in a patronising way, say: ‘Well, that is never going to be an issue in Australia’ is because we are very power-rich. We have lots of brown coal, lots of gas, lots of potential for hydro. But let us look at whether there are benefits that can come from it or not, and let us look at whether it can solve problems in other areas. They are important issues for discussions, and they should not be treated as such terrible no-go areas that, as soon as you mention hydro, you are starting to talk dams, and people are always against dams and you have all these problems. It is better to engage with the populous, not treat them as people who are incapable of debate in these areas, and treat them as issues that have to be put on the table to be analysed.
I suspect that most Australians would immediately discount nuclear power by a factor of 99:1. But I would also suspect that, if you did engage in thinking and scientific discussion on it, very few Australians could sustain a discussion other than emotive issues about Hiroshima and bombs and whatever. It is one of those things that is a blind spot scientifically and, in an energy sense, and in being so patronising about it, we are actually reflecting on some of our near neighbours who use this power because they have very few options in some cases. We have to be careful about swaggering around with our wealth obviously on display - and that is the wealth of untold riches of energy - and wagging our finger at other countries and saying: ‘Well, you do not care’. We have to talk to them about some of those issues. There could be opportunities, for instance, for them to switch to different modalities. There could be markets there. It is something that we have to be able to at least talk about and, in the absence of discussion, there will be a very fertile ground for people to run emotive and crazy campaigns.
I shall leave it there, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, and I thank the indulgence of the House for giving me the additional time.
Mr HENDERSON (Business, Industry and Resource Development): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it is good to see that, generally, both sides of this Chamber are supporting the thrust of the statement by my colleague, the Minister for Environment and Heritage.
The previous speaker, the member for Drysdale, did raise a number of significant issues. They were issues that I was going to touch on anyway in my contribution, so it is appropriate that he has raised them and, hopefully, I can add some interest to the debate.
The willingness, desirability and responsibility that we have in Australia to play our global part in controlling and reducing greenhouse emissions over time is something that all Australians have signed up to. Not only just its citizens, but also its corporations and multinationals. Everybody recognises that we all have to play our role in the global greenhouse challenge.
Kyoto has been proposed as being the strategy to deal with that at a global level. Even though the Commonwealth government, at the moment, is still holding out on signing the Kyoto Protocol, it is interesting to note that they have signed up to the target. I do not understand why the Commonwealth will not take the final step and ratify the treaty; they have committed themselves to the targets. It seems to me be a small step further to sign that treaty. From the contribution on both sides tonight, generally that is where this House is at and I believe that that is where most Territorians would be.
We obviously then have the issue about how the Territory should be considered under any Commonwealth ratification of that treaty. All I can say, without going through it again - I thought my colleague, the Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Environment really put the Territory’s case very succinctly as to why we should not be penalised by the fact that, in our economic development, we are way behind the eastern states. The Commonwealth has a responsibility to see that all of Australia develops, particularly northern Australia, so I totally support the contribution made by my colleague the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure.
Where I wanted to go in my contribution to this debate this afternoon is - not surprisingly, being the Resources minister and noting the efforts of my department, this government, this parliament and Team NT - bringing gas onshore from the Timor Sea. It is an ongoing task, and one that we in government do not shirk. We will do everything in our power to bring that gas onshore because, at the end of the day, I believe - and all the evidence is out there published in any number of journals – that, for Australia to meet its target under Kyoto the Commonwealth government has acknowledged and signed up to, we really do need to start looking at our sources of energy in Australia and starting to switch from some of the massive coal-fired power stations in eastern and southern Australia and start converting some of those to gas long term.
When we look at the sources for that energy - the Gippsland Basin, Central Australia, Bass Strait - they are all declining reserves. 80% of Australia’s known gas reserves are off the North-West Shelf and in the Timor Sea. The demand is in south-east Australia and, through Commonwealth policy, there should be national energy policy in place that maximises the opportunity to link up that source of cheap energy in northern Australia to the customer base in the south-east corner. That is the real challenge here, as I see it, as well as doing all of the other things that governments responsibly should do.
The statement deals with the rural and regional remote power generation switching from diesel to solar. All of those things are very, very important. The member for Drysdale talked about the opportunities for harnessing tidal power. Maybe that should be looked at. You would get an interesting debate on nuclear power, but we would leave that for another day, given that we have such an abundance of gas immediately to our north.
The challenges here, and for the Commonwealth government, is that Australia does not have a national energy policy. We would have to be one of the few developed nations in the world - possibly the only developed nation - that does not have a national energy policy. In part, that may be that, as the member for Drysdale said, we are such an abundantly resource rich country, and has meant that we have not had to develop such a policy in the past. On the east coast in many areas you do not have to dig very far into the ground to find massive coal deposits.
I certainly believe that the time is right, and COAG has started to move towards a national policy. The issue for the Commonwealth is: where do we go to ensure that we reach those emission targets? COAG did consider this issue and, in June 2001 decided to set up a working group. COAG founded the Ministerial Council on Energy to start looking to the development of a national energy policy. The terms of reference of relevance to us - I will not go through them all - for the energy market review leading to a national energy policy were:
- assessing the relative efficiency and cost effectiveness of options within the energy market to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity and gas sectors including the feasibility of the phased
introduction of a national system of greenhouse emission reduction benchmarks, and
identifying means of encouraging the wider penetration of natural gas including increased upstream
gas competition, value adding process for natural gas and potential other uses such as a distributed
generation because it is an abundant domestically available and clean energy source.
So, good on the Commonwealth and COAG to commission those terms of reference.
The committee has been headed up by Hon Warwick Parer, who was a Queensland Liberal Party Senator from 1984 to 2000, a federal Minister for Resources and Energy from 1996 to 1998, and was nominated by the Prime Minister to chair this committee. He was also Chairman of the Australian Coal Exporters from 1976 to 1979. The fact that he does have links to the coal industry certainly caused some comments by ministers, but we nevertheless endorsed his appointment.
The Territory government made a substantial submission to this review. Obviously, our submission was focussed on what levers the Commonwealth could pull in the development of national energy policy which would see Timor Sea gas resources developed and brought onshore in the Northern Territory, and then linked through a series of pipelines down through to the south-east corner of Australia. We presented that submission to Warwick Parer and his team when they were in Darwin towards the end of last year. It was a significant presentation.
Before I get to where that report is at, I will pick up on some of the comments from the member for Drysdale. He said the government should not sit passively by when the Power and Water Corporation, in its annual report, is stating that it is facing problems regarding gas contracts post-2009; it does not have the capacity to supply the massive increase in energy demand required by MIM and Alcan over at Gove, and we are struggling. Well, the member well knows - and it was quite a good contribution to this debate tonight despite the stoushes we tend to have on the floor. Generally. the member for Drysdale does provide insightful comments in debate. But he does know that we are not sitting passively by. There is an enormous amount of work being done throughout government and by many members of the business to try and advance this argument.
However, when we get down to the bottom of it, what levers can government pull? What can government do in developing our national resources? I, for one, would say the first thing is that these resources are owned by the people of Australia. They are not owned by the companies that are licensed to develop them. Those resources are owned by the people of Australia and the Commonwealth has the final say, particularly in the offshore areas, in the licensing regime for the development of those resources. But we are perhaps the only nation in the developed world, again, which leaves resource development of our natural resources in Australia entirely to the market with no government involvement.
That is the current Commonwealth government position: these resources are to be developed in terms of what is eventually played out by the markets. Obviously, the markets and commercialisation of these resources are an absolutely fundamental ingredient. We support and acknowledge that these companies have to make a profit and get a return on their investment. The market has a very significant role, but it should not have the only role. I believe that governments have an absolute responsibility to our people to ensure that our resources are developed in our national interest.
As part of the submission that we made to the Parer review, we conducted an analysis of what other western developed countries do about having some control in resource development. Our submission is up there on the Commonwealth web site about this, but I will just read some of the submission into Hansard.
- A review of other jurisdictions by the Houston Energy Group commissioned by the Northern Territory
government has clearly shown that countries pursue energy policies that support their national
interests. Evaluation of projects includes an assessment of non-commercial, non-quantifiable benefits.
Decisions are not left entirely to the market where other countervailing interests are identified as being
in the national interest. In summary, government interventions include using the approval process to
influence development decisions, governments often subside development to secure outcomes, governments
define the structures and regulation of the market to achieve required outcomes.
The report deals with the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The report says:
- The United States has been particularly aggressive in the means employed to secure desired energy
outcomes including legislation, executive orders and regulatory policies. A current example is the
Energy Policy Bill of 2002 which is designed to secure gas from the North Slope Project, Alaska into
the lower 48 states. The act provides a producer subsidy of $US10bn tax credits if the price falls
below $US3.25 per 1000 cubic feet as well as dictating the route.
The United States government generally provides subsidies which approximate one-third of the real
cost of new gas pipeline projects.
If only our Commonwealth government could provide that level of assistance, we certainly would not be debating Sunrise. This is the policy of the greatest free market economy in the world, and they have a policy that these resources have to be developed in the national interest, not just in the market interest.
- Canada has similar initiatives to the United States. The US proposal to support the North Slope Project
has created concern in Canada. The Canadians are examining the possibility of supporting the
competing Mackenzie Valley natural gas pipeline to ensure their producers are not disadvantaged.
Then on to the United Kingdom:
- The UK nationalised the gas industry after WWII. The British Gas Corporation, a government business
entity, developed a national integrated grid to provide access to gas by all Britons regardless of subsidy.
After the development of infrastructure and markets, the industry gradually moved from public ownership
to a competitive privately owned enterprise covering transport and sales.
I am not suggesting that we should nationalise these industries, but the report and studies that we commissioned show that other western countries do get involved and do not have a hands-off attitude that the Commonwealth government has displayed and is continuing to display.
If the Commonwealth government was really serious about developing northern Australia and maximising our ability to reduce greenhouse, then it certainly would be how - through public policy, through some sort of government financial support in whatever vehicle - to link up the 80% of that clean, green fuel which is gas in northern Australia to the massive demand in the south-east corner.
I am disappointed. We received a draft report from the Parer Committee just before Christmas. The draft report gave scant regard to the Northern Territory government’s submission. I wrote back a fairly strong letter saying that, really, they had not taken on board the terms of reference that have been put to them regarding what I quoted before, and certainly we were not prepared to sign off on this report in the current state. Well, the final report has been produced for December 2002, and it really is not much better. I will read from the Parer report.
- The panel received a substantial submission from the Northern Territory government strongly in support
of bringing Timor Sea gas onshore, citing significant potential benefits to the Northern Territory and
Australian economies. The alternative proposal is to construct a floating gas processing and liquefication
plant, with liquefied natural gas being exported. The panel understands the Northern Territory
government’s preference to have the gas brought onshore to underpin significant energy-related
business developments in the region and to provide security of supply as the Mereenie field depletes.
So we are not sitting passively by.
There are likely to be other instances over time where governments observe a public benefit in making
energy available in certain areas which project proponents will not provide for various reasons. In the
panel’s view, any facilitation should be on the basis of government seeking proposals from the market to
achieve a certain outcome rather than targeting one particular source or solution. Competitive processes
to meet the identified need that do not distort the market are more likely to result in least cost outcomes
for the community and economy.
Well, that is something this government totally disagrees with. It is totally at odds with our competitors in the market place, particularly the Americans and Europe. If we are serious about having manufacturing as part of our economy, we do have to get involved. Also, what the Parer review does not take into account in the market; they are just talking about the market on the supply side. What about the customers? What we know with gas is that it is not a resource that is rare around the world. It is a very common commodity, and commercial enterprises really can move around the world, and they have time frames to meet. We have windows of opportunity to secure this investment for the Northern Territory, and by not having some say about how our resources develop, we are missing out on opportunities. We have already seen Methanex leave the Northern Territory. We have seen Pechiney build their first plant in South Africa and have missed that opportunity, and, as a result of this hands-off, let-the-market-decide, the Commonwealth has it wrong.
I can inform the House that we will continue to fight this blind spot of the Commonwealth through all of the forums. I will be taking up the fight in the next Energy Minister’s Council which will either endorse the Parer report or not. I am certain the Chief Minister, if it goes to COAG in its current form, will also continue to fight that. I would urge that all members of this House and, certainly, our federal members - and hopefully those federal members who sit on the government benches in Canberra will continue to push for government involvement in how our resources are developed. A hands-off attitude is not helping the Northern Territory.
One last figure before I run out of time. If Alcan can shift their production from the heavy fuel oils that they currently consume to clean green gas, this would enable Alcan to reduce CO2 emissions by almost half a million tonnes per annum which represents a 27% reduction. Not a bad feat.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I commend my colleague for bringing this statement to the House. We will continue to fight for clean green fuel for all Australians.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I would like to add my commendation to the minister for presenting an environment statement. It has been a long time that we have waited for something like this to happen for the Territory. When the Environment Committee was abolished by this government when it first came to power 18 months ago, I was very disappointed. I was not quite sure which way it was going to go with the management of the environment. Anyway, at long last, we see something happening.
This paper, calling for input from the community, is the first step in the right direction. I congratulate the government for doing it. It is a little slow and a little late, but we are getting there. Some of the things that have been happening in the Territory for the past two decades are worthy of mention; for instance, the experiments that we have tried in Central Australia. The solar pond that we tried in Tennant Creek was a reasonably successful experiment. It was unfortunate that commercial funds were not available to further develop it. I understand that the technology is now being used in Birdsville, and the people who initiated the project back then in Tennant Creek are now in Birdsville to supervise and ensure that the project continues in a successful manner.
The other thing that has been reasonably well experimented with and, hopefully, will come on line, is the solar energy harvesting that has been planned in Alice Springs using photovoltaic cells and the solar array that can all be lined up in the desert. If you look at Central Australia and the number of clear days that we have in every 12 months, it is a wonder that nobody has done anything about harvesting solar energy a long time ago. It is probably because of the cost of the technology that we have been slow.
When I look at the Top End and the tidal changes that we witness every day - and I have not ever seen it myself, but I understand that some tides are up to 10 m in magnitude - that will be a tremendous amount of energy in the changing sea level. It would be good to see if we can encourage commercial interests in this potential source of energy.
I come now to a couple of points that were made by my colleagues and mentioned in the minister’s statement. I am also very much aware of what happened at Kings Canyon. The Territory parties involved spoke to me quite some time ago about Kings Canyon and I very quickly passed it on to my colleague, the member for Drysdale. Coming from Central Australia, I was quite disturbed to hear from ITS that their bid, which conformed - and all the things that you have heard from the member for Drysdale – that they still missed out and the contract was awarded to a Western Australian company, I think. I am not exactly sure on that.
