2004-06-16
Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 244 petitioners praying that the Great Southern Railway rename the Steve Irwin locomotive. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders, and is similar to the petition read in the Assembly in November 2003. I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, the Territory has around 2000 public sector employees living and working in remote communities, including teachers, health staff and police. They do an incredible job, often in very difficult circumstances.
Early last year, I announced the government would provide an extra $1.3m per year to improve our remote workers’ living and working conditions through the Remote Work Force Development Strategy. A number of important initiatives have already been implemented under that strategy, and I now report on them.
The freight allowance system has been enhanced, and remote workers travelling to towns for professional development can now access increased accommodation allowance.
Earlier this year, I announced another part of the strategy, a new scholarship and grants program. The program aims to improve professional development opportunities for our remote public sector workers. The scholarships are available to individual workers, while the grants are provided to government agencies so they can improve work force development opportunities for their remote employees.
I am pleased to announce the first round of scholarships and grants has now been awarded. They were assessed by a panel consisting of government and union representatives. There was a huge response to the program. I understand it was a tough task to decide the final recipients.
They awarded $93 000 worth of scholarships to 23 remote public sector workers. Teachers, nurses, health staff and police officers have received the scholarships, ranging in value from $400 to $16 000. They will use the scholarships for research, on special projects relevant to their employment, on-line and distance education learning, courses, training, workshops and amenity fees, travel and accommodation costs, and text books.
A further $245 000 in grants has been awarded to agencies to enhance access for remote area staff for training and professional development opportunities. This will allow agencies to pay for remote staff to attend conferences, or undertake training, or to develop strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of employees from remote localities. A further $513 000 in grants has been awarded to agencies to fund a range of programs identified in the remote work force development strategy.
The strategy and, in particular, the scholarship and grants program is part of government’s commitment to improving the working conditions of staff in remote and rural areas. We want to ensure that they have the same access to professional development opportunities as their urban colleagues. It will mean better outcomes in remote communities, strengthening the links between improved remote service delivery and work force development. We do value our remote public sector workers who do a remarkable job in these circumstances. It is critical we provide them with as much support as possible by improving their living and working conditions. It will help us to attract more quality staff to our remote communities. The government’s remote work force development strategy is helping us keep the Territory moving ahead.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report on our remote public service personnel. The initiatives the government has provided are good and will encourage staff to remain in the areas of their work. The CLP would have brought in the same sort of initiatives because we feel that it is important to provide incentives to prevent the high turnover of staff in remote areas from which we have constantly suffered. The initiatives that the minister has brought in, I am sure, will encourage them to stay there.
The minister could also add an extra link to his initiatives by providing bonuses for extended stays in remote areas. For instance, if a public servant stays there for two, three or even four years you have exponential growth of incentives that will actually make them stay there -the longer you stay out there the greater the benefits - and introduce that sort of system into the bonuses he is now offering. I believe it will encourage more public servants to stay out in remote areas by ensuring an opportunity is there for them to return to the city, not only for R and R, but also to get some professional development on a regular basis and time off from the bush while somebody else goes out there in the form of a locum service.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): I thank the member for his comments, Madam Speaker. Bonuses are something that could be looked at in the future. It is not on the radar immediately as we speak. The opportunity for people who have done their time in the bush to be able to come to an urban situation is an important element in getting people to go bush in the first place. Of course it is not always possible because, as you rotate people through and fill up the positions in the urban situation that can be a difficulty in itself. I take those points and they are things that will be looked at and considered in time.
Mr HENDERSON (Asian Relations and Trade): Madam Speaker, I rise today to report on some of the many new trade opportunities developed by Territory businesses over the last 12 months with support from the Martin government. When we released our international trade strategy we set the ambitious target of working with business to increase the number of Territory exporters by 25% by 2007. The Trade Support Scheme, now just shy of 12 months old, is helping us to reach that target.
In its first year, the Martin government injected $330 000 into the scheme; a massive increase on the former government’s export marketing assistance scheme which was only funded at $80 000 a year. This scheme gets Territory businesses access to taxable grants of up to $50 000 on a dollar for dollar basis, practical financial assistance that is driving economic development, and creating new business opportunities.
The Trade Support Scheme was developed in close consultation with business and industry and I am very pleased to report that it has been embraced by Territory business. As of the start of this month, 100 Trade Support Scheme applications have been processed from Territory business to assist them to develop new trade partnerships with the Martin government injecting more than $330 000 into the Territory economy. That is 100 new trade opportunities for Territory business that may otherwise have been left untapped if not for the support from the government. A real highlight of the Trade Support Scheme is that is open to all Territory businesses to apply for a grant to assist in developing export opportunities regardless of where in the Territory you are based.
To give members an idea of the diversity of opportunities being tapped into by Territory business with support from the Trade Support Scheme, there is a Darwin-based modelling and fashion management firm, Piening Utopia, that used a Trade Support Scheme grant to take four models to Shanghai for an international modelling contest. One of the perks of the job was to meet those models a few weeks ago, and a great bunch of young women they were. It has led to more jobs for these young Territorians in China and Scandinavia.
Mr James Taylor, whom all of us in the House would know, of Darwin business AeroSail, used the assistance of a Trade Support Scheme grant to secure a $160 000 contract to sell shade structures into Hawaii, and they are currently working towards two other contracts.
A small Territory business is currently in Indonesia negotiating s $3m bid to remove and replace gases from offshore oil rigs. I am taking a personal interest in this business; it is a world leader in developing this new technology. They are down to one of two preferred businesses to win this contract, and if they win it, it will open up global markets for them. That is very exciting and is indicative of the sort of innovation that is being developed in the Territory.
In the tourism industry, a Territory business in the backpacking arena is confident that a Trade Support Scheme grant will help them generate between $4m and $4.5m worth of business from the European market.
For the Territory’s primary industries, the Northern Territory Agricultural Association is pursuing opportunities to sell pastoral seed to China, and Colton Park Mangoes is finalising an opportunity to export mangoes to China and Hong Kong next season after its highly successful first year.
We have again worked closely with industry to revamp and improve the scheme even further. We have injected even more funds into the scheme, increasing the funding from $330 000 to $358 000 in budget 2004-05. The Martin government is keeping the Territory moving ahead with the financial and practical assistance available through the Trade Support Scheme. I encourage all Territory businesses looking to expand their trade partnerships, or develop new opportunities, to consider how this scheme can benefit them.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the reported success of the uptake for this scheme of $300 000 is clear evidence that in the Northern Territory the opportunity does exist to our near north. I believe that the approach in Asian Relations and Trade could be done far better.
First, the exposure that we have within the region in terms of government representation and carrying the message consistently to the region has been largely abandoned by the Martin Labor government. You have focussed almost resolutely …
Mr Henderson: Why are all these businesses doing really well than?
Mr MILLS: Because they are doing it despite you because they believe the assistance is necessary, but they also believe you could go much further. First, if you have an understanding of how to trade in the region, you need to also understand it is Asian relations and trade. It is the ‘relations’ component that you have largely neglected. Consistent exposure at a high level in the region has largely been abandoned.
If you going to facilitate trade, I also ask you to look at real subsidies which could make our port work. Look at ways of building that port so we can have greater cargo handling capacity on that wharf.
Another issue you could address is assessment of trade routes within the region, analysis of what is happing within our near region, and how many of those ships could utilise our port. We could start to facilitate, with clear leadership from government, a greater use of our port and therefore make that train carry freight more extensively from the region.
Mr HENDERSON (Asian Relations and Trade): Madam Speaker, the opposition again shows extraordinary ignorance about what is happening. In regards to the port and FreightLink, this government, the Chief Minister and myself, have led a number of delegations into Asia with John Parkes and FreightLink. We are working very closely with FreightLink to develop commercial opportunities for FreightLink and shipping lines. We are already seeing runs on the board in that area.
I urge the Leader of the Opposition to talk to FreightLink about the work that is being done with government – with which they are very pleased. This week, senior officers of my department are in Malaysia talking with Malaysian Airlines about establishing a dedicated freight service into Darwin to assist export into the marketplace. It will be great if we can pull that off. The Chief Minister and I have met with Malaysian Airlines on a number of occasions. We are continuing to work with them and we have people in Kuala Lumpur this week. Also this week, senior officers and business people are in Singapore pursuing ICT initiatives that this government is developing.
The charge that we have abandoned Asia is absolutely ridiculous …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! By my watch, the minister has already extended well over a minute and he is still ...
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired, minister.
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, I rise to report on the huge success of this year’s Greek Glenti held on the Esplanade over the long weekend. For the second year, the Greek Glenti was held over two days, beginning Saturday and finishing very late Sunday night. The government is proud to have supported the Greek community with $50 000 to assist in the staging of this event. The Glenti has been a popular annual event for Territorians since 1988.
This year’s event was hosted by local identities, Evan Papadonakis and Sam Hatzivalsamis. Apart from the vast amount of food and drink on offer, including octopus, dolmades, ouzo and Greek wine and beer, there was also some great entertainment, with Exodus coming up from Adelaide, the Harry Melios Band and, of course, Dorothy the Dinosaur. The Greek Glenti is a fantastic example of the richness of our multicultural community, with people of all backgrounds coming together to celebrate and share in the Greek culture.
The Martin government is proud to support such events. I take this opportunity to highlight to the Assembly some of the initiatives of this government to support migrant and ethnic Territorians, and to promote the multicultural events being celebrated during the month of June.
A key initiative announced in the 2004-05 Budget, which demonstrates the government’s continuing support for ethnic organisations, was the Ethnic Community Facility Development Program. This program makes available $0.5m per year for three years to assist migrant and ethnic communities renovate and upgrade their existing facilities. Applications under this program will be invited in the new financial year. This program recognises the importance these community facilities play in the lives of Territorians from ethnic backgrounds and others, plus the limited capacity within the communities to funds capital improvements.
These new funds take the total financial assistance available to migrant and ethnic communities through the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program to $1.197m. This makes the program the fourth-largest in Australia, and nearly three times more than the $447 000 available when this government was elected.
Under the $1.197m funding available, 14 festivals were supported with total funding of $116 000. The festivals included the Greek Glenti, India at Mindil, Barrio Fiesta, Seafood Cultural Festival and the Chinese New Year Festival to name a few. Also, under the $1.197m Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program is the Cultural and Linguistic Awards. To date, eight applications for funding have been approved totalling $121 000. This significant funding support not only demonstrates the government’s commitment to the Territory’s diverse multicultural community, but also demonstrates that our multicultural society is alive and well, contributing to the Territory’s unique lifestyle.
Another exciting new initiative is the inaugural Multicultural Awards, which I will announce and present at Parliament House on 21 June.
I am pleased to remind my colleagues that, during the month of June, our multicultural communities celebrate a number of multicultural events. The Portuguese Community celebrated the Portuguese National Day on 10 June, with a thanksgiving march and a dinner dance attended by many members of the Portuguese, Timorese and Darwin communities. On 12 June, the Filipino community celebrated the 106th Anniversary of the Philippine’s Independence Day. Next weekend, the Indian Cultural Society of the Northern Territory will hold India at Mindil. The Chung Wah Society and the government of the Northern Territory will co-host the Dragon Boat Cultural Festival at Lake Alexander, East Point, next Saturday.
Madam Speaker, I have only outlined a small number of the rich tapestry of multicultural events that take place each year. All of these events play an important role in promoting and enhancing our tolerance and acceptance of other cultures and help make the Territory the place we all love.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report on the events that occurred over these last few weeks. This last Queen’s Birthday weekend was particularly busy for everybody in the Territory. The volunteers who are spread around from Darwin all the way down to Alice Springs have all been involved in one activity or another, and all in the name of culture and recreation.
The Darwin Symphony Orchestra was at Freds Pass, and the Adelaide River Show involved the community there. The minister spoke about the Philippines Independence Day and the Filipinos who celebrated that function in great style. There was the Portuguese National Day, and the Barunga Festival. The Glenti has been on here for so many years now it has become an institution in the cultural celebration in Darwin. The Finke Desert Race in Alice Springs is another activity that involves all sorts of people in Central Australia.
The Territory community celebrates our great ethnic mix, and I congratulate the government for providing that good support for the last few years. Just be aware that when you start sharing money out, you make sure that every community gets a share of it, and not only to some and not the others.
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his support. The government is certainly going to assess all applications on merit, not on ethnicity. I am very pleased to say that the money will go to a good cause because quite a few of the communities have approached us and requested money to improve their facilities, repair or upgrade ...
Mr Mills: To focus on the northern suburbs would be a good idea.
Mr VATSKALIS: Recently, we had an application for the Chung Wah Society. That is not in the northern suburbs, it is actually in the city. They want to upgrade the facilities to the value of $250 000. We were unable to help them before, and now we are able to help them.
I said before, this government does not see ethnicity as a particular issue to help people. We would actually like to move from ethnic affairs to multicultural affairs, and that would include not only people from non-English speaking background, but also people like Irish, Scottish, English and Aboriginal people. We believe that what is important in society is that we are multicultural, not ethnic and Anglo-Saxons.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Family and Community Services): Madam Speaker, this year’s Barunga Festival was held this last weekend. It was the 19th Barunga Festival, an institution in the calendar of Territory cultural and sporting festivals, and an institution of our great lifestyle. It was a fantastic weekend, and a fantastic festival. What made the 19th Barunga Festival so special was that, for the first time, the Barunga Board of Management and the Barunga Community made a brave decision to ban alcohol from the festival.
The great sporting action, and the highly-prized cultural activities were all conducted in an atmosphere of peace and harmony; the like of which many long-term festival goers said that they had never seen before. In light of the decision to ban alcohol, I decided that my department would help support and sponsor the festival. The funding was very well spent. In talking to people on the day, many told me that they came back to the festival because it was advertised as free of alcohol.
Barunga is an indigenous festival and it was great to see many non-indigenous people celebrating the festival. Developing partnerships with Aboriginal communities is the best way ahead, and looking after the bush helps keep the Territory moving ahead. Personally, the most exciting aspect of this event was the large number of children and families participating in all of the events. It was delightful to see so many children involved in such a peaceful and safe environment. The indigenous art, the sports, the culture and the tourism potential of this festival has been rejuvenated. It can only grow from here and all Territorians will prosper as a result.
In the Northern Territory, substance abuse - particularly alcohol - is perhaps the biggest barrier to achieving outcomes in health, education and community safety. The Martin Labor government is tackling substance abuse. It is one of the top priorities in building healthy communities. We are making the legislative changes and are developing partnerships with Aboriginal communities and organisations and helping them to move towards community control. We are implementing the Building Healthier Communities policy, and are resourcing support programs. These are the big picture things and they are very important, and nothing can be achieved without them. However, it is very important that we do the grassroots things as well, such as sponsoring events like the Barunga Festival to be alcohol-free. Some of our federal politicians - in particular Senator Amanda Vanstone who attended the Barunga Festival - gave a glowing endorsement of the festival.
Congratulations must go to the whole of Barunga community for hosting the event. Anne-Marie Lee, Chairperson of the Barunga Board of Management is sister of Mr Lee, the former Chair who sadly passed away last year. The festival was dedicated to the memory of Mr Lee. I would like to thank Tommy Lewis and the Jodetluk Dancers, the Fred Hollows Foundation and especially Nick Di Candilo and Paul Amarant for the hard work they did in organising this event.
I also acknowledge the staff of Alcohol and Other Drugs from Darwin, and particularly those staff who travelled from East Arnhem, the police from Katherine, Maranboy and Mataranka, and especially all the visitors. It was noted that there were visitors from overseas and interstate. I thank everyone who attended. Your participation and endorsement of this alcohol-free event made it the great success it was.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report here this morning with regards to the success of the Barunga Festival. I have to apologise; I did not make it to Barunga this year, I was too busy making food creations assisting people at the Glenti. That, once again, reflects on the rich diversity of culture here in the Northern Territory. I know all MLAs get involved with the various cultural festivals in our communities.
Barunga has gone from strength to strength over the years. Years ago, when I lived in Katherine, I can remember attending Barunga Festivals and being particularly delighted with the women playing softball. It was an absolutely formidable sight to see these Aboriginal teams facing up to each other and the sheer joy that they and the spectators gained from watching these sorts of sporting events.
Just a comment to the minister, though. The Merrepen Arts Festival was held not long ago at Daly. It is another successful Aboriginal community event and many people travel for many kilometres to attend. Unfortunately, it was not given any cash funding even though they had applied for it and even though it too was an alcohol-free event.
Ms Martin: Yes, it has. It has been funded.
Ms CARTER: We need to do more to encourage these events. Good news on Barunga, glad it was alcohol-free but let’s spread some of that money around.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement on Barunga. What it highlights is the rich diversity of not only culture but sporting and musical activities, and arts in general, that occurred over the last weekend. Most of them have been mentioned today - Merrepen Arts Festival; Palmerston Troppo, that was a big celebration in Palmerston; and the Top End Folk Festival also had a concert at the Bark Hut, or out that way. There was the Glenti and also the Country Music competition at Adelaide River where Troy Cassar-Daley was starring that evening as well as a big camp draft and rodeo that weekend.
For the first time ever, the Darwin Symphony Orchestra performed in the Litchfield Shire. Thousands of people turned up for that concert. Considering there was so much on, people were quite amazed that we had such a good attendance. There were many tourists and many townies, as we call them, who came out to enjoy the stars, the fireworks and great music. I would just like to say to Barbara Vos who organised it, a job well done.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Family and Community Services): Madam Speaker, I thank both members for their response. Just quickly, I cannot let the response go by without commenting on what the member for Port Darwin said about the Merrepen Arts Festival. This government did contribute funds towards Merrepen. I also attended the Merrepen Festival …
Mr Baldwin: How much?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: … and spoke to the organisers of Merrepen about how government can maybe expand a bit on their contribution.
Mr Baldwin: You underwrote it. You did not cash it. No cash.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: There was.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Coroners Act to include a death in detention.
In February 2003, an Indonesian fisherman died while being detained on an Indonesian fishing vessel in Darwin Harbour. The deceased was classified as an ‘unlawful non-citizen’ and, as a consequence, was in Immigration detention aboard the boat. As the death was unexpected, it was reported to the NT Coroner and an inquest was held.
The Coroners Act currently contains provisions relating to the investigation of deaths where a person is ‘in custody’. These provisions originally arose out of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The consequence of these provisions is that an inquest, or court hearing, must be held; that directions can be given to police about such an investigation; and that the coroner shall investigate and report on the care, supervision and treatment of the person while being held in custody, as well as the usual powers and requirements to investigate and make findings regarding a coronial death. A coroner also makes recommendations with respect to the prevention of future deaths in similar circumstances.
The definition of a ‘person held in custody’ is contained in section 12 of the Coroners Act. It includes a person in the custody or control of police, including NT Police, other state and territory police and the Australian Federal Police; a prison officer; or a sheriff. It also includes a person detained in a prison, or police prison, or an approved juvenile detention centre. The act does not, however, include persons detained under Commonwealth legislation, including Immigration and Fisheries administrative detention.
The coroner, in respect of the Indonesian fisherman’s death, recommended that the Coroners Act be amended to provide for the definition of a ‘death in custody’ to include a death in Immigration detention, or any other form of detention in the Northern Territory brought about by the operation of Commonwealth laws. He noted that had the death been a ‘death in custody’, there would have been greater powers of investigation, recommendation and comment available to him. Furthermore, there would have been mandated greater investigatory effort by police than was the case. The coroner further noted that the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody had effectively recommended many years ago, and such recommendations were accepted by parliament, that the death of a person held against their will by executive government agencies deserve special attention.
This bill makes the amendment sought by the coroner by including, as part of the definition of ‘person held in custody’, the detention of a person anywhere in the Territory under any law in force in the Territory, including a law of the Commonwealth, or a person who is in the process of escaping detention.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
Bill presented and read a first time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to amend various Northern Territory laws in minor respects, or to correct minor errors which may have come to light. None of the changes reflect substantive changes in policy.
Section 130AE of the Legal Practitioners Act, which is one of the new provisions inserted by the Legal Practitioners Amendment (Costs and Advertising) Act 2003, is amended to remove examples of the way in which a person might solicit or induce a potential claimant, involved in an incident at which a person allegedly suffered a personal injury, to make a claim. These examples have caused concern and confusion in the interpretation of the terms ‘solicit’ and ‘induce’ and will be removed.
Section 54 of the Prostitution Regulation Act is amended to allow for specific regulation-making power under that provision. Currently, Regulation 6 of the Prostitution Regulations authorises a member of the police force to serve an infringement notice on a person who appears to have committed an offence against specified provisions of the Prostitution Regulation Act. The amendment to section 54 of the Prostitution Regulation Act will improve the operation of the act and regulations by permitting regulations to be made prescribing the payment of a prescribed amount instead of a penalty that might otherwise be imposed for an offence against the act, and the service of a notice relating to the payment of the prescribed amount on a person alleged to have committed the offence, and particulars to be included in that notice.
The amendment to regulation 24(2)(b) of the Northern Territory Rail Safety Regulations is a style change; and the amendment to regulation 28 corrects the numbering sequence so that it reads fluently.
The amendment to section 95 of the Marine Act is required to clarify the operation of the act. Currently, section 75(2) of the act provides that Part IV (Safety) does not apply to vessels set out in that section. Amongst the vessels that are specified in section 75(2), small commercial vessels that fall within the category under section 75(2)(fa), and the hire-and-drive vessels under section 72(2)(fc) are also excluded from the operation of Part IV of the act, including from Division V of Part IV, Unsafe Ships. The policy behind Division V is that all vessels should be subject to the Unsafe Vessels provisions. Section 95 of the act sets out the types of vessels to which Division V applies, and is amended to include references to vessels that fall under the categories of section 75(2)(fa) and 75(2)(fc) of the act.
The definition of ‘convertible Crown lease’ is amended, and the definition of ‘Crown lease’ is removed from section 4(1) of the Taxation (Administration) Act. Both amendments are necessary as they are consequential amendments that have not been effected under the Stamp Duty Amendment Act 2002.
The definition of ‘minister’ in sections 3(2)(c) of Telecommunications (Interception) Northern Territory Act is removed to improve the operation of the act. This section currently defines the term ‘minister’ to have the same meaning as in the Commonwealth act, the Telecommunications (Interception) Act 1979. The definition of ‘minister’ within the Commonwealth act causes ambiguity as to who the relevant minister is for the purposes of the act. By removing the definition from section 3(2), the operation of the definition of the Commonwealth act may arguably not apply. Further amendments to the act by way of an amendment act may need to be made to clarify this issue further.
There are other amendments made by the bill which are very minor in nature and generally self-explanatory.
I commend the Statute Law Revision Bill 2004 to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 15 June 2004.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Madam Speaker, I rise to add my support to the Northern Territory budget 2004-05, and congratulate the Treasurer, our Deputy Chief Minister, for delivering a budget that fairly provides for today’s needs throughout the Territory, while laying the important foundations for future growth. It is a budget that importantly delivers tax cuts to business through significant reductions in payroll tax, and the abolishment of the HIH levy. These initiatives will underpin the opportunities for jobs growth.
Since the budget was delivered last sittings, I have had the opportunity to listen to several business men and women operating small and medium-sized businesses in Darwin, and they are all very highly supportive of the lengths that this government has gone to with these budget measures. The record tax cuts are worth $6.7m in the 2004-05 financial year, and are expected to benefit some 83 businesses, starting from next month. This will rise to a $16m saving for businesses in the following financial year, benefiting some 162 businesses, of which 127 are Territory firms. Removal of the HIH levy will save over 6600 private sector employers $2.7m per year - tremendous savings, again, from next month.
Significant measures free up these businesses to invest in growth, and the feedback I have received is that the timing is perfect. We are seeing trend figures of growth, and providing these businesses with additional money in their pockets at a time of opportunity is critical to their success. Business success equals jobs, and jobs for Territorians provides enormous flow-on benefit throughout the local economy, with consumer spending rising and Territorians remaining to enjoy our wonderful lifestyle.
The lifestyle provisions in this budget are terrific. I am delighted to see an additional $600 000 provided for the popular Leanyer Recreation Park, providing adequate ongoing maintenance and improved shade and security measures. Again, the feedback I am getting from constituents has been very positive. People are enjoying this year-round water park, and the skate park has a good number of youths there each day. Families are now selecting the park as a birthday party site, a place for family and friends to gather, and many community groups are lining up to have it as a family fun day venue.
Karama and Malak constituents are also keen on our Hidden Valley raceway, and I am pleased to see $1m committed in the budget for essential remedial works to make the facility safe and vastly improved.
It is good to also see continuation of improvements to our fishing infrastructure, with $500 000 committed to improve access and facilities for recreational fishing, a feature of our lifestyle dear to the hearts of many of my constituents.
Other lifestyle enhancements included in this budget are more than $6m to support major events, including the hugely popular V8 Supercars and Festival of Darwin; funding for AFL matches at Marrara; $300 000 to stage the Labor youth initiative, BassintheGrass, which this year is attracting the big guns of Grinspoon and Super Jesus; a new Ethnic Community Facility Development Program worth $500 000; and funding to help protect our environment, including $370 000 for our harbour planned management implementation and several hundred thousand dollars to combat the feral cane toads. I congratulate our minister for the environment for the initiative of an environment grants scheme.
Importantly, our budget contains growth in key sectors of education, training and health. I will highlight just a few budget initiatives that deliver significant services to the residents of Karama and Malak. Manunda Terrace Primary School benefits from an allocation of $120 000 to shade the school’s basketball court - welcome news for the school community which has been hoping for this improvement for many years. It will provide the school with a terrific boost, and the children will be able to spend more time enjoying the facility throughout the year. Karama Primary School benefits with a $15 000 allocation to improve security at the rear of the school. I have already discussed a community and school joint project to enhance the rear of the school, which has been a bugbear to both the school community and neighbouring residents for many years. I have received some positive feedback from teachers about the allocation to provide laptops for our hardworking educators. I congratulate the minister for education for underpinning important initiatives in this budget, such as alternative education and school attendance officers. I also know that the additional $500 000 provided for school equipment is very welcome, with school councils now able to replace rundown equipment and plan for future replacements.
In the crucial area of building on the government’s Jobs Plan, the budget provides for $38m to registered training organisations to deliver a broad range of vocational, education and training programs which builds the skills of our young Territorians and makes them job ready. $12.39m is provided to support and train apprentices and trainees across the Territory. It provides an important entree into employment. There is a further $1.2m provided over the next three years for pre-vocational training programs that strengthen the link between our schools and industry. In all, more than $160m will be focussed on training over the next three years. As we know, if we can skill up our future work force we will be well placed to meet the challenges of growth into the future.
In the area of health, I welcome the government’s continued strong commitment through consecutive increases in the health budget. Specific initiatives in the budget that I want to highlight are the long-awaited 12-bed hospice for Darwin, with an allocation of $3.6m. There is also completion of the critical care unit with an allocation of $2.5m. Both are very good news for Darwin residents and the Royal Darwin Hospital precinct. I further congratulate the government for its provision of $2.5m in this coming budget to create a birthing centre at Royal Darwin Hospital. This will, hopefully, provide a far less clinical atmosphere in the birth of future Territorians.
As we have heard, the budget provides for a record infrastructure spend of some $441m; good news for my constituents in Malak. This includes the provision of $325 000 for urban enhancement around the surrounds of the Malak shopping centre and will include landscaping, painting, paving, disability access, and with the newly formed Malak Neighbourhood Watch group, we have created a committee that will work on those urban enhancement plans, to provide resident input into just how that enhancement of the Malak shopping centre will appear. The tender for that project goes out in July. The community of Malak is extremely excited to see what was once a vibrant shopping centre of 20 years ago, which is now very run down, being brought back to life again through significant government spending.
Urban enhancement to the area will have many flow-on benefits. As a well presented, well lit and safely designed and enhanced area, it will certainly benefit in reduction of crime. Records and crime studies show that if you have an improved area like that, it is less attractive to criminals for hanging out. We also expect to continue with the government program of attracting non-government organisations into that shopping centre. It will no longer be a retail hub. It cannot compete with the airconditioned retail hubs of nearby Karama, Hibiscus, Northlakes and Casuarina. Feasibly, and realistically, that old style of strip shopping centre, which is not airconditioned, would be a perfect service hub for the many needy people living in the Malak and greater northern suburbs area.
I am delighted to see that KARU, the indigenous foster care agency, has already moved in, and is thriving in its premises in Malak, just as NT Shelter, an advocacy service for housing tenants, is there and doing well right amongst its client base. I am aware of two or three other organisations which are currently in negotiations with the owner to also move into the Malak Shopping Centre. So, the $325 000 committed by this government to provide urban enhancement at Malak Shopping Centre will be money very well spent, and fantastic timing.
That money is part of a broader $2.5m government commitment to urban enhancement with the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure announcing a whole range of initiatives to spend that right throughout the Territory. I congratulate the minister for drilling home the importance of that urban enhancement program. It physically improves our neighbourhoods, and it provides everyone with the confidence and happiness of lifestyle to be very proud about where they are living.
Hand in hand with rejuvenating the centre of our suburbs, that is our shopping centres, is also a fantastic cash spend allocation provided in this budget, in the Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs, specifically in the area of Territory Housing. We expect this year up to $7m will be spent on providing urban renewal of our Territory Housing properties. These are properties that have been run down for the last 20 years. Tenants are living in houses that, quite frankly, could be best described as dumps. They have kitchens that have pretty well disintegrated around them, unsafe tiling in bathrooms and toilets, flaking paint, broken down fencing, and no shade or carports to speak of.
This $7m cash spend allocation will completely change all of that for the residents. We have already seen some early spending on this urban renewal program, which is a Martin Labor government initiative. There have already been some properties done up in my electorate of Karama and Malak. It is magnificent to see what were run down houses renovated, ranging from an individual housing spend from $40 000 to say $55 000 depending on that house’s requirements, you turn a run down property into what is very reasonable accommodation for people, with renovated kitchen, bathroom, new painting, new tiling, carports, and new fencing. The feed back I am getting back from residents of the areas has been phenomenal. They are very excited about this particular government program. The tenants who have lived in those properties for 20-odd years, raising their families there, being good contributing members of our society, feel as though finally they have been recognised as worthy residents of the area, and treated appropriately.
Their neighbours, who tend to be private owners, are absolutely delighted with this program because it does add to the value of their homes. They are no longer situated next door to what is a run down dump. The sub-contractors, who by and large form a very large core of the workers in my electorates - the sub-contractors, fencers, tilers, plumbers, sparkies, painters, cleaners - are all picking up significant government tenders from this work. The feedback I have from the subbies is: ‘Thank you. Finally there is a government program that means we get smaller sized jobs being fed out directly in to the pockets of the sub-contractors’, and they finally have money to spend after very lean, long years following a downturn in the economy from the late 1990s under the previous government.
I congratulate the Minister for Housing. He has done a great job with his department in pulling this Urban Renewal Program initiative together. We have seen it make a fantastic difference to the way suburbs in other jurisdictions come to life. In other debates I have pointed out to members the changes in Queensland in suburban areas such as Inala, which was run down. Inala these days is an upgraded suburb, and all reports coming from the housing industry in Queensland are saying that Inala house prices have risen by upwards of $100 000 from prior to the urban renewal program.
I congratulate the government for drilling home, with cash allocations in this budget, that critically important Urban Renewal housing initiative, which, I am delighted to say, I will see over the next couple of years make significant changes to the way people are living in the electorate that I represent, the areas that have a high density of public housing: Karama and Malak.
Hand in hand, though, with rejuvenating suburbs and how people are physically living, there is also the government’s dedicated approach to providing safer communities. We know that the government has committed $75m over four to five years to implement the O’Sullivan Report on police. Budget 2004-05 continues to meet that commitment by providing significant increases in the police budget. I have been working closely with police in the Casuarina area. They are finally seeing the result of the significant recruiting programs through additional funding where shifts are no longer being burdened with onerous overtime. Feedback from police is that they are now getting up to the numbers where they can do a very good job, where they are not only doing what we know as reactive policing, but they starting to get out and do community policing. It is a delight to see patrols back out on the streets. It is a delight to see officers walking back through our shopping centres. I have mentioned before that I am somewhat jealous of Casuarina shopping centre; it has patrols there every day. But we are starting to see more and more regular patrols out at my electorate, the Karama Shopping Centre.
I was out with the minister for police recently looking at the newly built Mounted Police facility. It was exciting to see that facility built; a great Labor government initiative. It has been needed for more than a decade and this government held good to its promise to construct the Mounted Police facility at the Peter McAulay Centre. There were some extremely pleased and delighted Mounted Police. I had seen the previous facility at Berrimah. It was a disgrace. The stables were dangerous for the horses, and the police building consisted of a demountable with holes in the floor.
However, the new facility at Peter McAulay is a state-of-the-art building with adequate facilities for the police. It has a muster room, showers and toilets, an office, storage areas, an undercover area for the police horse van to pull into and be loaded up directly, which deals with occupational health and safety for the Mounted Police, and the stables are more than adequate. They are magnificent stables for the horses.
Mounted Police have proven to be a very effective, proactive, community policing tool. Now that we have sufficient and adequate facilities, I am sure the police will be able to find more police who may be interested in working, from time to time, in the mounted branch. The Mounted Police patrol our markets, main areas such as the CBD, but, importantly from the perspective of a suburban electorate, they are terrific in going down our laneways. They can look over the fences and see what is happening there. They are a very effective tool in linking up with operational police and they are very welcome when they go past our local schools and shopping centres. You see residents responding very positively to them, coming out and having a chat, which sometimes leads to important information being fed through to the police about what is happening in the area, which enables police to become a very effective policing tool.
It is great to see additional resources continuing to flow into police. This has seen a significant reduction in crime rates throughout our northern suburbs, particularly in excess of a 20% reduction in break and enters which, as we know, when Labor came to government was spiralling out of control under the previous regime. We have arrested that and turned it around and we are now getting significant reductions.
Another project funded in this budget that has made a real difference on the ground in Karama and Malak is the critically important funding of the Harmony Project. The Harmony Project has been previously referred to as the itinerants’ project. It provides a systemic, multifaceted approach to dealing with the issue of traditional community indigenous Territorians coming and living in the urban areas of the Territory, whether it be Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek or Darwin. These people come in from their communities for a range of different reasons, as we know, whether it is health reasons, problems in the community which means they have to come in to town while things settle down in the community. Whatever the reason is, often there is a delay before housing is available, if they apply for housing at all. Some choose not to apply for housing because they do not want to lose their housing allocation back in their community. So, we have what has historically been called the ‘long grass’ situation occur; that is people living in the parks, suburbs, or in the scrub or bush surrounding the suburbs.
Anyone who knows my electorate, knows that Karama/Malak is surrounded by beautiful natural savannah bush and scrub grasslands and it has been a very popular place for indigenous Territorians to create a camp and camp out there, particularly during our beautiful Dry Season when they do not have to put up with the tropical rains. That has led to people coming in and literally living in and around the suburban shopping centres of Karama and Malak in the past. I say happily, in the past, because those scenarios have fundamentally changed as a result of this Harmony Project. What we managed to do is provide the resources within the department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs for the program, linked and run through the Larrakia Nation, specifically in Darwin, which is the area which I talk about. I do know this budget provides for a massive expansion of the Harmony Project throughout other areas of the Territory. However, I will focus on Darwin, specifically on my electorate of Karama and Malak, and how the Harmony Project has assisted there.
The funding of that project means that we have the Larrakia Nation working and coordinating with Mission Australia, a non-government organisation, which provides vans and staff to patrol various areas. Mission Australia also has a phone call service and responds to call-ins of which my office is a regular part. If we notice people hanging around or gathering in particular areas, whether it is parks or the shopping centres, we are straight on to Mission Australia. Mission Australia come out in their vans, they talk to the people, find out what they are doing, find out where they are living and start to deal with the broader issues of accommodation, transport and, often, in these scenarios, you have children in these gatherings and groups. I know we are making head roads into the important area of getting these kids into school.
The Harmony Project has an accommodation area near Karama, an area called Knuckeys Lagoon. That has been a very successful accommodation project. It has meant that we have managed to get families out of living in the scrub. We had one family grouping there of grandparents, adult parents and children. There were about 14 children, ranging in ages from babies through to about 14 or 15 years of age. They had all been living in the dirt and scrub for upwards of nearly a year. They are now living in appropriate housing accommodation in Knuckeys Lagoon. The terrific news is that the kids are now attending school. For the teenagers, it is their first significant foray into education. The response so far is that school is ongoing. It is pretty well almost always daily for them and it is a significant breakthrough. I know how hard the Harmony Project staff have worked to get many of these breakthroughs occurring. I congratulate Camilla Demaso in particular, who is running the project at the moment; she is working very hard on behalf of government.
Particularly in the electorates of Karama and Malak, I know we could not have gone as far as we have in such a short space of time without the dedication and thorough work of Ken Hockey, who spends his days, including his weekends and, in fact, often including his nights, dealing directly with indigenous Territorians. He is proactive, and it is a very positive experience. Fortunately, Ken is able to speak the language so is ideally suited to work with these community people. He sets up a lot of their traditional activities. I know that the women have been doing a lot of art and craft work. I have seen some of the results of their handiwork, and it is magnificent. The men have gone off shooting and have been cutting down saplings and making didgeridoos and the like. He has helped some of the women into employment as guides on local tour buses, and the men are starting to create and manufacture artefacts. It is a very positive range of outcomes because when people have these opportunities to be industrious and to have fulfilling lives, they are less reliant on alcohol and substance abuse. Quite a few have actually gone off the grog and stayed off for some months now. I know that is largely due to the dedicated efforts of Ken Hockey, and I recognise and thank him for that.
However, Ken would not be doing the job he is doing without the government funding in the budget to provide for this Harmony Project. Fundamentally, you could have all the best workers in the world, but if the government dollars are not there to fund these projects, they would fall over. The Harmony Project is increasingly funded by the Martin Labor government. I congratulate Cabinet for continuing its efforts to ensure that we have an appropriately funded Harmony Project. We will see enormous benefits flow from this project as it grows over the years. It gives me a lot of great heart to think that we are finally paying attention to vast areas of need that had previously been neglected, or had been the subject of some political bashing about the way people were choosing to live their lives.
It is interesting that, if you start to work with people, treat people with some dignity and respect, you get tremendous turnarounds in attitude and behaviour from them. I have seen this first-hand in the indigenous constituents of Karama and Malak. Problem housing scenarios that had occurred in the past are now no longer problem housing scenarios. The shopping centres, which were in the past difficult to actually get through the front doors, are now quiet suburban shopping centres once again, for the first time in many years. This has not happened magically, as you have heard; it has been a large and highly-funded government initiative with significant work by a lot of people. Those people know who they are: I congratulate Mission Australia, Larrakia Nation and the workers of CDSCA and the Harmony Project; they are doing a fantastic job. They do not do it on their own, they do it with a tremendous amount of help from the Northern Territory police, and I congratulate the police for the role that they are plying in ensuring the Harmony Project works.
I know that we are now providing those additional links to Alternative Education. I noted earlier in my budget speech that it is critical to see the funding recurrent in this budget for the new initiative of Alternative Education. Alternative Education is tapping into those children who really have not been in the education system. For example, we have a 13-year-old in my electorate of Karama who has probably been to school about three times in the last two years. He is, obviously, far behind his peers in his educational abilities; he will not survive in a normal school environment because he is just too embarrassed about the level of his illiteracy. However, Alternative Education is now working with him and he is starting to learn. It is not in a school environment. These children need to be taught outside of a school environment first of all to get their literacy and numeracy up to standard where they can then re-enter the school. It is great to see the five or so teacher positions funded within Alternative Education. I have had several meetings with them about how we can work together as a community to assist them in the work they are doing.
In the other area of community safety, it might sound a small thing but to those of us who live in the area, it is a very large thing. I congratulate the government for the $100 000 put into providing a left turn lane from Mueller Road into Vanderlin Drive. It has been a bugbear. As local members we all go out and fight for our electorates, but Mueller Road is a very busy link road between the heavily used arterial roads of McMillans Road and Vanderlin Drive. The more work we can see on improving the safety of that area of Mueller Road/Vanderlin Drive the better. $100 000 is money that will save lives, and will provide a safer community.
I urge Darwin City Council - we have a new council - to revisit the issue of Mueller Road. I cannot count the number of letters I have written to Darwin City Council regarding the need for safety devices along Mueller Road, whether it is chicanes or roundabouts at the top end of Calytrix Road and Koolinda Cresent. It is disappointing sometimes when you drive through urban areas and see a vast difference in the provision of services from one area to another. I have stood in this House before and said it, and I will say it again: if you look at the Darwin City Council works program it seems to stop at about Jingili. I would like to see the funding get extended out into the northern suburbs in a fair and equitable matter, spread fairly throughout the wards, and we would be given far safer communities if that was the case.
In wrapping up, I also congratulate the government for providing $8m to construct a new low security gaol at the Darwin Correctional Centre. It is a sad aspect of government success in reducing crime rates that we have, in fact, increased our prison inmate numbers. Many of these inmates would be far better suited to a low security gaol that will be constructed by this government. I would like to see an enhancement of correctional programs. I know that the Correctional Services Review provided by government will go a long way towards addressing many of this outstanding correctional services needs. I have many prison officers living in my electorate, just as I have many people who have come in and out of our gaol systems. Recidivism is still a problem in the Territory. How we deal with our indigenous prisoners still requires far greater work. I know that there is a great deal of desire on the part of the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General and funding from this government to tackle those problems.
I know the member for Nelson also has some of his own issues in that respect, but it is not an area that we are sweeping under the carpet. If you look at funding in this budget, it is an area that government is committed to addressing. It will take us many years yet before we get all of the solutions put into place that are definitely needed in the correctional services area.
Regarding correctional services, I have to say they are doing a terrific job. It is great to see the correctional services teams come out and work with community. I have some proposals at the moment whereby our local Neighbourhood Watch and local kids hopefully will be having the opportunity to work alongside some of our low security inmates in some community enhancement programs. We can work together and we can provide a scenario where our low security prisoners are embraced back into the community which, in studies in Australia and overseas, shows that it reduces recidivism. I commit, as a local member, to continuing to work with the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General on the issues of correctional services. Ultimately, it provides a far better society.
The Territory Budget overall is a budget that provides jobs, growth, and enhanced lifestyle. It is a fair budget, an equitable budget, it covers the needs broadly right throughout the Territory, whilst funding all the necessary programs and highlighted areas that I have provided in this speech. I commend the budget to Territorians.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about the Budget for 2004-05, the Martin Labor government’s spectacular budget. Often when you stand up in parliament, you have to try to summarise, or give an idea, about what people are thinking, needing and wanting out in the community. Part of our job as representatives of the Northern Territory public is to try to articulate within the budget process what Territorians want or need and then try to deliver on that. This is nearly an impossible job, but I believe that this budget has done a fantastic job in attempting to deliver the good news to everyone in the Northern Territory.
I recommend that all Territorians, particularly in the Millner electorate, have a look at the budget papers and in particular the Budget Highlights. You will find that the budget papers are made up of Budget Paper No 1, which is the speech by the Treasurer. The Treasurer, the Honourable Syd Stirling, has done a fantastic job in managing our finances to ensure that we continue to prosper and develop an economy that is strong and active, and addresses and meets the needs of Territorians in the future. We know, owing to the makeup of the Northern Territory, that we have a very diverse population, people from many different nations and communities in urban, rural and remote areas who face unique problems that have to be addressed.
As a politician, a member of the Martin Labor government, this is our opportunity to say this is our blueprint for the next 12 months and, in some cases beyond, about where we want to head and what we want to do. We articulated our vision in an appropriate manner. There are different areas that people need to look at: health, education, police, etcetera, which are the core businesses of the Northern Territory government. We also assist business as much as possible by encouraging them and giving them confidence that they can invest in the Territory economy and prosper, earning a great return for their investment. We have listened to Northern Territory business, and I will go into that in a minute.
As individual members, we also represent our constituency. My constituency is the electorate of Millner which covers the Darwin RAAF Base, Ludmilla north, Coconut Grove, and the suburb of Millner, and I mention these separately, but of course part of the Millner electorate is three indigenous town councils or urban living areas, being Bagot Community, Kulaluk community and Minmarara. It is fantastic to be representing this group of people. If people know the background of the residents of Millner, many of them are long-term Territorians. They have been born and bred in the Territory or have lived here for many years and have known me or my family for a couple of generations. I am honoured to be representing this group of people and the electorate of Millner. I will go into detail about what we have been able to achieve for the electorate of Millner in a minute.
One of our visions that we are trying to achieve, as a Territory Labor government, as members of parliament and for me as representative of the Millner electorate, is to create an environment of less tax which will encourage more jobs. We also wish to continue to fight for our great lifestyle. These are the themes: less tax, more jobs and great lifestyle. We have been able to deliver record tax cuts to business. We have listened to business. Business plays an important role in the Northern Territory economy. As we know, most of the revenue that the Northern Territory government has to spend comes from Commonwealth grants; I believe the last figure was around 80% to 83%. However, we also receive revenue from local businesses, which make up between 17% and 20% of our revenue. One of the things that was coming back to us from business was that they were paying too much tax. I am very proud to say that the Martin Labor government has acted in response to this, and in the 2004-05 budget, it includes tax reductions worth $6.7m, increasing to $16.1m in 2005-06. These reductions will support Territory business, jobs growth and the Territory economy.
So, what do they make up and what do they contain? First of all, payroll tax was a theme that was coming through loud and clear from the business community, which I am proud to say that we have responded to, and their argument was that they were paying too much payroll tax. We said, okay, the payroll tax general exemption threshold is to increase to $1m over the next two years. From 1 July 2004, the threshold will increase from $600 000 to $800 000, and then to $1m from 1 July 2005.
We have also said that the HIH levy on workers compensation insurance policies is to cease on policies written or renewed from on 18 May 2004 – fantastic. Debits tax is abolished from 1 July 2005; again, another great result for business. This will mean that the Northern Territory has the most competitive environment for small business across Australia. Business should be encouraged by that, that government is acting on their concerns and is attempting to adequately assist them in being successful throughout the Northern Territory in their business activities.
I notice in the Budget Highlights where it says that independent assessments confirm that the Territory is the lowest taxing jurisdiction in Australia, raising only 90% of the national average in total revenue collected. It is the lowest taxing jurisdiction for small business. This is in black and white. You can check out the Budget Highlights. It is fantastic for Territorians.
Another commitment by the Labor government is always, and people know where the Labor Party comes from, is the commitment to the worker, to create job opportunities. What we have managed to do in this budget is to commit record spending on infrastructure which will support jobs growth. During 2004-05, a total of $441m will be spent on capital works, minor new works, and repairs and maintenance. And as we know, historically, business and small business have relied on government spending to survive, probably more than anywhere else in Australia, and this is due to the fact that we have a small population. We are spread out over one-sixth of the land mass of Australia and this makes certain business activities within the Northern Territory unique to the Northern Territory.
Some of the capital works in the 2004-05 program will include: $25m on the East Arm Port; Darwin City Waterfront redevelopment, including a cruise ship terminal, totalling $8.5m; and stage 1 for two new major tourism projects - $10m on the Mereenie Loop Road in Central Australia and $4.5m for the Litchfield loop in the Top End. Tourism plays an important role in the development of the Northern Territory, and the continuing prosperity of the tourism industry is vital to all Territorians. I look forward to these projects being very successful.
One of the key initiatives to promote job growth include: $160m allocated over three years to implement the Jobs Plan. This is building the Northern Territory work force to deliver and enhance training and skills development to support apprentices and trainees, and to provide incentives for employers; there is $7.5m additional funding for tourism in 2003-04, increasing to $10m in 2004-05 to boost the industry; $1.53m to progress the government’s indigenous economic government strategy; and $2.1m to facilitate training for indigenous people.
As has often been said in this House, the reality is that 28% of the population of the Northern Territory is of indigenous background, or identifies as indigenous people. This could be more as many indigenous people, unfortunately, do not come under the traditional recording system. I believe that the population is much larger in a number and also a percentage sense. Historically, for a long period of time, indigenous people have been outside of the economy of the Northern Territory, in the sense that they have not been active participants. If you said to a business person: ‘There is 27% of your business that, unfortunately for whatever reasons - complex though they might be – is not participating in the profits of you business. Would you invest in that area to increase your productivity?’ Of course, the answer would be: ‘Yes’.
As a government, and community, we must invest in projects that will encourage indigenous economic development. The reason being we will get a return. This larger proportion of a people live in the Northern Territory, born and bred - and no doubt their children and their children’s children will be born and bred in the Northern Territory - and what we need to do is make sure that people are getting proper training and proper education levels, so they can get meaningful work and contribute not only in the tax regime, but also in the disposal income side of things for the Northern Territory. Complex as these matters have been for a long period of time in the history of this country, we need to invest in this area. I believe that both sides of parliament, including the Independents, would support the concept of investing in indigenous economical development for the greater gain for all Territorians.
Another major theme within the Budget Highlights is the great lifestyle. The Territory’s great lifestyle will be maintained through a range of government’s expenditure and initiatives in 2004-05: over $6m will support major events; budget for sport over $19m; over $32m for arts, music and libraries; over $90m for parks, environment and heritage; over $142m for housing; and a record budget on health, education and police.
Obviously, the 2004-05 budget confirms the Martin Labor government’s commitment to key priorities of health, with $635m for Health and Community Services; $541m for Employment, Education and Training; and $172m for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. The response to the need for better health can never be underestimated. The ongoing debate for many governments, not only throughout Australia but throughout the world, is how much money should be spent on health. There is no doubt that the unique circumstances of the Northern Territory make health a high priority. Ill-health, unfortunately, affects our economy in a very negative manner. I thank my members for their commitment to this continued investment in Health and Community Services.
The $540m for Employment, Education and Training is fantastic. Employment is the backbone of any economy, and real employment has real outcomes of creating self-esteem and a disposal income. One person employed often means that one family is looked after and this takes the responsibility away from government, therefore employment has to be a high priority. As we know education levels on average throughout the Northern Territory, unfortunately, are quite poor. We need to improve our education and training standards.
The effort of $172m for Police, Fire and Emergency Services - I have a long history with the fire services in the Northern Territory and I know they are very pleased with the money that we are spending there and the work that we have done with the fire services. No one in this House can deny the effort that we have made with police and the results are to be seen by the recruitment of new police, not only throughout Australia but importantly from locals. Young men and women are asking me all the time about how they get involved with the police. This is fantastic. It is just a whole change of attitude towards the police force. What we are seeing is the results of that - lower crime rates, higher incarceration rates of criminals and more effective policing. The Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services has been doing a fantastic job.
We have mentioned the infrastructure program of $441m, a capital works program of $239m with estimated expenditure of $118m, capital grants spending of $40m, Power and Water capital expenditure of $52m and repairs and maintenance spending of $167m.
One of the interesting things about the budget papers, which has been commented on by many people, is that it also contains regional highlights, in particular, Alice Springs, Katherine, Palmerston, rural Darwin, Territory-wide, Arnhem and Tiwi and Barkly. This makes it quite easy reading and also summarises the effective work that we have been doing right across the Northern Territory.
As the member for Millner I am proud of some of the individual victories we have had in the budget process for the Millner electorate. Since I have been involved with Millner one of the highlights is being able to work with Millner Primary School. We have been able to achieve a number of government-assisted programs, and I was proud to announce that at the last school council meeting, in particular, the open computer laboratory and refurbishment of the classroom of $5500; an ablution block for the caretaker costing $38 000. At the moment I understand the caretaker has to use interesting shower circumstances; construction of Stage 2 of the covered area in the Early Childhood area, $58 000; and upgrade of the maintenance officer’s room, $13 850. Over $100 000 of minor capital works to the Millner Primary School which forms the backbone of the electorate of Millner. The principal, staff and school council do a great job there ensuring that the kids of Millner go to school, an initiative reflected in the fact that we have very low crime rates in our area. We have a pretty harmonious community there and I believe it is a reflection of the good work being done by Millner Primary School.
We were also able to get some minor capital works for Nemarluk School which is a school for children with special needs: the refurbishment of the safe time out area of $4800, and new play equipment of $30 000. We are also able to do lining and drains between De Latour Street and Bagot Road of $20 000; a left turn lane in Skelton Street of $90 000; Bagot Community enhancement of $50 000. We have putting in a lot of work at Bagot Community, and one of the reasons is that it is one of the largest urban living area for Aboriginal people in Darwin. It is an historic community that has been there for many years. The community plays a strong role in the Ludmilla area. Between 300 and 400 residents live in Bagot Community, life-long Territorians. In the past, they have been left out in the cold. However, work we have been able to do in the last couple of years has brought them back in to the fold, back to obtaining resources from the Northern Territory government and we have also been able to access resources from the Commonwealth government. Bagot Community is moving forward and there are some really good workers there, good people, good families and they need all the support they can get.
There is $175 000 for Rapid Creek shops beautification, which is in the 2003-04 Capital Works program. It is really staring to take shape now. This is going to help with the Sunday markets at the Rapid Creek Shopping Centre, where I am a tenant. This forms the backbone of our community on a Sunday and brings everyone together from all over the Darwin urban area, to enjoy the longest running market in the Northern Territory.
As people know, I am a mad Aussie Rules fan. AFL games to be played at Marrara Oval and Traeger Park will be supported by the Northern Territory government with a figure of $290 000. I know they love the lights down at Traeger Park. I was lucky enough to visit there recently. That allocation will make members from Central Australia very happy, in particular the Minister for Central Australia, who is doing a fantastic job in Central Australia. Sports grants are to be increased by $0.5m to $5.58m, which is great.
Again, for the whole the Northern Territory, 120 new police recruits, which is also fantastic.
The extra money allocated to the DEET Accelerated Literacy Program is $1.25m. One of the schools that it is based at is Ludmilla School, and they do a great job there. I urge all members to visit to look at the good work they are doing in Ludmilla in their ability to lift young children who, for many reasons, have fallen behind in their reading and writing skills and through the Accelerated Literacy Program have been able to get a big boost and have progressed well.
There is an increase to the School Grants program of $3000. The Royal Darwin Hospital 12-bed hospice will be completed by 2004-05 with $3.6m allocated. The critical care unit to be completed with additional beds has been allocated $2.5m and Darwin Birthing Centre, design and building of $2.5m.
It is not often that we can talk about all the good things that government can do, but one of them is the opportunity to deliver a budget that is representative of the needs of all Territorians. One of the budget papers is the highlights for the Darwin region. I would like to pick up on a couple of those that are very important to future of the Northern Territory. There is $7.52m for Charles Darwin University and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and Territory Programs. This is an investment in our future that needs to be made. I hope and genuinely feel that we will have support from all members of this House that this investment is required to improve future outcomes.
Other highlights are the $78.71m for the operation of Police, Fire and Emergency Service facilities in Darwin, including the Peter McAulay Centre; $13.18m for Courts to administer justice in Darwin and the Palmerston rural regions; $2.8m for Child Protection Services to work with families at risk; and $1.75m for Darwin and Casuarina Community Corrections for adult and juvenile clients. I believe that this is an issue we all need to address, not only the punishment of people committing a crime, but also the understanding that rehabilitation has to be the long term goal so that we do not have to keep punishing people who keep offending.
In trying to create better schools $59.82m is to deliver primary and early childhood education in 19 urban schools. There is $46.45m to deliver secondary education to six high schools; and $18.89m assistance to non-government schools. My wife works in a non-government school at St Paul’s, and I am sure they appreciate that. They look at our budget and they look forward to the assistance that we give them. There is $4.5m for indigenous education for teaching initiative programs to improve education in indigenous students. Again, it is an investment for the future and I am sure that everyone supports that.
In summary, I reiterate that what we are trying to do, as best we can, is represent the needs, wants and wishes of all Territorians. The theme of this budget is to create less tax, more jobs and continue our great lifestyle. We are hoping to deliver record tax cuts for business, record infrastructure spending, boost our great lifestyle, and record health, education and police budgets. It is our charter as government to spend monies that come to the Northern Territory in an appropriate manner. I believe that we have done it strategically, and with a plan. Much of the credit has to go to the individual ministers who represent Cabinet and represent portfolios. And, of course, much of credit has to go to the Chief Minister, Clare Martin.
Ms CARNEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This is about the second or third time the member for Millner has referred to members of the government by name. Even the member for Millner knows that this is not right, and I would ask you to pull him up.
Dr Burns: Don’t be patronising.
Madam SPEAKER: No, that is correct. You will refer to members by their electorate, not by their personal name. We have had this over and over again. Member for Millner, you know it. Please refrain from doing it.
Mr BONSON: Yes, Madam Speaker. I will refer to the Martin government’s budget. Our Chief Minister has proven her ability to strategically think into the future, to lead by example, to have a team behind her. Unfortunately, the opposition has not been able to keep a team game together, and this is often shown in their performance.
The Martin Labor government has attempted to best represent all Northern Territorians, has attempted to best spend the monies, given by both the Commonwealth and raised within the Northern Territory, for the best interests of Northern Territorians. We have answered Territorians’ call. We have created a budget which delivers less tax, more jobs and a great lifestyle. I look forward to representing the constituents of Millner in the future, and I hope that they all appreciate and love our budget.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I rise today to give my support for the Martin government’s 2004 budget. It is a great budget. It is a budget for all Territorians, as the member for Millner just advised the House. It is a budget for all the Territory, because it puts a record $441m towards an infrastructure budget. The budget is aimed at creating more jobs, better training and higher growth for Territorians. It also looks at issues of the environment, with more money for parks, and it goes to balancing growth with lifestyle which is an important part of this budget. It gets right down to the core elements. It builds on our Territory lifestyle by providing more funding for recreational fishing, better sports facilities, and bringing world class events to the Territory.
This budget also looks at our lifestyle - life in the cities and in the bush - and looks at the justice issues around it. We go to the heart of justice with more police on the beat. We also look at the other bread and butter issues of health. This budget has funded some great programs in Health and Community Services. This budget also looks at education, and we have a record education budget which puts Territory kids first - another great part of the Martin government’s overall strategy for building a better Territory. It does all this while still delivering record tax cuts for business, and makes us the lowest taxing jurisdiction in Australia for all small business.
When I say this is a budget for all Territorians I mean that, and particularly for the people of Sanderson. In my reply to the budget last year, I mentioned the location of Sanderson on Shoal Water Bay. We have the suburbs of Wulagi, Anula, Northlakes and Malak and in those suburbs we do not have any factories. We just have urban roads and we have a couple of schools. We do not have any hospitals or anything similar. You look at the budget and think: how does this affect it? What we do have in Sanderson is families - families which make up the Territory. Because of this budget and its wide-sweeping addressing of the issues for the Territory, it means that the people of Sanderson will benefit; there will be an incremental flow-on provided.
When I talk about the infrastructure, if you have a look around town, there is $2.5m for a new cruise ship terminal at Fort Hill Wharf, and $398 000 to upgrade the facilities at the Territory Wildlife Park, there is the infrastructure in the wharf precinct, the Litchfield Road loop at $15m, with $4.5m for 2004-05. What this great infrastructure spend means is jobs - jobs for Territorians, jobs for people in Sanderson. The people of Sanderson also realise that others in the Territory should benefit from this, and one of the great benefits of this infrastructure boost, I believe, is the $38m spend on the Mereenie Loop Road over three years, with $10m in 2004-05.
In January this year I travelled the Mereenie Loop Road. I met with people at Ntaria, Kings Canyon, and the managers at Uluru, and spoke to them about what the upgrade of the Mereenie Loop Road meant. They all stated a wish that if only it could be brought forward from the 10-year cycle to a shorter period, because what it will mean is more jobs in Alice Springs, at Uluru, at Kings Canyon, and it will open up Ntaria and Palm Valley and all these tourist attractions along the way. It will mean an extra night stay in Alice Springs, and that means that the hire car companies will now be able to hire out two-wheel-drive vehicles instead of four-wheel, and it will just be a great injection of funds. You not only have from this budget the one-off funding which will be spent in that year on the Mereenie Loop Road and the consequential years, you will have an ongoing incoming revenue from the higher spend from the tourist dollar. This is the great thing. This is how this budget looks forward into the future. That is just one example.
We could also look at Litchfield in the Top End. Once again, those same things apply. The sealing of the Litchfield loop road will mean an easy one-day trip for the people of Sanderson. My preferred way of seeing Litchfield these days is that I go down and stay at Batchelor and then access the park. When I come back, it is another two hours drive, so I overnight in Batchelor. With this opening, I and many other people in Sanderson will be able to travel down just for the day, have a great time at Wangi Falls or at Buley Rockhole, and then get back in the early evening. This is a tremendous initiative of this government. It is one that has been long coming and is one where I believe the Minister for Tourism has listened to industry needs, listened to community needs and has said, ‘Let’s get on with the job, let’s get it done’. I commend the Minister for Tourism for this great initiative.
When we talk about more jobs, better training and higher growth you have to go to the Territory Jobs Plan. There is $165m targeted for that and what this means for the people of Sanderson is that there will be more jobs open for their kids. This has been a failing of the previous government. I believe when we came to office there were only 20-odd apprenticeships going in the Territory. This is a real indictment. The opposition goes on about jobs and having to bring people in. The fact is that they did not look to the future. They did not do anything to try to get us prepared for these great infrastructure projects of the future, for the rail and all the new trades and engineering expertise that will be required there, the port facilities and what that will mean.
It is pretty common knowledge that over the next 20 or so years we are going to have a whole range of new jobs that have never been here in the Territory. Blind Freddy could see that was going to be the case and should have been planning for it. The opposition when in government did not plan for it; did not look to the future. We, on the other hand, are taking steps. The Martin Labor government is taking steps to make sure that we look to the future, but we also keep an eye on the present.
We are doing that by putting $11.75m to support 2400 apprenticeships and trainee positions. We see the public sector as an incubator for employment and training skills that smaller private enterprise firms may not necessarily be able to afford. The Territory government is committed to employing an extra 200 public sector trainees over three years. For 2004, 79 new apprentices will have been employed. The plan, as I see it rolling through, is that these new apprentices coming into the public sector, into this employment incubator, will pick up these skills and then they will migrate out to private enterprise. The flow-on effects, the vision that is encapsulated in this program and the forethought of funding it, is quite innovative, particularly for the Territory. It comes as no surprise to me as this is an innovative team. It is not moribund like the opposition, so I am not surprised by this initiative. I applaud it and think it is wonderful and would like to see it progress even more.
While we look at building up the skills base in the bigger cities, in the cities of Palmerston, Darwin and Alice Springs and the town of Katherine, we do not neglect regional remote training needs. This is not a government that is focussed on one centre or another. This is a government for all Territorians and that means right across the board. It means from the border near Camooweal all the way to the other side of the Victoria River and down the other side to Alice Springs, and all the way up to the Tiwi Islands. This is what we are in government for and that is why our budget is spending $2.1m on training programs for indigenous people living in remote and regional area. When we look at great infrastructure programs and projects into the future, and particularly the pipeline going from one side of the Territory to the other, taking it over to Yirrkala, over to Nhulunbuy, this is going to be a massive project. We have to start getting skills out into the communities and the bush areas now.
I value that project as great for the Territory, more so than what I believe the LNG will be. It will be more than what the rail will be because what this does is that it moves the industrial base away from the city and puts it out to the remoter areas of the Territory. I take it that my colleagues also look at it that way and by putting $2.1m to be spent on training programs, we are showing the people in the bush that we believe there is a future out there for them and we are going to do everything that we can to assist.
When I mentioned what we are going to be doing for the environment, the environment is held very closely and dearly by people in the Northern Territory. We are custodians for the rest of Australia of these great natural assets that we have. We are custodians not only now, but into the future. No one group owns it; the people of Australia do. We cannot take it away from the people on whose country these natural assets are found on who have close cultural and religious ties with it. These must be respected and honoured, as it is with any other group in respect of their significant icons. We should remember that in all our dealings.
In this budget, additional funding to Territory parks ensures that they continue to be first-class natural recreation and tourism resorts. The highlights include $1m in Minor New Works for upgraded visitor facilities across park systems, including Nitmiluk and Chamber’s Pillar. I would have liked to visit Chamber’s Pillar but I did not have the time. The road in there requires caution and it is not a road – it is not the Finke Desert Race when you go to Chamber’s Pillar; it takes a lot of driving skill. I am glad to see that people will be rewarded for the effort of travelling out there with these Minor New Works upgraded visitor facilities.
Gregory National Park, in the member for Daly’s seat, has been $500 000. It is an opposition-held seat, but it is in the Territory and that is what this budget is all about. It is not about the northern suburbs, the Labor seats. It is not about not giving anything to the CLP-held seats. We recognise the people of the Territory all need specific funding for different areas, and we do it. I should point out that Leanyer Recreation Park is not in the member for Karama’s seat, nor is it in the members for Sanderson’s or Wanguri’s seat. It is not in a Labor seat. It is in the member for Drysdale’s seat. I have not seen him down there. I am not aware that he has been there. I do not even think he even knows where it is these days. However, it is in the member for Drysdale’s seat. To have the opposition at times say: ‘Oh! This is all Labor seat stuff’, well it is not. It is the member for Drysdale’s seat. Let us always remember that. We spend money where it is needed, not based on political affiliation.
Members interjecting.
Dr Burns: Wooliana Road, power to Dundee.
Mr KIELY: That is right. It goes on. In this budget there is $1.3m for ongoing maintenance of Darwin’s George Brown Botanic Gardens. The George Brown Botanic Gardens are a great asset to the community. I look forward to the money being spent there, and to watching the trees grow.
Dr Burns: Member for Port Darwin.
Mr KIELY: Yes, that is the member for Port Darwin’s seat. It just does not end.
Madam Speaker, our lifestyle is an important and cherished part of our life that we all want to preserve. We are an expanding, growing community and we do have to get the balance right. This budget looks to try to achieve that balance. However, with development, some things will have to be given up in order to take advantage of others. That is the way of the world. Cultures and communities do not stand still.
This budget includes funding for further upgrades of recreational fishing infrastructure and facilities as part of the $1.5m boost over three years, including - and here is another point - $500 000 for improvements for Palmerston anglers and better access to Mule Creek and Rocky Creek near Borroloola. In regard to Palmerston, the Leader of the Opposition has been talking for years about this. In fact, I think it was the previous government who said: ‘No, we are not doing anything out there’. It has taken a Labor government, which does not have any seats out at Palmerston, to say: ‘Yes, you have a point there. Let us try and help you out.’ Once again, it sends the message loud and clear that this is a budget for all Territorians.
We are still working on improvements to the Buffalo Creek and Dinah Beach boat ramps, and they will be completed in 2003-04. I am looking forward to that. Anyone who has been to the Buffalo Creek ramp …
Dr Burns: Dinah Beach. That is the member for Drysdale, isn’t it?
Mr KIELY: No, Dinah Beach is the member for Port Darwin. Buff Creek …
Mr Baldwin: Buffalo Creek, not Buff Creek! That is what he calls it.
Mr KIELY: You see, here is a man, a superannuant, sitting here, collecting his pay cheque. The member for Daly would be better off to take his 50% pay cut and get out and get his super and join the ranks out there and get on with his private enterprise instead of coming in here and …
Mr Baldwin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, would you get back to the debate.
Mr KIELY: … instead of coming in here and …
Madam SPEAKER: It is nearly time for lunch.
Mr KIELY: I know that he should deserve respect, Madam Speaker. But the fact is that the man in an iron lung would not know how to get and work. We have had a look at your work rate, and I tell you what, you would not get a sweat up.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: Well, yes, we know about you taking photos out at Casuarina beach, boy. We know how you get a sweat up.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: I would like to say, Madam Speaker, who choked?
Mr Baldwin: You get back to Buff Creek, mate.
Mr KIELY: That is right, I will get back to Buff Creek. I will get down there, because we have done things down there to make that a safer …
Mr Baldwin: You do not even know where it is.
Mr KIELY: Listen to them. But I am not going to bite on those offerings from the outside, it is just amazing. The fact is I do know what is down there. I do know about the cars that have been broken into, time and time again, because nothing has ever been done there. It has taken the Labor government to get in there, put in security lighting, a good fenced area, and make it more secure for those people who go out to fish during the day, to know they can come back and find their car in one piece. Never, never in all the time down at Buff Creek has that ever been done – never.
The member for Daly, who I do not know would have any idea what really goes on in town, he is better off to be superannuated out to his little property down somewhere …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, no personal remarks, thank you, just get on with the speech.
Mr KIELY: You are right, Madam Speaker, I did not mean to be offensive in any way. However, the fact is that at particular place we have made it a better recreational area for fishermen.
Mr Baldwin: Have you been to Katherine? They all leave when he comes to visit.
Mr KIELY: Madam Speaker, I should say that if I am not allowed to make personal remarks, surely that extends to others.
Madam Speaker, we have better sports facilities. We are actually funding up the soccer facilities, something which was promised by the last government – well, actually, I saw the signs go up. That is all I saw. When we talk about the soccer stadium, and it was an election promise from the previous government, let us not forget the basketball stadium. How many times was that promised? How long did it take to deliver? It took a Labor government to actually deliver that basketball stadium, not the previous government. Same as the soccer; all they delivered were two signs in the ground. We are delivering $0.5m worth of headworks this year.
Madam SPEAKER: Can we get back onto the statement, please.
Mr KIELY: Madam Speaker, we will be doing more work down there over this year and the next in the sporting precinct at Marrara. It is a great facility.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: I did not see anyone from the opposition down there with a trowel. I did not see anyone on the cement mixer when anything was getting done. However, if he reckons they were down there and they built it, good on you, because there was some shonky workmanship down there, and I think you ought to be sued for some of it.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: Really? How much did this Labor government have to put back in to get that Marrara Stadium up to scratch, so that we could bring in AFL games? This year, we have had the Wizard Cup. We have an AFL premiership match in 2004, thanks to the extra money that this Martin Labor government put in to Marrara. We have the international cricket coming to Marrara. And why? Because we know the facilities and what they require. We just do not put up edifices and walk away. We look at recurrent funding and we address it, and this has been done in this budget.
Look at these other initiatives this year in the budget. Men’s Hockey Test Series, we have that coming; international cricket; soccer international challenge in August; the AFL premiership match, as I mentioned. We have the Alice Springs Masters Games, which is a great initiative, and we are right behind that again. The Wizard Cup coming up. The NBL match – I do not remember that being a CLP initiative. And, of course, the Arafura Games, and let us hope that we do not have any international mishaps, as we did with the last games.
Ms Lawrie: SARS.
Mr KIELY: SARS. Let me just say as an aside, that in 2001, when this government came into power, we had some events which were global in their ramifications and the economy that they hit. We had local calamities with Ansett going down. It was the Martin Labor government which steered this Territory through some pretty hard times. We had a good, strong Cabinet which kept it together. I tell you, that is not something that we believe, and all Territorians believe, would have happened with the other team. I would like to congratulate right now and put on record, my thanks to Cabinet and the Chief Minister for getting us through all that.
However, where has it got us? To this great budget, the one that I am addressing right now - just in case it slipped your mind. We have $300 000 for BassintheGrass, which was an election commitment, and this is the second one. Members may recall that the previous government were targeting the more senior Territorian and their entertainment taste. We had nothing at a government level to look after our youth. We had quite a number of events happening, but they were for wealthier, mature Territorians - nothing for youth. This year, we are pleased to announce $300 000 for BassintheGrass. I cannot name all the groups, unfortunately. I fall into that senior category now and, as much as I admire what is going on and I would love to get there, I would stand out like a sore thumb at such a venue. I am past it, unfortunately, I believe. However, that is not to say that I do not recognise the need for such an event, and I will give this my 100% support.
I know when I have doorknocked and I have mentioned BassintheGrass, that the youth of the Territory are really excited about this. We are hearing figures of something like 6000 attending this year. I am tipping more. Based on the crowds that they are getting at the acts at the casino these days, I believe we are going to get more there. BassintheGrass in future will, I believe, become as big an event as the V8 Supercars. I would like to see them all strung together as a big package. This is a marvellous event, and I commend the relevant ministers and their staff for getting it together. This is a great initiative for youth, and one that cannot be underestimated.
This budget delivers on its promise of more police on the beat. The roll-out of the Martin government’s $75m Building our Police Force Plan continues in 2004. As we have said time and again, this plans for there to be 200 more police on the beat by 2006. Sanderson is not alone in, at times, having incidents of social mishaps and unrest. I know when members of public contact the police, they are very responsive. The other day, I was approached by a constituent about an accident in Wulagi Crescent, where a vehicle killed a dog. They were very distressed about this. I phoned the Casuarina Police and spoke to the OIC, and referred on the e-mail that I had received from the constituent, and they were responsive. The police met with the person who lodged the expression of concern, and addressed the issue which was that they lodge a greater police presence on Wulagi Crescent with speed cameras and incentives to have drivers comply with the speed limit.
This was unheard of four years ago - impossible to achieve. It was not because the police did not want to achieve it four years ago; they did not have the resources to achieve it. This year, and in future years to come, thanks to the budget and the budgets that will follow on from this, we are able to achieve that. Full commendation to the Police Commissioner and, once again, I must pay my respects and my thanks to Cabinet. All these things do not happen in isolation. They need Cabinet behind them in order for these things to come to fruition. We have a good police minister in the member for Wanguri. He is doing his hardest. He is working hand in hand and supporting our police, not attacking them, not blaming. You do not, in this day and age, have a society free of crime, but if you stack us up against any other jurisdiction in Australia, I reckon we will come up trumps.
We still have high records of domestic violence and unacceptable levels of crime against a person. One needs to look at where these are happening, look at the issues that have led to this and we need to tackle the causes of crime now. This government is doing that and it is doing that through this budget and it will keep on doing it through on going budgets.
Madam Speaker, in the few moments left to me I would just like to say that we are putting more money on our hospitals. When we look at the health of the Northern Territory it is not just saying let’s look at the health of Sanderson, let’s look at the health of Drysdale, it is a matter of looking at the health of the Territory. With that in mind, this government has committed $11m for Alice Springs Hospital over the next four years to expand its intensive care high dependency unit. I, too, Madam Speaker, share your despair and your disquiet with the unprecedented attack on the medical staff and on the institutions in Alice Springs. It is time ...
Mrs Miller: Not on the medical staff.
Mr KIELY: It was on the medical staff, member for Katherine. It was quite clear that you and your colleagues over there were attacking Alice Springs Hospital and those people in it. You raced off to the paper. You sent out newsletters. I think it is deplorable. I would have hated to been related to those poor people who passed away in Alice Springs Hospital and then to see that headline. There is no excuse. There is absolutely no excuse and a public apology should be issued by the Leader of the Opposition. He should show leadership in this matter. The Deputy Opposition Leader who comes from Alice Springs, whom I am sure is showing signs of leadership now, whom I believe would make a better leader because he will stand up for his people. He stands up for his town. At times he gets it wrong but I believe you will probably find that he would make a better leader.
Mrs Miller: Oh, who is listening?
Dr Burns: Well you picked him as deputy.
Mr KIELY: That is right and I think you made a good choice.
Madam Speaker, we have $11m at Alice Springs Hospital; $900 000 for Alice Springs Hospital fire safety upgrade; $3.6m for a new hospice at Darwin with $2.5m for the birthing centre at Royal Darwin Hospital and that is a great initiative - my partner is a midwife and she is pretty excited about that; $2.5m expansion of Royal Darwin Hospital’s accident and emergency department; $750 000 for Tennant Creek Hospital - which I know that my colleague, the member for Barkly, will speak on. He is very excited about that. The member for Katherine should be very excited about $39.7m in total for Katherine, Gove and Tennant Creek hospitals. Right across the board we are looking ...
Mrs Miller: I would prefer the $39m for Katherine Hospital.
Mr KIELY: There you go, look, the member for Katherine is excited. I can hear that in her voice.
Madam Speaker, there is so much in this budget that I would like to commend. Sanderson has been a winner in this. We have shade going up at Wulagi Primary School at a cost of $40 000; and $120 000 is also being allocated to Sanderson High School for shade. This is fabulous. I am happy to see the initiative that I put forward to my colleagues. I have campaigned to get grants and programs in schools and we have seen a great program initiated under that.
In short, I thank the Treasurer on behalf of the people of Sanderson. I thank the leader, whom I think has done a tremendous job. I sincerely l thank my Cabinet colleagues for the work that they have done in making a budget that will take the Territory on to the future; will make it a safer, better, healthier place. This is the penultimate budget more than likely for this term of government. I look forward to the ultimate. The next one coming up will be a fantastic budget; one that will build on the work. This is not a one-shot-in-the-locker government. We are here for the long haul and we will take the Territory with us.
Debate suspended.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I move that the Chief Minister and this government be censured for failing to respond to clear excesses by the CEO of Health …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order! I did not catch the …
Madam SPEAKER: All right. Could you commence again, please? We will have the motion circulated. You have circulated it, Leader of the Opposition?
Mr MILLS: Yes. I am happy to read it out and then circulate it.
Madam SPEAKER: All right. Off you go. Start again because there is a bit of noise.
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, I move that this House censure the Chief Minister and her government for:
failing to respond to clear excesses by the CEO of Health who issued contracts,
without following normal procurement guidelines, to Metis Consulting which is
headed by a personal friend and colleague of the CEO;
allowing the procurement process to be undermined by that CEO so as to cause a
loss of faith by Territorians in the integrity of the procurement process;
covering for the CEO in a way which is clearly meant to prevent further investigation
and scrutiny of the contracts awarded; and
lying to Territorians about the results of a report investigating the arrangements between
the CEO and Metis Consulting.
Madam Speaker, in the mind of government would be: why would we be moving to censure? For those of us who have entered this Chamber with a fresh memory of a document produced by those who sit on the government benches of their high ideals contained within their Good Governance document, they purported that they would introduce a whole new era. The level of patent hypocrisy demonstrated in the dealings with this specific issue warrants the highest order of censure on the grounds of hypocrisy.
You will stand and say whatever it takes to advance your own interests, with no regard for issues of substance, issues of perception. You will do whatever it takes to advance your own cause and you will say whatever you wish to say to continue the perception, which you hold most dear, to appear to be something extraordinary, something special. By holding that position, I believe in the face of the Northern Territory community and, in particular, those who have a great interest in preserving the very integrity of the procurement process have much to lose by the actions of this government.
We need to look at why the ground rules of procurement are so important. These ground rules have been corrupted by the actions of this government. The integrity of the procurement process has been seriously damaged.
Before I go on to prosecuting that specific issue, I draw members’ attention to the report, the fulsome report, which justifies and vindicates the position of the minister in supporting the actions of his CEO, and he flops out the report which is meant to satisfy us all: all is above board; all has been done according to appropriate guidelines.
The report that has been tabled has contained at the bottom of it, page 17 - we have been given page 17, and it is called a report. That report does not in any way clarify the concerns in the minds of opposition, or anyone who seeks to have confidence in the procurement process - page 17, with three points on it. That is a despicable disgrace, to stand in this House, and to purport this to be a report, in the face of those who are charged with the responsibility of reporting actions of this government, and actions of the opposition, which are to advance and prosper the best interests of Territorians, you could stand, with a straight face, and present something called a report, which is just page 17 of the report. Could we have the rest please, minister, where are the other pages? Where are the other pages? This is not a report containing three points.
We satisfy no-one with a genuine interest in preserving the integrity of the procurement process and, in fact, assisting you in your task of discharging your responsibilities to assist those who desperately need a sound procurement process so that they can genuinely build a plan for the future, knowing that that procurement process is not going to work against them, in the interests of mates of your own - to advance and prosper the best interests of your own mates.
We learnt today in this Chamber that it does not begin and end with that which we raised initially. We had the minister responsible for procurement outline a range of other contracts that have been taken up by Metis Consulting. The most disturbing, is the argument that we need to go outside the Territory to find these kinds of expertise, particularly in the investigation into Fire and Emergency Services, a case that could be put and probably supported. However, when you look at the range of contracts, the small ones that have been awarded, that have not gone through normal processes, not gone through normal procedures, you see a CEO who has lied to the media, and then corrected and altered his story.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That is outrageous.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, I do not think that you can really make that statement against the CEO. Withdraw it.
Mr MILLS: We have a CEO who has made public comment that was in this position, and then, when challenged, changed the story to something quite different, altered the story, when confronted with facts.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This censure is on me.
Mr Mills: Correct.
Ms MARTIN: If you want to accuse anyone of lying, accuse me of lying. That is where the censure is. To single out public servants like that is outrageous.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, you understand?
Mr MILLS: Okay.
Mr Stirling: You never touch public servants, you grub.
Mr Elferink: You just blamed the public servant, you moron.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Macdonnell, withdraw that.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Withdraw!
Mr Elferink: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition.
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Speaker, I was overcome by him calling me a grub and I have been ordered to withdraw that word today.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, withdraw.