Anyway, I understand that it is under investigation by the Ombudsman. It is a pity that the minister responsible for procurement did not look into the whole process and see whether it was done properly or not. I would like to see a Territory-owned project captured by a Territory company rather than going interstate. Too many things in the last 18 months have gone interstate because this government has directed contracts out from the Territory. It is a real pity. I am sure there are enough people in the Territory with the expertise to do many things and, with this Kings Canyon project, I am certain that the expertise of ITS would be more than adequate to get the project up and running successfully.
I was involved in a couple of research projects put to the Sessional Committee on the Environment by this parliament in the previous two terms. One was on the saltwater intrusion into the Mary River wetlands, and the other was the Mimosa pigra infestation that we have had in the Top End for quite a few decades. With regards the saltwater intrusion, it was a really interesting study. We had a good look at the Mary River systems and studied the hydrology of the rivers, the cause of erosion of the river banks, and the mechanics of the salt water moving inland further and further each year. To be able to fly over the wetlands in the middle of the Wet, for somebody coming from the desert, it was just an amazing sight to see this huge sheet of fresh water flowing from the Top End of the Territory out into the ocean, something I have never, ever seen before and I marvelled at the phenomena.
The saltwater intrusion project showed us how some methods can be used to preserve our arable low-lying land in the delta regions. Obviously, that land is very fertile and could be very productively used. But with further saltwater intrusion, that land is going to become pretty barren. The evidence of that was that a whole stand of melaleuca trees that were standing in the salt water, dead as they could possibly be. When you flew over that stand, it was like a whole area of devastation, as if a bomb or some pestilence had gone through the forest.
It would be interesting to hear from the minister, if he or somebody in his department has time, to come back with progress on what has happened with the saltwater intrusion work that has occurred in the last 18 months or two years in the Mary River wetlands area. I would be most interested to hear of any progress or any success they might have had in preventing further saltwater intrusion.
The other project I was involved in was the Mimosa pigra which infests quite a large area of the Northern Territory. At the time of our project, we were told that there was some 80 000 hectares of land already covered by what they called a monoculture of thick, impenetrable Mimosa pigra. At the rate we were told mimosa would grow, each stand of mimosa is supposed to double its size every 18 months. I just hope over the last 18 months the 80 000 hectares has not doubled in size. If it has, it is an indictment on the government for not ensuring Mimosa pigra control after it gained government. I hope not: I sincerely hope that the 80 000 hectares have remained the same because, at the time we did the study, we noticed that the Mimosa pigra infestation had not increased as rapidly as it was supposed to. In its natural state, it would have.
It was obviously the biological controls that had been put into place by the department, the Office of Weeds Management, also the herbicides that were used to control the growth of mimosa. In our project, we recommended that there could be a commercial use for the weed. We learned about an overseas experience where they harvest the mimosa, pulp it and use it for firewood and for mulch. In fact, one commercial operator came up to talk to us during a public hearing and advised us that they were looking at harvesting mimosa for vegetable tannins. Because there is no natural source of vegetable tannins anywhere else in Australia and mimosa was able to provide a very valuable and cheap source of vegetable tannin, they were prepared to spend some money doing it.
Unfortunately, it never came about. I am not sure why they did not go through with it. We were concerned that they were going to crop rather than harvest mimosa. We are not prepared for them to crop because by cropping, you encourage more mimosa to grow so that they can crop them repeatedly. What we wanted them to do was just have a mobile plant where they could actually go into a stand of mimosa, harvest it, clear the land, and then the landowner can come behind the tannin harvester to clear and turn his land into arable land rather than just an area of mimosa. That never came about.
We thought that would have been a very useful project to use what was then, and is still, considered a weed. That would have brought some industry into the Territory, it would have allowed clearing of the land, of mimosa, and allowed landowners to regain their otherwise non-arable land.
I was interested to read the minister’s comment about the pilot project of harvesting Mimosa pigra as fuel. While we never tried it here in the Territory, I know that mimosa was harvested for fuel in Thailand. They found that it did not burn very well, unfortunately. But then again, I am not quite certain what sort of technology they had to burn mimosa as fuel; whether they were just using them as briquettes to burn in open fires. I assume the project that the minister commented on, which was already planned prior to the government taking over, was in a combuster of some form which would allow the heat generated from burning briquettes to generate electricity. That would, obviously, be a good way to use what is otherwise wasted material. Mimosa grows up to 6 m tall. The stem is not particularly thick, probably about 5 cm to 8 cm in diameter, but full of thorns, and that is why it causes lots of problems.
I will not go further into the paper that the minister produced this afternoon. It is a good start to looking at the environment and greenhouse effects that poor management of the environment can cause. I hope that we do not leave it for too long; that the minister will compile some information and provide us some feedback as to what has been done in the past and to see where the project is at this point in time.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, this afternoon I contribute to debate on the ministerial statement on greenhouse gas emissions, and congratulate our Minister for Environment and Heritage, Dr Chris Burns, for bringing this statement to the House.
Dr LIM: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! No mention of names, please.
Ms LAWRIE: The member for Johnston.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes, that is a valid point of order. Can you withdraw that name?
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw the name of the member for Johnston because the member for Greatorex is such a nitpicker. Absolutely.
Dr LIM: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! That is most unnecessary. The member for Karama knows very well what it is all about and, if she wants to play silly buggers she can, and she is probably one of the worst offenders in this Chamber.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Karama, that was a valid point of order. Could you just withdraw what you said?
Ms LAWRIE: I withdraw, but could the member for Greatorex withdraw his comment about me being possibly the worst offender? He has no proof. That is unsubstantiated, and I ask him to withdraw that incorrect statement.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: The member for Greatorex has made a point of order. I have accepted it, and you have withdrawn.
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, but I asked …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Are you raising a point of order?
Ms LAWRIE: Yes. I am asking him to withdraw a misleading comment to the House.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Ms LAWRIE: The greenhouse gas emissions ministerial statement is crucially important because, as we know, greenhouse gases contribute to world climate change. There is strong evidence, accepted among the scientific community, that the impact greenhouse emissions are having on world climate change are, in fact, causing the catastrophic environmental effects that we are seeing today: whether it is floods, droughts that Australia has suffered last year and continues to suffer - many people say that is an effect of climate change - and the horrific fires we are seeing around the world in various nations including our own, scientists believe are attributable to climate change.
The problem with greenhouse gas emissions is that they are not visible. They are an insidious part of our world environment at the moment, and any action that the government can take to remind the citizens of its jurisdiction about the concerns and actions that need to be taken, and to encourage citizens to participate in that debate, is terrific action indeed - which is why I congratulate the minister for the discussion paper that he has given to parliament today: ‘Developing a Strategic for Northern Territory Greenhouse Action’.
I was interested to listen to some of the debate on the Kyoto Agreement and whether or not Australia should be a signatory to that agreement. The meeting in Kyoto was the third in a series of meetings described as ‘the conference of parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’. The FCCC was signed and ratified by Australia in 1992, and the first conference of parties was held in 1995 in Berlin, followed in November 2001 in Marrakesh. So, whilst we signed up to an agreement to participate in this conference of parties, we are yet to sign what is referred to as the ‘Kyoto deal’.
This has the potential for making Australia a pariah in the international community, so I feel very strongly that it is up to the jurisdictions to continue to press at the federal level for our signature on the Kyoto agreement. When I say it has a potential for making us a pariah, I refer to a paper entitled ‘Global Environment Diplomacy – Australia’s Stances on Global Warming’ which the Parliamentary Library very ably found for me in research on this subject. I refer to a warning included in a statement issued by Mr James Cameron from the law firm Baker Mackenzie in London about the consequences of any refusal or delay by Australia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol:
- Australia would pay an environmental, an economic and a diplomatic price. I have given advice to
ministers in Europe about the possible use of trade measures again countries which stay outside the
international system.
That is of great concern, particularly in a jurisdiction like the Territory. We are a developing jurisdiction, rich in resources, primary industry and mineral wealth, and trade is very much a part of our future. We have a rail link to Asia about to come on line, we are obviously pursuing the opportunities of oil and gas in the Timor Sea and, for us to face, in the future, trade measures against us would be highly detrimental to the core needs of all Territorians. Those needs obviously are for better growth in our economy, and trade is one of the areas we are very well positioned to benefit from.
I refer to further criticism of Australia’s global environment diplomacy from within our nation which have been significant. Clive Hamilton, Director of the Australia Institute think tank, who has been a constant and vocal critic of Australia’s global environmental diplomacy, was quoted as saying in the paper I referred to earlier, ‘Global Environment Diplomacy – Australia’s Stances on Global Warming’:
- Like many others, I have often found it embarrassing to be an Australian at international climate change
meetings. While most other countries manage to balance domestic economic interests with a concern for the
future health of the global environment, the Australian government is widely seen as pursuing narrow,
short-term trade interests, with little regard for the effects of climate change on other people or future
generations. In this respect, Australia is grouped with the Middle Eastern oil exporters. This represents a
sharp departure from the progressive position that Australia had previously adopted on
international environmental issues and it is hoped that we will soon make a return from laggard to leader.
I put it to this House that with our statement here this afternoon from our Minister for Environment and Heritage, the Territory jurisdiction is attempting to turn from laggard to leader. I commend the minister for taking the bold step to remind parliamentarians, and make an effort to go out to the public and remind them, that we all share a duty to the world. We all share a duty to ensuring that we hand the world over to future generations in a state that is sustainable; where they can breathe; that there is light and energy but it is sustainable; that we have food sources.
The impact of climatic change is showing us what a drastic effect it can have on our food sources. The farmers in our nation today are suffering because of dramatic effects of climate change. The drought has been catastrophic and the fires have seen the loss of beautiful bushland and, in the case of Canberra, sadly the loss of homes and lives.
I turn now to the ministerial statement. The Territory’s emissions are not where we need to be. This ministerial statement does not shy away from the fact that savanna burning accounts for 47% of the Northern Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions. We have a long way toward lowering greenhouse gas emissions. I encourage the Minister for Environment and Heritage to continue to work with the CRC on Tropical Savannas. I have great faith in our cooperative research centres in their innovation and ability, through research and development, to find ways to improve the way we can deal with our savannas. Yes, we are a geographic area with large savanna grasslands. Having been a primary school student here, that was one of the first things we learned in our geography - the extent of savanna grasslands in the Territory.
I encourage the minister to ensure that, as a government, we are applying the resources necessary to see great results. If that means re-establishing traditional Aboriginal fire management regimes, then I see that as a very fruitful path to go down. It is one of these matters where, unless you apply the resources to do the research to find the innovative answers, you do not tackle the problems. I see in this statement a raft of innovative pursuits, and I congratulate him on that.
I am interested that our stationary energy sector - the second highest contributor to the Territory’s greenhouse gas emissions - produces 22% of our emissions, in sharp contrast to the rest of the nation where 49% is the national average. That, obviously, points to the fact that has been raised in other speeches in this House, that we are comparatively underdeveloped. We are not a manufacturing jurisdiction, we do not have the same population base of other jurisdictions, and those two factors mean we do not have the same stationary energy pool of greenhouse gas emissions. However, we can ill-afford to be complacent. As we know, and as this statement says, there is a predicted 180% potential increase in that stationary energy greenhouse gas emission. That is because we are on the verge of becoming far more developed. We know that, with the potential in our mining sector and improved trade links through the railway, we will have population growth in the next two decades far exceeding some people’s expectations. We will start to become the Australian hub of Asia that we have always had the potential to be.
I believe that better documentation of the existence of indigenous Territorians would increase population numbers immediately, statistically. However, improving health conditions, reducing the morbidity rate and factors like that will all impact on our population base. That is to the Territory’s benefit. However, it puts the crunch on us regarding our greenhouse gas emissions. It is one of the reasons why we do need a discussion paper. You do need to explore with your citizens every avenue that every person can take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. How many people stop and think every time they get in their car to drive to work that they are contributing to global warming, to the climatic change that brings about the drought we have had in Australia?
I am interested in public education. I am interested in the innovative methods out there to remind the public. I would like to see the day when, if you are turning on the radio in your car, there is a warning saying you are about to emit X greenhouse gas emissions. I would like to see the day when you switch on a light at home, a little meter reader comes up and lets you know what your contribution to global warming is. There is a whole world of opportunity and challenges of informing people about greenhouse gas emissions because, as I say, it is insidious; you cannot see it. We can see the effects. The effects are enormous, but you cannot see the daily input into emissions.
It is really up to leadership, through our Minister for Environment and Heritage, that this jurisdiction is very well placed to manage its development and to manage its potential and future in a greenhouse acceptable fashion. I hope, in a couple of years time or even sooner, to be hearing another report where we have scaled down that prediction of 180% increase, where that has come way down. Maybe I am an eternal optimist, but I believe that with the foresight that our minister is already showing in putting out this discussion for public consumption, there is great opportunity there.
I am delighted to see in this ministerial statement that Alcan, for example, is considering shifting from fuel oil to gas in its expanded operations. There is a real role for governments to play in negotiating with big business, with our key economic drivers to say: ‘You are a good corporate citizen. We will work with you, but we really need you to understand that greenhouse gas emission levels are essential to our future’.
I know the hard work our government is doing to secure gas onshore, to secure the LNG plant at Wickham Point, and I know the long-term impact that will have regarding our being able to credibly argue with very large companies that they have a clean option. I listened with interest to what the member for Drysdale had to say. He said we are a society addicted to electricity. Well, I say that addicts can change their habits. Yes, I agree with him, gas in the Timor Sea can help redress the world’s reliance on more pollutant forms of energy but, if we are not signed up to the Kyoto Agreement, we will not get the carbon credits for that. We are stuck with the situation where, as a nation that has been largely dependent on the dirty fuels such as the brown coals, we are pariahs, yet the day when we are exporting clean gas to other nations who need it, we do not get the credits for it. So, I see there is impetus in our Timor Sea gas potential to seriously consider the benefit of signing up to Kyoto. otherwise we risk remaining a pariah.
I was delighted to read in the ministerial statement about the 82 projects worth $3.2m in solar power, and that we are working with indigenous communities which, in the past, have been reliant on diesel fuel. I will give credit where credit is due: the former minister of essential services in the previous government did go out and have a look at alternative energy sources. Certainly, the existence of Channel Island Power Station being reliant on natural gas is very much a credit to former governments. However, as a Territorian I have been saddened by the slow pace at which we seem to have embraced solar energy, because we are a sunburnt country, none more so than some of the central regions and the more remote regions of the Northern Territory. The potential that solar power has in those areas has been undervalued. To be able to remove those indigenous communities from reliance on disgusting diesel power is a great thing to do, and solar power technology has advanced to the point where it is attractive and achievable.
I am also interested in looking at alternative energy such as wind power. I know tidal power has been on and off the agenda up here. I have heard different views of wind generation opportunities for the Territory. There are some areas of the outback that people have considered of potential. I am delighted that the noxious weed Mimosa pigra, as we have heard, the monoculture which wipes out everything in its path, is forming part of a biomass to electricity pilot plant. Using Mimosa pigra as fuel is a win-win - we are ridding ourselves of the most horrendous noxious weed out there. Locating it on the Adelaide River floodplain is obviously a fantastic position for it. I am hoping that technological advances mean that the power generation of 350 kW is increased in time.
I keep falling back to technological advances because research and development in tackling energy and new sources of energy is essential. In a small jurisdiction, we can sometimes afford to be bold. Because of our vast geographical areas in the Territory, we can afford to experiment, not ridiculously, but considered experimentation. The Cooperative Research Centre, both in terms of Desert Knowledge in the Centre and the Tropical Health Centre up in the Territory and the savannas - we are well placed to work in partnership with our CRCs to produce innovation in the Territory.
I have to comment on what the member for Daly had to say about the introduction of minimum energy performance requirements for residential and commercial buildings into the Building Code of Australia and how we are pushing for that. He seemed to be taking the view that: ‘Oh, well, I wonder what the builders have to say about that’. It seemed to me to be quite a negative view. Now, wake up. It has been well known that there are smarter and better ways to design and build buildings and houses.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I move that so much of standing orders be suspended as would allow an extension of 10 minutes in order for my colleague to complete her remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Ms LAWRIE: It has been accepted in our nation for quite a while now that we have very fine architects, very fine builders, and we have the potential and capacity to improve our methods. In the 1980s, I lived in a green house in Melbourne. We are now in the new millennium. For people to be standing in the way of quite appropriate progress by being doomsayers and saying: ‘The builders won’t like that’ - a lot of my friends are builders, and they enjoy being innovative, they enjoy challenges that are placed before them. They do not like to be seen as being mundane in their approach to building. Some of the awards that Territory architects have been taking out in the national context just goes to show that in this jurisdiction, there is potential for them to embrace the minimum energy performance requirements
Finally, it is good news that there is an NT bicycle plan, and I am delighted about that. In fact, my residents have been calling for a bicycle path along Amy Johnston Avenue because many of my constituents say they get done for DUI and end up having to ride their bikes down to the industrial area of Winnellie. So, I will be making a bid for a bicycle path in our Greenhouse Emissions Reduction Strategy.
Back to a serious note, the more we can do to reduce global warming and to ensure that we pass on to our children and our children’s children and their children a healthy environment, the better. I congratulate the minister on the discussion paper and, as many members have said, I look forward to participating in further debate on greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr BURNS (Environment and Heritage): Madam Speaker, I welcome all contributions from members in this debate. Generally and overwhelmingly, they have been constructive and they have illustrated the widespread interest that environmental issues, particularly greenhouse gases, have within this parliament, but also within the wider community.
The remarks of the member for Karama are fresh in my ears, and she summed it up regarding community concern, preservation of our planet and lifestyle; what is beautiful around us, our environment, for future generations. She talked about it being a responsibility of citizens. The member for Drysdale talked about how we are addicted to electricity as a part of our lifestyle; we are consumers of all sorts of things, and a lot of it does come down to individual responsibility.
The member for Karama talked about the green house that she lived in. I was very interested to look at the cool house in Alice Springs some months ago, soon after I became Minister for Environment and Heritage, and it showed how very few modifications - and I am sure most members here, particularly the ones from Central Australia, have had a look at the cool house. It is actually almost a stock Housing Commission house and a basic design, but it was built with a very good orientation. With a few modifications, it has become very, very energy efficient. It is the recipient of a small grant from the government, but that group has done a hell of a lot with a small amount of money and I commend them. It really shows what community groups can do, what individuals can do. It is very interesting as they progress and build on their knowledge, build on their design, just how efficient that house can become. Their emphasis is on doing it at very little cost, and I commend that group.
I turn now to the whole focus of the debate. There was some suggestion that this paper contained no new initiatives. It is a discussion paper that is basically designed to stimulate community comment. It is not in itself a strategy document. What are trying to do as a government is involve the community in this discussion paper. As I said previously, the very fact that so many members contributed and the wide-ranging nature of this debate, certainly illustrates to me that the wider community will also engage with this discussion paper and makes some very constructive suggestions.
I turn first to some of the issues raised by the shadow minister, the member for Daly. On the whole, he raised some very important issues. Regarding savanna burning, he mentioned late versus early Dry Season burns. Late Dry Season burns are more likely to escape containment and become wild fires which, in inaccessible country, can burn unabated for weeks, producing huge quantities of greenhouse gases. That is why we will examine early Dry Season burn-offs which are more easily controlled. Likewise, research through the CRC and other forms into traditional indigenous firestick farming techniques aim to identify methods for controlling natural fuel loads, again reducing the risk of wildlife burning. I have become aware of some fairly informal discussions between Aboriginal organisations which have responsibilities in some of the regions, in the Top End at least, looking at ways, particularly if, under the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, there could be some credit or financial advantage, if you like, for groups to resume this.
There are some very interesting ideas; people are thinking laterally in relation to greenhouse gases and trying to reduce them. As has been stated in the document, in the Territory we have the unusual position of those greenhouse gases accounting for 47% of our total emissions so those savanna fires are very significant for the Territory.
There has been some discussion about building energy codes. In respect to the member’s question regarding this issue for energy consumption, the objective of the initiative is to encourage better building design into the future, ultimately creating savings for building occupants through cheaper energy bills for cooling and, in some cases, heating. These are initiatives being undertaken by most, if not all, Australian jurisdictions as part of our national strategy to implement more efficient energy uses. It is simply not the case that existing buildings would need to be modified at some cost to occupants or owners. We are not really going down that path. I did mention the cool house in Alice Springs, and there are going to be a lot of things coming out of that.
Remote renewable energy projects: the member should be aware that this project, while funded by the Commonwealth, is managed locally under the Territory auspices. The project provides for the Commonwealth to contribute funds on a $1-for-$1 basis for successful projects which means where the Territory is involved, we contribute at least half the funds required for any particular installation.
In another major project, PowerWater have provided some $2.4m towards the development of the Mimosa pigra biomass generation project mentioned by the member for Daly and others. When I was the AFANT AGM, the question was raised about whether this government has scaled back on Mimosa pigra eradication programs. The responsible minister, the member for Casuarina, flagged that there had been some problems with Mimosa pigra eradication, and there is an inquiry afoot. He will be reporting back to parliament about the results of that inquiry.
The Mary River is a very important issue. I know that the member for Daly has a long experience with the Mary River and those areas. We know that the Baldwin family takes that area particularly seriously. Tributes to the member for Daly’s father, Mr Terry Baldwin, came up in debate and speeches. He is a very sincere person; he is certainly a great Territorian. I have spoken before in this House about my respect for him. He has contributed a lot to the Territory community over the years, not least of all to the Junior Police Rangers. I know a few through my son, who is a ranger, and they hold Mr Baldwin Snr in the highest esteem. I always listen to what Terry has to say. He is communicating with a few of us here in the ministry, though we sit on the other side, and we always take what he has to say very seriously because I know he has the wellbeing, the welfare and the future of the Territory at heart.
Going back to the Mary River catchment. At a local scale, the saltwater intrusion into the wetlands can provide, unfortunately, insight into the problems we may face with sea level rises induced by global warming. This project is part of a national program which aims to provide information to enhance the knowledge base regarding the impacts of this climate change on natural and human systems. As has been mentioned previously, a major component of the project is to undertake a cost benefit analysis of the program to combat saltwater intrusion in this area. A resource economist has been engaged to look at the cost benefit analysis component of the project. I am informed that there is $500 000 in recurrent funding for the projects in the Mary River catchment area and, in particular, this project. This government does take saltwater intrusion into the Mary River very seriously, and I take the points made by the member for Daly.
There were suggestions by the member for Daly that we should be looking at connecting remote communities into the power grid. Of course, wherever feasible, that is a great idea. However, we know that a lot of our remote communities are truly remote and just the cost of providing that infrastructure would be prohibitive, but renewable power is probably the way to go there. I have been through the Building Code which was an area that he raised, and the Mary River catchment.
The member for Araluen: I have dealt with the issue of Mimosa pigra and we just need to hear what the member for Casuarina comes back to parliament with in a report on that issue.
I agree with the contribution from the member for Drysdale - the member for Wanguri complimented him on his offering in the debate here. Generally it was very positive. He raised a whole range of issues related to power use in the Territory which the member for Wanguri addressed comprehensively, and it would be repetitive of me to go through that. The member for Wanguri, once again, demonstrated this government’s commitment to foster industry, to look at our capacity to generate power, to look to the future. I know that I have my part to play as the minister for power and water and I am monitoring that situation very closely.
As the member for Drysdale rightly said, the continuity of gas supplies is an issue. It was identified by the Utilities Commission, but I am informed by the Power and Water Corporation that there is continuity of supplies until at least 2009, which is of crucial importance to both domestic and commercial users of electricity in the Territory. We must be very focussed on looking to the future, getting more supplies for the Territory and the gas developments, as the member for Wanguri flagged, are very important in that.
One thing I will do is stand by my comments and exhort the Commonwealth government to sign on the Unitisation Treaty, to come to agreement with the East Timorese government, so that we can get on with piping Bayu-Undan onshore and, in the longer term, bring Sunrise onshore and fulfil a lot of these energy requirements. Everyone wants that treaty to be signed off and time is running low.
The Northern Territory government supports ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, and that was an issue that was raised extensively by the member for Karama. We agree that there needs to be a global reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and that this is only going to be achieved by requiring formal targets to be met. However, formal ratification is the responsibility of the federal government. There has been a lot of debate in the media about why the federal government will not come to the table and sign off on the Kyoto Agreement. I agree it is a very complex issue. There are some Labor states which have recently come out with full endorsement of the Kyoto Protocol and there are others saying: ‘Well, hang on a minute. We endorse it in principle, but we are just looking at some of the underlying issues and effects on our economies and our development’. But I do not think it is right to be trying to be play different parts of Australia off against one another.
Just to flesh this issue out a bit, the critical issue for the Northern Territory is that the federal government must seek to work cooperatively with the states and territories to develop a scheme of customised, flexible measures that take account of our different levels of development. Those states that are currently emitting high levels of greenhouse gasses should, logically, be bearing a higher level of the abatement burden. Let us have a national target that we can all work together to achieve, keeping in mind that different measures will need to be applied to different sectors across all of Australia.
Madam Speaker, in summary, I commend this statement to the House and I thank all members for their contribution.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Consumer Protection
Consumer Protection
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, one of my priorities this year is consumer protection and education. In 2003, I will be working with my Office of Consumer and Business Affairs and my Consumer Affairs Council on a number of initiative to ensure Northern Territory consumers are aware of their rights and how to assert them, and to establish an equitable and informed market place. I am looking at empowering consumers through education, access to advice, dispute resolution mechanisms, legislative reform and a strong, representative Consumer Affairs Council. Indigenous consumer issues, regionalisation of initiatives and access will be particular areas of focus.
In regard to access to information, one of the best ways to empower consumers is to ensure that they have ready access to information and advice. The office of Consumer and Business Affairs works hard to ensure that NT consumers are protected and have access to services and information when they need it. For example, a toll free inquiry hotline operates seven days a week and is well used by Territory consumers. Currently it assists around 1100 consumers each month. That number is 1800 019 319.
Consumers can also seek advice by e-mail by directing inquires to consumer@nt.gov.au. Consumers and traders can also access a wide range of information on consumer protection issues through the Office of Consumer Affairs web site at www.caba.nt.gov.au. The web site is comprehensive, providing information on the Consumer Affairs Council, product safety, property agents licensing, residential tenancies and trade measurement. It covers hot topics, events, media releases, NT Fuel Watch and provides access to licence application forms, publications and fact sheets.
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight NT Fuel Watch which was established at the instigation of the Chief Minister in March 2002. Under this initiative, the Office of Consumer Affairs tracks fuel prices in Darwin, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy and posts prices on the NT Fuel Watch web site on Friday of each week. The web site lists the highest, lowest and median price per unit of fuel in each area. Since monitoring began, there has been very little in rapid price movement for any product in any region. Consumers are able to log in to the site and determine whether the price at their preferred retailer is value or whether to shop around.
Publications on a wide range of consumer topics are also available throughout the Territory. Now that the Consumer Affairs office has been amalgamated into the Department of Justice, it is able to extend the availability of its publications into regional areas through the court houses at Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy, helping to empower consumers across the Territory.
A proactive approach to informing traders and consumers of issues involving the retail market is maintained. A mobile information display ensures that Consumer Affairs is prominent at community events and shows, and staff regularly conduct information sessions in schools.
A program of trader visits is also conducted and a close working relationship with industry associations is maintained. Every effort is being made to ensure that consumers living in rural and remote parts of the Territory are informed of their consumer rights and not disadvantaged by remoteness and distance.
The Commissioner for Consumer Affairs will be visiting Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine, as well as smaller communities such as Elliott, Mataranka and Pine Creek next week to promote services available within the agency.
The Consumer Affairs Council produces a regular newsletter which provides information on new laws and regulations, advice on current issues including unsafe goods and financial management and other matters. The newsletter has a circulation of 5000 copies and can be downloaded from the Consumers Affairs web site.
One of the most valuable services to consumers are the conciliation and dispute resolution services provided by the Office of Consumer Affairs. These ensure a cheap and readily available avenue for disputes to be settled quickly. A conciliation service for consumers and traders is available, as is a tenancy dispute resolution service to assist tenants, landlords and real estate agents. This is a particularly valuable service, given that approximately 45% of people in the Northern Territory live in rental accommodation. During the six month period to 31 January 2003, the office received 274 requests for assistance compared with 144 in the previous corresponding period. This represents an increase of 90% use of the service. Of these applications, 70% were from landlords or real estate agents seeking possession of their properties following non-payment of rent and other disputes.
The Office of Consumer Affairs also monitors the accuracy of weights and measures used by Territory businesses. Approximately 6000 tests are conducted annually to ensure consumers receive correct weights and measures for purchases such as fruit and vegetables, and volumes for fuel and liquor. Staff from the Office of Consumer Affairs tested approximately 2000 measuring instruments and visited over 600 premises during the last 12 months. This is an expansive program, operated to ensure consumers are not being short-changed and ripped off.