Mr STIRLING: It was directed at the man who needs counselling, Madam Speaker, the member for Drysdale, and I withdraw it.
Madam SPEAKER: Just withdraw. Before we go on, Leader of the Opposition, please do not accuse public servants.
Mr MILLS: Well, the issue here is that those who have ultimate responsibility for the integrity of the office of CEO are held accountable. I hold the Chief Minister accountable. What actions did she instigate to address the change of mind of a CEO when presented with confronting facts, which compromised his first position? What did the Chief Minister do? The Chief Minister is the one who is in the hot seat. The Chief Minister is the one who is accountable. The Chief Minister is the one who signs off on the role and position of a CEO.
In having an interest in attacking and being critical of senior public servants, the Treasurer should take a leaf out of his own book and have a good look at it because, even whilst in government, do not dare, Treasurer. I would caution the Treasurer to look back at previous Hansards, and see actions and utterances of the Chief Minister and the Treasurer, whilst in opposition, and then stand here is blatant hypocrisy to espouse a position that once upon a time they found no comfort in.
In recent times, we had the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing very happy to call Mr Peter Allen ‘stupid’ publicly. The minister called a senior public servant ‘stupid’ publicly …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Madam Speaker! There is absolutely no …
Mr MILLS: You have said it publicly, and you stand here and lecture us!
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Leader of the Opposition, there has been a point of order called.
Mr STIRLING: I appreciate this is a censure motion but he cannot make unsubstantiated allegations such as he is making now.
Mr Mills: You said it publicly.
Madam SPEAKER: If you feel that you have been misquoted …
Mr STIRLING: I referred to a decision as being ‘a stupid decision’.
Mr Mills: Who makes decisions? Boards do not make decisions, people do.
Mr STIRLING: A decision as being a ‘stupid decision’, and I want that on the record, because I do not want to be misrepresented by the Leader of the Opposition.
Madam SPEAKER: Fair comment.
Mr MILLS: People make decisions. However, now we must tread very carefully when it comes …
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: People make decisions, and that comment was directed to a person. These people cause the opposition to move the highest level of motion against government because we want to preserve the very system that our small business operators, Territory businesses and the very operation of the public service hang upon - the integrity of the procurement process.
In your own documentation, Chief Minister, your procurement policies are based upon the following fundamental principles: open and effective competition. Territorians must be sure of value for money and must see that decisions of the procurement process result in the enhancing of the capabilities of Territory businesses and industry; issues in environmental protection; and ethical behaviour and fair dealing. These are not just glib principles that are written on a piece of paper to be treated with contempt. They are the undergirding principles that must not be corrupted or violated in any way. And they have; they have.
The process that has been outlined to the House and to Territorians who were listening at Question Time would reveal that this has not been an open process, nor has it been effective. Perhaps it has, but none of us would know, particularly when we look at the nature in which the business was conducted with a firm that has again and again been awarded contracts in a manner which would cause concern if it was conducted in the broad light of day. It has not been conducted in the broad light of day, and thank God for the opposition which was able to draw attention to these issues on behalf of Territorians.
Of course, the CEO of Health is in total agreement with those principles. In a press release issued on 10 April 2003, regarding the issue of Mr Moo, who appeared to perhaps have a conflict of interest, the CEO at the time entered the arena, expressing grave concern that we must preserve the very principles of the procurement process. He said:
He went on further to say:
So, it is stated publicly. When questions have been raised about potential conflicts of interests, Mr Griew, the CEO, makes very clear his position and soundly applauded.
We go further. In a memo from the CEO dated 21 February 2003, he sends out a reminder to all staff:
I wonder whether that was actually written, read and taken to heart by the author?
Was there a conflict of interest when Metis Consulting was appointed to become the agent to effect business at the directing, or the suggestion, of the CEO? Was there a conflict of interest? When the CEO was initially approached he claimed there was no conflict of interest in regards to his relationship with the director of Metis, Mr Gration. Mr Gration said, ‘The two of us have only shared a professional relationship and that was about five years ago’. That was the statement when the issue of conflict of interest was raised. He was reminded, however, that the relationship between the Metis directors and Mr Griew was in fact far more advanced. Mr Gration was the president of the AIDS Council of New South Wales and in fact hired Mr Griew in 1998 as his CEO. Oh dear! But more than that, the friendship with Mr Griew and Mr Gration was that Mr Griew attended Mr Gration’s wedding. He forgot to mention that potential conflict of interest. He forgot that bit. Forgot that in fact he appointed me at one stage to be CEO of the New South Wales AIDS Council, ‘I forgot that too.’
Also, the other director of Metis, Susan Harben sat with Mr Robert Griew on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in New South Wales. They sat together at the same time. There is an intimate link between this CEO and the directors of Metis; a direct link that was denied in any substantial nature in the first instance. Upon being visited with certain details that would challenge that, the CEO changed his position.
That is the issue that has been brought in here. In the first instance, the Chief Minister as the appointee of a CEO is held accountable. What did she do in discharging her responsibility as the Chief Minister with the CEO? The primary issue here is: if there was a conflict of interest, did the CEO make that plainly clear to those who are responsible?
I will outline issues related to ethical behaviour and fair dealing in the Northern Territory government’s own Procurement Policy Guidelines. You need to satisfy yourself, Chief Minister, as to whether these were followed: someone procuring a service must be able to buy without prejudice, seeking to obtain the maximum and ultimate value for each dollar of expenditure. They must subscribe to and work for honesty and truth in buying and denounce all forms and manifestations of commercial bribery. You must make patently clear any potential conflicts of interest which would give rise to concerns of the gaining of direct or indirect pecuniary advantage, to gain improper advantage for self or others, to act partially or inconsistently with their obligations or cause harm to other people, businesses or the Northern Territory government.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr MILLS: ‘It was reported in the media. I commissioned a report and I have had a look at it and I am fully satisfied and that is the end of the case’. Today, under close scrutiny we had the minister then table the report and, in fact, it is no report at all.
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: There is no doubt it. Also uttered by the Treasurer today, quietly, I must admit, were his concerns and he has almost gone so far as to say he is going to discipline the CEO because, yes, obviously there has been a little bit of a problem.
Ms Martin: He didn’t say …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Madam Speaker, I will not be misrepresented in this Chamber.
Madam SPEAKER: No. Leader of the Opposition, I think you should rephrase that.
Mr MILLS: All right. Well, words to the effect of ‘I will express my displeasure’. It is a clear acknowledgement of an embarrassment for government. Let us go further. We now find, revealed in this House today, there are probably six or seven contracts issued to Metis Consulting. We now know …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr MILLS: We have already established that the conflict of interest was not adequately dealt with and, in fact, was covered up by the CEO. We go further, and we see that Metis Consulting is a company made up of two directors who have clear links to the Australian Labor Party. Mr Chris Gration was an advisor to Richardson. Richardson, a fixer, an interesting chap. He was a senior staffer for federal ALP senator, Graham Richardson. Richardson is known to be the champion of the people, probably a wonderful role model for Mr Gration, writing a book, Whatever it Takes. Mr Richo, this high order consultant and great mentor to Mr Gration, also has a very close connection to Mr Rene Rivkin and a few other sordid connections.
We go on to the other director. The other director, Susan Harben, is a failed Labor candidate. They are genuinely Labor mates. Then we learn today of the lists of contracts that have been issued to your Labor mates with normal process not being observed to any satisfaction.
Now we visit Central Australia, and what do we have in Central Australia? This pair of Labor mates have been given the job to investigate the operation of your office in Central Australia at a cost of $40 000. Six staff, I understand. What on earth would they be looking at? Why would you need to have a certificate of exemption issued to your own operation in Central Australia, and a list of six?
The actions of this government have caused the procurement process to be compromised. You have shown that the actions of covering up for inadequate procedure has caused the procurement process to be something that would cause anyone who wants to have confidence in your ability - and obviously Territory businesses have a very low level of confidence in your capacity to inspire them and to lead them into a meaningful future - you have the capacity now to turn your attention to the procurement process, and do whatever it takes to see whether you can do jobs for mates. Given the responsibility of pulling the system up and preserving some confidence in the system, you failed to do so, and you turn your attack back on the opposition and tell us that we are attacking CEOs.
What we are talking about is, in fact, the very process of procurement must be preserved. We call upon you, Chief Minister, to act to deal with this issue immediately and to promote some kind of security and integrity within this system. Chief Minister, you have dealt with the minister over there sitting beside you, who has issued a paper for the parliament to have a look at and, in fact, it has no amount filled in. What a deceitful way of operating, minister.
The censure stands. I believe that this Chief Minister needs to act to deal with the rising level of corruption within the Martin Labor government, and with the corruption that she has perpetrated upon the procurement process so that Territory businesses are having increasingly diminished confidence in her capacity to deal fairly with issues of procurement by this government.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I have been censured a few times in this parliament - not very often, I must say - but I would have to say, and it is difficult to cast judgment on a colleague, but to the Leader of the Opposition: that is about the worst performance I have ever seen. It really is the worst performance. We had four points of a censure. He did not explain or justify any of those points. He had half an hour and, simply, just talked gobbledegook. I really tried to listen to what he was saying, but he just worked himself into a froth of rhetoric and posturing, and thinks that because he has says something it must be true. You actually have to prosecute a case in a censure motion, not just …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: You do have to prosecute a case. A censure motion, as we said yesterday, is the most serious motion you can bring into this House, and you do not do it lightly.
In this censure motion, if the Opposition Leader had somehow prosecuted or convinced anyone that there was any truth in any of this, I would take it very seriously. However, I have never heard such a load of rubbish in this House in a censure motion and tomorrow I mark nine years in this House. I have never heard such a load of rubbish!
Let us go through the points because, when we have censure motion, it is a serious motion. Yet, we end up with the Opposition Leader running out of any arguments and starting to talk about Rene Rivkin! This is a very serious motion, and whenever anyone is censured, they should take it very seriously. We do not accept them lightly. Yet, in this one, not one element has been prosecuted, there was no justification given for any of any of the allegations made, and what we have ended up with again, is the opposition slurring people at the senior level of our public sector.
Because he is casting anyone as a ‘Labor mate’, we now have the Police Commissioner as a ‘Labor mate’, we have the head of Employment, Education and Training as a ‘Labor mate’, we have the head of the Chief Minister’s Department as a ‘Labor mate’. Do you not respect the integrity of our public sector, and the integrity of the procurement process which is in place - which you have not been able to demonstrate has been breached and not been followed in Health? You did not demonstrate that. You went on for half an hour, and all you said was - and you said it here …
A member interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Let us look at one: I and my government are to be censured for ‘failing to respond to clear excesses by the CEO of Health’. Let us just deal with that one; that is the first point. Over the last two years, there have been three contracts to do with management in health which went to Metis Consulting – three contracts. If you add up the sum of those you get $66 000. If I add up the sum of the consultancies that have gone out in management in Health over the same period, it is over $2m - $2.25m. How can you demonstrate ‘clear excesses’ in Health, in the management area, if three contracts have gone out worth $66 000 over two financial years, and the total sum of those other consultancies that have gone out is $2.25m? That is not clear excesses. Therefore, the first point you made is simply wrong. It is wrong.
Now dispute it with me. Is it clear excesses …
Mr Dunham: $66 000 is a lot of money.
Ms MARTIN: $66 000, granted, is considerable funds. Let us put it …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: We can actually go to a certificate of exemption to get the help you need. I believe we could go to that. Clear excesses is the first point that this government is being accused of. Yet, $66 000 out of $2.25m worth of consultancies on management that were rewarded over two financial years, I do not think would persuade anyone of the argument of clear excesses. Therefore, that is wrong – one point gone.
The motion then says: ‘failing to respond to clear excesses by the CEO of Health who issued contracts without following normal procurement guidelines’. That is wrong again! Normal procurement guidelines were followed. Certificates of exemption do happen. There are procedures by which they do happen. They happened under the CLP government. They happen under every government around Australia.
And the guidelines were followed. Again, that component of this censure motion is wrong and was not prosecuted by the Opposition Leader in his censure. He did not present any proof, he did not put any documents down that said it was not followed. What are you alleging? Just because you say it happened does not substantiate a censure motion. It does not substantiate an argument in here.
The two clear points that you are trying to make in that first point of the censure are wrong. We cannot take it seriously: clear excesses without following normal procurement guidelines. There are not clear excesses. $66 000 out of $2.25m is not clear excesses. It is not. And that is just to do with management consultancies and Health, just specifically. Procurement processes were followed. And you have not prosecuted that they were not. The proper processes were followed.
The second point: by allowing the procurement process to be undermined by that CEO - the CEO of Health - as to cause a loss of faith by Territorians in the integrity of the procurement process. Where did you substantiate that? The proper process was followed. There were no clear excesses. This point is simply rubbish! Gone, like your first point!
The third point is: by covering for the CEO - this is saying to me that I am covering for the CEO. But how? How am I covering for the CEO? - in a way which is clearly meant to prevent further investigation. Well, what am I supposed to investigate? The procurement process was followed. The work was done. The results were achieved. What am I supposed to investigate? If you can prove that there is something to investigate, I will investigate. But I am not covering up anything. It is a transparent process and the process was followed. If you could demonstrate, Opposition Leader, what I am supposed to be, firstly, covering up, and then what I should investigate, I would do it. But you have not demonstrated that.
Then the fourth point: you are saying I and my government should be censured because I have lied to Territorians - I have lied to Territorians. I have lied to Territorians? How have I lied to Territorians? - about the results of a report. How did I lie to anyone about a report? The minister said, ‘I will look at whether there is any issue that I should be investigating,’ and that was done. You are so obsessed with saying that there was something wrong done, what you want is a report of many pages. It did not happen, that is the report written out.
Mr Baldwin: Have you had a look at that? That is what you asked for as a report. Well, you should be sacked as a minister if that is what you reckon …
Madam Speaker, I ask the Opposition Leader: what is he looking for?
Mr Dunham: The truth! Tell us the truth!
Ms MARTIN: The procurement …
Mr Dunham: The truth! Have a go! Bite the bullet! Try and be open, transparent, honest.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, I have not lied to Territorians. They did not demonstrate that I lied to Territorians. He does not like a report that was done about the allegations that were raised because he did not like the result of it. Now, how have I lied? You have to be very careful when you write a censure motion that it actually makes some level of sense. I have not lied. The details of the report have been given by the Minister for Health to you …
Mr Dunham: No, one page. One page. That is not the report. That is an abridged report!
Ms MARTIN: That is it. That was the extent of it. You are determined to allege some kind of - when the Leader the Opposition says, ‘There is corruption’ and there was another line about ‘decay’ in the system - you did not demonstrate that that happened at all. The only thing you have demonstrated is that you do not like Metis Consulting. That is very bizarre.
As I said in Question Time, and let me repeat: I had never heard of Metis Consulting, these ‘Labor mates’, I had never heard of them nor met them until I met them in the Cabinet Room. We were very concerned about the state that the previous government had let the fire service get in to. The fire service in that report was virtually described as dysfunctional. We had hard working officers trying to do their jobs within a dysfunctional system and it was very alarming. The Police Commissioner recommended Metis Consulting with a certificate of exemption following the procurement process. They did a superb job. When they came to Cabinet - and I should not be talking about what happens in Cabinet - to talk to us about what they had found and what they were recommending. Cabinet, to a person, was very impressed with the way they had approached it.
I will repeat what I said in Question Time: we had a service that really did have split between the officers on the ground and management, and a very serious split, and the way that they were able to engage all involved in finding solutions for how we moved the fire service forward was impressive. It was a very complex exercise. You are dealing with people’s aspirations, their anger over the past, and wanting to be good fire officers. They achieved that and I was impressed with that.
The only thing that you have been able to continually repeat in here today is to somehow or other is insist that using Metis Consulting is wrong. They did a fine job on the fire service. To try to imply that somehow being used for three contracts in Health, that followed the proper procurement process, that added up to $66 000 our of $2.25m, is just so absurd that I am surprised I have been able to speak for as long as I have.
We reject entirely the slur on Metis Consulting, the slur on the CEO of Health, the slur on all those public servants involved in the procurement process, the slur on the Police Commissioner, the slur on everyone else you are trying to slur in your obsession to find something corrupt in what has gone on. It simply has not.
While I am on my feet, I will sort out the issue of that certificate of exemption for the police. As I said before, the document that was tabled in this House was the one that came from the minister’s office. As everyone who has been a minister knows, the minister signs the agency minister part, and there is one more part. Here it is, the one that comes from procurement, properly signed. There was a second page, and we will table this, just to clear it up. I apologise to the member for Macdonnell if he did not get all the information. It was not intended to leave it out. This is all the documentation. Madam Speaker, I will table this one. It is important that the full documentation is tabled just in case it is part of the argument being used to say that the proper process was not followed. It was. The sum was clearly spelled out there.
This is an absurd censure motion. At the heart of it is muckraking and the real slur is cast on our opposition, and that is very sad.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, what webs we weave when first we set out to deceive. The Chief Minister has asked us to prove whether or not she is lying in this House today. She has just brought it upon herself. She has pulled the ceiling in on herself because the Chief Minister has just risen in this House and told us that this document that was tabled by the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services came from the minister’s office and was a working document on its way back to the police station. There is only one problem: on the day that this tabled, it was faxed from the police department to the minister’s office. It was not the minister’s working document. It was the Police Commissioner’s document.
The fax number that it was sent from was 8922 3385, which means the Chief Minister has lied to Territorians. If she wanted some evidence, I turn honourable members’ attention to that particular document.
It is very important that we also look at the procurement process. Why would we have a procurement process? We have a procurement process so people have faith in one of the biggest spenders in the Northern Territory. Who is the biggest spender in the Northern Territory? The Northern Territory government. It sets out a series of policies, and those policies have a very simple function. The function of those policies is to make sure that Territory companies and businesses have faith in the integrity of that particular system. It is important and imperative that this policy process be adhered to. It says so in the Accounting and Property Manual of the Police and Fire Services themselves, that all employees, in purchasing at any level, must bear the above principles in mind. And what are those above principles? Amongst other things, ethical behaviour and fair dealings.
What does this procurement manual have inside it? It has the ability, in extraordinary circumstances, to go outside the processes outlined in this manual. The process is that we go to tender, if we have businesses in the Northern Territory, whether we prefer them - that is what this document says - and we are going to put those contracts we have for the people of the Northern Territory out to tender. Then, in very rare instances, in cases of urgency, we may occasionally issue a certificate of exemption so that we have to step outside of that normal tendering process. Metis Consulting has received certificate of exemption after certificate of exemption. During Question Time, what did we ask for? We asked that the government lay on the table all of the paperwork in relation to this so we could be comforted, as Territorians, that the procurement process had been adhered to, and that certificates of exemption were issued in a proper manner. How much paper have we seen hit the table here, Madam Speaker?
Ms Carter: One page.
Mr ELFERINK: One page. The only other piece of paper that we have seen is the completed piece of paper work that was issued, signed off on, the blank cheque, from the Chief Minister. This was a blank cheque from the Chief Minister that the minister for Police signed.
Mr Henderson: Wrong.
Mr ELFERINK: I pick up on the interjection. ‘Amount of delegation, blank’. Blank. He signed it, his signature is on this, and it has no amount of on it at all. Interestingly, in spite of the fact there is no amount on this cheque, the Procurement Review Board still had not signed off on, but the minister had. This is ethical dealings? This is how you run your household accounts? If I ran my household accounts with this system, I would be going to the wall; in the most dreadful way would I be going to the wall. I cannot believe that this minister has the audacity to come into this House, sit here and say, wrong, wrong, wrong, when in actual fact, right, right, right, and he is condemned by his own signature.
Let us look at Metis Consulting, this wonderful and fine organisation which is so good at what it does that there is no point in even going through the normal tendering process. What are we going to do? We are going to get them in, and we are going to give them certificate of exemption after certificate of exemption. Well, who is it? It is Chris Gration; that has been well established. Who is Chris Gration? Well, guess what? He is Mr Griew’s former employer in the AIDS Council of New South Wales. Can I establish that? Yes, I can. I go to, interestingly, something called Left Link, the information manual for the left in Australia, and it is interesting that have on their web site the Sydney Star Observer article from 5 November 1998, which refers both to the ACON - AIDS Council of New South Wales, President Chris Gration, and his CEO, Robert Griew. They know each other. Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table this.
Leave granted.
Mr ELFERINK: It is not just some little association. This guy was employed by the very guy he is now dishing out contracts to. That is what is happening. Guess what? When the NT News goes to see Mr Griew and asks, ‘What is your relationship with this particular fellow?’, what is the response from Mr Griew, the CEO of Health? ‘It is entirely professional. Whoops! I neglected to mention that we are actually best of mates and he came to my wedding’. It is an important question to ask: did Mr Griew tell the Procurement Review Board about his relationship with Mr Gration at the time that he was seeking the certificate of exemption. We have been assured by the minister for procurement that it is all mickey mouse and it is all sweet. However, what the minister did not say - and this is what I love about listening to this government - was that the Procurement Review Board was aware of the conflict of interest that existed at the time that the certificate of exemption was issued.
I would be willing to lay London to a brick that Mr Griew told the Procurement Review Board exactly what he told the NT News. And what did he tell the NT News? ‘I do not know the guy’. I do not think that you can have stronger denials unless your name is Simon, and yet, when only a minor inquiry is run: ‘Yes, this is the guy who also came to my wedding. I forgot about that’. This is not ethical behaviour.
Mr Moo from the Department of Health was pilloried publicly and held up as some sort of example as to how not to go through the process of procurement in the Health Department. Mr Griew put out a press release in April 2003 and said: ‘You should not only be at arms length but be seen to be at arms length’. We have a series of standards which are applied by the very same CEO that say: ‘Conflicts of interest include sporting, social, religious, political and other personal relationships’. Gee whiz! If that is the standard that the CEO of Health is applying Mr Moo, then it is the standard that he applies to himself. Does he apply that standard to himself and his own senior management? Absolutely. Why? Because he puts out a piece of paper, and what is on that piece of paper? ‘All senior management will fill out a declaration of interest form’. That is well documented and it comes with a nice little piece of paper with his face on it. I have it lying around her somewhere and I will table it when I can find it.
However, the fact is that he, too, should have filled out such a declaration of interest. Do you think he has? Do you think we will see it in this parliament? Do you think it will include the name Chris Gration as a personal friend? The very person to whom he is dishing out tens of thousands of dollars worth of contracts? I wonder.
Let us talk about the other director of Metis Consulting. There are only two. I have checked this. You can get that from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s details. Who is the other director of Metis? Interestingly, the other director is Susan Harben, former Labor candidate for the seat of Bligh in New South Wales in 1974. Guess what her field of expertise is? She organises the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in New South Wales - or used to organise it. What makes her so good? What makes her experience so valuable that it is worth stepping outside of the normal procurement and tendering process? What makes her so valuable that she is able to review a paramilitary organisation such as the Fire Services that you are prepared to stand outside the normal tendering process, sign a blank cheque and say: ‘Absolutely, here we go’? I will tell you what makes her so valuable. Guess what? She was a former Labor candidate for Bligh, and that is what it really comes down to.
What else do we hear today? We hear that Mr Griew and Ms Harben are not strangers. They had met each other. Can I prove this? Well, actually I can. I can prosecute that case, too. Guess what? They shared a seat on the New South Wales Administrative Decisions Tribunal. Isn’t that interesting? Both directors of Metis Consulting are linked to the Labor Party, one being a former advisor to Graham Richardson, the other being a Labor candidate; one used to be a former employer of the other; and then, all of a sudden, they are starting to pick up contracts. Not only are they picking up contracts, as we heard today, in Health and in Police - where the minister is prepared to sign blank cheques - but also they pick them up in Education and the Chief Minister’s office.
So, what do we have here? $40 000 for Metis Consulting to review an office in Alice Springs which employs six people. The CLP when in government ran that office with two people and was managing quite fine. This Chief Minister has an office of six people and it is so stuffed up and so poorly managed that they have to get a consultancy firm in and tell six people how to run their job. Once again, if this is how I ran my personal life and my personal finances, I would be seriously worried. But these people are not running their personal lives and their personal finances; they are trying to run the Northern Territory.
Let’s have a look at the other one that we just heard about, the Education one. There were three tenderers when I checked the DCIS web site for that particular job: a company called J2 Consulting; Metis Consulting which ultimately got the job - by the way, did they get a certificate of exemption for that? I would like to know - and number 3, Charles Darwin University. Here is an interesting question. Here is somebody who used to be an advisor to Graham Richardson, here is somebody who used to organise the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney next to the Charles Darwin University. What are they going to be required to do? What is the Education department’s request? The request is: we want you to organise the strategic plan from 2005 to 2009 for indigenous education in Central Australia. That is the contract. Let me see, who would be better to run that sort of inquiry? Let me think. People who used to organise parties in Sydney or the Charles Darwin University? Of course, it is the party organisers in Sydney. Of course, it makes such sense. Perfect sense! No it does not. It is rubbish.
That is why this censure is being brought on. It is because this government is lying about what it is doing. This government is trying its hardest to look after its Labor mates in this little company and it is dishing out contracts left, right and centre to achieve it. Left, right and centre.
Surely the Charles Darwin University has the capacity to deal with these sorts of things. Unless I am very much mistaken, Charles Darwin University has a campus in Alice Springs. Whereabouts is the Metis office? Well, it is actually in Victoria but they do have an office now, because they realised they were under pressure, in Cullen Bay. What is that? A post office box; maybe a telephone on a table. What exactly does the office in Cullen Bay look like? I would love to know their phone number …
Mr Henderson: Sure you don’t want to go down there with a camera?
Mr Baldwin: You would know about that, wouldn’t you? You know about cameras. Taking cameras, stealing your way into places.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Daly, withdraw.
Mr Baldwin: I withdraw that he steals.
Mr ELFERINK: Let’s think about this. Here is the minister for Police, the signer of blank cheques, who got out there one day and said, ‘We are going to make the Territory proud. Here is a campaign. I will launch a campaign organised by a Territory business called Territory Proud’. What is the thrust of this particular organisation? It is to give Territory businesses jobs. Oh dear, I hear interjections from the minister for Police repeatedly about how wrong I am. I would like the minister for Police to stand up and explain to the House why the Charles Darwin University is capable of missing out on contracts in favour of a Sydney or Victorian-based company when he has the audacity to launch Territory Proud. This is disgusting in the worst and most reprehensible way.
The Minister for Health smelt a rat. How do we know he smelt a rat? Because he ordered a report. The curious thing is, on one hand he is saying the CEO of Health has nothing to explain but I have asked for a report into the matter. How does that work? If the CEO has nothing to explain, full stop, that is all that matters. The fact is that he ordered a report. That is what he told the NT News. What do we get when we ask the minister to table the report in the House today? What do we get? Page 17 of something! That is the detailed report that this minister says he received from an investigation into the impropriety of his CEO. What is it? Exactly what I could have pulled out of the Government Gazette. There is nothing in this.
The fact is we are censuring not only the Chief Minister but this whole government because the whole government is complicit in this. You have a minister for procurement who has refused to investigate breaches of the procurement process. You have a Minister for Health who has sought reports where he says there were none required. We have a minister for Police who signs off on certificates of exception which do not have amounts filled in and have not been signed off by the Procurement Review Board. We have a Chief Minister who has lied to this House about the source of the document that she tabled; the fax number on the document the minister tabled was a fax number from the Police Department. So, the Chief Minister has told a big porky, Madam Speaker, and her nose, like Pinocchio’s, grows every moment. We have a Health minister who has lied to this House about nothing else but the report that he never received. Why did he never receive one? Because, despite what he told the Northern Territory News, he never asked for one. He thought this whole problem would go away.
The whole problem is not going away and will not go away. This group of people have deliberately set out to try to cover their tracks for looking after a particular company which is winning contract after contract, after contract. How are they winning them? Through certificate of exemption, after certificate of exemption, after certificate of exemption.
It is frustrating to sit here and listen to a Chief Minister who says: ‘I listened to the Leader of the Opposition and that has to be the worst censure motion that I have ever heard.’ Her defence was 12 minutes. It was a rambling ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what I’m doing.’ Without all her little old minders around her, she is quite naked and quite lost. It reminds me of a little school girl lost in the forest of reality.
The fact is that this government has tried to cover up for short comings amongst its own ministerial ranks. It has failed to police its procurement policy. It says that it believes in a procurement policy. It says it believes in Territory firms, but it looks after Labor mates down south. That is why they have lied and that is why the system of procurement this government adheres to has become corrupt.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Speaker, I am dismayed that they are still sitting there giggling and laughing because this is serious. It goes to the very integrity of this government. This government is supposed to believe in things like honesty. That is what they were elected on. They had a contract with Territorians saying: ‘We are going to deliver a better standard than anything we have ever had before’. What is the standard that they deliver? Blank cheques, lies, deceit and untruths about how the procurement process works. This government does not deserve to be censured. This government should resign and relieve itself and Territorians of the burden that they have come to represent.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, I assume that the member for Macdonnell hit a few trees on the way down to Finke. They were real helmet-ringers, I can tell you. This is the most amazing conspiracy theory I have ever heard brought into this House in my eight-and-a-bit years.
So far we have involved - let me see: there is me, the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services; the Chief Minister; the Commissioner for Police; the CEO of Health; Paul Tyrrell, the CEO of the Department of the Chief Minister; and the entire Procurement Review Board all roped into this because it has been through them, too, so presumably they are all part of this sort of game.
I tell you what: the Labor Party recruitment campaign must be going pretty well! They are all in! They are all our mates now! We are really going to be able to look after ourselves now because we are all in the tent. That is fantastic.
If I can deal first of all with this comprehensive and informative report that I have tabled here. When I asked my department to provide information about these procurements, I will tell you why I did it. It did it because a fine CEO was getting dragged through the mud by scurrilous attacks by the opposition. I wanted to make absolutely sure his name was protected in the actions that he took on this matter. When I went to my agency, I did not ask for a 20 page report, I did not ask for leather covers on it, I did not ask for gold lettering on the front. I simply wanted to see that the proper procurement processes had been followed in the three contracts that had gone through Health, seeing the opposition had raised it in the last sittings.
What you have in this report is the information that was passed back to me as a result of the requests that I made.
Mr Dunham: That is it? How do you know he declared an interest? Who is in charge?
Dr TOYNE: The information on this page is enough to say all of the procurement processes were followed.
Mr Dunham: No, it is not. It does not tell you where he declared an interest.
Dr TOYNE: I will tell you why. Here is the procurement process for this particular way of procuring services:
get the next bit –
So, unless the opposition wants to claim that the Procurement Review Board is part of some sort of conspiracy that they are alleging …
Mr Dunham: No, we want to ask if he declared his interest. Get it straight. Did he declare his interest? Is it in your report?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale!
Dr TOYNE: … you are now impugning the members of that review board along with all the other people who you want to sully.
The other step, which is reported in this information, is that the NT Industry Capabilities Network was also consulted. So the member for Drysdale is bleating about ‘where are these local companies?’ The NTICN said there are no companies with the capacity to do the sort of work that is being required in these consultancies.
So, we have taken care of the member for Drysdale. He can be quite assured that no local company missed out on this work because there were no local companies to do this …
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, allow the minister to finish.
Dr TOYNE: I think you need to button your lip and let us get on with it.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, just cease for a moment. Member for Drysdale, would you stop your interjections, you are becoming too noisy. Let the minister speak.
Dr TOYNE: The Procurement Review Board then assessed these certificates of exemption and, in the case of the three contracts concerned, the chair of the Procurement Review Board confirmed that the exemptions were properly issued, and for the proper reasons under the procurement guidelines. Unless the opposition wants to progress this to say all of these people are in some sort of conspiracy, there has been nothing untoward done as regards these contracts.
Before I finish, because I am not going to give this much time – it does not deserve a lot of time – I want to just say something about Robert Griew, my CEO. When Robert Griew came in to lead the Health system in the Northern Territory, he inherited a situation that was very clearly spelled out by the Bansemer Review. He inherited a department that had lost all control over its fiscal processes. It had very poor management processes. The funder/purchaser/provider structure, under which the department had operated for three years, was failing and was expensive and ineffective. Financial management and probity systems and controls had broken down, and contributed to a cycle of underfunding and overspending in service elements.
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Dr TOYNE: This is the agency that this genius over here was in charge of.
Resource allocations did not match department plans. The review also acknowledged that despite the resounding lack of leadership in the department, there were many talented, dedicated and committed staff. I want to make that very much on the public record in what I am saying. That was the agency of which Robert Griew took up leadership.
I can report today, that we have had extensive engagement, consultation, and interaction with stakeholders in applying the Bansemer reforms. We have had the establishment of the advisory councils, the clinical reference groups, the EBA has been successfully negotiated with the doctors and nurses, the funder/purchaser/provider structure has been abolished, and a program structure implemented. The establishment of a hospital network system is proceeding. We are establishing and maintaining tight financial control of the department. There has been a major …
Mr Dunham: You blew it out by $50m!
Dr TOYNE: Oh, rubbish! … major shift in departmental culture. We have now, for the first time in years, some sense of hope and optimism amongst department staff. That is what Robert Griew has accomplished in the time he has been the CEO of Health. Quite frankly, this guttersniping that has been coming from opposition regarding this person, is absolutely uncalled for, unjustified, and to their lasting shame.
Madam Speaker, I move that the motion be put.
Motion agreed to.
Madam SPEAKER: The question now is that the motion be agreed to.
The Assembly divided:
Ayes 10 Noes 13
Mr Baldwin Mrs Aagaard
Mr Burke Mr Ah Kit
Ms Carney Mr Bonson
Ms Carter Dr Burns
Mr Dunham Mr Henderson
Mr Elferink Mr Kiely
Dr Lim Ms Lawrie
Mr Maley Mr McAdam
Mrs Miller Ms Martin
Mr Mills Ms Scrymgour
Mr Stirling
Dr Toyne
Mr Vatskalis
Motion negatived.
Continued from 15 June 2004.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, this is a very interesting budget to read because it does break records. It is the highest taxing budget the Northern Territory has ever seen. Ever, ever seen. This is the highest taxing budget. It is the highest level of government receipt that has ever come into the Northern Territory. We now have a budget that has record amounts of Commonwealth advances coming to us. It also shows some of the short fallings of this government in a very short time. For instance, the fiscal strategy has been abandoned. The fiscal strategy that was so important it would take us forward for some decades has been abandoned and it also shows that some of the things that Labor won’t do in its first term. We have a year or so to go to the next election and there are still some things out on the never never - the cheques in the mail. This budget shows you the things that are not going to be done.
The other thing it shows you is some remarkable blow-outs. Again, a new record set by the Department of Health of $50m. A record that I never thought I would see in my entire time in this parliament. This budget has a catchcry, and the catchcry is, ‘Less tax, more jobs, great lifestyle’, and that flags everything. We have had contributions from various government members that keep conjuring up the various myths about less tax, more jobs, great lifestyle. The fact is, it is not true.
It is not true. If we start with less tax, for instance, and we can go to the budget papers because they are the documents that should inform on this, and if we go to Budget Paper No 3 ‘The Budget’, to page 287, there is a heading ‘Taxation Revenue’. One assumes this is the tax that is going to be received by this government. It has an estimate there for this year, 2003-04, of $335.093m. Next budget is $337.760m. You do not need to be a mathematical genius to work out that that is actually up. Tax is up. This is more tax, not less tax. It is true that some of the taxation is down in some areas. But that is hardly reason through a generic statement like ‘less tax’. In fact, if you want to say it, you could say there is less tax equivalent regime, because that is one of the ones that is down. The fact is, tax is up.
The member for Sanderson stood up in his quaint way, and did this little trick. He says, ‘I come from Sanderson. The budget is not much for me, but I am sure they will be really pleased that the Mereenie Loop is being built’. Well, that is good and I hope he is able to go to his constituents and tell them what the taxation regime means for people in Sanderson. Because there is another budget paper and this is Budget Paper No 2. If he goes to page 8 he will see what it means to people in Sanderson, because it is taxation revenue per capita. We have the Northern Territory there again, and we have gone from 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, that is three years rolling; and 2002-03 was $1243 per capita, every man, woman and child. The year that has just come in is $1319. So, tax last year was up. Next year it is $1326. The good burghers living in Sanderson would be very pleased with the applause from their local member and the bits of paper that tell them less tax does not actually mean them; it means that they will be paying more tax. So, it is a little bit of a smoke and mirrors trick.
We know less tax is a myth. We know there is more tax. Right? Let us leave that for a while and let’s go to jobs. One of the things that Labor has done is pretend that things will get better next year. When they were a new government, people had to trust them because they had no history. Year after year we have had various optimistic scenarios painted. One of them has been for jobs. The catchcry this time is: less tax, more jobs, great lifestyle. Last time it was: jobs, jobs, jobs. There was even a funny, little sticker on the back of all these computers here that seems to have disappeared – yes, it has gone. That said: ‘Gas equals jobs’. It was a little yellow and red number. None of them seem to have it any more.
What was a great sense of buoyancy and optimism about the Chief Minister’s various pronouncements about gas onshore, so much so that a sticker was produced and stuck on various apparel around the place, we now find that there has been – well, the optimism is a bit more cautious. In fact, it has probably gone into a little bit of a cringe. The whole business about looking for jobs has been a bit problematic. If you look, for instance, at the labour market review, it will show that when Labor came in, there was a little peak of jobs. That was called the railway. The heritage for that, as we all know, is the Northern Territory CLP. The labour force review addressed the last year and it says that Northern Territory employment is currently 2.7% lower than May 2002, the employment peak of 100 300 people. It is now 97 700 and that has also dropped. The labour force is 400 people fewer than 12 months ago.
So the last budget came in jobs, jobs, jobs and we have 400 fewer jobs. That is hardly something to spruik about. If you want to say to us: ‘You remember last week we told you the cheque is in the mail? It is not; it is actually this week the cheque is in the mail’. We do not believe you. We do not believe this budget is going to build jobs. Business may, despite you, attempt to revive the economy, but it is certainly not coming out of these budget papers.
Lifestyle is another catchcry. Right up the top there is this caricature of a Territorian in his slouch hat and his fishing rod. He has the ute and the blue heeler and Paul’s ice coffee containers all over the floor, and he is going out fishing. It conjures the image that when he comes back he wants to go and see international cricket at Marrara and engage in all these things we do. Well, you should not give our parks away. If you talk to people about lifestyle, one of the things that has been important is the park asset that has been built up in this place, and that park asset is available to all. There is a substantial portion of land in this place that is not available to all. Labor made various promises about increasing the fishing access to these places, which has not been met. Now, we are even taking the step of those places that were universally accessible becoming less so.
Mr Kiely: Name one park!
Mr DUNHAM: I will give a little tribute here to the member for Sanderson because when I was looking at how to structure this speech, I thought: ‘I could go to all the various points I have made in these documents, but it is probably best to leave that to Estimates. What I will do is just go to the government’s own propaganda sheets’, as he did. Unlike him, who just read it into his speech and said: ‘People in Sanderson are happy because I have all these media releases’. Let us start with the top. Budget 2004 – this one is headed ‘Record Tax Cuts for Business’. That is not true.
Mr Kiely: It is true.
Mr DUNHAM: That is not true. The tax take for business is up. It is up to $264m. I would not call that a tax cut. No, sir! Then we go to the dot points. The first one is a big boast about payroll tax: ‘No payroll tax until payroll reaches $1m’. Not true. That is not budget 2004-05. That is budget 2005-06. Do not go putting next year’s promises in here because you might not even be in.
We go down the dot points. The threshold moves from $600 000 to $800 000 in 2004 – tick! That happened. We think you could do more, but that happened. Payroll tax threshold increases from $0.8m to $1m in 2005. Do not want to know. Tell us when you get there, because we do not trust you with your forward promises.
The next one is ‘Payroll tax threshold amongst the best in Australia’. Yes, if you do not count Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT. ‘Only businesses with payroll tax over the threshold to pay any payroll tax at all’. Well, that is true. It is just like saying, if you are too young to get a driver’s licence you will not get one. You are either in the threshold or you are out of it.
The next dot point is $7.2m a year saved by business from 1 July 2005. Do not tell us about next year, let us talk about this year. It is $6.7m; $4m for payroll, $2.7m for the HIH levy – so that is actually a bit of a fudge there.
This one is a good one: removes the disincentive to small business growth and employment. Nup! Does not remove it, makes it a bit better but it does not remove it. The next one - 162 businesses will not pay payroll tax from July 2005. That is not this budget. We talk this budget, we talk about 83 businesses, 66 local and 17 interstate, so 66 local businesses will benefit. Good. Great. We think you could do more.
The next one is about the next financial year, so we will leave that out again. Average saving – this is another one that is a porky pie, and what happens when you get budget documents done by a number of people, and you give them to press releases done by press people, they summarise things to the extent that they make them more intelligible, perhaps, but often they are fibs.
We go to the next one: ‘average savings for locally-based Territory businesses will be $20 500 per year’. That is not true. That is not true, because the critical words being left out are: ‘the average savings for locally-based Territory businesses …’, and these are the words left out, ‘… still paying payroll tax will be $20 500 per year after July 2005’. So, the $20 000 is only if you pay it, and we have found out that that is 83 businesses, 66 local, and it is only next year.
‘Payroll tax reductions maintained; down from 6.5% to 6.2% since the Martin government was elected’. You did not change this. You put it in your budget papers, and it is not a change. We think you could have reduced payroll tax reductions, but you did not, and you have gone and put it in this quaint, little document you have here.
Infrastructure Budget – I am aware I do not have much time, so I will go through these quickly - $38m to seal the Mereenie Loop Road over three years is $10m. Okay, that is a good idea. We commenced sealing the Mereenie Loop Road on a staged basis.
Mr Kiely: That is what it is, you are lazy.
Mr DUNHAM: Keep your trap shut, we have heard you.
Mr Kiely: You are lazy, member for Drysdale.
Mr DUNHAM: We have heard you. Keep your trap shut, you gutless bastard.
Mr Kiely: You are so lazy.
Mr DUNHAM: We have the Mereenie Loop Road; yes, we were doing it on a staged basis. You were doing it on a staged basis, and it is continuing to be done on a staged basis. That is good, and it is good that the money is going there.
$15m to seal the Litchfield Loop Road, yes, that is good, no problems. We would argue that the roads package is a bit too focussed on these two roads. When you go to the total roads package later on, there is not enough money, and there is particularly not enough money for beef roads. $1m for Tanami is petty cash on that road. $500 000 on Oolloo, Fleming and Cadell is nothing; that is taking the corrugations out. $500 000 to gravel selected sections of Dorisvale Road; I doubt the Chief Minister has ever been on it, but that will not touch it. $4.8m to improve all weather access to Borroloola – good. $45m for repairs and maintenance of Territory roads, includes the national highway. Not enough. The roads are in a terrible state, and it goes back to our lifestyle, and it goes back to some of the data relating to accidents – dare I say. For the government to trot out that they are going to fix up a couple of roads and call it a tourism program is a bit much.
Then there is a list of things, as I said; this is the Territorian going bush. Gregory National Park has some money, Limmen has some money, Territory Wildlife Park, Desert Park, visitor facilities in Territory parks. Two things – the first is: do not give them away. The second is: you have allowed these parks to run down. I am a frequent visitor to the Territory Wildlife Park and the infrastructure there is becoming run down. The rainforest walk has lost its top rail on most of the walk, because it is in a jungle environment, obviously. It needs repairs and maintenance. You have cut the budget of Parks and Wildlife and, in doing so, you have eroded these tourism assets. Do not give us this ‘we are going to chuck some money at the parks’ because you should have been doing it the whole time you were in government. You have allowed them to run down. Anybody who has been visiting Manton Dam over the years will see that that is significantly run down.
Then: ‘Infrastructure spend on our Territory lifestyle’. Fishing infrastructure and we are going to spend a bit more. Where is Dinah Beach? Later on we get to Dinah Beach, because it is promised again. Nothing has happened there. It was promised for this financial year which finishes in two weeks. You are going to complete the upgrade of Traeger Park including a new grandstand. Well, that was a CLP asset. I am glad you are continuing to fix it up. Darwin soccer stadium - that is a good one. This would have happened if the CLP had been elected. It was promised by both parties and one of them is now government and they have not delivered. So, do not tell us what we would have done. We would have built this thing. You got into a protracted fight with them about the site. We would have built the Darwin soccer stadium.
Hidden Valley Raceway - not only did we build that, if I can recall some of the background noise at the time, the Chief Minister was quite sneering about this. Now she sits in her marquee pretending to be a rev head, but I can recall her rhetoric at the time.
The Palmerston Recreation Centre. Here we go! ‘The cheque is in the mail’. That is a good one. I am glad that is coming.
Where are we? We are getting to better services. Here are the schools. You are going to fix up Alawa, Nakara, some remote schools, and Gillen Primary. You have not built a school. We built at least one a year. One of the windfalls from you losing population in the Territory is that you have lost one entire school-aged population. You have lost enough young kids that it would take to fill a school. Three years without building a school when we built one annually. Not only that, there is a whole school population that has disappeared. So, do not boast to us about how you are going to tizz up some of these schools. When you start to look at some of the schools that do not have the enrolment numbers at the schools in areas that I represent, where they are overcrowded, be a bit careful about saying how you are going to tizz up some of these schools. There are places out there, as you well know, that need major infrastructure put in.
A new health centre at Kalkarindji. Good. I do not know what is wrong with the old one. Pilot program at Alice Springs Hospital. Yes, that is on the works program and has been there forever. It is part of the master plan upgrade. $2.5m to construct a birthing centre in Darwin. This is actually a lie. You are not constructing a birthing centre. A birthing centre - in a report to the Chief Minister and she would be able to read it if she goes to her library - is a very specific thing. It is up not tizzing up a couple of the birthing suites and pretending it is a birthing centre. That ain’t it! If you look at the things that have come from women, it is about midwife clinics, independent midwives, continuity of care, pre-birthing plans, and post-natal options. This business about refurbishing and putting some neat furniture, some nice drapes, and some soft music in rooms ain’t going to get away with it. People who understand this stuff will know that this is a fob-off. It is not a birthing centre – it is not even a poor man’s birthing centre. It is upgrading of some furnishing and fittings in some of the existing rooms. Not good enough!
Community-based renal options across the place – yes, good. You have decided to put $900 000 into that. That is good. I assume you are looking at things other than infrastructure. The easiest part with renal out bush, of course, is the infrastructure. The hard part is making sure that these have all the risks attended to. I assume you have done that because it is very easy to put infrastructure into a place on the back of a truck. The hard bit is to get the people in who have to run it.
Housing infrastructure highlights. This is all normal: $7m to replace and improve government employee housing; $6m for new employee housing; and $3m for community renewal public housing. This is the stuff you have to do every day. So do not go boasting to us about how important these little initiatives are.
‘Strategic infrastructure spending to drive growth and create jobs’ is the quote. ‘$6.2m site preparations, first phase of high voltage electrical works for the Darwin City waterfront development’. Well, this, I fear, will be rushed to get some hoardings up before the election. There will be some really nice signs, with people walking their little dogs past coconuts trees, and everybody in the shopfront will look smiling out as bags get carried out of their shops, and we will all live happily every after. We do not think you have done the EIS properly. We do not think you can do an EIS unless you know what it is you are going to build.
We come from a very old fashioned and quaint point of view that the EIS should reflect what the built environment is going to have as an impact on the total environment. So, having not told anybody what you are going to build, we think it is a bit premature. $6.2m is not much cash for such a big job and we need to know more. The Chief Minister says it is $100m of our money and all the rest is public, we all know that there is no way somebody is going to build $700m worth of stuff unless they get a return. And that return, if we are the only client, has to come from us. Do not try to kid us that there is only $100m worth in this. It is my assumption that there is a thing in there called real property as well as cash, and if you start giving away hectares of our city waterfront to a speculative developer - and I do not say that in a derogatory way, people are not going to develop unless they can speculate and make money on it - we need to know more and we do not trust you. You cannot build a pool fence, for god’s sake, why should we trust you doing this?
You are going to move the East Arm wharf and oil pipelines presently at Stuart Park. What is taking so long? Why don’t you do this? This is very late. We were negotiating when we were in government with people for a joint user terminal. We had talked to the majors, we had talked to people about them moving, and if you are incapable of talking to the major oil companies, I do not know how you are going to go with oil and gas, because you do not have a clue. This is barely a storage facility out here, so get cracking on it.
A bulk loading facility for Darwin Port. Yes, good idea. You need to make the port work. $2m for a Port incinerator. What has happened to the incinerator you were going to build at Royal Darwin Hospital? I know there is a waste disposal unit out there, but there was going to be an incinerator. Is this it and will the waste go to this incinerator?
$1m for headworks at Mt John Valley, great, get on with it, release the land. It you had gone through the process that had been put in place, it would be in place now.
$8m for a new low security gaol at Darwin Corrections. That is the wrong place. It is in my electorate and I do not want that there, thank you very much. You should consult about this. You want a low security facility next to the high security facility and the reason you would do that is because it is cheap. You have staff next door and staff here. I think, and this may be an old fashioned, quaint attitude about corrections as well, people who go to gaol have something to repay society. I do not have any problem with low security facilities in places like Gunn Point, like Wildman River. I do not see any problem with people who are locked up making a contribution back to society and I do not see anything wrong with that being in a remote locality. In fact, and I visited Gunn Point on a number of occasions, not as a prisoner, that that is one of those things that is quite an attractive option for a lot of prisoners. Please do not build it there. I am sure people in my electorate are not aware that you are doing this yet either. I am not sure that it is a real smart idea to put it there.
Mr Kiely: It has been out and about for ages.
Mr DUNHAM: It has been there for ages, is the quote.
You are going to multiply some police cells in your infrastructure budget. Yes, we have been doing that. That is under the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody staged programming going on and on.
You are going to fix some high incident traffic accident sites. Good. $672 000 is not going to get you there, but good. And it goes back to what I was saying before. For God’s sake fix the roads up; they are a mess at the moment.
There is $1.6m for a community harmony project. Community harmony. We will talk about it another time, but it has to be more than there is money in the budget and we all live happily ever after, because things are getting worse.
Tourism spending: I am going to another one of your budget papers. Year before last it was $28m put in and lo and behold! they came in at $26m. We call that a cut. We call that a $2m cut to the budget. Thankfully, it has been reinstated in the budget; it is now $38m, dropping, I might add, to $37m the year after. But you have had a march stolen on you. You sat around and watched this industry falter. You blamed it on SARS and Ansett and what happened in the US in September, but you cannot do that. You have to look at how you are going with your competitors and they stole the march on us because you dropped the ball.
I was surprised to hear the boss of tourism talk about how the drive market was not sensitive to fuel price because it is not sensitive to fuel price in the United Kingdom. I hope that if you are looking at marketing initiatives you are doing a bit better than that, and that are you looking at some of our competitors and making some proper comparisons.
Then we go to supporting business. I could run through all this again, but this is mostly lies. It mostly relates to different years than the one under discussion, but the dot point I wanted to come to on this page is one that has just leapt out at me:
Are you trying to tell businesses out there that 1400 businesses are going to be better off under this budget, the biggest winners being locally-based business? You have to remember that while you are playing with payroll tax, and that is all good and well, most small businesses do not pay it because they are not up to the threshold. They do, however, pay water, which you have increased. They pay power, which you have increased. They have insurance costs, including HIH, which went up through the roof. They have motor vehicles, which you have increased the rego on, and they pay wages, which are up. Do not try to market that little black spot I will tell you now because people will lynch you if you go out and tell them that 1400 businesses are going to be better off under this budget.
‘HIH levy abolished’. Good! We called for it for two years, told you not to introduce it, you finally listened to what we said and you have got rid of it. ‘Debits tax abolished’. That is a fib. It is not in budget 2004-05, it will be next year, budget 2005-06. You are boasting about something you have not done. The cheque is in the mail.
‘More jobs, better training, higher growth’ is the one on this page. I have talked about jobs and the Jobs Plan and the fact that it is not working, the fact that if you go to eminent documents that come from, for instance, the Bureau of Statistics, you will see that they say that the labour force is 400 people fewer than 12 months ago. It did not work last year and that was the railway come to an end, don’t forget, and next year we are all going to live happily ever after.
‘Higher growth’ Let us look at higher growth and see if there is fib in that one. If we go to Budget Paper No 2 at page 92, we can have a little analysis with growth because this is a paper that has been signed by the Under Treasurer, Jennifer Prince, at the front. ‘I promise there are no fibs in this book’, signed Jennifer Prince. So we go to that book, Budget Paper No 2 at page 92, and there is a table there at 8.2 called ‘Territory Economic Growth Profile’. Ah-hah! Higher growth, growth profile. Let us have a look. The growth for the year finished was estimated at 5%. Then we got the budget papers, and they said it was probably a little bit optimistic; let us go for 3.4%. So the budget papers last year – the same as these dudes – came in at 3.4%. In the middle of the year the Treasurer said: ‘Oops. There has been a bit of a muck-up. I have revised the growth’, this is in February to this parliament, so it is only a few months ago. ‘It is now 1.6%’; so he halved it. He halved it and he had the gall to issue a media release saying ‘growth will be up to 1.6%’, not ‘I have halved my growth forecast’. The budget papers have now come in at 0.3%. What was 5% growth last year has come in at 0.3%. I do not know how you can get anything that wrong, particularly when you go, in a matter of months, from 1.6% to 0.3%. They are remarkably big reductions in your estimates.
Next year, it is 5.8%. No one believes this. No one, but no one, believes you will achieve growth of 5.8%. This is one of those things where we put the money down, we put the number down, and just take a punt and hope people believe us. You are not going to achieve 5.8% and neither should we believe 5.8% given that it has gone from 5% to 0.3% in such a short period of time. Don’t give us the ‘We are all going to grow and we are going to do that because the Under-Treasurer told us’. Well, she told us that before, too, and it was not, in fact, correct.
‘Building our great Territory’. You are going to build a recreational fishing thing at Mule Creek. I do not even know where that is. Maybe it is near Borroloola, I do not know. I have never ever fished at Mule Creek, but I have fished at Dinah Beach Boat Ramp. I have been out many times and as I go out, there are 50 or 60 cars and trailers. That is all the time. When we build our great Territory lifestyle, we are going to build Dinah Beach Boat Ramp ‘to be completed in 2003-04’. That is a fortnight. Good! I think that is probably a lie, too. I think that is another lie that is in these papers.
‘Better sport facilities’. I went through these: Hidden Valley, Traeger Park. We built most of those, as you know. World-class events for Darwin, great! That is excellent and I particularly think that people at the Waratah Sports Club would be pleased with that, as the people at the Darwin Bowls Club would be pleased with that, so that they can go to the cricket. They cannot play at their own clubs, because they are in trouble because this government does not support them, but they can go and watch the cricket. Palmerston Magpies - $2m this year going to the Uni, build an oval; no recurrent. I reckon you have to revisit how you help the Waratahs. You have to look at a greenfield site like exists out at Palmerston, and you have to say what the prognosis for success is for this club. Indeed, I would be tempted to give the club some money for some independent analysis. I do not think they can trust you. I reckon you are snake oil salesmen. They need someone who understands this and can talk to other clubs, like St Mary’s, like Waratahs, and say, if the government gives us this $2m with nothing ever after, will we live happily ever after, and the answer is probably no. But let us wait and see what the independent person might tell them.
There is much else here I could go to, and I would ask for an extension of time.
A member: No.
Mr DUNHAM: It is budget.
Mr BALDWIN: Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave for an extension of time such that my colleague may complete his remarks.
Leave granted.
Mr DUNHAM: Thank you for your generosity. The record Health and Community Services budget – a $50m blow-out. Let us have a look at these dot points. More money for hospitals: $11m for Alice Springs Hospital – whisper – over the next four years. Do you know how much is in the budget? $2m. $900 000 for Alice Springs fire safety upgrade. Yes – part of the master plan – just keep building it. $3.6m for a new hospice at Royal Darwin Hospital. Well, we will have to see that. That is one of those things where the community was supposed to be consulted and it was going to be a stand alone facility and all that. I think what you are going to find is a medical model for this, rather than a true hospice model. Birth centre. No, that is a fib. Expand Accident and Emergency; well, I do not know why you are doing that other than there are people having more accidents and more emergencies. What you have here is a throughput problem, and the acuity at Royal Darwin Hospital goes to the fact that your preventative programs are not working. More people are going to hospital through various behaviours rather than your Community Harmony Strategy working. If it was, you do not need that much money.
Tennant Creek fire safety – good – that is normal business of government. There is $39m for hospitals: $1m for Katherine, Gove and Tennant Creek; and $17.6m for Royal Darwin Hospital. So, of the $18.6m new money, three hospitals get $1m. I think you should have another look at that. You are going to provide much more staff. Well, we will see that, because at the moment we do not believe you. A new health centre at Kalkarindji – I talked about that. The Health minister might want to make sure that the wordsmiths spell the name Kalkarindji right. It is in his electorate. It is probably embarrassing for him.
Mental Health is up $2.6m. Last year, we asked why they received additional money when they actually treated less people. We could not get a good answer for that one. There is a little heads-up for your first question: how come you are treating less people and you are getting more money? Money for Disability Services - $1.2m carried forward, meaning we did not let you spend it last year, but we might let you spend it this year. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors in this.
I shall not go through the other four, because there are a couple of things to address. One of the things to address is open, transparent and accountable government. We come to a letter from the Chief Minister, which I am happy to table. It is an open letter to all public servants. It talks about the firm directions – this is 28 November 2001 – and how we are going to go about addressing the budget deficits, delivering government initiatives, and core public services. I quote from the letter:
This is very interesting given that Mr Griew, whose name has been mentioned today, claims that he has come in on budget. He also believes that it has never happened in the last 10 years. There are some problems with this. The problems with this are that, while he might think he has come in on budget, the budget papers do not reflect that. The budget papers are very opaque when it comes to this matter.
I go to a report that has come to parliament. This is a Public Accounts Committee report about expenditure and the accuracy of budget papers. It is interesting to read the recommendations of that report. For instance, Recommendation 1:
allocation approved for each agency at the time; …
Right, that is what Mr Griew has not done.
reconciliation of current year’s original Allocations approved by the Legislative
Assembly to the estimates contained in forward years …
That has not been done.
annotations and a discussion within the Budget Papers explaining the accounting
rationale, forecast parameters, and risks associated with any specific proposals
contained within the Budget information.
indicators of the government’s fiscal management strategies, including forecast
changes in government revenues and expenditures …
They are the recommendations that came from an ill-fated review that looked at whether the budget papers in the first year of the Labor government could be considered to be accurate. Recommendation 1 has not been implemented, certainly as far as these budget papers go.
Recommendation 2:
That is what happened in Health. Blow me down!
Well, we did not do that either, in accordance with the reports that have come to this parliament:
Those recommendations do not reflect what has happened in this budget. For the CEO of Health to have an extra $50m - have it totally ill-explained in these budget papers and treat this Legislative Assembly like it is a mushroom, ill behoves this government.
You have to make these papers more transparent and more honest. You have to be able to tell business, for instance, why the budget is budget friendly with $6.7m worth of initiatives for business, and how it is good fiscal management when you can blow-out one of the major departments by $50m ...
Mr Henderson: Wrong!
Mr DUNHAM: It is wrong?
Mr Henderson: Wrong.
Mr DUNHAM: Okay. Well, you are going to have to demonstrate why that is wrong because, if you read Recommendation 1, you will see that you have not adhered to that. Any attempt at reconciling those amounts is beyond the scope of any decent auditor or accountant who would have you up for slander.
Therefore, reconcile the budget. Tell us what you have not done. I did not get a chance to go to the famous Percy Allan – Labor’s financial statements. However, there have been a lot of little mini-statements and things saying: ‘Well, that is another one ticked off’. ‘Yes, we have ticked off another one’. That is patently not the case. If you want to misname things, and say: ‘We will build a birthing centre – no, actually we meant refurbish a couple of the rooms’, you will not get away with that either. People who have been involved with community birthing and in the issue of midwives clinics know that that is tantamount to a lie. You have not built a birthing centre. The hospice is a hospice more in name than anything else, and the model you have chosen is a model of ‘let us build it but let us not talk about how we are going to run it’.
I have said in this parliament before, the important stuff is not putting money in here to build a dialysis machine, a hospice, an oncology unit or a birthing centre. The issue is how you run it. Those issues are not transparent here. I believe you have deceived significant slabs of our community, including the business community. I am surprised, to some extent, with the accolades that were allegedly given to the Treasurer. I assume they were given – ‘All my Christmases have come at once; this is the best budget we have ever seen’. I hope that those commentators who slapped the Treasurer so heartily on the back actually read these papers. I believe they will find that the congratulations were a little premature. They might find that all the buoyant optimistic prognoses that are in these documents might not come to pass.
Why do I say that? They did not last year, the year before and the year before that. I believe your record of estimating and prognostication is not good. It is silly to tell lies to people in press releases, and …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! The member well knows he cannot accuse any member of this House of lying unless he does so by way of substantive motion. I ask him to withdraw.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, could you rephrase that please?
Mr DUNHAM: Okay. I think the issues that are in the budget papers, written by accountants, should be reflected in publicity documents and propaganda documents of this type. If there is a difference between this paper and that paper, while it might not be a lie, I think it is misleading for these papers to be so inaccurate when compared to the base document.
I can understand how that could happen. I am not accusing a minister of doing it. I am saying people who get excitable about promoting government initiatives sometimes miss out some salient words. I pointed out a couple of those. I put it down more to excitability rather than lying, but you just have to keep an eye on these people.
With those few words I will see you in estimates and I look forward to it because you have had a couple of little hints about what we might be looking at. I reckon you really …
Mr Kiely: Not one portfolio issue. Shadow Minister for Forgetfulness.
Mr DUNHAM: I would ask for another 10 minutes because I did talk about business for sometime and while he might not know that I am the shadow for business, most of what I talked about was actually to do with business. I do not have any problem with roaming far and wide across these budget papers. None at all. And if you think that I have to stand up and say, ‘I can only look at this as the member for Sanderson’, you are too narrow in your view but then you are a very narrow person to begin with.
I look forward to seeing you in estimates. I will be there with bells on. I hope you have sharpened your pencils because some of these numbers are very, very rubbery.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to make comments in relation to the Appropriation Bill and the budget handed down by the Martin Labor government. In fact, there is no doubt that the damaging economic footprint created by this government will burden generations of Territorians. There will be tracks of destruction off into the future. The difficulty is that there is a government which the people of the Northern Territory put their trust in. That government was properly elected and they promised to deliver many things. One of them was, of course, the continuing economic prosperity and development of the Northern Territory. What have we seen? Quite the opposite. Frankly, the budget is disappointing. It is really a bits and pieces budget as the Leader of the Opposition said on 19 May 2004, and it really is a budget which is unlikely to drag us out of the stagnation that Labor has plunged us into since they came to office in 2001.
In terms of economic directions, I know that most of the salient points have already been touched upon by our learned leader’s comments on 19 May and I will not echo all of them. However, there are a couple of general matters that I wish to raise and amplify. When the new Martin Labor government came to power, the very first thing they did was rely upon a report which they said had been produced, I think, by Access Economics. Their promises were feasible and economically sustainable. Then the usual discovery, ‘Oh, there is some sort of black hole,’ and that was soon demonstrated not be the case. But the government was left in a position of we have an excuse, we have the economic blue print, and we need to now modify our approach. We need to establish our credentials with the business community.
So what they did was arrange, and honourable members will recall, the economic development summit. It was in November of that year in this very place. A summit which produced a number of recommendations and which, at first blush, the business community had some real input into the direction the Territory was going to take, and there was some vision for the very first time at this early stage in this government’s term of what the Territory needed to really get things going.
Those recommendations fell on deaf ears. The government did not act upon any of them. There has been absolutely nothing taken on board or learned from that expensive exercise. The recommendations fell off the web site several months ago, about the same time as the Martin Labor government said there were going to be eight new committees to develop proposals and visions for the future development and prosperity of the Northern Territory. The results of those committees and the conclusions reached have not come back to this parliament. I suspect that if those committees have made any meaningful recommendations, they will, once again, fall upon deaf ears.
This budget was an opportunity for the Martin Labor government to redeem itself from its last couple of budgets. There are a number of things that tended to indicate that there was some movement in the right direction but, as usual, the Martin Labor government did not seem to have the heart or the vision to go that little bit further and deliver a budget that is good for business, the people of the Northern Territory, for families and, on a more micro level, good for my electorate of Goyder.
We have had nearly two years of zero growth. More tax breaks are needed for small business; there is no doubt about that. There were some positive comments, and I read some of the snippets in the paper, that some sectors of the business community were initially comfortable with some of the initiatives in this budget. Now that they have had time to digest that, the view has certainly changed. It seems to have crystallised down to this: there needs to be more tax breaks. This government has been given more money through GST revenue than ever before. Business has been doing it tough. You just need to walk down Cavenagh Street, walk down the mall and you can see numerous empty shops. Businesses need an enormous amount of help to deal with the coming Wet Season, which will be tough and which will unfortunately see a number of long-term Darwin businesses go to the wall. Sadly for some businesses - not all, of course - this budget is really too little, too late.
Since the Martin Labor government came to office growth in the Territory has fallen, as honourable members know, from the 6% high under the CLP government in 2000-01 to 2.2% under Labor in 2001-02, then -0.8% in 2002-03, and to 0.3% in 2003-04. The assumption, as the Leader of the Opposition said, on which this budget sits is a forecast of 5.8% growth. However, looking back on the previous forecasts and what the Labor government has achieved, there can be no confidence in the government’s predictions.
There have been some changes to payroll tax, and the opposition has announced some policy initiatives in that regard, but the harsh economic reality is that many businesses do not pay payroll tax. Once again, there is very little real benefit for them in this budget.
The CLP lobbied long and hard, and, indeed, the former member for Katherine made much of the HIH levy and how it was a jobs tax and that if the government was serious about helping small business, it would have to go. It is good to see, and credit where credit is due, that the Martin Labor government has followed the CLP’s lead and the call that came from this side of the House to scrap that jobs tax.
Stamp duty is another tax. I suppose most people talk about stamp duty in the context of home buyers, and it is a burden on home buyers, but stamp duty continues to be a thorn in the side of many businesses. It is, quite genuinely, a hindrance to investment in the Territory, and there should have been some real inroads into stamp duty in this particular budget. Sadly, in relation to taxes, I know it is a dry subject and probably not particularly newsworthy in some of corners of our community, but the practice of forcing Territorians to pay stamp duty on GST, that is a tax on a tax, will continue.
This budget was an opportunity for government to demonstrate that they are reasonable about this. We know that businesses are doing it tough. We know there has been a population decline; there has been zero growth and countless business closures. These have all had an impact on our economy, on our community, on our families, and this government has an opportunity to introduce a number of measures which would have made a difference, a real difference, to Territorians, a real difference to the people who trusted this government to do the right thing when they were elected to power in August 2001.
In terms of my electorate of Goyder, and there have been a number of publications put together by the Northern Territory government – the Labor government - which were forwarded to people within my electorate, to organisations and small businesses and, of course, the budget papers were made available to all members in this House. It is still not an easy task to pore through them to see, really, at the end of the day, what the people of the rural area got from this budget, remembering that my particular electorate enjoys one of the highest rates of home ownership in the Northern Territory, and also enjoys one of the highest rates of private enterprise and hard working decent rural people, and it is a privilege to represent them.
Taking on board those two considerations, that makes the people in my electorate – and I do not have any statistical information to back this up – but if they are, and effectively there are very few Housing Commission properties, there are a few units at Humpty Doo, but there are many people in private enterprise, many hard-working people. I suspect they pay a fair bit of tax, and the tax is collected by this government. So where did their money get spent? We did not see any money get spent at Freds Pass. I know there is a shed being moved there - and certainly some quarters of the community are very grateful for that - but we did not see the lights for an equestrian centre or the polocrosse grounds form part of this budget. We did not see lights for the rugby league/rugby union oval come in within the scope of this budget.
It was an opportunity for this Martin Labor government to demonstrate that it does genuinely care about the rural people. It could have really done the right thing and got behind the recreational reserves that are in the Litchfield area and outside the Litchfield Shire, both in my good friend, neighbour and colleague, the member for Nelson’s, and my own electorate, where there are several very important recreational reserves, which really did not get anything from this budget. The Humpty Doo Village Green, made up of volunteers, good people who dedicate lots of time trying to develop the infrastructure for rural people, for rural kids and, once again, this government has squandered an opportunity to help those people, the good people of the rural area whom I have the privilege to represent.
Of course, there is Leonino Road. We know the power poles in that area are being moved gradually, but there was an opportunity to really do it properly, and to move the power poles and tar that road, to make it a tourist loop; the development of a bridge across Fly Creek and the Darwin River; and make sure that those people who have farms there have access not only during the Dry, but also during the Wet Season.
There was also an opportunity to construct some better infrastructure for people at Manton Dam. That is a popular recreation area, not only for the people of my electorate, but also for some of my colleagues on the other side of this Chamber. There is a need for a better facility there. There needs to be a better beach created, some safer areas for kids and better lighting and toilets so tourists and locals alike can enjoy the fantastic facility, the fantastic natural phenomenon which exists in the form of Manton Dam.
Another issue which springs from the budget and is worthy of mention, as articulated by the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, is the cost of car registration. The cost of running a vehicle in the Northern Territory has gone up 18% in the last 18 months. Rural people do not live on the No 10 bus route between Casuarina and Darwin. Rural people have to rely upon a vehicle not only to get to and from work but often to just travel to the local shop or hardware store to get the essentials. I am not sure what the statistics would be, but I believe the average rural home probably has more than two cars. Almost every block you visit has a couple of vehicles. Therefore, rural people who do not have public transport are required to keep one or perhaps even two cars. They obviously have to pay the extra fuel and costs of travelling slightly longer distances to get to the local shop or to work - for those of us who have to travel to town.
Car registration up 18% in 18 months and this Martin Labor government’s refusal to scrap the plan to increase car registration by $30 will make the average Territory family around $100 worse off, thanks to the Martin Labor government in which the Territory placed their trust in August 2001. We have seen the advent of the car tax - the $90 rego levy. At least that has gone but, nevertheless, we still have this increase. It is a burden and is something which Territory people - rural people - will remember at the ballot box at the next election.
Mr Kiely: They won’t remember you. Peter who?
Mrs Miller: I will remember you, Peter!
Mr MALEY: I appreciate that.
Of course, we have heard about, and have very well articulated concerns about the budget blow-out in Health. Health really has become a bit of a debacle in the rural area. The last term of the CLP government saw the construction of the Palmerston Health Precinct. Albeit, I suppose, not technically part of the rural area, there was a flame on the hill - some hope for rural people. In the time of emergency they could …
Mr Elferink: A lighthouse.
Mr MALEY: A lighthouse, a beacon. They could get their 24-hour medical service, a vision which came to fruition in the last term of the CLP government. Unfortunately, one of the first things this government did was scrape the 24-hour service. The 24-hour service out the window. A number of other important medical services out the window. At the end of the day, rural people are really back in the position they were in; that is, if something happens they have to travel into Royal Darwin Hospital. There really is not a great deal that is available, particularly after hours in Palmerston. It is a tragedy.
There was an opportunity in this budget to say: ‘We recognise that this is one of the fastest growing areas in the Northern Territory. We realise that. Unlike the rest of the Northern Territory it seems the rural area is actually growing’. I believe 2200 people moved there, albeit many people from Darwin. They are not just interstate people. People are moving to the rural area; it is growing. It seems to be doing well but this is not recognised and despite the blow-out, the money is disappearing down the black hole of wherever health money goes. The money did not make it to the people who pay the taxes, who deserve the support, and that is the people who live in the rural area.
Probably closer to my heart and closer to many rural people who eke out a humble living in the rural area in the area of primary industry, it seems that the total funding to primary industry programs has been slashed in 2004-05 by the Martin Labor government by more than $6m when compared to 2003-04. The funding allocation 2004-05 of $43.67m for Animal, Plant and Fishery Industry Services is well below the expenditure of two years ago and will affect agriculture and fisheries right across the board. My colleague, the member for Daly, issued a press release to that effect on 15 May 2004. He is across those issues. He knows all too well that that will have a big effect on the future generations of Territorians who chose to work on the land and those types of cuts at this time are really disappointing.
There has been very little increase in the Territory road funding in 2004-05 and what little there is, is directed to a few projects such as the Mereenie Loop Road. A stand-alone beef roads program, which has been a high priority for pastoralists, has been totally ignored by this Labor government. We know that the Cattlemen’s Association has been screaming from the highest hills but the roads in some areas are in a state of decay. The cattle industry is a huge industry, nearly $400m. There is a real need for real money to be spent in that area. However, the Martin Labor government has treated cattlemen, treated rural people, with contempt once again, and overlooked this important area.
It is not all doom and gloom. There are some shimmers of hope, one of them being the construction of the sealing of the Litchfield Park road. Credit where credit is due, that is a project which will have a positive effect on tourism and on a number of local small businesses which operate in my electorate. It is just one of those situations where, and quite understandably, rural people have said to me too little, too late. They have been there for three years and then at the 11th hour, when it is time to do something positive for rural people, there is one thing. The rhetoric has been there for three years, and there really has been no follow through. There has really been nothing but committee upon committee upon let us have a consultative process to discuss something, and then once again, a recommendation is made, and it falls upon deaf ears. And this budget was an opportunity to really make a difference here.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I know that the estimates are next week and that is the time for the opposition to really drill down into the minutiae of this budget and there will be ample opportunity for everybody to make a contribution by way of questions through the appropriate shadow minister or members of the committee. However, the fact still remains that this government is experiencing revenue growth from the Commonwealth unseen in the Northern Territory since the years immediately following self-government. They are wasting it, and as the Leader of the Opposition said, they are leaving no lasting legacy such as the early government bequeathed to Territorians who have gone up since self-government. It has taken three years for this government to realise one of the most important fundamental rationales, which is unusual in the way that it applies to the Territory, and that is the government, more than ever in a young jurisdiction, has to stimulate growth. You have to take a bit of a risk. You have to have a go. You have to spend money when you know it is going result in an asset; something that will produce income, which will be the basic infrastructure upon which business will grow and develop and there will be jobs for my kids and for their kids.
In any event, from the opposition’s point of view, the budget is disappointing, to say the least. From my electorate’s point of view, there is a resounding thumb’s down. This budget did not go to the grassroots people. It has not helped the thousands of people who live in Howard Springs, Humpty Doo, Bees Creek, all the good rural people who this government clearly holds in contempt; hard working people who pay taxes. It is a tragedy that those hard working people who pay those taxes do not see the rewards of proper infrastructure at facilities such as the various recreational reserves right across the Litchfield Shire, the electorate of Goyder and, of course, the electorate of Nelson.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Goyder, Manton Dam is not a natural phenomenon.
Mr MALEY: Okay. Man-made, yes, that is right.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Mr Deputy Speaker, no it is not a natural one. It is a very unnatural one.
Mr Maley: But it is a good one.
Mr BALDWIN: It is a great one.
I want to get my comments on the record before going into the Estimates Committee process. It is a very difficult for someone to believe the numbers that are presented in this budget. It is a budget that is based on assumptions that are hard to believe. We have highlighted some of those since the budget has come down.
First and foremost, of course, are the growth rates that the budget was predicated on: a 5.8% growth rate, which is a fairly astounding growth rate for what is hoped to be achieved in this next fiscal year when you look back over the last three fiscal years and the growth rates that were predicted as against the growth rates that were achieved.
We know that last year’s growth rate was 0.3% when it was predicted to be up in the 4% and 5%. Similarly, the year before was a negative figure when a positive figure was predicted. Now we have a prediction of 5.8%, which I do not believe, and I find it very hard that anyone can believe that it will be achieved given the track record so far.
There is the fiscal policy that it is based on, the changes to that fiscal policy as explained in the budget papers, a change from when Labor first came to government. They had a so-called cast-in-stone fiscal policy that was good for that time, but since that time, and in these papers in particular, has been changed to suit where they now find themselves. It is hard to believe in their policy, hard to believe in their figures and hard to believe in their so-called Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act, notwithstanding the many times the Chief Minister has articulated that CEOs who do not come in on budget will be severely dealt with.
We can see from this budget that many of the agencies have not come in on budget and, in fact, some of them are significantly over budget according to their own papers. Health has been mentioned time and again: $48m over budget. Disappointingly, in the Health budget papers, there is no explanation whatsoever about the over-spend; not one explanation. That is very disappointing when this government claims to be all things transparent and open. Well, it ain’t open in those papers, that you can follow anyway, and certainly that is an area that is going to require quite a deal of explanation come estimates.
I am sure they have the answers ready, and everybody has been working diligently. However, if they follow their own philosophy, you would be able to find that in those papers, reams and reams of papers, but around a $48m blow-out in Health and not one explanation. Not even an explanation as to why the half-yearly Treasurer’s Report could not even estimate that sort of a blow-out. That is very disappointing and certainly does not stand well for this government.
The other part of it is the revenues. We heard all the play of the Treasurer leading up to the budget, how the Territory was going to be hard done by in GST revenue to the Territory and so forth. We know that the Territory has done very, very well in its stake in revenue from GST, and total overall revenue over the time since GST was introduced, particularly since 2001-02 to, estimated in those papers, 2005-06. It is something like $1.2bn extra in revenue. That is almost an entire budget extra that the government will have to play with. So their claims of being hard done by are also hard to believe.
We have heard many claims of a massive infrastructure budget, but when you strip it down, what we get is really only about a $3m increase, or less than 0.7%. If inflation is going at 2% currently, then that is a decline in real dollar terms, and it does not matter which way you spin that - it has been highlighted by a number of people outside of this Chamber already - it is not a massive increase in infrastructure spending in any terms.
On top of that, you look at the revote of $98m, which is an increase over this current financial year of something like 15%, and certainly the money is not hitting the ground. There is obviously a problem, and the minister for Infrastructure and the minister for Business would have heard this problem articulated to them by contractors and businesses around the Territory, and that is that the money is taking too long to hit the ground. You have a clog within the tendering process, and the procurement process, of actually getting that money out there on the streets. You know, minister, and so will the Business minister know, that that has been very clearly articulated to you. You can have all the money in the world, but if it is not getting on the ground, out to businesses, in the hands of Territory businesses, creating jobs, then it is worthless having any money whatsoever. It is an area that needs fixing up, and you know it. I hope you are doing something about it, because …
Dr Burns: We will talk about it in estimates.
Mr BALDWIN: I am sure we will, and I look forward to that. You know it is a problem. You know it has been articulated to you. I hope you are doing something drastic about it, because it is not good for business out there in the way that the money is dribbling through the system.
Dr Burns: Dribbling? We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars here. A torrent. How can it dribble? Only dribbling going on is on that side of the Chamber.
Mr BALDWIN: It is actually dribbling through the system. Any businesses, particularly the civil contractors out there, will tell you that that is the current problem they are having. They will also tell you that a number of them have been to ministers to tell them that is the problem. Now, whether they are going to be heard, that is up to the ministers.
You look at the road spending. Much has been said about that. The cattlemen are not happy that they have a substantial increase. That is what they have been told they have and, in fact, they have not. I also heard the comment of the member of Sanderson where he said his constituents would be very happy knowing that the Mereenie Loop Road is going to get $38m worth of work. Good! That is great. However, I can tell you now that the cattlemen certainly are not happy that all that money is being spent down there and very little is being spent on roads for our beef production, which is a very important industry. If the primary industry minister thinks that the cattlemen are happy, that is a problem that he has.
Similarly, with the $15m into Litchfield - good for tourism, no doubt about that. Good for that sector, but not spread across the other sectors, such as the agricultural sector. It is certainly not spent in parks. Some of that money could have been allocated, perhaps, into more money for parks. Before you get people there, you should do up the parks so that they are more attractive - and I will come to that a little later. However, the cattlemen are not happy with what they are getting, and they are now looking to the federal government for assistance.
There are other developments. We see some money for the waterfront development. I have to repeat what I heard the member for Drysdale was saying regarding the waterfront. There is some money into that project. The time line seems to be slipping on that. It will be interesting to see how that goes. The real issue that the community is now starting to concern itself with is the environmental process, and it is something that I am sure that the members opposite are hearing. The environmental process is that an EIS is under way that is scoped out to ensure that it encapsulates every possible type and form of development before anyone had seen any detail on what that development might be. We know - and certainly government, I am sure, is hearing and are being told by all sorts of people - that they have it the wrong way around. There is no doubt about that in my book. It is the wrong way around and it is similar to Glyde Point. You are doing an EIS scoped, again, to include every possibility for future development without it being project specific. You do not even know what is going there and you are trying to include everything. Well, you cannot do it; it is the wrong way around.