Consumer Affairs also provides advice on product safety issues. It completes surveys to ensure that products available in the market place are safe and the information provided with goods is accurate and easily understood. Consumer Affairs works closely with community groups such as Playgroup, Kidsafe, nursing mothers and children’s groups to promote product safety. Officers attend community fun days and events, and provide Keeping Kids Safe information and safety tips on play equipment, buying nursery furniture and toys.
One of the most important functions of the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs is to conduct investigations and inquiries. To support these activities, a full-time investigations officer was appointed early last year, and another officer was seconded from the Motor Vehicle Registry. These additional personnel allowed 106 investigations to be commenced over the last 12 months, looking at dealings with the motor vehicle industry, fax and other scams, misleading and unconscionable conduct, and breaches of the Consumer Credit Act.
In the past 12 months, the Commissioner for Consumer Affairs has also conducted a number of inquiries under the Consumer Affairs and Fair Trading Act into licensed motor vehicle dealers and commercial and private agents. These inquiries have led to actions including suspension and revocation of licences, and the refusal of an application for a motor vehicle dealer’s licence. One of these investigations was conducted into the proprietor of Paul Reid’s World of Wheels, who had sold vehicles but not paid the proceeds to the owners. Twelve consumers who had placed vehicles on consignment were owed a total of around $100 000. Following the investigation by the Office of Consumer Affairs, Mr Reid’s dealer’s licence was revoked. A successful action was also taken in the Supreme Court to obtain a Mareva injunction against him to prevent the sale of Australian-based asset, his property on the Stuart Highway, Berrimah. The injunction was sought to secure payment for outstanding monies owed to those consumers. It will prevent the property being sold by Mr Reid without payment to the consumers, and will allow time for the consumers or Consumer Affairs to instigate action on their behalf.
In another action by the Office of Consumer Affairs, the pay day lender, Ezy Money, has closed its pay day lending operation in Darwin. Once again, affected consumers have been those who are often the most vulnerable, with Ezy Money’s advertising targeting pensioners, the unemployed and single mothers. Consumer Affairs officers raided Ezy Money’s office in late January, seizing all loan documentation. This led to the business proprietor being interviewed in regard to a number of breaches of the Consumer Credit (Northern Territory) Act. Documentation revealed interest on the bulk of the loans was set at 520% per annum. With the additional fees that were being charged on loans, total interest of up to 1000% per annum could be charged. In one case, a consumer who had borrowed $500 ended up owing more than $6000 with interest, fees and charges. Around 70 loan contracts are being investigated where security appears to have been taken over all household effects for small sum loans, a clear breach of the law.
Consumer Affairs officers have met with North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid, the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission, and Darwin Community Legal Service to put in place processes to ensure that consumers who are affected are aware of their rights and remedies under consumer legislation.
One of the initiatives I have been keen to advance is revamping the Northern Territory Consumer Affairs Council. In November last year, I appointed new members to the council and tasked them with specific responsibilities, the council being one of the key contributors representing consumer interests in legislative initiatives such as the new Code of Practice for auctioneers, new real estate and conveyancing agent legislation, retail tenancy legislation, and government consideration of a centralised Tenancy Bond Board, as well as looking at indigenous consumer affairs issues such as book-up and community stores. The new membership is broadly representative of the community and it includes indigenous representation, which is particularly pertinent given the Territory’s responsibility as lead jurisdiction on a national consideration of indigenous consumer affairs issues.
The Consumer Affairs Council is comprised of 10 members, with three former board members retained to ensure consistency and continuity of knowledge. The three previous council members are its current Chair, Ms Cheryl Kuhn, Ms Kezia Purick, and Mr Mark Holecek from Tennant Creek. The seven new Consumer Affairs Council members who have been appointed for three years are: Mr Graham Bevis, currently Executive Director of the Motor Traders Association, a man with extensive experience in consumer issues related to the motor trades industry; Mr Frank Proctor, an indigenous Territorian with broad private industry and government experience and expertise in indigenous community development and culturally appropriate approaches; Mr Rajeev Datt Sharma, the Associate Dean of International Programs and Marketing at Northern Territory University, with extensive experience of marketing and consumer behavior; Ms Sue Shearer, the CEO of the Real Estate Institute of the Northern Territory, with extensive experience in both public and private housing; Mr Mick Uibo, an educator with particular interest in consumer issues, particularly those in remote indigenous communities; Ms Barbara Vos, a Darwin business operator with international public relations and marketing experience and member of the Licensing Commission; and finally, Mr Randle Walker, an Alice Springs accountant with extensive experience of consumer legislation and corporate governance.
The council meets monthly through the regions of the Northern Territory, and I will certainly be attending some of these meetings and receiving a report from the chair, Cheryl Coombe, and another member, after each meeting. I am looking forward to their advice on all consumer affairs and matters of concern to Territorians.
As part of a focus of ensuring indigenous Territorians are aware of their consumer rights, I am announcing tonight that a well-known Territorian, an AFL football legend, Michael Long, is the face of the soon-to-be-launched Indigenous Consumer Education campaign. Michael Long is currently the Chairman of the Australian Football League Indigenous Australian Foundation and will feature in videos, posters, and television commercials targeted at urban, regional and remote indigenous Territorians. The campaign will focus on consumer advice in relation to cars, warranties and refunds on purchased goods, and promote the safe use of debit cards and PINs. I am particularly proud of this initiative which responds to the need to target existing consumer education programs to indigenous consumers.
Consumer Affairs officers have been actively working on a number of other strategies and investigations to improve protection for Aboriginal people. One example relates to the purchase of motor vehicles in remote communities of the Northern Territory. Vehicles being sold to those communities have been notoriously unroadworthy or unregistered, not value for money, and lacking proper sale contracts. Transfer of ownership is not carried out. Consumer Affairs staff have visited a number of remote communities over the past 12 months investigating unlicensed dealing and educating consumers in regard to their rights when purchasing motor vehicles. Within these investigations, two individuals have been pursued in relation to unlicensed dealings. Communities visited included Mutitjulu, Kintore, Santa Teresa, Lajamanu and Ti Tree. The communities have all welcomed the visits and the opportunity to learn of their rights in regard to motor vehicle purchases, and a number of communities have also indicated an interest in seeking a motor vehicles dealers’ licence.
I now move to my legislative reform program for consumer affairs. This government is committed to social justice for all Territorians, including a fair and equitable market place. Modernised consumer and trader legislation will underpin this commitment. In the coming months, I will be kicking off our legislative reform program by releasing a number of discussion papers to seek community input on a wide range of legislative measures. These discussion papers will enable wide consultation, both by the Office of Consumer Affairs and through the Consumer Affairs Council. As a commitment to wide consultation, I will be releasing:
an issues paper on the regulation of Land, Business and Conveyancing Agents. This will lead to
reform of the current Agents Licensing Act;
and Fair Trading Act;
issues, termite detection and defects to potential home purchasers;
in shopping centres to protect the small retailer; and
Modernised legislation will result from this consultative approach, which will provide greater certainty for traders, while at the same time underpinning consumer rights. I hope to have this backlog of much-needed legislative reform completed by the end of 2003.
I am also pursuing consumer affairs issues at the national level. Unlike my CLP predecessors, I am attending national Consumer Affairs Ministerial meetings. At the last ministers’ meeting, I secured agreement for the NT to be the lead jurisdiction to coordinate a national approach on indigenous consumer affairs issues. We will be leading efforts to achieve a five-year national indigenous consumer strategy, and I am currently in the process of advising relevant organisations and seeking their support.
This is an achievement for the Territory, and I expect to be able to announce further developments shortly. I am proud to be the Minister for Consumer Affairs. Consumer affairs is a very important area and can help protect and advance the interests of all Territory consumers. I will continue to work closely with the Office of Consumer Affairs and the new Consumer Affairs Council to advance the many initiatives I have outlined today.
In closing, I would like to express my appreciation for the fantastic work of the Commissioner, Richard O’Sullivan, and all the staff of the Office of Consumer Affairs. It has been a pleasure working with them to date, and I look forward to the great things we are going to achieve into the future.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Speaker, I rise to relate some comments and observations about the ministerial statement on consumer protection. It is not a topic which I have had a great deal of experience in but, on a general level, the two or three matters I dealt with on behalf of clients which involved dealing with Consumer Affairs and the people employed at that agency, were always pleasurable, and I was always treated with courtesy and in a professional manner.
I am unsure whether those staff are still there, or whether they have been replaced with the usual Labor suspects but, in any event, I welcome the minister’s statement on a topic which is interesting. In the limited reading I have done today since I was given a copy of this ministerial statement, it seems to be one of those matters that, when you start reading about, is voluminous in the issues being addressed in other jurisdictions and internationally.
The statement is some 13 or 14 pages long. It is a snapshot of what has been occurring, but does not really say much more than there are seven new appointments to the Consumer Affairs Council. It says that there are going to be a number of discussion papers made available to the public and there will be a consultation process with various industry and peak bodies providing input and recommendations. I suspect they will form part of a final paper to which the government will have regard when they consider drafting legislation.
In recent years, there have been extensive reforms in other jurisdictions, not just involving the liberalisation of the economy but a deregulation - more properly described as a reduced regulation. A number of important services which government normally provides have been farmed out to the private sector. So, with the removal of trade barriers, and in this sort of globalisation and nationalisation of markets within Australia, there is a need for consumer protection.
Whilst there have been huge benefits to consumers with global economies and lowering of tariffs and the like, coupled with a sophisticated economy it becomes a need for people - and some people who are in our most vulnerable category - to be protected from over-zealous salesmen and people who behave inappropriately and take advantage of their financial situation.
Philosophically, I have a fair bit of faith in market-based regulation and I am of the view that the government should be encouraging business to regulate itself where possible. There are strong arguments that this self-regulation - industries regulating themselves and setting up codes of conduct - will produce the most effective outcomes for consumers. The codes of conduct that seem to be popping up in various industry groups around Australia do have problems; there are variable standards between codes within Australia in the same industry. There seems to be, generally, a lack of awareness of some of the codes of conduct which exist. This relates a little to the building industry up here. The codes of conduct only govern the members of that association and those who are outside the scope of a particular industry group are not governed, or they say, by a code.
In some jurisdictions there has been incorporation of the codes of conduct into the legislature; it becomes a schedule, and that has the effect of broadening the net of people who are caught by it. But, ultimately, there is a place for government to prepare a framework and to do all the things that have been, in a very general way, touched upon in the ministerial statement. It is up to the good people who work at Consumer Affairs who deal with a number of jurisdictions, to do what they can to enforce and maintain the principles contained in that legislation.
Peppered through the ministerial statement are a number of references to web sites and information which is available electronically. That is to be encouraged. The more information which is made available to members of the public, the better the chances of that person or that organisation making an informed decision. It is probably a bit optimistic to think that consumers are going to log onto a site to determine which petrol station they are going to visit on any particular day, but it is a valuable tool for people to have a look to see what is happening in their town, and which retailers are taking advantage of the situation. I can only take it on face value that it seems to be working. The minister said that, since the monitoring began, there has been little price change or movement in any particular product, and that is something which would have to be seen as a positive for the consumer, creating at least some certainty.
The minister talked about the close working relationships with industry. That is to be encouraged. The minister conceded that those relationships existed and are being maintained, and that is something that the CLP held very high in priority, to make sure that industry people are involved actively in the day-to-day operation of a particular area, have the input and have the ear of government.
The alternative dispute resolution service provided by the people at Consumer Affairs is to be commended. One of my constituents used that service rather than go off to the Small Claims Court and incur costs in taking time off and going through the process, or going to the Local Court and engaging a solicitor. He spoke to an employee of Consumer Affairs and, after a conference and getting some written material back from the person about whom he made the complaint, the issue was resolved very amicably. He was very, very impressed by the way he was treated.
There are some references to indigenous Territorians and then another reference later on to Aboriginal people as if they are two different categories. Perhaps it is just an oversight. I rang up and asked a fellow I went to school with - I know the general mischief of what the minister is saying: the example given of unscrupulous car dealers who come in and take advantage of some traditional Aboriginal people and sell them a car and it turns out the car breaks down and they are not aware of their rights. That is something which government has a duty, I suspect, to make sure that all consumers - and this is a particularly vulnerable sector of our community - are informed. We should do what we can to make sure that they are aware of their rights. But a good point my friend raised - he is a coloured fellow I went to school with. He did not like the idea of having a separate program for indigenous people because he said it implies that people like him are behind the eight ball. He is perhaps being a bit sensitive, but it is a point that he quite genuinely raised, and I can see what he is saying.
I read an article over the luncheon adjournment that seems to have gained a fair bit of attention, certainly from the academics in a couple of jurisdictions around Australia. It was the broad category of electronic commerce. There does not seem to be any discussion paper really targeting some type of protective framework which would govern databases and electronic commerce and the like. The way information technology is affecting our lives - things like the manifestation of personal computers to telecommunications generally, to banking and financial needs - all these sorts of activities can be broadly seen as electronic commerce. Issues such as if you find a site on the Internet and you wish to engage someone to provide a service, or to provide a product, electronically, you might go and conclude that agreement. There is some ambiguity. One I suspect that needs to be addressed, and perhaps should be incorporated into one of those discussion papers, is the requirement for writing and signatures and issues like the place and formation of a contract. These are issues which will need to be addressed and may warrant at least some investigation: electronic commerce, how we operate today, and the tools that we have from a legislative perspective to monitor that and make sure that consumers are protected.
There is an article I read, by David Harland. I do not have the correct citation. I think it is in the 1999 Competition and Consumer Law Journal. He deals with some of the issues about globalisation and electronic commerce. He says that electronic commerce is something which all governments in all jurisdictions are going to have to have a close look at. At page 7 of that article, he states what he says seems to be the prevailing attitude. It was an issue that was discussed at length at APEC – that is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation agreement. It said:
- The business sector plays a leading role in developing electronic commerce technology, applications,
practices, and services. Secondly, the role of government is to promote and facilitate the development
and uptake of electronic commerce. Thirdly, while recognising that some degree of government regulation
may be necessary, technology neutral comprehensive market-based solutions which can be safeguarded
by competition policy and effective industry self-regulation should be favoured.
He goes into a very detailed discussion about some of the issues which consumers face with this onslaught of information technology. I am asking the minister, in his closing response, if it is a matter which he might consider deeming worthwhile considering within the scope of one of those discussion papers.