You have to prepare yourselves, in your time lines, for some other environmental impact assessment on the waterfront once the detail comes to hand. Once the public sees the detail: the density of development, what is going there, is there is a town beach, will there be dredging for a boat harbour, what sort of waterfront embankment - all of those issues. When the details of all of those come to hand, particularly the time frame in which those portions of the development will be built, then I would be ready, if I were you, to look at doing another environmental impact assessment. Whether that be an EIS or a PER, will be something you can determine. Certainly, you are going to have to allow for it because the public is starting to call for it.
The other thing about the waterfront development that I will put on the record once again - and I have said it before in this House and made a point of it - is the detail about the land: the ownership of the 28 hectares of land. I see in the EIS documentation that it is going to be provided – it does not say given - freehold. Once again, it will come down to the detail. Is that public land being given to developers, to private land-holders, for future speculation, or what is the case? What controls will be over it, and what value will that land be put at as a contribution?
While I am on environmental issues, I see the Minister for Parks and Wildlife and the Minister for Environment and Heritage put out a budget press release and one of the things that I thought was very interesting is that the minister for environment said the budget ‘… includes $6.1m to fund an independent Office of the Environment and Heritage’. Tell me about ‘independent’. What are you doing? We have a committee set up by this parliament with a charter and reference to look at whether the Northern Territory should have an independent EPA and, if so, what sort of model. Why are we wasting the time of six members, including you, Mr Deputy Speaker, if the government already has an independent Office of Environment and Heritage? And if they have, I want to know where it is. Where is this independent office? As far as I know, the Office of Environment and Heritage is where it has always been - sitting within a department, a large department. Why are you using the word ‘independent’?
Ms Scrymgour: It is!
Mr BALDWIN: ‘It is’, she says. I will pick up on the interjection. I will put it on the record so Hansard can hear me that we already have an independent Office of the Environment. So this parliament is wasting its time and money going out there searching for the great independent EPA. We have an independent office. So what? We want to change the sign on the door from Office of Environment to an EPA? Just leave independent at the front of both of them? That is a sham. That is an absolute sham that you are going out there telling the community that you have an independent Office of the Environment and you are going to put $6.1m into it, which is the entire funding for your division – and it is an independent office. What a sham! What an absolute sham!
You will have to explain yourself a bit further than you are doing now by interjection.
Ms Scrymgour: We will!
Mr BALDWIN: It is just a total sham which is peculiar to this government, the way they deal with their information. They have some good spin doctors up there on the fifth floor. Eighty staff, I am told today, 80 staff on the fifth floor - can you believe it? – 80 staff and somebody up there, or was it the minister herself, maybe it was the minister herself, said, ‘Just slip in the word “independent”. From here on in I want everything to do with the Office of the Environment and Heritage to be called the independent office because we want to tell Territorians at the end of the day, see we told you we would get an independent office’. Well, okay, if it is about words then let us just get rid of the environment committee because we are wasting our time trouping all over the countryside taking submissions from people.
I know it is something that the Environment Centre has raised with you because they told me that today. So I would suggest if you want to be truthful with the community, minister for environment, you drop the word ‘independent’ from all of your propaganda, and you would be doing a great service to Territorians if that was the case.
Still on the environment, I see we have a big highlight in the budget highlights about a $330 000 litter abatement program. Well, that is great. However, I would like the minister to tell us what it is all about, how it operates, what it does, what are going to be the outcomes? I would like her to tell us what happened to the remainder of the money, the $500 000 little deal they did with the packaging industry? There seems to be shortfall there. Where is the rest of the money? While you are at it, minister ...
Ms Scrymgour: Just list the questions. We have an estimates process happening next week.
Mr BALDWIN: No, I am just giving you some previews to some of the questions so you can rush away and get your people to do the homework. While you are at it, have a look at the Territory Tidy Towns program and what sort of funding you are putting to that. I will be asking you about that too.
The parks have being raised in this House; we have a couple of parks there. Gregory is getting $0.5m, Limmen $0.5m, and there is some there for visitor facilities, but no mention of all of the other park assets in the Northern Territory where facilities are becoming quite run down in some cases. There is certainly nothing to expand the facilities in those high visitation areas like Litchfield. What about Bitter Springs, for instance? Where is the money for that to now proceed to the next phase of, say, putting in some board walks? Nothing done. Flora, what about that? Nothing.
It is all very well to say: ‘Look at this lifestyle! We are going to throw all this money into national parks’. This is maintenance money for a couple of them and you are going to get a visitor information centre in a couple of them, but nothing for the others has been detailed in these budget papers. If you believe, as we do, that they are our icons and they are one of the major reasons tourists come to the Northern Territory, to experience our great parks, then there needs to be a lot of work done on many of our park assets around the Northern Territory.
I, too, am interested in knowing what the latest is in terms of handing the parks over. The Chief Minister has carriage of that. We have not heard anything about that for quite some time. There has been no word, no updates, and no mini-reports. I did not see it as a budget highlight under lifestyle in the budget papers. ‘Budget Highlight: Lifestyle. The Labor government is handing over your park assets. Parks that currently belong to all Territorians are going to now be handed over’. And, by the way, there is nothing in the budget about how much the lease repayments are going to be, either, even though the deadline for this legislation to take effect will be in the fiscal year that these budget papers deal with. There was none of that. I did not see it as a big highlight there. It was a bit disappointing and we are waiting for some new action on all that.
On top of the blow-outs certainly in health, education and community development, of the 29 departments, only two came in under their allocation for the last budget. Four others were close, but just about all the others kept on spending. There did not seem to be any checks. It is hard to believe the figures. When you turn to primary industries, you can see that has been cut. There is some explanation there, and I am glad to see that. It does not fully reconcile the cuts that are shown from last year to the current budget. It has some explanation, but a full reconciliation of that needs to be done. It goes all over the place, unfortunately, in the primary industries budget.
In 2003-04, there was an estimated expenditure of $40.57m, so this is the budget last year, and the current papers show that the estimate was not going to come in at $40.57m at all, but was going to come in at $50.11m, which is an additional $9.563m. There is no full explanation of that overspend. I hope there are all sorts of Cabinet decisions to go along with that. I am sure there are. But then you can see that from that figure of $50.1m, it has been drastically reduced again in these budget figures.
It is ironic, I suppose, that along with the primary industries budget figures in these books that the primary industries minister comes in here yesterday promoting Northern Territory foods, which is great, but no mention in that statement of any cuts in the budget, no budget highlight about that anywhere, minister. No, sir! It is one of our most important sectors, and it has a budget cut. I suppose the biggest hypocrisy of all is that the minister put out a press release after the budget, stating, ‘Budget 2004 delivers for Territorians on the land’. Well, leave me alone! No, it did not. Go and ask anybody – anybody you like - on the land and ask them if it delivered for them. I have not found anybody yet.
Mr Vatskalis: You did not look, that is why. You are lazy.
Mr BALDWIN: Are they happy about your roads funding? No, they are not. What are they happy about? Tell me what they are happy about.
The press release goes on, basically, about what is normal operational funding for the department. There is nothing new in there. It goes on about the so-called massive record infrastructure budget, the roads – well, we know that they are all furphies when you strip away all of it. That is not a massive increase. The cattlemen did not come out – where is their press release saying, ‘What a great budget, minister. Thank you for looking after us’? I did not see it. I did not get one. Maybe they did not send it to me. Have you got one? Because, if you have, table it here because I want to see it. No, I did not see one, and every cattleman I talk to, and every person on the land, says, ‘Oh, can’t you get rid of this mob, please’. Bring them to see you …
Mr Vatskalis interjecting.
Dr Burns: ‘That is why I am leaving’, he said.
Mr BALDWIN: They are in your door every day and you are not listening to them.
Dr Burns: That is the best thing I can do to get rid of them, is to leave.
Mr BALDWIN: You are not listening to them either. He said, at one of their meetings, an annual conference or something – no, not annual conference - the AGM in Katherine, don’t worry about it, we have some really exciting news for you. I was sitting there going, boy, he’s going to win them over like this. He’s really going to please – you know. I cannot tell you about it now, but, oh, you are going to be really happy. Well, when the budget came out I thought, I better ring these guys and find out what is going on. Happy! They are not happy. They are disgusted. He led them up the garden path. You better tell him to keep his mouth shut when he goes to these places, and not make these allegations and promises, because it does not do any of you any good.
They probably like you as a person, but keep it zipped. Just keep it zipped. You are not doing yourself or your colleagues any favours.
As I said, I have not found one person yet off the land, certainly not in my electorate off the land, that are saying nice things about either of you – either you or you, and as a group, certainly none of you.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I might leave it at that. I have given them a few hints for next week. I am sure they will be rushing off and doing lots of work, trembling in their boots.
I might say congratulations – you are the power minister aren’t you? – for the Wooliana power, that is great.
Dr Burns: Well, no, actually it was my colleague here.
Mr BALDWIN: Oh, it was you, member for Arnhem.
Mr Ah Kit: And relocation of Nauiyu power station.
Mr BALDWIN: Good on you. That is great. Even though you had to do it. You had to do it, because you made a promise.
Dr Burns: Well, you didn’t have to do it for 27 years. You were the member, you could not even get it done.
Mr BALDWIN: Your candidate had to do it because he went out there and made this huge, rash, promise, Mr Deputy Speaker, got the now Chief Minister to sign it and said, yes, we will get you the power. Well, okay. Good on you. You knew you had to do it. They knew you had to do it. Why do you think they have not been beating your door down? They have just been ringing you up every now and again asking why it is not in this budget. Finally, three years later …
Dr Burns: And they said you are a lot better than that other bloke.
Mr BALDWIN: Oh, absolutely – I am happy if that is the way you feel. All I am saying is, good on you for doing it. Good on you for doing it and, as I said to you, a lot of votes in it, and I wish you well. It will make a big improvement, as did fully bituminising of the road down there. Power - and power generally in rural areas such as Daly River - is certainly infrastructure that is needed in the Territory to continue growth. I did a number of them in the Daly electorate throughout the last 10 years, and they certainly do stimulate growth by providing basic infrastructure of sealed roads and power. Therefore, I do congratulate you for that; job well done. I look forward to the next round of rash promises in my area.
Debate adjourned.
Mr AH KIT (Housing): Mr Deputy Speaker, today I announce major changes to HomeNorth, the scheme that has been developed to provide affordable housing to low and middle income earners and, in particular, those who cannot obtain finance through private sector financial institutions. These changes set important new directions in providing home ownership assistance and, once more, set the stamp on this government as a reforming one, and one that is in the business of planning for the future through supporting Territory families and backing small business. The new HomeNorth scheme is designed as a measure to assist Territorians into safe, secure and affordable housing. It is a part of our Home Territory 2010 Strategy, further details of which I will be announcing in the coming months.
Housing loan assistance has long been a feature of the Northern Territory, and there is little doubt that the various schemes over the years have been crucial to the development of the Territory in stabilising and growing our population, and in fostering the building, construction, architectural and retail industries. However, housing is more than just a roof over your head, and home ownership is more than just a convenient way of escaping the rental market. There is now substantial research that shows home owners have better health outcomes than renters. Housing is, therefore, a health issue in ways that go far beyond the hardware of a house, such as clean water and reliable electricity supply.
There is also significant evidence that shows home ownership has direct links with social and population stability. This includes improved family stability, better employment outcomes, and economic stability. All of these factors contribute to social wellbeing and harmony. These are areas vital to the Northern Territory, which has such a high level of transience between here and the other states and territories, and among many non-indigenous Territorian’s lack of access to extended family networks.
The new HomeNorth package takes into account the social importance of home ownership. We also see it as an important element of our strategic thinking on population sustainability and growth. Let us make no bones about it: the low levels of home ownership we have here are a serious worry, and a historical legacy of long-term underdevelopment here in the Territory. This is something for which I do not hold the previous government responsible.
At present, home ownership in the Territory runs at 42.4%, far below the national rate of 66%. Even taking into account the disproportionately low levels of indigenous take-up of home ownership and the fact that 72% live in remote communities where private home ownership is not yet possible, the Territory is way behind the rest of the nation. Lack of access to home ownership is what might be termed a hidden social malaise, largely unremarked and unnoticed. We are in the business of tackling problems head-on.
Affordable home ownership, in which no more than 30% of a household income is spent servicing the home loan, is a critical aspect of the new scheme. The current HomeNorth scheme dates back to September 2000, and the changes I announce today follow recommendations from a Stamfords Advisors and Consultants review held last year. The changes I outline are the result of further research and extensive consultation with industry and other stakeholders.
The review and related research found that the existing products were failing in three main ways. First, the current set-up is characterised by inflexibility. It simply cannot respond in a timely and strategic way to changes in circumstances, such as residential price inflation and similar upward movements in wages and incomes. This has led to a substantial and ongoing decline in uptake of home ownership assistance in the Territory over the last three years. Second, while the current products cater well enough to people’s capacity to afford repayments, they failed to overcome the issue of entry to home ownership among those people who face significant obstacles such as required deposit levels and up-front fees. Third, the current arrangements do not take into account changing social patterns in their concentration on first home owners. While this was an obvious motive Australia-wide in the post-war population boom years, it no longer reflects social realities in quite the same way and certainly does not suit the Northern Territory which has always been dependent in very large measure on interstate migration.
We need incentives that will positively encourage both locals and new arrivals alike to move into home ownership here in the Territory. This includes incentives for close family members to assist each other into home ownership, and for people to be able to access assistance even though they have owned a home previously.
The changes I announced today resolve each of these failings. They are changes we estimate will benefit around 250 Territorian households in the coming year alone, and will moreover be sustainable beyond the next year.
At present, there are four HomeNorth products: HomeStart for first home buyers; HomeShare for public housing tenants; a Deposit Assistance Grant for first home buyers; and an Interest Assist Subsidy. These products will cease on 30 June. From 1 July 2004, no new applications to the old schemes will be available and they will be replaced by three new loan products: a Standard Variable Loan; or a Shared Equity Loan; and a Fee Assistance Loan.
The Standard Variable Loan will include the following key features:
reducing the deposit required from 5% to 2% of the purchase price.
This will mean a maximum deposit of $4800, and often considerably
less, and public housing tenants who have contributed home
improvements may pay a lower deposit or not even have to pay a
deposit at all;
increasing the maximum property value from $180 000 to $240 000.
This is a 33.3% increase in the maximum threshold and will make
housing available in far more suburbs for far more people than is
currently possible;
increasing household income from $800 per week to $1100 per week
to include middle income earners. This is a 37.5% increase and will
bring hundreds of Territorians into eligibility to access HomeNorth;
loan terms of up to 35 years. This is up from 30 years;
expanding the eligibility criteria to include people who do not currently
own a property in Australia, but who may have in the past. HomeStart
was limited to first home buyers only; and
borrowers can choose to have part of their loan as ‘interest only’ to
increase affordability, and there is flexibility to vary loan arrangements
should they encounter financial difficulties.
The previous scheme had a maximum loan amount of $115 000. The standard variable loan will now allow eligible borrowers to take out the full $235 200 - more than double under the new scheme.
The shared equity loan will allow low to middle income earners to purchase a property at a higher value than they could normally afford by purchasing in partnership with Territory Housing. Key features of this new scheme will include:
government, through Territory Housing, purchasing the remainder. Territory
Housing’s maximum share will be $60 000 or 30%, whichever is the lesser;
a maximum property value of $240 000;
Territory Housing will provide its share of the property rent free in exchange for
the purchaser paying all the repairs and maintenance, insurance, rates and charges;
and
Territory Housing’s share, or a minimum 10% portion of the share, can be purchased
at any time. Any appreciation or depreciation of the property value will be apportioned
in accordance with the share held.
The Fee Assistance Loan of up to $10 000 is designed to help purchasers with the fees associated with buying or building their home, including for stamp duty or conveyancing. The loan can also be used to help with the deposit, or $1500 can be put towards whitegoods for the new home. The Fee Assistance Loan is interest free and is repayable over 15 years. That is a maximum of $13 per week or less than $2 a day.
We all know what a pain in the neck it can be furnishing a new home. The $1500 whitegoods allowance represents the fridge or washing machine or other such things that might be required. It is something I am sure the retail industry will welcome.
A key plank of these new arrangements is their flexibility. Previous schemes, which relied on regulation, have been inflexible to timely and strategic change in loan characteristics. I will be introducing legislation that will amend section 24 of the Housing Act. This amendment will allow the Chief Executive Officer of Territory Housing, following endorsement by the minister, to set policy via business rules rather than cumbersome and slow change through regulation. Not only will this allow us to respond in a timely way to market movements, but will also add HomeNorth as a tool for government to intervene to iron out troughs in the housing market, and thus introduce greater stability and predictability for the industry. This is what the industry demands, especially in the Northern Territory economy. Adjusting, for example, income thresholds can expand the marketplace for both new and existing homes. The drop in deposit rates from 5% to 2% will demolish many of the obstacles that many people face in escaping the rental market and accessing home ownership.
Properly assessed applicants in the past have little problem in meeting repayment schedules. The real barrier has too often been getting a deposit together. Obviously, it is much easier for people to raise a smaller deposit, especially for younger entrants to home ownership, a key target for HomeNorth. Let us face it: to raise $12 000 for a 5% deposit is a hard ask for anyone. The new maximum of $4800 is the asking price for a lower end second hand car. The standard variable and shared equity loan will both carry with them the option of splitting repayments between principle and interest, and interest-only loans. This will have a positive impact on repayments.
Furthermore, there will be the capacity to access, for the first time, a redraw facility, which will allow borrowers to access funds to pay for home improvements or, indeed, to purchase part of Territory Housing’s stake in a shared equity loan. This facility will be available to those home buyers who have been able to accumulate payments over and above minimum repayments.
The 37.5% lift in household income limits for access to HomeNorth is perhaps one of the most important reforms being introduced and it is a reform that can now be sustained through the flexibility of the changes I have already outlined. It is not a reform that will be ravaged by wage and income growth. It is an increase in household income from $41 600 a year to $57 200 a year. Let me give you some examples. For simplicity, I am working on the basis of single income household units, which is the reality for those with very young families. It means that all police ranks up to the top of the scale in constables, inclusive of the 20% consolidated allowance, now have a chance to get a foot in the door of home ownership. It means that all teachers up to the level of T7 may now be eligible. Up until now, T4 to T7 have been excluded. It means that fire and rescue workers from Fire Fighter Class D through to senior qualified fire fighters can now be eligible for a guernsey, and the nurses that we need in the Territory will also benefit. Registered nurses, from RN Level 2 through to the bottom of RN Level 4 now have another reason to come to or stay in the Northern Territory.
What this means is that whole sectors of the current or prospective Northern Territory work force currently excluded from home ownership assistance can now be beneficiaries of the new products. I have mentioned public sector workers, but this will also extend to the private sector.
Imagine how much easier it will be to encourage people to come to the Territory and to remain here to enjoy our unique lifestyle. In talking around the traps, I know it has been often difficult to recruit from interstate, especially in key labour shortage areas. How much easier will it be to get people up here from down south who have been totally frozen out of home ownership down there because of huge calls on deposit requirements, if prospective employers can slip in a copy of a HomeNorth brochure as a part of their recruitment offer? Both loan schemes will be available to people who have previously owned houses here in the Territory or interstate.
This recognises both that people fall on hard times, and that the nature of society has changed in recent decades. Marital break-ups are common, with a tragic result that one partner, or often both, fall out of home ownership, with all the social problems that can result from this, especially when there are children involved. By making home ownership accessible, we maintain the social stability, community wellbeing and health benefits that flow from this.
Similarly, we know that people fall on hard times in other ways, perhaps through business failure, or getting thrown out of work, or through suffering serious illness. Unfortunately, this has often meant the loss of a house, with a Catch 22 that, because people in this situation have owned a house previously, they can get cut off from assistance in getting back on their feet again with affordable home ownership. Under the new arrangements, people in this situation may be eligible to get back into home ownership, and under the new arrangements, people who have suffered such misfortune, here or interstate, can rebuild their lives in the Northern Territory. Similarly, both loan products will allow close family members to assist with affordability.
There are three further features of the new HomeNorth products. First, is that interest rates will be set as a single percentage point above the ruling rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, rather than being based on the head rate of institutions such as the Commonwealth Bank. This is now the practice in most, if not all, other jurisdictions in Australia. It allows an initial cushion against interest rate rises and is, at present, slightly below the market rate of 7.07% at 6.99%.
Second, we will be introducing an Arrears Management Program. This recognises that people, from time to time, will go through hardships. The way this will work is that, in the first instance, we can adjust interest rates and repayments over the short term. Following this, we will have the capacity to extend the loan term up to a maximum of 45 years. As a next stage, we will be able to reduce repayments as a trial for Territory Housing purchasing a share, or additional share, in the property, up to a maximum of 40% of market value.
Third, the changes I have outlined will present no additional cost to government. Over the past few years, there has been a reduction in the number of home loans through HomeNorth, and significant discharges of existing loans. The new loans represent a significant reinvestment of these monies back into home ownership through HomeNorth. This will, in turn, increase the revenue back to government, making a win-win situation for both the Northern Territory government and prospective Northern Territory home owners.
Finally, I emphasise that the new HomeNorth products - despite media speculation a couple of months ago - will not compromise or interfere with the private finance home loans market. I am told that, after consultation with the private loans sector, they do not see a conflict even though a very small overlap will occur. The government is primarily servicing those who face obstacles to entry to the private housing market, which the private financial institutions cannot realistically service. Furthermore, the private sector can and does offer more attractive and competitive products to the higher end of the market than Territory Housing, such as discounted, honeymoon or fixed interest rates, offset and line-of-credit facilities, and linked credit cards with reward programs.
We are just not in the same game as the private financial institutions, and do not intend going there. The private sector understands that we are providing people entry to the market where they cannot and that, in the future, these people are likely to be interested in refinancing into a private sector package.
When I announced the commencement of Home Territory in the House, I said that we were committed to a new direction for social housing, and to working with the community to establish that direction. This review of home ownership shows that we are fair dinkum about that claim. Together with the community, we have developed a home ownership assistance package that will work better, and we are putting it in place immediately. This review is reflective of a new culture being ushered in through Home Territory, of innovation and collaboration.
As I think about being the Minister for Housing, it strikes me that I have been, at various stages, a client of the department I now administer. I am not sure who we paid rent to back in the days of the Parap Camp but, certainly, by the early 1960s, our family was renting from the Housing Commission a home in Merry Place, Rapid Creek. With 12 kids, it was not always such a merry place, but it gave us all a start. On a couple of occasions, I have rented places through the Industry Assistance Scheme run by the department. As well, I have rented in the private market. In the 1980s, I was assisted into our first owned home. So, at various times, I have been a beneficiary of the department and its dedicated staff.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I also had brought to my attention something that we had left out, which is also of benefit and a bonus to people wishing to take up the HomeNorth scheme and the opportunities that we are offering. I put out a late press statement this afternoon with what was overlooked. What I stated in that press release was:
I went on and said:
I gave some examples. For example, this means if you were to take out a $150 000 loan, your savings would be $2308. If you were to take out a $180 000 loan, your savings would be $2777. If you took out a $210 000 loan, your savings would be $3232, and if you took out the maximum $240 000 loan, your savings would be $3694.
I also state in the press release:
I finished off in the media release stating:
Today, it is those staff in the department that I thank for the hard work they have put in to developing the new HomeNorth packages and who will now administer it for the benefit of Territorians. I commend this statement to the House.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the statement be noted.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the opposition welcomes the statement and believes that the Territory government is certainly heading in the right direction. The most important corner stone to the development of community is the purchase of a home. For my family, when we made our decision in Western Australia that the Northern Territory would be our home, our place of residence, a place to raise our children, we had never felt completely settled until we had actually decided where we would live and purchased a home here, and that provide stability for our family many years ago. So, not only is it the acquisition of an asset, it is defining your commitment to the place in which you live. For those reasons anyone who has assessed this initiative would be supportive.
The Territory has a low rate of home ownership and a measure such as this certainly heads us in the right direction of increasing the level of home ownership in the Northern Territory. That is appreciated. These are difficult times for the Northern Territory and require difficult decisions. If we are going to turn around population decline, if we are going to stimulate the construction industry, I believe, and it is the view of the opposition, that we must go further. We simply must. It is not just a matter of asserting that from opposition. It is a matter of recognising the capacity of government to that. When one assesses that the cost of this innovative package is, in fact, revenue neutral, that is where in acknowledging population decline and a stagnation in construction, this government has the capacity to go further. As I said these are difficult times and require difficult decisions.
When the budget papers clearly indicate the receipt of stamp duty has increased from a projection of $43.22m, it has increased in the last period to $59.78m. A colossal increase in stamp duty revenue flowing to the Northern Territory coffers. If we recognise that population is in decline, if we recognise that local contractors need support, and if we recognise we need to stimulate the domestic economy, it follows that more courageous measures must be brought to bear. The capacity to do so is clearly evident in the increased flow of stamp duty revenue to the Northern Territory Treasury. To add the additional bite to this initiative, one must, and it is the sound and consistent view of opposition, go further. It is particularly for the first home buyer. That first home buyer must be given additional support and incentive to put those roots down.
We are not detracting from what has already released, but quite genuinely saying, in the face of the declining population, in the face of contractors in the Northern Territory facing unprecedented difficulty in forecasting a way forward for their own families, for their own business; we must use the increase in stamp duty revenue to stimulate the construction industry and to assist first home buyers. We must go much further. We have to apply that stamp duty back to the benefit of Territorians. When one considers that this package is revenue neutral, we clearly must go further. It is the view of opposition that far more comprehensive concessions must be given to the first home buyer.
It is for that reason, and it has been consistently asserted by opposition, that we go as far as offering a total exemption for a qualified first home buyer. By doing so, the person who is choosing the Northern Territory in which to take their first steps into home ownership and settling down are those with whom we could strategically take the step, who would build our community, and place it on far more solid footings in the face of population decline and problems with meaningful employment for local contractors. Then the economy would be properly and appropriately stimulated.
It is time for government to give back and apply strategically the revenue they have received from GST receipts and from the increase in stamp duty. The increase in stamp duty is clear for anyone to see. Anyone in the housing industry knows that as the price of housing has increased, not only has it made it more difficult for Territorians to make that initial purchase, and we have seen that in the ANZ Report on Home Loan Affordability, but it also increases the receipts of Territory Treasury, and the capacity of this government to fund greater stimulation for the domestic economy by the inflated receipts.
Going to the analysis done by the ANZ on home loan affordability, there were two factors that came to bear, nationally I must admit, on the ease by which a first home buyer or any purchaser of a home has to access adequate capital to purchase a home has been reduced by the increase in the cost of housing, which is a burden for Territorians in this instance but a bonus for government. Interestingly, in analysing those figures, we found that the capacity to repay in the Territory has decreased. That means the average income per Territorian has decreased.
Those figures are interesting because it shows quite clearly that the population has declined, and it is for this reason: when one asserts that the population has increased to some measure, we are talking about natural birth rate and some international immigration. In fact, those who have chosen to leave the Northern Territory are a different case. Those who have chosen to leave the Territory, and ABS figures bear this out, are close to 3000 more have departed than have arrived. In those departures would be the greater level of economic activity within a departure of 3000 Territorians choosing to leave rather than to arrive.
It is not too difficult to go to the next stage and see that is why the average level of the average capacity to service repayments, and the average income for Territory families has, in fact, decreased. That has decreased in the short term, at the same time as the median price of a home has increased in the Territory. It is for that reason, in the face of these economic indicators which show we are heading in a direction that needs a strong corrective measure, that we must use the GST revenue, and more importantly, the increase in stamp duty revenue, to apply directly to the case of a first home buyer, so that they have far more comprehensive support and assistance in acquiring that first home.
To finish: this statement is supported. However, we need to find far more courageous measures to assist in the strengthening of our economy and establishing a reason for people to come to live in the Northern Territory. For that reason, for a qualified first home buyer we assert, from opposition, that it is those that need the greatest assistance, and we would go so far as to say that a qualified first home owner should be exempt from stamp duty.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it is a Territorian dream, indeed, it is an Australian dream, to own your own house, and it is a dream that motivates many of us to sink ourselves into quite serious mortgages and debt levels that sometimes we think about at night and how they are all going to be paid. But, clearly, for some that dream cannot be fulfilled because of the impossibility of affording either the deposit, or because our income reach is not high enough to be supported by lending institutions. This is where government has an important role to play. In my view, government should use its resources to assist home ownership where it can, and where those seeking to purchase fall just outside of the nett ability to get into the market.
The Territory does have the most affordable housing market entry in Australia, but over the last 12 months, the cost of real estate has risen, and it will continue to rise as the Territory economy moves into an upswing. These cost rises, while benefiting some, inevitably mean that for others it becomes more difficult to purchase your home. The Labor government has a history of assisting people into their homes. We introduced the first ever concession for those buying a principal place of residence in the Territory – we reduced stamp duty payable by $1500.
The Labor government, delivering on our election promises, also introduced a new increased threshold for first home owners stamp duty relief. We increased it to $125 000, up from the $80 000 we inherited from the previous government. Making those changes in the August 2002 budget assisted 1881 Territorians to a value of $6.38m, an average saving of $3392, almost $3500 in the pockets of 1880 Territorians for them to spend. For those buying the principal place of residence, a rebate of $1500 is payable on stamp duty; 2852 Territorians have taken advantage of that rebate to a total value of $4.27m. In total, 4733 Territorians have been assisted by the government’s improved home owner schemes, and more will benefit from these proposals.
These two concessions, introduced by the Labor government, put Territorians first, and it is helping us keep the Territory moving ahead as more and more Territorians will take the advantage of lower home affordability here to own their own home.
The government will always continue to review ways in which it can assist first home owners and others buying their principal place of residence. What the minister has identified in his proposal is the fact that while many Territorians can afford to maintain home mortgage repayments, they struggle to get the deposit together. The reduction in deposit requirement from 5% to 2% of the purchase price will put home affordability within the reach of many more people. The deposit gap syndrome really has had an adverse impact on Territory home ownership over the years. Families with children, spending money on significant rents, frequently cannot get those dollars together to muster up the 5% deposit.
Many people can sustain the payment of a home loan with careful budgeting, and this is especially the case while we are going through a period of sustained moderate interest rates. By reducing that deposit gap, we are ensuring that the opportunity is there for more people to get into the housing market.
The increase in market value for eligibility of the scheme from $180 000 to $240 000 reflects the reality of the time. The median house price in Darwin is increasing and sits much higher now than it did even 12 months ago. This reflects the increase in confidence in the economy and an economic upswing, and the fact that the government is keeping the Territory moving ahead. We want to ensure that low to middle income earners are not disadvantaged by this, where they do not own their own home.
A further requirement to save potential home buyers significant money is the lifting of the need for mortgagees to take out lenders mortgage insurance. For someone purchasing a home valued at $240 000, who has a 5% deposit, it is a saving of $3694. For a home valued at $210 000, it is a $3232 saving. If you combine the reduction in the deposit, the stamp duty concessions we have in place, the removal of the lenders mortgage insurance costs, you start getting to a significant saving for Territorians seeking to purchase their homes as of today. It is great news.
The minister has reflected on more of the decisions taken and the impact of these decisions. His words stand. This is a significant social and economic reform by this government and it puts Territorians first and delivers on our promise of reducing costs to Territorians. It will support families getting ahead, and will help stimulate more local expenditure and business.
With those preconditions, it has to be a winner. I congratulate the minister, his office and his agency for the work they have done in bringing this together. I hope many Territorians are able to take advantage of this by getting into their first home.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Housing. As he is well aware, I have been lobbying for some time to get the change in this HomeNorth scheme. Not only is it difficult to find an affordable house in Alice Springs, we do not have any land on which to build new homes.
The difficulty of helping first home buyers came home to me very clearly about three weeks ago when a mum came to see me. They had actually lived in the house for nearly 20 years – it was an old three-bedroom Commission home and she had raised her children there. Because the children were now grown up, they had decided they could afford to buy it. They went in to get it valued. The valuation showed that they had made about $28 000 worth of improvements, but the value of the house itself came to $192 000. She was absolutely shattered because she had really thought she would be eligible for the first home buyers grant and the loan. She said: ‘How come this old Commission home that we have been living in for so long is at this price above that ceiling?’ I let her know very quickly what has happened over the last few days, and she will be very happy now that she will be able to purchase that home as a first home buyer – a place they call home.
This is what happens to people in public housing if they stay there a long time. It does not belong to the government or the department; the house of the unit belongs to them. They make it their home. I am very pleased that this has occurred.
In Alice Springs, we have tried to encourage families and young people to stay, and this is the incentive we need. We are looking forward to the release of the land at Larapinta so that there will be land available for people. Most of all, the minister has said that there will be some first home owners blocks. I hope they go at a very affordable price so that not only will first home buyers have the benefit of the ceiling raise, but they will also be able to purchase a block of land at a reasonable price.
We have been land locked in Alice Springs; there is no doubt about that. This particular package certainly opens up opportunities that we did not have. I am very pleased to see it happen. That is what is important about any government’s loan scheme; that you review it in time as it has been done in the past. This is certainly a win for us.
While I am on my feet talking about housing - and I mentioned departmental housing - I want to raise again with the minister some concerns I have with the antisocial behaviour that is occurring in our public housing. I convened a meeting with the minister and a small group of residents not long ago. I was very careful not to ‘stack’ the meeting, but to have a variety of people from old pensioners, people living in private residences, and people living in public housing, and allowed them just to tell the minister what the problem was in the suburbs of Braitling. They all stressed to him that they had no problems with the tenants, but they did have problems with the itinerants and their visitors who were basically uncontrolled. They did make the point of – and these were all very long term residents in Alice Springs – that they were becoming racist in their attitude because of the problems that were occurring in the neighbourhood.
If I could quote from one of the letters, and I had many of them:
We had that meeting with the minister and each of the residents raised the problems, and some of the elderly ones quite frankly said they are scared and frightened by what is going on. We also put a number of suggestions to the minister on what could be done to resolve some of these problems. I have to say to the minister’s response to me was so inane that I was too embarrassed to pass it on to those people who attended that meeting. They are now at the stage of saying that perhaps a public meeting should be called and the minister should be asked to come along to see the level of feeling that was there.
Some of the solutions that we suggested, to my mind, were extremely good. One was the Living Skills program which is a program that supports new tenants in homes so that they understand their responsibilities and the behaviour that is expected. That Living Skills program was in Alice Springs some time ago, but recently it has not occurred. We also suggested that there should be a media campaign out on the BRACS system, or on Imparja, or CAAMA, about the way you should behave when you visit the town. For instance, in this town the people are the Arrernte people and yet a lot of their places are being used and abused. We thought if we could get a campaign out before the visitors even came to town to make them understand the protocols and how they should behave, then that would perhaps help to reinforce the message. I do not think that is happening at all.
We suggested also the establishment of a camping area where these people could camp. The Tyeweretye Club, I think, at the moment is not open, and is land available that could be used for such a purpose, where people may have to pay $5 or $10 a night to stay to cover the expenses of the camping ablution blocks, so they could also could get an understanding that when they come into town, don’t just camp in the creek, go and camp somewhere where at least you can look after yourself and look after your family. That has not happened. We asked for extra security patrols at night at certain of the hot spots identified, and I believe that has occurred. Also, I rang the police and asked them to do extra patrols along that particular area and that has also occurred.
We believe there should have been a review of the tenancy handbook. If you look at the tenancy handbook it does not say in a two bedroom flat that you can have 20 visitors. It says you can have visitors, but it does not indicate how many. We believe there should be a review of that tenancy handbook to make sure that tenants going in understand they cannot have all these visitors.
A renal village was suggested because some of the people are having problems where the renal patients are coming to Alice Springs and then they get humbugged by their visitors. There has now been a group of units identified for renal patients, and that is really good. There is nothing sadder than seeing renal patients who are so humbugged that they just go home out bush and neglect their treatment, and that is what happens to them.
Might I add, I had a follow-up meeting with some of the departmental officials, and I quoted the fact that in the Pitjantjatjara lands, some of the women who have domestic violence problems have - what can I call it? - an authorisation that they can say to the person: ‘Look! This says you cannot come in here. This piece of paper tells you that you are not allowed to come in here’. It is taking the onus off them to say ‘no’ to that person. It puts the onus back on the authority of the domestic violence order. Aboriginal tenants in town who are humbugged so much should have some sort of authority to say: ‘No, I cannot have 10 of you here at this one time; I should only have one or two’. These are all very good, practical ideas.
We also suggested some signage. In Tennant Creek, I believe, some of the houses have: ‘This is a grog-free house’. What is wrong with saying to people who live in some of our public housing: ‘If you want this sign put up, if you feel as though you want to make sure your visitors know this is a grog-free house, then let’s put a sign up for you to do it’? They should be allowed to do that. We need clear signage and we certainly need signage to make these people feel comfortable that they can say: ‘These are the rules the department has told me. I cannot let you do this. I cannot have you stay here’. Far too often, we have seen the tenants suffer. It is the tenants who often walk away from homes while the visitors stay there.
We also talked to the department of Housing about additional staff. One of the things we did not want the department of Housing to feel is that we were having a go at them. But, to be quite honest, the case load for many of their tenancy managers is far too great. They have to deal with far too many houses, far too many problems. We believe there should be additional personnel appointed to Territory Housing in Alice Springs to cater for some of those problems that arise.
We are also looking for a better response from Night Patrol. Quite often Night Patrol say: ‘We are really only concentrating on the town camps’, but we believe if government is funding Night Patrol, they should also get out into the suburbs where there are enough people complaining.
The department did have some good ideas. I know they are talking about better case management, but one of the problems I find is that you put people into these homes and when problems arise, you expect other tenants or neighbours to complain in writing. You are putting the onus back on the people who have to put up with all this humbug. You say to them: ‘You have to write and then you have to stand up in court so that we can have them evicted’. That is not what it is all about. These people said clearly to the minister: ‘We do not want you to evict them. We are not saying the tenants are at fault. We are not saying that that is the way you should go. We certainly do not want to have to be the ones to stand up in court and speak up because as soon as we call the police, we are harassed. As soon as the police go away, they come shouting at our doors’. You are putting the neighbours and the people who complain in this very difficult situation under pressure and that is why many of them will not do it and why they are quite frightened by the prospect.
What we really have to do is to have a solution whereby if there is a problem, it is up to the department to address it, take the evidence and either case manage it well and move the people on. Do not leave it up to the neighbours so that they are the ones who have to wear it and then they are the ones who become intimidated by the people causing all the problems. Obviously, if there are 12 people in your car park and the police arrive to kick them out, they immediately assume that you, as a neighbour, have made the complaint and they immediately scream and yell and swear and give you a hard time.
I am very disappointed that I have not been able to get some constructive ideas from the minister. There are many of them around. We have tried to suggest them to him. I keep getting this answer that it is coming, we will do something. I know that a lot of emphasis has been put on the Community Harmony Program. I keep hearing about the Community Harmony Program, but I am yet to see the results. I like the way in Darwin they have done the Back to Country Program. We really need to make sure in Alice Springs that it is working well, that it is operating better than what it is at the moment. And we also need to start identifying clusters of units, specifically for those people, the elderly, the renal patients, people with a disability, the people who have common interests, so that they can form a community within that unit, support each other and make sure that they all understand, in that particular unit, the behaviour. Perhaps we should have more caretakers in some of these large units to assist people to do it.
So although I am very pleased with the minister’s statement, I think it is a real plus for us, there are other things he should be addressing as the Minister for Housing. I urge him to come up with some positives. I cannot go back to those residents until I have something concrete to say to them, otherwise I am going to have to go back to them and say that the meeting was all a waste of time. I certainly do not want to do that.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, just before I reply to the Minister for Housing, I wanted to make some comment in addition to the member for Braitling. The issues that she has raised tonight are not new to Katherine. We have exactly the same issues. I would be very surprised if you did not have them in Tennant Creek, and there were not some areas of Darwin that were having the same issues. I would also welcome, from the Minister for Housing, some solutions to these very common problems that we are having throughout the Territory. The Harmony Program in Katherine is actually starting to get some results. I know you have to hold your breath and have a lot of patience with it, but I am sure that you will find, member for Braitling, that you will have some results from the Harmony Group.
Tonight, I primarily stand to welcome the statement today from the Minister for Housing that highlights the changes to housing affordability. I believe that the assistance given to Territorians through this program to purchase their own home is to be applauded and encouraged. The changes to the HomeNorth scheme that the minister announced today will assist many more Territorians to become home owners. Owning your own bit of dirt with bricks and mortar is considered one of the great Aussie dreams, and it is one that people across all levels of income commit to, not only in the larger towns of Alice Springs and Darwin, but also in the regional towns of Katherine, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and, of course, the more remote areas of the Northern Territory.
Owning your own home is not always attainable, and we all know that, especially for low income earners. This was recognised by the CLP when they were in government and, as a result, was addressed through the implementation of the HomeNorth scheme. The intention of that scheme was to ensure that the public housing profile was positioned to serve all people in the community well into the future. That is evidenced by the success that the scheme has seen up until now.
When the policy was first introduced, it was called Housing 2003. It was introduced on 1 July 1997, and it had packages for HomeStart, HomeShare, Early Start, and HomeNorth Assist, which was based on tenant-shared equity loans, deposit assistant grants and interest subsidy grants. This HomeNorth scheme enabled tenants and low income earners, for the first time, the opportunity to purchase their own home and to have security in their future. It also encouraged people to take more interest in the area that they lived in through social interaction and community involvement, knowing they had a secure and permanent future.
One of the important outcomes of the Housing 2003 scheme is one that is dear to me, and it has been the building of seniors’ villages. These have been built at Tiwi, Leanyer, Coconut Grove and Palmerston, and which are very sensibly located near essential services. The building of the senior villages has assisted the more mature residents of the Territory to have security and comfort in their more relaxed years of life. There is, obviously, a need to establish more senior accommodation throughout the Territory. I hope that will continue into the future to address our more mature and valuable residents in this Territory. The percentage of people in this category is increasing. Therefore, it will be an imperative that the government continues to address housing for seniors.
I have said many times before that we lose too many of our valued seniors to interstate when they retire. I know affordable housing has been one of the issues that prompts them to move. It would be good to see more housing available for our much-loved seniors. I am probably feeling tender towards that because I am creeping up to that category. I know that in my electorate of Katherine that there are seniors who would love to have the opportunity to live within the security of a seniors’ unit complex, and I would like to see this area in housing progressed.
The changes announced today extend further to the people of the Territory the opportunity of realising their dream to own their own home. The extension of the scheme to assist even more Territorians is to be applauded. Getting a deposit together for a home takes some hard and painstaking savings for most people and, in some instances, especially in the lower income brackets, it is nigh on impossible. We find that people are caught up in a vicious cycle of rental from which they are unable to break free. Along with that comes all the additional pressures associated with their insecurity. Reducing the deposit required from 5% to 2% of the purchase price will certainly assist more people to go ahead and purchase a home. A perfect example of that right now are two people who work for my husband in Katherine and who live in the caravan park. They have been saving very intensely for several months now to put a deposit towards a home. I know they have $15 000 saved up, so they are going to be very excited tomorrow when this announcement is made and they can go ahead and do that.
In addition, increasing the maximum property value from $180 000 to $240 000 is in line with the market values of today, and will make the choice of where you want to live a lot more flexible and, therefore, more appealing to potential home owners. The member for Braitling talked about an incident in Alice Springs where the valuation was higher than the previous home loan valuation for $180 000. I have had two incidents of that in the northern suburbs, with people being quite upset and ringing me saying that they have had valuations of $196 000 and $198 000, respectively, on their homes, and they have not been able to afford it. I have made a couple of phone calls to two people who are fairly pleased with this. Of course, the length of the loan terms will be very well received by the public, I am sure.
If you had been diligent or fortunate enough to have been able to make repayments over and above the minimum loan repayments required, and have an unfortunate need to redraw on your loan for some reason, this scheme will allow this flexibility. I believe that is very important. The encouragement for the new home owner to repay above minimum payments - if economically possible - should be encouraged to give a safety cap for the future - perhaps in the way of home improvements but also to cover in case the borrower has a change in income for whatever reason.
The introduction of the arrears management program is a good incentive to put in place to assist people who should be unfortunate enough to experience hardship. This procedure will go a long way to relieve any additional pressure on the home owner.
While I applaud the changes the government has announced today, it also needs to be noted that the previous HomeNorth program was called Housing 2003 which, in effect, means it was designed to run until the 30 June 2003. It could be said that this new program should have been in place from the 1 July 2003, which could have assisted Territorians - or more of them - over the past 12 months.
In the area of the first home buyers for whom this scheme was originally designed, there is no doubt that they will be assisted even further by these new changes. In light of the expected high inquiry rate for assistance available with this new scheme, I hope that there will be due diligence by lenders towards these prospective borrowers.
One of the areas that concerns me with the very low deposit required, which is only up to a maximum of $4800 and the increase in the property value to $240 000, that this will create huge financial debt for some people who perhaps are not able to manage their finances as well as others and may not be able to meet their financial commitments. It would be very easy to over commit yourself even with this great assistance. I do hope that I am very wrong in this area because I, like everyone else, would like to see everyone who wants to, own their own home. It is an area, though, that does concern me.
The government has confirmed that the previous Housing 2003 scheme was cost-negative to the government and it is clear in the budget papers that there has been an additional $16m received by this government from stamp duty in the past 12 months. This clearly indicates that the government can support first home owners by removing that stamp duty altogether. The CLP believes that the first home buyers should be given every opportunity to establish their first home and to that end, the CLP would ensure that no stamp duty would be imposed on first home buyers. That gives a real incentive for more prospective buyers to invest in a home in the Territory and to set their roots in the Territory. We will ensure that first home owners have every support in establishing and securing their future whenever they wish to reside in the Territory.
I congratulate the minister on the changes that he has introduced today to assist low and middle income earners purchase their own homes. I look forward to regular reports to this Assembly of how the new changes to the home ownership assistance scheme have been taken up. All members of this Assembly, I am sure, would be happy to see our population growing and stabilised and would welcome a growth in the building and construction industry, and the retail industry, right across the board.
Mr HENDERSON (Business and Industry): Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak in support of this announcement today made by the Minister for Housing. It is a very significant announcement and one that is going to be welcomed right across the Territory. As many members have said already in debate, the aspiration to own one’s own home in Australia is almost universal. There is no doubt that we have the lowest home ownership rates in Australia at the moment. We have had for many years. This revamped scheme announced today by my colleague, the Minister for Housing, is certainly going to increase that opportunity for many thousands of Territorians. I am pretty confident that thousands of Territorians are going to take up the opportunity that is now afforded as a result of this scheme.
The amendments to the various schemes that have been announced today go further in policy objectives of increasing home ownership, which has, I believe, universal support from this House. It will also go a long way to stimulating increased economic activity overall, particularly in the construction, renovation and retail sectors. At the moment I do not have the press clipping in front of me, but I met with the people who are running Jape Furnishings Superstore a few weeks ago in my electorate office and there was a story in the paper the other day. Even prior to this announcement there was a real boom occurring and forecast to occur through their figures that they have out there in regards to construction and renovation across Darwin and Palmerston to the tune of some $50m, I think, in the next financial year, with significant increase. This scheme is going to boost that activity even further. So, as well as reaching the policy objective of increasing home ownership, it is really going to stimulate economic activity and will be applauded by people across the construction industry and in the retail sector as well.
It will also assist in the policy objectives of population growth. The fact is that already prior to this scheme we had the most affordable home ownership in Australia. That affordability is going to improve even more and, with the result of increased economic growth, the lowest unemployment in Australia and now, by far, the best housing affordability in Australia, that policy objective of population growth will be strengthened even further. As well as growing our population, I believe we have increased home ownership in the Northern Territory. More people owning their own homes will help to stabilise the population where people have a financial stake and equity in the Northern Territory. It is not so easy when times get a little bit rocky to leave the Northern Territory. People are more likely to stick it out and try to work through the personal problems that they may be having.
A whole range of policy objectives are enhanced as a result of this announcement today. I congratulate my colleague, the Housing minister, and his department for doing an enormous amount of work in this area. It is a great announcement for the Northern Territory.
I will pick up on some of the details in the various packages. We have the HomeNorth Shared Equity Loan, the Standard Variable Loan, the Fee Assistance Loan, and the Arrears Management Program. All of those are specifically targeted to sectors of the Territory population and will be very well received. The deposit requirement reduction from 5% to 2% of purchase price is probably one that does not grab the headlines, but will be very warmly embraced. One of the big challenges of owning a home in the Northern Territory is to gather the deposit, particularly when you are renting, and rents are expensive in the Territory.
Over the years, we have seen average weekly earnings decline from being amongst the highest in Australia to middle of the pack and sometimes below that. There is the high cost of living and the high cost of rent. If you are caught in average weekly earnings and renting in the Northern Territory, it has been extraordinarily hard to get that deposit together to be able to move into your own home. One of the greatest barriers has been that deposit gap. Reducing the minimum deposit from 5% to 2% of purchase price is going to be one of the biggest triggers for people getting into their own home, removing the requirement for substantial deposit savings when people are struggling with high rents, the relatively high cost of living and average weekly earnings that have been below the average of the other states is a great move.
I pick up on the comments from the member for Katherine that as a result of this, there is the possibility for people to over-commit. Obviously, there are going to be individuals who might fall into that trap. However, with the diligence of the lending authorities and the people here, we do not want people spending more than 30% of their gross income on their repayments, this will be administered appropriately. We obviously do not want to see people over-extending and over-committing. The reality is if you can get in at 2% that has to be a lot better than trying to save 5%. I am very pleased with that move. As I said before, that was probably one of the biggest hurdles that people had to overcome.
The market value of the property being moved from $180 000 to $240 000, an increase of 33%, does reflect rising property values across the Northern Territory, particularly in my area, the northern suburbs. I can say, getting around knocking on doors, people are very happy that the value of their homes are increasing, but that old benchmark of $180 000 makes it nearly impossible to pick up a house in the northern suburbs at the moment. Lifting that to $240 000 is much more in line with property values.
It amazes me that the opposition keeps running the line about all these thousands of people leaving the Territory. They know that the former Treasurer, the member for Katherine, used to stand here sittings after sittings disputing ABS population statistics. The fact is we do live in a market economy of supply and demand. There is absolutely no way in a market-driven economy that property values would be increasing at the rates they are if people were leaving in droves. The Real Estate Institute will tell you that vacancy rates in the Northern Territory are at around 6% to 7% at the moment, and they are the lowest they have been since about 1996. The ABS has some figures, we are disputing those, they have been in dispute for years, as the opposition well knows, but the market is telling a different story.
The market is certainly saying that people are coming back to the Northern Territory, property values are going up, vacancy rates are going down and, in spite of this, the opposition still runs the line that thousands of people are leaving the Territory and the place is in ruins. The market does not support those comments at all.
The other significant move has been that the ceiling on gross household income eligibility is rising from $800 to $1100 a week. That is up 37.5%, and that really is a trigger to assist people, not only from low incomes into their first homes, but the middle income bracket. All of us here who have young children, or even teenage children, heaven forbid, mine are still relatively young, that $1100 per week as the gross family income when you have children, rent to pay, hire fees to pay, vehicle loans to pay, is not a huge amount of money. I am very pleased to see that figure go up. It will assist more people who are on average incomes with families to get out of that rental trap and move to owning their own home, putting their hard-earned money into a home that is going to show capital gain over time, and that is another significant move.
The other scheme that is really going to assist people, and I believe will be embraced by the retail industry, is the fees assistance loan. Anybody would know when you are buying a home, that bank fees and other fees are pretty steep. I urge all Territorians to shop around for your bank fees. It is amazing. When we moved to our home in Wanguri a few years ago, we did shop around, and you can trade the banks off, it is a market and they want your business over 20, 25 or 30 years and they will do deals on those loans and those application fees. The Fee Assistance Scheme, to $10 000, free of all interest charges for the term of the loan, and up to $1500 of that can be used to purchase whitegoods, is certainly a significant boost to people who might be really stretched moving into their own home. That $1500 will certainly be used to stimulate the retail industry and will be warmly received.
Without reiterating all of the specifics that my colleague, the Housing minister, outlined in his speech, I can certainly say as the Business minister that this will be warmly received by the business community. It is not just a boost to home ownership. It is a boost to economic activity. It is a boost to construction. It is a boost to retail. This is a great announcement, and I am very pleased to be part of it. As a member from the northern suburbs, and as a family man myself, owning your own home is something to which all Australians aspire. Many Territorians, as a result of today, will aspire to their own homes, and be moving into their own homes. I congratulate the minister on his new scheme and his statement today.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this statement. It is fabulous. I am very proud to be a member of government at this time. This is a wonderful thing that they are doing for the people of the Territory to be able to make it affordable for those on the lower to middle income range to get into their own home. I am also very happy, and like the Minister for Business and Industry, not surprised at the bipartisan approach to this and the support for this initiative.
There are differences between both sides here as far as stamp duty goes. My feeling on the stamp duty issue is that, if it comes off straight away as is being moved by the opposition, we would probably see it tagged onto the prices of the house. So I do wonder about it actually affecting the affordability of the houses for first home buyers, whether it will really do anything to improve access for them to the market. Likewise, the member for Wanguri picked up on debt defaulters, and they are from the low to middle income streams. The member for Katherine is right in saying that she is concerned that perhaps people will get a loan and, if they default, she does not want to see them caught into a trap like that - and quite rightly so.
From my briefing on this initiative, they have quite a comprehensive program should people fall into this bad debt situation through poor budgetary practices or, perhaps, an illness which has an impact on their income stream. There are mechanisms in place. I am sure the minister will address the member for Katherine’s concerns. However, let me say that I was reassured by what I heard from the relevant departmental officers. That is being addressed because it is really in no one’s interest; if these people default they will probably end up customers of Territory Housing anyway. Therefore, it is not in anyone’s interest to let that situation arise, and they will do everything in their power to avoid it.
It is great that the entry point deposit into the housing market has been reduced from 5% to 2% and, with the raising of the limits from $180 000 to $240 000 means it is $4800 to qualify. You will find that the first home owner schemes and grants will probably assist people to qualify with the minimum of cash up-front. We have people in the community who are paying rent and, as the member for Wanguri said, in the Territory at times private rent is quite substantial. The average rent, I would suggest, for a three-bedroom well-kept house in the Darwin market, without any special features, is probably in the vicinity of $250 per week. If you take that $250 straight out of the take-home wage of the family, and then put on the costs of living and maintaining the household, it does not leave much spare cash for saving up for a deposit. What this will do, in effect, is break the rent trap. It will allow people to get into housing and then the money that was going to rent will go on the house repayments. It is a very valuable process.
To give an idea of the people who could afford to qualify, with the $1100 per week household income - that is household income, so you have to take in any earnings going into that property, in the Northern Territory public sector, we have 13 000-odd employees of which probably the bulk are around the AO2 to AO6 level. If you are an AO4, you are getting just over $42 000 a year, which equates to $1617 a fortnight, or just over $800 a week. They can afford to get in. If you are an AO5, you are getting $50 000 a year, or $1918.31 a fortnight, which about $950-odd. They are in. The level of access to the HomeNorth scheme for an AO6 is at the second increment. They get approximately $2200 per fortnight, or $1100 a week. An AO2, by the way, gets $33 195, which is about $650 a week.
For a young couple starting off, you get together and you are both working and are living together or married, you have children - which happens quite often - you are just going to find it difficult. You are going to be on a single income and are going to be trying to get the deposit together. I used to work with lots of people who meet these profiles: single income families of people who are paid at the AO4, AO5, AO6 level. They were battling; they were doing it hard. It sounds like a lot of money but, when you are looking after family and paying rent it is not. It really is the hard end of the stick. I have said before in this House that I believe single income families are the ones who really do it tough in our community. These people will be able to get in there.
There are the self esteem issues that go with it, the idea of fulfilling that great Australian dream. We have said it here before, three or four of us here from both sides have mentioned how it is a great Australian dream; well it is. It is what everyone wants. Everyone wants their own piece of country, they want to be able to say yes, this is my place, this is where I belong. This is going to do it.
What it will also do for the Territory is be a stabiliser for a lot of people. It is not so much that houses are cheaper elsewhere because arguably I do not think they are; right now our housing market it one of the cheapest in Australia. It is not so much that it is that sense of belonging, that sense of community that will come with having a place. Hopefully, this will act as a stabiliser for that end of the community. Let us not forget that there are many more people in and around the Territory who can afford access to home loans through the normal banking and financial institutions. They are right, they get access to loans. This is for the lower to middle income but this will have a stabilising effect.
It will also give the opportunity for people who might be up here for that 12 month, two year, working holiday, for want of a better term, that they may reconsider and may use this as an opportunity after qualifying period to get into a place and therefore we have attracted them and we are going to hold them.
Let us not forget that these loans are not just for people living in public housing. These loans are for people who want to access any home in that range. This is going to be a stimulus to that end of the market, to the first home buyer, who is getting in the homes around the $240 000 mark. There are still a few of those in the newer areas of the city of Palmerston, and that takes in all the new subdivisions for the first home buyers getting into there. They will be able to afford a new home. I am predicting also that this will see people buying into the existing public housing stock. You will also see people buying into units and houses around that range within the community. The people who are buying these houses will actually be displacing other home owners who have a large amount of equity who will therefore be using the money from the sale of that house to purchase newer, more expensive properties, be it either ones in new subdivisions such as we are going to see down at Lee Point or around town. It is going to have quite a ripple effect through the construction and real estate markets.
We will also see, I believe, a ripple effect in the retail furniture. This is going to have an effect of stimulating the housing construction area or the new home buyer. We make mention here about the $1500 for whitegoods but when you set up a new home there are all sorts of things that come with it. You want new soft furnishings, or you might be looking to do up the kitchen, all manner of things when purchasing a new house, be it newly construction or be it one you are moving into. We are going to see a stimulus to the economy through the retail sector out of this initiative. That is simply fabulous. Opening up this end of the market to people has many benefits, not only directly to the people who are looking to purchase the home and to break that rent cycle, but also to the retail industry and to the construction industry.
This is very timely statement. I know of four people in my electorate who will be purchasing their homes. One is a couple who are near the end of their working life. I would say this couple probably have about ten years but now they will be able to get their public housing place purchased and get to pay it off. They do not have any kids on their hands. This is a couple who put all their money into raising their children. Now they have a bit of disposable income and they will now be able to get into their house and be able to afford to pay it off quickly. I had another chap from Wulagi who phoned me up on behalf of his neighbour. He made the point that the house that his neighbour was buying, which is a fairly standard Housing Commission three bedroom place, had gone up, but a similar house in Wanguri had sold for $140 000-odd 12 or 15 months ago, and now this place was $160 000 or 180 000. He said: ‘This had ruined him. My neighbour can’t get in. Is there anything you can do?’ You cannot do anything in those matters because it is market forces determining the price of the house. However, what, in effect, we have been able to do because we have dropped the entry point and raised the threshold, that neighbour will be able to get into the house. While we cannot control the market and would never try to, we can assist people to get in.
There is another person in Anula whose house was being refurbished under another program in Territory Housing, fences were being replaced, and she asked for assistance in one or two areas. She told me of her aspirations of buying a house. She was on a pair of crutches from a knee injury which had seen her off work for six weeks which had really slowed down her savings. She was trying to get together a deposit to purchase the Territory Housing house that she was in. Now she will be able to.
This is a really great program for sole parents and for carers. It is a fact that most of the sole parents and carers within our community are women. It is predominately women to whom that role has fallen. This will assist them to get into the market to get a home, to give them the sense of economic stability that so many of us take for granted, but which is a very hard thing to achieve when you are a single parent trying to raise kids. In that respect, it is a great social policy. I commend the minister for looking after that sector of the community. Being able to raise your kids in the one location, knowing that you are not moving around, they have continuity through schools, they are known in a neighbourhood, there are social benefits that will flow to the family from having this stability until they want to move, and that is a wonderful thing.
This may be from a selfish viewpoint, but there is a trend for children to be staying at home a lot longer than they did in my day. When I was growing up, you used to get out of that front door as quick as you could and into a rented place or something. These days, the family is extended. Children are staying around until they are 22 or 25. There will be a few creative parents who will say: ‘Look! Here is an opportunity, go for it. Get yourself a nice little unit. Get yourself a two bedroom flat. We will help you get into it if need be. We will go with the 30% and we will help set you up’. What a great thing for the parents. What a great opportunity for the children. What a great opportunity for the economy and for the community.
Madam Speaker, I will wrap up. It was great to pick up the paper on Saturday, 12 June, and see: ‘First Home Buyers Bonus: loan scheme to change’. It is a story about the things to come. If you read that and you are thinking: ‘I would love to have a place’, where would you go? You would go to the real estate guide. Let’s have a look and see what this means. Here is that real estate guide from that paper and I have marked a few. Let’s see:
Affordable! In Gunn: ‘Carpe Diem’- I am not too sure what that is, but this is a …
Dr Burns: Seize the day! Go ahead and buy it.
Mr KIELY: Seize the day! Seize this opportunity. My Latin tutor. I cannot say that I ever did Latin.
It has walk-in robes, air-conditioning, an ensuite. I would love an ensuite. Price offers - over $230 000. Affordable. In Driver – 13 Wilfred Street – negotiable over $215 000:
Ms Carney: I think you could have another career in real estate. Just around the corner, Len.
Mr KIELY: I think so.
Ms Carney: Just around the corner, Len. You could probably even make a dollar.
Mr KIELY: This is just fabulous. In Gray – another special. Member for Araluen, this in the paper and this is what would be going on last Saturday when you read that story. You have properties at Berry Springs. There is affordability. There are lifestyle options in here. We are not forcing people into any low-priced ghettoes. We are not saying we are building this Housing Commission place out in the back of nowhere, where there is no transport or anything. We are giving people choice.
Dr Burns: Are there any out at Marlow’s Lagoon?
Mr KIELY: Maybe. There is one at Moulden, which is very close.
Madam Speaker, the statement is supported by both sides, with slight variance on the stamp duty issue. We accept that. It was very foresightful of the member for Katherine to say, let us have a look at …
Ms Carney: Foresightful, now there is an interesting one.
Mr KIELY: The member for Araluen can be cynical. The member for Araluen probably has her house. She earns way above the level. I do not think she would know a low income earner if she ran across one. We on this side, Madam Speaker, care. We care for families in the Territory, care for the low income earners and the middle income earners. We just do not turn our backs and make jokes about things like this. We get in and work on it. So, member for Araluen, a little bit of compassion, a little bit of understanding for those in the community who are not so well off as you.
Ms Carney: Oh, you have no idea, as usual, what you are talking about, but you are a source of constant entertainment, so I thank you.
Mr KIELY: You are a source of constant irritation, member for Araluen.
Ms Carney: Have you finished yet? Oh good.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Madam Speaker, I rise to support the statement on HomeNorth and the changes to the loan scheme in the Territory. I congratulate the Minister for Housing for bringing this statement to the House.
They say the great Australian dream is to own your own home, and many of us living in the Territory would know that that dream has been out of reach for many Territorians for far too many years. We have not had home affordability for our low to middle income earners. There are many families out there who have been doing it very tough, who have had the dream, but found that dream is far beyond their reaches. The market has not catered in home loans to their capacity. Certainly, a 10% deposit has been far beyond the reaches of many people. Even the 5% deposit that we have had under the previous TIO/Northern Territory government sponsored scheme was still beyond the reaches of many families.
I say this because many families have been through my door, as the local member for Karama, over the last two and a half years, talking about just how they might be able to buy into the housing market. They have been particularly interested in purchasing their Territory Housing homes. They are a category of people who are reaching the upper limit of the household overall limit in Territory Housing. They get nervous that if they pick up more shifts at work, if they get some overtime, they will just creep above the Territory Housing household income limit and get threatened with letters. I have been tuned into this issue for quite a while, and I have known about the great body of work that the minister has done with his department. I congratulate the department for all of the effort they have put into this terrific package the minister has brought before the House and explained comprehensively in his statement today.
The standard variable loan has tremendous features. As I said, reducing the deposit requirement from 5% to 2% of the purchase price means a maximum deposit of $4800, and obviously considerably less if the purchase price is less. This means that it is within the reach of many people, and public housing tenants who have contributed to home improvements may even pay a lower deposit.
The increase in the maximum property value for the loan, from $180 000 to $240 000, is a practical step. Homes in the Karama and Malak area, Territory Housing homes that is, not the private market homes, are now being valued at around $200 000. They were outside the upper limit of $180 000 set previously. It really just bounced families out of the opportunity of buying their home that they had been living in for around 10 to 15 years. They were at the stage where the kids were getting a little bit older, their expenses and jobs had improved, and they really wanted to look at home ownership as opposed to being Territory Housing tenants. It is a very practical move to put the upper maximum property value up to $240 000. It really does allow low to middle income earners to buy into a very reasonable type of property.
You will pick up a three- to four-bedroom house in Karama or Malak for $240 000. It will not be Shangri La; you will not get a massive gazebo with a swimming pool and double carport and all the bells and whistles, but you will have quite a nice little suburban home where you can feel very satisfied. The 3% increase that that upper maximum value represents is a significant increase for any loan scheme. I acknowledge that the government has made a very wise decision in pegging $240 000 as the upper limit of the current property values.
I know that this scheme that will undergo annual reviews, so there is capacity for growth in that upper limit. If, indeed, what we expect to occur will occur, and property values continue to rise throughout Darwin and Palmerston, you may see in one or two year’s time that upper limit increase to $250 000 or $260 000, depending on the rate of property value increases. I acknowledge that $240 000 is a very appropriate upper maximum property value limit for this particular loan scheme.
It does not eat into the competitive market that our banks and financial lending institutions have. They really provide the loans for the market values of $250 000 and above, and are for the middle to upper income earners. You are not seeing government’s loan packages encroaching on the private sector, which is a very healthy environment where we have government providing assistance schemes to the lower to middle income earner and allowing private market forces to work competitively for your middle to upper income earners.
The other aspect that is really a very practical and fair aspect of this loans package change is increasing the household income from $800 per week to $1100 per week to include the middle income earners. There was that gap in the market where they were not quite earning enough to be competitive. I know that when you are paying a mortgage of around $250 000 or $260 000, you are looking at $1600 payments a month. Middle income earners just found that too much of a stretch. Saying to those middle income earners of the upper household income of $1100 a week: ‘Yes, you can buy into this loans packages’, is a brilliant move. It means that they can cover the kids’ school fees, the normal household outgoings, and also cover their mortgage without ending up in a terrible financial state and having to sell the house. It is a very reasonable pegging of your household income. Increasing it up to $1100 per week gives the middle income earners a real opportunity to get into home ownership. This fairness in the package is really in keeping with what the Territory is all about. It is about saying to people: ‘You can have a fair go. You can have an opportunity to have a good life and a good lifestyle in the Territory’.
Increasing the loan terms up to 35 years is just brilliant, because families know that the early years of a mortgage are the tough years. They are the years where you are still trying to establish yourself. You are still trying to get those payments coming in, and you are not in a position to increase your payments above your minimum levels because you are trying to do your home improvements at the same time. You are trying to repaint the place or pave the driveway or put in plants. Families who bought new homes come under enormous pressure to do the home renovations-style fixer-uppers that we see are very popular if you look at the TV’s ratings for those home renovation shows.
The early years of the home mortgage are not the time when families have disposable income to really pay the additional, so the longer term loan periods are very attractive. It is when they have had that mortgage for, say, 10 years that they start to really kick in and pay those additional amounts, and get that mortgage period down. Having that 35 year loan term is brilliant for the families. I again congratulate the people who put a great deal of effort and thought into designing this loan scheme.
Expanding the eligibility criteria to include people who do not currently own a property in Australia but who may have in the past is a fantastic step a great step forward. We all know that life is very complex these days. You might have had a previous relationship, and you might have owned a flat in Melbourne in that previous relationship 10 or 15 years ago. You started a family here in the Territory and committed to the Territory. Yet, previously, you were ineligible for the first home owner scheme even if your partner or your spouse had never owned a home, if both names were going on the title. It is terrific to say to people who are truly starting again - and it may be middle aged couples who are both divorcees who have previously had to rent because of marital break ups, it might be young families where someone has had a stake in home ownership previously but both partners have not - we know you are having a go, we know you are genuinely starting again, and yes, you are welcome to the home ownership market. I strongly congratulate the government on that aspect.
I know of several people, without even having to stretch my mind too much, who would be eligible for this who would not have been eligible in the past.
Giving borrowers a choice to be able to choose part of the loan as interest only, to increase affordability, and showing that flexibility to vary the loan arrangements should they encounter financial difficulties really is indicating that you should not be applying one-size-fits-all to loan packages. Providing flexibility to tailor those individual needs, those individual family needs, really provides great strength and backbone to this loans package.
I am pleased that the standard variable loan will now allow eligible borrowers to take out the full $235 200, which is more than double than under the previous scheme. This is terrific. This allows people to jump into the home ownership market who in the past had been unfortunately and tragically locked out of home ownership. Home ownership just gives families such an enormous boost. It does ultimately give them a sense of pride and it sinks their roots into their homes. I have assisted, I guess, in the last 2 years about half a dozen families in my electorate to go through the home ownership scenario with Territory Housing. They have been the battlers who have really struggled and got their deposit money together and bought the house that they have lived in for 10 or 15 or 20 years. I have seen the difference it makes to them to be able to actually say this is my house. They have done it under schemes such as the Shared Equity Scheme, where they have not had the ability to borrow the full amount so Territory Housing still has a 30% stake in the house. They know they will buy the landlord out over time but it really gives the whole family an enormous boost.
I am invited around to drink some champagne in a couple of week’s time with a family just in that scenario in my electorate. It is nerve-racking for them to enter into that process and now, with this new scheme, it is going to be that much easier and that much less nerve-racking for the families. I cannot overstate how delighted I am with this loan scheme. I know it will really improve the lives of many of my constituents who have had that dream for a long time. They have hoped to get into home ownership but it has just been elusive. This scheme makes it a reality for them. I believe that our suburbs will change in nature through a practical home ownership scheme.
As you know, when you own your own home, you take a greater amount of pride in it than when you are renting it. When you are renting it, it is someone else’s. You do not have the opportunity to paint it, you do not want to plant plants, you have your plants in pot plants because you never know when you might have to get up and move. You know when owning your own home you put down your roots and you improve the value of the property by the effort and love you put into the house.
Another aspect of this loans package that is just terrific and such a practical assistance is the assistance loan of up to $10 000 which is designed to help purchasers with the fees associated with buying or building a home. As we all know, you might think you have made it in saving your deposit money, and you might think you have made it in what the bank says you are able to borrow, but the harsh reality is there are a whole package of fees that come with a home purchase, and that is often the nail in the coffin for many people. They just do not have any spare dollars anywhere to beg or borrow from family or friends because they have already exhausted that avenue to get their deposit dollars together. This is $10 000 interest free over 15 years and is absolutely do-able in paying it back, and it means that they can pay off their fees without the stress and drama that it normally brings. The icing on the cake is that it also means that they can spend up to $1500 on whitegoods.
Anyone who has bought a new home, anyone who is renting a home, knows that you need whitegoods. Often, when you are making that life step, you might have a run down old washing machine and I have certainly had financial situations in my life where I have been as poor as a church mouse and had to bash my super to get money to pay for whitegoods just so I could wash the baby’s clothes and what have you. Whitegoods assistance is practical and important. You feel so much better when you open the fridge and the fridge works, you go to use the washing machine and it actually works. For people who struggle, whitegoods make a tremendous difference to their lives.
When you get into positions such as members of parliament and you get decent wages, and you have the ability to buy really good household goods, people can forget just how tough others are doing it. We certainly went through years in our life after Cyclone Tracy when the job after school for we kids was to bundle up the clothes and get down to the laundromat. That is where we did our washing every day. If someone had had a loan scheme then that we could have tapped into get a washing machine, it would have revolutionised the lives of my siblings and me. That $10 000 interest-free loan scheme over 15 years with the whitegoods component will mean that people will have pure joy with their home ownership.
There are rare moments in politics when you can see pure joy being delivered to people. This entire package, minister, you must be congratulated on. It is absolutely fantastic. I know your staff and your department have put a lot of effort into it. TIO has a lot of work ahead of it; as you said today, there have been 40 calls. They are going to be inundated with interest, but it is a great thing. This is a win-win-win package. We will see Territory Housing selling assets to Territorians. This gives Territory Housing the dollars to build new housing. This scheme is extended to the private market; you do not have to buy Territory Housing properties. You can go into the private market and buy a flat or a house.
It will help our investors, our Territory families who have bought themselves an investment flat in the northern suburbs, have had to sit on it in a tight market over the last few years, not being able to sell it. You will see those properties start to sell now and start to sell for good competitive and affordable prices. It is a win-win. No wonder the industry is congratulating you. No wonder the real estate industry and the construction industry are very excited about this. As I say, it is rare when you see such a tremendous boost to people’s lives and this will go a long way to shaping our towns and cities throughout the Territory. People will benefit throughout the Territory and we will see real growth in home ownership in the Territory.
Being a Territory-raised person, I always knew it would be hard for me to buy into my first home in the Territory. We have always had housing prices in excess of what the market really should have sustained. We knew that was a result of significant defence shifts here, where you have a very large vendor come in and purchase into a market. Your rents go up, your home prices go up. My generation did it pretty tough trying to buy into our first home in the place where we were born and raised. I have been really worried about how my kids will face the same situation. I feel really good that the current generation of late teens into their twenties, as a result of this scheme, have a real opportunity to buy homes. It is thanks to this scheme, it is thanks to the effort that the minister and the staff have put in. Congratulations.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Brennan, before you speak, I acknowledge the students in the gallery from the Warrego School just out of Tennant Creek. With them is Mr Colin Baker, an incredible asset to Warrego. He has horse riding classes, and a swimming team which often competes in Alice Springs. I have seen him down there, and now I see that he is up in Darwin. He has brought his students with him for a very special occasion. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend a warm welcome to you all.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I will be brief, because I do not mind admitting that I am not perhaps as bright as other people in this House. I have been looking at the ministerial statement for some time, trying to dissect, in fact, what it means in real terms for Territorians. There is no doubt, and I congratulate the government in this respect, but there are certainly some initiatives in this scheme that, on the face of it, look to be particularly good, certainly for those who are classed in the minister’s statement as being middle income earners, who now, if they have disposed of a home for whatever reason, can now access these new schemes in order to maintain home ownership in the Northern Territory with assistance from the government through these new schemes. On the face of it, it looks particularly good. In that regard, as I said, I congratulate the government.
However, I was looking for a bit more information on what it actually means for a first home buyer in the classic interpretation of first home buyer. We have said a lot in the statement about first home buyers and a person’s gross income in terms of eligibility. Most of the people who come to talk to me about these sorts of issues are not only low income earners, they are low outcome earners. The sorts of issues that arise in my office are primarily people who want to access a first home buyers scheme, facing a situation in the Northern Territory where the median price of houses has risen and risen quite dramatically, their own income has not risen at all, in most respects, and in some respects, they are not even at CPI. They are faced with the fact that, not only is it difficult for them to put together a deposit, but on the escalated prices of the home that they want to buy, often a Housing Commission home, that home has become out of their reach because they cannot afford the monthly repayments.
In this scheme, I was trying to see where exactly those people benefit. It seems to me that there is no doubt that the definition of ‘first home buyer’ in the Northern Territory has been broadened. That is good because it reflects the changing nature of who exactly is a first home owner in the Northern Territory. The broadening of that definition is good because what we want to do is have more and more people owning their own homes in the Northern Territory for all the reasons that have been outlined. Anything the government does to increase that is good.
The quantum of the loan has been increased. A loan that, at is maximum, has gone from $115 000 to about $235 000, to allow people to access better and better homes, is also good. However, let us fact it, it reflects the median house price changes in the Northern Territory, house price changes that are changing quite dramatically, and there is no doubt that the previous schemes were not able to keep up with that change.
The access, from $800 to $1100 for a person who can access the scheme, sounds good on the face of it, in that, as mentioned in the ministerial statement, those who previously would have been ineligible for the home loan can now access this particular scheme. The minister goes through a number of categories of public servants that can now access the scheme that could not in the past, and that is good.
I find particularly attractive the assistance with repayment; restructuring the loan for those who get into difficulties. That seems to me to be an excellent aspect of the scheme.
What I cannot find in the statement, and I hope I am boxing a shadow, is, where exactly this government’s commitment and insistence that no more than 30% of the gross income is spent purchasing the home loan, then adjusted with the fact that 10% of nett income must be free from any incumbrance and free to remain as disposable income, actually marries up with the statements that all of these people who could not access home loans in the past will now be able to access them. I need more time to look at that. I need to look at what the home loan rates are - the lending rates in the Northern Territory - how the household outcomes for a normal sized family with a couple of young kids and a low income actually compares in their ability to not only service a loan up to 30% of their gross income, but also be able to maintain 10% nett income residual.
I hope that all of those figures and models have been done, and I am sure they have. I am not sure they have, but I certainly hope they have been done. If the minister says they have, I will take his word for it. I hoped that in this statement, and also in the literature that the government has put out, we would have been able to see where, in fact, a low income earner - particularly someone around the $800 to $900 a week threshold - actually has been demonstrably improved under this new scheme for them to access this scheme, get themselves into their own home and be able to afford the repayments as required by the parameters of the loan, because I am not convinced. I do not say that in a churlish way. I am just not convinced on what I have heard here tonight that we could be singing the praises of how everything is going to change dramatically for the traditional first home purchaser in the Northern Territory.
It seems to me that there is no doubt that the stamp duty requirement has been reduced, and that is good. I wonder why a government needs to exact stamp duty revenue from those who are the traditional first home purchasers in the Northern Territory. Certainly, that is something that the opposition does not agree with, and we would remove that impost altogether. However, I am particularly interested in how - with the cost of medium house prices including Territory Housing houses going up quite remarkably - the traditional low income earner who would just quality for the loan in the past, can now qualify demonstrably better under this new scheme. That is what I was particularly looking to see in these particular initiatives that are coming from the government.
As I said, the people who I, invariably, have to deal with on these sorts of matters are low income people. Their nett residual income, when looking to try to service these loans, is marginal at best. With the increased costs of the median price of a house in the Northern Territory, I cannot see, on the face of it, where any of them are all that much better off under this new scheme, except in the reduction of stamp duty on their initial purchase. Once that information comes out, I will be talking to the Real Estate Institute and to the banks about the different models that can be run. It would be helpful if the opposition, or those who are interested, could get a briefing from TIO with some of those modelling figures laid out. I am sure it would put my mind at rest.
I make those comments only in the context that it is only been a brief time that I have had a chance to look at the statement. I congratulate the government on moving on this issue. I put out a press release a few weeks ago saying it was well overdue that they moved in this way, and it is good to see that they have.
I also add that, under the old scheme, the threshold on gross income cut out at $800. I thought the threshold cut out at $1000 for some people. It was $800 for some aspects of HomeNorth, and it was $1000 for other aspects of HomeNorth. Therefore, the broad statement that it now only cuts out $1100 is something I will have to look at.
In general terms, I congratulate the government for recognising the changing nature of home ownership in the Northern Territory and doing what seems to be a good initiative in the different schemes they have brought forward tonight.
Mr AH KIT (Housing): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all the members for their contributions tonight. Let me first respond to the member for Brennan and some of the concerns he has. Rather than deal with them tonight, I can take on board your comments and have a look at those and respond to you once I have a look at Hansard tomorrow. I can provide you with a briefing if you wish. I am quite happy to receive correspondence from you, or sit down and have a chat with you about some of the concerns once you correspond with my office. There is not a problem with that and it is not a problem for me to extend that to other members of this Chamber, especially members opposite, and the independent members.
There were thoughtful, thorough comments tonight in members’ contributions and understanding of the realities confronting most people when they try to enter the housing market. Keeping the Territory moving ahead is our top priority and the great package I have announced today, I believe, does just that. The support of members for these initiatives was very welcome.
Many Territorians and future Territorians will be able to get their start in life as a result of this package. For some people, this package will actually represent their second start in life. And I refer there to assurances picked up in HomeNorth in regards to financial problems people experienced, marital problems, divorces etcetera. The Territory has always had a great reputation as a place where people can get a start in life, to get ahead. I really believe that this package will encourage more people to move here and more people to stay here.
I welcome the contribution of the Leader of the Opposition. To quote him, he said that through this new HomeNorth package the Territory is certainly heading in the right direction, and I welcome those comments. However, the Leader of the Opposition does not seem to understand the situation for first home buyers in the Territory let alone at the national level. He said he had done a lot of research and I do not really doubt that, but, if he looks at my statement and my press release he would realise that effectively no first home owner under HomeNorth will pay a cent in stamp duty, even at the maximum property value level of $240 000.
For starters, all first home owners get the Commonwealth grant of $7000 that goes to stamp duty and fees. In addition, the Northern Territory Treasury through TIO, which administers another grant, will also contribute $3640 that goes to stamp duty relief. That is a total of $10 640 well above the stamp duty payable by HomeNorth borrowers which is about $7500 on a $240 000. The excess can be used to pay for other fees. The interest-free fee assistance loan I also introduced today, states that another $10 000, including the $1500 whitegoods sum, leaves first homers in the Territory better off than any where else in the country. When the Treasurer spoke earlier in great depth on the issue of stamp duty, I trust he was able to make things clearer for the member for Blain and the Leader of the Opposition.
I thank the member for Braitling for her support of the HomeNorth innovations I have announced. I am pleased that her constituents will benefit. While I appreciate her comments on the public housing in Alice Springs, I have had a letter in my in tray, which I hand delivered to her tonight responding to concerns that she raised at a meeting with myself and a senior departmental officer, Fiona Chamberlain, some weeks ago in Alice Springs. I certainly offer the member for Braitling an opportunity to respond to that correspondence if she is at all unhappy with what I have been able to pass onto her in regards to action being taken on the public housing issues she raised at said meeting. I believe that my department works very hard to address issues that are raised with them and would appreciate members opposite and Independent members raising concerns so that they can be addressed.
I thank the member for Katherine for her support. She raised one concern that people would get in over their heads under this scheme. I announced today that there are measures in place to have an arrears management program. That is a first, I believe, and it has been welcomed. I am sure people will take the opportunity to use that program to assist in getting through their financial hardship to continue to keep the title to their house in their name. There is no doubt, as I said in my statement, there will be problems when people face hardship or face unforseen circumstances from time to time. If anything, we do not want people to get into financial trouble, but it is a fact of life that there will be times when people will.
We also announced today that there is opportunity, depending on individual circumstances, where we can adjust interest rates and repayment amounts over a specified period of time. There is also an extension of a loan term as an option, and that can be up to 45 years which will reduce the fortnightly repayments required. There are many other measures as well, and I urge members of this house to read through my statement and the material that has been tabled. I invite them to raise queries, questions or concerns so that we can work through those. I am sure that if there are genuine concerns, they can be picked up and we may be able to take them on board.
In closing, this package is about giving people a chance to get ahead. I have no doubt that it will do that. More people will move here, more people will stay here to enjoy our great lifestyle and own their own piece of great Territory. Once again, I welcome contributions from members this evening.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Mr VATSKALIS (Mines and Energy): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
I would like to make some comments about the statement by my colleague, the Minister for Housing. It is a terrific project. Just last week I was door knocking in my area and I was stopped by one of my constituents who told me she could not afford to buy a Housing Commission house because her income was deemed to be very low.
One thing I urge the minister to consider is that a significant number of people living in Housing Commission houses are migrants who have arrived in the Territory recently, and some of the longer-term migrants do not have good English skills. I urge you to translate the package into some of these languages so these people will understand it and will have access to housing. Some of the Greek migrants want to buy their house, and have for a long time, but they do not understand the technicalities of the current system. Many times, I have had to go through the system and explain to them how they can buy the house with a standard loan rate. I urge the department to translate this information to some basic languages so that people can understand how they can acquire their own house, because these are long term Territorians.
I would like to speak today about the Power and Water Corporation’s Environmental Excellence Award. It is a great idea – how to assess people’s use of water and power and how to save water. People have been successful in reducing their consumption of power and water. This afternoon when I was out there having a look at the different awards, I came across three pamphlets. One is the 2004 nominee in a domestic category, and Mr Gunther Walder, one of my constituents, has been nominated for using natural conditions.
Mr Walder lives in Nakara, and I was very impressed with his house. As a matter of fact, I do not think you can see too much of his house because it is covered by natural vegetation, incorporating palms and some native trees. As a result, Mr Walder does not use his airconditioning as much as other people. His house is shielded from the weather and from the sun, and he uses natural airconditioning with louvred windows, open windows and a very open garden. Congratulations to Mr Walder. It is a great initiative. If you are in Nakara, it is on the corner of Adcock and Rattray Streets, and you will see one of the most beautiful verges in Darwin. I believe Mr Walder will receive an award for his wonderful nature strip.
It is something very good, but simple, and people can make a difference in a simple way. You certainly can make a difference with the use of water. I was looking at the pamphlet distributed by Power and Water, and you can see some consumption figures such as how much it costs to run a small airconditioner – 35 cents an hour for a 2500 watt airconditioner. Compare that to a ceiling fan of 80 watts which uses 1.1 per hour. How many times do we leave our houses leaving the fans spinning, leaving the airconditioner running, saying ‘She’ll be right’? Then we get the bill and we find out how much money we have to pay this quarter to Power and Water.
We can easily find out about new equipment that uses less electricity, less power and can actually select them at the electrical store. You can pick out the equipment by the stars. The more stars they have, the more energy efficient they are. I recall when I was growing up in Greece, most of the European whitegoods were rated then, but they also used very energy efficient equipment because the power in Europe is very expensive. In Europe, you will never see a top loading washing machine, because they use too much water and too much power. Instead, you will see front loaders. A front loader will use about one fifteenth of the water that a top loader will use for a full wash, and much less power. You can be clever and look around for equipment that will provide you with savings through less electricity. They may be expensive initially, not significantly expensive but more expensive than common equipment, but in the long term will provide savings.
At the awards I saw that the 2004 nominee for the Community and Local Government Award were two schools in my area. Dripstone High School has instigated a very good recycling system. The children have put in a place a system that recycles everything that comes to the school, from the school canteen, to glass, cans, even the paper they use at school. Every week, the children put out the yellow bins full of recycling product. They are emptied and distributed to different classes. Even the teachers participate in that - at happy hour most of the glass and the cans go into the recycling bins. I can vouch for this because my wife teaches there and I have been to some of the happy hours held at Dripstone High School.
It is significant, because you see the children, from a very early age, learn about the benefits of recycling, how not to waste resources because they are very difficult to replenish, and certainly producing them again from scratch is very power hungry. One of the most expensive parts of producing aluminium is the electricity utilised for the conversion from alumina to aluminium.
The other school that was nominated was Alawa Primary School. Alawa Primary School has an animal farm – a school farm which is a unique initiative in an Australian primary school. The children involved in this initiative enclosed part of the gardens at the school in which they put the animals, their vegetable garden, and a tree garden. They also instigated a system where they can use the manure from the ducks to fertilise the vegetable gardens, and learn about recycling of natural resources. I went to the school farm when it was in its infancy and I was worried at that time because it had a very small fence. I did not want, come Monday, kids coming to the school and finding that some dogs or vandals had destroyed the farm and killed the animals. I worked together with the principal and I thank the minister for education for approving a grant of $14 000 to erect a fence to protect the animals.
The children have done a lot of work. They have now established vegetable gardens, they have ducks and geese; they were given a piglet which is replaced regularly. It has become a feature. Primary schools in Darwin are queuing up to bring their students to this farm to spend two or three hours every week so the kids can come in contact with the animals and with the system that this school has put in place.
I congratulate the Alawa Primary School and the Dripstone High School for their initiative. It is significant to teach young Australians, from an early age, to protect the environment, to learn recycling, and to conserve energy and water. I congratulate Gunther Walder, and his wife, Margaret, for their initiative in converting their house to an airconditioning-free house by planting, in strategic places, plants and trees that seal their house.
I have to admit that my family is power hungry. When you have young children, they seem to believe that electricity comes for free. Anywhere they walk they just turn on the switch and off they go and the lights will be on. When they leave their bedrooms the light and the fan stay on. You are always behind them trying to urge them …
Mr Burke: You would cause consternation in our household, I can tell you!
Mr VATSKALIS: You are trying to argue with them that you do not have to leave your fan on when you are not there, and you can pull the curtains and natural light will come into your room.
The argument they do not understand is by leaving some of the electrical equipment on, the amount of power that is consumed. How many times do we leave the computer on stand-by or the video, or the DVD? The reality is, when they are on stand-by, they consume electricity - not as much as when they are operating, but they are still consuming electricity. By leaving your computer in stand-by mode, it will cost you $100 per year. In modern houses, every child wants to have his or her own computer, video and television. If you accumulate all this equipment and it remains on stand-by, you can probably waste about $1000 to $2000 a year.
It is not only that you waste money from your own pocket. The fact is that this energy has to be produced by burning something - fossil fuels or gas. In our case, we have a clean energy source which is natural gas. In other places in the world, and even in Australia, they are using coal, with significant greenhouse emissions.
The Environmental Excellence Award is a very good idea. I congratulate the Power and Water Corporation for this idea, and all the participants - even the people who were game enough to put their name up and later found they consumed a significant amount of energy in the house, like John Baskerville, who works for the Chief Minister’s Department in Alice Springs. He was found to consume the most energy of any other Territorian in the Northern Territory, and he was not very impressed about it. I also congratulate my colleague, the member for Karama, for her clever use of water. She was nominated in a domestic category for saving water. Congratulations to all participants.
It is very interesting to read some of the leaflets that are distributed by Power and Water and take some lessons on how much we can save by just applying very simple, clever steps in our own house.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I was not in the House during the censure motion yesterday morning, but I read the transcript of Hansard today, and also the newspaper article. I noted that the Speaker departed the Chair to participate in that debate, and it is in that context that I make my remarks this evening.
I say at the outset that I hope my remarks are seen in the constructive way I intend to outline my argument. I do not intend to play politics in this Chamber tonight, but hopefully to help to strengthen the role and status of Madam Speaker in this House.
Whilst the standing orders of this House provide no guidance on the proprietary of the Speaker vacating the Chair to participate in debate, the House of Representatives Practice provides the appropriate guidance of the status role and decisions by the Speaker on how they conduct themselves, and it is in that context I refer to the House of Representative Practice.
Apart from a very interesting historical reference of how Speakers came to be, the fact that many of them were executed because of their role in opposing monarchical rule in the early stages of the Westminster system, and that is the reason why they used to be hauled up to take the job of Speaker. No one wanted to do it because there was a limited tenure on your life, and that is why the Speaker is gently, in accordance with that custom, escorted to the Chair. It reflects on that history.
In looking at the history of the role and status of the Speaker, I do believe it gives us excellent guidance as to where and how the Speaker should conduct themselves in this Chamber. I quote from the House of Representatives Practice in a couple of areas:
It goes on to say has the constant support and advice of the principal permanent officers of the House, principally the Clerk of the House.
In another reference to the impartiality of the Chair, the House of Representative Practice says this:
As a rule, the Speaker does not indulge in the actual debating and law making processes of the House but it does give an important exception to that on page 209 where it deals with occasions when Speakers have departed the Chair to participate in debate. It states:
In summary, the House of Representatives Practice lists the duties of the Speaker that are many and often onerous. Predominant among them are to preserve the right of freedom of speech in the Chamber without fear or favour. The Speaker is assisted in this role with the advice of the Clerk.
It is also important to note that there was nothing to preclude the Speaker from vacating the Chair and I think it needs to be supported. In fact, because we are a unicameral House, because in this case Madam Speaker is the only representative of her electorate, I support that Madam Speaker does vacate the Chair on occasions and does speak on issues particularly pertaining to her electorate. It is the same with other issues: Madam Speaker is quite strong in her concern on issues of container deposit legislation. She has strong views about domestic violence against Aboriginal women, and on those sorts of issues, I support and encourage her contribution.
But if we bear in mind the structures and conventions that are outlined in House of Representatives Practice, I believe it was not constructive to the status of the office that Madam Speaker, in a contribution as the member for Braitling in yesterday’s debate, spoke in the way she did. If you read Hansard, I do not believe anyone could take issue with the fact that what Madam Speaker said was highly, and by her own words, ‘admittedly emotive’. It contained derogatory comments against individuals - one was the Deputy Leader of the Opposition; one was a person who could not defend themselves in this House, a newspaper proprietor in Alice Springs. Her contribution was accusatory against one side of the House and it sided strongly with the government. I think at one stage she said the censure motion should have been moved against the opposition by the government.
In fact, on a couple of occasions in her contribution, she was cautioned for breaching standing orders by the Deputy Speaker and in terms of the conventions of the House, Madam Speaker spoke in the debate in front of the second opposition speaker, such that the debate, when it was finished, was a three-two contribution with the opposition on their own censure motion being one less able to contribute to the debate.
Another important point, and the main point I want to make, is that Madam Speaker has every right to speak as the member for Braitling on a number of issues. I support that. However, the newspaper headline clearly shows that the position of Speaker is not transportable. If Madam Speaker leaves the Chair, and speaks as the member for Braitling, she has to be very careful that her contribution does not detract from the status of the office. The newspaper headline today states: ‘Speaker gives up Chair to blast CLP’. There is no doubt in that headline that the inference of the newspaper report was that the Speaker gave the admonishment, not the member for Braitling. The sub-editorial headline says, quoting Madam Speaker:
The note there is that that statement was made by Speaker Loraine Braham. I simply make this comment: I have spoken to Madam Speaker so there is nothing I am saying that I have not spoken to Madam Speaker about, and I am quite confident that she understands my point of view.
As I said, I do not intend to play politics with the issue because that is quite wrong. However, I do believe that the status of the office needs to be preserved at all times. I simply ask Madam Speaker that in future when she vacates the Chair, to be mindful of the fact that her primary role is to preserve freedom of speech. It seems to me that on occasions when Madam Speaker probably feels most involved in the issue, when Madam Speaker feels close to the issue, where she feels that she wants to make a contribution in one way or another in a partisan way on particular issue, that is precisely the time when the rigours and status of the office demand that she stays in the Chair.
I am sure Madam Speaker may disagree with that point of view. However, the longer I stay in this House, I believe that there are enough opportunities for all of us to play petty politics on one issue or another, but we have a responsibility to Territorians. We are all honoured to sit in this Chamber, an honour that many Territorians and Australians will never receive. We all have a responsibility to ensure that the conventions and practices that have been passed down over centuries through the Westminster system are observed. Practices in this House need to be practised fully, not just when they suit our own purposes.
I have had, unfortunately, reasons to not have a great relationship with Madam Speaker in the past. That is a relationship I am certainly trying to rebuild, and I emphasise to her today that my comments tonight are certainly not meant as a criticism of her per se, but I feel it incumbent of me, and I feel it is demanded of me, as one member of this parliament, to speak against what she did yesterday. I think it was partisan. I think it was wrong. I think it was derogatory to the status of the office, an office that I wish to not only respect for the sake of the office, but I wish to also respect and honour the person who occupies it.
Madam Speaker would assist me in that regard if she desists from getting involved in arguments and vacating the Chair when she feels herself involved in a partisan way in the future.
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to express my sorrow this evening at the passing of a great Territorian, Len Kittle, who died aged 86 on 31 May in the Alice Springs Hospital.
Len’s story is one of Territory pride and endeavour. He came to Tennant Creek from Queensland in 1936, aged just 19, following his family, who had come two years earlier as part of the rush for gold. Len immediately went into business carting wood, and his brother, Geoff, joined him in 1938, and they traded as the Kittle Brothers. The following year, Len married Phyllis Lennon, who worked in the local bakery. I recall Madam Speaker once telling me that Len had to sell one of his spare tyres to be able to afford the engagement ring.
I must say how much I have enjoyed hearing Len’s story on the ABC, as the oral history interviews with him have been repeated as part of a commemoration of his passing. Len was a real character and such an integral part of Central Australia. He will be sorely missed.
Len’s life is a real Territory story. Between 1942 and 1945, he served in the RAAF as ground staff. Immediately after his discharge, and Jose Petrick notes, still wearing the RAAF uniform, he applied to General Motors in Adelaide for the first GM franchise in Tennant Creek, which he was awarded in November 1945. The Kittle Brother’s business did well in Tennant Creek.
In 1958, Len and his family moved to Alice Springs where he took over the GMH dealership and the Len McConville Motors Agency on the corner of Wills Terrace and Todd Street. The site later become Shell Todd and is now a car park. In 1962, Kittle Brothers then moved to the site on the corner Wills and Railway Terraces, where the franchise broadened to include other makes of cars and trucks. Of course, now the Kittle name is synonymous with one of the largest and most successful car dealerships in the Territory, taking out many awards over the years. In 1995, Len achieved a world record as a single car dealer to hold a franchise continuously for 50 years. The GMH South Australian Manager presented Len with a gold watch and a wall plaque in honour of the occasion.
Len worked tirelessly for the betterment of Alice Springs. He became a Justice of the Peace in 1951, and after being a member of the Town Management Board, was elected Alderman on the first Alice Springs Town Council, and that was between the years of 1971 and 1973. Active in politics, Len was a founding member of the Country Liberal Party in 1974.
He was also a founding member of the Central Australian Show Society, and recalled walking the main street of the town seeking interest and support for that first show from local firms. The first show, held on Anzac Oval, started with grey skies but was a success. The following year it was moved to Traeger Park, where it was held until 1981, when it was moved to its present site at Blatherskite Park. Len was pivotal in the Show Society, serving as president twice, committee member, Blatherskite Park’s trustee and chairman; positions he held for many years. In fact, he only retired as chairman in June 2000, after holding the position for some 20 years. They named the road there Len Kittle Drive to honour all the work he did for the Show Society.
Len was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Alice Springs, which started in 1961, and its second president. In 1983, Len was named a Paul Harris Fellow. He served on the management board for the Alice Springs Youth Centre, Keep Alice Springs Beautiful Association, and the Alice Springs Hospital Advisory Board, among others. In 1982, Len was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the community, and in 1985 was named Centralian of the Year.
Len and Phyl celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary in November 1989. They would have celebrated their 65th anniversary in November this year. They were a loving couple who never even took a holiday apart from each other. Len always remained active at Kittle Brothers, even after his sons, Robert and Peter, took over the main running of the business.
He is survived by his wife Phyl, his sons, Robert and Peter, daughters Heather, Gwen, Sylvia and Shirley, as well as 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. My thoughts and sympathy are with the family.
This Territory will always think of you, Len, travelling in that Holden ute, and salute you for your enormous contribution to the Territory and the enormous legacy you leave behind. I believe he will always be a part of Alice Springs.
I would also like to share with the House this evening some of the wonderful events associated with WordStorm 2004, the Northern Territory’s Writers Festival that took place in Darwin from 27 to 30 May. The WordStorm team included NT Writers Centre staff, executive officer Mary Anne Butler, office manager and publicist, Finley Smith, the NT Writers Centre committee of management, and an army of project officers and volunteers, including Andrew Ewing and Sandra Thibodeaux.
WordStorm brought to Darwin an extensive line-up of interstate and international literary visitors to interact with our own excellent crop of Northern Territory writers in a celebration of the spoken and written word. A total of four international, 24 interstate and 35 Territory writers were engaged on a professional basis at this event. The festival hosted writers from Ireland, China and Indonesia, as well as representatives from all over Australia. Established and emerging Territory writers were able to enhance their professional development opportunities, become newly-inspired and establish fresh friendships and networks across the writing world. There was a deliberate emphasis on NT writers and writing, offering Territory writers a legitimate voice on the national stage. The densely packed program included debates, panel discussions, readings, workshops, book launches and concerts.
I was fortunate enough to be asked to deliver the keynote speech at the festival gala dinner at Mirambeena Resort on Friday, 28 May. I was certainly in excellent company. In addition to my remarks, there were also readings by celebrated Australian novalists. Peter Goldsworthy was one, winner of the Commonwealth poetry prize, Australian Bicentennial Literary Award and, jointly with composer, Richard Mills, the 2002 Helpmann Award for Best New Australia Work, and also the writer of wonderful books like Maestro, Honk If You Are Jesus, Little Deaths, Wish and his latest one, Seven Dog Night. There was Kate Grenville, the winner of the Orange Award. Kate came from Sydney and is the author of many fine books. Her latest one I am currently reading: The Idea of Perfection. There was playwright Andrew Bovell. Andrew’s award winning play Speaking in Tongues was adapted to the screen as the fabulous Australian film Lantana, also an award winning work.
Other highlights of the gala dinner were readings by the provocative and engaging Indonesian writer, Ayu Utami, and one of Australia’s most talented indigenous women, Larissa Behrendt who writes both fiction and non-fiction, and also happens to be Professor of Law and Indigenous Studies at the University of Technology in Sydney.
A real highlight of WordStorm was the strong contingent of indigenous writers, both from the Territory and interstate. Feedback from all indigenous writers and storytellers involved has been overwhelmingly positive, with local writer, June Mills, pointing out that it was the first time her voice had been properly heard on the national stage. Publisher Mark Macleod penned the following post-festival:
I know that Mark has also indicated his support for this festival internationally as well.
I was privileged to take part in an ‘in conversation’ session at the Museum Theatrette, which featured two of the festivals most interesting international visitors, Irish novelist, Kerrie Hardy and young Chinese writer, Chi Zijian. The session turned out to be a fascinating exploration of the similarities and differences between Irish, Chinese and Australian cultures, as well as the different writing processes, inspirations and outcomes.
In addition, WordStorm saw the launch of True North: Contemporary Writing from the Northern Territory. Edited by Marian Devitt and part funded by Arts NT, this book offered emerging Territory writers opportunities for publication. Everyone is to be congratulated for a magnificent effort. WordStorm was an extraordinary event, maximising our strong indigenous oral culture to further the national debate on literary matters, and to celebrate the cultural richness and diversity of our near neighbours in Indonesia and Timor.
On 2 June, I had the privilege of opening a wonderful exhibition by talented and quite extraordinary artist and illustrator, Catherine Paton. This occasion also marked the opening of Catherine’s new artspace, the Gallery Meeting Room, on the Esplanade. The Portraits Alive exhibition was enchanting. Catherine had arranged the subjects of some of her works to be positioned next to the artwork. It was truly inspirational to see Catherine’s skills with the living subjects.
Catherine’s work is well known to all of us here through her brilliant portraiture. Several times winner of the People’s Choice category in the portrait of Senior Territorians, she has won many other awards besides. I mention the People’s Choice specifically because Catherine’s work speaks clearly to all Territorians and her portraits of Austin Asche or Chrisoula Anictomatis over recent years are proof of her remarkable talent.
Originally from Great Britain, we are fortunate that Catherine has chosen the Territory as the place to base herself, to display her work, and raise her family. As an illustrator, Catherine has produced an extraordinary portfolio of work for some of the most prestigious publishers in London. Her portfolio is characterised by artful imagination, exploring themes in fantasy, mythology and religion. Most of those illustrations were produced in watercolour and airbrush but more recently she has turned her attention to oils and portraiture. I welcome the addition of the Gallery Meeting Room to Darwin’s fraternity of fine art. I am sure my colleagues join with me and wish Catherine the very best for her new venture. She is really determined to make a living, and this is ambitious in a city the size of Darwin and also a place the size of the Territory, out of her art, and particularly, out of painting portraits, and I certainly wish her luck.
Finally tonight, I would like to tell the House about Intimate Encounters, a photographic exhibition exploring disability and sexuality, that I opened at Top Coins and Fine Art Gallery in the Mall on 12 May. This exhibition will be familiar to my colleagues because it was originally proposed for the Great Hall here at Parliament House. Because the exhibition deals frankly with graphic images of sexuality, Madam Speaker, although a supporter of the aims of the exhibition itself, was of the view that it would be inappropriate at a venue which children and the general public frequent. This view, I might also say, was supported by Browns Mart which in their original application suggested that arrangements might need to be made for limiting access by young people unaccompanied by an adult. Since that would not be possible in the Great Hall at parliament, the decision was made to exhibit at Top Coins and Fine Art Gallery in the Mall.
This came about because the owner of Top Coins, Michael Moriarty, heard the topic being discussed on ABC Radio and rang in to Annie Gaston to offer his gallery for the exhibition. Michael supported the idea behind the exhibition and his gallery had wheelchair access which of course was an important requirement. This arrangement represents an excellent partnership between private business and the arts and is something I would encourage in the future.
The exhibition was funded by Visions of Australia and the touring component managed through Artback with Denise Officer. Artback does not have the charter to tour exhibitions to Darwin so this leg of the tour was funded through the Darwin Arts and Disabilities Steering Committee. This committee is a partnership between arts and health, and is supported by a number of organisations including Darwin City Council which also provided some in kind support.
The photographs have been taken over some years by leading Australian photographer, Belinda Mason-Lovering. Kiersten Fishburn, curator at Accessible Arts, wrote in the catalogue essay:
The opening was a marvellous celebration of the Darwin arts community and well attended with representatives from health, the arts, disabilities organisations, people with disabilities, and the then city council alderman, Robyne Burridge, and the community.
I must say I was unprepared for what I would see in the exhibition. Certainly, there were extremely frank images of nudity and sexuality. I was not sure how I would react, but the beauty, wit and the optimism that filled this exhibition really surprised me and surprised others who were there. It was a celebration, exuberant and full of life.
The exhibition toured to Katherine and Alice Springs where it was also well attended, although I understand there was some controversy in Alice Springs. I suppose art is there to challenge us and stimulate discussion as well as to provide an aesthetic ideal.
My thanks and appreciation to all who were involved in this exhibition, especially Darwin City Council; Ken Conway from Brown’s Mart; Denise Officer from Artback; Kiersten Fishburn from Accessible Arts; Michelle Lovett, the Auslan interpreter; Graham Buxton from Carpentaria Disability Services; Bill Medley, President of Total Recreation, who also spoke; and Michael Moriarty, the owner of Top Coins and Fine Arts, who made this possible. I also thank all the people who shared their stories with Belinda Mason-Lovering, which resulted in these beautiful and quite thought-provoking photographs; a very worthwhile event.
Mr STIRLING (Nhulunbuy): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, last Wednesday night I was invited to CSM Technology to help celebrate the achievements of their information technology cadets. These young people are indeed a credit to themselves and to CSM Technology. CSM is renowned in the Territory for its strong commitment to providing training and mentoring services to young Territorians. This is one of the reasons that Kim Ford, the General Manager of CSM, was chosen to head up the Ministerial Advisory Board on Employment and Training.
This impressive group of young people aged between 15 and 20 has spent the past two years attending CSM weekly after school for a program mixing work and learning. The goal of the cadet program is to take secondary students with a talent for IT and bring them into the business in an innovative way to provide valuable real-world experience in the IT industry.
I have had some contact with the program over the past few years, and I have been extremely impressed with the skills of each cadet and their ability to apply them into practical tasks. I am inspired by the enthusiasm and passion these young people have for IT. They were involved in projects ranging from games manufacturing, to robotics, web design and video production. Four cadets are now doing part-time work for CSM. Others have secured jobs with firms around Darwin. Congratulations to these young people on their success and hard work. They are great role models for other young Territorians.
The cadets included: Wendy-Louise Canning of Casuarina Senior College. Wendy’s interest was digital filming and editing; Sam Condon from Kormilda College who is doing a mini CD of business cards; Ben Edgar, from Darwin High School, whose speciality is games making; Michael Gooding, from Charles Darwin University, is into web design and works part-time at CSM; Kate Greene from Charles Darwin University, whose skills were within networking; Daniel Merrifield, also from Charles Darwin University, has been involved in games making and works part-time at CSM; Ryan Oliver from Casuarina Senior College, whose interest is networking; Nicholas Quirke from Kormilda College who is involved with robotics; Correy Saunders from Charles Darwin University does web design; Angus Thomson from Casuarina Senior College is interested in robotics; and Kevin Turner from Charles Darwin University who interested in networking. Kevin also works part-time at CSM Technology.
Many of these young people’s parents were there on the evening as well, which is good to see. These cadets have shown what our young people can do and behind them is some very committed training and support staff. I commend Kim and the staff at CSM for their commitment to supporting, encouraging and training these young Territorians.
Several of the mentors and coordinators were presented with certificates of recognition at the cadet graduation: Shaun Metcalf, Richard Spillet, Daryl The, Wayne Mather, Jerry Pilkolous, Rob Orton, Rob Simmons, the IT specialist at CSM Technology; Tarsha Steele and Linda Pollard, the Cadet Coordinators; and Jamie Kurz, a teacher from Palmerston High were all recognised for their hard work and commitment with the cadets. Without the efforts of those people, the students would simply not be where they are today.
Congratulations to all of the cadets and support staff including the Business Relationships Manager, Natasha Griggs, and especially to Kim Ford.
I was sad to learn of the passing of Datjarranga and Joanne’s son two weeks ago at Galiwinku. Datjarranga is the General Manager of Marthakal Homelands Association at Galiwinku and Joanne works in the administration office at Shepherdson College. The contribution that this couple make to their community is outstanding. They are always there to support and assist both Balanda and Yolngu, and I especially appreciate their friendship. They are wonderful parents to the children and my thoughts and prayers are with them as they come to terms with the loss of a much loved son.
A memorial service was held last Sunday for the late Mr Djerrkura. Around 1000 people came to farewell this special leader who carried his role with great pride and dignity. As I stated at the service on Sunday, I have attended too many memorial services for these late leaders at too young an age in their life, and I will take on the responsibility to ensure that everything possible that I can do as a minister in this government to assist with all of the challenges confronting indigenous communities will be done.
My thoughts and prayers are with Damien, Fiona and Nathan, the community at Yirrkala as they move forward and carry on with their lives, and in sharing the vision that their father and leader set before them, take up the responsibility to ‘work together, Yolngu and Balanda, respect each other and make things happen for the betterment of our people’.
Nhulunbuy was also saddened by the passing of a long term resident, Mr Rod Parish, last week in Tasmania. Rod had been sick for some time. He had moved to Tasmania to be close to his family. He was involved with the local Australian Football League for many years, along with other sports. He was always ready to assist in any community activity. He will be sadly missed. My thoughts are with his wife, Rose, and Megan, Brendan and Matthew, as they come to terms with the loss of their husband and father.
Busloads of people headed for the airport to catch a glimpse of the RAAF Roulettes, who called in to Gove as part of their Outback Tour of Australia. Students from all the schools were there to experience the thrill of aerial acrobatics, and the crew allowed the students to then get a close-up of the planes and their pilots. For the benefit of those working at the Alcan plant, a special flyover was performed over the plant site.
I congratulate Anthony Trudgen, a local junior at the Gove Tennis Club, who has made the Territory Pizzey Cup Team to travel to Sydney. Anthony has been a member of the tennis club for ten years. He has travelled with the club’s tournament squad for the past few years, and finally been successful in representing the Northern Territory. I wish Anthony well with his tennis and look forward to seeing him perform on centre court in a few years’ time. The Trudgen family are a well known and great local family in Nhulunbuy.
The East Arnhem Expo 2004 was a great success. The organisers are to be congratulated for their hard work, enabling many local businesses to showcase their services available to the region. I was pleased to be able to present the Expo Awards at a special dinner on the Saturday evening. My congratulations to Gove Toyota, the Gove Peninsula Motel, Alcan and the Business of the Year, which was presented to Qantas, and so well done to Chris Putland, the new Manager of Qantas, and his staff for their assistance, patience, and professionalism in serving our region, they really do a great job.
It was a tremendous honour to receive the debutantes and their partners at the ball in Nhulunbuy last Saturday night. A huge amount of preparation is involved in the presentation of such an event as a deb ball. Special thanks must go to Bluey Douglas and Evelyn, Ian and Marianne Constantine, and Steve and Deanne Castelli, and Colleen and Debbie and the committee for their commitment and organisation in bringing together a great evening.
Congratulations to the debutantes. They all looked beautiful, and their partners who shamed us all and led their debs expertly around the dance floor. Special mention must be made of Conno, Ian Constantine, who has been involved in the Nhulunbuy Debutantes Ball 11 times, and as the ball is held only every second year, that is a great effort over the past 22 years. We sincerely thank Conno for his valuable contribution, not just to the ball, but to the Nhulunbuy community in general.
The Gove Golf Club’s 54 Hole Amateur Open, sponsored by Qantas, was held last weekend. There was a great turn out of players from around the country, and with the course in great condition, I believe the weekend was a huge success. Congratulations to all those involved and the recipients of the great prizes at the end of the weekend.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, it was my pleasure to attend the Essington School Preschool graduation on Tuesday, 1 June 2004, and to present graduation certificates to the 33 five-year old graduands, who were beautifully dressed in mortar boards and gowns for the occasion. When I was first asked to perform this special task, I thought that perhaps the invitation was incorrect, never having heard of a graduation for preschoolers. Might I say, what a delightful occasion it was, with the 33 children and their parents and, in many cases, grandparents and aunts and uncles present. It is a time that most likely the children will not really remember, but their families will never forget.
Let me extend my congratulations to the preschool teachers who organised a wonderful night, especially to Jayne Pickering, who ably worked as the master of ceremonies for the occasion, and also to the Parents and Friends president, Mrs Megan Brown, as well as the parents and friends themselves for their active involvement in the school.
There were special performances by the preschoolers, and also by the Early Childhood Choir, the Songsters Choir, ably conducted by Mrs Jill Kuhn, and a performance by the Recorder Group, conducted by Mrs Merrilyn Watson.
I would like to place on the record the names of those young graduands, and wish them all the best in their new lives in the big school: Isis Abellanosa, Andre Agcaoili, Yiannis Alexopoulos, Samantha Blandy, Adam Cundy, Georgia English, Sally Faulkner, Liam Griffen, Grace-Celeste Harding, Perri Huggett, Madison La Pira, Felisha Lay, Annaleigh Maclean, Alexander Materazzo, Patrick Murtagh, Coco O’Halloran, Sarah Puetz, Chloe Purvis, Jade Racz, Ishwar Ramkumar, Imogen Randazzo, Chad Robertson, Sophie Rushton, Jordan-Ravi Sabaratnam, Rebecca Salter, Maxime Schwiersch, Jordi Siebert, Isaac Snyder, Nelson Sonntag, Cameron Sweet, Isabella Taruminggi, Niamh Wooster and Ryan York-Morris.
Finally, I would like to thank the principal of the school, Mr David Cannon, and the school council for the kind gift of a brick with my name on it, which will go into the new school paving.
The Essington School is a school in my electorate which, over the past few years, has really excelled in what it offers to its students. It starts off very well with this preschool program which follows the Montessori lines, and most of the children who attend this preschool then graduate into the full primary school. I know that it is a school where children feel that it is a wonderful community. Many of them stay there until Year 10. I believe that there are moves afoot for it to be extended into Years 11 and 12, which will be a wonderful thing for the children who are attending the Essington School.
It was also my pleasure to attend the Darwin Youth Orchestra’s performance of Picture Perfect on 29 May 2004 at the Charles Darwin University. The Darwin Youth Orchestra is the senior ensemble at the Charles Darwin University Centre for Youth Music. The orchestra was formed in 1990, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Members of the Darwin Youth Orchestra range from 12 to 18 years, and most of them receive their tuition through the Centre for Youth Music. Players in the orchestra gain their seats through auditions which are held at various times during the year.
The program included Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Faur’s Sicilienne and Dvork’s Slavonic Dance N 3. What a pleasure it was to sit and listen to these talented young people entrance the audience. The orchestra was ably conducted by Mr Andrew Snell, who moved to Darwin earlier this year to take up his position as a lecturer in brass and musicianship at the CDU.
I would like to acknowledge the members of this orchestra. The leader was Angelina Duan; violin 1 - Sarah Bourke, Niamh Buckley, Finn Parker; violin 2 - Georgia Cleveland, Annaliese DaSilva, Helen Dwyer, Helen Fegan, Elizabeth Steadman, Kai-Bin Su; viola - Emma Walsh and Robyn Lambert; cello - Laura McCann, David Parry; flute - Tarryn Aldridge Frances Aartenir, Lindsay Stirrat, Charlotte Wilks; oboe - Andrew Cameron, Melanie Silva; clarinet - Alana Colton, Erin Lawson, Ada Leung; bassoon - Hamish Cameron, Tara Collins; trumpet - James Carson, Thomas Cowie, Lucy Murdoch; trombone - William Cowie; and percussion - Matthew Fong and Andrew Parry.
I wish the orchestra and the staff who ably support it well for the future, and I look forward to attending future productions.
On 12 June, it was my pleasure to attend a performance of The Dead Zone, a play by Kate Rice, performed by the Corrugated Iron Youth Arts at Brown’s Mart. Corrugated Iron Youth Arts is a not-for-profit organisation providing skills development and performance opportunities for young people aged five to 25 years in the Darwin region. Corrugated Iron focusses on performing arts including theatre, circus, dance, script writing, video and technical production, and produces high-quality performances by young people for audiences of all ages.
My congratulations go to the production team, especially Jeremy Rice, the very talented director of the team; as mentioned previously, the writer, Kate Rice; the script consultant and dance tutor, Samantha Chalmers; and marketing and production officer, Raechel Browne.
This was a fascinating story of young Territory teenagers who get killed in a car accident and spend time in the dead zone until they realise they are dead themselves. It is a mixture of pathos and humour and was very well performed and directed. The main characters were Abbie played by Danielle Andrews, Jasper played by Dylan Bennett, Travis Cardona who played Orpheus, Kadek Hobman who played Anubis and the Judge, Tamara McDonald who played Shakti and the Court Official, Madeleine Pradier who played Di, the Mediator and the Inquisitor, and Nira Quinn who played Belinda.
It is wonderful to see so many young people involved in these creative pursuits. I wish them well for their future productions, the next being Outside and Over the Top for the Darwin Festival in August.
It was my pleasure to attend the Showcase of the Stars Program at the Nightcliff Primary School on 3 June. This was an opportunity for those students who had performed at the Eisteddfod to present these items again to their school community, parents and friends. The evening was ably compered by Charls and Carlz, also known as Charlie Martin and Carly Lambourne.
The evening was started with an arousing medley by the Nightcliff Primary School band. This is a very professional band with real dedication by its members to musical excellence. This was followed by a woodwind trio by Margie O’Donnell, Charlie Martin and Sarah Winch; a piano solo by Michelle Winch; and another piano solo by Alicia Stroud. Then we had the percussion band from Year 3/4 Smith/Magee; a nursery rhyme solo by Ashley May Wilkinson; and a special item of ballet by Sabrina Stroud. We then had two mimes, one from Sarah Rann and Eleanor Stancombe and another from Polly Henry and Yasmine Osbourne. There was a very entertaining item of belly dancing by Lizzy Wigg and Sarah Anderson; and then a modern song by Year 3/4 Young and Year 3/4 McDonald. There was another dance item, the scarf dance by sisters Sabrina and Alicia Stroud.
Probably one of the two most popular items of the event was the verse speaking by James Martin and Alan Wright who presented an item about a doctor. Then there was a woodwind trio by Natasha Chadwick, Polly Henry and Eleanor Stancombe, Irish dancing by Shauna Maguire-Olstad, and a violin solo by Sarah Winch. To finish up the evening there was a fascinating one act play by Year 5/6/7 Smith/Winch about a serial killer. Both those classes were heavily involved and it was fascinating to watch.
I congratulate all the students involved and also the teachers as there is a tremendous amount of work involved in putting these presentations together. I would like to put my comments on the record of the excellence of Nightcliff Primary School. This is a school which has always had excellent teachers and great outcomes for its students. My three children have attended there and I still have a daughter at the school. It is a place where you can feel confident in sending your child knowing that they will receive an excellent education from fantastic teachers.
A number of members of this House were given the opportunity to visit the Mount Bundy Training Area on Monday, 24 May. We were given the opportunity to observe and, where possible, participate in as many activities as possible with the 1st Armoured Regiment. It was my pleasure to join with the Minister for Defence Support, the members of Sanderson and Millner, the Leader of the Opposition, and members for Macdonnell and Goyder in this exercise.
This day gave us the opportunity to view a training exercise at Mount Bundy by Australia’s only armoured regiment and demonstrated what an efficient and tremendous team of young men the regiment consists of. I use the term ‘men’ advisedly as this is a male only regiment as Australian women are not able to join this regiment as it is a full combat regiment and our laws do not allow women to be involved at that level. I am not sure if I agree with this situation but I am sure it is an issue which will come up for discussion at some stage in Australia’s future.
Each honourable member was decked out in full army fatigues and I would have to say that we looked a bit like Dad’s Army or perhaps actors in a scene from Hogan’s Heroes with Colonel Schultz. I am only grateful that we were not being called upon to serve our country in this fashion as I am not sure that we would be very effective, willing though I am sure we would all be.
The day started with a briefing on the regiment by Major Terry Ness and then we travelled to Mount Bundy for the training exercise. We were welcomed and further briefed by Commanding Officer of the Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Damien Cantwell. We were then able to observe a fire power demonstration and honourable members were invited to climb into the Leopard tanks and some members took fire. I would like to thank the Defence Forces particularly Lieutenant-Colonel William Hanlon for his gracious hospitality on the day.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I was very pleased a couple of weeks ago to open Lifeline’s new trash and treasure store in Alice Springs. It is unfortunate that the demand for Lifeline’s services is growing, and it is probably unfortunate that they have had to try to raise funds through opening a trash and treasure store because, if we think they may raise enough funds to continue their service in that manner, we are kidding ourselves. In fact, it is probably more of a service to the people and residents of Alice Springs rather than a fund raiser.
As you know, Lifeline is a suicide support awareness and prevention program. Lifeline Central Australia has been established in Alice Springs for the past 12 months in response to community identified needs for a telephone crisis counselling service. Lifeline Australia was established 40 years ago with the aim of preventing suicide by providing a 24-hour phone coverage for people in crisis. It has become a world leader in providing accredited training programs.
Central Australia, unfortunately, has been identified for some time as a location that exhibits a higher rate of suicide and suicide attempts. Recent deaths have highlighted areas of concern for a more coordinated approach in relation to the training and development of staff who work with, and may be in a position to identify, individuals at risk. Lifeline Central Australia recognises the hard work already carried out by a number of existing services.
It is a confidential telephone counselling service and its service to the community lies in its ability to provide a literal lifeline to anyone who needs assistance and can dial a free-call number. Remote and isolated communities are also able to access this service, as is anyone in a major town or community.
To some people, the use of a telephone intervention may not be considered the most effective method of service delivery. However, Lifeline’s work and training and capacity to engender community support relies heavily on the fact that the service is available by phone and, of course, is confidential to all users. It is clearly positioned to engage in safe and effective service delivery to at-risk individuals in Central Australia and the Barkly region. In fact, the statistics show that in four months, 2144 calls have come from the Northern Territory. That demonstrates a need for the crisis service and is an indicator of the scope of need of this program that we have to support individuals.
At the moment, Lifeline is seeking more telephone volunteers who will be available to engage with clients in Central Australian languages. The volunteers are a diverse cross-section of the community and many of them have an understanding of the specific issues that may affect the individual’s access to services and their vulnerability in crisis.
Lifeline has four indigenous board members who bring a wealth of knowledge, as does the combined knowledge of the staff and volunteers. Current staff have worked in the training of interviewing, telephoning, counselling, numeracy, literacy, mental health, and all training is competency based. It has 24 telephone counsellors, three of whom are Aboriginal and have all shown a high level of ability when working with callers in crisis.
I raised all these issues about the service that they are actually giving, the demand for the service and the people who are being trained because they are a non-profit organisation and, like all non-profit organisations, they have difficulty in raising funds to continue their service. In December 2002, Lifeline Central Australia was originally funded by a seeding grant from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to enhance mental health services for the people of remote and rural areas of Central Australia, and the initial seven months came under the auspices of Lifeline Australia in Canberra. They are now at the stage where they need government support to continue to provide this service, which has been clearly identified as needed in Central Australia.
The Minister for Community Services met with Reverend Lindsay Faulkner from the Uniting Church, who has been one of the spearheads in establishing Lifeline Central Australia while she was in Alice Springs last week. I thank her for doing that, because she did say to me she would visit the service. She was also able to see first-hand the working area of the telephone hotlines, and I think she would agree with me that a safer and more secure environment perhaps is needed, remembering that these people who provide a 24 hour service are there, sometimes just a couple of them, on their own.
I am not sure whether she went down to the trash and treasure store. I hope she did. Can I just say that the owners of those premises have been most generous in the amount they are charging for rent, because it is on Gap Road, a very central position across the way from Melanka Store. Signwriters in Alice Springs have been very generous in their donations in putting up signs for them. They have been able to generate a lot of enthusiasm from many businesses and people within the town. It certainly does have a lot of community support.
What it now needs is support from this government so that it may continue, and I just ask the Minister for Community Services, and perhaps let her know that at Question Time tomorrow, I intend to have a question asked of whether she will find funding so this service can actually continue, and that it can continue to its fullest. Any service that will prevent suicide is certainly something worth supporting. All of us realise that it is one of those areas that we sometimes feel helpless about, but if there is a lifeline, if there is a telephone someone can pick up and find that someone will listen to them and give them advice, then that should be something we support. I would certainly ask the minister to support it.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the Wanguri electorate has been buzzing with activity over the last couple of months, with openings of new programs and community halls, school fundraising events left right and centre, and fantastic music coming from an extraordinary band.
As member for Wanguri, I am thrilled to tell you about a great program which has been running and recently officially opened in my electorate. The Darwin Junior Street Stocks has been started up by Lisa Spooner as a juvenile diversionary program. This program has been working in partnership with the Northern Territory Police and Darwin City Council to help keep our kids off the street and out of trouble by teaching kids how to build a stock car from scratch and to race it competitively, formerly, as part of the juvenile diversionary program, an opportunity for kids in diversion to take up a really productive activity.
I would like to congratulate Lisa and Allan Spooner on setting up this great program, and thank them and other sponsors for all their generous sponsorship. Just the other day, I was at the official launch of the new program, and to all the corporate sponsors, thank you very much for your generosity.
One of my election promises for my constituents was to ensure funding for the Northern Territory Buddhist Society to receive a new community hall. I am pleased to announce that, with the help of the government, I and my colleague, the member for Casuarina, officially opened this new community hall on 2 May 2004. This community hall is not only a win for the Buddhist Society and their organisation, but also the wider community, as they too will benefit from this new facility, and it is fantastic to see that new facility. The Buddhist Community, South-East Asian predominately, but also Buddhists from all parts of the globe who live in the Northern Territory are making great use of that facility and it is available for other community groups.
I have five schools which are situated in my electorate. All are unique and very active within the community. There is always something happening with one of the schools, and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to participate in a whole range of events. One of the most popular initiatives that has been blooming in the schools most recently is the formation of a combined school band, comprising of students from Leanyer, Wanguri and Alawa Primary Schools. This band is called The Lewanala Combined School Band. I recently had the opportunity to listen to the band perform was amazed at the level of talent and ability amongst the students.
Along with the combined school band, Leanyer Primary School has put together the Leanyer Guitar Ensemble, which involves 25 students who play solo, together and in small ensembles. They all sound fantastic. I would like to thank Darryl Trainer, assistant principal at Leanyer, for all his hard work with both the band and the guitar ensemble, and all the staff and students who put in their hard work. I am working with Darryl to try to ensure that the guitar ensemble is part of the next guitar festival sponsored by Charles Darwin University next year.
We all, as local members, know how hard our schools work, and the schools in my electorate are renowned as well. Just recently we had Holy Spirit’s annual fete which has become a well-known event all over Darwin. I had a great time working on the chocolate wheel and being able to help with other fundraising efforts. Congratulations to Holy Spirit. It is an annual event that people come to from all over Darwin, and everybody has a great time.
Not long after this fete, Wanguri Primary School had a car boot sale on council’s election day, which saw large numbers of the public turn up and pick up a bargain. It was great to be involved in this day as well, and I hope that they make the event a regular fundraiser when elections are on. A car boot sale saw people come from all over to take part in purchasing a bargain, and they raised a significant amount of money.
The most recent event was an auction and fun day at the Aviation Club held by Leanyer Preschool. I was pleased again to be the auctioneer for this event, and had a great afternoon. The auction saw a large amount of money raised - nearly $5000 - for the preschool. The auction that I conducted raised just over $3000, and the day was a great success. I would like to thank the organisers and the preschool for holding a great event. I will be writing to thank all the business that donated for their generous support.
I would also like to congratulate Lyn Elphinstone, who was recently appointed Principal at Dripstone High School. After meeting Lyn, I believe that she will do a fantastic job at the school. She is enthusiastic and hard-working, and I know that all of the teachers have welcomed that appointment.
I recently hosted a Biggest Morning Tea to raise money for the Cancer Council in my electorate office in Hibiscus. I know many members did, and it was a great day. There was a lot of community support, and I think we raised just over $200, if my memory serves correctly. That was a great effort from people in my electorate who support the Cancer Council.
During the adjournment debate, I would also like to take the opportunity to put on record my congratulations to a number of very worth recipients of Queen Honour Medals just announced in the Honours List. Particularly, as Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, I was pleased to see a number of Northern Territory Emergency response personnel and police receive national recognition for their work in serving our community.
Commander Gary Manison – many people in this House will know - is the Police Commander of the Territory’s Southern Region. He has been recognised with an Australian Police Medal. A member of the Northern Territory Police Force since October 1976, Gary has served in many locations and sections throughout his 28 years policing in the Territory, including Tennant Creek, Darwin, Groote Eylandt, Katherine, and now Alice Springs. Gary led the emergency response to the Kalkarindji floods in 2001 when many people were evacuated into Katherine from the VRD. Indeed, such was the scale of the response that he featured on the Weather Channel and broadcast to millions of viewers.
I am sure I speak for all honourable members, particularly in Central Australia, in saying that Gary is doing a magnificent job in Alice Springs. He is well regarded in the community, certainly by the officers who serve under him. I believe he is doing a magnificent job and I congratulate him on his well-deserved Australian Police Medal in recognition of three decades of distinguished service.
Mr Steven Twentymen has been a member of the Northern Territory Emergency Services for 23 years, and this year has been honoured with the Australian Emergency Services Medal. Currently, a volunteer support officer, Mr Twentymen has carried out a number of roles over the past 23 years, including training hundreds of NTES volunteers, cyclone response, search and rescue, and assistance to refugees during the East Timor crisis, and the victims of the Bali bombings. It is great to see recognition for our emergency services personnel. All people who serve as volunteers in the emergency services will take great pride in seeing Steven receive that awarded.
Finally, I would like to join with my colleague, the member for Casuarina, in congratulating retired Northern Territory Police Superintendent, Mick Van Heythuysen on receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia. Mick, who is well known to many people as ‘Dutchie’, joined the Northern Territory Police Force in 1979, and has only recently retired. The NT member of the Council of Multicultural Australia since 2003, Mick received his award for service to ethnic communities in the Northern Territory, a dedication well highlighted by his role in the East Timorese refugee tent city, where he became known as ‘Father Miguel’. Again, Mick is well known to many members of this House as a great Territorian who is loved by many people particularly in the ethnic communities. It was good to see Mick at the Glenti and share a beer with him and fantastic to see that his service has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia. Well done, Mick.
I would like to talk as well as minister for DCIS. It is important as ministers that we place on the record our thanks on behalf of Territorians for long service public servants. I would like to talk tonight about the retirement of Lesley Sullivan, or Sully as she is better known to many, who departs the public service on extended leave on 18 June this year prior to her retirement on 26 September 2004. Lesley is one of the longest serving employees in the public sector, having provided 37 years of dedicated and valuable service. She was first employed in June 1963 - I was not even one year of age back in June 1963 - as a base grade clerical assistant in the then Northern Territory Administration. I know Lesley personally because when I joined the public service in 1985 she was in the HR area of Treasury. She saw me come into the public service and gave me a lot of personal assistance in terms of signing up and I have known Lesley since then. So June 1963, that is a long time ago.
Although engaged in the private sector for a short period of time, notably with the then member for Victoria River, Mr Goff Letts, Mrs Sullivan soon returned to the public sector. Lesley has worked in a number of government agencies in a variety of roles, including the Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, Primary Industry and Fisheries, Health and Community Services, Power and Water, Treasury - where I first met her - and more recently in the Department of Corporate and Information Services. For a number of years now, Mrs Sullivan’s role has focussed on human resource management. The wealth of experience and vast amount of corporate knowledge Lesley possesses will be sorely missed by her work colleagues and clients. I can certainly say from personal experience that Lesley is well respected and she is going to be sadly missed by many people across the public sector. She really does epitomise the true character and tradition of a public servant in the public service serving the public of the Northern Territory. Thirty seven years is a huge effort.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge Lesley’s contribution to the growth, development and success of the Northern Territory public sector and wish her and her partner a long, happy and healthy retirement. Lesley, very big congratulations from all of us here in the Northern Territory parliament.
I would also like to talk tonight as Minister for Defence Support on significant changes and handovers in regards to command of 1st Brigade at Robertson Barracks. In June 2004, Brigadier Ash Power CSC ADC handed over command of 1st Brigade at Robertson Barracks to Brigadier John Cantwell AN ADC. Brigadier Power assumed the command of 1st Brigade on 6 December 2002. Brigadier Power has been appointed Director American Central Command combined planning group based in Tampa, Florida, USA. Brigadier Power will head a group which comprises 27 coalition planners representing 20 coalition nations. The function of this group is to perform key planning and assessment tasks for the US Central Command in support of the global war on terror.
Prior to his posting to Darwin, Brigadier Power had been an instructor at the Royal College, Duntroon and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Camberley, UK. In 1998, he deployed to Bougainville as the Chief of Staff on Operation Bel Isi and in 1999 deployed as a Colonel of Operation for INTERFET in East Timor. He was posted as a Defence Attach Thailand in 2000 and in 1998 was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for services as the Commanding Officer of 4th Field Regiment. During Brigadier’s time as commander of 1st Brigade, troops from Robertson’s Barracks have been deployed to Iraq, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. They have participated in a range of training exercises including Exercise Southern Leopard, which involved for the first time in Australia’s history, the first movement of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and light armoured vehicles from north to south in all weather conditions. Brigadier Power was in Darwin just long enough to see the earthworks start in preparation for the arrival of 1st Aviation Regiment and the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance helicopter, an exciting new capability for the Army.
I formed a good relationship/friendship with Brigadier Ash Power. He has done a great time, he settled very quickly and easily into the Northern Territory and he is off now to a very significant role in the US. I personally wish Ash and his wife all the best in their role and thank them for their contribution to the Northern Territory. I know we won’t be forgotten and I am sure we will see him back here in the future.
Brigadier Power’s replacement at 1st Brigade, Brigadier John Cantwell, has spent the past 18 months working at Defence Headquarters in Canberra. His previous role was as Director-General Capability and Plans with the Capability Development Group. He took up his position as Commander 1st Brigade on 4 June 2004. Brigadier Cantwell first jointed the Australian Army as a soldier in 1974. He has had an extensive career and held regimental appointments in 1st Armoured Regiment, 2nd Cavalry Regiment and the School of Armour, along with staff appointments at Headquarters 1st Brigade with Defence Recruiting and in Army Headquarters.
As a Major in 1989-90, he commanded the British Tank Squadron as an exchange officer with the British Army in Germany. As a result of that posting, he served in Operation Desert Storm with the Coalition Forces in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait in 1990-91. He saw combat duty with 1st Brigade of 1st US Infantry Division and with 1st UK Armoured Division. He has held an instrumental appointment as the Senior Tactics Instructor at the School of Armour and attended the Army Command and Staff College in 1993.
In 1994, he was the Staff Officer to the Army’s Chief of Personnel. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in September 1994, subsequently holding staff appointments in Personnel Division in Army Headquarters and as a Career Manager in the Directorate of Officer Career Management. In August 1996, he became Commanding Officer and Chief Instructor at the Royal Military College of Australia. In January 1999, he took up an appointment as an instructor at the British Joint Services Command and Staff College in the UK.
He returned to Australia as the Director of the Force Development Group, Land Warfare Development Centre on promotion to Colonel in December 2000. He was promoted to Brigadier and the appointment of Director-General Preparedness in Australian Defence Headquarters in January 2003. He became the Director-General Capability and Plans with the Establishment of Capability in January 2004. I wish Brigadier Cantwell all the best in his new role as Commander 1st Brigade.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, you just made it.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): That is my middle name, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker.
I rise tonight to talk about my attendance at the Roundtable on Legislative and Executive Governance in Federal Democracies in Melbourne on Saturday 12 June 2004 in the company of Rick Gray, the Executive Officer of the Legislative Assembly’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
We were invited to attend the Forum of Federations’ Roundtable on Legislative and Executive Governance. The Forum of Federations is an international body convened from Canada and was created in 1998. It is a non-profit international organisation based in Ottawa. The forum seeks to strengthen democratic governance by conducting programs and publishing journals, books and studies, focussed mostly on practitioners of federalism. That is, people who work in the field, such as elected officials, civil servants, consultants, academics and others with a practical interest in the challenge of governing in federal systems.
It was a well attended workshop. There were 14 or 16 participants, from professions such as constitutional lawyers, Justices of the Supreme Court, the Minister for Justice from Tasmania, parliamentary officers, including our own Rick Gray, a NSW Cabinet Secretary, and Clerk of the House of Representatives from Canberra. It was well attended and was a great forum to take part in.
It was the third series on the theme developed under the Global Dialogue Program, which is a joint initiative of the Forum of Federations and International Association of Centres for Federal Studies. The goal of the program is to bring together practitioners and scholars from a range of different federal political systems to explore a selected aspect of federalism in a format that also produces a publication, or publications, as a valuable resource for the study and practice of federalism.
So what happened? This body of people met and we were given a template on which to discuss aspects of federalism in the Australian context, which would form the basis of the paper to be presented. The theme of the template was drawing on case studies from Canada, the United States, Federal Republic of Germany, Australia, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Malaysia, Russia, Nigeria, Austria and Argentina. The theme of it was that in all federations, institutional arrangements are needed through which government decisions are made and put into effect. In some respects, the questions that arise are shared with any system of government, federal or not. The institutions must be recognised as legitimate by the people they serve. They must work effectively. They should be appropriately accountable. The formidable power of the state should be dispersed between them. In a federal system, however, additional questions arise and some old questions take on additional meaning.
By definition, institutions must be established for the constituent parts of the federation, as well as for the centre. This raises questions about which institutions should be separate and distinct, and which, if any, should be shared. Many federations exist to serve the needs of diverse peoples. In such cases, particular attention must be paid to designing institutions that will be accepted as legitimate in all spheres of government. In any federation, the complex interaction between the principles of federalism and the principles of representative, and in some cases, direct democracy, inevitably raise questions about the operation of each.
The purpose of the theme that we were in Melbourne to discuss was to examine the range of governing institutions used in 12 very different federal or federal-type countries; to consider their rationale and effectiveness; and to explore their interrelationship with federalism. Consistent with the purpose of the global dialogue to assist the countries to learn from each other’s experiences, country chapters, such as Australia, should explain not only the formal institution arrangements but also their operation in practice, to enable them to be adequately understood. That was from the template that was provided by the secretariat.
The discussions were led by the convenors, Professor Cheryl Saunders and Ms Katy Le Roy of Melbourne University. The template that they provided was a series of questions on what they term cross-cutting, which went across all areas of government. Then they ran through a whole template of issues that belong to the federal level of the government; to the second tier, which was state and territory levels of government; and the third tier, which was local government, and how they all interrelated together and fitted into effective tiers of operation.
I found this was quite enjoyable, and a challenging workshop. The views that were across the table, I feel, will help me in my role on the constitutional committee. I found it was a way of fast-tracking my knowledge and understanding the issues that we will be confronting as we march forward to statehood. It is quite interesting. What I found was the acceptance that, from the 1950s, there was a conservative federalism, it was not working in Australia, to a position now that federalism is well entrenched. It is working well, but there seems to be a bit of a push on as to whether we need all the various tiers of government.
My prediction is that, in the years to come, and I am not talking about 10 years or 20 years, perhaps 30 or a few more, we will probably see a change in the governing structures within our communities. Certainly, the pressure will be on at the state and local government levels as to which is the more significant body when it comes to representative government. I think the key will be in the way that revenue is raised and who actually holds the purse strings.
However, all in all, I would like to commend the roundtable and its principles and its goals to the House. I thank Mr Gray for his input to the roundtable. The convenors will be giving us feedback on the paper they present, which they will prepare, send out to all participants for comment, and which will be presented in Ottawa as a result of this roundtable.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to place on the record some comments in relation to the Finke Desert Race, which was recently held in Alice Springs over the weekend. I had the enormous privilege, along with my colleague, the member for Macdonnell, John Elferink, to race that particular event. There were a number of other men in our team who raced, including my brother, Gerard. It was a fantastic experience. I travelled to Alice Springs by plane, and was lucky enough to be met by a very hard working and dedicated support crew: our chief mechanic, good friend and neighbour, and a wonderful person, CJ, or Chris Soury; Mica, his offsider, was in charge of the electronic aspect of things, and it was particularly complicated from an electronics perspective; and Adam Fitzgerald, another neighbour who is a good man, did the hands-on hard yards in servicing bikes and making sure they were absolutely spot-on.
We arrived there and went through the preparation process. There were another two important people who had an enormous contribution: Glen and Clive Baxter. They run Baxter Motorcycle Engineering, BME, out of Winnellie, and are big supporters and big contributors. Without Clive Baxter driving the entire enterprise, organising it for months, it would be impossible. It is important that I put on the record - I know all honourable members are here and listening to this - that the type of preparation that goes into putting together a team to enter the Finke Desert Race was way beyond my comprehension. It is not just a rider and his best mate; it is the rider, a team of sponsors, a team of mechanics, and at least two refuelling depots.
Talking about refuelling depots, we had two places to stop at about 70 km-odd, and around 160 km-odd. You would pull in and there would be 10 familiar faces - friends, people I have grown up with, and some people I have met just recently. They would come straight to you and stop you. You felt like a Formula One driver, albeit for a few seconds. They would fuel your bike, get you some Gatorade to drink, wipe your glasses, check the oil if need be, change a tyre in a flash, slap you on the back, and you would be off. For a moment, you would think: ‘This is great. I need a break. I am so happy I am almost home’. However, in a matter of seconds they would be saying: ‘Okay, go, go, go!’ and you would be off. There is absolutely no doubt that, to have any success - to even finish the race - you need the support of those people.
On the first day particularly, when John Elferink, the member for Macdonnell, and I arrived at the Finke community, we were, of course, a little behind some of the quicker riders such as my brother and the rest of the team. However, when we arrived, it was probably one of the most physically demanding undertakings I have ever been involved in. My legs were cramping, my hands were effectively numb, I had pain between my shoulder blades and in my neck. I literally pulled myself off the bike and lay on a dirty swag. That is when CJ, Mica and Adam went to work, and they completely serviced my bike - from loose bolts to air filters to oil changes. They also fed me, John Elferink, Gerard and some of the other guys and, before we knew it, the sun was rising and our bikes were in pristine condition, facing the right direction, and ready to get on. They were fuelled and ready to go. The boys did an outrageously good job. I am indebted to the incredible contribution they made to motor sport, to Finke Desert racing, and the personal help they gave me.
There is one other matter I wish to raise in relation to the Finke Desert Race: the crowd. I have camped on the track. I have done what all young Territorians do - I have misbehaved as much as I possibly could whilst I camped with my friends there for several years running and, last year I had spannered for my brother. I was his spanner: I helped him on his bike, and did what some of the boys were doing for me and John on the weekend. However, the crowd was fantastic. For the last 30 km to 60 km - it is hard to say, because it was a blur by this stage on the way back - there were hundreds and hundreds of people clapping and waving. I was by no means anywhere near the front; I was towards the back. However, there were people still there, and still willing to say: ‘Good on you for finishing’. When you reached the finish line, strangers were coming up, shaking your hand, and saying: ‘You survived, good on you’. That is when you realised that a third of the field had not finished - people ended up in hospital, and helicopters had flown injured riders away. Just to finish the race was an accomplishment in itself.
It was an amazing experience and an event which I will cherish, as well as being, of course, part of Team CLP and demonstrating that the CLP are there doing the hard yards, unlike Labor who were not, as usual, in the race.
Another matter that I wish to place on the record is that my uncle, Christopher Paul Maley, received an OAM on Monday, 14 June 2004, as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Christopher Paul Maley is my father’s brother and probably my closest relative. I consider him very much a father figure and a person who has given me an enormous amount of guidance through my entire adult life. He is a very hard working solicitor. He operates from Sydney. He owns his own firm. He is a decent man. He received an OAM for his contribution towards setting up a program where young students in private schools, if there was some sort of a drug problem or some sort of difficulty, were given a second chance. I went to Taminmin High so I am not particularly familiar with the strict policy guidelines which exist in schools in Sydney, but I am told that at a school where there are hundreds and hundreds of young men together, even the smallest infringement meant that you were effectively ostracised and kicked out from the school. So, a young man who really may have experimented on a very one-off type event into drugs, would be effectively kicked out of the school. His life would at least come to an abrupt end and perhaps even a turn for the worst.
There was a program introduced and my uncle Chris did an enormous amount of work to put together a program with the right support people to persuade principals that young men can be given a second chance. Young men can be the subject of a suspended sentence, I suppose, and, given the chance, most young men won’t do the wrong thing and they will be grateful and acknowledge the support that they have been given and move forward. I thought I would place it on the record as the only Maley in parliament in Australia, my respect and admiration for my uncle, Christopher Paul Maley, and his fantastic award which he received, and was well deserved, on Monday. Congratulations, and I am sure honourable members will agree with me in wishing him the very best.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I wish to inform the House about the passing of a brave and dedicated leader of the people of the Gunbalanya region of my electorate. Not so long ago, I also talked about another great man who was given the honour of an OAM as well. Unfortunately, this lady had not but certainly the role that she played particularly in this community needs to be recognised.
Mrs Nganjmirra was the wife of the world famous artist and bark painter and was a source of great strength to him and their large family. Although her husband passed away some years ago, Mrs Nganjmirra continued to encourage the artistic ambitions of her children, cleverly realising that this was an excellent way to maintain the rich cultural traditions of her people. Consequently, paintings by her husband and children hang in galleries and private collections throughout the world, including I am proud to say, our own Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Science Collection.
Mrs Nganjmirra had devoted the last years of her life to fighting substance abuse amongst her people and she had done this in a loving, caring way. Her approach was always one of building up the self-esteem of the young people in Gunbalanya who were in trouble and talking to them about the damage alcohol, and in particular, petrol sniffing and gunga, was doing to their minds and bodies. She, like her husband, had always been a wholehearted supporter of the outstation movement and saw the growth of substance abuse, particularly in the major communities, as all the more reason to make the outstation movement strong, independent and secure. It was two outstations like her own near Gunbalanya that young people could go always with Mrs Nganjmirra’s able support and encouragement to collect themselves, re-establish links with family and country, and get well again. She did this with scores of young people.
Mrs Nganjmirra was an especially strong advocate for the rights of women and children and I know that particularly for a lot of the young women out there, she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
I note the appointment by Dr Kemp, the Federal Environment Minister, of the Martin government’s nomination to the Board of Management of Kakadu National Park. I refer to that outstanding Territorian, Marilynne Paspaley. Marilynne Paspaley is a very successful business woman who is particularly adept at getting things done. I am sure Marilynne and her family are very well known to members here, what with her being Executive Director of the Paspaley Group of Companies, Publisher of the Group’s company magazine, an actress with many national and international credits, and the fact that she has established retail networks all over Australia and the world.
Perhaps not so well known is that Marilynne Paspaley is an Honorary of the highly prestigious Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World and also that Paspaley Group interests include not only pearling, but also technology, ship building, engineering, aviation and real property. Marilynne Paspaley’s’ appointment to the Kakadu Board of Management is an historic one. I congratulate her and the Chief Minister for the thorough way they approached the nomination process.
The Chief Minister nominated Marilynne quite some time ago and, to her great credit, Marilynne accepted on the basis that the board would have the ultimate say on her acceptability. She visited the park a number of times in this process, sitting down with other board members as a quiet and humble observer. I am informed that the board was very impressed with her and the fact that she was prepared to take so much time from her busy schedule to listen and learn, and that she obviously had much to offer the board by way of her business acumen, her knowledge of corporate governance and of marketing and promotion. I am sure she will be an outstanding Board of Management representative and, with other board members, contribute mightily to the important role Kakadu plays and will continue to play in the Northern Territory for the betterment of all.
The appointment of John Morse, the man who masterminded the Sydney Olympics tourism marketing strategy to develop the new tourism vision for Kakadu and Marilynne Paspaley’s appointment make me even more confident about the healthy future of Kakadu Park.
I was able to visit another Territory icon recently and that was the Merrepen Arts Festival held every year at the Nauiyu community at Daly River. This festival has been going on for many years and continues to go from strength to strength. It is wonderful to see so many Territorians together enjoying the pleasures of looking at and buying some of the great paintings and weavings this community is famous for.
Miriam Rose Baumann was a marvellous host, as she has been for this progressive community for many, many years. Miriam is, of course, is not only a fine educator, but an outstanding role model for indigenous women everywhere. She is also an excellent artist in her own right. The community council chairperson is Mark Casey, a local policeman, who is doing a great job especially in regards to the youth in the community. Contrary to some of the comments made this morning when I talked about the Barunga Festival, the Northern Territory government did provide some financial assistance in the vicinity of $6000 as a strategic initiative for the Arts Minister’s Indigenous Arts Strategy. This investment, for what it is, will be repaid many times, I am sure, in terms of the continued growth of the festival as one of the Territory’s finest regional festivals. Certainly, in the hands of passionate Territorians like Miriam Rose Baumann and Mark Casey, Merrepen will continue to make its mark.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight to report on a trip I made to Kuala Lumpur as a delegate from the Northern Territory to the 16th Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar.
It was quite an interesting seminar. I have been to a couple previously, but both previous seminars were held in Australia; one in Melbourne and the other in Adelaide where the delegates were predominantly from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. This one in Kuala Lumpur had an international delegation, with delegates from Western Cape in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Swaziland, three delegates from India, and Australia had one from Western Australia and me. In the description, they called me a delegate from Northern Australia and I had to very quickly and repeatedly advise them that northern Australia means Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Other delegates were from the Isle of Man, one from the United Kingdom, one from the island of Jersey, and one from Scotland. Canada had two delegates, one from Manitoba, who was a state member, and the other was a federal member and he represented Canada itself. Then we had Turks and Caicos Islands, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Singapore, and the various states of Malaysia - Sarawak, Sabah, Pahang, Penang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Perak, Malacca, and a couple of regional delegates.
The week commenced on the Sunday night with a reception hosted by the chair of the CPA in Malaysia. It was a very cordial meeting. I put on one of the batik shirts and walked in pretending to be a local, and obviously they did not realise that I was not, except that they had never seen me before in their own parliament. However, when I started speaking, they always pick the accent and asked where I was from. When I told them, ‘I am from here’, meaning Kuala Lumpur, meaning the country, they raised their eyes in surprise and said, ‘Well!’ So I said, ‘I was born 200 miles north of here, in fact, but I have lived in Australia for 41 years’. They were not amused! I suppose they were intrigued that here was an ex-pat Malaysian now in parliament in Australia. There was a bit of a discussion about how I got into parliament and all that, as you would expect.
That evening, at the reception, we had to go through the registration process and we received the program, and the program was tight. It was so tight you hardly had time to scratch yourself. Apart from the first Monday morning, which was the official opening of the whole session, we started at 9.30 am. But every other day, from Tuesday through to Saturday, it was an 8.30 am start every day. Morning tea and lunch and afternoon tea were all held at the conference venue, so there was no chance to get out, unless you were prepared to skip a session and went outside to do something. The sessions would finish by about 5.30 pm. You would then have about an hour and a half to two hours to gather your wits, have a rest, have a shower and get changed. At 8 pm was another official function and dinner that night. So, the days were from 8.30 am to about 10 pm every day.
Some of us sat through all sessions and others came in and out. Many of those who had never visited Kuala Lumpur before took the opportunity to go out and have a look. I have to admit that I sat through all the sessions to see what they had to say. The topics that were picked by the Kuala Lumpur CPA included the Origin of Parliamentary Democracy and the History and Role of the Commonwealth in its Development. This was spoken to by the CPA Secretary-General, the Hon Denis Marshall.
I have a synopsis of all the papers that were presented, and some four speeches that were written by the presenters themselves, and they will be in my office for anybody to look at if they choose to do so, and I will be happy to provide them with copies.
The second session was Parliament as Masters of its Procedures, and this was presented by a young fellow by the name of Johnny Hakaye from CPA’s Namibian branch. Johnny was a very interesting man. He sat next to me throughout the whole seminar. When I first saw him, he was limping quite severely, and his right arm was slightly weaker than what I would expect from an otherwise fit person. And as we started to speak, he spoke about Namibia and the civil wars in Namibia. When I asked, ‘Did you get shot?’, he said, ‘That is the price of democracy’. He had a fairly badly shot-up leg.
The next session was Parliament, the Member and the Media. This attracted a lot of discussion: how parliamentarians perceive the media. There were two delegates who were former journalists. Mr John Hyde, a Labor member from Western Australia, was a journalist before he became a parliamentarian. While he was a journalist, he was also mayor of one of the councils in Perth. Obviously, he was quite scathing of politicians, being one of them himself, but he felt that parliamentarians tend to speak too much, do not stick to the point, do not provide the media with anything particularly interesting, and that media is more interested in short, sharp messages which they can then provide to the reading audience.
The other person who was a former journalist was the delegate from Canada, Monsieur La Pierre. Monsieur La Pierre was a television journalist who used to be a producer of a current affairs program in Canada. Similarly, he was also very scathing of politicians, saying that we are a very self-interested group and the media presents politicians in an accurate light. I have a summary of his paper also, if you want to read that.
One of the local delegates from Sarawak presented The Parliamentary and Political Scene in Malaysia telling us about their particular style of Westminster democracy. An interesting thing is that the Malaysian government - the one in power at the moment - the Barisan Nationale, or the National Front - is a coalition of 14 parties. Fourteen parties form the government in the coalition, and they have two parties in opposition. They form the coalition before an election. They then decide on how many electorates each party within the coalition would have. When the election is called, only that party with the number of electorates would run in that electorate - there would no challenges from within the coalition. The coalition will have one delegate from one of its 14 parties in one electorate to run against the opposition. That is how they do it. It is no wonder because of that, they dominate parliament because they have something 90% of the members in the Chamber. You have a handful of people who are in opposition, and they are very vocal and very loud, as all oppositions are. We had a chance to sit in parliament one day to have a listen to their debates – all in Bahasa, by the way – and it was as interesting as ours is.
We then went to The Role of the Presiding Officer and the Staff of Parliament. Having heard some words said by the member for Brennan just a short while ago, this would something that would be really worthwhile reading. The paper was presented by one of the delegates from India, Shri Gangu Ram Mussafir.
On Wednesday, I was asked to present Parliamentary Committees and the Committee System. I wondered how I would make this very dry subject interesting to some 60 delegates. They would be bored out of their minds, because every parliament would have a committee system. I cannot imagine ours to be very much different. One thing they were really most interested in was the Public Accounts Committee and how we perform. For the members in the Chamber who are listening closely, I did present an unbiased view how a PAC works.
Many asked about the composition though. I said in days gone by we had three members of government and two opposition. Under the current government, we have three members of government, two members of the opposition and one independent. Who is the chairman? I said a member of government. Most of them said that is strange because in their jurisdictions the opposition takes the chair. After all the PAC is there to scrutinise government expenditure and therefore the opposition should have the chair. It does not matter in our system whether we have the chair or not; with three members of government you are not going to get anywhere anyway. So that was interesting.
I provided them with a paper that the Clerk and his office, and Steve Stokes, in particular, helped me compile with the terms of all the committees that we have had past and present which I compiled into this document which I circulated to everybody.
Then we came to discuss the Relationship between Parliament, the Executive, and the Public Service. That was an interesting one - who actually is government? Is it the elected members that is government, is it the executive that is government, or is it in fact the pubic service that is the government -and politicians try to influence how the public service performs and maybe through that influence policy changes? There was a long debate on that.
As with all seminars and conferences I have been to with the CPA, parliament and gender always comes up and this one was another topic, Parliament and Gender and Human Rights. Unfortunately, the delegate who was going to present this, the Welsh delegate, turned up a week earlier. The conference was in fact due to be held a week earlier than it was actually held but because the Malaysian parliament just gone through an election and all sorts of issues with a new government they decided to put it off for a week. This fellow did not get any advice about the postponement of the conference so he turned up a week earlier. I do not know what he did but he went back to Wales when we had our conference and so his paper was not presented.
By this time it was Friday morning, and the session was Financial Responsibility in the Democratic Process. It was a paper presented by Sarah Boyack from the Scotland Branch and it is a really again talking about the PAC and how they can interrogate the budget.
The last two papers were The Relationship between Parliament and People, and I had the opportunity to present a second paper called Modern Technology or Appropriate Technology? which was essentially about the Centre for Appropriate Technology which was very interesting to many of the African delegates.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
PETITION
Renaming Steve Irwin Locomotive
Renaming Steve Irwin Locomotive
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 244 petitioners praying that the Great Southern Railway rename the Steve Irwin locomotive. The petition bears the Clerk’s certificate that it conforms with the requirements of standing orders, and is similar to the petition read in the Assembly in November 2003. I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To the honourable the Speaker and members of the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory:
We the undersigned respectfully showeth the locomotive to power the Alice Springs to Darwin railway
is named after media personality, Mr Steve Irwin. It is our belief that his public persona and television
antics with crocodiles are not representative of the people or the spirit of the Northern Territory.
Your petitioners therefore humbly pray that the Legislative Assembly urge the Northern Territory
government to persuade Great Southern Railway to rename the locomotive to better reflect the spirit
and history of the Territory and her people, who have pursued the railway’s construction for more than
a century, and your petitioners, as in duty bound, will ever pray.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Remote Work Force Development Strategy – Award of Scholarships and Grants
Remote Work Force Development Strategy – Award of Scholarships and Grants
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, the Territory has around 2000 public sector employees living and working in remote communities, including teachers, health staff and police. They do an incredible job, often in very difficult circumstances.
Early last year, I announced the government would provide an extra $1.3m per year to improve our remote workers’ living and working conditions through the Remote Work Force Development Strategy. A number of important initiatives have already been implemented under that strategy, and I now report on them.
The freight allowance system has been enhanced, and remote workers travelling to towns for professional development can now access increased accommodation allowance.
Earlier this year, I announced another part of the strategy, a new scholarship and grants program. The program aims to improve professional development opportunities for our remote public sector workers. The scholarships are available to individual workers, while the grants are provided to government agencies so they can improve work force development opportunities for their remote employees.
I am pleased to announce the first round of scholarships and grants has now been awarded. They were assessed by a panel consisting of government and union representatives. There was a huge response to the program. I understand it was a tough task to decide the final recipients.
They awarded $93 000 worth of scholarships to 23 remote public sector workers. Teachers, nurses, health staff and police officers have received the scholarships, ranging in value from $400 to $16 000. They will use the scholarships for research, on special projects relevant to their employment, on-line and distance education learning, courses, training, workshops and amenity fees, travel and accommodation costs, and text books.
A further $245 000 in grants has been awarded to agencies to enhance access for remote area staff for training and professional development opportunities. This will allow agencies to pay for remote staff to attend conferences, or undertake training, or to develop strategies to improve the recruitment and retention of employees from remote localities. A further $513 000 in grants has been awarded to agencies to fund a range of programs identified in the remote work force development strategy.
The strategy and, in particular, the scholarship and grants program is part of government’s commitment to improving the working conditions of staff in remote and rural areas. We want to ensure that they have the same access to professional development opportunities as their urban colleagues. It will mean better outcomes in remote communities, strengthening the links between improved remote service delivery and work force development. We do value our remote public sector workers who do a remarkable job in these circumstances. It is critical we provide them with as much support as possible by improving their living and working conditions. It will help us to attract more quality staff to our remote communities. The government’s remote work force development strategy is helping us keep the Territory moving ahead.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report on our remote public service personnel. The initiatives the government has provided are good and will encourage staff to remain in the areas of their work. The CLP would have brought in the same sort of initiatives because we feel that it is important to provide incentives to prevent the high turnover of staff in remote areas from which we have constantly suffered. The initiatives that the minister has brought in, I am sure, will encourage them to stay there.
The minister could also add an extra link to his initiatives by providing bonuses for extended stays in remote areas. For instance, if a public servant stays there for two, three or even four years you have exponential growth of incentives that will actually make them stay there -the longer you stay out there the greater the benefits - and introduce that sort of system into the bonuses he is now offering. I believe it will encourage more public servants to stay out in remote areas by ensuring an opportunity is there for them to return to the city, not only for R and R, but also to get some professional development on a regular basis and time off from the bush while somebody else goes out there in the form of a locum service.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): I thank the member for his comments, Madam Speaker. Bonuses are something that could be looked at in the future. It is not on the radar immediately as we speak. The opportunity for people who have done their time in the bush to be able to come to an urban situation is an important element in getting people to go bush in the first place. Of course it is not always possible because, as you rotate people through and fill up the positions in the urban situation that can be a difficulty in itself. I take those points and they are things that will be looked at and considered in time.