I look forward to seeing the end result once this process of consultation has occurred. I look forward to examining closely the detail of any legislation the minister brings before this House. In the meantime, I will finish by saying that I hope the good and productive work of all the people at Consumer Affairs continues because, quite genuinely, the people of the Northern Territory appreciate their time and effort. I have not heard one bad story of something that was not dealt with professionally by this government agency.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I support the minister’s statement in relation to consumer affairs. The initiatives this government and the minister have provided through the Office of Consumer Affairs will help consumers understand, be informed and be placed in positions to exercise their rights.
The Office of Consumer Affairs is situated in the Department of Justice. It carries out a broad range of activities from education and information to licensing investigation, inquiries and dispute resolution. As the minister has already said, contact details and access to information are very important for consumers. A hotline number operates seven days a week to help consumers and is 1800 019 319. There is also a government web site at www.caba.nt.gov.au. There are links on the web site to all other areas in relation to Consumer and Business Affairs, including the Consumer Affairs Council, product safety, property agent licensing, residential tenancies and trade measurements. Licences are issued to motor vehicle retailers, commercial and private agents, travel agents, real estate agents, conveyancers, second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers.
I would like to recognise the Consumer Affairs Council members, the chairperson Ms Cheryl Kuhn, Ms Kezia Purick and Mark Holecek from Tennant Creek. There are also seven new Consumer Affairs Council members and they are follows: Mr Graham Bevis, Acting Director of the Motor Trades Association, with extensive experience in consumer issues relating to the motor trades industry; Mr Frank Proctor, an indigenous Territorian with broad private industry and government experience and expertise in business community development in culturally appropriate approaches - and I happen to know Frank personally and he will be an asset to the council; Mr Rajeev Datt Sharma, the Associate Dean of the International Program for Marketing at the Northern Territory University with extensive business at marketing and consumer behaviour; Ms Sue Shearer, CEO of the Real Estate Institute of the NT with extensive experience in both public and private housing; Mr Mick Uibo, an educator with particular interests in consumer issues, particularly those on remote indigenous communities; Ms Barbara Vos, Darwin business operator with international public relations and marketing experience and member of the Licensing Commission; and Mr Randle Walker, an Alice Springs accountant with extensive experience of consumer legislation and corporate governance. Over the next three years, the council will meet monthly and all members of this House should look forward to their advice.
As was pointed out by the minister, I congratulate the government for a coup; that of the recruitment of a well-known Territorian and AFL football legend, Michael Long. His family has proud links with the Northern Territory and they are well known and respected throughout the community. It is fantastic that we have launched him as the face for the Indigenous Consumers Education campaign. The view I have on this issue is that many indigenous people feel a common link to Australian Rules football and their sporting idols. This is seen as one way for indigenous people to achieve in the community and be recognised for achieving something. Michael Long came from the Tiwi Islands to the St Mary’s Football Club in Darwin and went to the Essendon Football Club and performed at the highest level, not only as a football player but, obviously, as a person highly respected in the Essendon Football Club and the Australian Football League. As people know, Michael Long is the Chairman of the Australian Indigenous Foundation and will feature in videos, posters, television commercials targeting urban regional and remote indigenous Territorians. This is fantastic.
One of the ways that we can effectively spend our money is through videos, posters, television commercials targeting different groups of indigenous Territorians. If you look at the gimmicks behind selling Coke around the world, no matter what background - South America, North America, Africa, Europe - no matter what cultural background, language or religion, the concept of Coke and the way it is advertised is sold right across the board. It is brought into people’s homes; people who live thousands and thousands of miles away from each other are buying this product. Using this idea of a capitalist view to sell consumer protection is the way to go in the future. I look forward to seeing some of these videos, posters and televisions commercials and I hope they target the wide range of indigenous Territorians throughout the community.
I would like to touch on the minister ensuring Consumer Affairs officers have met with the North Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid, the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission and the Darwin Community Legal Service. I worked for the Northern Territory Legal Aid Commission and quite often, people came in and sought consumer advice on matters from purchasing cars and products to rental and tenancy issues. With the contacts that those three organisations have, it would money well spent for the Northern Territory government to assist them in developing methods to deal with their clients and to assist Territorians receiving proper service. The education campaign will help people to learn and assert their rights under the consumer legislation.
I, like many people in this House who have spoken tonight, believe that there needs to be commitment to social justice for all Territorians. What we mean by that is ensuring that there is a fair and equitable market place. I believe that an open market, capitalist view with no links to social justice or a commitment to the community is not the way that we should be heading. There needs to be a balance there. There has to be a community benefit to the product that you might be selling and the manner in which you are selling it.
A discussion paper on motor vehicle dealer regulation will, I am glad to say, include the industry and have them involved in monitoring themselves and suggesting ideas to ensure that people act and deal ethically. I look forward to that because we have all heard stories about nightmare dealings with motor vehicle dealers.
I would like to comment on a couple of brochures that have come to my attention over the last few weeks. One is a nice, flashy brochure with a photo of the minister and, I think it his older bother, Father Christmas at the back, and it has: ‘Northern Territory consumer’ and the newsletter of the Consumer Affairs Council ‘Play safe this Christmas’. It is a fabulous brochure dealing with protection of consumers. It is worthwhile reading for all members of this House.
The newsletter of the Consumer Affairs Council Get the real story behind barcode scanning; again, all members of the House should have a look at this. But the one that I will be talking about is A Fair Lifestyle produced by the Department of Justice. There are certainly a few things that I read in here that I did not know actually occurred. Just reading from the message from the minister:
- The newsletter has been produced to help you as a young person in the Territory to better understand your
rights as a consumer. It includes some survival tips you can use when shopping, buying used cars, entering
contracts, renting and using credit cards.
It highlights a youth program run by Anglicare:
- Anglicare Youth Program is a dynamic cluster of services operating from Anglicare Top End offices in
Ludmilla, Palmerston and Stuart Park.
Peter Fisher from Anglicare in Ludmilla is within my electorate, and I worked on it with him on a number of occasions. He is a delightful man, a thorough gentleman, and a professional. People seeking advice from his organisation will be well served. It goes on:
- The primary target group of clients across services, under the Anglicare program, is young people who are
homeless, at risk of homelessness and/or in crisis, those who are experiencing difficulty with family
relationships, school participation, securing accommodation, income, juvenile justice issues or
health-related matters.
Down the bottom, it says:
- Inquiries in regards to Anglicare youth programs should be directed to Anglicare Top End on 8985 0000.
All calls are strictly confidential.
Again, I would like to say to this House, when dealing with Anglicare in the past, they have acted nothing but professionally.
The newsletter goes on to deal with young people and money matters and, again, it mentions Anglicare youth programs. Financial counselling services report that the three most common issues for young people utilising the services are for bank charges, mobile phones and credit cards. This is the interesting thing that I have found out, that I did not know, and it was about mobile phones:
- Protecting your mobile phone. If you act now you can further protect yourself against misuse if your mobile
phone is stolen. Check your number, phone your number, key in the following on your phone: *#06#
This apparently can be done on all phones.
- A 15-digit code will appear on the screen. This number is unique to your handset.
It goes on to explain that, once you have identified that number, you can store it and, if your phone is stolen you can ring your operator, and even if your SIM card has been taken out, apparently they can do something to your phone using this code so it cannot be used again, so it cannot be resold. It goes on to say:
- If everybody did this, there would be no point in stealing mobile phones.
So once I walk out of this house and turn on my phone later on tonight, I will be doing that. That is how helpful this brochure is.
It also details Consumer Affairs contact numbers: 1800 019 319. On the back of this brochure, it deals with moving out - of course, with a lot of young people in Darwin, with the dynamic movement in accommodation and the highest number of rentals probably in Australia. It deals with rights as a tenant and rights as a landlord, and problems with purchasing your car. On the back is very helpful information about who to call when things go wrong, and it runs through a list of contact details. Of course, it provides a number for the Council of Consumer Affairs.
So, Madam Speaker, as you can see from the minister’s statement and from the brochures being produced, the Territory government has taken it on board that there needs to be a real look at issues relating to consumer affairs within the Northern Territory. I know the member for Arafura will be speaking on a number of issues to do with indigenous consumer affairs. I know the rights of consumers in remote areas is a big issues, a lot of those people affected, of course, being of Aboriginal Australian background. That is the challenge for this government: to make sure we can educate those people about what their rights are, and where to get information on those things. I suppose I am like a lot of people: I am sick and tired of charlatans, cheats and crooks - and whatever names you want to use - who are getting away with abusing people who have no real knowledge of what their consumer rights are. I look forward over the next two years, minister, to improving the education levels of all Territorians about their rights as consumers.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Speaker, I rise to speak in relation to the minister’s statement on consumer protection.
I have, over many years, seen first-hand the disruption and despair caused to families and communities where you have these shams and shoddy deals which have gone unchecked for many years - something successive CLP governments have done nothing about.
As we are all aware, 25% of the Northern Territory’s population is Aboriginal. All indigenous consumer initiatives and developments are relevant to the Northern Territory in respect of this campaign. The Northern Territory has been the driver in pursing unlawful car sales to Aboriginal people, and there are many problem practices which are taken advantage of - or at least there is clear evidence of exploitation of remote Aboriginal consumers.
More notably, there have been publicised cases involving the despicable sale of inappropriate insurance products. These policies cover accidental death only and are intended as an investment product. This was intentionally aimed at the most vulnerable and innocent Aboriginal people in remote communities whose small disposable income only consist of CDEP payments. It was even more infuriating that, once the policies began to accrue some value after two years of premiums being syphoned off in fees and commissions, the user was then persuaded to sign papers cancelling the original policies and taking up new ones, beginning the cycle again.
We have also heard of insurance policies being sold to remote communities in respect of covering them for travelling on planes – and they do have access to planes – monorail - where does that exist in remote areas? - buses, trains, trams, trucks, cars or elevators - a bit hard to find in some of the remote Aboriginal communities. Investigations found that these insurance agents failed to properly explain the insurance policy and falsely represented its benefits, completed policies on behalf of consumers without their knowledge or consent, wrote policies for children when it showed that the policy did not really cover them, and used unfair pressure or manipulation to sell the policies.
In August 2002, there was a ministerial Council of Consumer Affairs which the minister attended. All the ministers at that conference agreed to include indigenous consumer issues as a standing item on the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs agenda which is very important in that the continuing discussion at ministerial level will not only assist, but ensure that sharing data from all agencies across different jurisdictions can assist in building on other successes elsewhere and learning from each other.
Most of my employment prior to being elected to parliament has been working with many remote Aboriginal communities. I have seen many instances and too many stories to write them all down, but there have been stories where Aboriginal people in communities have been sold vehicle - all of us who hold bush electorates could certainly witness and tell the stories of vehicles from there, where Aboriginal people have come into town and purchased vehicles that are completely unroadworthy, unregistered and overpriced. I have witnessed it in Katherine where people from many of the remote communities that I worked with went to some of the car dealers, and you could see them wringing their hands. You could almost hear them: ‘Oh, here they come. Great!’ There was the signal that some of these people coming in from these communities had huge royalty payments so the money was there.
These people have preyed on the most vulnerable in our society. It has not only been Aboriginal people who have suffered. Of course, a lot of the horror stories are in respect of indigenous or Aboriginal people. I will talk to the member for Goyder regarding his interpretation of Aboriginal and indigenous, but I will not get onto that in this speech. However, I know non-Aboriginal people in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs and other places who have also been caught in the situation that the minister pointed out in his statement and other documentation that I was given.
The other area that is a problem is the hire purchase area: a number of Aboriginal people and families that I know have gotten themselves into trouble in not understanding their obligations in a legal and financial sense.
A big problem which has been highly publicised is the handing over of keycards and PIN numbers. Nowhere else would that practice be allowed to happen, but it certainly happens not only in the wider Darwin community, but in some communities out in some of the remote areas. I applaud the initiative in having our own Territory icon, Michael Long, as the face for the Indigenous Consumer Awareness campaign which is a joint campaign between the office of Consumer Affairs and the Consumer Affairs Advisory Council. Michael Long’s reputation - and the member for Millner touched on it before - and his legendary status in the AFL precedes him. He is our own well-known indigenous icon, both here in Darwin and, more importantly, his connection and family ties with the Tiwi Islands which is in my electorate. He is a well-known identity in all the Aboriginal communities and there is not one community you could walk into where people do not know who Michael Long is.
An important aspect of the campaign is the education and awareness program. Sometimes when we are running campaigns, there is no focus on education or raising the awareness, so this is a very important campaign which is intended to raise the awareness of our people. There needs to be a real focus of ensuring that the campaign is aimed at our youth because, whilst we have the older generation and a lot of the older people being caught up in this trap, I have also witnessed many of our young people starting to get caught in this whole area, in situations that they cannot get themselves out of. It is important that there is more awareness about their rights and just where they can get general information and support and people they can turn to. Maybe if that happens, and they know who to contact and where to go, we may see fewer young people, both indigenous and non-indigenous, getting caught in deals that they are unable to get themselves out of because, at the end of the day, speaking as a parent, you get caught with it and all of us who are parents have to try and help them get out of it.
I will not take much longer, but I must mention that Richard O’Sullivan from the Justice Department has done a commendable job in relation to this matter. Also, reading some of the information, I noticed that, in December last year, he presented a paper to the Standing Committee of Officials of Consumer Affairs and was able to get the support and participation from all jurisdictions and federal bodies to work together to do this five-year strategy which the minister has talked about. There will be further discussion to come to agreement about the terms of reference for that strategy.
I was glad to see that the consultation program is going to be inclusive of indigenous consumers to look at how the consultation process can proceed and that awareness is actually being raised. They are also looking at state and territory reforms of legislation and operations to better address consumer protection which is very important because, whilst you raise awareness, if there is legislation and reforms that are needed, that is certainly something that needs to happen, and a holistic approach needs to come in. A consultative approach will assist in bids for federal funding for the strategy.
I must point out, though, in the situation in my own electorate of Arafura and many other bush communities, the one area which received very little attention in the area of consumer protection is food prices in community stores. There has been much focus on this area in the urban centres as high cost of basic food items in Darwin and Alice Springs, but there are very few rumblings as to the impact of high costs in remote Aboriginal communities. This is something that is long overdue and certainly needs to be addressed. I have heard many comments and opinions in the past that persist today that people are unwilling to address this area. Or not so much unwilling but, I suppose, it gets put into the ‘too hard’ basket. There are a number of other factors that have to be considered. One can only assume that sometimes this reluctance can also be taken to mean because the community stores are owned by the community, then the community is the one to make the decision as to the pricing and marketing of its goods. This subject, however - and I mentioned it before - is like opening a can of worms and is put into the ‘too hard’ basket. Like any other private or community enterprise, there has to be some level of accountability in food pricing.