Trade Support Scheme
Mr HENDERSON (Asian Relations and Trade): Madam Speaker, I rise today to report on some of the many new trade opportunities developed by Territory businesses over the last 12 months with support from the Martin government. When we released our international trade strategy we set the ambitious target of working with business to increase the number of Territory exporters by 25% by 2007. The Trade Support Scheme, now just shy of 12 months old, is helping us to reach that target.
In its first year, the Martin government injected $330 000 into the scheme; a massive increase on the former government’s export marketing assistance scheme which was only funded at $80 000 a year. This scheme gets Territory businesses access to taxable grants of up to $50 000 on a dollar for dollar basis, practical financial assistance that is driving economic development, and creating new business opportunities.
The Trade Support Scheme was developed in close consultation with business and industry and I am very pleased to report that it has been embraced by Territory business. As of the start of this month, 100 Trade Support Scheme applications have been processed from Territory business to assist them to develop new trade partnerships with the Martin government injecting more than $330 000 into the Territory economy. That is 100 new trade opportunities for Territory business that may otherwise have been left untapped if not for the support from the government. A real highlight of the Trade Support Scheme is that is open to all Territory businesses to apply for a grant to assist in developing export opportunities regardless of where in the Territory you are based.
To give members an idea of the diversity of opportunities being tapped into by Territory business with support from the Trade Support Scheme, there is a Darwin-based modelling and fashion management firm, Piening Utopia, that used a Trade Support Scheme grant to take four models to Shanghai for an international modelling contest. One of the perks of the job was to meet those models a few weeks ago, and a great bunch of young women they were. It has led to more jobs for these young Territorians in China and Scandinavia.
Mr James Taylor, whom all of us in the House would know, of Darwin business AeroSail, used the assistance of a Trade Support Scheme grant to secure a $160 000 contract to sell shade structures into Hawaii, and they are currently working towards two other contracts.
A small Territory business is currently in Indonesia negotiating s $3m bid to remove and replace gases from offshore oil rigs. I am taking a personal interest in this business; it is a world leader in developing this new technology. They are down to one of two preferred businesses to win this contract, and if they win it, it will open up global markets for them. That is very exciting and is indicative of the sort of innovation that is being developed in the Territory.
In the tourism industry, a Territory business in the backpacking arena is confident that a Trade Support Scheme grant will help them generate between $4m and $4.5m worth of business from the European market.
For the Territory’s primary industries, the Northern Territory Agricultural Association is pursuing opportunities to sell pastoral seed to China, and Colton Park Mangoes is finalising an opportunity to export mangoes to China and Hong Kong next season after its highly successful first year.
We have again worked closely with industry to revamp and improve the scheme even further. We have injected even more funds into the scheme, increasing the funding from $330 000 to $358 000 in budget 2004-05. The Martin government is keeping the Territory moving ahead with the financial and practical assistance available through the Trade Support Scheme. I encourage all Territory businesses looking to expand their trade partnerships, or develop new opportunities, to consider how this scheme can benefit them.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the reported success of the uptake for this scheme of $300 000 is clear evidence that in the Northern Territory the opportunity does exist to our near north. I believe that the approach in Asian Relations and Trade could be done far better.
First, the exposure that we have within the region in terms of government representation and carrying the message consistently to the region has been largely abandoned by the Martin Labor government. You have focussed almost resolutely …
Mr Henderson: Why are all these businesses doing really well than?
Mr MILLS: Because they are doing it despite you because they believe the assistance is necessary, but they also believe you could go much further. First, if you have an understanding of how to trade in the region, you need to also understand it is Asian relations and trade. It is the ‘relations’ component that you have largely neglected. Consistent exposure at a high level in the region has largely been abandoned.
If you going to facilitate trade, I also ask you to look at real subsidies which could make our port work. Look at ways of building that port so we can have greater cargo handling capacity on that wharf.
Another issue you could address is assessment of trade routes within the region, analysis of what is happing within our near region, and how many of those ships could utilise our port. We could start to facilitate, with clear leadership from government, a greater use of our port and therefore make that train carry freight more extensively from the region.
Mr HENDERSON (Asian Relations and Trade): Madam Speaker, the opposition again shows extraordinary ignorance about what is happening. In regards to the port and FreightLink, this government, the Chief Minister and myself, have led a number of delegations into Asia with John Parkes and FreightLink. We are working very closely with FreightLink to develop commercial opportunities for FreightLink and shipping lines. We are already seeing runs on the board in that area.
I urge the Leader of the Opposition to talk to FreightLink about the work that is being done with government – with which they are very pleased. This week, senior officers of my department are in Malaysia talking with Malaysian Airlines about establishing a dedicated freight service into Darwin to assist export into the marketplace. It will be great if we can pull that off. The Chief Minister and I have met with Malaysian Airlines on a number of occasions. We are continuing to work with them and we have people in Kuala Lumpur this week. Also this week, senior officers and business people are in Singapore pursuing ICT initiatives that this government is developing.
The charge that we have abandoned Asia is absolutely ridiculous …
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! By my watch, the minister has already extended well over a minute and he is still ...
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired, minister.
Greek Glenti and Sponsorship of Multicultural Events
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, I rise to report on the huge success of this year’s Greek Glenti held on the Esplanade over the long weekend. For the second year, the Greek Glenti was held over two days, beginning Saturday and finishing very late Sunday night. The government is proud to have supported the Greek community with $50 000 to assist in the staging of this event. The Glenti has been a popular annual event for Territorians since 1988.
This year’s event was hosted by local identities, Evan Papadonakis and Sam Hatzivalsamis. Apart from the vast amount of food and drink on offer, including octopus, dolmades, ouzo and Greek wine and beer, there was also some great entertainment, with Exodus coming up from Adelaide, the Harry Melios Band and, of course, Dorothy the Dinosaur. The Greek Glenti is a fantastic example of the richness of our multicultural community, with people of all backgrounds coming together to celebrate and share in the Greek culture.
The Martin government is proud to support such events. I take this opportunity to highlight to the Assembly some of the initiatives of this government to support migrant and ethnic Territorians, and to promote the multicultural events being celebrated during the month of June.
A key initiative announced in the 2004-05 Budget, which demonstrates the government’s continuing support for ethnic organisations, was the Ethnic Community Facility Development Program. This program makes available $0.5m per year for three years to assist migrant and ethnic communities renovate and upgrade their existing facilities. Applications under this program will be invited in the new financial year. This program recognises the importance these community facilities play in the lives of Territorians from ethnic backgrounds and others, plus the limited capacity within the communities to funds capital improvements.
These new funds take the total financial assistance available to migrant and ethnic communities through the Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program to $1.197m. This makes the program the fourth-largest in Australia, and nearly three times more than the $447 000 available when this government was elected.
Under the $1.197m funding available, 14 festivals were supported with total funding of $116 000. The festivals included the Greek Glenti, India at Mindil, Barrio Fiesta, Seafood Cultural Festival and the Chinese New Year Festival to name a few. Also, under the $1.197m Ethnic Affairs Sponsorship Program is the Cultural and Linguistic Awards. To date, eight applications for funding have been approved totalling $121 000. This significant funding support not only demonstrates the government’s commitment to the Territory’s diverse multicultural community, but also demonstrates that our multicultural society is alive and well, contributing to the Territory’s unique lifestyle.
Another exciting new initiative is the inaugural Multicultural Awards, which I will announce and present at Parliament House on 21 June.
I am pleased to remind my colleagues that, during the month of June, our multicultural communities celebrate a number of multicultural events. The Portuguese Community celebrated the Portuguese National Day on 10 June, with a thanksgiving march and a dinner dance attended by many members of the Portuguese, Timorese and Darwin communities. On 12 June, the Filipino community celebrated the 106th Anniversary of the Philippine’s Independence Day. Next weekend, the Indian Cultural Society of the Northern Territory will hold India at Mindil. The Chung Wah Society and the government of the Northern Territory will co-host the Dragon Boat Cultural Festival at Lake Alexander, East Point, next Saturday.
Madam Speaker, I have only outlined a small number of the rich tapestry of multicultural events that take place each year. All of these events play an important role in promoting and enhancing our tolerance and acceptance of other cultures and help make the Territory the place we all love.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report on the events that occurred over these last few weeks. This last Queen’s Birthday weekend was particularly busy for everybody in the Territory. The volunteers who are spread around from Darwin all the way down to Alice Springs have all been involved in one activity or another, and all in the name of culture and recreation.
The Darwin Symphony Orchestra was at Freds Pass, and the Adelaide River Show involved the community there. The minister spoke about the Philippines Independence Day and the Filipinos who celebrated that function in great style. There was the Portuguese National Day, and the Barunga Festival. The Glenti has been on here for so many years now it has become an institution in the cultural celebration in Darwin. The Finke Desert Race in Alice Springs is another activity that involves all sorts of people in Central Australia.
The Territory community celebrates our great ethnic mix, and I congratulate the government for providing that good support for the last few years. Just be aware that when you start sharing money out, you make sure that every community gets a share of it, and not only to some and not the others.
Mr VATSKALIS (Ethnic Affairs): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his support. The government is certainly going to assess all applications on merit, not on ethnicity. I am very pleased to say that the money will go to a good cause because quite a few of the communities have approached us and requested money to improve their facilities, repair or upgrade ...
Mr Mills: To focus on the northern suburbs would be a good idea.
Mr VATSKALIS: Recently, we had an application for the Chung Wah Society. That is not in the northern suburbs, it is actually in the city. They want to upgrade the facilities to the value of $250 000. We were unable to help them before, and now we are able to help them.
I said before, this government does not see ethnicity as a particular issue to help people. We would actually like to move from ethnic affairs to multicultural affairs, and that would include not only people from non-English speaking background, but also people like Irish, Scottish, English and Aboriginal people. We believe that what is important in society is that we are multicultural, not ethnic and Anglo-Saxons.
Barunga Festival
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Family and Community Services): Madam Speaker, this year’s Barunga Festival was held this last weekend. It was the 19th Barunga Festival, an institution in the calendar of Territory cultural and sporting festivals, and an institution of our great lifestyle. It was a fantastic weekend, and a fantastic festival. What made the 19th Barunga Festival so special was that, for the first time, the Barunga Board of Management and the Barunga Community made a brave decision to ban alcohol from the festival.
The great sporting action, and the highly-prized cultural activities were all conducted in an atmosphere of peace and harmony; the like of which many long-term festival goers said that they had never seen before. In light of the decision to ban alcohol, I decided that my department would help support and sponsor the festival. The funding was very well spent. In talking to people on the day, many told me that they came back to the festival because it was advertised as free of alcohol.
Barunga is an indigenous festival and it was great to see many non-indigenous people celebrating the festival. Developing partnerships with Aboriginal communities is the best way ahead, and looking after the bush helps keep the Territory moving ahead. Personally, the most exciting aspect of this event was the large number of children and families participating in all of the events. It was delightful to see so many children involved in such a peaceful and safe environment. The indigenous art, the sports, the culture and the tourism potential of this festival has been rejuvenated. It can only grow from here and all Territorians will prosper as a result.
In the Northern Territory, substance abuse - particularly alcohol - is perhaps the biggest barrier to achieving outcomes in health, education and community safety. The Martin Labor government is tackling substance abuse. It is one of the top priorities in building healthy communities. We are making the legislative changes and are developing partnerships with Aboriginal communities and organisations and helping them to move towards community control. We are implementing the Building Healthier Communities policy, and are resourcing support programs. These are the big picture things and they are very important, and nothing can be achieved without them. However, it is very important that we do the grassroots things as well, such as sponsoring events like the Barunga Festival to be alcohol-free. Some of our federal politicians - in particular Senator Amanda Vanstone who attended the Barunga Festival - gave a glowing endorsement of the festival.
Congratulations must go to the whole of Barunga community for hosting the event. Anne-Marie Lee, Chairperson of the Barunga Board of Management is sister of Mr Lee, the former Chair who sadly passed away last year. The festival was dedicated to the memory of Mr Lee. I would like to thank Tommy Lewis and the Jodetluk Dancers, the Fred Hollows Foundation and especially Nick Di Candilo and Paul Amarant for the hard work they did in organising this event.
I also acknowledge the staff of Alcohol and Other Drugs from Darwin, and particularly those staff who travelled from East Arnhem, the police from Katherine, Maranboy and Mataranka, and especially all the visitors. It was noted that there were visitors from overseas and interstate. I thank everyone who attended. Your participation and endorsement of this alcohol-free event made it the great success it was.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report here this morning with regards to the success of the Barunga Festival. I have to apologise; I did not make it to Barunga this year, I was too busy making food creations assisting people at the Glenti. That, once again, reflects on the rich diversity of culture here in the Northern Territory. I know all MLAs get involved with the various cultural festivals in our communities.
Barunga has gone from strength to strength over the years. Years ago, when I lived in Katherine, I can remember attending Barunga Festivals and being particularly delighted with the women playing softball. It was an absolutely formidable sight to see these Aboriginal teams facing up to each other and the sheer joy that they and the spectators gained from watching these sorts of sporting events.
Just a comment to the minister, though. The Merrepen Arts Festival was held not long ago at Daly. It is another successful Aboriginal community event and many people travel for many kilometres to attend. Unfortunately, it was not given any cash funding even though they had applied for it and even though it too was an alcohol-free event.
Ms Martin: Yes, it has. It has been funded.
Ms CARTER: We need to do more to encourage these events. Good news on Barunga, glad it was alcohol-free but let’s spread some of that money around.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s statement on Barunga. What it highlights is the rich diversity of not only culture but sporting and musical activities, and arts in general, that occurred over the last weekend. Most of them have been mentioned today - Merrepen Arts Festival; Palmerston Troppo, that was a big celebration in Palmerston; and the Top End Folk Festival also had a concert at the Bark Hut, or out that way. There was the Glenti and also the Country Music competition at Adelaide River where Troy Cassar-Daley was starring that evening as well as a big camp draft and rodeo that weekend.
For the first time ever, the Darwin Symphony Orchestra performed in the Litchfield Shire. Thousands of people turned up for that concert. Considering there was so much on, people were quite amazed that we had such a good attendance. There were many tourists and many townies, as we call them, who came out to enjoy the stars, the fireworks and great music. I would just like to say to Barbara Vos who organised it, a job well done.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Family and Community Services): Madam Speaker, I thank both members for their response. Just quickly, I cannot let the response go by without commenting on what the member for Port Darwin said about the Merrepen Arts Festival. This government did contribute funds towards Merrepen. I also attended the Merrepen Festival …
Mr Baldwin: How much?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: … and spoke to the organisers of Merrepen about how government can maybe expand a bit on their contribution.
Mr Baldwin: You underwrote it. You did not cash it. No cash.
Ms SCRYMGOUR: There was.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
CORONERS AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 235)
(Serial 235)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Coroners Act to include a death in detention.
In February 2003, an Indonesian fisherman died while being detained on an Indonesian fishing vessel in Darwin Harbour. The deceased was classified as an ‘unlawful non-citizen’ and, as a consequence, was in Immigration detention aboard the boat. As the death was unexpected, it was reported to the NT Coroner and an inquest was held.
The Coroners Act currently contains provisions relating to the investigation of deaths where a person is ‘in custody’. These provisions originally arose out of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The consequence of these provisions is that an inquest, or court hearing, must be held; that directions can be given to police about such an investigation; and that the coroner shall investigate and report on the care, supervision and treatment of the person while being held in custody, as well as the usual powers and requirements to investigate and make findings regarding a coronial death. A coroner also makes recommendations with respect to the prevention of future deaths in similar circumstances.
The definition of a ‘person held in custody’ is contained in section 12 of the Coroners Act. It includes a person in the custody or control of police, including NT Police, other state and territory police and the Australian Federal Police; a prison officer; or a sheriff. It also includes a person detained in a prison, or police prison, or an approved juvenile detention centre. The act does not, however, include persons detained under Commonwealth legislation, including Immigration and Fisheries administrative detention.
The coroner, in respect of the Indonesian fisherman’s death, recommended that the Coroners Act be amended to provide for the definition of a ‘death in custody’ to include a death in Immigration detention, or any other form of detention in the Northern Territory brought about by the operation of Commonwealth laws. He noted that had the death been a ‘death in custody’, there would have been greater powers of investigation, recommendation and comment available to him. Furthermore, there would have been mandated greater investigatory effort by police than was the case. The coroner further noted that the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody had effectively recommended many years ago, and such recommendations were accepted by parliament, that the death of a person held against their will by executive government agencies deserve special attention.
This bill makes the amendment sought by the coroner by including, as part of the definition of ‘person held in custody’, the detention of a person anywhere in the Territory under any law in force in the Territory, including a law of the Commonwealth, or a person who is in the process of escaping detention.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
STATUTE LAW REVISION BILL
(Serial 238)
(Serial 238)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The purpose of this bill is to amend various Northern Territory laws in minor respects, or to correct minor errors which may have come to light. None of the changes reflect substantive changes in policy.
Section 130AE of the Legal Practitioners Act, which is one of the new provisions inserted by the Legal Practitioners Amendment (Costs and Advertising) Act 2003, is amended to remove examples of the way in which a person might solicit or induce a potential claimant, involved in an incident at which a person allegedly suffered a personal injury, to make a claim. These examples have caused concern and confusion in the interpretation of the terms ‘solicit’ and ‘induce’ and will be removed.
Section 54 of the Prostitution Regulation Act is amended to allow for specific regulation-making power under that provision. Currently, Regulation 6 of the Prostitution Regulations authorises a member of the police force to serve an infringement notice on a person who appears to have committed an offence against specified provisions of the Prostitution Regulation Act. The amendment to section 54 of the Prostitution Regulation Act will improve the operation of the act and regulations by permitting regulations to be made prescribing the payment of a prescribed amount instead of a penalty that might otherwise be imposed for an offence against the act, and the service of a notice relating to the payment of the prescribed amount on a person alleged to have committed the offence, and particulars to be included in that notice.
The amendment to regulation 24(2)(b) of the Northern Territory Rail Safety Regulations is a style change; and the amendment to regulation 28 corrects the numbering sequence so that it reads fluently.
The amendment to section 95 of the Marine Act is required to clarify the operation of the act. Currently, section 75(2) of the act provides that Part IV (Safety) does not apply to vessels set out in that section. Amongst the vessels that are specified in section 75(2), small commercial vessels that fall within the category under section 75(2)(fa), and the hire-and-drive vessels under section 72(2)(fc) are also excluded from the operation of Part IV of the act, including from Division V of Part IV, Unsafe Ships. The policy behind Division V is that all vessels should be subject to the Unsafe Vessels provisions. Section 95 of the act sets out the types of vessels to which Division V applies, and is amended to include references to vessels that fall under the categories of section 75(2)(fa) and 75(2)(fc) of the act.
The definition of ‘convertible Crown lease’ is amended, and the definition of ‘Crown lease’ is removed from section 4(1) of the Taxation (Administration) Act. Both amendments are necessary as they are consequential amendments that have not been effected under the Stamp Duty Amendment Act 2002.
The definition of ‘minister’ in sections 3(2)(c) of Telecommunications (Interception) Northern Territory Act is removed to improve the operation of the act. This section currently defines the term ‘minister’ to have the same meaning as in the Commonwealth act, the Telecommunications (Interception) Act 1979. The definition of ‘minister’ within the Commonwealth act causes ambiguity as to who the relevant minister is for the purposes of the act. By removing the definition from section 3(2), the operation of the definition of the Commonwealth act may arguably not apply. Further amendments to the act by way of an amendment act may need to be made to clarify this issue further.
There are other amendments made by the bill which are very minor in nature and generally self-explanatory.
I commend the Statute Law Revision Bill 2004 to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
APPROPRIATION BILL 2004-05
(Serial 234)
(Serial 234)
Continued from 15 June 2004.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Madam Speaker, I rise to add my support to the Northern Territory budget 2004-05, and congratulate the Treasurer, our Deputy Chief Minister, for delivering a budget that fairly provides for today’s needs throughout the Territory, while laying the important foundations for future growth. It is a budget that importantly delivers tax cuts to business through significant reductions in payroll tax, and the abolishment of the HIH levy. These initiatives will underpin the opportunities for jobs growth.
Since the budget was delivered last sittings, I have had the opportunity to listen to several business men and women operating small and medium-sized businesses in Darwin, and they are all very highly supportive of the lengths that this government has gone to with these budget measures. The record tax cuts are worth $6.7m in the 2004-05 financial year, and are expected to benefit some 83 businesses, starting from next month. This will rise to a $16m saving for businesses in the following financial year, benefiting some 162 businesses, of which 127 are Territory firms. Removal of the HIH levy will save over 6600 private sector employers $2.7m per year - tremendous savings, again, from next month.
Significant measures free up these businesses to invest in growth, and the feedback I have received is that the timing is perfect. We are seeing trend figures of growth, and providing these businesses with additional money in their pockets at a time of opportunity is critical to their success. Business success equals jobs, and jobs for Territorians provides enormous flow-on benefit throughout the local economy, with consumer spending rising and Territorians remaining to enjoy our wonderful lifestyle.
The lifestyle provisions in this budget are terrific. I am delighted to see an additional $600 000 provided for the popular Leanyer Recreation Park, providing adequate ongoing maintenance and improved shade and security measures. Again, the feedback I am getting from constituents has been very positive. People are enjoying this year-round water park, and the skate park has a good number of youths there each day. Families are now selecting the park as a birthday party site, a place for family and friends to gather, and many community groups are lining up to have it as a family fun day venue.
Karama and Malak constituents are also keen on our Hidden Valley raceway, and I am pleased to see $1m committed in the budget for essential remedial works to make the facility safe and vastly improved.
It is good to also see continuation of improvements to our fishing infrastructure, with $500 000 committed to improve access and facilities for recreational fishing, a feature of our lifestyle dear to the hearts of many of my constituents.
Other lifestyle enhancements included in this budget are more than $6m to support major events, including the hugely popular V8 Supercars and Festival of Darwin; funding for AFL matches at Marrara; $300 000 to stage the Labor youth initiative, BassintheGrass, which this year is attracting the big guns of Grinspoon and Super Jesus; a new Ethnic Community Facility Development Program worth $500 000; and funding to help protect our environment, including $370 000 for our harbour planned management implementation and several hundred thousand dollars to combat the feral cane toads. I congratulate our minister for the environment for the initiative of an environment grants scheme.
Importantly, our budget contains growth in key sectors of education, training and health. I will highlight just a few budget initiatives that deliver significant services to the residents of Karama and Malak. Manunda Terrace Primary School benefits from an allocation of $120 000 to shade the school’s basketball court - welcome news for the school community which has been hoping for this improvement for many years. It will provide the school with a terrific boost, and the children will be able to spend more time enjoying the facility throughout the year. Karama Primary School benefits with a $15 000 allocation to improve security at the rear of the school. I have already discussed a community and school joint project to enhance the rear of the school, which has been a bugbear to both the school community and neighbouring residents for many years. I have received some positive feedback from teachers about the allocation to provide laptops for our hardworking educators. I congratulate the minister for education for underpinning important initiatives in this budget, such as alternative education and school attendance officers. I also know that the additional $500 000 provided for school equipment is very welcome, with school councils now able to replace rundown equipment and plan for future replacements.
In the crucial area of building on the government’s Jobs Plan, the budget provides for $38m to registered training organisations to deliver a broad range of vocational, education and training programs which builds the skills of our young Territorians and makes them job ready. $12.39m is provided to support and train apprentices and trainees across the Territory. It provides an important entree into employment. There is a further $1.2m provided over the next three years for pre-vocational training programs that strengthen the link between our schools and industry. In all, more than $160m will be focussed on training over the next three years. As we know, if we can skill up our future work force we will be well placed to meet the challenges of growth into the future.
In the area of health, I welcome the government’s continued strong commitment through consecutive increases in the health budget. Specific initiatives in the budget that I want to highlight are the long-awaited 12-bed hospice for Darwin, with an allocation of $3.6m. There is also completion of the critical care unit with an allocation of $2.5m. Both are very good news for Darwin residents and the Royal Darwin Hospital precinct. I further congratulate the government for its provision of $2.5m in this coming budget to create a birthing centre at Royal Darwin Hospital. This will, hopefully, provide a far less clinical atmosphere in the birth of future Territorians.
As we have heard, the budget provides for a record infrastructure spend of some $441m; good news for my constituents in Malak. This includes the provision of $325 000 for urban enhancement around the surrounds of the Malak shopping centre and will include landscaping, painting, paving, disability access, and with the newly formed Malak Neighbourhood Watch group, we have created a committee that will work on those urban enhancement plans, to provide resident input into just how that enhancement of the Malak shopping centre will appear. The tender for that project goes out in July. The community of Malak is extremely excited to see what was once a vibrant shopping centre of 20 years ago, which is now very run down, being brought back to life again through significant government spending.
Urban enhancement to the area will have many flow-on benefits. As a well presented, well lit and safely designed and enhanced area, it will certainly benefit in reduction of crime. Records and crime studies show that if you have an improved area like that, it is less attractive to criminals for hanging out. We also expect to continue with the government program of attracting non-government organisations into that shopping centre. It will no longer be a retail hub. It cannot compete with the airconditioned retail hubs of nearby Karama, Hibiscus, Northlakes and Casuarina. Feasibly, and realistically, that old style of strip shopping centre, which is not airconditioned, would be a perfect service hub for the many needy people living in the Malak and greater northern suburbs area.
I am delighted to see that KARU, the indigenous foster care agency, has already moved in, and is thriving in its premises in Malak, just as NT Shelter, an advocacy service for housing tenants, is there and doing well right amongst its client base. I am aware of two or three other organisations which are currently in negotiations with the owner to also move into the Malak Shopping Centre. So, the $325 000 committed by this government to provide urban enhancement at Malak Shopping Centre will be money very well spent, and fantastic timing.
That money is part of a broader $2.5m government commitment to urban enhancement with the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure announcing a whole range of initiatives to spend that right throughout the Territory. I congratulate the minister for drilling home the importance of that urban enhancement program. It physically improves our neighbourhoods, and it provides everyone with the confidence and happiness of lifestyle to be very proud about where they are living.
Hand in hand with rejuvenating the centre of our suburbs, that is our shopping centres, is also a fantastic cash spend allocation provided in this budget, in the Department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs, specifically in the area of Territory Housing. We expect this year up to $7m will be spent on providing urban renewal of our Territory Housing properties. These are properties that have been run down for the last 20 years. Tenants are living in houses that, quite frankly, could be best described as dumps. They have kitchens that have pretty well disintegrated around them, unsafe tiling in bathrooms and toilets, flaking paint, broken down fencing, and no shade or carports to speak of.
This $7m cash spend allocation will completely change all of that for the residents. We have already seen some early spending on this urban renewal program, which is a Martin Labor government initiative. There have already been some properties done up in my electorate of Karama and Malak. It is magnificent to see what were run down houses renovated, ranging from an individual housing spend from $40 000 to say $55 000 depending on that house’s requirements, you turn a run down property into what is very reasonable accommodation for people, with renovated kitchen, bathroom, new painting, new tiling, carports, and new fencing. The feed back I am getting back from residents of the areas has been phenomenal. They are very excited about this particular government program. The tenants who have lived in those properties for 20-odd years, raising their families there, being good contributing members of our society, feel as though finally they have been recognised as worthy residents of the area, and treated appropriately.
Their neighbours, who tend to be private owners, are absolutely delighted with this program because it does add to the value of their homes. They are no longer situated next door to what is a run down dump. The sub-contractors, who by and large form a very large core of the workers in my electorates - the sub-contractors, fencers, tilers, plumbers, sparkies, painters, cleaners - are all picking up significant government tenders from this work. The feedback I have from the subbies is: ‘Thank you. Finally there is a government program that means we get smaller sized jobs being fed out directly in to the pockets of the sub-contractors’, and they finally have money to spend after very lean, long years following a downturn in the economy from the late 1990s under the previous government.
I congratulate the Minister for Housing. He has done a great job with his department in pulling this Urban Renewal Program initiative together. We have seen it make a fantastic difference to the way suburbs in other jurisdictions come to life. In other debates I have pointed out to members the changes in Queensland in suburban areas such as Inala, which was run down. Inala these days is an upgraded suburb, and all reports coming from the housing industry in Queensland are saying that Inala house prices have risen by upwards of $100 000 from prior to the urban renewal program.
I congratulate the government for drilling home, with cash allocations in this budget, that critically important Urban Renewal housing initiative, which, I am delighted to say, I will see over the next couple of years make significant changes to the way people are living in the electorate that I represent, the areas that have a high density of public housing: Karama and Malak.
Hand in hand, though, with rejuvenating suburbs and how people are physically living, there is also the government’s dedicated approach to providing safer communities. We know that the government has committed $75m over four to five years to implement the O’Sullivan Report on police. Budget 2004-05 continues to meet that commitment by providing significant increases in the police budget. I have been working closely with police in the Casuarina area. They are finally seeing the result of the significant recruiting programs through additional funding where shifts are no longer being burdened with onerous overtime. Feedback from police is that they are now getting up to the numbers where they can do a very good job, where they are not only doing what we know as reactive policing, but they starting to get out and do community policing. It is a delight to see patrols back out on the streets. It is a delight to see officers walking back through our shopping centres. I have mentioned before that I am somewhat jealous of Casuarina shopping centre; it has patrols there every day. But we are starting to see more and more regular patrols out at my electorate, the Karama Shopping Centre.
I was out with the minister for police recently looking at the newly built Mounted Police facility. It was exciting to see that facility built; a great Labor government initiative. It has been needed for more than a decade and this government held good to its promise to construct the Mounted Police facility at the Peter McAulay Centre. There were some extremely pleased and delighted Mounted Police. I had seen the previous facility at Berrimah. It was a disgrace. The stables were dangerous for the horses, and the police building consisted of a demountable with holes in the floor.
However, the new facility at Peter McAulay is a state-of-the-art building with adequate facilities for the police. It has a muster room, showers and toilets, an office, storage areas, an undercover area for the police horse van to pull into and be loaded up directly, which deals with occupational health and safety for the Mounted Police, and the stables are more than adequate. They are magnificent stables for the horses.
Mounted Police have proven to be a very effective, proactive, community policing tool. Now that we have sufficient and adequate facilities, I am sure the police will be able to find more police who may be interested in working, from time to time, in the mounted branch. The Mounted Police patrol our markets, main areas such as the CBD, but, importantly from the perspective of a suburban electorate, they are terrific in going down our laneways. They can look over the fences and see what is happening there. They are a very effective tool in linking up with operational police and they are very welcome when they go past our local schools and shopping centres. You see residents responding very positively to them, coming out and having a chat, which sometimes leads to important information being fed through to the police about what is happening in the area, which enables police to become a very effective policing tool.
It is great to see additional resources continuing to flow into police. This has seen a significant reduction in crime rates throughout our northern suburbs, particularly in excess of a 20% reduction in break and enters which, as we know, when Labor came to government was spiralling out of control under the previous regime. We have arrested that and turned it around and we are now getting significant reductions.
Another project funded in this budget that has made a real difference on the ground in Karama and Malak is the critically important funding of the Harmony Project. The Harmony Project has been previously referred to as the itinerants’ project. It provides a systemic, multifaceted approach to dealing with the issue of traditional community indigenous Territorians coming and living in the urban areas of the Territory, whether it be Alice Springs, Katherine, Tennant Creek or Darwin. These people come in from their communities for a range of different reasons, as we know, whether it is health reasons, problems in the community which means they have to come in to town while things settle down in the community. Whatever the reason is, often there is a delay before housing is available, if they apply for housing at all. Some choose not to apply for housing because they do not want to lose their housing allocation back in their community. So, we have what has historically been called the ‘long grass’ situation occur; that is people living in the parks, suburbs, or in the scrub or bush surrounding the suburbs.
Anyone who knows my electorate, knows that Karama/Malak is surrounded by beautiful natural savannah bush and scrub grasslands and it has been a very popular place for indigenous Territorians to create a camp and camp out there, particularly during our beautiful Dry Season when they do not have to put up with the tropical rains. That has led to people coming in and literally living in and around the suburban shopping centres of Karama and Malak in the past. I say happily, in the past, because those scenarios have fundamentally changed as a result of this Harmony Project. What we managed to do is provide the resources within the department of Community Development, Sport and Cultural Affairs for the program, linked and run through the Larrakia Nation, specifically in Darwin, which is the area which I talk about. I do know this budget provides for a massive expansion of the Harmony Project throughout other areas of the Territory. However, I will focus on Darwin, specifically on my electorate of Karama and Malak, and how the Harmony Project has assisted there.
The funding of that project means that we have the Larrakia Nation working and coordinating with Mission Australia, a non-government organisation, which provides vans and staff to patrol various areas. Mission Australia also has a phone call service and responds to call-ins of which my office is a regular part. If we notice people hanging around or gathering in particular areas, whether it is parks or the shopping centres, we are straight on to Mission Australia. Mission Australia come out in their vans, they talk to the people, find out what they are doing, find out where they are living and start to deal with the broader issues of accommodation, transport and, often, in these scenarios, you have children in these gatherings and groups. I know we are making head roads into the important area of getting these kids into school.
The Harmony Project has an accommodation area near Karama, an area called Knuckeys Lagoon. That has been a very successful accommodation project. It has meant that we have managed to get families out of living in the scrub. We had one family grouping there of grandparents, adult parents and children. There were about 14 children, ranging in ages from babies through to about 14 or 15 years of age. They had all been living in the dirt and scrub for upwards of nearly a year. They are now living in appropriate housing accommodation in Knuckeys Lagoon. The terrific news is that the kids are now attending school. For the teenagers, it is their first significant foray into education. The response so far is that school is ongoing. It is pretty well almost always daily for them and it is a significant breakthrough. I know how hard the Harmony Project staff have worked to get many of these breakthroughs occurring. I congratulate Camilla Demaso in particular, who is running the project at the moment; she is working very hard on behalf of government.
Particularly in the electorates of Karama and Malak, I know we could not have gone as far as we have in such a short space of time without the dedication and thorough work of Ken Hockey, who spends his days, including his weekends and, in fact, often including his nights, dealing directly with indigenous Territorians. He is proactive, and it is a very positive experience. Fortunately, Ken is able to speak the language so is ideally suited to work with these community people. He sets up a lot of their traditional activities. I know that the women have been doing a lot of art and craft work. I have seen some of the results of their handiwork, and it is magnificent. The men have gone off shooting and have been cutting down saplings and making didgeridoos and the like. He has helped some of the women into employment as guides on local tour buses, and the men are starting to create and manufacture artefacts. It is a very positive range of outcomes because when people have these opportunities to be industrious and to have fulfilling lives, they are less reliant on alcohol and substance abuse. Quite a few have actually gone off the grog and stayed off for some months now. I know that is largely due to the dedicated efforts of Ken Hockey, and I recognise and thank him for that.
However, Ken would not be doing the job he is doing without the government funding in the budget to provide for this Harmony Project. Fundamentally, you could have all the best workers in the world, but if the government dollars are not there to fund these projects, they would fall over. The Harmony Project is increasingly funded by the Martin Labor government. I congratulate Cabinet for continuing its efforts to ensure that we have an appropriately funded Harmony Project. We will see enormous benefits flow from this project as it grows over the years. It gives me a lot of great heart to think that we are finally paying attention to vast areas of need that had previously been neglected, or had been the subject of some political bashing about the way people were choosing to live their lives.
It is interesting that, if you start to work with people, treat people with some dignity and respect, you get tremendous turnarounds in attitude and behaviour from them. I have seen this first-hand in the indigenous constituents of Karama and Malak. Problem housing scenarios that had occurred in the past are now no longer problem housing scenarios. The shopping centres, which were in the past difficult to actually get through the front doors, are now quiet suburban shopping centres once again, for the first time in many years. This has not happened magically, as you have heard; it has been a large and highly-funded government initiative with significant work by a lot of people. Those people know who they are: I congratulate Mission Australia, Larrakia Nation and the workers of CDSCA and the Harmony Project; they are doing a fantastic job. They do not do it on their own, they do it with a tremendous amount of help from the Northern Territory police, and I congratulate the police for the role that they are plying in ensuring the Harmony Project works.
I know that we are now providing those additional links to Alternative Education. I noted earlier in my budget speech that it is critical to see the funding recurrent in this budget for the new initiative of Alternative Education. Alternative Education is tapping into those children who really have not been in the education system. For example, we have a 13-year-old in my electorate of Karama who has probably been to school about three times in the last two years. He is, obviously, far behind his peers in his educational abilities; he will not survive in a normal school environment because he is just too embarrassed about the level of his illiteracy. However, Alternative Education is now working with him and he is starting to learn. It is not in a school environment. These children need to be taught outside of a school environment first of all to get their literacy and numeracy up to standard where they can then re-enter the school. It is great to see the five or so teacher positions funded within Alternative Education. I have had several meetings with them about how we can work together as a community to assist them in the work they are doing.
In the other area of community safety, it might sound a small thing but to those of us who live in the area, it is a very large thing. I congratulate the government for the $100 000 put into providing a left turn lane from Mueller Road into Vanderlin Drive. It has been a bugbear. As local members we all go out and fight for our electorates, but Mueller Road is a very busy link road between the heavily used arterial roads of McMillans Road and Vanderlin Drive. The more work we can see on improving the safety of that area of Mueller Road/Vanderlin Drive the better. $100 000 is money that will save lives, and will provide a safer community.
I urge Darwin City Council - we have a new council - to revisit the issue of Mueller Road. I cannot count the number of letters I have written to Darwin City Council regarding the need for safety devices along Mueller Road, whether it is chicanes or roundabouts at the top end of Calytrix Road and Koolinda Cresent. It is disappointing sometimes when you drive through urban areas and see a vast difference in the provision of services from one area to another. I have stood in this House before and said it, and I will say it again: if you look at the Darwin City Council works program it seems to stop at about Jingili. I would like to see the funding get extended out into the northern suburbs in a fair and equitable matter, spread fairly throughout the wards, and we would be given far safer communities if that was the case.
In wrapping up, I also congratulate the government for providing $8m to construct a new low security gaol at the Darwin Correctional Centre. It is a sad aspect of government success in reducing crime rates that we have, in fact, increased our prison inmate numbers. Many of these inmates would be far better suited to a low security gaol that will be constructed by this government. I would like to see an enhancement of correctional programs. I know that the Correctional Services Review provided by government will go a long way towards addressing many of this outstanding correctional services needs. I have many prison officers living in my electorate, just as I have many people who have come in and out of our gaol systems. Recidivism is still a problem in the Territory. How we deal with our indigenous prisoners still requires far greater work. I know that there is a great deal of desire on the part of the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General and funding from this government to tackle those problems.
I know the member for Nelson also has some of his own issues in that respect, but it is not an area that we are sweeping under the carpet. If you look at funding in this budget, it is an area that government is committed to addressing. It will take us many years yet before we get all of the solutions put into place that are definitely needed in the correctional services area.
Regarding correctional services, I have to say they are doing a terrific job. It is great to see the correctional services teams come out and work with community. I have some proposals at the moment whereby our local Neighbourhood Watch and local kids hopefully will be having the opportunity to work alongside some of our low security inmates in some community enhancement programs. We can work together and we can provide a scenario where our low security prisoners are embraced back into the community which, in studies in Australia and overseas, shows that it reduces recidivism. I commit, as a local member, to continuing to work with the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General on the issues of correctional services. Ultimately, it provides a far better society.
The Territory Budget overall is a budget that provides jobs, growth, and enhanced lifestyle. It is a fair budget, an equitable budget, it covers the needs broadly right throughout the Territory, whilst funding all the necessary programs and highlighted areas that I have provided in this speech. I commend the budget to Territorians.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I rise today to talk about the Budget for 2004-05, the Martin Labor government’s spectacular budget. Often when you stand up in parliament, you have to try to summarise, or give an idea, about what people are thinking, needing and wanting out in the community. Part of our job as representatives of the Northern Territory public is to try to articulate within the budget process what Territorians want or need and then try to deliver on that. This is nearly an impossible job, but I believe that this budget has done a fantastic job in attempting to deliver the good news to everyone in the Northern Territory.
I recommend that all Territorians, particularly in the Millner electorate, have a look at the budget papers and in particular the Budget Highlights. You will find that the budget papers are made up of Budget Paper No 1, which is the speech by the Treasurer. The Treasurer, the Honourable Syd Stirling, has done a fantastic job in managing our finances to ensure that we continue to prosper and develop an economy that is strong and active, and addresses and meets the needs of Territorians in the future. We know, owing to the makeup of the Northern Territory, that we have a very diverse population, people from many different nations and communities in urban, rural and remote areas who face unique problems that have to be addressed.
As a politician, a member of the Martin Labor government, this is our opportunity to say this is our blueprint for the next 12 months and, in some cases beyond, about where we want to head and what we want to do. We articulated our vision in an appropriate manner. There are different areas that people need to look at: health, education, police, etcetera, which are the core businesses of the Northern Territory government. We also assist business as much as possible by encouraging them and giving them confidence that they can invest in the Territory economy and prosper, earning a great return for their investment. We have listened to Northern Territory business, and I will go into that in a minute.
As individual members, we also represent our constituency. My constituency is the electorate of Millner which covers the Darwin RAAF Base, Ludmilla north, Coconut Grove, and the suburb of Millner, and I mention these separately, but of course part of the Millner electorate is three indigenous town councils or urban living areas, being Bagot Community, Kulaluk community and Minmarara. It is fantastic to be representing this group of people. If people know the background of the residents of Millner, many of them are long-term Territorians. They have been born and bred in the Territory or have lived here for many years and have known me or my family for a couple of generations. I am honoured to be representing this group of people and the electorate of Millner. I will go into detail about what we have been able to achieve for the electorate of Millner in a minute.
One of our visions that we are trying to achieve, as a Territory Labor government, as members of parliament and for me as representative of the Millner electorate, is to create an environment of less tax which will encourage more jobs. We also wish to continue to fight for our great lifestyle. These are the themes: less tax, more jobs and great lifestyle. We have been able to deliver record tax cuts to business. We have listened to business. Business plays an important role in the Northern Territory economy. As we know, most of the revenue that the Northern Territory government has to spend comes from Commonwealth grants; I believe the last figure was around 80% to 83%. However, we also receive revenue from local businesses, which make up between 17% and 20% of our revenue. One of the things that was coming back to us from business was that they were paying too much tax. I am very proud to say that the Martin Labor government has acted in response to this, and in the 2004-05 budget, it includes tax reductions worth $6.7m, increasing to $16.1m in 2005-06. These reductions will support Territory business, jobs growth and the Territory economy.
So, what do they make up and what do they contain? First of all, payroll tax was a theme that was coming through loud and clear from the business community, which I am proud to say that we have responded to, and their argument was that they were paying too much payroll tax. We said, okay, the payroll tax general exemption threshold is to increase to $1m over the next two years. From 1 July 2004, the threshold will increase from $600 000 to $800 000, and then to $1m from 1 July 2005.
We have also said that the HIH levy on workers compensation insurance policies is to cease on policies written or renewed from on 18 May 2004 – fantastic. Debits tax is abolished from 1 July 2005; again, another great result for business. This will mean that the Northern Territory has the most competitive environment for small business across Australia. Business should be encouraged by that, that government is acting on their concerns and is attempting to adequately assist them in being successful throughout the Northern Territory in their business activities.
I notice in the Budget Highlights where it says that independent assessments confirm that the Territory is the lowest taxing jurisdiction in Australia, raising only 90% of the national average in total revenue collected. It is the lowest taxing jurisdiction for small business. This is in black and white. You can check out the Budget Highlights. It is fantastic for Territorians.
Another commitment by the Labor government is always, and people know where the Labor Party comes from, is the commitment to the worker, to create job opportunities. What we have managed to do in this budget is to commit record spending on infrastructure which will support jobs growth. During 2004-05, a total of $441m will be spent on capital works, minor new works, and repairs and maintenance. And as we know, historically, business and small business have relied on government spending to survive, probably more than anywhere else in Australia, and this is due to the fact that we have a small population. We are spread out over one-sixth of the land mass of Australia and this makes certain business activities within the Northern Territory unique to the Northern Territory.
Some of the capital works in the 2004-05 program will include: $25m on the East Arm Port; Darwin City Waterfront redevelopment, including a cruise ship terminal, totalling $8.5m; and stage 1 for two new major tourism projects - $10m on the Mereenie Loop Road in Central Australia and $4.5m for the Litchfield loop in the Top End. Tourism plays an important role in the development of the Northern Territory, and the continuing prosperity of the tourism industry is vital to all Territorians. I look forward to these projects being very successful.
One of the key initiatives to promote job growth include: $160m allocated over three years to implement the Jobs Plan. This is building the Northern Territory work force to deliver and enhance training and skills development to support apprentices and trainees, and to provide incentives for employers; there is $7.5m additional funding for tourism in 2003-04, increasing to $10m in 2004-05 to boost the industry; $1.53m to progress the government’s indigenous economic government strategy; and $2.1m to facilitate training for indigenous people.
As has often been said in this House, the reality is that 28% of the population of the Northern Territory is of indigenous background, or identifies as indigenous people. This could be more as many indigenous people, unfortunately, do not come under the traditional recording system. I believe that the population is much larger in a number and also a percentage sense. Historically, for a long period of time, indigenous people have been outside of the economy of the Northern Territory, in the sense that they have not been active participants. If you said to a business person: ‘There is 27% of your business that, unfortunately for whatever reasons - complex though they might be – is not participating in the profits of you business. Would you invest in that area to increase your productivity?’ Of course, the answer would be: ‘Yes’.
As a government, and community, we must invest in projects that will encourage indigenous economic development. The reason being we will get a return. This larger proportion of a people live in the Northern Territory, born and bred - and no doubt their children and their children’s children will be born and bred in the Northern Territory - and what we need to do is make sure that people are getting proper training and proper education levels, so they can get meaningful work and contribute not only in the tax regime, but also in the disposal income side of things for the Northern Territory. Complex as these matters have been for a long period of time in the history of this country, we need to invest in this area. I believe that both sides of parliament, including the Independents, would support the concept of investing in indigenous economical development for the greater gain for all Territorians.
Another major theme within the Budget Highlights is the great lifestyle. The Territory’s great lifestyle will be maintained through a range of government’s expenditure and initiatives in 2004-05: over $6m will support major events; budget for sport over $19m; over $32m for arts, music and libraries; over $90m for parks, environment and heritage; over $142m for housing; and a record budget on health, education and police.
Obviously, the 2004-05 budget confirms the Martin Labor government’s commitment to key priorities of health, with $635m for Health and Community Services; $541m for Employment, Education and Training; and $172m for Police, Fire and Emergency Services. The response to the need for better health can never be underestimated. The ongoing debate for many governments, not only throughout Australia but throughout the world, is how much money should be spent on health. There is no doubt that the unique circumstances of the Northern Territory make health a high priority. Ill-health, unfortunately, affects our economy in a very negative manner. I thank my members for their commitment to this continued investment in Health and Community Services.
The $540m for Employment, Education and Training is fantastic. Employment is the backbone of any economy, and real employment has real outcomes of creating self-esteem and a disposal income. One person employed often means that one family is looked after and this takes the responsibility away from government, therefore employment has to be a high priority. As we know education levels on average throughout the Northern Territory, unfortunately, are quite poor. We need to improve our education and training standards.
The effort of $172m for Police, Fire and Emergency Services - I have a long history with the fire services in the Northern Territory and I know they are very pleased with the money that we are spending there and the work that we have done with the fire services. No one in this House can deny the effort that we have made with police and the results are to be seen by the recruitment of new police, not only throughout Australia but importantly from locals. Young men and women are asking me all the time about how they get involved with the police. This is fantastic. It is just a whole change of attitude towards the police force. What we are seeing is the results of that - lower crime rates, higher incarceration rates of criminals and more effective policing. The Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services has been doing a fantastic job.
We have mentioned the infrastructure program of $441m, a capital works program of $239m with estimated expenditure of $118m, capital grants spending of $40m, Power and Water capital expenditure of $52m and repairs and maintenance spending of $167m.
One of the interesting things about the budget papers, which has been commented on by many people, is that it also contains regional highlights, in particular, Alice Springs, Katherine, Palmerston, rural Darwin, Territory-wide, Arnhem and Tiwi and Barkly. This makes it quite easy reading and also summarises the effective work that we have been doing right across the Northern Territory.
As the member for Millner I am proud of some of the individual victories we have had in the budget process for the Millner electorate. Since I have been involved with Millner one of the highlights is being able to work with Millner Primary School. We have been able to achieve a number of government-assisted programs, and I was proud to announce that at the last school council meeting, in particular, the open computer laboratory and refurbishment of the classroom of $5500; an ablution block for the caretaker costing $38 000. At the moment I understand the caretaker has to use interesting shower circumstances; construction of Stage 2 of the covered area in the Early Childhood area, $58 000; and upgrade of the maintenance officer’s room, $13 850. Over $100 000 of minor capital works to the Millner Primary School which forms the backbone of the electorate of Millner. The principal, staff and school council do a great job there ensuring that the kids of Millner go to school, an initiative reflected in the fact that we have very low crime rates in our area. We have a pretty harmonious community there and I believe it is a reflection of the good work being done by Millner Primary School.
We were also able to get some minor capital works for Nemarluk School which is a school for children with special needs: the refurbishment of the safe time out area of $4800, and new play equipment of $30 000. We are also able to do lining and drains between De Latour Street and Bagot Road of $20 000; a left turn lane in Skelton Street of $90 000; Bagot Community enhancement of $50 000. We have putting in a lot of work at Bagot Community, and one of the reasons is that it is one of the largest urban living area for Aboriginal people in Darwin. It is an historic community that has been there for many years. The community plays a strong role in the Ludmilla area. Between 300 and 400 residents live in Bagot Community, life-long Territorians. In the past, they have been left out in the cold. However, work we have been able to do in the last couple of years has brought them back in to the fold, back to obtaining resources from the Northern Territory government and we have also been able to access resources from the Commonwealth government. Bagot Community is moving forward and there are some really good workers there, good people, good families and they need all the support they can get.
There is $175 000 for Rapid Creek shops beautification, which is in the 2003-04 Capital Works program. It is really staring to take shape now. This is going to help with the Sunday markets at the Rapid Creek Shopping Centre, where I am a tenant. This forms the backbone of our community on a Sunday and brings everyone together from all over the Darwin urban area, to enjoy the longest running market in the Northern Territory.
As people know, I am a mad Aussie Rules fan. AFL games to be played at Marrara Oval and Traeger Park will be supported by the Northern Territory government with a figure of $290 000. I know they love the lights down at Traeger Park. I was lucky enough to visit there recently. That allocation will make members from Central Australia very happy, in particular the Minister for Central Australia, who is doing a fantastic job in Central Australia. Sports grants are to be increased by $0.5m to $5.58m, which is great.
Again, for the whole the Northern Territory, 120 new police recruits, which is also fantastic.
The extra money allocated to the DEET Accelerated Literacy Program is $1.25m. One of the schools that it is based at is Ludmilla School, and they do a great job there. I urge all members to visit to look at the good work they are doing in Ludmilla in their ability to lift young children who, for many reasons, have fallen behind in their reading and writing skills and through the Accelerated Literacy Program have been able to get a big boost and have progressed well.
There is an increase to the School Grants program of $3000. The Royal Darwin Hospital 12-bed hospice will be completed by 2004-05 with $3.6m allocated. The critical care unit to be completed with additional beds has been allocated $2.5m and Darwin Birthing Centre, design and building of $2.5m.
It is not often that we can talk about all the good things that government can do, but one of them is the opportunity to deliver a budget that is representative of the needs of all Territorians. One of the budget papers is the highlights for the Darwin region. I would like to pick up on a couple of those that are very important to future of the Northern Territory. There is $7.52m for Charles Darwin University and Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education and Territory Programs. This is an investment in our future that needs to be made. I hope and genuinely feel that we will have support from all members of this House that this investment is required to improve future outcomes.
Other highlights are the $78.71m for the operation of Police, Fire and Emergency Service facilities in Darwin, including the Peter McAulay Centre; $13.18m for Courts to administer justice in Darwin and the Palmerston rural regions; $2.8m for Child Protection Services to work with families at risk; and $1.75m for Darwin and Casuarina Community Corrections for adult and juvenile clients. I believe that this is an issue we all need to address, not only the punishment of people committing a crime, but also the understanding that rehabilitation has to be the long term goal so that we do not have to keep punishing people who keep offending.
In trying to create better schools $59.82m is to deliver primary and early childhood education in 19 urban schools. There is $46.45m to deliver secondary education to six high schools; and $18.89m assistance to non-government schools. My wife works in a non-government school at St Paul’s, and I am sure they appreciate that. They look at our budget and they look forward to the assistance that we give them. There is $4.5m for indigenous education for teaching initiative programs to improve education in indigenous students. Again, it is an investment for the future and I am sure that everyone supports that.
In summary, I reiterate that what we are trying to do, as best we can, is represent the needs, wants and wishes of all Territorians. The theme of this budget is to create less tax, more jobs and continue our great lifestyle. We are hoping to deliver record tax cuts for business, record infrastructure spending, boost our great lifestyle, and record health, education and police budgets. It is our charter as government to spend monies that come to the Northern Territory in an appropriate manner. I believe that we have done it strategically, and with a plan. Much of the credit has to go to the individual ministers who represent Cabinet and represent portfolios. And, of course, much of credit has to go to the Chief Minister, Clare Martin.
Ms CARNEY: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This is about the second or third time the member for Millner has referred to members of the government by name. Even the member for Millner knows that this is not right, and I would ask you to pull him up.
Dr Burns: Don’t be patronising.
Madam SPEAKER: No, that is correct. You will refer to members by their electorate, not by their personal name. We have had this over and over again. Member for Millner, you know it. Please refrain from doing it.
Mr BONSON: Yes, Madam Speaker. I will refer to the Martin government’s budget. Our Chief Minister has proven her ability to strategically think into the future, to lead by example, to have a team behind her. Unfortunately, the opposition has not been able to keep a team game together, and this is often shown in their performance.
The Martin Labor government has attempted to best represent all Northern Territorians, has attempted to best spend the monies, given by both the Commonwealth and raised within the Northern Territory, for the best interests of Northern Territorians. We have answered Territorians’ call. We have created a budget which delivers less tax, more jobs and a great lifestyle. I look forward to representing the constituents of Millner in the future, and I hope that they all appreciate and love our budget.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I rise today to give my support for the Martin government’s 2004 budget. It is a great budget. It is a budget for all Territorians, as the member for Millner just advised the House. It is a budget for all the Territory, because it puts a record $441m towards an infrastructure budget. The budget is aimed at creating more jobs, better training and higher growth for Territorians. It also looks at issues of the environment, with more money for parks, and it goes to balancing growth with lifestyle which is an important part of this budget. It gets right down to the core elements. It builds on our Territory lifestyle by providing more funding for recreational fishing, better sports facilities, and bringing world class events to the Territory.
This budget also looks at our lifestyle - life in the cities and in the bush - and looks at the justice issues around it. We go to the heart of justice with more police on the beat. We also look at the other bread and butter issues of health. This budget has funded some great programs in Health and Community Services. This budget also looks at education, and we have a record education budget which puts Territory kids first - another great part of the Martin government’s overall strategy for building a better Territory. It does all this while still delivering record tax cuts for business, and makes us the lowest taxing jurisdiction in Australia for all small business.
When I say this is a budget for all Territorians I mean that, and particularly for the people of Sanderson. In my reply to the budget last year, I mentioned the location of Sanderson on Shoal Water Bay. We have the suburbs of Wulagi, Anula, Northlakes and Malak and in those suburbs we do not have any factories. We just have urban roads and we have a couple of schools. We do not have any hospitals or anything similar. You look at the budget and think: how does this affect it? What we do have in Sanderson is families - families which make up the Territory. Because of this budget and its wide-sweeping addressing of the issues for the Territory, it means that the people of Sanderson will benefit; there will be an incremental flow-on provided.
When I talk about the infrastructure, if you have a look around town, there is $2.5m for a new cruise ship terminal at Fort Hill Wharf, and $398 000 to upgrade the facilities at the Territory Wildlife Park, there is the infrastructure in the wharf precinct, the Litchfield Road loop at $15m, with $4.5m for 2004-05. What this great infrastructure spend means is jobs - jobs for Territorians, jobs for people in Sanderson. The people of Sanderson also realise that others in the Territory should benefit from this, and one of the great benefits of this infrastructure boost, I believe, is the $38m spend on the Mereenie Loop Road over three years, with $10m in 2004-05.
In January this year I travelled the Mereenie Loop Road. I met with people at Ntaria, Kings Canyon, and the managers at Uluru, and spoke to them about what the upgrade of the Mereenie Loop Road meant. They all stated a wish that if only it could be brought forward from the 10-year cycle to a shorter period, because what it will mean is more jobs in Alice Springs, at Uluru, at Kings Canyon, and it will open up Ntaria and Palm Valley and all these tourist attractions along the way. It will mean an extra night stay in Alice Springs, and that means that the hire car companies will now be able to hire out two-wheel-drive vehicles instead of four-wheel, and it will just be a great injection of funds. You not only have from this budget the one-off funding which will be spent in that year on the Mereenie Loop Road and the consequential years, you will have an ongoing incoming revenue from the higher spend from the tourist dollar. This is the great thing. This is how this budget looks forward into the future. That is just one example.
We could also look at Litchfield in the Top End. Once again, those same things apply. The sealing of the Litchfield loop road will mean an easy one-day trip for the people of Sanderson. My preferred way of seeing Litchfield these days is that I go down and stay at Batchelor and then access the park. When I come back, it is another two hours drive, so I overnight in Batchelor. With this opening, I and many other people in Sanderson will be able to travel down just for the day, have a great time at Wangi Falls or at Buley Rockhole, and then get back in the early evening. This is a tremendous initiative of this government. It is one that has been long coming and is one where I believe the Minister for Tourism has listened to industry needs, listened to community needs and has said, ‘Let’s get on with the job, let’s get it done’. I commend the Minister for Tourism for this great initiative.
When we talk about more jobs, better training and higher growth you have to go to the Territory Jobs Plan. There is $165m targeted for that and what this means for the people of Sanderson is that there will be more jobs open for their kids. This has been a failing of the previous government. I believe when we came to office there were only 20-odd apprenticeships going in the Territory. This is a real indictment. The opposition goes on about jobs and having to bring people in. The fact is that they did not look to the future. They did not do anything to try to get us prepared for these great infrastructure projects of the future, for the rail and all the new trades and engineering expertise that will be required there, the port facilities and what that will mean.
It is pretty common knowledge that over the next 20 or so years we are going to have a whole range of new jobs that have never been here in the Territory. Blind Freddy could see that was going to be the case and should have been planning for it. The opposition when in government did not plan for it; did not look to the future. We, on the other hand, are taking steps. The Martin Labor government is taking steps to make sure that we look to the future, but we also keep an eye on the present.
We are doing that by putting $11.75m to support 2400 apprenticeships and trainee positions. We see the public sector as an incubator for employment and training skills that smaller private enterprise firms may not necessarily be able to afford. The Territory government is committed to employing an extra 200 public sector trainees over three years. For 2004, 79 new apprentices will have been employed. The plan, as I see it rolling through, is that these new apprentices coming into the public sector, into this employment incubator, will pick up these skills and then they will migrate out to private enterprise. The flow-on effects, the vision that is encapsulated in this program and the forethought of funding it, is quite innovative, particularly for the Territory. It comes as no surprise to me as this is an innovative team. It is not moribund like the opposition, so I am not surprised by this initiative. I applaud it and think it is wonderful and would like to see it progress even more.
While we look at building up the skills base in the bigger cities, in the cities of Palmerston, Darwin and Alice Springs and the town of Katherine, we do not neglect regional remote training needs. This is not a government that is focussed on one centre or another. This is a government for all Territorians and that means right across the board. It means from the border near Camooweal all the way to the other side of the Victoria River and down the other side to Alice Springs, and all the way up to the Tiwi Islands. This is what we are in government for and that is why our budget is spending $2.1m on training programs for indigenous people living in remote and regional area. When we look at great infrastructure programs and projects into the future, and particularly the pipeline going from one side of the Territory to the other, taking it over to Yirrkala, over to Nhulunbuy, this is going to be a massive project. We have to start getting skills out into the communities and the bush areas now.
I value that project as great for the Territory, more so than what I believe the LNG will be. It will be more than what the rail will be because what this does is that it moves the industrial base away from the city and puts it out to the remoter areas of the Territory. I take it that my colleagues also look at it that way and by putting $2.1m to be spent on training programs, we are showing the people in the bush that we believe there is a future out there for them and we are going to do everything that we can to assist.
When I mentioned what we are going to be doing for the environment, the environment is held very closely and dearly by people in the Northern Territory. We are custodians for the rest of Australia of these great natural assets that we have. We are custodians not only now, but into the future. No one group owns it; the people of Australia do. We cannot take it away from the people on whose country these natural assets are found on who have close cultural and religious ties with it. These must be respected and honoured, as it is with any other group in respect of their significant icons. We should remember that in all our dealings.
In this budget, additional funding to Territory parks ensures that they continue to be first-class natural recreation and tourism resorts. The highlights include $1m in Minor New Works for upgraded visitor facilities across park systems, including Nitmiluk and Chamber’s Pillar. I would have liked to visit Chamber’s Pillar but I did not have the time. The road in there requires caution and it is not a road – it is not the Finke Desert Race when you go to Chamber’s Pillar; it takes a lot of driving skill. I am glad to see that people will be rewarded for the effort of travelling out there with these Minor New Works upgraded visitor facilities.
Gregory National Park, in the member for Daly’s seat, has been $500 000. It is an opposition-held seat, but it is in the Territory and that is what this budget is all about. It is not about the northern suburbs, the Labor seats. It is not about not giving anything to the CLP-held seats. We recognise the people of the Territory all need specific funding for different areas, and we do it. I should point out that Leanyer Recreation Park is not in the member for Karama’s seat, nor is it in the members for Sanderson’s or Wanguri’s seat. It is not in a Labor seat. It is in the member for Drysdale’s seat. I have not seen him down there. I am not aware that he has been there. I do not even think he even knows where it is these days. However, it is in the member for Drysdale’s seat. To have the opposition at times say: ‘Oh! This is all Labor seat stuff’, well it is not. It is the member for Drysdale’s seat. Let us always remember that. We spend money where it is needed, not based on political affiliation.
Members interjecting.
Dr Burns: Wooliana Road, power to Dundee.
Mr KIELY: That is right. It goes on. In this budget there is $1.3m for ongoing maintenance of Darwin’s George Brown Botanic Gardens. The George Brown Botanic Gardens are a great asset to the community. I look forward to the money being spent there, and to watching the trees grow.
Dr Burns: Member for Port Darwin.
Mr KIELY: Yes, that is the member for Port Darwin’s seat. It just does not end.
Madam Speaker, our lifestyle is an important and cherished part of our life that we all want to preserve. We are an expanding, growing community and we do have to get the balance right. This budget looks to try to achieve that balance. However, with development, some things will have to be given up in order to take advantage of others. That is the way of the world. Cultures and communities do not stand still.
This budget includes funding for further upgrades of recreational fishing infrastructure and facilities as part of the $1.5m boost over three years, including - and here is another point - $500 000 for improvements for Palmerston anglers and better access to Mule Creek and Rocky Creek near Borroloola. In regard to Palmerston, the Leader of the Opposition has been talking for years about this. In fact, I think it was the previous government who said: ‘No, we are not doing anything out there’. It has taken a Labor government, which does not have any seats out at Palmerston, to say: ‘Yes, you have a point there. Let us try and help you out.’ Once again, it sends the message loud and clear that this is a budget for all Territorians.
We are still working on improvements to the Buffalo Creek and Dinah Beach boat ramps, and they will be completed in 2003-04. I am looking forward to that. Anyone who has been to the Buffalo Creek ramp …
Dr Burns: Dinah Beach. That is the member for Drysdale, isn’t it?
Mr KIELY: No, Dinah Beach is the member for Port Darwin. Buff Creek …
Mr Baldwin: Buffalo Creek, not Buff Creek! That is what he calls it.
Mr KIELY: You see, here is a man, a superannuant, sitting here, collecting his pay cheque. The member for Daly would be better off to take his 50% pay cut and get out and get his super and join the ranks out there and get on with his private enterprise instead of coming in here and …
Mr Baldwin interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, would you get back to the debate.
Mr KIELY: … instead of coming in here and …
Madam SPEAKER: It is nearly time for lunch.
Mr KIELY: I know that he should deserve respect, Madam Speaker. But the fact is that the man in an iron lung would not know how to get and work. We have had a look at your work rate, and I tell you what, you would not get a sweat up.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: Well, yes, we know about you taking photos out at Casuarina beach, boy. We know how you get a sweat up.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: I would like to say, Madam Speaker, who choked?
Mr Baldwin: You get back to Buff Creek, mate.
Mr KIELY: That is right, I will get back to Buff Creek. I will get down there, because we have done things down there to make that a safer …
Mr Baldwin: You do not even know where it is.
Mr KIELY: Listen to them. But I am not going to bite on those offerings from the outside, it is just amazing. The fact is I do know what is down there. I do know about the cars that have been broken into, time and time again, because nothing has ever been done there. It has taken the Labor government to get in there, put in security lighting, a good fenced area, and make it more secure for those people who go out to fish during the day, to know they can come back and find their car in one piece. Never, never in all the time down at Buff Creek has that ever been done – never.
The member for Daly, who I do not know would have any idea what really goes on in town, he is better off to be superannuated out to his little property down somewhere …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, no personal remarks, thank you, just get on with the speech.
Mr KIELY: You are right, Madam Speaker, I did not mean to be offensive in any way. However, the fact is that at particular place we have made it a better recreational area for fishermen.
Mr Baldwin: Have you been to Katherine? They all leave when he comes to visit.
Mr KIELY: Madam Speaker, I should say that if I am not allowed to make personal remarks, surely that extends to others.
Madam Speaker, we have better sports facilities. We are actually funding up the soccer facilities, something which was promised by the last government – well, actually, I saw the signs go up. That is all I saw. When we talk about the soccer stadium, and it was an election promise from the previous government, let us not forget the basketball stadium. How many times was that promised? How long did it take to deliver? It took a Labor government to actually deliver that basketball stadium, not the previous government. Same as the soccer; all they delivered were two signs in the ground. We are delivering $0.5m worth of headworks this year.
- Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Can we get back onto the statement, please.
Mr KIELY: Madam Speaker, we will be doing more work down there over this year and the next in the sporting precinct at Marrara. It is a great facility.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: I did not see anyone from the opposition down there with a trowel. I did not see anyone on the cement mixer when anything was getting done. However, if he reckons they were down there and they built it, good on you, because there was some shonky workmanship down there, and I think you ought to be sued for some of it.
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: Really? How much did this Labor government have to put back in to get that Marrara Stadium up to scratch, so that we could bring in AFL games? This year, we have had the Wizard Cup. We have an AFL premiership match in 2004, thanks to the extra money that this Martin Labor government put in to Marrara. We have the international cricket coming to Marrara. And why? Because we know the facilities and what they require. We just do not put up edifices and walk away. We look at recurrent funding and we address it, and this has been done in this budget.
Look at these other initiatives this year in the budget. Men’s Hockey Test Series, we have that coming; international cricket; soccer international challenge in August; the AFL premiership match, as I mentioned. We have the Alice Springs Masters Games, which is a great initiative, and we are right behind that again. The Wizard Cup coming up. The NBL match – I do not remember that being a CLP initiative. And, of course, the Arafura Games, and let us hope that we do not have any international mishaps, as we did with the last games.
Ms Lawrie: SARS.
Mr KIELY: SARS. Let me just say as an aside, that in 2001, when this government came into power, we had some events which were global in their ramifications and the economy that they hit. We had local calamities with Ansett going down. It was the Martin Labor government which steered this Territory through some pretty hard times. We had a good, strong Cabinet which kept it together. I tell you, that is not something that we believe, and all Territorians believe, would have happened with the other team. I would like to congratulate right now and put on record, my thanks to Cabinet and the Chief Minister for getting us through all that.
However, where has it got us? To this great budget, the one that I am addressing right now - just in case it slipped your mind. We have $300 000 for BassintheGrass, which was an election commitment, and this is the second one. Members may recall that the previous government were targeting the more senior Territorian and their entertainment taste. We had nothing at a government level to look after our youth. We had quite a number of events happening, but they were for wealthier, mature Territorians - nothing for youth. This year, we are pleased to announce $300 000 for BassintheGrass. I cannot name all the groups, unfortunately. I fall into that senior category now and, as much as I admire what is going on and I would love to get there, I would stand out like a sore thumb at such a venue. I am past it, unfortunately, I believe. However, that is not to say that I do not recognise the need for such an event, and I will give this my 100% support.
I know when I have doorknocked and I have mentioned BassintheGrass, that the youth of the Territory are really excited about this. We are hearing figures of something like 6000 attending this year. I am tipping more. Based on the crowds that they are getting at the acts at the casino these days, I believe we are going to get more there. BassintheGrass in future will, I believe, become as big an event as the V8 Supercars. I would like to see them all strung together as a big package. This is a marvellous event, and I commend the relevant ministers and their staff for getting it together. This is a great initiative for youth, and one that cannot be underestimated.
This budget delivers on its promise of more police on the beat. The roll-out of the Martin government’s $75m Building our Police Force Plan continues in 2004. As we have said time and again, this plans for there to be 200 more police on the beat by 2006. Sanderson is not alone in, at times, having incidents of social mishaps and unrest. I know when members of public contact the police, they are very responsive. The other day, I was approached by a constituent about an accident in Wulagi Crescent, where a vehicle killed a dog. They were very distressed about this. I phoned the Casuarina Police and spoke to the OIC, and referred on the e-mail that I had received from the constituent, and they were responsive. The police met with the person who lodged the expression of concern, and addressed the issue which was that they lodge a greater police presence on Wulagi Crescent with speed cameras and incentives to have drivers comply with the speed limit.
This was unheard of four years ago - impossible to achieve. It was not because the police did not want to achieve it four years ago; they did not have the resources to achieve it. This year, and in future years to come, thanks to the budget and the budgets that will follow on from this, we are able to achieve that. Full commendation to the Police Commissioner and, once again, I must pay my respects and my thanks to Cabinet. All these things do not happen in isolation. They need Cabinet behind them in order for these things to come to fruition. We have a good police minister in the member for Wanguri. He is doing his hardest. He is working hand in hand and supporting our police, not attacking them, not blaming. You do not, in this day and age, have a society free of crime, but if you stack us up against any other jurisdiction in Australia, I reckon we will come up trumps.
We still have high records of domestic violence and unacceptable levels of crime against a person. One needs to look at where these are happening, look at the issues that have led to this and we need to tackle the causes of crime now. This government is doing that and it is doing that through this budget and it will keep on doing it through on going budgets.
Madam Speaker, in the few moments left to me I would just like to say that we are putting more money on our hospitals. When we look at the health of the Northern Territory it is not just saying let’s look at the health of Sanderson, let’s look at the health of Drysdale, it is a matter of looking at the health of the Territory. With that in mind, this government has committed $11m for Alice Springs Hospital over the next four years to expand its intensive care high dependency unit. I, too, Madam Speaker, share your despair and your disquiet with the unprecedented attack on the medical staff and on the institutions in Alice Springs. It is time ...
Mrs Miller: Not on the medical staff.
Mr KIELY: It was on the medical staff, member for Katherine. It was quite clear that you and your colleagues over there were attacking Alice Springs Hospital and those people in it. You raced off to the paper. You sent out newsletters. I think it is deplorable. I would have hated to been related to those poor people who passed away in Alice Springs Hospital and then to see that headline. There is no excuse. There is absolutely no excuse and a public apology should be issued by the Leader of the Opposition. He should show leadership in this matter. The Deputy Opposition Leader who comes from Alice Springs, whom I am sure is showing signs of leadership now, whom I believe would make a better leader because he will stand up for his people. He stands up for his town. At times he gets it wrong but I believe you will probably find that he would make a better leader.
Mrs Miller: Oh, who is listening?
Dr Burns: Well you picked him as deputy.
Mr KIELY: That is right and I think you made a good choice.
Madam Speaker, we have $11m at Alice Springs Hospital; $900 000 for Alice Springs Hospital fire safety upgrade; $3.6m for a new hospice at Darwin with $2.5m for the birthing centre at Royal Darwin Hospital and that is a great initiative - my partner is a midwife and she is pretty excited about that; $2.5m expansion of Royal Darwin Hospital’s accident and emergency department; $750 000 for Tennant Creek Hospital - which I know that my colleague, the member for Barkly, will speak on. He is very excited about that. The member for Katherine should be very excited about $39.7m in total for Katherine, Gove and Tennant Creek hospitals. Right across the board we are looking ...
Mrs Miller: I would prefer the $39m for Katherine Hospital.
Mr KIELY: There you go, look, the member for Katherine is excited. I can hear that in her voice.
Madam Speaker, there is so much in this budget that I would like to commend. Sanderson has been a winner in this. We have shade going up at Wulagi Primary School at a cost of $40 000; and $120 000 is also being allocated to Sanderson High School for shade. This is fabulous. I am happy to see the initiative that I put forward to my colleagues. I have campaigned to get grants and programs in schools and we have seen a great program initiated under that.
In short, I thank the Treasurer on behalf of the people of Sanderson. I thank the leader, whom I think has done a tremendous job. I sincerely l thank my Cabinet colleagues for the work that they have done in making a budget that will take the Territory on to the future; will make it a safer, better, healthier place. This is the penultimate budget more than likely for this term of government. I look forward to the ultimate. The next one coming up will be a fantastic budget; one that will build on the work. This is not a one-shot-in-the-locker government. We are here for the long haul and we will take the Territory with us.
Debate suspended.
MOTION
Proposed Censure of Chief Minister
Proposed Censure of Chief Minister
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I move that the Chief Minister and this government be censured for failing to respond to clear excesses by the CEO of Health …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order! I did not catch the …
Madam SPEAKER: All right. Could you commence again, please? We will have the motion circulated. You have circulated it, Leader of the Opposition?
Mr MILLS: Yes. I am happy to read it out and then circulate it.
Madam SPEAKER: All right. Off you go. Start again because there is a bit of noise.
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, I move that this House censure the Chief Minister and her government for:
failing to respond to clear excesses by the CEO of Health who issued contracts,
without following normal procurement guidelines, to Metis Consulting which is
headed by a personal friend and colleague of the CEO;
allowing the procurement process to be undermined by that CEO so as to cause a
loss of faith by Territorians in the integrity of the procurement process;
covering for the CEO in a way which is clearly meant to prevent further investigation
and scrutiny of the contracts awarded; and
lying to Territorians about the results of a report investigating the arrangements between
the CEO and Metis Consulting.
Madam Speaker, in the mind of government would be: why would we be moving to censure? For those of us who have entered this Chamber with a fresh memory of a document produced by those who sit on the government benches of their high ideals contained within their Good Governance document, they purported that they would introduce a whole new era. The level of patent hypocrisy demonstrated in the dealings with this specific issue warrants the highest order of censure on the grounds of hypocrisy.
You will stand and say whatever it takes to advance your own interests, with no regard for issues of substance, issues of perception. You will do whatever it takes to advance your own cause and you will say whatever you wish to say to continue the perception, which you hold most dear, to appear to be something extraordinary, something special. By holding that position, I believe in the face of the Northern Territory community and, in particular, those who have a great interest in preserving the very integrity of the procurement process have much to lose by the actions of this government.
We need to look at why the ground rules of procurement are so important. These ground rules have been corrupted by the actions of this government. The integrity of the procurement process has been seriously damaged.
Before I go on to prosecuting that specific issue, I draw members’ attention to the report, the fulsome report, which justifies and vindicates the position of the minister in supporting the actions of his CEO, and he flops out the report which is meant to satisfy us all: all is above board; all has been done according to appropriate guidelines.
The report that has been tabled has contained at the bottom of it, page 17 - we have been given page 17, and it is called a report. That report does not in any way clarify the concerns in the minds of opposition, or anyone who seeks to have confidence in the procurement process - page 17, with three points on it. That is a despicable disgrace, to stand in this House, and to purport this to be a report, in the face of those who are charged with the responsibility of reporting actions of this government, and actions of the opposition, which are to advance and prosper the best interests of Territorians, you could stand, with a straight face, and present something called a report, which is just page 17 of the report. Could we have the rest please, minister, where are the other pages? Where are the other pages? This is not a report containing three points.
We satisfy no-one with a genuine interest in preserving the integrity of the procurement process and, in fact, assisting you in your task of discharging your responsibilities to assist those who desperately need a sound procurement process so that they can genuinely build a plan for the future, knowing that that procurement process is not going to work against them, in the interests of mates of your own - to advance and prosper the best interests of your own mates.
We learnt today in this Chamber that it does not begin and end with that which we raised initially. We had the minister responsible for procurement outline a range of other contracts that have been taken up by Metis Consulting. The most disturbing, is the argument that we need to go outside the Territory to find these kinds of expertise, particularly in the investigation into Fire and Emergency Services, a case that could be put and probably supported. However, when you look at the range of contracts, the small ones that have been awarded, that have not gone through normal processes, not gone through normal procedures, you see a CEO who has lied to the media, and then corrected and altered his story.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! That is outrageous.
Madam SPEAKER: Yes, I do not think that you can really make that statement against the CEO. Withdraw it.
Mr MILLS: We have a CEO who has made public comment that was in this position, and then, when challenged, changed the story to something quite different, altered the story, when confronted with facts.
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! This censure is on me.
Mr Mills: Correct.
Ms MARTIN: If you want to accuse anyone of lying, accuse me of lying. That is where the censure is. To single out public servants like that is outrageous.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, you understand?
Mr MILLS: Okay.
Mr Stirling: You never touch public servants, you grub.
Mr Elferink: You just blamed the public servant, you moron.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Macdonnell, withdraw that.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Withdraw!
Mr Elferink: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition.
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Speaker, I was overcome by him calling me a grub and I have been ordered to withdraw that word today.
Madam SPEAKER: Treasurer, withdraw.
Mr STIRLING: It was directed at the man who needs counselling, Madam Speaker, the member for Drysdale, and I withdraw it.
Madam SPEAKER: Just withdraw. Before we go on, Leader of the Opposition, please do not accuse public servants.
Mr MILLS: Well, the issue here is that those who have ultimate responsibility for the integrity of the office of CEO are held accountable. I hold the Chief Minister accountable. What actions did she instigate to address the change of mind of a CEO when presented with confronting facts, which compromised his first position? What did the Chief Minister do? The Chief Minister is the one who is in the hot seat. The Chief Minister is the one who is accountable. The Chief Minister is the one who signs off on the role and position of a CEO.
In having an interest in attacking and being critical of senior public servants, the Treasurer should take a leaf out of his own book and have a good look at it because, even whilst in government, do not dare, Treasurer. I would caution the Treasurer to look back at previous Hansards, and see actions and utterances of the Chief Minister and the Treasurer, whilst in opposition, and then stand here is blatant hypocrisy to espouse a position that once upon a time they found no comfort in.
In recent times, we had the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing very happy to call Mr Peter Allen ‘stupid’ publicly. The minister called a senior public servant ‘stupid’ publicly …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Madam Speaker! There is absolutely no …
Mr MILLS: You have said it publicly, and you stand here and lecture us!
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order! Leader of the Opposition, there has been a point of order called.
Mr STIRLING: I appreciate this is a censure motion but he cannot make unsubstantiated allegations such as he is making now.
Mr Mills: You said it publicly.
Madam SPEAKER: If you feel that you have been misquoted …
Mr STIRLING: I referred to a decision as being ‘a stupid decision’.
Mr Mills: Who makes decisions? Boards do not make decisions, people do.
Mr STIRLING: A decision as being a ‘stupid decision’, and I want that on the record, because I do not want to be misrepresented by the Leader of the Opposition.
Madam SPEAKER: Fair comment.
Mr MILLS: People make decisions. However, now we must tread very carefully when it comes …
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: People make decisions, and that comment was directed to a person. These people cause the opposition to move the highest level of motion against government because we want to preserve the very system that our small business operators, Territory businesses and the very operation of the public service hang upon - the integrity of the procurement process.
In your own documentation, Chief Minister, your procurement policies are based upon the following fundamental principles: open and effective competition. Territorians must be sure of value for money and must see that decisions of the procurement process result in the enhancing of the capabilities of Territory businesses and industry; issues in environmental protection; and ethical behaviour and fair dealing. These are not just glib principles that are written on a piece of paper to be treated with contempt. They are the undergirding principles that must not be corrupted or violated in any way. And they have; they have.
The process that has been outlined to the House and to Territorians who were listening at Question Time would reveal that this has not been an open process, nor has it been effective. Perhaps it has, but none of us would know, particularly when we look at the nature in which the business was conducted with a firm that has again and again been awarded contracts in a manner which would cause concern if it was conducted in the broad light of day. It has not been conducted in the broad light of day, and thank God for the opposition which was able to draw attention to these issues on behalf of Territorians.
Of course, the CEO of Health is in total agreement with those principles. In a press release issued on 10 April 2003, regarding the issue of Mr Moo, who appeared to perhaps have a conflict of interest, the CEO at the time entered the arena, expressing grave concern that we must preserve the very principles of the procurement process. He said:
- The Department of Justice report did, however, raise concerns about public perception associated with
apparent conflict of interest.
Moreover, it is essential for the proper working of government that public agencies retain the trust
and confidence of the public and are above reproach or question.
He went on further to say:
- In total agreement with the principles of quality procurement, this investigation is about determining any
existing or potential for conflict of interest across the organisation as a whole.
So, it is stated publicly. When questions have been raised about potential conflicts of interests, Mr Griew, the CEO, makes very clear his position and soundly applauded.
We go further. In a memo from the CEO dated 21 February 2003, he sends out a reminder to all staff:
- I would like to remind all staff that as public servants we are bound by a code of conduct to declare any
potential conflict of interest. In the near future I will be introducing processes to help management and
staff identify and determine any such conflict or potential conflicts. Declarations will be compulsory for
senior managers.
I wonder whether that was actually written, read and taken to heart by the author?
Was there a conflict of interest when Metis Consulting was appointed to become the agent to effect business at the directing, or the suggestion, of the CEO? Was there a conflict of interest? When the CEO was initially approached he claimed there was no conflict of interest in regards to his relationship with the director of Metis, Mr Gration. Mr Gration said, ‘The two of us have only shared a professional relationship and that was about five years ago’. That was the statement when the issue of conflict of interest was raised. He was reminded, however, that the relationship between the Metis directors and Mr Griew was in fact far more advanced. Mr Gration was the president of the AIDS Council of New South Wales and in fact hired Mr Griew in 1998 as his CEO. Oh dear! But more than that, the friendship with Mr Griew and Mr Gration was that Mr Griew attended Mr Gration’s wedding. He forgot to mention that potential conflict of interest. He forgot that bit. Forgot that in fact he appointed me at one stage to be CEO of the New South Wales AIDS Council, ‘I forgot that too.’
Also, the other director of Metis, Susan Harben sat with Mr Robert Griew on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in New South Wales. They sat together at the same time. There is an intimate link between this CEO and the directors of Metis; a direct link that was denied in any substantial nature in the first instance. Upon being visited with certain details that would challenge that, the CEO changed his position.
That is the issue that has been brought in here. In the first instance, the Chief Minister as the appointee of a CEO is held accountable. What did she do in discharging her responsibility as the Chief Minister with the CEO? The primary issue here is: if there was a conflict of interest, did the CEO make that plainly clear to those who are responsible?
I will outline issues related to ethical behaviour and fair dealing in the Northern Territory government’s own Procurement Policy Guidelines. You need to satisfy yourself, Chief Minister, as to whether these were followed: someone procuring a service must be able to buy without prejudice, seeking to obtain the maximum and ultimate value for each dollar of expenditure. They must subscribe to and work for honesty and truth in buying and denounce all forms and manifestations of commercial bribery. You must make patently clear any potential conflicts of interest which would give rise to concerns of the gaining of direct or indirect pecuniary advantage, to gain improper advantage for self or others, to act partially or inconsistently with their obligations or cause harm to other people, businesses or the Northern Territory government.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr MILLS: ‘It was reported in the media. I commissioned a report and I have had a look at it and I am fully satisfied and that is the end of the case’. Today, under close scrutiny we had the minister then table the report and, in fact, it is no report at all.
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: There is no doubt it. Also uttered by the Treasurer today, quietly, I must admit, were his concerns and he has almost gone so far as to say he is going to discipline the CEO because, yes, obviously there has been a little bit of a problem.
Ms Martin: He didn’t say …
Mr STIRLING: A point of order, Madam Speaker, I will not be misrepresented in this Chamber.
Madam SPEAKER: No. Leader of the Opposition, I think you should rephrase that.
Mr MILLS: All right. Well, words to the effect of ‘I will express my displeasure’. It is a clear acknowledgement of an embarrassment for government. Let us go further. We now find, revealed in this House today, there are probably six or seven contracts issued to Metis Consulting. We now know …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr MILLS: We have already established that the conflict of interest was not adequately dealt with and, in fact, was covered up by the CEO. We go further, and we see that Metis Consulting is a company made up of two directors who have clear links to the Australian Labor Party. Mr Chris Gration was an advisor to Richardson. Richardson, a fixer, an interesting chap. He was a senior staffer for federal ALP senator, Graham Richardson. Richardson is known to be the champion of the people, probably a wonderful role model for Mr Gration, writing a book, Whatever it Takes. Mr Richo, this high order consultant and great mentor to Mr Gration, also has a very close connection to Mr Rene Rivkin and a few other sordid connections.
We go on to the other director. The other director, Susan Harben, is a failed Labor candidate. They are genuinely Labor mates. Then we learn today of the lists of contracts that have been issued to your Labor mates with normal process not being observed to any satisfaction.
Now we visit Central Australia, and what do we have in Central Australia? This pair of Labor mates have been given the job to investigate the operation of your office in Central Australia at a cost of $40 000. Six staff, I understand. What on earth would they be looking at? Why would you need to have a certificate of exemption issued to your own operation in Central Australia, and a list of six?
The actions of this government have caused the procurement process to be compromised. You have shown that the actions of covering up for inadequate procedure has caused the procurement process to be something that would cause anyone who wants to have confidence in your ability - and obviously Territory businesses have a very low level of confidence in your capacity to inspire them and to lead them into a meaningful future - you have the capacity now to turn your attention to the procurement process, and do whatever it takes to see whether you can do jobs for mates. Given the responsibility of pulling the system up and preserving some confidence in the system, you failed to do so, and you turn your attack back on the opposition and tell us that we are attacking CEOs.
What we are talking about is, in fact, the very process of procurement must be preserved. We call upon you, Chief Minister, to act to deal with this issue immediately and to promote some kind of security and integrity within this system. Chief Minister, you have dealt with the minister over there sitting beside you, who has issued a paper for the parliament to have a look at and, in fact, it has no amount filled in. What a deceitful way of operating, minister.
The censure stands. I believe that this Chief Minister needs to act to deal with the rising level of corruption within the Martin Labor government, and with the corruption that she has perpetrated upon the procurement process so that Territory businesses are having increasingly diminished confidence in her capacity to deal fairly with issues of procurement by this government.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I have been censured a few times in this parliament - not very often, I must say - but I would have to say, and it is difficult to cast judgment on a colleague, but to the Leader of the Opposition: that is about the worst performance I have ever seen. It really is the worst performance. We had four points of a censure. He did not explain or justify any of those points. He had half an hour and, simply, just talked gobbledegook. I really tried to listen to what he was saying, but he just worked himself into a froth of rhetoric and posturing, and thinks that because he has says something it must be true. You actually have to prosecute a case in a censure motion, not just …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: You do have to prosecute a case. A censure motion, as we said yesterday, is the most serious motion you can bring into this House, and you do not do it lightly.
In this censure motion, if the Opposition Leader had somehow prosecuted or convinced anyone that there was any truth in any of this, I would take it very seriously. However, I have never heard such a load of rubbish in this House in a censure motion and tomorrow I mark nine years in this House. I have never heard such a load of rubbish!
Let us go through the points because, when we have censure motion, it is a serious motion. Yet, we end up with the Opposition Leader running out of any arguments and starting to talk about Rene Rivkin! This is a very serious motion, and whenever anyone is censured, they should take it very seriously. We do not accept them lightly. Yet, in this one, not one element has been prosecuted, there was no justification given for any of any of the allegations made, and what we have ended up with again, is the opposition slurring people at the senior level of our public sector.
Because he is casting anyone as a ‘Labor mate’, we now have the Police Commissioner as a ‘Labor mate’, we have the head of Employment, Education and Training as a ‘Labor mate’, we have the head of the Chief Minister’s Department as a ‘Labor mate’. Do you not respect the integrity of our public sector, and the integrity of the procurement process which is in place - which you have not been able to demonstrate has been breached and not been followed in Health? You did not demonstrate that. You went on for half an hour, and all you said was - and you said it here …
A member interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: Let us look at one: I and my government are to be censured for ‘failing to respond to clear excesses by the CEO of Health’. Let us just deal with that one; that is the first point. Over the last two years, there have been three contracts to do with management in health which went to Metis Consulting – three contracts. If you add up the sum of those you get $66 000. If I add up the sum of the consultancies that have gone out in management in Health over the same period, it is over $2m - $2.25m. How can you demonstrate ‘clear excesses’ in Health, in the management area, if three contracts have gone out worth $66 000 over two financial years, and the total sum of those other consultancies that have gone out is $2.25m? That is not clear excesses. Therefore, the first point you made is simply wrong. It is wrong.
Now dispute it with me. Is it clear excesses …
Mr Dunham: $66 000 is a lot of money.
Ms MARTIN: $66 000, granted, is considerable funds. Let us put it …
Members interjecting.
Ms MARTIN: We can actually go to a certificate of exemption to get the help you need. I believe we could go to that. Clear excesses is the first point that this government is being accused of. Yet, $66 000 out of $2.25m worth of consultancies on management that were rewarded over two financial years, I do not think would persuade anyone of the argument of clear excesses. Therefore, that is wrong – one point gone.
The motion then says: ‘failing to respond to clear excesses by the CEO of Health who issued contracts without following normal procurement guidelines’. That is wrong again! Normal procurement guidelines were followed. Certificates of exemption do happen. There are procedures by which they do happen. They happened under the CLP government. They happen under every government around Australia.
And the guidelines were followed. Again, that component of this censure motion is wrong and was not prosecuted by the Opposition Leader in his censure. He did not present any proof, he did not put any documents down that said it was not followed. What are you alleging? Just because you say it happened does not substantiate a censure motion. It does not substantiate an argument in here.
The two clear points that you are trying to make in that first point of the censure are wrong. We cannot take it seriously: clear excesses without following normal procurement guidelines. There are not clear excesses. $66 000 out of $2.25m is not clear excesses. It is not. And that is just to do with management consultancies and Health, just specifically. Procurement processes were followed. And you have not prosecuted that they were not. The proper processes were followed.
The second point: by allowing the procurement process to be undermined by that CEO - the CEO of Health - as to cause a loss of faith by Territorians in the integrity of the procurement process. Where did you substantiate that? The proper process was followed. There were no clear excesses. This point is simply rubbish! Gone, like your first point!
The third point is: by covering for the CEO - this is saying to me that I am covering for the CEO. But how? How am I covering for the CEO? - in a way which is clearly meant to prevent further investigation. Well, what am I supposed to investigate? The procurement process was followed. The work was done. The results were achieved. What am I supposed to investigate? If you can prove that there is something to investigate, I will investigate. But I am not covering up anything. It is a transparent process and the process was followed. If you could demonstrate, Opposition Leader, what I am supposed to be, firstly, covering up, and then what I should investigate, I would do it. But you have not demonstrated that.
Then the fourth point: you are saying I and my government should be censured because I have lied to Territorians - I have lied to Territorians. I have lied to Territorians? How have I lied to Territorians? - about the results of a report. How did I lie to anyone about a report? The minister said, ‘I will look at whether there is any issue that I should be investigating,’ and that was done. You are so obsessed with saying that there was something wrong done, what you want is a report of many pages. It did not happen, that is the report written out.
Mr Baldwin: Have you had a look at that? That is what you asked for as a report. Well, you should be sacked as a minister if that is what you reckon …
Madam Speaker, I ask the Opposition Leader: what is he looking for?
Mr Dunham: The truth! Tell us the truth!
Ms MARTIN: The procurement …
Mr Dunham: The truth! Have a go! Bite the bullet! Try and be open, transparent, honest.
Ms MARTIN: Madam Speaker, I have not lied to Territorians. They did not demonstrate that I lied to Territorians. He does not like a report that was done about the allegations that were raised because he did not like the result of it. Now, how have I lied? You have to be very careful when you write a censure motion that it actually makes some level of sense. I have not lied. The details of the report have been given by the Minister for Health to you …
Mr Dunham: No, one page. One page. That is not the report. That is an abridged report!
Ms MARTIN: That is it. That was the extent of it. You are determined to allege some kind of - when the Leader the Opposition says, ‘There is corruption’ and there was another line about ‘decay’ in the system - you did not demonstrate that that happened at all. The only thing you have demonstrated is that you do not like Metis Consulting. That is very bizarre.
As I said in Question Time, and let me repeat: I had never heard of Metis Consulting, these ‘Labor mates’, I had never heard of them nor met them until I met them in the Cabinet Room. We were very concerned about the state that the previous government had let the fire service get in to. The fire service in that report was virtually described as dysfunctional. We had hard working officers trying to do their jobs within a dysfunctional system and it was very alarming. The Police Commissioner recommended Metis Consulting with a certificate of exemption following the procurement process. They did a superb job. When they came to Cabinet - and I should not be talking about what happens in Cabinet - to talk to us about what they had found and what they were recommending. Cabinet, to a person, was very impressed with the way they had approached it.
I will repeat what I said in Question Time: we had a service that really did have split between the officers on the ground and management, and a very serious split, and the way that they were able to engage all involved in finding solutions for how we moved the fire service forward was impressive. It was a very complex exercise. You are dealing with people’s aspirations, their anger over the past, and wanting to be good fire officers. They achieved that and I was impressed with that.
The only thing that you have been able to continually repeat in here today is to somehow or other is insist that using Metis Consulting is wrong. They did a fine job on the fire service. To try to imply that somehow being used for three contracts in Health, that followed the proper procurement process, that added up to $66 000 our of $2.25m, is just so absurd that I am surprised I have been able to speak for as long as I have.
We reject entirely the slur on Metis Consulting, the slur on the CEO of Health, the slur on all those public servants involved in the procurement process, the slur on the Police Commissioner, the slur on everyone else you are trying to slur in your obsession to find something corrupt in what has gone on. It simply has not.
While I am on my feet, I will sort out the issue of that certificate of exemption for the police. As I said before, the document that was tabled in this House was the one that came from the minister’s office. As everyone who has been a minister knows, the minister signs the agency minister part, and there is one more part. Here it is, the one that comes from procurement, properly signed. There was a second page, and we will table this, just to clear it up. I apologise to the member for Macdonnell if he did not get all the information. It was not intended to leave it out. This is all the documentation. Madam Speaker, I will table this one. It is important that the full documentation is tabled just in case it is part of the argument being used to say that the proper process was not followed. It was. The sum was clearly spelled out there.
This is an absurd censure motion. At the heart of it is muckraking and the real slur is cast on our opposition, and that is very sad.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, what webs we weave when first we set out to deceive. The Chief Minister has asked us to prove whether or not she is lying in this House today. She has just brought it upon herself. She has pulled the ceiling in on herself because the Chief Minister has just risen in this House and told us that this document that was tabled by the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services came from the minister’s office and was a working document on its way back to the police station. There is only one problem: on the day that this tabled, it was faxed from the police department to the minister’s office. It was not the minister’s working document. It was the Police Commissioner’s document.
The fax number that it was sent from was 8922 3385, which means the Chief Minister has lied to Territorians. If she wanted some evidence, I turn honourable members’ attention to that particular document.
It is very important that we also look at the procurement process. Why would we have a procurement process? We have a procurement process so people have faith in one of the biggest spenders in the Northern Territory. Who is the biggest spender in the Northern Territory? The Northern Territory government. It sets out a series of policies, and those policies have a very simple function. The function of those policies is to make sure that Territory companies and businesses have faith in the integrity of that particular system. It is important and imperative that this policy process be adhered to. It says so in the Accounting and Property Manual of the Police and Fire Services themselves, that all employees, in purchasing at any level, must bear the above principles in mind. And what are those above principles? Amongst other things, ethical behaviour and fair dealings.
What does this procurement manual have inside it? It has the ability, in extraordinary circumstances, to go outside the processes outlined in this manual. The process is that we go to tender, if we have businesses in the Northern Territory, whether we prefer them - that is what this document says - and we are going to put those contracts we have for the people of the Northern Territory out to tender. Then, in very rare instances, in cases of urgency, we may occasionally issue a certificate of exemption so that we have to step outside of that normal tendering process. Metis Consulting has received certificate of exemption after certificate of exemption. During Question Time, what did we ask for? We asked that the government lay on the table all of the paperwork in relation to this so we could be comforted, as Territorians, that the procurement process had been adhered to, and that certificates of exemption were issued in a proper manner. How much paper have we seen hit the table here, Madam Speaker?
Ms Carter: One page.
Mr ELFERINK: One page. The only other piece of paper that we have seen is the completed piece of paper work that was issued, signed off on, the blank cheque, from the Chief Minister. This was a blank cheque from the Chief Minister that the minister for Police signed.
Mr Henderson: Wrong.
Mr ELFERINK: I pick up on the interjection. ‘Amount of delegation, blank’. Blank. He signed it, his signature is on this, and it has no amount of on it at all. Interestingly, in spite of the fact there is no amount on this cheque, the Procurement Review Board still had not signed off on, but the minister had. This is ethical dealings? This is how you run your household accounts? If I ran my household accounts with this system, I would be going to the wall; in the most dreadful way would I be going to the wall. I cannot believe that this minister has the audacity to come into this House, sit here and say, wrong, wrong, wrong, when in actual fact, right, right, right, and he is condemned by his own signature.
Let us look at Metis Consulting, this wonderful and fine organisation which is so good at what it does that there is no point in even going through the normal tendering process. What are we going to do? We are going to get them in, and we are going to give them certificate of exemption after certificate of exemption. Well, who is it? It is Chris Gration; that has been well established. Who is Chris Gration? Well, guess what? He is Mr Griew’s former employer in the AIDS Council of New South Wales. Can I establish that? Yes, I can. I go to, interestingly, something called Left Link, the information manual for the left in Australia, and it is interesting that have on their web site the Sydney Star Observer article from 5 November 1998, which refers both to the ACON - AIDS Council of New South Wales, President Chris Gration, and his CEO, Robert Griew. They know each other. Madam Speaker, I seek leave to table this.
Leave granted.
Mr ELFERINK: It is not just some little association. This guy was employed by the very guy he is now dishing out contracts to. That is what is happening. Guess what? When the NT News goes to see Mr Griew and asks, ‘What is your relationship with this particular fellow?’, what is the response from Mr Griew, the CEO of Health? ‘It is entirely professional. Whoops! I neglected to mention that we are actually best of mates and he came to my wedding’. It is an important question to ask: did Mr Griew tell the Procurement Review Board about his relationship with Mr Gration at the time that he was seeking the certificate of exemption. We have been assured by the minister for procurement that it is all mickey mouse and it is all sweet. However, what the minister did not say - and this is what I love about listening to this government - was that the Procurement Review Board was aware of the conflict of interest that existed at the time that the certificate of exemption was issued.
I would be willing to lay London to a brick that Mr Griew told the Procurement Review Board exactly what he told the NT News. And what did he tell the NT News? ‘I do not know the guy’. I do not think that you can have stronger denials unless your name is Simon, and yet, when only a minor inquiry is run: ‘Yes, this is the guy who also came to my wedding. I forgot about that’. This is not ethical behaviour.
Mr Moo from the Department of Health was pilloried publicly and held up as some sort of example as to how not to go through the process of procurement in the Health Department. Mr Griew put out a press release in April 2003 and said: ‘You should not only be at arms length but be seen to be at arms length’. We have a series of standards which are applied by the very same CEO that say: ‘Conflicts of interest include sporting, social, religious, political and other personal relationships’. Gee whiz! If that is the standard that the CEO of Health is applying Mr Moo, then it is the standard that he applies to himself. Does he apply that standard to himself and his own senior management? Absolutely. Why? Because he puts out a piece of paper, and what is on that piece of paper? ‘All senior management will fill out a declaration of interest form’. That is well documented and it comes with a nice little piece of paper with his face on it. I have it lying around her somewhere and I will table it when I can find it.
However, the fact is that he, too, should have filled out such a declaration of interest. Do you think he has? Do you think we will see it in this parliament? Do you think it will include the name Chris Gration as a personal friend? The very person to whom he is dishing out tens of thousands of dollars worth of contracts? I wonder.
Let us talk about the other director of Metis Consulting. There are only two. I have checked this. You can get that from the Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s details. Who is the other director of Metis? Interestingly, the other director is Susan Harben, former Labor candidate for the seat of Bligh in New South Wales in 1974. Guess what her field of expertise is? She organises the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in New South Wales - or used to organise it. What makes her so good? What makes her experience so valuable that it is worth stepping outside of the normal procurement and tendering process? What makes her so valuable that she is able to review a paramilitary organisation such as the Fire Services that you are prepared to stand outside the normal tendering process, sign a blank cheque and say: ‘Absolutely, here we go’? I will tell you what makes her so valuable. Guess what? She was a former Labor candidate for Bligh, and that is what it really comes down to.
What else do we hear today? We hear that Mr Griew and Ms Harben are not strangers. They had met each other. Can I prove this? Well, actually I can. I can prosecute that case, too. Guess what? They shared a seat on the New South Wales Administrative Decisions Tribunal. Isn’t that interesting? Both directors of Metis Consulting are linked to the Labor Party, one being a former advisor to Graham Richardson, the other being a Labor candidate; one used to be a former employer of the other; and then, all of a sudden, they are starting to pick up contracts. Not only are they picking up contracts, as we heard today, in Health and in Police - where the minister is prepared to sign blank cheques - but also they pick them up in Education and the Chief Minister’s office.
So, what do we have here? $40 000 for Metis Consulting to review an office in Alice Springs which employs six people. The CLP when in government ran that office with two people and was managing quite fine. This Chief Minister has an office of six people and it is so stuffed up and so poorly managed that they have to get a consultancy firm in and tell six people how to run their job. Once again, if this is how I ran my personal life and my personal finances, I would be seriously worried. But these people are not running their personal lives and their personal finances; they are trying to run the Northern Territory.
Let’s have a look at the other one that we just heard about, the Education one. There were three tenderers when I checked the DCIS web site for that particular job: a company called J2 Consulting; Metis Consulting which ultimately got the job - by the way, did they get a certificate of exemption for that? I would like to know - and number 3, Charles Darwin University. Here is an interesting question. Here is somebody who used to be an advisor to Graham Richardson, here is somebody who used to organise the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney next to the Charles Darwin University. What are they going to be required to do? What is the Education department’s request? The request is: we want you to organise the strategic plan from 2005 to 2009 for indigenous education in Central Australia. That is the contract. Let me see, who would be better to run that sort of inquiry? Let me think. People who used to organise parties in Sydney or the Charles Darwin University? Of course, it is the party organisers in Sydney. Of course, it makes such sense. Perfect sense! No it does not. It is rubbish.
That is why this censure is being brought on. It is because this government is lying about what it is doing. This government is trying its hardest to look after its Labor mates in this little company and it is dishing out contracts left, right and centre to achieve it. Left, right and centre.
Surely the Charles Darwin University has the capacity to deal with these sorts of things. Unless I am very much mistaken, Charles Darwin University has a campus in Alice Springs. Whereabouts is the Metis office? Well, it is actually in Victoria but they do have an office now, because they realised they were under pressure, in Cullen Bay. What is that? A post office box; maybe a telephone on a table. What exactly does the office in Cullen Bay look like? I would love to know their phone number …
Mr Henderson: Sure you don’t want to go down there with a camera?
Mr Baldwin: You would know about that, wouldn’t you? You know about cameras. Taking cameras, stealing your way into places.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Member for Daly, withdraw.
Mr Baldwin: I withdraw that he steals.
Mr ELFERINK: Let’s think about this. Here is the minister for Police, the signer of blank cheques, who got out there one day and said, ‘We are going to make the Territory proud. Here is a campaign. I will launch a campaign organised by a Territory business called Territory Proud’. What is the thrust of this particular organisation? It is to give Territory businesses jobs. Oh dear, I hear interjections from the minister for Police repeatedly about how wrong I am. I would like the minister for Police to stand up and explain to the House why the Charles Darwin University is capable of missing out on contracts in favour of a Sydney or Victorian-based company when he has the audacity to launch Territory Proud. This is disgusting in the worst and most reprehensible way.
The Minister for Health smelt a rat. How do we know he smelt a rat? Because he ordered a report. The curious thing is, on one hand he is saying the CEO of Health has nothing to explain but I have asked for a report into the matter. How does that work? If the CEO has nothing to explain, full stop, that is all that matters. The fact is that he ordered a report. That is what he told the NT News. What do we get when we ask the minister to table the report in the House today? What do we get? Page 17 of something! That is the detailed report that this minister says he received from an investigation into the impropriety of his CEO. What is it? Exactly what I could have pulled out of the Government Gazette. There is nothing in this.
The fact is we are censuring not only the Chief Minister but this whole government because the whole government is complicit in this. You have a minister for procurement who has refused to investigate breaches of the procurement process. You have a Minister for Health who has sought reports where he says there were none required. We have a minister for Police who signs off on certificates of exception which do not have amounts filled in and have not been signed off by the Procurement Review Board. We have a Chief Minister who has lied to this House about the source of the document that she tabled; the fax number on the document the minister tabled was a fax number from the Police Department. So, the Chief Minister has told a big porky, Madam Speaker, and her nose, like Pinocchio’s, grows every moment. We have a Health minister who has lied to this House about nothing else but the report that he never received. Why did he never receive one? Because, despite what he told the Northern Territory News, he never asked for one. He thought this whole problem would go away.
The whole problem is not going away and will not go away. This group of people have deliberately set out to try to cover their tracks for looking after a particular company which is winning contract after contract, after contract. How are they winning them? Through certificate of exemption, after certificate of exemption, after certificate of exemption.
It is frustrating to sit here and listen to a Chief Minister who says: ‘I listened to the Leader of the Opposition and that has to be the worst censure motion that I have ever heard.’ Her defence was 12 minutes. It was a rambling ‘Oh my God, I don’t know what I’m doing.’ Without all her little old minders around her, she is quite naked and quite lost. It reminds me of a little school girl lost in the forest of reality.
The fact is that this government has tried to cover up for short comings amongst its own ministerial ranks. It has failed to police its procurement policy. It says that it believes in a procurement policy. It says it believes in Territory firms, but it looks after Labor mates down south. That is why they have lied and that is why the system of procurement this government adheres to has become corrupt.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Mr ELFERINK: Madam Speaker, I am dismayed that they are still sitting there giggling and laughing because this is serious. It goes to the very integrity of this government. This government is supposed to believe in things like honesty. That is what they were elected on. They had a contract with Territorians saying: ‘We are going to deliver a better standard than anything we have ever had before’. What is the standard that they deliver? Blank cheques, lies, deceit and untruths about how the procurement process works. This government does not deserve to be censured. This government should resign and relieve itself and Territorians of the burden that they have come to represent.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, I assume that the member for Macdonnell hit a few trees on the way down to Finke. They were real helmet-ringers, I can tell you. This is the most amazing conspiracy theory I have ever heard brought into this House in my eight-and-a-bit years.
So far we have involved - let me see: there is me, the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services; the Chief Minister; the Commissioner for Police; the CEO of Health; Paul Tyrrell, the CEO of the Department of the Chief Minister; and the entire Procurement Review Board all roped into this because it has been through them, too, so presumably they are all part of this sort of game.
I tell you what: the Labor Party recruitment campaign must be going pretty well! They are all in! They are all our mates now! We are really going to be able to look after ourselves now because we are all in the tent. That is fantastic.
If I can deal first of all with this comprehensive and informative report that I have tabled here. When I asked my department to provide information about these procurements, I will tell you why I did it. It did it because a fine CEO was getting dragged through the mud by scurrilous attacks by the opposition. I wanted to make absolutely sure his name was protected in the actions that he took on this matter. When I went to my agency, I did not ask for a 20 page report, I did not ask for leather covers on it, I did not ask for gold lettering on the front. I simply wanted to see that the proper procurement processes had been followed in the three contracts that had gone through Health, seeing the opposition had raised it in the last sittings.
What you have in this report is the information that was passed back to me as a result of the requests that I made.
Mr Dunham: That is it? How do you know he declared an interest? Who is in charge?
Dr TOYNE: The information on this page is enough to say all of the procurement processes were followed.
Mr Dunham: No, it is not. It does not tell you where he declared an interest.
Dr TOYNE: I will tell you why. Here is the procurement process for this particular way of procuring services:
- Process: All NT government agencies must comply with the Northern Territory procurement policy’.
- Certificates of Exemption from Public Tender issued by the accountable officer for amounts under $50 000 do not go before the minister, but …
get the next bit –
- … must nevertheless be reported to the Procurement Review Board.
So, unless the opposition wants to claim that the Procurement Review Board is part of some sort of conspiracy that they are alleging …
Mr Dunham: No, we want to ask if he declared his interest. Get it straight. Did he declare his interest? Is it in your report?
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale!
Dr TOYNE: … you are now impugning the members of that review board along with all the other people who you want to sully.
The other step, which is reported in this information, is that the NT Industry Capabilities Network was also consulted. So the member for Drysdale is bleating about ‘where are these local companies?’ The NTICN said there are no companies with the capacity to do the sort of work that is being required in these consultancies.
So, we have taken care of the member for Drysdale. He can be quite assured that no local company missed out on this work because there were no local companies to do this …
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, allow the minister to finish.
Dr TOYNE: I think you need to button your lip and let us get on with it.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, just cease for a moment. Member for Drysdale, would you stop your interjections, you are becoming too noisy. Let the minister speak.
Dr TOYNE: The Procurement Review Board then assessed these certificates of exemption and, in the case of the three contracts concerned, the chair of the Procurement Review Board confirmed that the exemptions were properly issued, and for the proper reasons under the procurement guidelines. Unless the opposition wants to progress this to say all of these people are in some sort of conspiracy, there has been nothing untoward done as regards these contracts.
Before I finish, because I am not going to give this much time – it does not deserve a lot of time – I want to just say something about Robert Griew, my CEO. When Robert Griew came in to lead the Health system in the Northern Territory, he inherited a situation that was very clearly spelled out by the Bansemer Review. He inherited a department that had lost all control over its fiscal processes. It had very poor management processes. The funder/purchaser/provider structure, under which the department had operated for three years, was failing and was expensive and ineffective. Financial management and probity systems and controls had broken down, and contributed to a cycle of underfunding and overspending in service elements.
Mr Dunham interjecting.
Dr TOYNE: This is the agency that this genius over here was in charge of.
Resource allocations did not match department plans. The review also acknowledged that despite the resounding lack of leadership in the department, there were many talented, dedicated and committed staff. I want to make that very much on the public record in what I am saying. That was the agency of which Robert Griew took up leadership.
I can report today, that we have had extensive engagement, consultation, and interaction with stakeholders in applying the Bansemer reforms. We have had the establishment of the advisory councils, the clinical reference groups, the EBA has been successfully negotiated with the doctors and nurses, the funder/purchaser/provider structure has been abolished, and a program structure implemented. The establishment of a hospital network system is proceeding. We are establishing and maintaining tight financial control of the department. There has been a major …
Mr Dunham: You blew it out by $50m!
Dr TOYNE: Oh, rubbish! … major shift in departmental culture. We have now, for the first time in years, some sense of hope and optimism amongst department staff. That is what Robert Griew has accomplished in the time he has been the CEO of Health. Quite frankly, this guttersniping that has been coming from opposition regarding this person, is absolutely uncalled for, unjustified, and to their lasting shame.
Madam Speaker, I move that the motion be put.
Motion agreed to.
Madam SPEAKER: The question now is that the motion be agreed to.
The Assembly divided:
Ayes 10 Noes 13
Mr Baldwin Mrs Aagaard
Mr Burke Mr Ah Kit
Ms Carney Mr Bonson
Ms Carter Dr Burns
Mr Dunham Mr Henderson
Mr Elferink Mr Kiely
Dr Lim Ms Lawrie
Mr Maley Mr McAdam
Mrs Miller Ms Martin
Mr Mills Ms Scrymgour
Mr Stirling
Dr Toyne
Mr Vatskalis
Motion negatived.
APPROPRIATION BILL 2004-05
(Serial 234)
(Serial 234)
Continued from 15 June 2004.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, this is a very interesting budget to read because it does break records. It is the highest taxing budget the Northern Territory has ever seen. Ever, ever seen. This is the highest taxing budget. It is the highest level of government receipt that has ever come into the Northern Territory. We now have a budget that has record amounts of Commonwealth advances coming to us. It also shows some of the short fallings of this government in a very short time. For instance, the fiscal strategy has been abandoned. The fiscal strategy that was so important it would take us forward for some decades has been abandoned and it also shows that some of the things that Labor won’t do in its first term. We have a year or so to go to the next election and there are still some things out on the never never - the cheques in the mail. This budget shows you the things that are not going to be done.
The other thing it shows you is some remarkable blow-outs. Again, a new record set by the Department of Health of $50m. A record that I never thought I would see in my entire time in this parliament. This budget has a catchcry, and the catchcry is, ‘Less tax, more jobs, great lifestyle’, and that flags everything. We have had contributions from various government members that keep conjuring up the various myths about less tax, more jobs, great lifestyle. The fact is, it is not true.
It is not true. If we start with less tax, for instance, and we can go to the budget papers because they are the documents that should inform on this, and if we go to Budget Paper No 3 ‘The Budget’, to page 287, there is a heading ‘Taxation Revenue’. One assumes this is the tax that is going to be received by this government. It has an estimate there for this year, 2003-04, of $335.093m. Next budget is $337.760m. You do not need to be a mathematical genius to work out that that is actually up. Tax is up. This is more tax, not less tax. It is true that some of the taxation is down in some areas. But that is hardly reason through a generic statement like ‘less tax’. In fact, if you want to say it, you could say there is less tax equivalent regime, because that is one of the ones that is down. The fact is, tax is up.
The member for Sanderson stood up in his quaint way, and did this little trick. He says, ‘I come from Sanderson. The budget is not much for me, but I am sure they will be really pleased that the Mereenie Loop is being built’. Well, that is good and I hope he is able to go to his constituents and tell them what the taxation regime means for people in Sanderson. Because there is another budget paper and this is Budget Paper No 2. If he goes to page 8 he will see what it means to people in Sanderson, because it is taxation revenue per capita. We have the Northern Territory there again, and we have gone from 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, that is three years rolling; and 2002-03 was $1243 per capita, every man, woman and child. The year that has just come in is $1319. So, tax last year was up. Next year it is $1326. The good burghers living in Sanderson would be very pleased with the applause from their local member and the bits of paper that tell them less tax does not actually mean them; it means that they will be paying more tax. So, it is a little bit of a smoke and mirrors trick.
We know less tax is a myth. We know there is more tax. Right? Let us leave that for a while and let’s go to jobs. One of the things that Labor has done is pretend that things will get better next year. When they were a new government, people had to trust them because they had no history. Year after year we have had various optimistic scenarios painted. One of them has been for jobs. The catchcry this time is: less tax, more jobs, great lifestyle. Last time it was: jobs, jobs, jobs. There was even a funny, little sticker on the back of all these computers here that seems to have disappeared – yes, it has gone. That said: ‘Gas equals jobs’. It was a little yellow and red number. None of them seem to have it any more.
What was a great sense of buoyancy and optimism about the Chief Minister’s various pronouncements about gas onshore, so much so that a sticker was produced and stuck on various apparel around the place, we now find that there has been – well, the optimism is a bit more cautious. In fact, it has probably gone into a little bit of a cringe. The whole business about looking for jobs has been a bit problematic. If you look, for instance, at the labour market review, it will show that when Labor came in, there was a little peak of jobs. That was called the railway. The heritage for that, as we all know, is the Northern Territory CLP. The labour force review addressed the last year and it says that Northern Territory employment is currently 2.7% lower than May 2002, the employment peak of 100 300 people. It is now 97 700 and that has also dropped. The labour force is 400 people fewer than 12 months ago.
So the last budget came in jobs, jobs, jobs and we have 400 fewer jobs. That is hardly something to spruik about. If you want to say to us: ‘You remember last week we told you the cheque is in the mail? It is not; it is actually this week the cheque is in the mail’. We do not believe you. We do not believe this budget is going to build jobs. Business may, despite you, attempt to revive the economy, but it is certainly not coming out of these budget papers.
Lifestyle is another catchcry. Right up the top there is this caricature of a Territorian in his slouch hat and his fishing rod. He has the ute and the blue heeler and Paul’s ice coffee containers all over the floor, and he is going out fishing. It conjures the image that when he comes back he wants to go and see international cricket at Marrara and engage in all these things we do. Well, you should not give our parks away. If you talk to people about lifestyle, one of the things that has been important is the park asset that has been built up in this place, and that park asset is available to all. There is a substantial portion of land in this place that is not available to all. Labor made various promises about increasing the fishing access to these places, which has not been met. Now, we are even taking the step of those places that were universally accessible becoming less so.
Mr Kiely: Name one park!
Mr DUNHAM: I will give a little tribute here to the member for Sanderson because when I was looking at how to structure this speech, I thought: ‘I could go to all the various points I have made in these documents, but it is probably best to leave that to Estimates. What I will do is just go to the government’s own propaganda sheets’, as he did. Unlike him, who just read it into his speech and said: ‘People in Sanderson are happy because I have all these media releases’. Let us start with the top. Budget 2004 – this one is headed ‘Record Tax Cuts for Business’. That is not true.
Mr Kiely: It is true.
Mr DUNHAM: That is not true. The tax take for business is up. It is up to $264m. I would not call that a tax cut. No, sir! Then we go to the dot points. The first one is a big boast about payroll tax: ‘No payroll tax until payroll reaches $1m’. Not true. That is not budget 2004-05. That is budget 2005-06. Do not go putting next year’s promises in here because you might not even be in.
We go down the dot points. The threshold moves from $600 000 to $800 000 in 2004 – tick! That happened. We think you could do more, but that happened. Payroll tax threshold increases from $0.8m to $1m in 2005. Do not want to know. Tell us when you get there, because we do not trust you with your forward promises.
The next one is ‘Payroll tax threshold amongst the best in Australia’. Yes, if you do not count Queensland, Tasmania and the ACT. ‘Only businesses with payroll tax over the threshold to pay any payroll tax at all’. Well, that is true. It is just like saying, if you are too young to get a driver’s licence you will not get one. You are either in the threshold or you are out of it.
The next dot point is $7.2m a year saved by business from 1 July 2005. Do not tell us about next year, let us talk about this year. It is $6.7m; $4m for payroll, $2.7m for the HIH levy – so that is actually a bit of a fudge there.
This one is a good one: removes the disincentive to small business growth and employment. Nup! Does not remove it, makes it a bit better but it does not remove it. The next one - 162 businesses will not pay payroll tax from July 2005. That is not this budget. We talk this budget, we talk about 83 businesses, 66 local and 17 interstate, so 66 local businesses will benefit. Good. Great. We think you could do more.
The next one is about the next financial year, so we will leave that out again. Average saving – this is another one that is a porky pie, and what happens when you get budget documents done by a number of people, and you give them to press releases done by press people, they summarise things to the extent that they make them more intelligible, perhaps, but often they are fibs.
We go to the next one: ‘average savings for locally-based Territory businesses will be $20 500 per year’. That is not true. That is not true, because the critical words being left out are: ‘the average savings for locally-based Territory businesses …’, and these are the words left out, ‘… still paying payroll tax will be $20 500 per year after July 2005’. So, the $20 000 is only if you pay it, and we have found out that that is 83 businesses, 66 local, and it is only next year.
‘Payroll tax reductions maintained; down from 6.5% to 6.2% since the Martin government was elected’. You did not change this. You put it in your budget papers, and it is not a change. We think you could have reduced payroll tax reductions, but you did not, and you have gone and put it in this quaint, little document you have here.
Infrastructure Budget – I am aware I do not have much time, so I will go through these quickly - $38m to seal the Mereenie Loop Road over three years is $10m. Okay, that is a good idea. We commenced sealing the Mereenie Loop Road on a staged basis.
Mr Kiely: That is what it is, you are lazy.
Mr DUNHAM: Keep your trap shut, we have heard you.
Mr Kiely: You are lazy, member for Drysdale.
Mr DUNHAM: We have heard you. Keep your trap shut, you gutless bastard.
Mr Kiely: You are so lazy.
Mr DUNHAM: We have the Mereenie Loop Road; yes, we were doing it on a staged basis. You were doing it on a staged basis, and it is continuing to be done on a staged basis. That is good, and it is good that the money is going there.
$15m to seal the Litchfield Loop Road, yes, that is good, no problems. We would argue that the roads package is a bit too focussed on these two roads. When you go to the total roads package later on, there is not enough money, and there is particularly not enough money for beef roads. $1m for Tanami is petty cash on that road. $500 000 on Oolloo, Fleming and Cadell is nothing; that is taking the corrugations out. $500 000 to gravel selected sections of Dorisvale Road; I doubt the Chief Minister has ever been on it, but that will not touch it. $4.8m to improve all weather access to Borroloola – good. $45m for repairs and maintenance of Territory roads, includes the national highway. Not enough. The roads are in a terrible state, and it goes back to our lifestyle, and it goes back to some of the data relating to accidents – dare I say. For the government to trot out that they are going to fix up a couple of roads and call it a tourism program is a bit much.
Then there is a list of things, as I said; this is the Territorian going bush. Gregory National Park has some money, Limmen has some money, Territory Wildlife Park, Desert Park, visitor facilities in Territory parks. Two things – the first is: do not give them away. The second is: you have allowed these parks to run down. I am a frequent visitor to the Territory Wildlife Park and the infrastructure there is becoming run down. The rainforest walk has lost its top rail on most of the walk, because it is in a jungle environment, obviously. It needs repairs and maintenance. You have cut the budget of Parks and Wildlife and, in doing so, you have eroded these tourism assets. Do not give us this ‘we are going to chuck some money at the parks’ because you should have been doing it the whole time you were in government. You have allowed them to run down. Anybody who has been visiting Manton Dam over the years will see that that is significantly run down.
Then: ‘Infrastructure spend on our Territory lifestyle’. Fishing infrastructure and we are going to spend a bit more. Where is Dinah Beach? Later on we get to Dinah Beach, because it is promised again. Nothing has happened there. It was promised for this financial year which finishes in two weeks. You are going to complete the upgrade of Traeger Park including a new grandstand. Well, that was a CLP asset. I am glad you are continuing to fix it up. Darwin soccer stadium - that is a good one. This would have happened if the CLP had been elected. It was promised by both parties and one of them is now government and they have not delivered. So, do not tell us what we would have done. We would have built this thing. You got into a protracted fight with them about the site. We would have built the Darwin soccer stadium.
Hidden Valley Raceway - not only did we build that, if I can recall some of the background noise at the time, the Chief Minister was quite sneering about this. Now she sits in her marquee pretending to be a rev head, but I can recall her rhetoric at the time.
The Palmerston Recreation Centre. Here we go! ‘The cheque is in the mail’. That is a good one. I am glad that is coming.
Where are we? We are getting to better services. Here are the schools. You are going to fix up Alawa, Nakara, some remote schools, and Gillen Primary. You have not built a school. We built at least one a year. One of the windfalls from you losing population in the Territory is that you have lost one entire school-aged population. You have lost enough young kids that it would take to fill a school. Three years without building a school when we built one annually. Not only that, there is a whole school population that has disappeared. So, do not boast to us about how you are going to tizz up some of these schools. When you start to look at some of the schools that do not have the enrolment numbers at the schools in areas that I represent, where they are overcrowded, be a bit careful about saying how you are going to tizz up some of these schools. There are places out there, as you well know, that need major infrastructure put in.
A new health centre at Kalkarindji. Good. I do not know what is wrong with the old one. Pilot program at Alice Springs Hospital. Yes, that is on the works program and has been there forever. It is part of the master plan upgrade. $2.5m to construct a birthing centre in Darwin. This is actually a lie. You are not constructing a birthing centre. A birthing centre - in a report to the Chief Minister and she would be able to read it if she goes to her library - is a very specific thing. It is up not tizzing up a couple of the birthing suites and pretending it is a birthing centre. That ain’t it! If you look at the things that have come from women, it is about midwife clinics, independent midwives, continuity of care, pre-birthing plans, and post-natal options. This business about refurbishing and putting some neat furniture, some nice drapes, and some soft music in rooms ain’t going to get away with it. People who understand this stuff will know that this is a fob-off. It is not a birthing centre – it is not even a poor man’s birthing centre. It is upgrading of some furnishing and fittings in some of the existing rooms. Not good enough!
Community-based renal options across the place – yes, good. You have decided to put $900 000 into that. That is good. I assume you are looking at things other than infrastructure. The easiest part with renal out bush, of course, is the infrastructure. The hard part is making sure that these have all the risks attended to. I assume you have done that because it is very easy to put infrastructure into a place on the back of a truck. The hard bit is to get the people in who have to run it.
Housing infrastructure highlights. This is all normal: $7m to replace and improve government employee housing; $6m for new employee housing; and $3m for community renewal public housing. This is the stuff you have to do every day. So do not go boasting to us about how important these little initiatives are.
‘Strategic infrastructure spending to drive growth and create jobs’ is the quote. ‘$6.2m site preparations, first phase of high voltage electrical works for the Darwin City waterfront development’. Well, this, I fear, will be rushed to get some hoardings up before the election. There will be some really nice signs, with people walking their little dogs past coconuts trees, and everybody in the shopfront will look smiling out as bags get carried out of their shops, and we will all live happily every after. We do not think you have done the EIS properly. We do not think you can do an EIS unless you know what it is you are going to build.
We come from a very old fashioned and quaint point of view that the EIS should reflect what the built environment is going to have as an impact on the total environment. So, having not told anybody what you are going to build, we think it is a bit premature. $6.2m is not much cash for such a big job and we need to know more. The Chief Minister says it is $100m of our money and all the rest is public, we all know that there is no way somebody is going to build $700m worth of stuff unless they get a return. And that return, if we are the only client, has to come from us. Do not try to kid us that there is only $100m worth in this. It is my assumption that there is a thing in there called real property as well as cash, and if you start giving away hectares of our city waterfront to a speculative developer - and I do not say that in a derogatory way, people are not going to develop unless they can speculate and make money on it - we need to know more and we do not trust you. You cannot build a pool fence, for god’s sake, why should we trust you doing this?
You are going to move the East Arm wharf and oil pipelines presently at Stuart Park. What is taking so long? Why don’t you do this? This is very late. We were negotiating when we were in government with people for a joint user terminal. We had talked to the majors, we had talked to people about them moving, and if you are incapable of talking to the major oil companies, I do not know how you are going to go with oil and gas, because you do not have a clue. This is barely a storage facility out here, so get cracking on it.
A bulk loading facility for Darwin Port. Yes, good idea. You need to make the port work. $2m for a Port incinerator. What has happened to the incinerator you were going to build at Royal Darwin Hospital? I know there is a waste disposal unit out there, but there was going to be an incinerator. Is this it and will the waste go to this incinerator?
$1m for headworks at Mt John Valley, great, get on with it, release the land. It you had gone through the process that had been put in place, it would be in place now.
$8m for a new low security gaol at Darwin Corrections. That is the wrong place. It is in my electorate and I do not want that there, thank you very much. You should consult about this. You want a low security facility next to the high security facility and the reason you would do that is because it is cheap. You have staff next door and staff here. I think, and this may be an old fashioned, quaint attitude about corrections as well, people who go to gaol have something to repay society. I do not have any problem with low security facilities in places like Gunn Point, like Wildman River. I do not see any problem with people who are locked up making a contribution back to society and I do not see anything wrong with that being in a remote locality. In fact, and I visited Gunn Point on a number of occasions, not as a prisoner, that that is one of those things that is quite an attractive option for a lot of prisoners. Please do not build it there. I am sure people in my electorate are not aware that you are doing this yet either. I am not sure that it is a real smart idea to put it there.
Mr Kiely: It has been out and about for ages.
Mr DUNHAM: It has been there for ages, is the quote.
You are going to multiply some police cells in your infrastructure budget. Yes, we have been doing that. That is under the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody staged programming going on and on.
You are going to fix some high incident traffic accident sites. Good. $672 000 is not going to get you there, but good. And it goes back to what I was saying before. For God’s sake fix the roads up; they are a mess at the moment.
There is $1.6m for a community harmony project. Community harmony. We will talk about it another time, but it has to be more than there is money in the budget and we all live happily ever after, because things are getting worse.
Tourism spending: I am going to another one of your budget papers. Year before last it was $28m put in and lo and behold! they came in at $26m. We call that a cut. We call that a $2m cut to the budget. Thankfully, it has been reinstated in the budget; it is now $38m, dropping, I might add, to $37m the year after. But you have had a march stolen on you. You sat around and watched this industry falter. You blamed it on SARS and Ansett and what happened in the US in September, but you cannot do that. You have to look at how you are going with your competitors and they stole the march on us because you dropped the ball.
I was surprised to hear the boss of tourism talk about how the drive market was not sensitive to fuel price because it is not sensitive to fuel price in the United Kingdom. I hope that if you are looking at marketing initiatives you are doing a bit better than that, and that are you looking at some of our competitors and making some proper comparisons.
Then we go to supporting business. I could run through all this again, but this is mostly lies. It mostly relates to different years than the one under discussion, but the dot point I wanted to come to on this page is one that has just leapt out at me:
- 1400 businesses will be better off, the biggest winners being locally-based Territory business.
Are you trying to tell businesses out there that 1400 businesses are going to be better off under this budget, the biggest winners being locally-based business? You have to remember that while you are playing with payroll tax, and that is all good and well, most small businesses do not pay it because they are not up to the threshold. They do, however, pay water, which you have increased. They pay power, which you have increased. They have insurance costs, including HIH, which went up through the roof. They have motor vehicles, which you have increased the rego on, and they pay wages, which are up. Do not try to market that little black spot I will tell you now because people will lynch you if you go out and tell them that 1400 businesses are going to be better off under this budget.
‘HIH levy abolished’. Good! We called for it for two years, told you not to introduce it, you finally listened to what we said and you have got rid of it. ‘Debits tax abolished’. That is a fib. It is not in budget 2004-05, it will be next year, budget 2005-06. You are boasting about something you have not done. The cheque is in the mail.
‘More jobs, better training, higher growth’ is the one on this page. I have talked about jobs and the Jobs Plan and the fact that it is not working, the fact that if you go to eminent documents that come from, for instance, the Bureau of Statistics, you will see that they say that the labour force is 400 people fewer than 12 months ago. It did not work last year and that was the railway come to an end, don’t forget, and next year we are all going to live happily ever after.
‘Higher growth’ Let us look at higher growth and see if there is fib in that one. If we go to Budget Paper No 2 at page 92, we can have a little analysis with growth because this is a paper that has been signed by the Under Treasurer, Jennifer Prince, at the front. ‘I promise there are no fibs in this book’, signed Jennifer Prince. So we go to that book, Budget Paper No 2 at page 92, and there is a table there at 8.2 called ‘Territory Economic Growth Profile’. Ah-hah! Higher growth, growth profile. Let us have a look. The growth for the year finished was estimated at 5%. Then we got the budget papers, and they said it was probably a little bit optimistic; let us go for 3.4%. So the budget papers last year – the same as these dudes – came in at 3.4%. In the middle of the year the Treasurer said: ‘Oops. There has been a bit of a muck-up. I have revised the growth’, this is in February to this parliament, so it is only a few months ago. ‘It is now 1.6%’; so he halved it. He halved it and he had the gall to issue a media release saying ‘growth will be up to 1.6%’, not ‘I have halved my growth forecast’. The budget papers have now come in at 0.3%. What was 5% growth last year has come in at 0.3%. I do not know how you can get anything that wrong, particularly when you go, in a matter of months, from 1.6% to 0.3%. They are remarkably big reductions in your estimates.
Next year, it is 5.8%. No one believes this. No one, but no one, believes you will achieve growth of 5.8%. This is one of those things where we put the money down, we put the number down, and just take a punt and hope people believe us. You are not going to achieve 5.8% and neither should we believe 5.8% given that it has gone from 5% to 0.3% in such a short period of time. Don’t give us the ‘We are all going to grow and we are going to do that because the Under-Treasurer told us’. Well, she told us that before, too, and it was not, in fact, correct.
‘Building our great Territory’. You are going to build a recreational fishing thing at Mule Creek. I do not even know where that is. Maybe it is near Borroloola, I do not know. I have never ever fished at Mule Creek, but I have fished at Dinah Beach Boat Ramp. I have been out many times and as I go out, there are 50 or 60 cars and trailers. That is all the time. When we build our great Territory lifestyle, we are going to build Dinah Beach Boat Ramp ‘to be completed in 2003-04’. That is a fortnight. Good! I think that is probably a lie, too. I think that is another lie that is in these papers.
‘Better sport facilities’. I went through these: Hidden Valley, Traeger Park. We built most of those, as you know. World-class events for Darwin, great! That is excellent and I particularly think that people at the Waratah Sports Club would be pleased with that, as the people at the Darwin Bowls Club would be pleased with that, so that they can go to the cricket. They cannot play at their own clubs, because they are in trouble because this government does not support them, but they can go and watch the cricket. Palmerston Magpies - $2m this year going to the Uni, build an oval; no recurrent. I reckon you have to revisit how you help the Waratahs. You have to look at a greenfield site like exists out at Palmerston, and you have to say what the prognosis for success is for this club. Indeed, I would be tempted to give the club some money for some independent analysis. I do not think they can trust you. I reckon you are snake oil salesmen. They need someone who understands this and can talk to other clubs, like St Mary’s, like Waratahs, and say, if the government gives us this $2m with nothing ever after, will we live happily ever after, and the answer is probably no. But let us wait and see what the independent person might tell them.
There is much else here I could go to, and I would ask for an extension of time.
A member: No.
Mr DUNHAM: It is budget.
Mr BALDWIN: Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek leave for an extension of time such that my colleague may complete his remarks.
Leave granted.
Mr DUNHAM: Thank you for your generosity. The record Health and Community Services budget – a $50m blow-out. Let us have a look at these dot points. More money for hospitals: $11m for Alice Springs Hospital – whisper – over the next four years. Do you know how much is in the budget? $2m. $900 000 for Alice Springs fire safety upgrade. Yes – part of the master plan – just keep building it. $3.6m for a new hospice at Royal Darwin Hospital. Well, we will have to see that. That is one of those things where the community was supposed to be consulted and it was going to be a stand alone facility and all that. I think what you are going to find is a medical model for this, rather than a true hospice model. Birth centre. No, that is a fib. Expand Accident and Emergency; well, I do not know why you are doing that other than there are people having more accidents and more emergencies. What you have here is a throughput problem, and the acuity at Royal Darwin Hospital goes to the fact that your preventative programs are not working. More people are going to hospital through various behaviours rather than your Community Harmony Strategy working. If it was, you do not need that much money.
Tennant Creek fire safety – good – that is normal business of government. There is $39m for hospitals: $1m for Katherine, Gove and Tennant Creek; and $17.6m for Royal Darwin Hospital. So, of the $18.6m new money, three hospitals get $1m. I think you should have another look at that. You are going to provide much more staff. Well, we will see that, because at the moment we do not believe you. A new health centre at Kalkarindji – I talked about that. The Health minister might want to make sure that the wordsmiths spell the name Kalkarindji right. It is in his electorate. It is probably embarrassing for him.
Mental Health is up $2.6m. Last year, we asked why they received additional money when they actually treated less people. We could not get a good answer for that one. There is a little heads-up for your first question: how come you are treating less people and you are getting more money? Money for Disability Services - $1.2m carried forward, meaning we did not let you spend it last year, but we might let you spend it this year. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors in this.
I shall not go through the other four, because there are a couple of things to address. One of the things to address is open, transparent and accountable government. We come to a letter from the Chief Minister, which I am happy to table. It is an open letter to all public servants. It talks about the firm directions – this is 28 November 2001 – and how we are going to go about addressing the budget deficits, delivering government initiatives, and core public services. I quote from the letter:
In achieving these targets, Chief Executives have been given firm directions on how they go about this task.
They are to: adhere to the agency budget; maintain or improve services; maintain high staff morale and
job satisfaction.
This is very interesting given that Mr Griew, whose name has been mentioned today, claims that he has come in on budget. He also believes that it has never happened in the last 10 years. There are some problems with this. The problems with this are that, while he might think he has come in on budget, the budget papers do not reflect that. The budget papers are very opaque when it comes to this matter.
I go to a report that has come to parliament. This is a Public Accounts Committee report about expenditure and the accuracy of budget papers. It is interesting to read the recommendations of that report. For instance, Recommendation 1:
- Improve budget documentation. The committee recommends that improved budget documentation be
implemented to provide enhanced transparency of any current year estimates included in the budget
papers. Consideration to be given to:
allocation approved for each agency at the time; …
Right, that is what Mr Griew has not done.
reconciliation of current year’s original Allocations approved by the Legislative
Assembly to the estimates contained in forward years …
That has not been done.
annotations and a discussion within the Budget Papers explaining the accounting
rationale, forecast parameters, and risks associated with any specific proposals
contained within the Budget information.
indicators of the government’s fiscal management strategies, including forecast
changes in government revenues and expenditures …
They are the recommendations that came from an ill-fated review that looked at whether the budget papers in the first year of the Labor government could be considered to be accurate. Recommendation 1 has not been implemented, certainly as far as these budget papers go.
Recommendation 2:
- Improve budgeting culture.
The committee recommends that the government addresses the budgeting culture throughout all
areas of NT budget whereby funding levels, approved in the annual Budget, are substantially
supplemented throughout the year.
That is what happened in Health. Blow me down!
- Establish an Estimates Committee.
Well, we did not do that either, in accordance with the reports that have come to this parliament:
- Agency Record Keeping … Adequate Evaluation … Estimates of Land Sales … and Review Conflicts
of Interest in Committee.
Those recommendations do not reflect what has happened in this budget. For the CEO of Health to have an extra $50m - have it totally ill-explained in these budget papers and treat this Legislative Assembly like it is a mushroom, ill behoves this government.
You have to make these papers more transparent and more honest. You have to be able to tell business, for instance, why the budget is budget friendly with $6.7m worth of initiatives for business, and how it is good fiscal management when you can blow-out one of the major departments by $50m ...
Mr Henderson: Wrong!
Mr DUNHAM: It is wrong?
Mr Henderson: Wrong.
Mr DUNHAM: Okay. Well, you are going to have to demonstrate why that is wrong because, if you read Recommendation 1, you will see that you have not adhered to that. Any attempt at reconciling those amounts is beyond the scope of any decent auditor or accountant who would have you up for slander.
Therefore, reconcile the budget. Tell us what you have not done. I did not get a chance to go to the famous Percy Allan – Labor’s financial statements. However, there have been a lot of little mini-statements and things saying: ‘Well, that is another one ticked off’. ‘Yes, we have ticked off another one’. That is patently not the case. If you want to misname things, and say: ‘We will build a birthing centre – no, actually we meant refurbish a couple of the rooms’, you will not get away with that either. People who have been involved with community birthing and in the issue of midwives clinics know that that is tantamount to a lie. You have not built a birthing centre. The hospice is a hospice more in name than anything else, and the model you have chosen is a model of ‘let us build it but let us not talk about how we are going to run it’.
I have said in this parliament before, the important stuff is not putting money in here to build a dialysis machine, a hospice, an oncology unit or a birthing centre. The issue is how you run it. Those issues are not transparent here. I believe you have deceived significant slabs of our community, including the business community. I am surprised, to some extent, with the accolades that were allegedly given to the Treasurer. I assume they were given – ‘All my Christmases have come at once; this is the best budget we have ever seen’. I hope that those commentators who slapped the Treasurer so heartily on the back actually read these papers. I believe they will find that the congratulations were a little premature. They might find that all the buoyant optimistic prognoses that are in these documents might not come to pass.
Why do I say that? They did not last year, the year before and the year before that. I believe your record of estimating and prognostication is not good. It is silly to tell lies to people in press releases, and …
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Mr Deputy Speaker! The member well knows he cannot accuse any member of this House of lying unless he does so by way of substantive motion. I ask him to withdraw.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, could you rephrase that please?
Mr DUNHAM: Okay. I think the issues that are in the budget papers, written by accountants, should be reflected in publicity documents and propaganda documents of this type. If there is a difference between this paper and that paper, while it might not be a lie, I think it is misleading for these papers to be so inaccurate when compared to the base document.
I can understand how that could happen. I am not accusing a minister of doing it. I am saying people who get excitable about promoting government initiatives sometimes miss out some salient words. I pointed out a couple of those. I put it down more to excitability rather than lying, but you just have to keep an eye on these people.
With those few words I will see you in estimates and I look forward to it because you have had a couple of little hints about what we might be looking at. I reckon you really …
Mr Kiely: Not one portfolio issue. Shadow Minister for Forgetfulness.
Mr DUNHAM: I would ask for another 10 minutes because I did talk about business for sometime and while he might not know that I am the shadow for business, most of what I talked about was actually to do with business. I do not have any problem with roaming far and wide across these budget papers. None at all. And if you think that I have to stand up and say, ‘I can only look at this as the member for Sanderson’, you are too narrow in your view but then you are a very narrow person to begin with.
I look forward to seeing you in estimates. I will be there with bells on. I hope you have sharpened your pencils because some of these numbers are very, very rubbery.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to make comments in relation to the Appropriation Bill and the budget handed down by the Martin Labor government. In fact, there is no doubt that the damaging economic footprint created by this government will burden generations of Territorians. There will be tracks of destruction off into the future. The difficulty is that there is a government which the people of the Northern Territory put their trust in. That government was properly elected and they promised to deliver many things. One of them was, of course, the continuing economic prosperity and development of the Northern Territory. What have we seen? Quite the opposite. Frankly, the budget is disappointing. It is really a bits and pieces budget as the Leader of the Opposition said on 19 May 2004, and it really is a budget which is unlikely to drag us out of the stagnation that Labor has plunged us into since they came to office in 2001.
In terms of economic directions, I know that most of the salient points have already been touched upon by our learned leader’s comments on 19 May and I will not echo all of them. However, there are a couple of general matters that I wish to raise and amplify. When the new Martin Labor government came to power, the very first thing they did was rely upon a report which they said had been produced, I think, by Access Economics. Their promises were feasible and economically sustainable. Then the usual discovery, ‘Oh, there is some sort of black hole,’ and that was soon demonstrated not be the case. But the government was left in a position of we have an excuse, we have the economic blue print, and we need to now modify our approach. We need to establish our credentials with the business community.
So what they did was arrange, and honourable members will recall, the economic development summit. It was in November of that year in this very place. A summit which produced a number of recommendations and which, at first blush, the business community had some real input into the direction the Territory was going to take, and there was some vision for the very first time at this early stage in this government’s term of what the Territory needed to really get things going.
Those recommendations fell on deaf ears. The government did not act upon any of them. There has been absolutely nothing taken on board or learned from that expensive exercise. The recommendations fell off the web site several months ago, about the same time as the Martin Labor government said there were going to be eight new committees to develop proposals and visions for the future development and prosperity of the Northern Territory. The results of those committees and the conclusions reached have not come back to this parliament. I suspect that if those committees have made any meaningful recommendations, they will, once again, fall upon deaf ears.
This budget was an opportunity for the Martin Labor government to redeem itself from its last couple of budgets. There are a number of things that tended to indicate that there was some movement in the right direction but, as usual, the Martin Labor government did not seem to have the heart or the vision to go that little bit further and deliver a budget that is good for business, the people of the Northern Territory, for families and, on a more micro level, good for my electorate of Goyder.
We have had nearly two years of zero growth. More tax breaks are needed for small business; there is no doubt about that. There were some positive comments, and I read some of the snippets in the paper, that some sectors of the business community were initially comfortable with some of the initiatives in this budget. Now that they have had time to digest that, the view has certainly changed. It seems to have crystallised down to this: there needs to be more tax breaks. This government has been given more money through GST revenue than ever before. Business has been doing it tough. You just need to walk down Cavenagh Street, walk down the mall and you can see numerous empty shops. Businesses need an enormous amount of help to deal with the coming Wet Season, which will be tough and which will unfortunately see a number of long-term Darwin businesses go to the wall. Sadly for some businesses - not all, of course - this budget is really too little, too late.
Since the Martin Labor government came to office growth in the Territory has fallen, as honourable members know, from the 6% high under the CLP government in 2000-01 to 2.2% under Labor in 2001-02, then -0.8% in 2002-03, and to 0.3% in 2003-04. The assumption, as the Leader of the Opposition said, on which this budget sits is a forecast of 5.8% growth. However, looking back on the previous forecasts and what the Labor government has achieved, there can be no confidence in the government’s predictions.
There have been some changes to payroll tax, and the opposition has announced some policy initiatives in that regard, but the harsh economic reality is that many businesses do not pay payroll tax. Once again, there is very little real benefit for them in this budget.
The CLP lobbied long and hard, and, indeed, the former member for Katherine made much of the HIH levy and how it was a jobs tax and that if the government was serious about helping small business, it would have to go. It is good to see, and credit where credit is due, that the Martin Labor government has followed the CLP’s lead and the call that came from this side of the House to scrap that jobs tax.
Stamp duty is another tax. I suppose most people talk about stamp duty in the context of home buyers, and it is a burden on home buyers, but stamp duty continues to be a thorn in the side of many businesses. It is, quite genuinely, a hindrance to investment in the Territory, and there should have been some real inroads into stamp duty in this particular budget. Sadly, in relation to taxes, I know it is a dry subject and probably not particularly newsworthy in some of corners of our community, but the practice of forcing Territorians to pay stamp duty on GST, that is a tax on a tax, will continue.
This budget was an opportunity for government to demonstrate that they are reasonable about this. We know that businesses are doing it tough. We know there has been a population decline; there has been zero growth and countless business closures. These have all had an impact on our economy, on our community, on our families, and this government has an opportunity to introduce a number of measures which would have made a difference, a real difference, to Territorians, a real difference to the people who trusted this government to do the right thing when they were elected to power in August 2001.
In terms of my electorate of Goyder, and there have been a number of publications put together by the Northern Territory government – the Labor government - which were forwarded to people within my electorate, to organisations and small businesses and, of course, the budget papers were made available to all members in this House. It is still not an easy task to pore through them to see, really, at the end of the day, what the people of the rural area got from this budget, remembering that my particular electorate enjoys one of the highest rates of home ownership in the Northern Territory, and also enjoys one of the highest rates of private enterprise and hard working decent rural people, and it is a privilege to represent them.
Taking on board those two considerations, that makes the people in my electorate – and I do not have any statistical information to back this up – but if they are, and effectively there are very few Housing Commission properties, there are a few units at Humpty Doo, but there are many people in private enterprise, many hard-working people. I suspect they pay a fair bit of tax, and the tax is collected by this government. So where did their money get spent? We did not see any money get spent at Freds Pass. I know there is a shed being moved there - and certainly some quarters of the community are very grateful for that - but we did not see the lights for an equestrian centre or the polocrosse grounds form part of this budget. We did not see lights for the rugby league/rugby union oval come in within the scope of this budget.
It was an opportunity for this Martin Labor government to demonstrate that it does genuinely care about the rural people. It could have really done the right thing and got behind the recreational reserves that are in the Litchfield area and outside the Litchfield Shire, both in my good friend, neighbour and colleague, the member for Nelson’s, and my own electorate, where there are several very important recreational reserves, which really did not get anything from this budget. The Humpty Doo Village Green, made up of volunteers, good people who dedicate lots of time trying to develop the infrastructure for rural people, for rural kids and, once again, this government has squandered an opportunity to help those people, the good people of the rural area whom I have the privilege to represent.
Of course, there is Leonino Road. We know the power poles in that area are being moved gradually, but there was an opportunity to really do it properly, and to move the power poles and tar that road, to make it a tourist loop; the development of a bridge across Fly Creek and the Darwin River; and make sure that those people who have farms there have access not only during the Dry, but also during the Wet Season.
There was also an opportunity to construct some better infrastructure for people at Manton Dam. That is a popular recreation area, not only for the people of my electorate, but also for some of my colleagues on the other side of this Chamber. There is a need for a better facility there. There needs to be a better beach created, some safer areas for kids and better lighting and toilets so tourists and locals alike can enjoy the fantastic facility, the fantastic natural phenomenon which exists in the form of Manton Dam.
Another issue which springs from the budget and is worthy of mention, as articulated by the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Blain, is the cost of car registration. The cost of running a vehicle in the Northern Territory has gone up 18% in the last 18 months. Rural people do not live on the No 10 bus route between Casuarina and Darwin. Rural people have to rely upon a vehicle not only to get to and from work but often to just travel to the local shop or hardware store to get the essentials. I am not sure what the statistics would be, but I believe the average rural home probably has more than two cars. Almost every block you visit has a couple of vehicles. Therefore, rural people who do not have public transport are required to keep one or perhaps even two cars. They obviously have to pay the extra fuel and costs of travelling slightly longer distances to get to the local shop or to work - for those of us who have to travel to town.
Car registration up 18% in 18 months and this Martin Labor government’s refusal to scrap the plan to increase car registration by $30 will make the average Territory family around $100 worse off, thanks to the Martin Labor government in which the Territory placed their trust in August 2001. We have seen the advent of the car tax - the $90 rego levy. At least that has gone but, nevertheless, we still have this increase. It is a burden and is something which Territory people - rural people - will remember at the ballot box at the next election.
Mr Kiely: They won’t remember you. Peter who?
Mrs Miller: I will remember you, Peter!
Mr MALEY: I appreciate that.
Of course, we have heard about, and have very well articulated concerns about the budget blow-out in Health. Health really has become a bit of a debacle in the rural area. The last term of the CLP government saw the construction of the Palmerston Health Precinct. Albeit, I suppose, not technically part of the rural area, there was a flame on the hill - some hope for rural people. In the time of emergency they could …
Mr Elferink: A lighthouse.
Mr MALEY: A lighthouse, a beacon. They could get their 24-hour medical service, a vision which came to fruition in the last term of the CLP government. Unfortunately, one of the first things this government did was scrape the 24-hour service. The 24-hour service out the window. A number of other important medical services out the window. At the end of the day, rural people are really back in the position they were in; that is, if something happens they have to travel into Royal Darwin Hospital. There really is not a great deal that is available, particularly after hours in Palmerston. It is a tragedy.
There was an opportunity in this budget to say: ‘We recognise that this is one of the fastest growing areas in the Northern Territory. We realise that. Unlike the rest of the Northern Territory it seems the rural area is actually growing’. I believe 2200 people moved there, albeit many people from Darwin. They are not just interstate people. People are moving to the rural area; it is growing. It seems to be doing well but this is not recognised and despite the blow-out, the money is disappearing down the black hole of wherever health money goes. The money did not make it to the people who pay the taxes, who deserve the support, and that is the people who live in the rural area.
Probably closer to my heart and closer to many rural people who eke out a humble living in the rural area in the area of primary industry, it seems that the total funding to primary industry programs has been slashed in 2004-05 by the Martin Labor government by more than $6m when compared to 2003-04. The funding allocation 2004-05 of $43.67m for Animal, Plant and Fishery Industry Services is well below the expenditure of two years ago and will affect agriculture and fisheries right across the board. My colleague, the member for Daly, issued a press release to that effect on 15 May 2004. He is across those issues. He knows all too well that that will have a big effect on the future generations of Territorians who chose to work on the land and those types of cuts at this time are really disappointing.
There has been very little increase in the Territory road funding in 2004-05 and what little there is, is directed to a few projects such as the Mereenie Loop Road. A stand-alone beef roads program, which has been a high priority for pastoralists, has been totally ignored by this Labor government. We know that the Cattlemen’s Association has been screaming from the highest hills but the roads in some areas are in a state of decay. The cattle industry is a huge industry, nearly $400m. There is a real need for real money to be spent in that area. However, the Martin Labor government has treated cattlemen, treated rural people, with contempt once again, and overlooked this important area.
It is not all doom and gloom. There are some shimmers of hope, one of them being the construction of the sealing of the Litchfield Park road. Credit where credit is due, that is a project which will have a positive effect on tourism and on a number of local small businesses which operate in my electorate. It is just one of those situations where, and quite understandably, rural people have said to me too little, too late. They have been there for three years and then at the 11th hour, when it is time to do something positive for rural people, there is one thing. The rhetoric has been there for three years, and there really has been no follow through. There has really been nothing but committee upon committee upon let us have a consultative process to discuss something, and then once again, a recommendation is made, and it falls upon deaf ears. And this budget was an opportunity to really make a difference here.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I know that the estimates are next week and that is the time for the opposition to really drill down into the minutiae of this budget and there will be ample opportunity for everybody to make a contribution by way of questions through the appropriate shadow minister or members of the committee. However, the fact still remains that this government is experiencing revenue growth from the Commonwealth unseen in the Northern Territory since the years immediately following self-government. They are wasting it, and as the Leader of the Opposition said, they are leaving no lasting legacy such as the early government bequeathed to Territorians who have gone up since self-government. It has taken three years for this government to realise one of the most important fundamental rationales, which is unusual in the way that it applies to the Territory, and that is the government, more than ever in a young jurisdiction, has to stimulate growth. You have to take a bit of a risk. You have to have a go. You have to spend money when you know it is going result in an asset; something that will produce income, which will be the basic infrastructure upon which business will grow and develop and there will be jobs for my kids and for their kids.
In any event, from the opposition’s point of view, the budget is disappointing, to say the least. From my electorate’s point of view, there is a resounding thumb’s down. This budget did not go to the grassroots people. It has not helped the thousands of people who live in Howard Springs, Humpty Doo, Bees Creek, all the good rural people who this government clearly holds in contempt; hard working people who pay taxes. It is a tragedy that those hard working people who pay those taxes do not see the rewards of proper infrastructure at facilities such as the various recreational reserves right across the Litchfield Shire, the electorate of Goyder and, of course, the electorate of Nelson.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Goyder, Manton Dam is not a natural phenomenon.
Mr MALEY: Okay. Man-made, yes, that is right.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Mr Deputy Speaker, no it is not a natural one. It is a very unnatural one.
Mr Maley: But it is a good one.
Mr BALDWIN: It is a great one.
I want to get my comments on the record before going into the Estimates Committee process. It is a very difficult for someone to believe the numbers that are presented in this budget. It is a budget that is based on assumptions that are hard to believe. We have highlighted some of those since the budget has come down.
First and foremost, of course, are the growth rates that the budget was predicated on: a 5.8% growth rate, which is a fairly astounding growth rate for what is hoped to be achieved in this next fiscal year when you look back over the last three fiscal years and the growth rates that were predicted as against the growth rates that were achieved.
We know that last year’s growth rate was 0.3% when it was predicted to be up in the 4% and 5%. Similarly, the year before was a negative figure when a positive figure was predicted. Now we have a prediction of 5.8%, which I do not believe, and I find it very hard that anyone can believe that it will be achieved given the track record so far.
There is the fiscal policy that it is based on, the changes to that fiscal policy as explained in the budget papers, a change from when Labor first came to government. They had a so-called cast-in-stone fiscal policy that was good for that time, but since that time, and in these papers in particular, has been changed to suit where they now find themselves. It is hard to believe in their policy, hard to believe in their figures and hard to believe in their so-called Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act, notwithstanding the many times the Chief Minister has articulated that CEOs who do not come in on budget will be severely dealt with.
We can see from this budget that many of the agencies have not come in on budget and, in fact, some of them are significantly over budget according to their own papers. Health has been mentioned time and again: $48m over budget. Disappointingly, in the Health budget papers, there is no explanation whatsoever about the over-spend; not one explanation. That is very disappointing when this government claims to be all things transparent and open. Well, it ain’t open in those papers, that you can follow anyway, and certainly that is an area that is going to require quite a deal of explanation come estimates.
I am sure they have the answers ready, and everybody has been working diligently. However, if they follow their own philosophy, you would be able to find that in those papers, reams and reams of papers, but around a $48m blow-out in Health and not one explanation. Not even an explanation as to why the half-yearly Treasurer’s Report could not even estimate that sort of a blow-out. That is very disappointing and certainly does not stand well for this government.
The other part of it is the revenues. We heard all the play of the Treasurer leading up to the budget, how the Territory was going to be hard done by in GST revenue to the Territory and so forth. We know that the Territory has done very, very well in its stake in revenue from GST, and total overall revenue over the time since GST was introduced, particularly since 2001-02 to, estimated in those papers, 2005-06. It is something like $1.2bn extra in revenue. That is almost an entire budget extra that the government will have to play with. So their claims of being hard done by are also hard to believe.
We have heard many claims of a massive infrastructure budget, but when you strip it down, what we get is really only about a $3m increase, or less than 0.7%. If inflation is going at 2% currently, then that is a decline in real dollar terms, and it does not matter which way you spin that - it has been highlighted by a number of people outside of this Chamber already - it is not a massive increase in infrastructure spending in any terms.
On top of that, you look at the revote of $98m, which is an increase over this current financial year of something like 15%, and certainly the money is not hitting the ground. There is obviously a problem, and the minister for Infrastructure and the minister for Business would have heard this problem articulated to them by contractors and businesses around the Territory, and that is that the money is taking too long to hit the ground. You have a clog within the tendering process, and the procurement process, of actually getting that money out there on the streets. You know, minister, and so will the Business minister know, that that has been very clearly articulated to you. You can have all the money in the world, but if it is not getting on the ground, out to businesses, in the hands of Territory businesses, creating jobs, then it is worthless having any money whatsoever. It is an area that needs fixing up, and you know it. I hope you are doing something about it, because …
Dr Burns: We will talk about it in estimates.
Mr BALDWIN: I am sure we will, and I look forward to that. You know it is a problem. You know it has been articulated to you. I hope you are doing something drastic about it, because it is not good for business out there in the way that the money is dribbling through the system.
Dr Burns: Dribbling? We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars here. A torrent. How can it dribble? Only dribbling going on is on that side of the Chamber.
Mr BALDWIN: It is actually dribbling through the system. Any businesses, particularly the civil contractors out there, will tell you that that is the current problem they are having. They will also tell you that a number of them have been to ministers to tell them that is the problem. Now, whether they are going to be heard, that is up to the ministers.
You look at the road spending. Much has been said about that. The cattlemen are not happy that they have a substantial increase. That is what they have been told they have and, in fact, they have not. I also heard the comment of the member of Sanderson where he said his constituents would be very happy knowing that the Mereenie Loop Road is going to get $38m worth of work. Good! That is great. However, I can tell you now that the cattlemen certainly are not happy that all that money is being spent down there and very little is being spent on roads for our beef production, which is a very important industry. If the primary industry minister thinks that the cattlemen are happy, that is a problem that he has.
Similarly, with the $15m into Litchfield - good for tourism, no doubt about that. Good for that sector, but not spread across the other sectors, such as the agricultural sector. It is certainly not spent in parks. Some of that money could have been allocated, perhaps, into more money for parks. Before you get people there, you should do up the parks so that they are more attractive - and I will come to that a little later. However, the cattlemen are not happy with what they are getting, and they are now looking to the federal government for assistance.
There are other developments. We see some money for the waterfront development. I have to repeat what I heard the member for Drysdale was saying regarding the waterfront. There is some money into that project. The time line seems to be slipping on that. It will be interesting to see how that goes. The real issue that the community is now starting to concern itself with is the environmental process, and it is something that I am sure that the members opposite are hearing. The environmental process is that an EIS is under way that is scoped out to ensure that it encapsulates every possible type and form of development before anyone had seen any detail on what that development might be. We know - and certainly government, I am sure, is hearing and are being told by all sorts of people - that they have it the wrong way around. There is no doubt about that in my book. It is the wrong way around and it is similar to Glyde Point. You are doing an EIS scoped, again, to include every possibility for future development without it being project specific. You do not even know what is going there and you are trying to include everything. Well, you cannot do it; it is the wrong way around.
You have to prepare yourselves, in your time lines, for some other environmental impact assessment on the waterfront once the detail comes to hand. Once the public sees the detail: the density of development, what is going there, is there is a town beach, will there be dredging for a boat harbour, what sort of waterfront embankment - all of those issues. When the details of all of those come to hand, particularly the time frame in which those portions of the development will be built, then I would be ready, if I were you, to look at doing another environmental impact assessment. Whether that be an EIS or a PER, will be something you can determine. Certainly, you are going to have to allow for it because the public is starting to call for it.