I am heartened by the fact that this is an area that has also been placed on the agenda for the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs. I hope that urgent consideration will be given to food prices in stores in bush communities because that whole area is where consumers do need protection. I hope that, with all the new initiatives outlined in the minister’s statement, real commitment to the area of consumer protection and education will be addressed in the near future.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank Gary Clements from the Office of Consumer Affairs for his advice, and also the staff from Consumer Affairs for the work that they undertake in assisting communities in overcoming or taking on these problems; because it cannot be an easy job and there are many hurdles, so their work is appreciated. I know as an elected member from a bush community, all the assistance that communities can get in this area is most welcome and appreciated. Also, the staff at the minister’s office, they are always on hand for advice and assistance. Finally, I commend the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General for giving his commitment to prioritise consumer protection and education.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, thank you for such a salubrious acknowledgement.
I might be wrong, but this is my seventh year in parliament and this is probably the only time I can recall consumer affairs being systematically debated in this House. That says that is long overdue.
I am very pleased that, having brought on the debate today, there will be Hansard for the staff of the Office of Consumer Affairs and for the council members to have a look through and just see that their work is appreciated by this House and is understood by members. That formal recognition of their work in this parliament is also long overdue. This is a part of government that has done an enormous amount of important work over many years. Let us see if we can get it into a real purple patch now and give it the profile and resources it deserves, which will really serve the consumers in the Northern Territory as they should be served.
I will comment on a couple of specific things that have come out of the debate. The member for Goyder has a personal commitment in ideology to self-regulation in industries. I do not take any fierce exception to that means of progressing. It is very important that industries do think about their standards and do what they can, and should do, to maintain the proper standards within the service they are offering to the general public and to consumers. I would not say, though, that mechanism can be trusted alone. Equally, we have to look at where we need targeted regulation and the enforcement of those regulations to protect consumers.
Even more importantly is education and empowerment of consumers. We have heard some good examples in the debate today as to how the Office of Consumer Affairs and the council are going about those very important tasks. The greatest protection we can possibly offer to consumers in the Northern Territory, whether they be in remote Aboriginal communities or in the urban centres, is that they themselves understand their rights, the mechanisms by which they can protect those rights, and they can take action on their own part to deal with the situation. That is the ultimate goal of the education and empowerment functions that we have been talking about today.
The member for Goyder raised a very important issue, and it was possibly remiss of me not to have included it in the statement; and that was the question of e-commerce and how do you protect consumer rights under these new and increasingly prevalent ways of doing business and reaching consumers as a business. I am happy to report, to fill that gap in this debate, that the Office of Consumer Affairs is actively working in that area. In fact, last week, the office participated in an Internet sweep day in conjunction with the ACCC to identify any unfair advertising within the travel industry. If that activity is repeated in other areas, then we are certainly scanning this area of business activity to try and weed out any unfair or dishonest or shonky practices. That is one example. Further to that, an officer will be attending a national e-commerce investigations course in May, so we will have someone in our office that will understand how to carry out investigations in the electronic domain. So, there is work going on in that area. As to whether we need a formal discussion paper on the consumer issues involved in e-commerce, we will take that back and have a look at it. However, I can certainly assure members that the office is very aware of those issues within e-commerce.
That is all I have to say in response to the excellent contributions that have been made to the debate today. I will close by wishing both my council and the office all the best in their endeavours. I feel that today we certainly have every indication that they have the full support of not only myself as minister, but the members of this parliament.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
On a recent visit to Yuendumu, I called in at the Warlpiri Media Association centre and found an absolute hive of activity there. I will give an overview of what the Warlpiri Media Association is doing now, and some of its very proud history over the last - when did it start? In the early 1980s - nearly a quarter of a century now. There is some fantastic work in media by that organisation.
Over the last 12 months, the Warlpiri Media Association has employed a total of 65 people in either casual or full-time employment, and included in that tally is 10 local Warlpiri people who have been in full-time jobs for that entire 12 month period. It has generated, in that same period, of over $300 000 worth of project funding from sources such as the Australian Film Commission, Normandy Mines and the Community Broadcasting Fund. Much of that money goes to the community in the form of wages, and all of the production is of local content, including very strong cultural and language components within that production.
I have a major soft spot for the Warlpiri Media Association, because I was one of the group that started that organisation in the early 1980s, and I would like to pay tribute to my co-founders, if you like, Andrew Japaljarri Spencer, Francis Jupurrurula Kelly, Kurt Japananka Granites and Eric Michaels, who has since passed away, tragically. During those very early days we literally took a thing called a line amplifier - a piece of electronics that is used in motels to amplify a TV signal through to the rooms - and hooked it up to an antenna to create a VHF broadcasting unit, and then started to broadcast local TV production, particularly things dealing with community life, Warlpiri language and culture, the country and the history of the people. So the association had humble beginnings: the modified line amplifier cost us about $2500, which is how much, in effect, a pirate TV station cost us to establish at that stage.
Since then, a huge amount has happened to win the place of community broadcasting, not only for the Warlpiri area, but nationally. In fact, the debate over how to license and, therefore, legitimise the Warlpiri Media Association and its broadcasting activities led to quite major changes in the Broadcasting Act nationally to create a whole new licence category for community broadcasters. Ultimately, to the BRACS program within ATSIC which has then extended community broadcasting to remote communities all over Australia. So, from very small beginnings, between the Warlpiri Media and the Ernabella community broadcasting group, we have seen this whole domain of indigenous service delivery created. What wonderful things have come out of that!
Going through the current facilities at Yuendumu, you can now walk through the Warlpiri Media Association area, a big office and computer-based work area. In the broadcasting building, there is a very modern radio broadcasting area. There is a state-of-the-art digital post-production facility for both TV and audio tapes, recording suites and an extensive archiving area with very professionally based archives since recent times where an archiving project has been put in place. You have to appreciate that, in those facilities, there is something like well in excess of 1000 programs just in the TV format alone. A lot of those are highly important historical records of different events that have occurred over the last 20 or so years in Yuendumu and the surrounding area.
A radio network, known as the PAW - the Pintubi, Anmatjere, Warlpiri network - runs from the Warlpiri Media Association, and receives regular contributions from Adam Gibbs in Kintore, Henrietta Driver in Ali Curung, Judy Dixon in Yuelamu, Evan Simms, Norbert Morris and Chris Gallagher in Nyrripi, and Neil Egan, Lissie Ross, Steven Morton, Randal Wilson, Thomas Saylor and Pauline Singleton in Yuendumu. It is worth noting that most of these people are under 25 years of age; the very group that it is generally very difficult to find employment opportunities for out bush.
The network links the communities of Yuendumu, Yuelamu, Nyrripi, Ali Curung, Kintore, Larumba, Willowra, Nturiya, Pmara Jatunta, Lajamanu and Mt Liebig. The network broadcasts six to eight hours from at least two locations on a daily basis. One of the radio productions, Ngalipa Nyangu Jaru Warlarlja, Our Own Stories, is a radio oral history series of eight 30 minute episodes that was aired nationally through the community radio satellite, and the National Indigenous Radio Service.
The biggest, most listened-to broadcast to date has been the George Wirrumba and Bomba concert at Yuendumu School which was broadcast to the whole network, as well as providing a live feed to the Mary G show in Broome. So I think you can see indigenous broadcasting has really moved way ahead since the early days that we worked on it. In addition to this work, WMA provides training in community broadcasting in nine communities. This has led to an increased indigenous content on local television, and has proved to be an incentive for people to produce television material in their own communities.
To take that sort of information into things like the international art openings that Warlukurlangu artists are often involved in really brings the bush alive, the cultural context, the whole richness of Warlpiri culture and how it relates in this case to paintings but, equally, to the media production that is going on in Warlpiri Media Association.
Finally, a special mention should be made of Thomas Saylor, a BRACS student from Yuendumu who received the Best Film Award at the third Remote BRACS Video Festival in 2002 for his film Life is Life. His award has served as an inspiration to other young video makers in the region.
Mr Ah Kit: That was done by the former Chair.
Mr Henderson: We are in adjournment.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Well, no one announced that we are in adjournment.
Mr Ah Kit: Yes, we did it.
Dr Toyne: We are in adjournment.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: He did? I did not hear that. Okay.
Mr Ah Kit: That was the end of his adjournment, not the ministerial statement.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: All right. Member for Macdonnell.
Mr ELFERINK: As the young fellows in the Public Gallery now realise, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, even the wheels of parliament do not turn as evenly as we would like them to.
Tonight I raise an issue that is important in my electorate: the Docker River School at Docker River near the corner of Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia. It sounds like a pretty remote place, and that is because it is.
The issue that I raise tonight, of which I hope the minister for Education takes some note, is that it has come to my ears that the school has an establishment of three, and only two teachers are there at the moment. There is also a teacher’s aide. The information that has come to my ears is that the teacher’s aide is taking classes at the school. I would hope that the teacher’s aide is properly supervised when he is doing this – and I mean no criticism of the teacher’s aide. The minister has made commitments to having properly qualified teachers in our schools, especially in our remote schools, and a teacher’s aide does not carry teaching qualifications.
If that is the case, I hope the minister for Education takes special note of this particular issue and seeks to correct it so that the establishment at Docker River school, three teachers, is met and that the students at Docker River get the same opportunities to receive a primary education as students elsewhere in the Northern Territory. I hope the minister for Education does take note of this and reacts accordingly. I expect some sort of response, hopefully in the next few days, in relation to the matter.
Before I came into the Chamber this afternoon, I had a little birdie tell me something which might be very good for Alice Springs if this government is able to respond to some issues that surround Alice Springs.
The nature of what I heard - I have only have it from one unconfirmed source, so I put that caveat on it, but it is very good - is that there is a tank battalion from the Defence Department looking for a home and one of the homes being considered is Alice Springs which would be a particularly good home for a tank battalion because, as I understand it, some 500 soldiers are attached to such a unit. I believe that the machinery and equipment of a tank battalion would be well served in the desert because of the dry atmosphere - of course, corrosion and other problems that mechanical equipment suffers does not necessarily occur. Indeed, if we look at America, it uses a large tract of Arizona as an aircraft storage facility specifically because of the dry air in that part of the world, which means that the aircraft do not deteriorate.
Needless to say, 500 soldiers will bring their families with them and the potential for a boost to the Alice Springs community is enormous. Indeed, I would go so far as to say that if we had an extra 500 people in the Northern Territory, perhaps we may have an extra House of Representative seat in the federal parliament. For that reason alone, Alice Springs is an excellent potential location for a tank battalion.
Certain things have to happen, and they have to happen very quickly. I urge the government to investigate forthwith the potential of this occurring, and start lobbying tomorrow to bring that battalion to Alice Springs. The first thing that has to happen is that a tank battalion necessarily needs a home. The former Northern Territory government purchased the Owen Springs cattle station and, indeed, Owen Springs Station has still large tracts for unidentified purposes. The idea that the former Northern Territory government had was to use that land for as many and varied uses as it could possibly find. So I would urge the government to find a way to house that battalion.
The other thing, of course, is that the now broken promise of turning blocks off by Christmas from Larapinta Stage 4 - we still do not know when that announcement is going to be made. The headworks would have to be brought up, even if the announcement was made tomorrow, so we would probably not see them turned off by at least May or June. However, if the Northern Territory government was able to expedite those issues, and the native title negotiations in the case of Larapinta Stage 4, and locating some land which could house a battalion of that nature, then we would seriously be in the hunt.
The reason I am saying that this needs to be done is because I hope the government’s ears prick up at what I am saying, and that they take a leading role and go out and start shopping tomorrow, and get into Senator Hill’s ear, the Minister for Defence, so that we might be in the front of the charge being able to offer this battalion a safe and good home in the Northern Territory.
I urge the government to pay attention to this issue. I hope very much that they will seize the opportunity. They have the means at their disposal to do something about it, and it would be a wonderful result, not only for the town of Alice Springs, but for the people of Central Australia and the people of the Northern Territory as a whole. It would solve, once and for all, the House of Representatives problem of our population issues. It would certainly help the government with its employment and growth figures, and it is just too tempting a proposition not to be going out there tomorrow and at least running a few inquiries.
Mr AH KIT (Arnhem): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I mark the passing of two men: one was known as Prince of Wales; and the other as Stephen Canendo. These two men represent different facets of the lives of the Territory’s indigenous peoples. Although only one of the two men was born in the Darwin area, their lives intertwined with those of many other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the Top End, reflecting the rich and diverse heritages of the region.
The two men, Midpul Prince of Wales and Stephen Canendo, were born within a few days of each other in 1938, and passed away within a month of each other here in Darwin. They were both Salt Water men. Prince of Wales was born at Larrakia, a Danggalaba man, over on Belyuen. Stephen Canendo, a Torres Strait Islander, was born on Hammond Island.
Prince of Wales was well known to many long-term Darwin residents as the most senior of the Larrakia people, the traditional owners of the greater Darwin region. I was privileged to be interviewed at the Larrakia Memorial on Mindil Beach about this man’s life, just before his funeral and burial at Kulaluk. I urge any member here who has not visited this beautiful site to go down there sometime, away from the bustle and razzamatazz of the night markets, and contemplate the lives of the Larrakia and Tiwi people who have been buried there, and to remember the continuity of traditions that are represented here.
Indeed, I recall quite clearly as a young boy watching Prince of Wales, accompanied by other Larrakia and Tiwi people, hunting for turtles along Mindil Beach, carrying on the same traditions that were recounted so eloquently during last year’s Larrakia native title hearings. From that spot, you can look across to Gardens Oval where, again, I remember Prince of Wales used to play football for the Works and Housing side. It was a game he played with grace and dignity, attributes he carried with him throughout his life.
There are different stories as to how he came to be known as Prince of Wales. One tongue-in-cheek story has it that he was named thus because he danced for Queen Elizabeth on a 1960s royal visit. More likely is that his father, Imabul, was also known as Old King George. He was an acknowledged Larrakia leader, a traditional landowner, a ceremonial leader and dancer who died when Prince was three years old. King George had three brothers: Crab Billy, Frank Secretary and Tommy Lyons. Prince was the last surviving child of these four brothers.
Under pressure in the 1930s to move out of their Darwin shanty camps, the Northern Standard newspaper reported King George as saying:
- The Larrakia people are saltwater people and would not be prepared to live away from the sea. This is
all the country we have left and the government should leave us on it.