The other thing about the waterfront development that I will put on the record once again - and I have said it before in this House and made a point of it - is the detail about the land: the ownership of the 28 hectares of land. I see in the EIS documentation that it is going to be provided – it does not say given - freehold. Once again, it will come down to the detail. Is that public land being given to developers, to private land-holders, for future speculation, or what is the case? What controls will be over it, and what value will that land be put at as a contribution?
While I am on environmental issues, I see the Minister for Parks and Wildlife and the Minister for Environment and Heritage put out a budget press release and one of the things that I thought was very interesting is that the minister for environment said the budget ‘… includes $6.1m to fund an independent Office of the Environment and Heritage’. Tell me about ‘independent’. What are you doing? We have a committee set up by this parliament with a charter and reference to look at whether the Northern Territory should have an independent EPA and, if so, what sort of model. Why are we wasting the time of six members, including you, Mr Deputy Speaker, if the government already has an independent Office of Environment and Heritage? And if they have, I want to know where it is. Where is this independent office? As far as I know, the Office of Environment and Heritage is where it has always been - sitting within a department, a large department. Why are you using the word ‘independent’?
Ms Scrymgour: It is!
Mr BALDWIN: ‘It is’, she says. I will pick up on the interjection. I will put it on the record so Hansard can hear me that we already have an independent Office of the Environment. So this parliament is wasting its time and money going out there searching for the great independent EPA. We have an independent office. So what? We want to change the sign on the door from Office of Environment to an EPA? Just leave independent at the front of both of them? That is a sham. That is an absolute sham that you are going out there telling the community that you have an independent Office of the Environment and you are going to put $6.1m into it, which is the entire funding for your division – and it is an independent office. What a sham! What an absolute sham!
You will have to explain yourself a bit further than you are doing now by interjection.
Ms Scrymgour: We will!
Mr BALDWIN: It is just a total sham which is peculiar to this government, the way they deal with their information. They have some good spin doctors up there on the fifth floor. Eighty staff, I am told today, 80 staff on the fifth floor - can you believe it? – 80 staff and somebody up there, or was it the minister herself, maybe it was the minister herself, said, ‘Just slip in the word “independent”. From here on in I want everything to do with the Office of the Environment and Heritage to be called the independent office because we want to tell Territorians at the end of the day, see we told you we would get an independent office’. Well, okay, if it is about words then let us just get rid of the environment committee because we are wasting our time trouping all over the countryside taking submissions from people.
I know it is something that the Environment Centre has raised with you because they told me that today. So I would suggest if you want to be truthful with the community, minister for environment, you drop the word ‘independent’ from all of your propaganda, and you would be doing a great service to Territorians if that was the case.
Still on the environment, I see we have a big highlight in the budget highlights about a $330 000 litter abatement program. Well, that is great. However, I would like the minister to tell us what it is all about, how it operates, what it does, what are going to be the outcomes? I would like her to tell us what happened to the remainder of the money, the $500 000 little deal they did with the packaging industry? There seems to be shortfall there. Where is the rest of the money? While you are at it, minister ...
Ms Scrymgour: Just list the questions. We have an estimates process happening next week.
Mr BALDWIN: No, I am just giving you some previews to some of the questions so you can rush away and get your people to do the homework. While you are at it, have a look at the Territory Tidy Towns program and what sort of funding you are putting to that. I will be asking you about that too.
The parks have being raised in this House; we have a couple of parks there. Gregory is getting $0.5m, Limmen $0.5m, and there is some there for visitor facilities, but no mention of all of the other park assets in the Northern Territory where facilities are becoming quite run down in some cases. There is certainly nothing to expand the facilities in those high visitation areas like Litchfield. What about Bitter Springs, for instance? Where is the money for that to now proceed to the next phase of, say, putting in some board walks? Nothing done. Flora, what about that? Nothing.
It is all very well to say: ‘Look at this lifestyle! We are going to throw all this money into national parks’. This is maintenance money for a couple of them and you are going to get a visitor information centre in a couple of them, but nothing for the others has been detailed in these budget papers. If you believe, as we do, that they are our icons and they are one of the major reasons tourists come to the Northern Territory, to experience our great parks, then there needs to be a lot of work done on many of our park assets around the Northern Territory.
I, too, am interested in knowing what the latest is in terms of handing the parks over. The Chief Minister has carriage of that. We have not heard anything about that for quite some time. There has been no word, no updates, and no mini-reports. I did not see it as a budget highlight under lifestyle in the budget papers. ‘Budget Highlight: Lifestyle. The Labor government is handing over your park assets. Parks that currently belong to all Territorians are going to now be handed over’. And, by the way, there is nothing in the budget about how much the lease repayments are going to be, either, even though the deadline for this legislation to take effect will be in the fiscal year that these budget papers deal with. There was none of that. I did not see it as a big highlight there. It was a bit disappointing and we are waiting for some new action on all that.
On top of the blow-outs certainly in health, education and community development, of the 29 departments, only two came in under their allocation for the last budget. Four others were close, but just about all the others kept on spending. There did not seem to be any checks. It is hard to believe the figures. When you turn to primary industries, you can see that has been cut. There is some explanation there, and I am glad to see that. It does not fully reconcile the cuts that are shown from last year to the current budget. It has some explanation, but a full reconciliation of that needs to be done. It goes all over the place, unfortunately, in the primary industries budget.
In 2003-04, there was an estimated expenditure of $40.57m, so this is the budget last year, and the current papers show that the estimate was not going to come in at $40.57m at all, but was going to come in at $50.11m, which is an additional $9.563m. There is no full explanation of that overspend. I hope there are all sorts of Cabinet decisions to go along with that. I am sure there are. But then you can see that from that figure of $50.1m, it has been drastically reduced again in these budget figures.
It is ironic, I suppose, that along with the primary industries budget figures in these books that the primary industries minister comes in here yesterday promoting Northern Territory foods, which is great, but no mention in that statement of any cuts in the budget, no budget highlight about that anywhere, minister. No, sir! It is one of our most important sectors, and it has a budget cut. I suppose the biggest hypocrisy of all is that the minister put out a press release after the budget, stating, ‘Budget 2004 delivers for Territorians on the land’. Well, leave me alone! No, it did not. Go and ask anybody – anybody you like - on the land and ask them if it delivered for them. I have not found anybody yet.
Mr Vatskalis: You did not look, that is why. You are lazy.
Mr BALDWIN: Are they happy about your roads funding? No, they are not. What are they happy about? Tell me what they are happy about.
The press release goes on, basically, about what is normal operational funding for the department. There is nothing new in there. It goes on about the so-called massive record infrastructure budget, the roads – well, we know that they are all furphies when you strip away all of it. That is not a massive increase. The cattlemen did not come out – where is their press release saying, ‘What a great budget, minister. Thank you for looking after us’? I did not see it. I did not get one. Maybe they did not send it to me. Have you got one? Because, if you have, table it here because I want to see it. No, I did not see one, and every cattleman I talk to, and every person on the land, says, ‘Oh, can’t you get rid of this mob, please’. Bring them to see you …
Mr Vatskalis interjecting.
Dr Burns: ‘That is why I am leaving’, he said.
Mr BALDWIN: They are in your door every day and you are not listening to them.
Dr Burns: That is the best thing I can do to get rid of them, is to leave.
Mr BALDWIN: You are not listening to them either. He said, at one of their meetings, an annual conference or something – no, not annual conference - the AGM in Katherine, don’t worry about it, we have some really exciting news for you. I was sitting there going, boy, he’s going to win them over like this. He’s really going to please – you know. I cannot tell you about it now, but, oh, you are going to be really happy. Well, when the budget came out I thought, I better ring these guys and find out what is going on. Happy! They are not happy. They are disgusted. He led them up the garden path. You better tell him to keep his mouth shut when he goes to these places, and not make these allegations and promises, because it does not do any of you any good.
They probably like you as a person, but keep it zipped. Just keep it zipped. You are not doing yourself or your colleagues any favours.
As I said, I have not found one person yet off the land, certainly not in my electorate off the land, that are saying nice things about either of you – either you or you, and as a group, certainly none of you.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I might leave it at that. I have given them a few hints for next week. I am sure they will be rushing off and doing lots of work, trembling in their boots.
I might say congratulations – you are the power minister aren’t you? – for the Wooliana power, that is great.
Dr Burns: Well, no, actually it was my colleague here.
Mr BALDWIN: Oh, it was you, member for Arnhem.
Mr Ah Kit: And relocation of Nauiyu power station.
Mr BALDWIN: Good on you. That is great. Even though you had to do it. You had to do it, because you made a promise.
Dr Burns: Well, you didn’t have to do it for 27 years. You were the member, you could not even get it done.
Mr BALDWIN: Your candidate had to do it because he went out there and made this huge, rash, promise, Mr Deputy Speaker, got the now Chief Minister to sign it and said, yes, we will get you the power. Well, okay. Good on you. You knew you had to do it. They knew you had to do it. Why do you think they have not been beating your door down? They have just been ringing you up every now and again asking why it is not in this budget. Finally, three years later …
Dr Burns: And they said you are a lot better than that other bloke.
Mr BALDWIN: Oh, absolutely – I am happy if that is the way you feel. All I am saying is, good on you for doing it. Good on you for doing it and, as I said to you, a lot of votes in it, and I wish you well. It will make a big improvement, as did fully bituminising of the road down there. Power - and power generally in rural areas such as Daly River - is certainly infrastructure that is needed in the Territory to continue growth. I did a number of them in the Daly electorate throughout the last 10 years, and they certainly do stimulate growth by providing basic infrastructure of sealed roads and power. Therefore, I do congratulate you for that; job well done. I look forward to the next round of rash promises in my area.
Debate adjourned.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
HomeNorth Scheme - Changes
HomeNorth Scheme - Changes
Mr AH KIT (Housing): Mr Deputy Speaker, today I announce major changes to HomeNorth, the scheme that has been developed to provide affordable housing to low and middle income earners and, in particular, those who cannot obtain finance through private sector financial institutions. These changes set important new directions in providing home ownership assistance and, once more, set the stamp on this government as a reforming one, and one that is in the business of planning for the future through supporting Territory families and backing small business. The new HomeNorth scheme is designed as a measure to assist Territorians into safe, secure and affordable housing. It is a part of our Home Territory 2010 Strategy, further details of which I will be announcing in the coming months.
Housing loan assistance has long been a feature of the Northern Territory, and there is little doubt that the various schemes over the years have been crucial to the development of the Territory in stabilising and growing our population, and in fostering the building, construction, architectural and retail industries. However, housing is more than just a roof over your head, and home ownership is more than just a convenient way of escaping the rental market. There is now substantial research that shows home owners have better health outcomes than renters. Housing is, therefore, a health issue in ways that go far beyond the hardware of a house, such as clean water and reliable electricity supply.
There is also significant evidence that shows home ownership has direct links with social and population stability. This includes improved family stability, better employment outcomes, and economic stability. All of these factors contribute to social wellbeing and harmony. These are areas vital to the Northern Territory, which has such a high level of transience between here and the other states and territories, and among many non-indigenous Territorian’s lack of access to extended family networks.
The new HomeNorth package takes into account the social importance of home ownership. We also see it as an important element of our strategic thinking on population sustainability and growth. Let us make no bones about it: the low levels of home ownership we have here are a serious worry, and a historical legacy of long-term underdevelopment here in the Territory. This is something for which I do not hold the previous government responsible.
At present, home ownership in the Territory runs at 42.4%, far below the national rate of 66%. Even taking into account the disproportionately low levels of indigenous take-up of home ownership and the fact that 72% live in remote communities where private home ownership is not yet possible, the Territory is way behind the rest of the nation. Lack of access to home ownership is what might be termed a hidden social malaise, largely unremarked and unnoticed. We are in the business of tackling problems head-on.
Affordable home ownership, in which no more than 30% of a household income is spent servicing the home loan, is a critical aspect of the new scheme. The current HomeNorth scheme dates back to September 2000, and the changes I announce today follow recommendations from a Stamfords Advisors and Consultants review held last year. The changes I outline are the result of further research and extensive consultation with industry and other stakeholders.
The review and related research found that the existing products were failing in three main ways. First, the current set-up is characterised by inflexibility. It simply cannot respond in a timely and strategic way to changes in circumstances, such as residential price inflation and similar upward movements in wages and incomes. This has led to a substantial and ongoing decline in uptake of home ownership assistance in the Territory over the last three years. Second, while the current products cater well enough to people’s capacity to afford repayments, they failed to overcome the issue of entry to home ownership among those people who face significant obstacles such as required deposit levels and up-front fees. Third, the current arrangements do not take into account changing social patterns in their concentration on first home owners. While this was an obvious motive Australia-wide in the post-war population boom years, it no longer reflects social realities in quite the same way and certainly does not suit the Northern Territory which has always been dependent in very large measure on interstate migration.
We need incentives that will positively encourage both locals and new arrivals alike to move into home ownership here in the Territory. This includes incentives for close family members to assist each other into home ownership, and for people to be able to access assistance even though they have owned a home previously.
The changes I announced today resolve each of these failings. They are changes we estimate will benefit around 250 Territorian households in the coming year alone, and will moreover be sustainable beyond the next year.
At present, there are four HomeNorth products: HomeStart for first home buyers; HomeShare for public housing tenants; a Deposit Assistance Grant for first home buyers; and an Interest Assist Subsidy. These products will cease on 30 June. From 1 July 2004, no new applications to the old schemes will be available and they will be replaced by three new loan products: a Standard Variable Loan; or a Shared Equity Loan; and a Fee Assistance Loan.
The Standard Variable Loan will include the following key features:
reducing the deposit required from 5% to 2% of the purchase price.
This will mean a maximum deposit of $4800, and often considerably
less, and public housing tenants who have contributed home
improvements may pay a lower deposit or not even have to pay a
deposit at all;
increasing the maximum property value from $180 000 to $240 000.
This is a 33.3% increase in the maximum threshold and will make
housing available in far more suburbs for far more people than is
currently possible;
increasing household income from $800 per week to $1100 per week
to include middle income earners. This is a 37.5% increase and will
bring hundreds of Territorians into eligibility to access HomeNorth;
loan terms of up to 35 years. This is up from 30 years;
expanding the eligibility criteria to include people who do not currently
own a property in Australia, but who may have in the past. HomeStart
was limited to first home buyers only; and
borrowers can choose to have part of their loan as ‘interest only’ to
increase affordability, and there is flexibility to vary loan arrangements
should they encounter financial difficulties.
The previous scheme had a maximum loan amount of $115 000. The standard variable loan will now allow eligible borrowers to take out the full $235 200 - more than double under the new scheme.
The shared equity loan will allow low to middle income earners to purchase a property at a higher value than they could normally afford by purchasing in partnership with Territory Housing. Key features of this new scheme will include:
government, through Territory Housing, purchasing the remainder. Territory
Housing’s maximum share will be $60 000 or 30%, whichever is the lesser;
a maximum property value of $240 000;
Territory Housing will provide its share of the property rent free in exchange for
the purchaser paying all the repairs and maintenance, insurance, rates and charges;
and
Territory Housing’s share, or a minimum 10% portion of the share, can be purchased
at any time. Any appreciation or depreciation of the property value will be apportioned
in accordance with the share held.
The Fee Assistance Loan of up to $10 000 is designed to help purchasers with the fees associated with buying or building their home, including for stamp duty or conveyancing. The loan can also be used to help with the deposit, or $1500 can be put towards whitegoods for the new home. The Fee Assistance Loan is interest free and is repayable over 15 years. That is a maximum of $13 per week or less than $2 a day.
We all know what a pain in the neck it can be furnishing a new home. The $1500 whitegoods allowance represents the fridge or washing machine or other such things that might be required. It is something I am sure the retail industry will welcome.
A key plank of these new arrangements is their flexibility. Previous schemes, which relied on regulation, have been inflexible to timely and strategic change in loan characteristics. I will be introducing legislation that will amend section 24 of the Housing Act. This amendment will allow the Chief Executive Officer of Territory Housing, following endorsement by the minister, to set policy via business rules rather than cumbersome and slow change through regulation. Not only will this allow us to respond in a timely way to market movements, but will also add HomeNorth as a tool for government to intervene to iron out troughs in the housing market, and thus introduce greater stability and predictability for the industry. This is what the industry demands, especially in the Northern Territory economy. Adjusting, for example, income thresholds can expand the marketplace for both new and existing homes. The drop in deposit rates from 5% to 2% will demolish many of the obstacles that many people face in escaping the rental market and accessing home ownership.
Properly assessed applicants in the past have little problem in meeting repayment schedules. The real barrier has too often been getting a deposit together. Obviously, it is much easier for people to raise a smaller deposit, especially for younger entrants to home ownership, a key target for HomeNorth. Let us face it: to raise $12 000 for a 5% deposit is a hard ask for anyone. The new maximum of $4800 is the asking price for a lower end second hand car. The standard variable and shared equity loan will both carry with them the option of splitting repayments between principle and interest, and interest-only loans. This will have a positive impact on repayments.
Furthermore, there will be the capacity to access, for the first time, a redraw facility, which will allow borrowers to access funds to pay for home improvements or, indeed, to purchase part of Territory Housing’s stake in a shared equity loan. This facility will be available to those home buyers who have been able to accumulate payments over and above minimum repayments.
The 37.5% lift in household income limits for access to HomeNorth is perhaps one of the most important reforms being introduced and it is a reform that can now be sustained through the flexibility of the changes I have already outlined. It is not a reform that will be ravaged by wage and income growth. It is an increase in household income from $41 600 a year to $57 200 a year. Let me give you some examples. For simplicity, I am working on the basis of single income household units, which is the reality for those with very young families. It means that all police ranks up to the top of the scale in constables, inclusive of the 20% consolidated allowance, now have a chance to get a foot in the door of home ownership. It means that all teachers up to the level of T7 may now be eligible. Up until now, T4 to T7 have been excluded. It means that fire and rescue workers from Fire Fighter Class D through to senior qualified fire fighters can now be eligible for a guernsey, and the nurses that we need in the Territory will also benefit. Registered nurses, from RN Level 2 through to the bottom of RN Level 4 now have another reason to come to or stay in the Northern Territory.
What this means is that whole sectors of the current or prospective Northern Territory work force currently excluded from home ownership assistance can now be beneficiaries of the new products. I have mentioned public sector workers, but this will also extend to the private sector.
Imagine how much easier it will be to encourage people to come to the Territory and to remain here to enjoy our unique lifestyle. In talking around the traps, I know it has been often difficult to recruit from interstate, especially in key labour shortage areas. How much easier will it be to get people up here from down south who have been totally frozen out of home ownership down there because of huge calls on deposit requirements, if prospective employers can slip in a copy of a HomeNorth brochure as a part of their recruitment offer? Both loan schemes will be available to people who have previously owned houses here in the Territory or interstate.
This recognises both that people fall on hard times, and that the nature of society has changed in recent decades. Marital break-ups are common, with a tragic result that one partner, or often both, fall out of home ownership, with all the social problems that can result from this, especially when there are children involved. By making home ownership accessible, we maintain the social stability, community wellbeing and health benefits that flow from this.
Similarly, we know that people fall on hard times in other ways, perhaps through business failure, or getting thrown out of work, or through suffering serious illness. Unfortunately, this has often meant the loss of a house, with a Catch 22 that, because people in this situation have owned a house previously, they can get cut off from assistance in getting back on their feet again with affordable home ownership. Under the new arrangements, people in this situation may be eligible to get back into home ownership, and under the new arrangements, people who have suffered such misfortune, here or interstate, can rebuild their lives in the Northern Territory. Similarly, both loan products will allow close family members to assist with affordability.
There are three further features of the new HomeNorth products. First, is that interest rates will be set as a single percentage point above the ruling rate of the Reserve Bank of Australia, rather than being based on the head rate of institutions such as the Commonwealth Bank. This is now the practice in most, if not all, other jurisdictions in Australia. It allows an initial cushion against interest rate rises and is, at present, slightly below the market rate of 7.07% at 6.99%.
Second, we will be introducing an Arrears Management Program. This recognises that people, from time to time, will go through hardships. The way this will work is that, in the first instance, we can adjust interest rates and repayments over the short term. Following this, we will have the capacity to extend the loan term up to a maximum of 45 years. As a next stage, we will be able to reduce repayments as a trial for Territory Housing purchasing a share, or additional share, in the property, up to a maximum of 40% of market value.
Third, the changes I have outlined will present no additional cost to government. Over the past few years, there has been a reduction in the number of home loans through HomeNorth, and significant discharges of existing loans. The new loans represent a significant reinvestment of these monies back into home ownership through HomeNorth. This will, in turn, increase the revenue back to government, making a win-win situation for both the Northern Territory government and prospective Northern Territory home owners.
Finally, I emphasise that the new HomeNorth products - despite media speculation a couple of months ago - will not compromise or interfere with the private finance home loans market. I am told that, after consultation with the private loans sector, they do not see a conflict even though a very small overlap will occur. The government is primarily servicing those who face obstacles to entry to the private housing market, which the private financial institutions cannot realistically service. Furthermore, the private sector can and does offer more attractive and competitive products to the higher end of the market than Territory Housing, such as discounted, honeymoon or fixed interest rates, offset and line-of-credit facilities, and linked credit cards with reward programs.
We are just not in the same game as the private financial institutions, and do not intend going there. The private sector understands that we are providing people entry to the market where they cannot and that, in the future, these people are likely to be interested in refinancing into a private sector package.
When I announced the commencement of Home Territory in the House, I said that we were committed to a new direction for social housing, and to working with the community to establish that direction. This review of home ownership shows that we are fair dinkum about that claim. Together with the community, we have developed a home ownership assistance package that will work better, and we are putting it in place immediately. This review is reflective of a new culture being ushered in through Home Territory, of innovation and collaboration.
As I think about being the Minister for Housing, it strikes me that I have been, at various stages, a client of the department I now administer. I am not sure who we paid rent to back in the days of the Parap Camp but, certainly, by the early 1960s, our family was renting from the Housing Commission a home in Merry Place, Rapid Creek. With 12 kids, it was not always such a merry place, but it gave us all a start. On a couple of occasions, I have rented places through the Industry Assistance Scheme run by the department. As well, I have rented in the private market. In the 1980s, I was assisted into our first owned home. So, at various times, I have been a beneficiary of the department and its dedicated staff.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I also had brought to my attention something that we had left out, which is also of benefit and a bonus to people wishing to take up the HomeNorth scheme and the opportunities that we are offering. I put out a late press statement this afternoon with what was overlooked. What I stated in that press release was:
- I simply forgot that home buyers can save further sums of money through accessing HomeNorth.
Home North loans do not require buyers to pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance.
I went on and said:
- Lenders Mortgage Insurance is a one-off up-front fee that can prevent low to middle income earners
from accessing loans. This provides yet another incentive for home buyers to buy homes in the Territory.
I gave some examples. For example, this means if you were to take out a $150 000 loan, your savings would be $2308. If you were to take out a $180 000 loan, your savings would be $2777. If you took out a $210 000 loan, your savings would be $3232, and if you took out the maximum $240 000 loan, your savings would be $3694.
I also state in the press release:
- But wait, there’s more. With deposit rates now set at a maximum of 2%, and property value thresholds
up to $240 000, home affordability is now available to more Territorians than ever before.
I finished off in the media release stating:
- Just about the only thing HomeNorth doesn’t seem to be offering is the set of steak knives.
Today, it is those staff in the department that I thank for the hard work they have put in to developing the new HomeNorth packages and who will now administer it for the benefit of Territorians. I commend this statement to the House.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the statement be noted.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the opposition welcomes the statement and believes that the Territory government is certainly heading in the right direction. The most important corner stone to the development of community is the purchase of a home. For my family, when we made our decision in Western Australia that the Northern Territory would be our home, our place of residence, a place to raise our children, we had never felt completely settled until we had actually decided where we would live and purchased a home here, and that provide stability for our family many years ago. So, not only is it the acquisition of an asset, it is defining your commitment to the place in which you live. For those reasons anyone who has assessed this initiative would be supportive.
The Territory has a low rate of home ownership and a measure such as this certainly heads us in the right direction of increasing the level of home ownership in the Northern Territory. That is appreciated. These are difficult times for the Northern Territory and require difficult decisions. If we are going to turn around population decline, if we are going to stimulate the construction industry, I believe, and it is the view of the opposition, that we must go further. We simply must. It is not just a matter of asserting that from opposition. It is a matter of recognising the capacity of government to that. When one assesses that the cost of this innovative package is, in fact, revenue neutral, that is where in acknowledging population decline and a stagnation in construction, this government has the capacity to go further. As I said these are difficult times and require difficult decisions.
When the budget papers clearly indicate the receipt of stamp duty has increased from a projection of $43.22m, it has increased in the last period to $59.78m. A colossal increase in stamp duty revenue flowing to the Northern Territory coffers. If we recognise that population is in decline, if we recognise that local contractors need support, and if we recognise we need to stimulate the domestic economy, it follows that more courageous measures must be brought to bear. The capacity to do so is clearly evident in the increased flow of stamp duty revenue to the Northern Territory Treasury. To add the additional bite to this initiative, one must, and it is the sound and consistent view of opposition, go further. It is particularly for the first home buyer. That first home buyer must be given additional support and incentive to put those roots down.
We are not detracting from what has already released, but quite genuinely saying, in the face of the declining population, in the face of contractors in the Northern Territory facing unprecedented difficulty in forecasting a way forward for their own families, for their own business; we must use the increase in stamp duty revenue to stimulate the construction industry and to assist first home buyers. We must go much further. We have to apply that stamp duty back to the benefit of Territorians. When one considers that this package is revenue neutral, we clearly must go further. It is the view of opposition that far more comprehensive concessions must be given to the first home buyer.
It is for that reason, and it has been consistently asserted by opposition, that we go as far as offering a total exemption for a qualified first home buyer. By doing so, the person who is choosing the Northern Territory in which to take their first steps into home ownership and settling down are those with whom we could strategically take the step, who would build our community, and place it on far more solid footings in the face of population decline and problems with meaningful employment for local contractors. Then the economy would be properly and appropriately stimulated.
It is time for government to give back and apply strategically the revenue they have received from GST receipts and from the increase in stamp duty. The increase in stamp duty is clear for anyone to see. Anyone in the housing industry knows that as the price of housing has increased, not only has it made it more difficult for Territorians to make that initial purchase, and we have seen that in the ANZ Report on Home Loan Affordability, but it also increases the receipts of Territory Treasury, and the capacity of this government to fund greater stimulation for the domestic economy by the inflated receipts.
Going to the analysis done by the ANZ on home loan affordability, there were two factors that came to bear, nationally I must admit, on the ease by which a first home buyer or any purchaser of a home has to access adequate capital to purchase a home has been reduced by the increase in the cost of housing, which is a burden for Territorians in this instance but a bonus for government. Interestingly, in analysing those figures, we found that the capacity to repay in the Territory has decreased. That means the average income per Territorian has decreased.
Those figures are interesting because it shows quite clearly that the population has declined, and it is for this reason: when one asserts that the population has increased to some measure, we are talking about natural birth rate and some international immigration. In fact, those who have chosen to leave the Northern Territory are a different case. Those who have chosen to leave the Territory, and ABS figures bear this out, are close to 3000 more have departed than have arrived. In those departures would be the greater level of economic activity within a departure of 3000 Territorians choosing to leave rather than to arrive.
It is not too difficult to go to the next stage and see that is why the average level of the average capacity to service repayments, and the average income for Territory families has, in fact, decreased. That has decreased in the short term, at the same time as the median price of a home has increased in the Territory. It is for that reason, in the face of these economic indicators which show we are heading in a direction that needs a strong corrective measure, that we must use the GST revenue, and more importantly, the increase in stamp duty revenue, to apply directly to the case of a first home buyer, so that they have far more comprehensive support and assistance in acquiring that first home.
To finish: this statement is supported. However, we need to find far more courageous measures to assist in the strengthening of our economy and establishing a reason for people to come to live in the Northern Territory. For that reason, for a qualified first home buyer we assert, from opposition, that it is those that need the greatest assistance, and we would go so far as to say that a qualified first home owner should be exempt from stamp duty.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it is a Territorian dream, indeed, it is an Australian dream, to own your own house, and it is a dream that motivates many of us to sink ourselves into quite serious mortgages and debt levels that sometimes we think about at night and how they are all going to be paid. But, clearly, for some that dream cannot be fulfilled because of the impossibility of affording either the deposit, or because our income reach is not high enough to be supported by lending institutions. This is where government has an important role to play. In my view, government should use its resources to assist home ownership where it can, and where those seeking to purchase fall just outside of the nett ability to get into the market.
The Territory does have the most affordable housing market entry in Australia, but over the last 12 months, the cost of real estate has risen, and it will continue to rise as the Territory economy moves into an upswing. These cost rises, while benefiting some, inevitably mean that for others it becomes more difficult to purchase your home. The Labor government has a history of assisting people into their homes. We introduced the first ever concession for those buying a principal place of residence in the Territory – we reduced stamp duty payable by $1500.
The Labor government, delivering on our election promises, also introduced a new increased threshold for first home owners stamp duty relief. We increased it to $125 000, up from the $80 000 we inherited from the previous government. Making those changes in the August 2002 budget assisted 1881 Territorians to a value of $6.38m, an average saving of $3392, almost $3500 in the pockets of 1880 Territorians for them to spend. For those buying the principal place of residence, a rebate of $1500 is payable on stamp duty; 2852 Territorians have taken advantage of that rebate to a total value of $4.27m. In total, 4733 Territorians have been assisted by the government’s improved home owner schemes, and more will benefit from these proposals.
These two concessions, introduced by the Labor government, put Territorians first, and it is helping us keep the Territory moving ahead as more and more Territorians will take the advantage of lower home affordability here to own their own home.
The government will always continue to review ways in which it can assist first home owners and others buying their principal place of residence. What the minister has identified in his proposal is the fact that while many Territorians can afford to maintain home mortgage repayments, they struggle to get the deposit together. The reduction in deposit requirement from 5% to 2% of the purchase price will put home affordability within the reach of many more people. The deposit gap syndrome really has had an adverse impact on Territory home ownership over the years. Families with children, spending money on significant rents, frequently cannot get those dollars together to muster up the 5% deposit.
Many people can sustain the payment of a home loan with careful budgeting, and this is especially the case while we are going through a period of sustained moderate interest rates. By reducing that deposit gap, we are ensuring that the opportunity is there for more people to get into the housing market.
The increase in market value for eligibility of the scheme from $180 000 to $240 000 reflects the reality of the time. The median house price in Darwin is increasing and sits much higher now than it did even 12 months ago. This reflects the increase in confidence in the economy and an economic upswing, and the fact that the government is keeping the Territory moving ahead. We want to ensure that low to middle income earners are not disadvantaged by this, where they do not own their own home.
A further requirement to save potential home buyers significant money is the lifting of the need for mortgagees to take out lenders mortgage insurance. For someone purchasing a home valued at $240 000, who has a 5% deposit, it is a saving of $3694. For a home valued at $210 000, it is a $3232 saving. If you combine the reduction in the deposit, the stamp duty concessions we have in place, the removal of the lenders mortgage insurance costs, you start getting to a significant saving for Territorians seeking to purchase their homes as of today. It is great news.
The minister has reflected on more of the decisions taken and the impact of these decisions. His words stand. This is a significant social and economic reform by this government and it puts Territorians first and delivers on our promise of reducing costs to Territorians. It will support families getting ahead, and will help stimulate more local expenditure and business.
With those preconditions, it has to be a winner. I congratulate the minister, his office and his agency for the work they have done in bringing this together. I hope many Territorians are able to take advantage of this by getting into their first home.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Housing. As he is well aware, I have been lobbying for some time to get the change in this HomeNorth scheme. Not only is it difficult to find an affordable house in Alice Springs, we do not have any land on which to build new homes.
The difficulty of helping first home buyers came home to me very clearly about three weeks ago when a mum came to see me. They had actually lived in the house for nearly 20 years – it was an old three-bedroom Commission home and she had raised her children there. Because the children were now grown up, they had decided they could afford to buy it. They went in to get it valued. The valuation showed that they had made about $28 000 worth of improvements, but the value of the house itself came to $192 000. She was absolutely shattered because she had really thought she would be eligible for the first home buyers grant and the loan. She said: ‘How come this old Commission home that we have been living in for so long is at this price above that ceiling?’ I let her know very quickly what has happened over the last few days, and she will be very happy now that she will be able to purchase that home as a first home buyer – a place they call home.
This is what happens to people in public housing if they stay there a long time. It does not belong to the government or the department; the house of the unit belongs to them. They make it their home. I am very pleased that this has occurred.
In Alice Springs, we have tried to encourage families and young people to stay, and this is the incentive we need. We are looking forward to the release of the land at Larapinta so that there will be land available for people. Most of all, the minister has said that there will be some first home owners blocks. I hope they go at a very affordable price so that not only will first home buyers have the benefit of the ceiling raise, but they will also be able to purchase a block of land at a reasonable price.
We have been land locked in Alice Springs; there is no doubt about that. This particular package certainly opens up opportunities that we did not have. I am very pleased to see it happen. That is what is important about any government’s loan scheme; that you review it in time as it has been done in the past. This is certainly a win for us.
While I am on my feet talking about housing - and I mentioned departmental housing - I want to raise again with the minister some concerns I have with the antisocial behaviour that is occurring in our public housing. I convened a meeting with the minister and a small group of residents not long ago. I was very careful not to ‘stack’ the meeting, but to have a variety of people from old pensioners, people living in private residences, and people living in public housing, and allowed them just to tell the minister what the problem was in the suburbs of Braitling. They all stressed to him that they had no problems with the tenants, but they did have problems with the itinerants and their visitors who were basically uncontrolled. They did make the point of – and these were all very long term residents in Alice Springs – that they were becoming racist in their attitude because of the problems that were occurring in the neighbourhood.
If I could quote from one of the letters, and I had many of them:
- I am sure you are aware by now of the violent death that occurred in [such and such a] street - the stabbing
death of an adult male. For months now we have been in contact with the Housing Commission about the
problems in this area and we have even predicted that such an incident would be the unhappy outcome
of these escalating problems.
The flats immediately next door to our home are still a problem in that the occupiers of one flat are drinking
and breaching our peace. It has become a tip with groups of people congregating at the front of the premises
and creating a nuisance.
We had to call the police again last night after a group of approximately eight people had a screaming fight
on the footpath immediately in front of our home, which culminated in a brawl. This turned out to be a
domestic. Three police cars attended.
We feel that we are constantly living in not only a slum area, but also a war zone and this state of affairs
should not be allowed to continue.
We had that meeting with the minister and each of the residents raised the problems, and some of the elderly ones quite frankly said they are scared and frightened by what is going on. We also put a number of suggestions to the minister on what could be done to resolve some of these problems. I have to say to the minister’s response to me was so inane that I was too embarrassed to pass it on to those people who attended that meeting. They are now at the stage of saying that perhaps a public meeting should be called and the minister should be asked to come along to see the level of feeling that was there.
Some of the solutions that we suggested, to my mind, were extremely good. One was the Living Skills program which is a program that supports new tenants in homes so that they understand their responsibilities and the behaviour that is expected. That Living Skills program was in Alice Springs some time ago, but recently it has not occurred. We also suggested that there should be a media campaign out on the BRACS system, or on Imparja, or CAAMA, about the way you should behave when you visit the town. For instance, in this town the people are the Arrernte people and yet a lot of their places are being used and abused. We thought if we could get a campaign out before the visitors even came to town to make them understand the protocols and how they should behave, then that would perhaps help to reinforce the message. I do not think that is happening at all.
We suggested also the establishment of a camping area where these people could camp. The Tyeweretye Club, I think, at the moment is not open, and is land available that could be used for such a purpose, where people may have to pay $5 or $10 a night to stay to cover the expenses of the camping ablution blocks, so they could also could get an understanding that when they come into town, don’t just camp in the creek, go and camp somewhere where at least you can look after yourself and look after your family. That has not happened. We asked for extra security patrols at night at certain of the hot spots identified, and I believe that has occurred. Also, I rang the police and asked them to do extra patrols along that particular area and that has also occurred.
We believe there should have been a review of the tenancy handbook. If you look at the tenancy handbook it does not say in a two bedroom flat that you can have 20 visitors. It says you can have visitors, but it does not indicate how many. We believe there should be a review of that tenancy handbook to make sure that tenants going in understand they cannot have all these visitors.
A renal village was suggested because some of the people are having problems where the renal patients are coming to Alice Springs and then they get humbugged by their visitors. There has now been a group of units identified for renal patients, and that is really good. There is nothing sadder than seeing renal patients who are so humbugged that they just go home out bush and neglect their treatment, and that is what happens to them.
Might I add, I had a follow-up meeting with some of the departmental officials, and I quoted the fact that in the Pitjantjatjara lands, some of the women who have domestic violence problems have - what can I call it? - an authorisation that they can say to the person: ‘Look! This says you cannot come in here. This piece of paper tells you that you are not allowed to come in here’. It is taking the onus off them to say ‘no’ to that person. It puts the onus back on the authority of the domestic violence order. Aboriginal tenants in town who are humbugged so much should have some sort of authority to say: ‘No, I cannot have 10 of you here at this one time; I should only have one or two’. These are all very good, practical ideas.
We also suggested some signage. In Tennant Creek, I believe, some of the houses have: ‘This is a grog-free house’. What is wrong with saying to people who live in some of our public housing: ‘If you want this sign put up, if you feel as though you want to make sure your visitors know this is a grog-free house, then let’s put a sign up for you to do it’? They should be allowed to do that. We need clear signage and we certainly need signage to make these people feel comfortable that they can say: ‘These are the rules the department has told me. I cannot let you do this. I cannot have you stay here’. Far too often, we have seen the tenants suffer. It is the tenants who often walk away from homes while the visitors stay there.
We also talked to the department of Housing about additional staff. One of the things we did not want the department of Housing to feel is that we were having a go at them. But, to be quite honest, the case load for many of their tenancy managers is far too great. They have to deal with far too many houses, far too many problems. We believe there should be additional personnel appointed to Territory Housing in Alice Springs to cater for some of those problems that arise.
We are also looking for a better response from Night Patrol. Quite often Night Patrol say: ‘We are really only concentrating on the town camps’, but we believe if government is funding Night Patrol, they should also get out into the suburbs where there are enough people complaining.
The department did have some good ideas. I know they are talking about better case management, but one of the problems I find is that you put people into these homes and when problems arise, you expect other tenants or neighbours to complain in writing. You are putting the onus back on the people who have to put up with all this humbug. You say to them: ‘You have to write and then you have to stand up in court so that we can have them evicted’. That is not what it is all about. These people said clearly to the minister: ‘We do not want you to evict them. We are not saying the tenants are at fault. We are not saying that that is the way you should go. We certainly do not want to have to be the ones to stand up in court and speak up because as soon as we call the police, we are harassed. As soon as the police go away, they come shouting at our doors’. You are putting the neighbours and the people who complain in this very difficult situation under pressure and that is why many of them will not do it and why they are quite frightened by the prospect.
What we really have to do is to have a solution whereby if there is a problem, it is up to the department to address it, take the evidence and either case manage it well and move the people on. Do not leave it up to the neighbours so that they are the ones who have to wear it and then they are the ones who become intimidated by the people causing all the problems. Obviously, if there are 12 people in your car park and the police arrive to kick them out, they immediately assume that you, as a neighbour, have made the complaint and they immediately scream and yell and swear and give you a hard time.
I am very disappointed that I have not been able to get some constructive ideas from the minister. There are many of them around. We have tried to suggest them to him. I keep getting this answer that it is coming, we will do something. I know that a lot of emphasis has been put on the Community Harmony Program. I keep hearing about the Community Harmony Program, but I am yet to see the results. I like the way in Darwin they have done the Back to Country Program. We really need to make sure in Alice Springs that it is working well, that it is operating better than what it is at the moment. And we also need to start identifying clusters of units, specifically for those people, the elderly, the renal patients, people with a disability, the people who have common interests, so that they can form a community within that unit, support each other and make sure that they all understand, in that particular unit, the behaviour. Perhaps we should have more caretakers in some of these large units to assist people to do it.
So although I am very pleased with the minister’s statement, I think it is a real plus for us, there are other things he should be addressing as the Minister for Housing. I urge him to come up with some positives. I cannot go back to those residents until I have something concrete to say to them, otherwise I am going to have to go back to them and say that the meeting was all a waste of time. I certainly do not want to do that.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, just before I reply to the Minister for Housing, I wanted to make some comment in addition to the member for Braitling. The issues that she has raised tonight are not new to Katherine. We have exactly the same issues. I would be very surprised if you did not have them in Tennant Creek, and there were not some areas of Darwin that were having the same issues. I would also welcome, from the Minister for Housing, some solutions to these very common problems that we are having throughout the Territory. The Harmony Program in Katherine is actually starting to get some results. I know you have to hold your breath and have a lot of patience with it, but I am sure that you will find, member for Braitling, that you will have some results from the Harmony Group.
Tonight, I primarily stand to welcome the statement today from the Minister for Housing that highlights the changes to housing affordability. I believe that the assistance given to Territorians through this program to purchase their own home is to be applauded and encouraged. The changes to the HomeNorth scheme that the minister announced today will assist many more Territorians to become home owners. Owning your own bit of dirt with bricks and mortar is considered one of the great Aussie dreams, and it is one that people across all levels of income commit to, not only in the larger towns of Alice Springs and Darwin, but also in the regional towns of Katherine, Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and, of course, the more remote areas of the Northern Territory.
Owning your own home is not always attainable, and we all know that, especially for low income earners. This was recognised by the CLP when they were in government and, as a result, was addressed through the implementation of the HomeNorth scheme. The intention of that scheme was to ensure that the public housing profile was positioned to serve all people in the community well into the future. That is evidenced by the success that the scheme has seen up until now.
When the policy was first introduced, it was called Housing 2003. It was introduced on 1 July 1997, and it had packages for HomeStart, HomeShare, Early Start, and HomeNorth Assist, which was based on tenant-shared equity loans, deposit assistant grants and interest subsidy grants. This HomeNorth scheme enabled tenants and low income earners, for the first time, the opportunity to purchase their own home and to have security in their future. It also encouraged people to take more interest in the area that they lived in through social interaction and community involvement, knowing they had a secure and permanent future.
One of the important outcomes of the Housing 2003 scheme is one that is dear to me, and it has been the building of seniors’ villages. These have been built at Tiwi, Leanyer, Coconut Grove and Palmerston, and which are very sensibly located near essential services. The building of the senior villages has assisted the more mature residents of the Territory to have security and comfort in their more relaxed years of life. There is, obviously, a need to establish more senior accommodation throughout the Territory. I hope that will continue into the future to address our more mature and valuable residents in this Territory. The percentage of people in this category is increasing. Therefore, it will be an imperative that the government continues to address housing for seniors.
I have said many times before that we lose too many of our valued seniors to interstate when they retire. I know affordable housing has been one of the issues that prompts them to move. It would be good to see more housing available for our much-loved seniors. I am probably feeling tender towards that because I am creeping up to that category. I know that in my electorate of Katherine that there are seniors who would love to have the opportunity to live within the security of a seniors’ unit complex, and I would like to see this area in housing progressed.
The changes announced today extend further to the people of the Territory the opportunity of realising their dream to own their own home. The extension of the scheme to assist even more Territorians is to be applauded. Getting a deposit together for a home takes some hard and painstaking savings for most people and, in some instances, especially in the lower income brackets, it is nigh on impossible. We find that people are caught up in a vicious cycle of rental from which they are unable to break free. Along with that comes all the additional pressures associated with their insecurity. Reducing the deposit required from 5% to 2% of the purchase price will certainly assist more people to go ahead and purchase a home. A perfect example of that right now are two people who work for my husband in Katherine and who live in the caravan park. They have been saving very intensely for several months now to put a deposit towards a home. I know they have $15 000 saved up, so they are going to be very excited tomorrow when this announcement is made and they can go ahead and do that.
In addition, increasing the maximum property value from $180 000 to $240 000 is in line with the market values of today, and will make the choice of where you want to live a lot more flexible and, therefore, more appealing to potential home owners. The member for Braitling talked about an incident in Alice Springs where the valuation was higher than the previous home loan valuation for $180 000. I have had two incidents of that in the northern suburbs, with people being quite upset and ringing me saying that they have had valuations of $196 000 and $198 000, respectively, on their homes, and they have not been able to afford it. I have made a couple of phone calls to two people who are fairly pleased with this. Of course, the length of the loan terms will be very well received by the public, I am sure.
If you had been diligent or fortunate enough to have been able to make repayments over and above the minimum loan repayments required, and have an unfortunate need to redraw on your loan for some reason, this scheme will allow this flexibility. I believe that is very important. The encouragement for the new home owner to repay above minimum payments - if economically possible - should be encouraged to give a safety cap for the future - perhaps in the way of home improvements but also to cover in case the borrower has a change in income for whatever reason.
The introduction of the arrears management program is a good incentive to put in place to assist people who should be unfortunate enough to experience hardship. This procedure will go a long way to relieve any additional pressure on the home owner.
While I applaud the changes the government has announced today, it also needs to be noted that the previous HomeNorth program was called Housing 2003 which, in effect, means it was designed to run until the 30 June 2003. It could be said that this new program should have been in place from the 1 July 2003, which could have assisted Territorians - or more of them - over the past 12 months.
In the area of the first home buyers for whom this scheme was originally designed, there is no doubt that they will be assisted even further by these new changes. In light of the expected high inquiry rate for assistance available with this new scheme, I hope that there will be due diligence by lenders towards these prospective borrowers.
One of the areas that concerns me with the very low deposit required, which is only up to a maximum of $4800 and the increase in the property value to $240 000, that this will create huge financial debt for some people who perhaps are not able to manage their finances as well as others and may not be able to meet their financial commitments. It would be very easy to over commit yourself even with this great assistance. I do hope that I am very wrong in this area because I, like everyone else, would like to see everyone who wants to, own their own home. It is an area, though, that does concern me.
The government has confirmed that the previous Housing 2003 scheme was cost-negative to the government and it is clear in the budget papers that there has been an additional $16m received by this government from stamp duty in the past 12 months. This clearly indicates that the government can support first home owners by removing that stamp duty altogether. The CLP believes that the first home buyers should be given every opportunity to establish their first home and to that end, the CLP would ensure that no stamp duty would be imposed on first home buyers. That gives a real incentive for more prospective buyers to invest in a home in the Territory and to set their roots in the Territory. We will ensure that first home owners have every support in establishing and securing their future whenever they wish to reside in the Territory.
I congratulate the minister on the changes that he has introduced today to assist low and middle income earners purchase their own homes. I look forward to regular reports to this Assembly of how the new changes to the home ownership assistance scheme have been taken up. All members of this Assembly, I am sure, would be happy to see our population growing and stabilised and would welcome a growth in the building and construction industry, and the retail industry, right across the board.
Mr HENDERSON (Business and Industry): Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak in support of this announcement today made by the Minister for Housing. It is a very significant announcement and one that is going to be welcomed right across the Territory. As many members have said already in debate, the aspiration to own one’s own home in Australia is almost universal. There is no doubt that we have the lowest home ownership rates in Australia at the moment. We have had for many years. This revamped scheme announced today by my colleague, the Minister for Housing, is certainly going to increase that opportunity for many thousands of Territorians. I am pretty confident that thousands of Territorians are going to take up the opportunity that is now afforded as a result of this scheme.
The amendments to the various schemes that have been announced today go further in policy objectives of increasing home ownership, which has, I believe, universal support from this House. It will also go a long way to stimulating increased economic activity overall, particularly in the construction, renovation and retail sectors. At the moment I do not have the press clipping in front of me, but I met with the people who are running Jape Furnishings Superstore a few weeks ago in my electorate office and there was a story in the paper the other day. Even prior to this announcement there was a real boom occurring and forecast to occur through their figures that they have out there in regards to construction and renovation across Darwin and Palmerston to the tune of some $50m, I think, in the next financial year, with significant increase. This scheme is going to boost that activity even further. So, as well as reaching the policy objective of increasing home ownership, it is really going to stimulate economic activity and will be applauded by people across the construction industry and in the retail sector as well.
It will also assist in the policy objectives of population growth. The fact is that already prior to this scheme we had the most affordable home ownership in Australia. That affordability is going to improve even more and, with the result of increased economic growth, the lowest unemployment in Australia and now, by far, the best housing affordability in Australia, that policy objective of population growth will be strengthened even further. As well as growing our population, I believe we have increased home ownership in the Northern Territory. More people owning their own homes will help to stabilise the population where people have a financial stake and equity in the Northern Territory. It is not so easy when times get a little bit rocky to leave the Northern Territory. People are more likely to stick it out and try to work through the personal problems that they may be having.
A whole range of policy objectives are enhanced as a result of this announcement today. I congratulate my colleague, the Housing minister, and his department for doing an enormous amount of work in this area. It is a great announcement for the Northern Territory.
I will pick up on some of the details in the various packages. We have the HomeNorth Shared Equity Loan, the Standard Variable Loan, the Fee Assistance Loan, and the Arrears Management Program. All of those are specifically targeted to sectors of the Territory population and will be very well received. The deposit requirement reduction from 5% to 2% of purchase price is probably one that does not grab the headlines, but will be very warmly embraced. One of the big challenges of owning a home in the Northern Territory is to gather the deposit, particularly when you are renting, and rents are expensive in the Territory.
Over the years, we have seen average weekly earnings decline from being amongst the highest in Australia to middle of the pack and sometimes below that. There is the high cost of living and the high cost of rent. If you are caught in average weekly earnings and renting in the Northern Territory, it has been extraordinarily hard to get that deposit together to be able to move into your own home. One of the greatest barriers has been that deposit gap. Reducing the minimum deposit from 5% to 2% of purchase price is going to be one of the biggest triggers for people getting into their own home, removing the requirement for substantial deposit savings when people are struggling with high rents, the relatively high cost of living and average weekly earnings that have been below the average of the other states is a great move.
I pick up on the comments from the member for Katherine that as a result of this, there is the possibility for people to over-commit. Obviously, there are going to be individuals who might fall into that trap. However, with the diligence of the lending authorities and the people here, we do not want people spending more than 30% of their gross income on their repayments, this will be administered appropriately. We obviously do not want to see people over-extending and over-committing. The reality is if you can get in at 2% that has to be a lot better than trying to save 5%. I am very pleased with that move. As I said before, that was probably one of the biggest hurdles that people had to overcome.
The market value of the property being moved from $180 000 to $240 000, an increase of 33%, does reflect rising property values across the Northern Territory, particularly in my area, the northern suburbs. I can say, getting around knocking on doors, people are very happy that the value of their homes are increasing, but that old benchmark of $180 000 makes it nearly impossible to pick up a house in the northern suburbs at the moment. Lifting that to $240 000 is much more in line with property values.
It amazes me that the opposition keeps running the line about all these thousands of people leaving the Territory. They know that the former Treasurer, the member for Katherine, used to stand here sittings after sittings disputing ABS population statistics. The fact is we do live in a market economy of supply and demand. There is absolutely no way in a market-driven economy that property values would be increasing at the rates they are if people were leaving in droves. The Real Estate Institute will tell you that vacancy rates in the Northern Territory are at around 6% to 7% at the moment, and they are the lowest they have been since about 1996. The ABS has some figures, we are disputing those, they have been in dispute for years, as the opposition well knows, but the market is telling a different story.
The market is certainly saying that people are coming back to the Northern Territory, property values are going up, vacancy rates are going down and, in spite of this, the opposition still runs the line that thousands of people are leaving the Territory and the place is in ruins. The market does not support those comments at all.
The other significant move has been that the ceiling on gross household income eligibility is rising from $800 to $1100 a week. That is up 37.5%, and that really is a trigger to assist people, not only from low incomes into their first homes, but the middle income bracket. All of us here who have young children, or even teenage children, heaven forbid, mine are still relatively young, that $1100 per week as the gross family income when you have children, rent to pay, hire fees to pay, vehicle loans to pay, is not a huge amount of money. I am very pleased to see that figure go up. It will assist more people who are on average incomes with families to get out of that rental trap and move to owning their own home, putting their hard-earned money into a home that is going to show capital gain over time, and that is another significant move.
The other scheme that is really going to assist people, and I believe will be embraced by the retail industry, is the fees assistance loan. Anybody would know when you are buying a home, that bank fees and other fees are pretty steep. I urge all Territorians to shop around for your bank fees. It is amazing. When we moved to our home in Wanguri a few years ago, we did shop around, and you can trade the banks off, it is a market and they want your business over 20, 25 or 30 years and they will do deals on those loans and those application fees. The Fee Assistance Scheme, to $10 000, free of all interest charges for the term of the loan, and up to $1500 of that can be used to purchase whitegoods, is certainly a significant boost to people who might be really stretched moving into their own home. That $1500 will certainly be used to stimulate the retail industry and will be warmly received.
Without reiterating all of the specifics that my colleague, the Housing minister, outlined in his speech, I can certainly say as the Business minister that this will be warmly received by the business community. It is not just a boost to home ownership. It is a boost to economic activity. It is a boost to construction. It is a boost to retail. This is a great announcement, and I am very pleased to be part of it. As a member from the northern suburbs, and as a family man myself, owning your own home is something to which all Australians aspire. Many Territorians, as a result of today, will aspire to their own homes, and be moving into their own homes. I congratulate the minister on his new scheme and his statement today.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this statement. It is fabulous. I am very proud to be a member of government at this time. This is a wonderful thing that they are doing for the people of the Territory to be able to make it affordable for those on the lower to middle income range to get into their own home. I am also very happy, and like the Minister for Business and Industry, not surprised at the bipartisan approach to this and the support for this initiative.
There are differences between both sides here as far as stamp duty goes. My feeling on the stamp duty issue is that, if it comes off straight away as is being moved by the opposition, we would probably see it tagged onto the prices of the house. So I do wonder about it actually affecting the affordability of the houses for first home buyers, whether it will really do anything to improve access for them to the market. Likewise, the member for Wanguri picked up on debt defaulters, and they are from the low to middle income streams. The member for Katherine is right in saying that she is concerned that perhaps people will get a loan and, if they default, she does not want to see them caught into a trap like that - and quite rightly so.
From my briefing on this initiative, they have quite a comprehensive program should people fall into this bad debt situation through poor budgetary practices or, perhaps, an illness which has an impact on their income stream. There are mechanisms in place. I am sure the minister will address the member for Katherine’s concerns. However, let me say that I was reassured by what I heard from the relevant departmental officers. That is being addressed because it is really in no one’s interest; if these people default they will probably end up customers of Territory Housing anyway. Therefore, it is not in anyone’s interest to let that situation arise, and they will do everything in their power to avoid it.
It is great that the entry point deposit into the housing market has been reduced from 5% to 2% and, with the raising of the limits from $180 000 to $240 000 means it is $4800 to qualify. You will find that the first home owner schemes and grants will probably assist people to qualify with the minimum of cash up-front. We have people in the community who are paying rent and, as the member for Wanguri said, in the Territory at times private rent is quite substantial. The average rent, I would suggest, for a three-bedroom well-kept house in the Darwin market, without any special features, is probably in the vicinity of $250 per week. If you take that $250 straight out of the take-home wage of the family, and then put on the costs of living and maintaining the household, it does not leave much spare cash for saving up for a deposit. What this will do, in effect, is break the rent trap. It will allow people to get into housing and then the money that was going to rent will go on the house repayments. It is a very valuable process.
To give an idea of the people who could afford to qualify, with the $1100 per week household income - that is household income, so you have to take in any earnings going into that property, in the Northern Territory public sector, we have 13 000-odd employees of which probably the bulk are around the AO2 to AO6 level. If you are an AO4, you are getting just over $42 000 a year, which equates to $1617 a fortnight, or just over $800 a week. They can afford to get in. If you are an AO5, you are getting $50 000 a year, or $1918.31 a fortnight, which about $950-odd. They are in. The level of access to the HomeNorth scheme for an AO6 is at the second increment. They get approximately $2200 per fortnight, or $1100 a week. An AO2, by the way, gets $33 195, which is about $650 a week.
For a young couple starting off, you get together and you are both working and are living together or married, you have children - which happens quite often - you are just going to find it difficult. You are going to be on a single income and are going to be trying to get the deposit together. I used to work with lots of people who meet these profiles: single income families of people who are paid at the AO4, AO5, AO6 level. They were battling; they were doing it hard. It sounds like a lot of money but, when you are looking after family and paying rent it is not. It really is the hard end of the stick. I have said before in this House that I believe single income families are the ones who really do it tough in our community. These people will be able to get in there.
There are the self esteem issues that go with it, the idea of fulfilling that great Australian dream. We have said it here before, three or four of us here from both sides have mentioned how it is a great Australian dream; well it is. It is what everyone wants. Everyone wants their own piece of country, they want to be able to say yes, this is my place, this is where I belong. This is going to do it.
What it will also do for the Territory is be a stabiliser for a lot of people. It is not so much that houses are cheaper elsewhere because arguably I do not think they are; right now our housing market it one of the cheapest in Australia. It is not so much that it is that sense of belonging, that sense of community that will come with having a place. Hopefully, this will act as a stabiliser for that end of the community. Let us not forget that there are many more people in and around the Territory who can afford access to home loans through the normal banking and financial institutions. They are right, they get access to loans. This is for the lower to middle income but this will have a stabilising effect.
It will also give the opportunity for people who might be up here for that 12 month, two year, working holiday, for want of a better term, that they may reconsider and may use this as an opportunity after qualifying period to get into a place and therefore we have attracted them and we are going to hold them.
Let us not forget that these loans are not just for people living in public housing. These loans are for people who want to access any home in that range. This is going to be a stimulus to that end of the market, to the first home buyer, who is getting in the homes around the $240 000 mark. There are still a few of those in the newer areas of the city of Palmerston, and that takes in all the new subdivisions for the first home buyers getting into there. They will be able to afford a new home. I am predicting also that this will see people buying into the existing public housing stock. You will also see people buying into units and houses around that range within the community. The people who are buying these houses will actually be displacing other home owners who have a large amount of equity who will therefore be using the money from the sale of that house to purchase newer, more expensive properties, be it either ones in new subdivisions such as we are going to see down at Lee Point or around town. It is going to have quite a ripple effect through the construction and real estate markets.
We will also see, I believe, a ripple effect in the retail furniture. This is going to have an effect of stimulating the housing construction area or the new home buyer. We make mention here about the $1500 for whitegoods but when you set up a new home there are all sorts of things that come with it. You want new soft furnishings, or you might be looking to do up the kitchen, all manner of things when purchasing a new house, be it newly construction or be it one you are moving into. We are going to see a stimulus to the economy through the retail sector out of this initiative. That is simply fabulous. Opening up this end of the market to people has many benefits, not only directly to the people who are looking to purchase the home and to break that rent cycle, but also to the retail industry and to the construction industry.
This is very timely statement. I know of four people in my electorate who will be purchasing their homes. One is a couple who are near the end of their working life. I would say this couple probably have about ten years but now they will be able to get their public housing place purchased and get to pay it off. They do not have any kids on their hands. This is a couple who put all their money into raising their children. Now they have a bit of disposable income and they will now be able to get into their house and be able to afford to pay it off quickly. I had another chap from Wulagi who phoned me up on behalf of his neighbour. He made the point that the house that his neighbour was buying, which is a fairly standard Housing Commission three bedroom place, had gone up, but a similar house in Wanguri had sold for $140 000-odd 12 or 15 months ago, and now this place was $160 000 or 180 000. He said: ‘This had ruined him. My neighbour can’t get in. Is there anything you can do?’ You cannot do anything in those matters because it is market forces determining the price of the house. However, what, in effect, we have been able to do because we have dropped the entry point and raised the threshold, that neighbour will be able to get into the house. While we cannot control the market and would never try to, we can assist people to get in.
There is another person in Anula whose house was being refurbished under another program in Territory Housing, fences were being replaced, and she asked for assistance in one or two areas. She told me of her aspirations of buying a house. She was on a pair of crutches from a knee injury which had seen her off work for six weeks which had really slowed down her savings. She was trying to get together a deposit to purchase the Territory Housing house that she was in. Now she will be able to.
This is a really great program for sole parents and for carers. It is a fact that most of the sole parents and carers within our community are women. It is predominately women to whom that role has fallen. This will assist them to get into the market to get a home, to give them the sense of economic stability that so many of us take for granted, but which is a very hard thing to achieve when you are a single parent trying to raise kids. In that respect, it is a great social policy. I commend the minister for looking after that sector of the community. Being able to raise your kids in the one location, knowing that you are not moving around, they have continuity through schools, they are known in a neighbourhood, there are social benefits that will flow to the family from having this stability until they want to move, and that is a wonderful thing.
This may be from a selfish viewpoint, but there is a trend for children to be staying at home a lot longer than they did in my day. When I was growing up, you used to get out of that front door as quick as you could and into a rented place or something. These days, the family is extended. Children are staying around until they are 22 or 25. There will be a few creative parents who will say: ‘Look! Here is an opportunity, go for it. Get yourself a nice little unit. Get yourself a two bedroom flat. We will help you get into it if need be. We will go with the 30% and we will help set you up’. What a great thing for the parents. What a great opportunity for the children. What a great opportunity for the economy and for the community.
Madam Speaker, I will wrap up. It was great to pick up the paper on Saturday, 12 June, and see: ‘First Home Buyers Bonus: loan scheme to change’. It is a story about the things to come. If you read that and you are thinking: ‘I would love to have a place’, where would you go? You would go to the real estate guide. Let’s have a look and see what this means. Here is that real estate guide from that paper and I have marked a few. Let’s see:
- Darwin City, the city’s heartbeat, $235 000 by appointment, investment opportunity in top locality.
two queen-size bedrooms, two bathrooms, two car parks.
Affordable! In Gunn: ‘Carpe Diem’- I am not too sure what that is, but this is a …
Dr Burns: Seize the day! Go ahead and buy it.
Mr KIELY: Seize the day! Seize this opportunity. My Latin tutor. I cannot say that I ever did Latin.
- This lovely three bedroom home in one of Palmerston’s classier suburbs allows you hit the
ground running.
It has walk-in robes, air-conditioning, an ensuite. I would love an ensuite. Price offers - over $230 000. Affordable. In Driver – 13 Wilfred Street – negotiable over $215 000:
- The proud owners of this lovely elevated home love entertaining so much they have set up underneath
the home for their pleasure, including a built in bar and a cool refreshing spa.
Ms Carney: I think you could have another career in real estate. Just around the corner, Len.
Mr KIELY: I think so.
Ms Carney: Just around the corner, Len. You could probably even make a dollar.
Mr KIELY: This is just fabulous. In Gray – another special. Member for Araluen, this in the paper and this is what would be going on last Saturday when you read that story. You have properties at Berry Springs. There is affordability. There are lifestyle options in here. We are not forcing people into any low-priced ghettoes. We are not saying we are building this Housing Commission place out in the back of nowhere, where there is no transport or anything. We are giving people choice.
Dr Burns: Are there any out at Marlow’s Lagoon?
Mr KIELY: Maybe. There is one at Moulden, which is very close.
Madam Speaker, the statement is supported by both sides, with slight variance on the stamp duty issue. We accept that. It was very foresightful of the member for Katherine to say, let us have a look at …
Ms Carney: Foresightful, now there is an interesting one.
Mr KIELY: The member for Araluen can be cynical. The member for Araluen probably has her house. She earns way above the level. I do not think she would know a low income earner if she ran across one. We on this side, Madam Speaker, care. We care for families in the Territory, care for the low income earners and the middle income earners. We just do not turn our backs and make jokes about things like this. We get in and work on it. So, member for Araluen, a little bit of compassion, a little bit of understanding for those in the community who are not so well off as you.
Ms Carney: Oh, you have no idea, as usual, what you are talking about, but you are a source of constant entertainment, so I thank you.
Mr KIELY: You are a source of constant irritation, member for Araluen.
Ms Carney: Have you finished yet? Oh good.
Ms LAWRIE (Karama): Madam Speaker, I rise to support the statement on HomeNorth and the changes to the loan scheme in the Territory. I congratulate the Minister for Housing for bringing this statement to the House.
They say the great Australian dream is to own your own home, and many of us living in the Territory would know that that dream has been out of reach for many Territorians for far too many years. We have not had home affordability for our low to middle income earners. There are many families out there who have been doing it very tough, who have had the dream, but found that dream is far beyond their reaches. The market has not catered in home loans to their capacity. Certainly, a 10% deposit has been far beyond the reaches of many people. Even the 5% deposit that we have had under the previous TIO/Northern Territory government sponsored scheme was still beyond the reaches of many families.
I say this because many families have been through my door, as the local member for Karama, over the last two and a half years, talking about just how they might be able to buy into the housing market. They have been particularly interested in purchasing their Territory Housing homes. They are a category of people who are reaching the upper limit of the household overall limit in Territory Housing. They get nervous that if they pick up more shifts at work, if they get some overtime, they will just creep above the Territory Housing household income limit and get threatened with letters. I have been tuned into this issue for quite a while, and I have known about the great body of work that the minister has done with his department. I congratulate the department for all of the effort they have put into this terrific package the minister has brought before the House and explained comprehensively in his statement today.
The standard variable loan has tremendous features. As I said, reducing the deposit requirement from 5% to 2% of the purchase price means a maximum deposit of $4800, and obviously considerably less if the purchase price is less. This means that it is within the reach of many people, and public housing tenants who have contributed to home improvements may even pay a lower deposit.
The increase in the maximum property value for the loan, from $180 000 to $240 000, is a practical step. Homes in the Karama and Malak area, Territory Housing homes that is, not the private market homes, are now being valued at around $200 000. They were outside the upper limit of $180 000 set previously. It really just bounced families out of the opportunity of buying their home that they had been living in for around 10 to 15 years. They were at the stage where the kids were getting a little bit older, their expenses and jobs had improved, and they really wanted to look at home ownership as opposed to being Territory Housing tenants. It is a very practical move to put the upper maximum property value up to $240 000. It really does allow low to middle income earners to buy into a very reasonable type of property.
You will pick up a three- to four-bedroom house in Karama or Malak for $240 000. It will not be Shangri La; you will not get a massive gazebo with a swimming pool and double carport and all the bells and whistles, but you will have quite a nice little suburban home where you can feel very satisfied. The 3% increase that that upper maximum value represents is a significant increase for any loan scheme. I acknowledge that the government has made a very wise decision in pegging $240 000 as the upper limit of the current property values.
I know that this scheme that will undergo annual reviews, so there is capacity for growth in that upper limit. If, indeed, what we expect to occur will occur, and property values continue to rise throughout Darwin and Palmerston, you may see in one or two year’s time that upper limit increase to $250 000 or $260 000, depending on the rate of property value increases. I acknowledge that $240 000 is a very appropriate upper maximum property value limit for this particular loan scheme.
It does not eat into the competitive market that our banks and financial lending institutions have. They really provide the loans for the market values of $250 000 and above, and are for the middle to upper income earners. You are not seeing government’s loan packages encroaching on the private sector, which is a very healthy environment where we have government providing assistance schemes to the lower to middle income earner and allowing private market forces to work competitively for your middle to upper income earners.
The other aspect that is really a very practical and fair aspect of this loans package change is increasing the household income from $800 per week to $1100 per week to include the middle income earners. There was that gap in the market where they were not quite earning enough to be competitive. I know that when you are paying a mortgage of around $250 000 or $260 000, you are looking at $1600 payments a month. Middle income earners just found that too much of a stretch. Saying to those middle income earners of the upper household income of $1100 a week: ‘Yes, you can buy into this loans packages’, is a brilliant move. It means that they can cover the kids’ school fees, the normal household outgoings, and also cover their mortgage without ending up in a terrible financial state and having to sell the house. It is a very reasonable pegging of your household income. Increasing it up to $1100 per week gives the middle income earners a real opportunity to get into home ownership. This fairness in the package is really in keeping with what the Territory is all about. It is about saying to people: ‘You can have a fair go. You can have an opportunity to have a good life and a good lifestyle in the Territory’.
Increasing the loan terms up to 35 years is just brilliant, because families know that the early years of a mortgage are the tough years. They are the years where you are still trying to establish yourself. You are still trying to get those payments coming in, and you are not in a position to increase your payments above your minimum levels because you are trying to do your home improvements at the same time. You are trying to repaint the place or pave the driveway or put in plants. Families who bought new homes come under enormous pressure to do the home renovations-style fixer-uppers that we see are very popular if you look at the TV’s ratings for those home renovation shows.
The early years of the home mortgage are not the time when families have disposable income to really pay the additional, so the longer term loan periods are very attractive. It is when they have had that mortgage for, say, 10 years that they start to really kick in and pay those additional amounts, and get that mortgage period down. Having that 35 year loan term is brilliant for the families. I again congratulate the people who put a great deal of effort and thought into designing this loan scheme.
Expanding the eligibility criteria to include people who do not currently own a property in Australia but who may have in the past is a fantastic step a great step forward. We all know that life is very complex these days. You might have had a previous relationship, and you might have owned a flat in Melbourne in that previous relationship 10 or 15 years ago. You started a family here in the Territory and committed to the Territory. Yet, previously, you were ineligible for the first home owner scheme even if your partner or your spouse had never owned a home, if both names were going on the title. It is terrific to say to people who are truly starting again - and it may be middle aged couples who are both divorcees who have previously had to rent because of marital break ups, it might be young families where someone has had a stake in home ownership previously but both partners have not - we know you are having a go, we know you are genuinely starting again, and yes, you are welcome to the home ownership market. I strongly congratulate the government on that aspect.
I know of several people, without even having to stretch my mind too much, who would be eligible for this who would not have been eligible in the past.
Giving borrowers a choice to be able to choose part of the loan as interest only, to increase affordability, and showing that flexibility to vary the loan arrangements should they encounter financial difficulties really is indicating that you should not be applying one-size-fits-all to loan packages. Providing flexibility to tailor those individual needs, those individual family needs, really provides great strength and backbone to this loans package.
I am pleased that the standard variable loan will now allow eligible borrowers to take out the full $235 200, which is more than double than under the previous scheme. This is terrific. This allows people to jump into the home ownership market who in the past had been unfortunately and tragically locked out of home ownership. Home ownership just gives families such an enormous boost. It does ultimately give them a sense of pride and it sinks their roots into their homes. I have assisted, I guess, in the last 2 years about half a dozen families in my electorate to go through the home ownership scenario with Territory Housing. They have been the battlers who have really struggled and got their deposit money together and bought the house that they have lived in for 10 or 15 or 20 years. I have seen the difference it makes to them to be able to actually say this is my house. They have done it under schemes such as the Shared Equity Scheme, where they have not had the ability to borrow the full amount so Territory Housing still has a 30% stake in the house. They know they will buy the landlord out over time but it really gives the whole family an enormous boost.
I am invited around to drink some champagne in a couple of week’s time with a family just in that scenario in my electorate. It is nerve-racking for them to enter into that process and now, with this new scheme, it is going to be that much easier and that much less nerve-racking for the families. I cannot overstate how delighted I am with this loan scheme. I know it will really improve the lives of many of my constituents who have had that dream for a long time. They have hoped to get into home ownership but it has just been elusive. This scheme makes it a reality for them. I believe that our suburbs will change in nature through a practical home ownership scheme.
As you know, when you own your own home, you take a greater amount of pride in it than when you are renting it. When you are renting it, it is someone else’s. You do not have the opportunity to paint it, you do not want to plant plants, you have your plants in pot plants because you never know when you might have to get up and move. You know when owning your own home you put down your roots and you improve the value of the property by the effort and love you put into the house.
Another aspect of this loans package that is just terrific and such a practical assistance is the assistance loan of up to $10 000 which is designed to help purchasers with the fees associated with buying or building a home. As we all know, you might think you have made it in saving your deposit money, and you might think you have made it in what the bank says you are able to borrow, but the harsh reality is there are a whole package of fees that come with a home purchase, and that is often the nail in the coffin for many people. They just do not have any spare dollars anywhere to beg or borrow from family or friends because they have already exhausted that avenue to get their deposit dollars together. This is $10 000 interest free over 15 years and is absolutely do-able in paying it back, and it means that they can pay off their fees without the stress and drama that it normally brings. The icing on the cake is that it also means that they can spend up to $1500 on whitegoods.
Anyone who has bought a new home, anyone who is renting a home, knows that you need whitegoods. Often, when you are making that life step, you might have a run down old washing machine and I have certainly had financial situations in my life where I have been as poor as a church mouse and had to bash my super to get money to pay for whitegoods just so I could wash the baby’s clothes and what have you. Whitegoods assistance is practical and important. You feel so much better when you open the fridge and the fridge works, you go to use the washing machine and it actually works. For people who struggle, whitegoods make a tremendous difference to their lives.
When you get into positions such as members of parliament and you get decent wages, and you have the ability to buy really good household goods, people can forget just how tough others are doing it. We certainly went through years in our life after Cyclone Tracy when the job after school for we kids was to bundle up the clothes and get down to the laundromat. That is where we did our washing every day. If someone had had a loan scheme then that we could have tapped into get a washing machine, it would have revolutionised the lives of my siblings and me. That $10 000 interest-free loan scheme over 15 years with the whitegoods component will mean that people will have pure joy with their home ownership.
There are rare moments in politics when you can see pure joy being delivered to people. This entire package, minister, you must be congratulated on. It is absolutely fantastic. I know your staff and your department have put a lot of effort into it. TIO has a lot of work ahead of it; as you said today, there have been 40 calls. They are going to be inundated with interest, but it is a great thing. This is a win-win-win package. We will see Territory Housing selling assets to Territorians. This gives Territory Housing the dollars to build new housing. This scheme is extended to the private market; you do not have to buy Territory Housing properties. You can go into the private market and buy a flat or a house.
It will help our investors, our Territory families who have bought themselves an investment flat in the northern suburbs, have had to sit on it in a tight market over the last few years, not being able to sell it. You will see those properties start to sell now and start to sell for good competitive and affordable prices. It is a win-win. No wonder the industry is congratulating you. No wonder the real estate industry and the construction industry are very excited about this. As I say, it is rare when you see such a tremendous boost to people’s lives and this will go a long way to shaping our towns and cities throughout the Territory. People will benefit throughout the Territory and we will see real growth in home ownership in the Territory.
Being a Territory-raised person, I always knew it would be hard for me to buy into my first home in the Territory. We have always had housing prices in excess of what the market really should have sustained. We knew that was a result of significant defence shifts here, where you have a very large vendor come in and purchase into a market. Your rents go up, your home prices go up. My generation did it pretty tough trying to buy into our first home in the place where we were born and raised. I have been really worried about how my kids will face the same situation. I feel really good that the current generation of late teens into their twenties, as a result of this scheme, have a real opportunity to buy homes. It is thanks to this scheme, it is thanks to the effort that the minister and the staff have put in. Congratulations.
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Visitors
Visitors
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Brennan, before you speak, I acknowledge the students in the gallery from the Warrego School just out of Tennant Creek. With them is Mr Colin Baker, an incredible asset to Warrego. He has horse riding classes, and a swimming team which often competes in Alice Springs. I have seen him down there, and now I see that he is up in Darwin. He has brought his students with him for a very special occasion. On behalf of all honourable members, I extend a warm welcome to you all.
Members: Hear, hear!
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Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I will be brief, because I do not mind admitting that I am not perhaps as bright as other people in this House. I have been looking at the ministerial statement for some time, trying to dissect, in fact, what it means in real terms for Territorians. There is no doubt, and I congratulate the government in this respect, but there are certainly some initiatives in this scheme that, on the face of it, look to be particularly good, certainly for those who are classed in the minister’s statement as being middle income earners, who now, if they have disposed of a home for whatever reason, can now access these new schemes in order to maintain home ownership in the Northern Territory with assistance from the government through these new schemes. On the face of it, it looks particularly good. In that regard, as I said, I congratulate the government.
However, I was looking for a bit more information on what it actually means for a first home buyer in the classic interpretation of first home buyer. We have said a lot in the statement about first home buyers and a person’s gross income in terms of eligibility. Most of the people who come to talk to me about these sorts of issues are not only low income earners, they are low outcome earners. The sorts of issues that arise in my office are primarily people who want to access a first home buyers scheme, facing a situation in the Northern Territory where the median price of houses has risen and risen quite dramatically, their own income has not risen at all, in most respects, and in some respects, they are not even at CPI. They are faced with the fact that, not only is it difficult for them to put together a deposit, but on the escalated prices of the home that they want to buy, often a Housing Commission home, that home has become out of their reach because they cannot afford the monthly repayments.
In this scheme, I was trying to see where exactly those people benefit. It seems to me that there is no doubt that the definition of ‘first home buyer’ in the Northern Territory has been broadened. That is good because it reflects the changing nature of who exactly is a first home owner in the Northern Territory. The broadening of that definition is good because what we want to do is have more and more people owning their own homes in the Northern Territory for all the reasons that have been outlined. Anything the government does to increase that is good.
The quantum of the loan has been increased. A loan that, at is maximum, has gone from $115 000 to about $235 000, to allow people to access better and better homes, is also good. However, let us fact it, it reflects the median house price changes in the Northern Territory, house price changes that are changing quite dramatically, and there is no doubt that the previous schemes were not able to keep up with that change.
The access, from $800 to $1100 for a person who can access the scheme, sounds good on the face of it, in that, as mentioned in the ministerial statement, those who previously would have been ineligible for the home loan can now access this particular scheme. The minister goes through a number of categories of public servants that can now access the scheme that could not in the past, and that is good.
I find particularly attractive the assistance with repayment; restructuring the loan for those who get into difficulties. That seems to me to be an excellent aspect of the scheme.
What I cannot find in the statement, and I hope I am boxing a shadow, is, where exactly this government’s commitment and insistence that no more than 30% of the gross income is spent purchasing the home loan, then adjusted with the fact that 10% of nett income must be free from any incumbrance and free to remain as disposable income, actually marries up with the statements that all of these people who could not access home loans in the past will now be able to access them. I need more time to look at that. I need to look at what the home loan rates are - the lending rates in the Northern Territory - how the household outcomes for a normal sized family with a couple of young kids and a low income actually compares in their ability to not only service a loan up to 30% of their gross income, but also be able to maintain 10% nett income residual.
I hope that all of those figures and models have been done, and I am sure they have. I am not sure they have, but I certainly hope they have been done. If the minister says they have, I will take his word for it. I hoped that in this statement, and also in the literature that the government has put out, we would have been able to see where, in fact, a low income earner - particularly someone around the $800 to $900 a week threshold - actually has been demonstrably improved under this new scheme for them to access this scheme, get themselves into their own home and be able to afford the repayments as required by the parameters of the loan, because I am not convinced. I do not say that in a churlish way. I am just not convinced on what I have heard here tonight that we could be singing the praises of how everything is going to change dramatically for the traditional first home purchaser in the Northern Territory.
It seems to me that there is no doubt that the stamp duty requirement has been reduced, and that is good. I wonder why a government needs to exact stamp duty revenue from those who are the traditional first home purchasers in the Northern Territory. Certainly, that is something that the opposition does not agree with, and we would remove that impost altogether. However, I am particularly interested in how - with the cost of medium house prices including Territory Housing houses going up quite remarkably - the traditional low income earner who would just quality for the loan in the past, can now qualify demonstrably better under this new scheme. That is what I was particularly looking to see in these particular initiatives that are coming from the government.
As I said, the people who I, invariably, have to deal with on these sorts of matters are low income people. Their nett residual income, when looking to try to service these loans, is marginal at best. With the increased costs of the median price of a house in the Northern Territory, I cannot see, on the face of it, where any of them are all that much better off under this new scheme, except in the reduction of stamp duty on their initial purchase. Once that information comes out, I will be talking to the Real Estate Institute and to the banks about the different models that can be run. It would be helpful if the opposition, or those who are interested, could get a briefing from TIO with some of those modelling figures laid out. I am sure it would put my mind at rest.
I make those comments only in the context that it is only been a brief time that I have had a chance to look at the statement. I congratulate the government on moving on this issue. I put out a press release a few weeks ago saying it was well overdue that they moved in this way, and it is good to see that they have.
I also add that, under the old scheme, the threshold on gross income cut out at $800. I thought the threshold cut out at $1000 for some people. It was $800 for some aspects of HomeNorth, and it was $1000 for other aspects of HomeNorth. Therefore, the broad statement that it now only cuts out $1100 is something I will have to look at.
In general terms, I congratulate the government for recognising the changing nature of home ownership in the Northern Territory and doing what seems to be a good initiative in the different schemes they have brought forward tonight.