The government forced many of the Larrakia out of Darwin in 1936 across to Delissaville, now known as Belyuen, where Prince was born. Prince became an important ceremonial performer, travelling the Darwin region, as well south to Peppimenarti and Daly River. His didgeridoo playing and dancing skills were in high demand, and this was reflected in the central role he played with the Belyuen dancers in later years. In 1971, Prince and his brothers began the political push to have parts of Darwin declared Larrakia reserve land. They blockaded Bagot Road and demonstrated outside the Fannie Bay Gaol. In 1979, the Northern Territory government granted Kulaluk as a perpetual lease to Larrakia people.
At the same time, Prince and his countrymen and women lodged the Kenbi Land Claim, now the longest running claim in the Territory. There is great sadness amongst the Larrakia that this claim has gone on so long. I can only hope that Midpul Prince of Wales was happy to hear that this government last year resolved to move towards final resolution of the claim instead of allowing it to drag before the courts for further years.
Prince moved into Kulaluk in 1981 with his sister Topsy. It was in that year he had the first of a series of strokes which left him dependent on family support throughout his life. However, in 1995 he began painting, strongly encouraged by his family. The stark reproductions of ceremonial body paintings - ones of his childhood memories, not to mention visceral memories of his own role as a ceremonial leader - formed the core of his work from that time until his death. It was for his painting that Prince became so well known in his final years. The enthusiastic response of the crowd at the 2001 18th National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award when Prince won the Telstra Open Painting Award, was a tribute to the love and admiration this man had achieved in his later years.
His work is to be found in many major national public collections, as well as private collections here and overseas. But you do not have to go to an art gallery to see his work. I encourage members to visit the ceramic tile mural he undertook for the Smith Street Mall, to admire one small part of this man’s output.
Steve Canendo was born on Hammond Island in the Torres Strait. At the age of four, he was evacuated on the Ormiston, as the islands were forcibly evacuated in the course of World War II. On the boat down the coast and on to Toowoomba, his sister Christina was to die. He was unable to return to his birthplace for 59 years. Life was tough in the back blocks of Queensland where he was to spend the first 45 years of his life. In large part, this was because he, like all other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, lived under ‘the act’. This draconian legislation, on which many apartheid laws in South Africa were to be based, attempted to control all aspects of peoples’ lives. For many, such as the Canendos, it meant a life of moving between towns to stay away from the reserves, taking labouring and farming work wherever possible. Work on the reserves or as indentured labour on farms meant that the government kept large parts of wages. At least the way the Canendos did it, they retained a measure of real independence during the 1940s and 1950s.
Part of the toughness of this life was perhaps responsible for him, when he was living at Babinda, winning a Golden Gloves boxing competition. Many years later he was to admire both Muhamed Ali and Mike Tyson. His father, Alphonsus, was unaware of the boxing but must have had something of a suspicion of it after the family moved to Aloomba where Steve played Australian Rules football with his brother, Michael. As a spectator, he was watching behind the goal line when he saw a clear goal signalled as a behind and took to the goal umpire. For the rest of his life, he would boast that he was the first person in Queensland to be banned for life for standing up and fighting for his team.
While at Aloomba, Steve was to meet the love of his live, Ailsa Burns. While living with her, life continued to be tough but Steve, a nuggetty, hard working man, kept at it with his typical sense of humour. He was a cane cutter and farm labourer and, ultimately, a diver. It was during the latter job that he was attacked by a tiger shark. He and Ailsa were to move from place to place trying hard to chase work that was often difficult to obtain. He made many friends during that period, particularly among the local Italian cane farmers from whom he learnt enough of the language to become good drinking mates.
Steve was a larrikin - of that there was never any doubt - as he moved from job to job. He always liked a drink and was extremely generous, often bringing in people down on their luck to stay a few days, weeks or months, until they were back on their feet.
He arrived in Darwin in 1982 and tried his hand at fishing on the Finniss River with his brother, Francis. He did not have all that much luck but eventually formed, very quickly, friendships with fisherman down at places like Stella Maris and the Workers Club. Shortly afterwards, he went to Katherine where he worked with the building and maintenance teams with the Yulngu Association. Here he was as far from the salt water as you could imagine, working from Bulman in Central Arnhem Land through to Yarralin and Pigeon Hole in the Victoria River region. He was then to work with the Kalano Association and the Katherine Town Council. Steve ‘Popeye’ Canendo was a great socialiser, befriending people from Kirbys and Crossways in Katherine and the Hibiscus Tavern, Blue Heelers Bar, Palmerston Tavern and Casuarina Club.
Despite his run-ins with the Queensland authorities, he was always an avid footy fan, supporting his Eastside footy team in Katherine and the mighty Buffalos in Darwin. In the off season, he supported league: the Bulldogs in Katherine and the Nightcliff Dragons in Darwin.
For much of the last 10 years, Steve lived in Darwin, back near the salt water, but still far from home. In 2001, however, he achieved his lifelong dream of returning for a while to Hammond Island to spend valuable time with his mother, Petronella, as well as spending time with his family at Yarrabah near Cairns. He was crook the last three years. In his usual combative style, he beat cancer in 2000 but his hard life caught up with him a few weeks ago.
We often hear that Darwin is a great multicultural city, but little is heard of the diversity of indigenous Australian peoples living in this city. Those of you who went to the All Stars-Carlton game two weeks ago would have seen two groups of traditional owners: one was Larrakia, many drawn from the Belyuen birthplace of Midpul, Prince of Wales; the other drawn from Mer in the Torres Strait. Of course, there are many other Aboriginal and Islander groups living here in Darwin.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the lives of the two men I have celebrated tonight epitomise the links and the diversities of a city that is far more multicultural than many would realize.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, this evening I take the opportunity to record in the House some developments within my electorate and a number of events that I have attended recently.
Late last year, I was honoured to attend the official opening of the Jim Clark Memorial Bush Walk at Wanguri Primary School. I have spoken about the late Jimmy Clark on a number of occasions in adjournment in this House. Jimmy passed away late last year. He and his family had become great friends of mine. The whole family has been very active in the community, particularly around Wanguri Primary School. One of his passions was to work with the Wanguri Primary School. It was close to his heart; he spent many, many hours helping both the staff and the students, particularly on the ASSPA program. All of his children went to Wanguri School and his involvement with the school continued for the entire period of the school, spanning 25 years, which was celebrated last year.
The bush walk was one of Jim’s great ambitions for the school. He initiated the garden. It was he who planted the first cuttings and seedlings, but sadly, Jim passed away before he could see its completion. To honour all his hard work and dedication to the school, the Wanguri School Council felt it was appropriate to name the bush walk after him. The day itself was one of remembrance and celebration, with many of Jim’s relatives attending the opening. The bush walk itself is another example of Wanguri Primary’s dedication to increasing the environmentally friendly atmosphere of the school. As I have said many times before in the House, I really do believe that Wanguri has the best school grounds in Darwin, and I am sure that they will keep it up for many years to come.
On 1 February, I welcomed the Chinese New Year with the Hakka Association at the Cyprus Community Club. It was a fantastic night, all 300 tickets were sold but - Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I recognise that you were there that night - over 500 people turned up. It really was an amazing turn-up, the biggest roll-up that the Hakka have ever had for their Chinese New Year. Emergency supplies of food and drink were called for, the Happy Garden Restaurant chain certainly got busy that night, and everybody got down to the business of enjoying themselves and celebrating with our Hakka Association friends for the new year. It was a magnificent night, and I applaud all of the efforts of the Hakka Committee, President Jason Lee, for the organization of this night, and for the building of that association that really is going from strength to strength. I am very proud to be Patron of the Hakka Association, and look forward to working with them in the coming year.
In 2003, we will witness some exciting developments and safety initiatives in my electorate, creating more jobs and providing a safer lifestyle for Territorians. The biggest project in my electorate at present is the upgrade of Leanyer Primary School. Leanyer School is the centerpiece of Leanyer, and may very well be called the heart of the suburb. Providing education for the local children and neighbouring suburbs, it has a reputation for being a great school that provides for its students. For years, through the leadership of Principal Henry Gray, it has grown and flourished to be one of the biggest schools in terms of enrolled students in Darwin. They were literally bursting at the seams. Again, I pay tribute, as I have on numerous occasions in this House, to the leadership of Principal Henry Gray and the school councils over the years. It really is a school with a great reputation.
Since I was elected as member for Wanguri back in 1999, I have campaigned strongly in partnership with Leanyer School to get this upgrade approved by government. They have been fighting for this upgrade going back at least seven years. The council had the foresight to commission Peddle Thorpe as architects, way out from any approval by government, to do all of the design work for the refurbishment of the school. I am proud to say that, finally, in our first full budget, I was pleased that this government granted $1.25m for the upgrade to the school that was so desperately needed to replace the five demountables that the kids were learning in. It really is great to see that work going on.
During the Christmas break, I took the opportunity during my holidays to get down to the construction site on a couple of occasions, talking to the workers and the foreman, as well as the principal and, yes, the project is slipping as a result of the weather, but it is going to be a fantastic development when it is finished. It is going to be one that the school community and the suburb is going to be very, very proud of and it is very fitting that this upgrade has taken place during the celebration of the school’s 25th anniversary later this year. I am really looking forward to being at the opening ceremony for the new facilities.
The Lee Point Road upgrade is another project that I am pleased with: the completion of installation of pedestrian refuges on Lee Point Road. At the last election, I promised Labor would provide an adequate pedestrian crossing on Lee Point Road, something that people in the suburb of Woodleigh Gardens have been asking for, for many, many years; it is a very busy road. I was pleased that our government was able to commit $50 000 in partnership with Darwin City Council. We are going to be installing three pedestrian refuges at the three streets that intersect with Lee Point Road on the Wanguri side: Wanguri Terrace, Canaris Street and Tambling Terrace. Again, something that had been called for by the residents in the area for many, many years and great to be in government to deliver a safe crossing for children in Woodleigh Gardens who are attending Wanguri Primary School or Holy Spirit School, and the parents are very welcoming of that.
As local member, I have been pleased to be working with the Woodleigh Gardens Residents Action Group and local residents to look for a solution to this problem and, in consultation with the Department of Transport and Infrastructure, they agreed, in partnership with community groups like the residents group and Leanyer Landcare, that we will revegetate this land which can only highlight the entry point into Leanyer. We have provided funding, so recently installed bollards to prevent cars from parking and driving on that land; the illegal car sales that have been taking place there at the entrance to the suburb of Leanyer will stop. With the residents group, Leanyer Landcare, local residents, we are going to get together and put together a revegetation plan for that land and really turn it into a focal point for entry into the Leanyer suburb on the Vanderlin Drive side.
It shows great foresight by Carpentaria Disability Services who have recognised that significant increases in government funding is always going to be difficult in tight budget circumstances. They have committed that all of the revenue that they raise from this project outside of their cost - which is essentially the profits they make - will go back into providing improved service delivery for their disabled clients. So to the Board of Carpentaria Disability Services, CEO John Butler, who has worked very hard to get this project up, congratulations to you all. It is absolutely magnificent, and I am really looking forward to seeing that project take shape right on the boundary of my electorate.
This is a government that is working with community groups, working with education. We are putting our dollars on the line. It is paying off, not only in improved facilities and infrastructure; we are also improving the amenity of our area. We are going to have better schools as a result. Working with Carpentaria, we will get a private sector development. It is great that the private sector is investing. That is what growth is all about; it is not just about what government is putting in. Governments really do have to retreat and create the environment for the private sector to invest.
All around my electorate, we are seeing activity, construction taking place. That is happening throughout Darwin. So, it is going to be a big year in the Wanguri and Leanyer suburbs and one that I am looking forward to. Congratulations to everybody on these initiatives.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I will be brief tonight. I foreshadow that, in the future, I will be talking in detail about some important issues in relation to my electorate.
One of them is in relation to Foils at Moil, an infamous drug house on Lee Point Road. It appears as though the tenants of Foils at Moil have gone; the place has been cleaned out. It is being renovated by the owners and I have heard that they are looking for new tenants, particularly elderly people. So there is money being spent; the old tenants have been moved out. I am very hopeful that that particular place that went on for years and years - and it really annoyed the local residents that it kept on operating. It was also, basically, a hive of activity of crime in the area, and along all the walkways that radiated from Foils at Moil, there were break-ins and people felt very unsafe. That became very evident to me as I doorknocked. However, as a true scientist, I am watching. I am foreshadowing; it is a little like a letter to the MJA saying that there appears to be something very significant happening there, but I will be making a full report later.
Similarly with antisocial behaviour, a major issue in the environs of Airport Hotel. I have been working very closely with the licensees, local residents, local businesses and with Aboriginal people - I have been speaking with them and with their leaders and there are some significant developments there. Anyone who drives past that area will notice a significant change, but it is just a little too early to tell yet. I am someone who perseveres; these problems are large but I am absolutely committed. I have told the residents that, just as I was committed with Foils at Moil, to see the end of them, I am also committed to significantly reducing antisocial behaviour in my electorate. As foreshadowed this week, it is a major issue. I have also been supporting the local residents group, particularly those around Borella Park, to take local action. I am foreshadowing that I am going to have a fair bit more to say about this issue. I am not going to shy away from it. I am sure there are going to be ups and downs with it, but I am someone who is at least persistent on things, and I am very tenacious and I never give up.
Turning to more pleasant things tonight, I know the education minister has already spoken about Sid Vemuri, but I would like to add to that. Sid and his family live in Moil in the Johnston electorate. They are a great family and he has been a model student. He was one of 17 young Australians to represent our country in the Hague International Model Youth Parliament in 2002.
In May 2002, Sid was chosen from the Northern Territory squad in debating and as the NT representative in the Lions Youth of the Year competition.
It is not surprising that Sid was the highest scoring Year 12 student in the Northern Territory last year. He had five perfect scores of 20 from his five elected subjects. He is very intelligent. Sid attended Moil Primary School and Casuarina Senior College. His NT Certificate of Education results placed him in the top 0.05% of students in Australia. That is an excellent result, one which I know that Sid and his family and his community and, in reality, the whole of the Territory is very, very proud.
He is very intelligent and also a very hard worker. Most people know he is also a very talented person. I have seen him in a number of productions dancing. He is a very talented dancer. So not only is he a very accomplished student, he is also someone with a lot of talent and vitality. He served on the Casuarina Senior College Students Union with distinction. He is very popular amongst his peers. That was evident when he was presented the prize at the presentation in the Main Hall of Parliament House. There was universal applause and acclamation for him. So, he is someone who is very well known in Darwin and popular amongst his peers. Congratulations, Sid.
He attended Moil Primary School and Casuarina Senior College, so he is very much a local product, if you like. He will be studying at James Cook University where he will be focussing on tropical health and indigenous and rural health, as the education minister mentioned, before returning to the Northern Territory to work. He will be a great asset to the Territory. He understand the Territory, and he knows about the people of the Territory.
There were 13 other Casuarina Senior College students ranked in the top 22 Territory students. These were: Lisa Andrews, Deevya Desai, Tessa Finney-Brown, Jana Lai, Steven Lay, Stephanie Loh, Melissa Macklin, Mary-Ann Oecker, Jonathan Schubert, Adele Scott, Alana Seymour, Dev Tilakaratne, and Daniel Walter. Congratulations also to those students and to Casuarina Senior College who really excelled this year.
I have the privilege of being an ex-officio member of the Casuarina Senior College Board; I try to get to all board meetings I can. There is a fantastic spirit in that school under the leadership of Steve Sjoberg and also the overseeing, if you like, of the school council. I commend Casuarina Senior College, although I would have to also say that my daughter is currently a student at Darwin High and my eldest son was a student at Darwin High. I am not unhappy with Darwin High, but I suppose Casuarina Senior College has a special place because they are in the Johnston electorate.
Jingili Primary School also received some significant academic awards recently, and this is about the City Cluster NT Academic Award. For the second year in succession, a Jingili Primary School student has won the City Cluster NT Academic Award. This award is the Administrator’s Medal for Territory Junior Scholars awarded to one student in each cluster each year. Congratulations to Tanae Creek who won the award for 2002, and Aston Low who was the winner for 2001. Congratulations to Jingili, and congratulations to those two students.
At the end of January, I had the great pleasure of presenting a grant of $1300 from the Community Benefit Fund, the lottery fund, to representatives of the Top End Athletics Club to conduct Come and Try Athletics sessions. These sessions aim to increase the club’s membership and they will be held in February and March. At the cheque presentation, I enjoyed meeting Karen, Narelle, Anthony, and Stephanie Long, Jet Jenson, who is the Deputy President, and Natalie and Mitchell Jenson. Congratulations to Top End Athletics.
The Jingili BMX Club also sought a grant under the Community Benefits Fund and was recently granted $3300 in order to resurface the start hill on their BMX track, and it was my pleasure to present that cheque to them. BMX has been included as a new sport in the 2003 Arafura Games to be held from 17 to 24 May 2003. The event is to be run by the NT BMX Association and will be held at the Jingili BMX Club facility at Marrara. I have attended meets at that facility and it is great to see the young kids getting around that track. One night I went there, there was a little kid, he must have been two or three and his bike was minuscule - it was like a couple of 20 coins, the wheels were that small. He was out there pedaling hard and going over the jumps, and every now and then his dad would come and give him a push up the big hill. Apart from that, he was under his own steam. A couple of bikes fell over during the race so he was placed quite respectably. It just shows how, if you are persistent at something, and keen at it that you can do well, and I am sure he will develop into a great BMX rider.
Last year I agreed to sponsor an essay competition in primary schools. The children will have the chance to pen a 200 to 300 word essay telling us about the importance of being a St John Ambulance Officer in the community. The competition is being organized by the Rotary Club of Darwin Sunrise and St John Ambulance, and the competition will close in early May. I commend Sivaram Vemuri, who, of course, is Sid’s father - he lives in Moil and is very active in Rotary; and Michelle Menzies for their efforts in the project. It is recognising the great job and contribution that St John Ambulance officers do in our community. They attend accidents and all sorts of terrible scenes, they patch people up, they go to major sporting events and we know just what a great job St John Ambulance officers do in our community. This is a positive way for kids to think about that, and to think about how they might contribute to their community.
Finally, and very briefly, I did have the opportunity to take a week or so away from the job over the break and I went to northern New South Wales around Coffs Harbour. I want to speak very briefly about Heather McKenzie who lives in Mylestom or North Beach as it is called. My daughter and I were down there, and Heather was just so hospitable. She took us fishing, she is a very keen fisherwoman. She was born in Dowraville area in the Nambucca Valley. She comes from a great fishing pedigree. Her father used to fish along the rock wall at Nambucca and pull in giant Jewfish, 60 to 80 pounds. Heather has got everything in her van and we went down there - we even had a seat to sit on and special rod holders - and she caught the bait. We had a great night talking with Heather, and I have to confess that Heather caught all the fish that night and gave it to my daughter and I, and we had lovely fish for breakfast. So, thanks Heather for a great fishing adventure down there. We both appreciated it very much.
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Recently, it was my great pleasure to visit Uluru where I was able to meet with members of the joint board of management of the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, and I am very proud to have made that visit. To the best of my knowledge, I was the first Chief Minister of the Territory to meet with the Board of Management of Australia’s most famous national park and the Territory’s premier tourist destination. The previous government, of course, took a very different approach to Uluru. Previous Chief Ministers have often used Uluru as a political football, as a way of attacking Aboriginal traditional ownership and of dividing Territorians one from the other.
My government will approach Uluru, and Kakadu for that matter, in a very different way. Unlike the previous CLP government, this Labor government recognises and understands the importance of traditional owners having ownership of the decision-making processes for their traditional lands. Labor has always had a proud history of acknowledging and supporting the rights of traditional owners to make decisions for Uluru Kata Tjuta and Kakadu.
My government wants to work with traditional owners to deliver outcomes that will benefit traditional owners, industry, as well as the 500 00 visitors to the park and the community at large. This government is delighted to work with traditional owners of Uluru Kata Tjuta like Mr Windlass, Donald Fraser and Reggie Uluru, whose expertise in land management has potential not only to benefit this iconic national park, but for other desert lands nearby. They and other traditional owners have already provided assistance to the management of Watarrka.
I am informed that, despite the poor relationship the previous CLP government actively fostered with the board, at the officer level the park has had a good relationship with our Parks and Wildlife Service. I gather Parks and Wildlife have endeavoured to positively respond to any request for advice relating to land management, planning and conservation issues within the park. I wish to acknowledge that there is good cooperation between Parks Australia North and the Northern Territory government Parks and Wildlife Service in jointly developing and investigating, through the Tourism Consultative Committee, the possibility of tour accreditation within the park. Tourism Industry Board member David Bennett seemed very excited about the prospects.
I wish to particularly thank the Board Chairman, Graham Calma, for his help and wise guidance during my visit. Graham’s enthusiasm to work with governments, both federal and Territory, as well as the resort and other industry stakeholders, for the benefit of his people, was readily apparent. I also want to thank Peter Wellings, Parks Australia North, and Senior Ranger for Uluru, Brooke Watson, for their invaluable assistance during my visit. Also, Kevin Francis, secretary of the board, who provided affable and efficient coordination, and I thank him sincerely.
While my primary business was with Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park, I was pleased to meet with the manager of Voyages’ operation at Ayers Rock Resort, Alex Penklis, and senior staff, including Damien Hanger and Haidee Jones. Alex Penklis gave me an informative briefing on the resort’s plan for the year, including developing innovative training programs for local indigenous residents of Mutitjulu. This commendable initiative is a joint venture of Ayers Rock Resort and Nyangatjatjara College at Yulara. The week after I left, four young Aboriginal women were going to be employed full-time at the resort, and it has been a while since that happened, so I really congratulate the resort on that. The resort does seem determined to build stronger relationships with local residents at Yulara and Mutitjulu, and I commend Alek Penklis for his efforts in that regard.
My visit to Uluru, Mutitjulu and Yulara confirmed for me that, despite the occasional hiccup, there seems cause for optimism. Partnerships are evolving, partnerships that will benefit locals, industries, visitors and the broader community of Australia and world citizens that know that Uluru is special and deserves special care and attention, whether they have been there or not.
Last Saturday, the invitation to the Chung Wah Society - and you were there as well, of course - it was my great pleasure to attend the Chinese New Year banquet at the MGM Grand Ballroom in this the Year of the Goat, and not only the Goat, the Ram or the Sheep. All honourable members know that the Chung Wah Society is committed to maintaining Chinese culture and promoting goodwill and harmony in our community. The evening was full of colour, tradition, dance, music and fine food.
I would like to place on the record my appreciation of the invitation from Chung Wah Society president, Adam Lowe, and congratulate Adam and the organising committee on a wonderful event. I extend congratulations to the very expert, although rather flu-bound MC, Donna Quong; expert Kung Fu exponent, Vernon Lowe; singer Yi Lin Tsui; and magician Lee Mohtaji. To the members of the Chung Wah Lion Dance troupe - Andrew Chin, Ben Chin, Chantelle Chin, Daryl Chin, Eddie Tsang, Nathan Tam, Owen Chin, Ricky Fong Lim, Roland Chin and Warren Wong - who have done a most energetic and fantastic job over the last few weeks. There were over 400 businesses that they actually visited.
I would also like to thank and congratulate members of the Chung Wah Society Chung Lien Dance Group. They are Ada Leung, Angelina Chan, Brooke Chin, Davina Lay, Debbie Valadares, Jessica Chin, Josephine Tchia, Leah Jongue, Nadia Fong, Natasha Yuen, Rochelle Chin and Sarah Yuen. The group coordinator is Melanie Chin, and choreographer and dance instructor was Rosalie Hiah. I am sure all honourable members will join me in acknowledging the wonderful contribution of the Chung Wah Society to our multicultural Northern Territory.
Ellen Rowena Stroud, or Auntie Rowie as all who knew her called her, was born on 24 July 1928, in Darwin, and died on 19 December 2002. She was born into the well-known McGuinness family, being the daughter of Bernard and Bertha. Auntie Rowie was a true Territorian who spent her whole life bringing love to other people. Rowena, who had five children of her own and a large extended family, has provided a safe house to children and women of many cultures all her adult life. She had been recognised by having one of the YMCA safe houses at Palmerston named after her.
Despite being a member of the Stolen Generation, Auntie Rowie would not dwell on that unhappy side of her life. She preferred to look for the good over the bad in any situation and, consequently, became an inspiration to many other Territorians who, like her, have known hard times. Being raised at Garden Point enabled Auntie Rowie to learn the Tiwi language and I am assured she put it to good effect watching her beloved Buffaloes play footie. Whenever a Tiwi opponent was lining up for a kick on goal, she would give them a loud burst in language, which I am told would often put off the kicker, so strong was her language and her yell.
During World War II, she was evacuated from Garden Point only to arrive in Darwin just before the first bombing raid on 19 February 1942. She was later moved to Alice Springs, Melbourne, Carrieton, and Balaklava in South Australia. After the war, on returning to Darwin, she worked for many years as Senior Waitress at Government House and, throughout her life, told fascinating stories about those times, including meeting Mrs Vladamir Petrov, who was forcibly removed from a flight in Darwin while being forcibly returned to almost certain imprisonment in the Soviet Union.
Aunty Rowie married, but before she could, she had to have her name gazetted three times, as well as carry the dreaded dog tags with her at all times. For us on this side of the House, Aunty Rowie’s political commitment to the Australian Labor Party was legendary - she was a true believer who was always available to the party in whatever capacity required. We will never forget her unbounded joy in our victories and her commitment to battle on when we were defeated. This Koongoorakan woman was proud of her heritage and always believed that only the Labor Party had a real commitment to improve the lot of Aboriginal people and, consequently, was always the first to ring into campaign headquarters offering - no, demanding really - to help.
To the McGuinness, Stroud, Hatch, Monk and Avlonitis families, on behalf of the Northern Territory government and the Australian Labor Party, please accept our deep sympathies on the passing of this great Darwin woman - a person who was, in her life a sister, a wife, a daughter, a mother, a grandmother, a great-grandmother and always an outstanding Territorian.
I would also like to draw attention in this place of the untimely passing of a man who had a brief but colourful association with the Territory at a formative time in its cultural history. I am referring to Mike Hayes, widely and more popularly known as the Prickle Farmer. I am sure there are many who would know Mike through his radio pieces, his books and his newspaper writing, detailing life in the little property near Canberra he called the Prickle Farm. But there would be still many more Territorians who would remember Mike as a colourful member of the ABC’s Darwin newsroom at the time television was introduced to the Territory.
Mike joined the Melbourne Age as a cadet journalist about 1960 and worked his way through the ranks to become a respected rural reporter. In 1970, he was lured to Darwin to join a newsroom which was being expanded in preparation for the coming of television and with it, television news. It is, of course, history that television was first broadcast in Darwin in August 1971. In February 1972, TV news bulletins were broadcast for the first time and it was Mike Hayes who produced and directed those bulletins. He continued to do so until the time of Cyclone Tracy.
In his five years in Darwin, Mike Hayes earned a reputation as a solid and reliable journalist with a particular interest in rural issues. He loved rodeos and attended every bush race meeting and gymkhana he could get to. A physically imposing character, he was an accomplished anecdotalist with a fund of yarns. It was a skill which won him a yarn spinning competition in Darwin in later years. Mike was also a skilled musician and was an established part of the Darwin music scene with the band Brown Sugar, so named because its members were said to be course and unrefined. Mike was on leave at the time of Cyclone Tracy, but had not left town and I am sure many would remember his emotional tribute to Darwin as he did a piece to camera for Keith Bushnell, whose film was the first to show the rest of Australia what Darwin had experienced. A few days after Cyclone Tracy, Mike drove south, effectively ending his working life in the Territory.
He was offered a job by the ABC in Canberra and, for some years, was in charge of the regional radio and television newsroom. It was at this time that he bought the little property at Gundaroo which was to become the inspiration for the Prickle Farm series of radio yarns which went to air on ABC radio on Sunday mornings. His success as a writer encouraged him to leave the ABC and become a freelance writer, something he managed quite successfully. He also used his television skills to make a variety of programs for television, some humorous, some serious. Mike returned to the Territory a number of times in the intervening years, sometimes associated with projects he was working on, sometimes as an invited guest.
Legend has it that Mike was fond of a cold beer or two on a hot day and the Vic Hotel was a favourite watering hole for an exchange of yarns with that other great Darwin storyteller, Cowboy Bill. On many occasions, they whiled away the afternoon without actually having to buy a beer, enjoying the hospitality of enthralled visitors as they told increasingly outrageous stories.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, evidence that Mike Hayes was indeed a national character came when the popular ABC TV program of the time A Big Country did a story about him and his Prickle Farm family. Only a few months ago, we saw the old Mike and the older and perhaps wiser, certainly much quieter, Mike, when the ABC broadcast A Big Country Revisited. Mike was just 58 years old when a heart attack felled him most unexpectedly last week at the home near Kempsey where he had lived in the past decade. His funeral was held on Monday followed by a wake at the Willawarren Pub, which was his local for the past years. I have been told that he has been buried in a small cemetery where he is expected to keep the other inmates entertained.
Mike Hayes leaves six children, a partner, and two former wives with whom he remained on good terms, and a legion of former colleagues and friends around Australia who will mourn his passing.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016