Mr AH KIT (Housing): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I thank all the members for their contributions tonight. Let me first respond to the member for Brennan and some of the concerns he has. Rather than deal with them tonight, I can take on board your comments and have a look at those and respond to you once I have a look at Hansard tomorrow. I can provide you with a briefing if you wish. I am quite happy to receive correspondence from you, or sit down and have a chat with you about some of the concerns once you correspond with my office. There is not a problem with that and it is not a problem for me to extend that to other members of this Chamber, especially members opposite, and the independent members.
There were thoughtful, thorough comments tonight in members’ contributions and understanding of the realities confronting most people when they try to enter the housing market. Keeping the Territory moving ahead is our top priority and the great package I have announced today, I believe, does just that. The support of members for these initiatives was very welcome.
Many Territorians and future Territorians will be able to get their start in life as a result of this package. For some people, this package will actually represent their second start in life. And I refer there to assurances picked up in HomeNorth in regards to financial problems people experienced, marital problems, divorces etcetera. The Territory has always had a great reputation as a place where people can get a start in life, to get ahead. I really believe that this package will encourage more people to move here and more people to stay here.
I welcome the contribution of the Leader of the Opposition. To quote him, he said that through this new HomeNorth package the Territory is certainly heading in the right direction, and I welcome those comments. However, the Leader of the Opposition does not seem to understand the situation for first home buyers in the Territory let alone at the national level. He said he had done a lot of research and I do not really doubt that, but, if he looks at my statement and my press release he would realise that effectively no first home owner under HomeNorth will pay a cent in stamp duty, even at the maximum property value level of $240 000.
For starters, all first home owners get the Commonwealth grant of $7000 that goes to stamp duty and fees. In addition, the Northern Territory Treasury through TIO, which administers another grant, will also contribute $3640 that goes to stamp duty relief. That is a total of $10 640 well above the stamp duty payable by HomeNorth borrowers which is about $7500 on a $240 000. The excess can be used to pay for other fees. The interest-free fee assistance loan I also introduced today, states that another $10 000, including the $1500 whitegoods sum, leaves first homers in the Territory better off than any where else in the country. When the Treasurer spoke earlier in great depth on the issue of stamp duty, I trust he was able to make things clearer for the member for Blain and the Leader of the Opposition.
I thank the member for Braitling for her support of the HomeNorth innovations I have announced. I am pleased that her constituents will benefit. While I appreciate her comments on the public housing in Alice Springs, I have had a letter in my in tray, which I hand delivered to her tonight responding to concerns that she raised at a meeting with myself and a senior departmental officer, Fiona Chamberlain, some weeks ago in Alice Springs. I certainly offer the member for Braitling an opportunity to respond to that correspondence if she is at all unhappy with what I have been able to pass onto her in regards to action being taken on the public housing issues she raised at said meeting. I believe that my department works very hard to address issues that are raised with them and would appreciate members opposite and Independent members raising concerns so that they can be addressed.
I thank the member for Katherine for her support. She raised one concern that people would get in over their heads under this scheme. I announced today that there are measures in place to have an arrears management program. That is a first, I believe, and it has been welcomed. I am sure people will take the opportunity to use that program to assist in getting through their financial hardship to continue to keep the title to their house in their name. There is no doubt, as I said in my statement, there will be problems when people face hardship or face unforseen circumstances from time to time. If anything, we do not want people to get into financial trouble, but it is a fact of life that there will be times when people will.
We also announced today that there is opportunity, depending on individual circumstances, where we can adjust interest rates and repayment amounts over a specified period of time. There is also an extension of a loan term as an option, and that can be up to 45 years which will reduce the fortnightly repayments required. There are many other measures as well, and I urge members of this house to read through my statement and the material that has been tabled. I invite them to raise queries, questions or concerns so that we can work through those. I am sure that if there are genuine concerns, they can be picked up and we may be able to take them on board.
In closing, this package is about giving people a chance to get ahead. I have no doubt that it will do that. More people will move here, more people will stay here to enjoy our great lifestyle and own their own piece of great Territory. Once again, I welcome contributions from members this evening.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr VATSKALIS (Mines and Energy): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
I would like to make some comments about the statement by my colleague, the Minister for Housing. It is a terrific project. Just last week I was door knocking in my area and I was stopped by one of my constituents who told me she could not afford to buy a Housing Commission house because her income was deemed to be very low.
One thing I urge the minister to consider is that a significant number of people living in Housing Commission houses are migrants who have arrived in the Territory recently, and some of the longer-term migrants do not have good English skills. I urge you to translate the package into some of these languages so these people will understand it and will have access to housing. Some of the Greek migrants want to buy their house, and have for a long time, but they do not understand the technicalities of the current system. Many times, I have had to go through the system and explain to them how they can buy the house with a standard loan rate. I urge the department to translate this information to some basic languages so that people can understand how they can acquire their own house, because these are long term Territorians.
I would like to speak today about the Power and Water Corporation’s Environmental Excellence Award. It is a great idea – how to assess people’s use of water and power and how to save water. People have been successful in reducing their consumption of power and water. This afternoon when I was out there having a look at the different awards, I came across three pamphlets. One is the 2004 nominee in a domestic category, and Mr Gunther Walder, one of my constituents, has been nominated for using natural conditions.
Mr Walder lives in Nakara, and I was very impressed with his house. As a matter of fact, I do not think you can see too much of his house because it is covered by natural vegetation, incorporating palms and some native trees. As a result, Mr Walder does not use his airconditioning as much as other people. His house is shielded from the weather and from the sun, and he uses natural airconditioning with louvred windows, open windows and a very open garden. Congratulations to Mr Walder. It is a great initiative. If you are in Nakara, it is on the corner of Adcock and Rattray Streets, and you will see one of the most beautiful verges in Darwin. I believe Mr Walder will receive an award for his wonderful nature strip.
It is something very good, but simple, and people can make a difference in a simple way. You certainly can make a difference with the use of water. I was looking at the pamphlet distributed by Power and Water, and you can see some consumption figures such as how much it costs to run a small airconditioner – 35 cents an hour for a 2500 watt airconditioner. Compare that to a ceiling fan of 80 watts which uses 1.1 per hour. How many times do we leave our houses leaving the fans spinning, leaving the airconditioner running, saying ‘She’ll be right’? Then we get the bill and we find out how much money we have to pay this quarter to Power and Water.
We can easily find out about new equipment that uses less electricity, less power and can actually select them at the electrical store. You can pick out the equipment by the stars. The more stars they have, the more energy efficient they are. I recall when I was growing up in Greece, most of the European whitegoods were rated then, but they also used very energy efficient equipment because the power in Europe is very expensive. In Europe, you will never see a top loading washing machine, because they use too much water and too much power. Instead, you will see front loaders. A front loader will use about one fifteenth of the water that a top loader will use for a full wash, and much less power. You can be clever and look around for equipment that will provide you with savings through less electricity. They may be expensive initially, not significantly expensive but more expensive than common equipment, but in the long term will provide savings.
At the awards I saw that the 2004 nominee for the Community and Local Government Award were two schools in my area. Dripstone High School has instigated a very good recycling system. The children have put in a place a system that recycles everything that comes to the school, from the school canteen, to glass, cans, even the paper they use at school. Every week, the children put out the yellow bins full of recycling product. They are emptied and distributed to different classes. Even the teachers participate in that - at happy hour most of the glass and the cans go into the recycling bins. I can vouch for this because my wife teaches there and I have been to some of the happy hours held at Dripstone High School.
It is significant, because you see the children, from a very early age, learn about the benefits of recycling, how not to waste resources because they are very difficult to replenish, and certainly producing them again from scratch is very power hungry. One of the most expensive parts of producing aluminium is the electricity utilised for the conversion from alumina to aluminium.
The other school that was nominated was Alawa Primary School. Alawa Primary School has an animal farm – a school farm which is a unique initiative in an Australian primary school. The children involved in this initiative enclosed part of the gardens at the school in which they put the animals, their vegetable garden, and a tree garden. They also instigated a system where they can use the manure from the ducks to fertilise the vegetable gardens, and learn about recycling of natural resources. I went to the school farm when it was in its infancy and I was worried at that time because it had a very small fence. I did not want, come Monday, kids coming to the school and finding that some dogs or vandals had destroyed the farm and killed the animals. I worked together with the principal and I thank the minister for education for approving a grant of $14 000 to erect a fence to protect the animals.
The children have done a lot of work. They have now established vegetable gardens, they have ducks and geese; they were given a piglet which is replaced regularly. It has become a feature. Primary schools in Darwin are queuing up to bring their students to this farm to spend two or three hours every week so the kids can come in contact with the animals and with the system that this school has put in place.
I congratulate the Alawa Primary School and the Dripstone High School for their initiative. It is significant to teach young Australians, from an early age, to protect the environment, to learn recycling, and to conserve energy and water. I congratulate Gunther Walder, and his wife, Margaret, for their initiative in converting their house to an airconditioning-free house by planting, in strategic places, plants and trees that seal their house.
I have to admit that my family is power hungry. When you have young children, they seem to believe that electricity comes for free. Anywhere they walk they just turn on the switch and off they go and the lights will be on. When they leave their bedrooms the light and the fan stay on. You are always behind them trying to urge them …
Mr Burke: You would cause consternation in our household, I can tell you!
Mr VATSKALIS: You are trying to argue with them that you do not have to leave your fan on when you are not there, and you can pull the curtains and natural light will come into your room.
The argument they do not understand is by leaving some of the electrical equipment on, the amount of power that is consumed. How many times do we leave the computer on stand-by or the video, or the DVD? The reality is, when they are on stand-by, they consume electricity - not as much as when they are operating, but they are still consuming electricity. By leaving your computer in stand-by mode, it will cost you $100 per year. In modern houses, every child wants to have his or her own computer, video and television. If you accumulate all this equipment and it remains on stand-by, you can probably waste about $1000 to $2000 a year.
It is not only that you waste money from your own pocket. The fact is that this energy has to be produced by burning something - fossil fuels or gas. In our case, we have a clean energy source which is natural gas. In other places in the world, and even in Australia, they are using coal, with significant greenhouse emissions.
The Environmental Excellence Award is a very good idea. I congratulate the Power and Water Corporation for this idea, and all the participants - even the people who were game enough to put their name up and later found they consumed a significant amount of energy in the house, like John Baskerville, who works for the Chief Minister’s Department in Alice Springs. He was found to consume the most energy of any other Territorian in the Northern Territory, and he was not very impressed about it. I also congratulate my colleague, the member for Karama, for her clever use of water. She was nominated in a domestic category for saving water. Congratulations to all participants.
It is very interesting to read some of the leaflets that are distributed by Power and Water and take some lessons on how much we can save by just applying very simple, clever steps in our own house.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I was not in the House during the censure motion yesterday morning, but I read the transcript of Hansard today, and also the newspaper article. I noted that the Speaker departed the Chair to participate in that debate, and it is in that context that I make my remarks this evening.
I say at the outset that I hope my remarks are seen in the constructive way I intend to outline my argument. I do not intend to play politics in this Chamber tonight, but hopefully to help to strengthen the role and status of Madam Speaker in this House.
Whilst the standing orders of this House provide no guidance on the proprietary of the Speaker vacating the Chair to participate in debate, the House of Representatives Practice provides the appropriate guidance of the status role and decisions by the Speaker on how they conduct themselves, and it is in that context I refer to the House of Representative Practice.
Apart from a very interesting historical reference of how Speakers came to be, the fact that many of them were executed because of their role in opposing monarchical rule in the early stages of the Westminster system, and that is the reason why they used to be hauled up to take the job of Speaker. No one wanted to do it because there was a limited tenure on your life, and that is why the Speaker is gently, in accordance with that custom, escorted to the Chair. It reflects on that history.
In looking at the history of the role and status of the Speaker, I do believe it gives us excellent guidance as to where and how the Speaker should conduct themselves in this Chamber. I quote from the House of Representatives Practice in a couple of areas:
- For the purposes of this text it is sufficient to say that it is an office of great importance not only in its
significant and onerous duties but particularly for what it is held to represent. The following comments
by modern day Speakers serve to illustrate this:
- … it may fairly be said that as an institution parliament has proved its enduring worth through
the test of time; secondly, parliament’s past helps us to understand more fully its modern role
and present-day organisation. To a large extent, the same holds true of the Speakership of
the House of Commons, an office almost as old as parliament itself.
… the Speaker represents, in a very real sense, the right of freedom of speech in the parliament,
which was hard won from a monarchical executive centuries ago. The parliament must constantly
be prepared to maintain its right of freedom of speech. I regard the symbolism of the wig and the
gown as reminding all honourable members of our purposes here - freedom of speech, without fear
or favour.
It goes on to say has the constant support and advice of the principal permanent officers of the House, principally the Clerk of the House.
In another reference to the impartiality of the Chair, the House of Representative Practice says this:
- One of the hallmarks of good Speakership is the requirement for a high degree of impartiality in the execution
of the duties. This important characteristic of office has been developed over the last two centuries to a point
where in the House of Commons the Speaker abandons all party loyalties and is required to be impartial on
all party issues both inside and outside the House. In concert with this requirement the principle has been
well established that the Speaker continues in office until ceasing to be a member of the House. According to
May:
- Confidence in the impartiality of the Speaker is an indispensable condition of the successful
workings of procedure, and many conventions exist which have as their object not only to
ensure the impartiality of the Speaker but also ensure that his or her impartiality is generally
recognised. He or she takes no part in debate, either in the House or in committee. He or she votes
only when the voices are equal, and then only in accordance with the rules which preclude the
expression of opinion upon the merits of a question.
As a rule, the Speaker does not indulge in the actual debating and law making processes of the House but it does give an important exception to that on page 209 where it deals with occasions when Speakers have departed the Chair to participate in debate. It states:
- It is unusual for a Speaker to participate in a debate in the House or in committee. Although there is no
standing order which prohibits such participation and there have been instances where this has happened,
such action in the modern House would be regarded as out of character with the status and role of the Speaker
unless the matter under debate is of a peculiarly parliamentary nature falling within the responsibilities of
the Speaker.
In summary, the House of Representatives Practice lists the duties of the Speaker that are many and often onerous. Predominant among them are to preserve the right of freedom of speech in the Chamber without fear or favour. The Speaker is assisted in this role with the advice of the Clerk.
It is also important to note that there was nothing to preclude the Speaker from vacating the Chair and I think it needs to be supported. In fact, because we are a unicameral House, because in this case Madam Speaker is the only representative of her electorate, I support that Madam Speaker does vacate the Chair on occasions and does speak on issues particularly pertaining to her electorate. It is the same with other issues: Madam Speaker is quite strong in her concern on issues of container deposit legislation. She has strong views about domestic violence against Aboriginal women, and on those sorts of issues, I support and encourage her contribution.
But if we bear in mind the structures and conventions that are outlined in House of Representatives Practice, I believe it was not constructive to the status of the office that Madam Speaker, in a contribution as the member for Braitling in yesterday’s debate, spoke in the way she did. If you read Hansard, I do not believe anyone could take issue with the fact that what Madam Speaker said was highly, and by her own words, ‘admittedly emotive’. It contained derogatory comments against individuals - one was the Deputy Leader of the Opposition; one was a person who could not defend themselves in this House, a newspaper proprietor in Alice Springs. Her contribution was accusatory against one side of the House and it sided strongly with the government. I think at one stage she said the censure motion should have been moved against the opposition by the government.
In fact, on a couple of occasions in her contribution, she was cautioned for breaching standing orders by the Deputy Speaker and in terms of the conventions of the House, Madam Speaker spoke in the debate in front of the second opposition speaker, such that the debate, when it was finished, was a three-two contribution with the opposition on their own censure motion being one less able to contribute to the debate.
Another important point, and the main point I want to make, is that Madam Speaker has every right to speak as the member for Braitling on a number of issues. I support that. However, the newspaper headline clearly shows that the position of Speaker is not transportable. If Madam Speaker leaves the Chair, and speaks as the member for Braitling, she has to be very careful that her contribution does not detract from the status of the office. The newspaper headline today states: ‘Speaker gives up Chair to blast CLP’. There is no doubt in that headline that the inference of the newspaper report was that the Speaker gave the admonishment, not the member for Braitling. The sub-editorial headline says, quoting Madam Speaker:
- I have to admit I felt quite sick in the stomach.
The note there is that that statement was made by Speaker Loraine Braham. I simply make this comment: I have spoken to Madam Speaker so there is nothing I am saying that I have not spoken to Madam Speaker about, and I am quite confident that she understands my point of view.
As I said, I do not intend to play politics with the issue because that is quite wrong. However, I do believe that the status of the office needs to be preserved at all times. I simply ask Madam Speaker that in future when she vacates the Chair, to be mindful of the fact that her primary role is to preserve freedom of speech. It seems to me that on occasions when Madam Speaker probably feels most involved in the issue, when Madam Speaker feels close to the issue, where she feels that she wants to make a contribution in one way or another in a partisan way on particular issue, that is precisely the time when the rigours and status of the office demand that she stays in the Chair.
I am sure Madam Speaker may disagree with that point of view. However, the longer I stay in this House, I believe that there are enough opportunities for all of us to play petty politics on one issue or another, but we have a responsibility to Territorians. We are all honoured to sit in this Chamber, an honour that many Territorians and Australians will never receive. We all have a responsibility to ensure that the conventions and practices that have been passed down over centuries through the Westminster system are observed. Practices in this House need to be practised fully, not just when they suit our own purposes.
I have had, unfortunately, reasons to not have a great relationship with Madam Speaker in the past. That is a relationship I am certainly trying to rebuild, and I emphasise to her today that my comments tonight are certainly not meant as a criticism of her per se, but I feel it incumbent of me, and I feel it is demanded of me, as one member of this parliament, to speak against what she did yesterday. I think it was partisan. I think it was wrong. I think it was derogatory to the status of the office, an office that I wish to not only respect for the sake of the office, but I wish to also respect and honour the person who occupies it.
Madam Speaker would assist me in that regard if she desists from getting involved in arguments and vacating the Chair when she feels herself involved in a partisan way in the future.
Ms MARTIN (Fannie Bay): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to express my sorrow this evening at the passing of a great Territorian, Len Kittle, who died aged 86 on 31 May in the Alice Springs Hospital.
Len’s story is one of Territory pride and endeavour. He came to Tennant Creek from Queensland in 1936, aged just 19, following his family, who had come two years earlier as part of the rush for gold. Len immediately went into business carting wood, and his brother, Geoff, joined him in 1938, and they traded as the Kittle Brothers. The following year, Len married Phyllis Lennon, who worked in the local bakery. I recall Madam Speaker once telling me that Len had to sell one of his spare tyres to be able to afford the engagement ring.
I must say how much I have enjoyed hearing Len’s story on the ABC, as the oral history interviews with him have been repeated as part of a commemoration of his passing. Len was a real character and such an integral part of Central Australia. He will be sorely missed.
Len’s life is a real Territory story. Between 1942 and 1945, he served in the RAAF as ground staff. Immediately after his discharge, and Jose Petrick notes, still wearing the RAAF uniform, he applied to General Motors in Adelaide for the first GM franchise in Tennant Creek, which he was awarded in November 1945. The Kittle Brother’s business did well in Tennant Creek.
In 1958, Len and his family moved to Alice Springs where he took over the GMH dealership and the Len McConville Motors Agency on the corner of Wills Terrace and Todd Street. The site later become Shell Todd and is now a car park. In 1962, Kittle Brothers then moved to the site on the corner Wills and Railway Terraces, where the franchise broadened to include other makes of cars and trucks. Of course, now the Kittle name is synonymous with one of the largest and most successful car dealerships in the Territory, taking out many awards over the years. In 1995, Len achieved a world record as a single car dealer to hold a franchise continuously for 50 years. The GMH South Australian Manager presented Len with a gold watch and a wall plaque in honour of the occasion.
Len worked tirelessly for the betterment of Alice Springs. He became a Justice of the Peace in 1951, and after being a member of the Town Management Board, was elected Alderman on the first Alice Springs Town Council, and that was between the years of 1971 and 1973. Active in politics, Len was a founding member of the Country Liberal Party in 1974.
He was also a founding member of the Central Australian Show Society, and recalled walking the main street of the town seeking interest and support for that first show from local firms. The first show, held on Anzac Oval, started with grey skies but was a success. The following year it was moved to Traeger Park, where it was held until 1981, when it was moved to its present site at Blatherskite Park. Len was pivotal in the Show Society, serving as president twice, committee member, Blatherskite Park’s trustee and chairman; positions he held for many years. In fact, he only retired as chairman in June 2000, after holding the position for some 20 years. They named the road there Len Kittle Drive to honour all the work he did for the Show Society.
Len was a charter member of the Rotary Club of Alice Springs, which started in 1961, and its second president. In 1983, Len was named a Paul Harris Fellow. He served on the management board for the Alice Springs Youth Centre, Keep Alice Springs Beautiful Association, and the Alice Springs Hospital Advisory Board, among others. In 1982, Len was awarded an Order of Australia for services to the community, and in 1985 was named Centralian of the Year.
Len and Phyl celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary in November 1989. They would have celebrated their 65th anniversary in November this year. They were a loving couple who never even took a holiday apart from each other. Len always remained active at Kittle Brothers, even after his sons, Robert and Peter, took over the main running of the business.
He is survived by his wife Phyl, his sons, Robert and Peter, daughters Heather, Gwen, Sylvia and Shirley, as well as 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. My thoughts and sympathy are with the family.
This Territory will always think of you, Len, travelling in that Holden ute, and salute you for your enormous contribution to the Territory and the enormous legacy you leave behind. I believe he will always be a part of Alice Springs.
I would also like to share with the House this evening some of the wonderful events associated with WordStorm 2004, the Northern Territory’s Writers Festival that took place in Darwin from 27 to 30 May. The WordStorm team included NT Writers Centre staff, executive officer Mary Anne Butler, office manager and publicist, Finley Smith, the NT Writers Centre committee of management, and an army of project officers and volunteers, including Andrew Ewing and Sandra Thibodeaux.
WordStorm brought to Darwin an extensive line-up of interstate and international literary visitors to interact with our own excellent crop of Northern Territory writers in a celebration of the spoken and written word. A total of four international, 24 interstate and 35 Territory writers were engaged on a professional basis at this event. The festival hosted writers from Ireland, China and Indonesia, as well as representatives from all over Australia. Established and emerging Territory writers were able to enhance their professional development opportunities, become newly-inspired and establish fresh friendships and networks across the writing world. There was a deliberate emphasis on NT writers and writing, offering Territory writers a legitimate voice on the national stage. The densely packed program included debates, panel discussions, readings, workshops, book launches and concerts.
I was fortunate enough to be asked to deliver the keynote speech at the festival gala dinner at Mirambeena Resort on Friday, 28 May. I was certainly in excellent company. In addition to my remarks, there were also readings by celebrated Australian novalists. Peter Goldsworthy was one, winner of the Commonwealth poetry prize, Australian Bicentennial Literary Award and, jointly with composer, Richard Mills, the 2002 Helpmann Award for Best New Australia Work, and also the writer of wonderful books like Maestro, Honk If You Are Jesus, Little Deaths, Wish and his latest one, Seven Dog Night. There was Kate Grenville, the winner of the Orange Award. Kate came from Sydney and is the author of many fine books. Her latest one I am currently reading: The Idea of Perfection. There was playwright Andrew Bovell. Andrew’s award winning play Speaking in Tongues was adapted to the screen as the fabulous Australian film Lantana, also an award winning work.
Other highlights of the gala dinner were readings by the provocative and engaging Indonesian writer, Ayu Utami, and one of Australia’s most talented indigenous women, Larissa Behrendt who writes both fiction and non-fiction, and also happens to be Professor of Law and Indigenous Studies at the University of Technology in Sydney.
A real highlight of WordStorm was the strong contingent of indigenous writers, both from the Territory and interstate. Feedback from all indigenous writers and storytellers involved has been overwhelmingly positive, with local writer, June Mills, pointing out that it was the first time her voice had been properly heard on the national stage. Publisher Mark Macleod penned the following post-festival:
- The topics in many of the sessions were innovative, particularly on indigenous writing. Panels that included
people like Melissa Lucashenko and Larissa Behrendt made significant advances in the discussion.
I know that Mark has also indicated his support for this festival internationally as well.
I was privileged to take part in an ‘in conversation’ session at the Museum Theatrette, which featured two of the festivals most interesting international visitors, Irish novelist, Kerrie Hardy and young Chinese writer, Chi Zijian. The session turned out to be a fascinating exploration of the similarities and differences between Irish, Chinese and Australian cultures, as well as the different writing processes, inspirations and outcomes.
In addition, WordStorm saw the launch of True North: Contemporary Writing from the Northern Territory. Edited by Marian Devitt and part funded by Arts NT, this book offered emerging Territory writers opportunities for publication. Everyone is to be congratulated for a magnificent effort. WordStorm was an extraordinary event, maximising our strong indigenous oral culture to further the national debate on literary matters, and to celebrate the cultural richness and diversity of our near neighbours in Indonesia and Timor.
On 2 June, I had the privilege of opening a wonderful exhibition by talented and quite extraordinary artist and illustrator, Catherine Paton. This occasion also marked the opening of Catherine’s new artspace, the Gallery Meeting Room, on the Esplanade. The Portraits Alive exhibition was enchanting. Catherine had arranged the subjects of some of her works to be positioned next to the artwork. It was truly inspirational to see Catherine’s skills with the living subjects.
Catherine’s work is well known to all of us here through her brilliant portraiture. Several times winner of the People’s Choice category in the portrait of Senior Territorians, she has won many other awards besides. I mention the People’s Choice specifically because Catherine’s work speaks clearly to all Territorians and her portraits of Austin Asche or Chrisoula Anictomatis over recent years are proof of her remarkable talent.
Originally from Great Britain, we are fortunate that Catherine has chosen the Territory as the place to base herself, to display her work, and raise her family. As an illustrator, Catherine has produced an extraordinary portfolio of work for some of the most prestigious publishers in London. Her portfolio is characterised by artful imagination, exploring themes in fantasy, mythology and religion. Most of those illustrations were produced in watercolour and airbrush but more recently she has turned her attention to oils and portraiture. I welcome the addition of the Gallery Meeting Room to Darwin’s fraternity of fine art. I am sure my colleagues join with me and wish Catherine the very best for her new venture. She is really determined to make a living, and this is ambitious in a city the size of Darwin and also a place the size of the Territory, out of her art, and particularly, out of painting portraits, and I certainly wish her luck.
Finally tonight, I would like to tell the House about Intimate Encounters, a photographic exhibition exploring disability and sexuality, that I opened at Top Coins and Fine Art Gallery in the Mall on 12 May. This exhibition will be familiar to my colleagues because it was originally proposed for the Great Hall here at Parliament House. Because the exhibition deals frankly with graphic images of sexuality, Madam Speaker, although a supporter of the aims of the exhibition itself, was of the view that it would be inappropriate at a venue which children and the general public frequent. This view, I might also say, was supported by Browns Mart which in their original application suggested that arrangements might need to be made for limiting access by young people unaccompanied by an adult. Since that would not be possible in the Great Hall at parliament, the decision was made to exhibit at Top Coins and Fine Art Gallery in the Mall.
This came about because the owner of Top Coins, Michael Moriarty, heard the topic being discussed on ABC Radio and rang in to Annie Gaston to offer his gallery for the exhibition. Michael supported the idea behind the exhibition and his gallery had wheelchair access which of course was an important requirement. This arrangement represents an excellent partnership between private business and the arts and is something I would encourage in the future.
The exhibition was funded by Visions of Australia and the touring component managed through Artback with Denise Officer. Artback does not have the charter to tour exhibitions to Darwin so this leg of the tour was funded through the Darwin Arts and Disabilities Steering Committee. This committee is a partnership between arts and health, and is supported by a number of organisations including Darwin City Council which also provided some in kind support.
The photographs have been taken over some years by leading Australian photographer, Belinda Mason-Lovering. Kiersten Fishburn, curator at Accessible Arts, wrote in the catalogue essay:
- For us as viewers, it is not only a beautiful and thought provoking exhibition but a chance to identify the
commonalities of the need for love, for connectedness, for sexual and creative expression … Intimate Encounters
creates a dialogue that allows disability ‘voices’ to be heard; it is one step in integrating these voices into our
cultural and community conversations.
The opening was a marvellous celebration of the Darwin arts community and well attended with representatives from health, the arts, disabilities organisations, people with disabilities, and the then city council alderman, Robyne Burridge, and the community.
I must say I was unprepared for what I would see in the exhibition. Certainly, there were extremely frank images of nudity and sexuality. I was not sure how I would react, but the beauty, wit and the optimism that filled this exhibition really surprised me and surprised others who were there. It was a celebration, exuberant and full of life.
The exhibition toured to Katherine and Alice Springs where it was also well attended, although I understand there was some controversy in Alice Springs. I suppose art is there to challenge us and stimulate discussion as well as to provide an aesthetic ideal.
My thanks and appreciation to all who were involved in this exhibition, especially Darwin City Council; Ken Conway from Brown’s Mart; Denise Officer from Artback; Kiersten Fishburn from Accessible Arts; Michelle Lovett, the Auslan interpreter; Graham Buxton from Carpentaria Disability Services; Bill Medley, President of Total Recreation, who also spoke; and Michael Moriarty, the owner of Top Coins and Fine Arts, who made this possible. I also thank all the people who shared their stories with Belinda Mason-Lovering, which resulted in these beautiful and quite thought-provoking photographs; a very worthwhile event.
Mr STIRLING (Nhulunbuy): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, last Wednesday night I was invited to CSM Technology to help celebrate the achievements of their information technology cadets. These young people are indeed a credit to themselves and to CSM Technology. CSM is renowned in the Territory for its strong commitment to providing training and mentoring services to young Territorians. This is one of the reasons that Kim Ford, the General Manager of CSM, was chosen to head up the Ministerial Advisory Board on Employment and Training.
This impressive group of young people aged between 15 and 20 has spent the past two years attending CSM weekly after school for a program mixing work and learning. The goal of the cadet program is to take secondary students with a talent for IT and bring them into the business in an innovative way to provide valuable real-world experience in the IT industry.
I have had some contact with the program over the past few years, and I have been extremely impressed with the skills of each cadet and their ability to apply them into practical tasks. I am inspired by the enthusiasm and passion these young people have for IT. They were involved in projects ranging from games manufacturing, to robotics, web design and video production. Four cadets are now doing part-time work for CSM. Others have secured jobs with firms around Darwin. Congratulations to these young people on their success and hard work. They are great role models for other young Territorians.
The cadets included: Wendy-Louise Canning of Casuarina Senior College. Wendy’s interest was digital filming and editing; Sam Condon from Kormilda College who is doing a mini CD of business cards; Ben Edgar, from Darwin High School, whose speciality is games making; Michael Gooding, from Charles Darwin University, is into web design and works part-time at CSM; Kate Greene from Charles Darwin University, whose skills were within networking; Daniel Merrifield, also from Charles Darwin University, has been involved in games making and works part-time at CSM; Ryan Oliver from Casuarina Senior College, whose interest is networking; Nicholas Quirke from Kormilda College who is involved with robotics; Correy Saunders from Charles Darwin University does web design; Angus Thomson from Casuarina Senior College is interested in robotics; and Kevin Turner from Charles Darwin University who interested in networking. Kevin also works part-time at CSM Technology.
Many of these young people’s parents were there on the evening as well, which is good to see. These cadets have shown what our young people can do and behind them is some very committed training and support staff. I commend Kim and the staff at CSM for their commitment to supporting, encouraging and training these young Territorians.
Several of the mentors and coordinators were presented with certificates of recognition at the cadet graduation: Shaun Metcalf, Richard Spillet, Daryl The, Wayne Mather, Jerry Pilkolous, Rob Orton, Rob Simmons, the IT specialist at CSM Technology; Tarsha Steele and Linda Pollard, the Cadet Coordinators; and Jamie Kurz, a teacher from Palmerston High were all recognised for their hard work and commitment with the cadets. Without the efforts of those people, the students would simply not be where they are today.
Congratulations to all of the cadets and support staff including the Business Relationships Manager, Natasha Griggs, and especially to Kim Ford.
I was sad to learn of the passing of Datjarranga and Joanne’s son two weeks ago at Galiwinku. Datjarranga is the General Manager of Marthakal Homelands Association at Galiwinku and Joanne works in the administration office at Shepherdson College. The contribution that this couple make to their community is outstanding. They are always there to support and assist both Balanda and Yolngu, and I especially appreciate their friendship. They are wonderful parents to the children and my thoughts and prayers are with them as they come to terms with the loss of a much loved son.
A memorial service was held last Sunday for the late Mr Djerrkura. Around 1000 people came to farewell this special leader who carried his role with great pride and dignity. As I stated at the service on Sunday, I have attended too many memorial services for these late leaders at too young an age in their life, and I will take on the responsibility to ensure that everything possible that I can do as a minister in this government to assist with all of the challenges confronting indigenous communities will be done.
My thoughts and prayers are with Damien, Fiona and Nathan, the community at Yirrkala as they move forward and carry on with their lives, and in sharing the vision that their father and leader set before them, take up the responsibility to ‘work together, Yolngu and Balanda, respect each other and make things happen for the betterment of our people’.
Nhulunbuy was also saddened by the passing of a long term resident, Mr Rod Parish, last week in Tasmania. Rod had been sick for some time. He had moved to Tasmania to be close to his family. He was involved with the local Australian Football League for many years, along with other sports. He was always ready to assist in any community activity. He will be sadly missed. My thoughts are with his wife, Rose, and Megan, Brendan and Matthew, as they come to terms with the loss of their husband and father.
Busloads of people headed for the airport to catch a glimpse of the RAAF Roulettes, who called in to Gove as part of their Outback Tour of Australia. Students from all the schools were there to experience the thrill of aerial acrobatics, and the crew allowed the students to then get a close-up of the planes and their pilots. For the benefit of those working at the Alcan plant, a special flyover was performed over the plant site.
I congratulate Anthony Trudgen, a local junior at the Gove Tennis Club, who has made the Territory Pizzey Cup Team to travel to Sydney. Anthony has been a member of the tennis club for ten years. He has travelled with the club’s tournament squad for the past few years, and finally been successful in representing the Northern Territory. I wish Anthony well with his tennis and look forward to seeing him perform on centre court in a few years’ time. The Trudgen family are a well known and great local family in Nhulunbuy.
The East Arnhem Expo 2004 was a great success. The organisers are to be congratulated for their hard work, enabling many local businesses to showcase their services available to the region. I was pleased to be able to present the Expo Awards at a special dinner on the Saturday evening. My congratulations to Gove Toyota, the Gove Peninsula Motel, Alcan and the Business of the Year, which was presented to Qantas, and so well done to Chris Putland, the new Manager of Qantas, and his staff for their assistance, patience, and professionalism in serving our region, they really do a great job.
It was a tremendous honour to receive the debutantes and their partners at the ball in Nhulunbuy last Saturday night. A huge amount of preparation is involved in the presentation of such an event as a deb ball. Special thanks must go to Bluey Douglas and Evelyn, Ian and Marianne Constantine, and Steve and Deanne Castelli, and Colleen and Debbie and the committee for their commitment and organisation in bringing together a great evening.
Congratulations to the debutantes. They all looked beautiful, and their partners who shamed us all and led their debs expertly around the dance floor. Special mention must be made of Conno, Ian Constantine, who has been involved in the Nhulunbuy Debutantes Ball 11 times, and as the ball is held only every second year, that is a great effort over the past 22 years. We sincerely thank Conno for his valuable contribution, not just to the ball, but to the Nhulunbuy community in general.
The Gove Golf Club’s 54 Hole Amateur Open, sponsored by Qantas, was held last weekend. There was a great turn out of players from around the country, and with the course in great condition, I believe the weekend was a huge success. Congratulations to all those involved and the recipients of the great prizes at the end of the weekend.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, it was my pleasure to attend the Essington School Preschool graduation on Tuesday, 1 June 2004, and to present graduation certificates to the 33 five-year old graduands, who were beautifully dressed in mortar boards and gowns for the occasion. When I was first asked to perform this special task, I thought that perhaps the invitation was incorrect, never having heard of a graduation for preschoolers. Might I say, what a delightful occasion it was, with the 33 children and their parents and, in many cases, grandparents and aunts and uncles present. It is a time that most likely the children will not really remember, but their families will never forget.
Let me extend my congratulations to the preschool teachers who organised a wonderful night, especially to Jayne Pickering, who ably worked as the master of ceremonies for the occasion, and also to the Parents and Friends president, Mrs Megan Brown, as well as the parents and friends themselves for their active involvement in the school.
There were special performances by the preschoolers, and also by the Early Childhood Choir, the Songsters Choir, ably conducted by Mrs Jill Kuhn, and a performance by the Recorder Group, conducted by Mrs Merrilyn Watson.
I would like to place on the record the names of those young graduands, and wish them all the best in their new lives in the big school: Isis Abellanosa, Andre Agcaoili, Yiannis Alexopoulos, Samantha Blandy, Adam Cundy, Georgia English, Sally Faulkner, Liam Griffen, Grace-Celeste Harding, Perri Huggett, Madison La Pira, Felisha Lay, Annaleigh Maclean, Alexander Materazzo, Patrick Murtagh, Coco O’Halloran, Sarah Puetz, Chloe Purvis, Jade Racz, Ishwar Ramkumar, Imogen Randazzo, Chad Robertson, Sophie Rushton, Jordan-Ravi Sabaratnam, Rebecca Salter, Maxime Schwiersch, Jordi Siebert, Isaac Snyder, Nelson Sonntag, Cameron Sweet, Isabella Taruminggi, Niamh Wooster and Ryan York-Morris.
Finally, I would like to thank the principal of the school, Mr David Cannon, and the school council for the kind gift of a brick with my name on it, which will go into the new school paving.
The Essington School is a school in my electorate which, over the past few years, has really excelled in what it offers to its students. It starts off very well with this preschool program which follows the Montessori lines, and most of the children who attend this preschool then graduate into the full primary school. I know that it is a school where children feel that it is a wonderful community. Many of them stay there until Year 10. I believe that there are moves afoot for it to be extended into Years 11 and 12, which will be a wonderful thing for the children who are attending the Essington School.
It was also my pleasure to attend the Darwin Youth Orchestra’s performance of Picture Perfect on 29 May 2004 at the Charles Darwin University. The Darwin Youth Orchestra is the senior ensemble at the Charles Darwin University Centre for Youth Music. The orchestra was formed in 1990, and has gone from strength to strength ever since. Members of the Darwin Youth Orchestra range from 12 to 18 years, and most of them receive their tuition through the Centre for Youth Music. Players in the orchestra gain their seats through auditions which are held at various times during the year.
The program included Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, Faur’s Sicilienne and Dvork’s Slavonic Dance N 3. What a pleasure it was to sit and listen to these talented young people entrance the audience. The orchestra was ably conducted by Mr Andrew Snell, who moved to Darwin earlier this year to take up his position as a lecturer in brass and musicianship at the CDU.
I would like to acknowledge the members of this orchestra. The leader was Angelina Duan; violin 1 - Sarah Bourke, Niamh Buckley, Finn Parker; violin 2 - Georgia Cleveland, Annaliese DaSilva, Helen Dwyer, Helen Fegan, Elizabeth Steadman, Kai-Bin Su; viola - Emma Walsh and Robyn Lambert; cello - Laura McCann, David Parry; flute - Tarryn Aldridge Frances Aartenir, Lindsay Stirrat, Charlotte Wilks; oboe - Andrew Cameron, Melanie Silva; clarinet - Alana Colton, Erin Lawson, Ada Leung; bassoon - Hamish Cameron, Tara Collins; trumpet - James Carson, Thomas Cowie, Lucy Murdoch; trombone - William Cowie; and percussion - Matthew Fong and Andrew Parry.
I wish the orchestra and the staff who ably support it well for the future, and I look forward to attending future productions.
On 12 June, it was my pleasure to attend a performance of The Dead Zone, a play by Kate Rice, performed by the Corrugated Iron Youth Arts at Brown’s Mart. Corrugated Iron Youth Arts is a not-for-profit organisation providing skills development and performance opportunities for young people aged five to 25 years in the Darwin region. Corrugated Iron focusses on performing arts including theatre, circus, dance, script writing, video and technical production, and produces high-quality performances by young people for audiences of all ages.
My congratulations go to the production team, especially Jeremy Rice, the very talented director of the team; as mentioned previously, the writer, Kate Rice; the script consultant and dance tutor, Samantha Chalmers; and marketing and production officer, Raechel Browne.
This was a fascinating story of young Territory teenagers who get killed in a car accident and spend time in the dead zone until they realise they are dead themselves. It is a mixture of pathos and humour and was very well performed and directed. The main characters were Abbie played by Danielle Andrews, Jasper played by Dylan Bennett, Travis Cardona who played Orpheus, Kadek Hobman who played Anubis and the Judge, Tamara McDonald who played Shakti and the Court Official, Madeleine Pradier who played Di, the Mediator and the Inquisitor, and Nira Quinn who played Belinda.
It is wonderful to see so many young people involved in these creative pursuits. I wish them well for their future productions, the next being Outside and Over the Top for the Darwin Festival in August.
It was my pleasure to attend the Showcase of the Stars Program at the Nightcliff Primary School on 3 June. This was an opportunity for those students who had performed at the Eisteddfod to present these items again to their school community, parents and friends. The evening was ably compered by Charls and Carlz, also known as Charlie Martin and Carly Lambourne.
The evening was started with an arousing medley by the Nightcliff Primary School band. This is a very professional band with real dedication by its members to musical excellence. This was followed by a woodwind trio by Margie O’Donnell, Charlie Martin and Sarah Winch; a piano solo by Michelle Winch; and another piano solo by Alicia Stroud. Then we had the percussion band from Year 3/4 Smith/Magee; a nursery rhyme solo by Ashley May Wilkinson; and a special item of ballet by Sabrina Stroud. We then had two mimes, one from Sarah Rann and Eleanor Stancombe and another from Polly Henry and Yasmine Osbourne. There was a very entertaining item of belly dancing by Lizzy Wigg and Sarah Anderson; and then a modern song by Year 3/4 Young and Year 3/4 McDonald. There was another dance item, the scarf dance by sisters Sabrina and Alicia Stroud.
Probably one of the two most popular items of the event was the verse speaking by James Martin and Alan Wright who presented an item about a doctor. Then there was a woodwind trio by Natasha Chadwick, Polly Henry and Eleanor Stancombe, Irish dancing by Shauna Maguire-Olstad, and a violin solo by Sarah Winch. To finish up the evening there was a fascinating one act play by Year 5/6/7 Smith/Winch about a serial killer. Both those classes were heavily involved and it was fascinating to watch.
I congratulate all the students involved and also the teachers as there is a tremendous amount of work involved in putting these presentations together. I would like to put my comments on the record of the excellence of Nightcliff Primary School. This is a school which has always had excellent teachers and great outcomes for its students. My three children have attended there and I still have a daughter at the school. It is a place where you can feel confident in sending your child knowing that they will receive an excellent education from fantastic teachers.
A number of members of this House were given the opportunity to visit the Mount Bundy Training Area on Monday, 24 May. We were given the opportunity to observe and, where possible, participate in as many activities as possible with the 1st Armoured Regiment. It was my pleasure to join with the Minister for Defence Support, the members of Sanderson and Millner, the Leader of the Opposition, and members for Macdonnell and Goyder in this exercise.
This day gave us the opportunity to view a training exercise at Mount Bundy by Australia’s only armoured regiment and demonstrated what an efficient and tremendous team of young men the regiment consists of. I use the term ‘men’ advisedly as this is a male only regiment as Australian women are not able to join this regiment as it is a full combat regiment and our laws do not allow women to be involved at that level. I am not sure if I agree with this situation but I am sure it is an issue which will come up for discussion at some stage in Australia’s future.
Each honourable member was decked out in full army fatigues and I would have to say that we looked a bit like Dad’s Army or perhaps actors in a scene from Hogan’s Heroes with Colonel Schultz. I am only grateful that we were not being called upon to serve our country in this fashion as I am not sure that we would be very effective, willing though I am sure we would all be.
The day started with a briefing on the regiment by Major Terry Ness and then we travelled to Mount Bundy for the training exercise. We were welcomed and further briefed by Commanding Officer of the Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Damien Cantwell. We were then able to observe a fire power demonstration and honourable members were invited to climb into the Leopard tanks and some members took fire. I would like to thank the Defence Forces particularly Lieutenant-Colonel William Hanlon for his gracious hospitality on the day.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I was very pleased a couple of weeks ago to open Lifeline’s new trash and treasure store in Alice Springs. It is unfortunate that the demand for Lifeline’s services is growing, and it is probably unfortunate that they have had to try to raise funds through opening a trash and treasure store because, if we think they may raise enough funds to continue their service in that manner, we are kidding ourselves. In fact, it is probably more of a service to the people and residents of Alice Springs rather than a fund raiser.
As you know, Lifeline is a suicide support awareness and prevention program. Lifeline Central Australia has been established in Alice Springs for the past 12 months in response to community identified needs for a telephone crisis counselling service. Lifeline Australia was established 40 years ago with the aim of preventing suicide by providing a 24-hour phone coverage for people in crisis. It has become a world leader in providing accredited training programs.
Central Australia, unfortunately, has been identified for some time as a location that exhibits a higher rate of suicide and suicide attempts. Recent deaths have highlighted areas of concern for a more coordinated approach in relation to the training and development of staff who work with, and may be in a position to identify, individuals at risk. Lifeline Central Australia recognises the hard work already carried out by a number of existing services.
It is a confidential telephone counselling service and its service to the community lies in its ability to provide a literal lifeline to anyone who needs assistance and can dial a free-call number. Remote and isolated communities are also able to access this service, as is anyone in a major town or community.
To some people, the use of a telephone intervention may not be considered the most effective method of service delivery. However, Lifeline’s work and training and capacity to engender community support relies heavily on the fact that the service is available by phone and, of course, is confidential to all users. It is clearly positioned to engage in safe and effective service delivery to at-risk individuals in Central Australia and the Barkly region. In fact, the statistics show that in four months, 2144 calls have come from the Northern Territory. That demonstrates a need for the crisis service and is an indicator of the scope of need of this program that we have to support individuals.
At the moment, Lifeline is seeking more telephone volunteers who will be available to engage with clients in Central Australian languages. The volunteers are a diverse cross-section of the community and many of them have an understanding of the specific issues that may affect the individual’s access to services and their vulnerability in crisis.
Lifeline has four indigenous board members who bring a wealth of knowledge, as does the combined knowledge of the staff and volunteers. Current staff have worked in the training of interviewing, telephoning, counselling, numeracy, literacy, mental health, and all training is competency based. It has 24 telephone counsellors, three of whom are Aboriginal and have all shown a high level of ability when working with callers in crisis.
I raised all these issues about the service that they are actually giving, the demand for the service and the people who are being trained because they are a non-profit organisation and, like all non-profit organisations, they have difficulty in raising funds to continue their service. In December 2002, Lifeline Central Australia was originally funded by a seeding grant from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing to enhance mental health services for the people of remote and rural areas of Central Australia, and the initial seven months came under the auspices of Lifeline Australia in Canberra. They are now at the stage where they need government support to continue to provide this service, which has been clearly identified as needed in Central Australia.
The Minister for Community Services met with Reverend Lindsay Faulkner from the Uniting Church, who has been one of the spearheads in establishing Lifeline Central Australia while she was in Alice Springs last week. I thank her for doing that, because she did say to me she would visit the service. She was also able to see first-hand the working area of the telephone hotlines, and I think she would agree with me that a safer and more secure environment perhaps is needed, remembering that these people who provide a 24 hour service are there, sometimes just a couple of them, on their own.
I am not sure whether she went down to the trash and treasure store. I hope she did. Can I just say that the owners of those premises have been most generous in the amount they are charging for rent, because it is on Gap Road, a very central position across the way from Melanka Store. Signwriters in Alice Springs have been very generous in their donations in putting up signs for them. They have been able to generate a lot of enthusiasm from many businesses and people within the town. It certainly does have a lot of community support.
What it now needs is support from this government so that it may continue, and I just ask the Minister for Community Services, and perhaps let her know that at Question Time tomorrow, I intend to have a question asked of whether she will find funding so this service can actually continue, and that it can continue to its fullest. Any service that will prevent suicide is certainly something worth supporting. All of us realise that it is one of those areas that we sometimes feel helpless about, but if there is a lifeline, if there is a telephone someone can pick up and find that someone will listen to them and give them advice, then that should be something we support. I would certainly ask the minister to support it.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, the Wanguri electorate has been buzzing with activity over the last couple of months, with openings of new programs and community halls, school fundraising events left right and centre, and fantastic music coming from an extraordinary band.
As member for Wanguri, I am thrilled to tell you about a great program which has been running and recently officially opened in my electorate. The Darwin Junior Street Stocks has been started up by Lisa Spooner as a juvenile diversionary program. This program has been working in partnership with the Northern Territory Police and Darwin City Council to help keep our kids off the street and out of trouble by teaching kids how to build a stock car from scratch and to race it competitively, formerly, as part of the juvenile diversionary program, an opportunity for kids in diversion to take up a really productive activity.
I would like to congratulate Lisa and Allan Spooner on setting up this great program, and thank them and other sponsors for all their generous sponsorship. Just the other day, I was at the official launch of the new program, and to all the corporate sponsors, thank you very much for your generosity.
One of my election promises for my constituents was to ensure funding for the Northern Territory Buddhist Society to receive a new community hall. I am pleased to announce that, with the help of the government, I and my colleague, the member for Casuarina, officially opened this new community hall on 2 May 2004. This community hall is not only a win for the Buddhist Society and their organisation, but also the wider community, as they too will benefit from this new facility, and it is fantastic to see that new facility. The Buddhist Community, South-East Asian predominately, but also Buddhists from all parts of the globe who live in the Northern Territory are making great use of that facility and it is available for other community groups.
I have five schools which are situated in my electorate. All are unique and very active within the community. There is always something happening with one of the schools, and I am grateful that I have the opportunity to participate in a whole range of events. One of the most popular initiatives that has been blooming in the schools most recently is the formation of a combined school band, comprising of students from Leanyer, Wanguri and Alawa Primary Schools. This band is called The Lewanala Combined School Band. I recently had the opportunity to listen to the band perform was amazed at the level of talent and ability amongst the students.
Along with the combined school band, Leanyer Primary School has put together the Leanyer Guitar Ensemble, which involves 25 students who play solo, together and in small ensembles. They all sound fantastic. I would like to thank Darryl Trainer, assistant principal at Leanyer, for all his hard work with both the band and the guitar ensemble, and all the staff and students who put in their hard work. I am working with Darryl to try to ensure that the guitar ensemble is part of the next guitar festival sponsored by Charles Darwin University next year.
We all, as local members, know how hard our schools work, and the schools in my electorate are renowned as well. Just recently we had Holy Spirit’s annual fete which has become a well-known event all over Darwin. I had a great time working on the chocolate wheel and being able to help with other fundraising efforts. Congratulations to Holy Spirit. It is an annual event that people come to from all over Darwin, and everybody has a great time.
Not long after this fete, Wanguri Primary School had a car boot sale on council’s election day, which saw large numbers of the public turn up and pick up a bargain. It was great to be involved in this day as well, and I hope that they make the event a regular fundraiser when elections are on. A car boot sale saw people come from all over to take part in purchasing a bargain, and they raised a significant amount of money.
The most recent event was an auction and fun day at the Aviation Club held by Leanyer Preschool. I was pleased again to be the auctioneer for this event, and had a great afternoon. The auction saw a large amount of money raised - nearly $5000 - for the preschool. The auction that I conducted raised just over $3000, and the day was a great success. I would like to thank the organisers and the preschool for holding a great event. I will be writing to thank all the business that donated for their generous support.
I would also like to congratulate Lyn Elphinstone, who was recently appointed Principal at Dripstone High School. After meeting Lyn, I believe that she will do a fantastic job at the school. She is enthusiastic and hard-working, and I know that all of the teachers have welcomed that appointment.
I recently hosted a Biggest Morning Tea to raise money for the Cancer Council in my electorate office in Hibiscus. I know many members did, and it was a great day. There was a lot of community support, and I think we raised just over $200, if my memory serves correctly. That was a great effort from people in my electorate who support the Cancer Council.
During the adjournment debate, I would also like to take the opportunity to put on record my congratulations to a number of very worth recipients of Queen Honour Medals just announced in the Honours List. Particularly, as Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, I was pleased to see a number of Northern Territory Emergency response personnel and police receive national recognition for their work in serving our community.
Commander Gary Manison – many people in this House will know - is the Police Commander of the Territory’s Southern Region. He has been recognised with an Australian Police Medal. A member of the Northern Territory Police Force since October 1976, Gary has served in many locations and sections throughout his 28 years policing in the Territory, including Tennant Creek, Darwin, Groote Eylandt, Katherine, and now Alice Springs. Gary led the emergency response to the Kalkarindji floods in 2001 when many people were evacuated into Katherine from the VRD. Indeed, such was the scale of the response that he featured on the Weather Channel and broadcast to millions of viewers.
I am sure I speak for all honourable members, particularly in Central Australia, in saying that Gary is doing a magnificent job in Alice Springs. He is well regarded in the community, certainly by the officers who serve under him. I believe he is doing a magnificent job and I congratulate him on his well-deserved Australian Police Medal in recognition of three decades of distinguished service.
Mr Steven Twentymen has been a member of the Northern Territory Emergency Services for 23 years, and this year has been honoured with the Australian Emergency Services Medal. Currently, a volunteer support officer, Mr Twentymen has carried out a number of roles over the past 23 years, including training hundreds of NTES volunteers, cyclone response, search and rescue, and assistance to refugees during the East Timor crisis, and the victims of the Bali bombings. It is great to see recognition for our emergency services personnel. All people who serve as volunteers in the emergency services will take great pride in seeing Steven receive that awarded.
Finally, I would like to join with my colleague, the member for Casuarina, in congratulating retired Northern Territory Police Superintendent, Mick Van Heythuysen on receiving the Medal of the Order of Australia. Mick, who is well known to many people as ‘Dutchie’, joined the Northern Territory Police Force in 1979, and has only recently retired. The NT member of the Council of Multicultural Australia since 2003, Mick received his award for service to ethnic communities in the Northern Territory, a dedication well highlighted by his role in the East Timorese refugee tent city, where he became known as ‘Father Miguel’. Again, Mick is well known to many members of this House as a great Territorian who is loved by many people particularly in the ethnic communities. It was good to see Mick at the Glenti and share a beer with him and fantastic to see that his service has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia. Well done, Mick.
I would like to talk as well as minister for DCIS. It is important as ministers that we place on the record our thanks on behalf of Territorians for long service public servants. I would like to talk tonight about the retirement of Lesley Sullivan, or Sully as she is better known to many, who departs the public service on extended leave on 18 June this year prior to her retirement on 26 September 2004. Lesley is one of the longest serving employees in the public sector, having provided 37 years of dedicated and valuable service. She was first employed in June 1963 - I was not even one year of age back in June 1963 - as a base grade clerical assistant in the then Northern Territory Administration. I know Lesley personally because when I joined the public service in 1985 she was in the HR area of Treasury. She saw me come into the public service and gave me a lot of personal assistance in terms of signing up and I have known Lesley since then. So June 1963, that is a long time ago.
Although engaged in the private sector for a short period of time, notably with the then member for Victoria River, Mr Goff Letts, Mrs Sullivan soon returned to the public sector. Lesley has worked in a number of government agencies in a variety of roles, including the Conservation Commission of the Northern Territory, Primary Industry and Fisheries, Health and Community Services, Power and Water, Treasury - where I first met her - and more recently in the Department of Corporate and Information Services. For a number of years now, Mrs Sullivan’s role has focussed on human resource management. The wealth of experience and vast amount of corporate knowledge Lesley possesses will be sorely missed by her work colleagues and clients. I can certainly say from personal experience that Lesley is well respected and she is going to be sadly missed by many people across the public sector. She really does epitomise the true character and tradition of a public servant in the public service serving the public of the Northern Territory. Thirty seven years is a huge effort.
I take this opportunity to acknowledge Lesley’s contribution to the growth, development and success of the Northern Territory public sector and wish her and her partner a long, happy and healthy retirement. Lesley, very big congratulations from all of us here in the Northern Territory parliament.
I would also like to talk tonight as Minister for Defence Support on significant changes and handovers in regards to command of 1st Brigade at Robertson Barracks. In June 2004, Brigadier Ash Power CSC ADC handed over command of 1st Brigade at Robertson Barracks to Brigadier John Cantwell AN ADC. Brigadier Power assumed the command of 1st Brigade on 6 December 2002. Brigadier Power has been appointed Director American Central Command combined planning group based in Tampa, Florida, USA. Brigadier Power will head a group which comprises 27 coalition planners representing 20 coalition nations. The function of this group is to perform key planning and assessment tasks for the US Central Command in support of the global war on terror.
Prior to his posting to Darwin, Brigadier Power had been an instructor at the Royal College, Duntroon and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Camberley, UK. In 1998, he deployed to Bougainville as the Chief of Staff on Operation Bel Isi and in 1999 deployed as a Colonel of Operation for INTERFET in East Timor. He was posted as a Defence Attach Thailand in 2000 and in 1998 was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross for services as the Commanding Officer of 4th Field Regiment. During Brigadier’s time as commander of 1st Brigade, troops from Robertson’s Barracks have been deployed to Iraq, East Timor and the Solomon Islands. They have participated in a range of training exercises including Exercise Southern Leopard, which involved for the first time in Australia’s history, the first movement of tanks, armoured personnel carriers and light armoured vehicles from north to south in all weather conditions. Brigadier Power was in Darwin just long enough to see the earthworks start in preparation for the arrival of 1st Aviation Regiment and the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance helicopter, an exciting new capability for the Army.
I formed a good relationship/friendship with Brigadier Ash Power. He has done a great time, he settled very quickly and easily into the Northern Territory and he is off now to a very significant role in the US. I personally wish Ash and his wife all the best in their role and thank them for their contribution to the Northern Territory. I know we won’t be forgotten and I am sure we will see him back here in the future.
Brigadier Power’s replacement at 1st Brigade, Brigadier John Cantwell, has spent the past 18 months working at Defence Headquarters in Canberra. His previous role was as Director-General Capability and Plans with the Capability Development Group. He took up his position as Commander 1st Brigade on 4 June 2004. Brigadier Cantwell first jointed the Australian Army as a soldier in 1974. He has had an extensive career and held regimental appointments in 1st Armoured Regiment, 2nd Cavalry Regiment and the School of Armour, along with staff appointments at Headquarters 1st Brigade with Defence Recruiting and in Army Headquarters.
As a Major in 1989-90, he commanded the British Tank Squadron as an exchange officer with the British Army in Germany. As a result of that posting, he served in Operation Desert Storm with the Coalition Forces in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait in 1990-91. He saw combat duty with 1st Brigade of 1st US Infantry Division and with 1st UK Armoured Division. He has held an instrumental appointment as the Senior Tactics Instructor at the School of Armour and attended the Army Command and Staff College in 1993.
In 1994, he was the Staff Officer to the Army’s Chief of Personnel. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in September 1994, subsequently holding staff appointments in Personnel Division in Army Headquarters and as a Career Manager in the Directorate of Officer Career Management. In August 1996, he became Commanding Officer and Chief Instructor at the Royal Military College of Australia. In January 1999, he took up an appointment as an instructor at the British Joint Services Command and Staff College in the UK.
He returned to Australia as the Director of the Force Development Group, Land Warfare Development Centre on promotion to Colonel in December 2000. He was promoted to Brigadier and the appointment of Director-General Preparedness in Australian Defence Headquarters in January 2003. He became the Director-General Capability and Plans with the Establishment of Capability in January 2004. I wish Brigadier Cantwell all the best in his new role as Commander 1st Brigade.
Madam ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, you just made it.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): That is my middle name, Madam Acting Deputy Speaker.
I rise tonight to talk about my attendance at the Roundtable on Legislative and Executive Governance in Federal Democracies in Melbourne on Saturday 12 June 2004 in the company of Rick Gray, the Executive Officer of the Legislative Assembly’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
We were invited to attend the Forum of Federations’ Roundtable on Legislative and Executive Governance. The Forum of Federations is an international body convened from Canada and was created in 1998. It is a non-profit international organisation based in Ottawa. The forum seeks to strengthen democratic governance by conducting programs and publishing journals, books and studies, focussed mostly on practitioners of federalism. That is, people who work in the field, such as elected officials, civil servants, consultants, academics and others with a practical interest in the challenge of governing in federal systems.
It was a well attended workshop. There were 14 or 16 participants, from professions such as constitutional lawyers, Justices of the Supreme Court, the Minister for Justice from Tasmania, parliamentary officers, including our own Rick Gray, a NSW Cabinet Secretary, and Clerk of the House of Representatives from Canberra. It was well attended and was a great forum to take part in.
It was the third series on the theme developed under the Global Dialogue Program, which is a joint initiative of the Forum of Federations and International Association of Centres for Federal Studies. The goal of the program is to bring together practitioners and scholars from a range of different federal political systems to explore a selected aspect of federalism in a format that also produces a publication, or publications, as a valuable resource for the study and practice of federalism.
So what happened? This body of people met and we were given a template on which to discuss aspects of federalism in the Australian context, which would form the basis of the paper to be presented. The theme of the template was drawing on case studies from Canada, the United States, Federal Republic of Germany, Australia, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Malaysia, Russia, Nigeria, Austria and Argentina. The theme of it was that in all federations, institutional arrangements are needed through which government decisions are made and put into effect. In some respects, the questions that arise are shared with any system of government, federal or not. The institutions must be recognised as legitimate by the people they serve. They must work effectively. They should be appropriately accountable. The formidable power of the state should be dispersed between them. In a federal system, however, additional questions arise and some old questions take on additional meaning.
By definition, institutions must be established for the constituent parts of the federation, as well as for the centre. This raises questions about which institutions should be separate and distinct, and which, if any, should be shared. Many federations exist to serve the needs of diverse peoples. In such cases, particular attention must be paid to designing institutions that will be accepted as legitimate in all spheres of government. In any federation, the complex interaction between the principles of federalism and the principles of representative, and in some cases, direct democracy, inevitably raise questions about the operation of each.
The purpose of the theme that we were in Melbourne to discuss was to examine the range of governing institutions used in 12 very different federal or federal-type countries; to consider their rationale and effectiveness; and to explore their interrelationship with federalism. Consistent with the purpose of the global dialogue to assist the countries to learn from each other’s experiences, country chapters, such as Australia, should explain not only the formal institution arrangements but also their operation in practice, to enable them to be adequately understood. That was from the template that was provided by the secretariat.
The discussions were led by the convenors, Professor Cheryl Saunders and Ms Katy Le Roy of Melbourne University. The template that they provided was a series of questions on what they term cross-cutting, which went across all areas of government. Then they ran through a whole template of issues that belong to the federal level of the government; to the second tier, which was state and territory levels of government; and the third tier, which was local government, and how they all interrelated together and fitted into effective tiers of operation.
I found this was quite enjoyable, and a challenging workshop. The views that were across the table, I feel, will help me in my role on the constitutional committee. I found it was a way of fast-tracking my knowledge and understanding the issues that we will be confronting as we march forward to statehood. It is quite interesting. What I found was the acceptance that, from the 1950s, there was a conservative federalism, it was not working in Australia, to a position now that federalism is well entrenched. It is working well, but there seems to be a bit of a push on as to whether we need all the various tiers of government.
My prediction is that, in the years to come, and I am not talking about 10 years or 20 years, perhaps 30 or a few more, we will probably see a change in the governing structures within our communities. Certainly, the pressure will be on at the state and local government levels as to which is the more significant body when it comes to representative government. I think the key will be in the way that revenue is raised and who actually holds the purse strings.
However, all in all, I would like to commend the roundtable and its principles and its goals to the House. I thank Mr Gray for his input to the roundtable. The convenors will be giving us feedback on the paper they present, which they will prepare, send out to all participants for comment, and which will be presented in Ottawa as a result of this roundtable.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to place on the record some comments in relation to the Finke Desert Race, which was recently held in Alice Springs over the weekend. I had the enormous privilege, along with my colleague, the member for Macdonnell, John Elferink, to race that particular event. There were a number of other men in our team who raced, including my brother, Gerard. It was a fantastic experience. I travelled to Alice Springs by plane, and was lucky enough to be met by a very hard working and dedicated support crew: our chief mechanic, good friend and neighbour, and a wonderful person, CJ, or Chris Soury; Mica, his offsider, was in charge of the electronic aspect of things, and it was particularly complicated from an electronics perspective; and Adam Fitzgerald, another neighbour who is a good man, did the hands-on hard yards in servicing bikes and making sure they were absolutely spot-on.
We arrived there and went through the preparation process. There were another two important people who had an enormous contribution: Glen and Clive Baxter. They run Baxter Motorcycle Engineering, BME, out of Winnellie, and are big supporters and big contributors. Without Clive Baxter driving the entire enterprise, organising it for months, it would be impossible. It is important that I put on the record - I know all honourable members are here and listening to this - that the type of preparation that goes into putting together a team to enter the Finke Desert Race was way beyond my comprehension. It is not just a rider and his best mate; it is the rider, a team of sponsors, a team of mechanics, and at least two refuelling depots.
Talking about refuelling depots, we had two places to stop at about 70 km-odd, and around 160 km-odd. You would pull in and there would be 10 familiar faces - friends, people I have grown up with, and some people I have met just recently. They would come straight to you and stop you. You felt like a Formula One driver, albeit for a few seconds. They would fuel your bike, get you some Gatorade to drink, wipe your glasses, check the oil if need be, change a tyre in a flash, slap you on the back, and you would be off. For a moment, you would think: ‘This is great. I need a break. I am so happy I am almost home’. However, in a matter of seconds they would be saying: ‘Okay, go, go, go!’ and you would be off. There is absolutely no doubt that, to have any success - to even finish the race - you need the support of those people.
On the first day particularly, when John Elferink, the member for Macdonnell, and I arrived at the Finke community, we were, of course, a little behind some of the quicker riders such as my brother and the rest of the team. However, when we arrived, it was probably one of the most physically demanding undertakings I have ever been involved in. My legs were cramping, my hands were effectively numb, I had pain between my shoulder blades and in my neck. I literally pulled myself off the bike and lay on a dirty swag. That is when CJ, Mica and Adam went to work, and they completely serviced my bike - from loose bolts to air filters to oil changes. They also fed me, John Elferink, Gerard and some of the other guys and, before we knew it, the sun was rising and our bikes were in pristine condition, facing the right direction, and ready to get on. They were fuelled and ready to go. The boys did an outrageously good job. I am indebted to the incredible contribution they made to motor sport, to Finke Desert racing, and the personal help they gave me.
There is one other matter I wish to raise in relation to the Finke Desert Race: the crowd. I have camped on the track. I have done what all young Territorians do - I have misbehaved as much as I possibly could whilst I camped with my friends there for several years running and, last year I had spannered for my brother. I was his spanner: I helped him on his bike, and did what some of the boys were doing for me and John on the weekend. However, the crowd was fantastic. For the last 30 km to 60 km - it is hard to say, because it was a blur by this stage on the way back - there were hundreds and hundreds of people clapping and waving. I was by no means anywhere near the front; I was towards the back. However, there were people still there, and still willing to say: ‘Good on you for finishing’. When you reached the finish line, strangers were coming up, shaking your hand, and saying: ‘You survived, good on you’. That is when you realised that a third of the field had not finished - people ended up in hospital, and helicopters had flown injured riders away. Just to finish the race was an accomplishment in itself.
It was an amazing experience and an event which I will cherish, as well as being, of course, part of Team CLP and demonstrating that the CLP are there doing the hard yards, unlike Labor who were not, as usual, in the race.
Another matter that I wish to place on the record is that my uncle, Christopher Paul Maley, received an OAM on Monday, 14 June 2004, as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Christopher Paul Maley is my father’s brother and probably my closest relative. I consider him very much a father figure and a person who has given me an enormous amount of guidance through my entire adult life. He is a very hard working solicitor. He operates from Sydney. He owns his own firm. He is a decent man. He received an OAM for his contribution towards setting up a program where young students in private schools, if there was some sort of a drug problem or some sort of difficulty, were given a second chance. I went to Taminmin High so I am not particularly familiar with the strict policy guidelines which exist in schools in Sydney, but I am told that at a school where there are hundreds and hundreds of young men together, even the smallest infringement meant that you were effectively ostracised and kicked out from the school. So, a young man who really may have experimented on a very one-off type event into drugs, would be effectively kicked out of the school. His life would at least come to an abrupt end and perhaps even a turn for the worst.
There was a program introduced and my uncle Chris did an enormous amount of work to put together a program with the right support people to persuade principals that young men can be given a second chance. Young men can be the subject of a suspended sentence, I suppose, and, given the chance, most young men won’t do the wrong thing and they will be grateful and acknowledge the support that they have been given and move forward. I thought I would place it on the record as the only Maley in parliament in Australia, my respect and admiration for my uncle, Christopher Paul Maley, and his fantastic award which he received, and was well deserved, on Monday. Congratulations, and I am sure honourable members will agree with me in wishing him the very best.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I wish to inform the House about the passing of a brave and dedicated leader of the people of the Gunbalanya region of my electorate. Not so long ago, I also talked about another great man who was given the honour of an OAM as well. Unfortunately, this lady had not but certainly the role that she played particularly in this community needs to be recognised.
Mrs Nganjmirra was the wife of the world famous artist and bark painter and was a source of great strength to him and their large family. Although her husband passed away some years ago, Mrs Nganjmirra continued to encourage the artistic ambitions of her children, cleverly realising that this was an excellent way to maintain the rich cultural traditions of her people. Consequently, paintings by her husband and children hang in galleries and private collections throughout the world, including I am proud to say, our own Northern Territory Museum of Arts and Science Collection.
Mrs Nganjmirra had devoted the last years of her life to fighting substance abuse amongst her people and she had done this in a loving, caring way. Her approach was always one of building up the self-esteem of the young people in Gunbalanya who were in trouble and talking to them about the damage alcohol, and in particular, petrol sniffing and gunga, was doing to their minds and bodies. She, like her husband, had always been a wholehearted supporter of the outstation movement and saw the growth of substance abuse, particularly in the major communities, as all the more reason to make the outstation movement strong, independent and secure. It was two outstations like her own near Gunbalanya that young people could go always with Mrs Nganjmirra’s able support and encouragement to collect themselves, re-establish links with family and country, and get well again. She did this with scores of young people.
Mrs Nganjmirra was an especially strong advocate for the rights of women and children and I know that particularly for a lot of the young women out there, she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
I note the appointment by Dr Kemp, the Federal Environment Minister, of the Martin government’s nomination to the Board of Management of Kakadu National Park. I refer to that outstanding Territorian, Marilynne Paspaley. Marilynne Paspaley is a very successful business woman who is particularly adept at getting things done. I am sure Marilynne and her family are very well known to members here, what with her being Executive Director of the Paspaley Group of Companies, Publisher of the Group’s company magazine, an actress with many national and international credits, and the fact that she has established retail networks all over Australia and the world.
Perhaps not so well known is that Marilynne Paspaley is an Honorary of the highly prestigious Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World and also that Paspaley Group interests include not only pearling, but also technology, ship building, engineering, aviation and real property. Marilynne Paspaley’s’ appointment to the Kakadu Board of Management is an historic one. I congratulate her and the Chief Minister for the thorough way they approached the nomination process.
The Chief Minister nominated Marilynne quite some time ago and, to her great credit, Marilynne accepted on the basis that the board would have the ultimate say on her acceptability. She visited the park a number of times in this process, sitting down with other board members as a quiet and humble observer. I am informed that the board was very impressed with her and the fact that she was prepared to take so much time from her busy schedule to listen and learn, and that she obviously had much to offer the board by way of her business acumen, her knowledge of corporate governance and of marketing and promotion. I am sure she will be an outstanding Board of Management representative and, with other board members, contribute mightily to the important role Kakadu plays and will continue to play in the Northern Territory for the betterment of all.
The appointment of John Morse, the man who masterminded the Sydney Olympics tourism marketing strategy to develop the new tourism vision for Kakadu and Marilynne Paspaley’s appointment make me even more confident about the healthy future of Kakadu Park.
I was able to visit another Territory icon recently and that was the Merrepen Arts Festival held every year at the Nauiyu community at Daly River. This festival has been going on for many years and continues to go from strength to strength. It is wonderful to see so many Territorians together enjoying the pleasures of looking at and buying some of the great paintings and weavings this community is famous for.
Miriam Rose Baumann was a marvellous host, as she has been for this progressive community for many, many years. Miriam is, of course, is not only a fine educator, but an outstanding role model for indigenous women everywhere. She is also an excellent artist in her own right. The community council chairperson is Mark Casey, a local policeman, who is doing a great job especially in regards to the youth in the community. Contrary to some of the comments made this morning when I talked about the Barunga Festival, the Northern Territory government did provide some financial assistance in the vicinity of $6000 as a strategic initiative for the Arts Minister’s Indigenous Arts Strategy. This investment, for what it is, will be repaid many times, I am sure, in terms of the continued growth of the festival as one of the Territory’s finest regional festivals. Certainly, in the hands of passionate Territorians like Miriam Rose Baumann and Mark Casey, Merrepen will continue to make its mark.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight to report on a trip I made to Kuala Lumpur as a delegate from the Northern Territory to the 16th Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar.
It was quite an interesting seminar. I have been to a couple previously, but both previous seminars were held in Australia; one in Melbourne and the other in Adelaide where the delegates were predominantly from Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific. This one in Kuala Lumpur had an international delegation, with delegates from Western Cape in South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Swaziland, three delegates from India, and Australia had one from Western Australia and me. In the description, they called me a delegate from Northern Australia and I had to very quickly and repeatedly advise them that northern Australia means Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Other delegates were from the Isle of Man, one from the United Kingdom, one from the island of Jersey, and one from Scotland. Canada had two delegates, one from Manitoba, who was a state member, and the other was a federal member and he represented Canada itself. Then we had Turks and Caicos Islands, Kiribati, Cook Islands, Singapore, and the various states of Malaysia - Sarawak, Sabah, Pahang, Penang, Terengganu, Kelantan, Perak, Malacca, and a couple of regional delegates.
The week commenced on the Sunday night with a reception hosted by the chair of the CPA in Malaysia. It was a very cordial meeting. I put on one of the batik shirts and walked in pretending to be a local, and obviously they did not realise that I was not, except that they had never seen me before in their own parliament. However, when I started speaking, they always pick the accent and asked where I was from. When I told them, ‘I am from here’, meaning Kuala Lumpur, meaning the country, they raised their eyes in surprise and said, ‘Well!’ So I said, ‘I was born 200 miles north of here, in fact, but I have lived in Australia for 41 years’. They were not amused! I suppose they were intrigued that here was an ex-pat Malaysian now in parliament in Australia. There was a bit of a discussion about how I got into parliament and all that, as you would expect.
That evening, at the reception, we had to go through the registration process and we received the program, and the program was tight. It was so tight you hardly had time to scratch yourself. Apart from the first Monday morning, which was the official opening of the whole session, we started at 9.30 am. But every other day, from Tuesday through to Saturday, it was an 8.30 am start every day. Morning tea and lunch and afternoon tea were all held at the conference venue, so there was no chance to get out, unless you were prepared to skip a session and went outside to do something. The sessions would finish by about 5.30 pm. You would then have about an hour and a half to two hours to gather your wits, have a rest, have a shower and get changed. At 8 pm was another official function and dinner that night. So, the days were from 8.30 am to about 10 pm every day.
Some of us sat through all sessions and others came in and out. Many of those who had never visited Kuala Lumpur before took the opportunity to go out and have a look. I have to admit that I sat through all the sessions to see what they had to say. The topics that were picked by the Kuala Lumpur CPA included the Origin of Parliamentary Democracy and the History and Role of the Commonwealth in its Development. This was spoken to by the CPA Secretary-General, the Hon Denis Marshall.
I have a synopsis of all the papers that were presented, and some four speeches that were written by the presenters themselves, and they will be in my office for anybody to look at if they choose to do so, and I will be happy to provide them with copies.
The second session was Parliament as Masters of its Procedures, and this was presented by a young fellow by the name of Johnny Hakaye from CPA’s Namibian branch. Johnny was a very interesting man. He sat next to me throughout the whole seminar. When I first saw him, he was limping quite severely, and his right arm was slightly weaker than what I would expect from an otherwise fit person. And as we started to speak, he spoke about Namibia and the civil wars in Namibia. When I asked, ‘Did you get shot?’, he said, ‘That is the price of democracy’. He had a fairly badly shot-up leg.
The next session was Parliament, the Member and the Media. This attracted a lot of discussion: how parliamentarians perceive the media. There were two delegates who were former journalists. Mr John Hyde, a Labor member from Western Australia, was a journalist before he became a parliamentarian. While he was a journalist, he was also mayor of one of the councils in Perth. Obviously, he was quite scathing of politicians, being one of them himself, but he felt that parliamentarians tend to speak too much, do not stick to the point, do not provide the media with anything particularly interesting, and that media is more interested in short, sharp messages which they can then provide to the reading audience.
The other person who was a former journalist was the delegate from Canada, Monsieur La Pierre. Monsieur La Pierre was a television journalist who used to be a producer of a current affairs program in Canada. Similarly, he was also very scathing of politicians, saying that we are a very self-interested group and the media presents politicians in an accurate light. I have a summary of his paper also, if you want to read that.
One of the local delegates from Sarawak presented The Parliamentary and Political Scene in Malaysia telling us about their particular style of Westminster democracy. An interesting thing is that the Malaysian government - the one in power at the moment - the Barisan Nationale, or the National Front - is a coalition of 14 parties. Fourteen parties form the government in the coalition, and they have two parties in opposition. They form the coalition before an election. They then decide on how many electorates each party within the coalition would have. When the election is called, only that party with the number of electorates would run in that electorate - there would no challenges from within the coalition. The coalition will have one delegate from one of its 14 parties in one electorate to run against the opposition. That is how they do it. It is no wonder because of that, they dominate parliament because they have something 90% of the members in the Chamber. You have a handful of people who are in opposition, and they are very vocal and very loud, as all oppositions are. We had a chance to sit in parliament one day to have a listen to their debates – all in Bahasa, by the way – and it was as interesting as ours is.
We then went to The Role of the Presiding Officer and the Staff of Parliament. Having heard some words said by the member for Brennan just a short while ago, this would something that would be really worthwhile reading. The paper was presented by one of the delegates from India, Shri Gangu Ram Mussafir.
On Wednesday, I was asked to present Parliamentary Committees and the Committee System. I wondered how I would make this very dry subject interesting to some 60 delegates. They would be bored out of their minds, because every parliament would have a committee system. I cannot imagine ours to be very much different. One thing they were really most interested in was the Public Accounts Committee and how we perform. For the members in the Chamber who are listening closely, I did present an unbiased view how a PAC works.
Many asked about the composition though. I said in days gone by we had three members of government and two opposition. Under the current government, we have three members of government, two members of the opposition and one independent. Who is the chairman? I said a member of government. Most of them said that is strange because in their jurisdictions the opposition takes the chair. After all the PAC is there to scrutinise government expenditure and therefore the opposition should have the chair. It does not matter in our system whether we have the chair or not; with three members of government you are not going to get anywhere anyway. So that was interesting.
I provided them with a paper that the Clerk and his office, and Steve Stokes, in particular, helped me compile with the terms of all the committees that we have had past and present which I compiled into this document which I circulated to everybody.
Then we came to discuss the Relationship between Parliament, the Executive, and the Public Service. That was an interesting one - who actually is government? Is it the elected members that is government, is it the executive that is government, or is it in fact the pubic service that is the government -and politicians try to influence how the public service performs and maybe through that influence policy changes? There was a long debate on that.
As with all seminars and conferences I have been to with the CPA, parliament and gender always comes up and this one was another topic, Parliament and Gender and Human Rights. Unfortunately, the delegate who was going to present this, the Welsh delegate, turned up a week earlier. The conference was in fact due to be held a week earlier than it was actually held but because the Malaysian parliament just gone through an election and all sorts of issues with a new government they decided to put it off for a week. This fellow did not get any advice about the postponement of the conference so he turned up a week earlier. I do not know what he did but he went back to Wales when we had our conference and so his paper was not presented.
By this time it was Friday morning, and the session was Financial Responsibility in the Democratic Process. It was a paper presented by Sarah Boyack from the Scotland Branch and it is a really again talking about the PAC and how they can interrogate the budget.
The last two papers were The Relationship between Parliament and People, and I had the opportunity to present a second paper called Modern Technology or Appropriate Technology? which was essentially about the Centre for Appropriate Technology which was very interesting to many of the African delegates.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016