2004-10-06
- Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
VET Training Achievers Awards
VET Training Achievers Awards
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, as part of the government’s ongoing efforts to raise the public profile of VET traineeships and apprenticeships, I have attended and held functions over the last year, right across the Territory, to recognise and thank both apprentices and trainees, along with their employers and trainers. I am always pleased to support organisations in the community who are trying to raise awareness through their awards and recognition ceremonies.
Earlier this year, I had the honour of presenting awards at the CSM Technology’s graduation ceremony for IT cadets. In June, I attended a ceremony that recognised 17 participant’s achievements in welding and engineering as a result of collaborative efforts between the Territory Construction Association, and the Northern Land Council.
A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of attending the annual DEET Awards, which showcase the outstanding achievements of organisations and individuals across the VET sector. Award winners go on to represent the Territory at the Australian National Training Awards in Melbourne in November this year. I was impressed by the standard of all entrants; Territorians of the calibre of Mark Harrison, an electrical fitter with the Power and Water Corporation, who won the Austin Asche New Apprenticeships Apprentice of the Year. The New Apprenticeships Trainee of the Year is Kylie Oates, an administrative trainee from the Department of Education, Science and Training. The Vocational Student of the Year, Judith Trezise, is undertaking training in seafood processing. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student of the Year, Brian Ross, is a trainee mechanic with Katherine East Autos. The VET in Schools Student Achievement Award winner was Martin Gepperth. The School-based New Apprentice Special Recognition Award winner was Dwayne Jones.
The best of our providers and businesses were recognised at the DEET Awards, including the ANZ Bank, which does a terrific job. ANZ Banking Group, Northern Region, was named Employer of the Year. Congratulations to them. The Training Provider of the Year was the Chamber of Commerce, much to the delight of Carole Frost. The award for Northern Territory Training Initiative was won by the MARVIN System, developed by the Department of Health and Community Services. The Bill McLaren VET in Schools Excellence Award went to the Burridj Aboriginal Group Training Company, Katherine High School and Barunga Community Education Centre Partnership. Each of these groups has been doing tremendous work in the Katherine region.
The winner of the Outstanding Learner Award was Susan Lantzke; the Department of Health and Community Services won the Outstanding Provider Award; and the Outstanding Program/Project Award went to the MARVIN Program, Department of Health and Community Services; as did the Outstanding Learn at Work Activity Award. These awards are due recognition for the hard work and commitment shown to moving the Territory ahead by all involved, and I congratulate each and every one of them.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, I join the minister in congratulating all the trainers and trainee apprentices who have received awards for their training. However, what I need to remind the minister is that, whilst he gets up and lauds how well the government has done, we are aware of the skills shortage that we have in the Northern Territory - serious skills shortage - which this government has not addressed adequately. With the start of the Alcan project we are going to have troubles trying to satisfy the demands of that industry. They tell us that it can only have some 60 recruits from the Territory, out of some 1700 employees that they hope to work on the project.
Today I had a phone call with a young trainee at the Charles Darwin University who has a complaint that his trainer is going on holiday, and there has been no replacement trainer found to continue his training. This has occurred across several trades. This is the problem; this minister is not keeping an eye on the ball. He has lost track of what is happening: our trainees are not getting adequate training. When trainers go on their recreation leave, which they are legally entitled to have; there is no replacement. How do you expect our university to produce trainers, when you cannot ensure the resources are there to bring trainers in?
I am meeting with this young fellow some time this week, and he is going to give me the details. Minister, I suggest that you do your own research urgently to make sure that Territory kids get the training that they deserve, and be in line for the jobs that projects such as Alcan will deliver to the Territory. Without that, we are not going to meet the skills needs that big project will have in the Territory.
Mr STIRLING (Employment, Education and Training): Madam Speaker, it is always hard to cop it from the other side in relation to training matters, having been here for 10 years in opposition asking every budget time where their jobs plan or training plan was, and receiving a negative response on every occasion. Therefore, to be chipped about our efforts in training, stands in stark contrast. The only effort they ever made in looking forward to a project, and doing some planning, was the railway. That is the first time the CLP ever engaged meaningfully in looking at a project, pulling it apart, seeing what skills profile was needed to get that project, and maximising the advantages to get training under way. They have had a couple of shots across the bows at Alcan and the way that is developing. I can tell them that the figures are looking very good regarding our source and up-skilling of our own people to take advantage of that project. We are on the front foot, and far more proactive than this mob ever where.
Alice Springs Hospital – Remediation Works
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, I provide a report on remediation works at the Alice Springs Hospital. Original contracts were let in 1988 as a planning, design, document, construct and commission project; that is, the winning contractor was responsible for the delivery of the entire project, including certification. Various building works came on line at different times: surgical ward 1 on 1 November 2001; operating suites and plant room certified ‘practically complete’ on 25 February 2002; and landscaping was not completed until September 2002.
Following concerns expressed by Alice Springs Hospital staff to the project manager, and a number of defects emerging following completion, the project manager commissioned a comprehensive compliance audit in December 2003. A number of fire safety defects in the redevelopment works were identified from this audit. Hospital management, NT Fire and Rescue Services, and the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment continue to work closely to ensure the safety of patients, visitors and staff is preserved at all times. There is written confirmation from the fire department that occupants of the hospital are safe.
Major building rectification issues have been brought to the attention of the government, including fire safety, the failure of redevelopment to meet Building Code of Australia standards, and airconditioning, which is generally overextended, resulting in problems in paediatrics, surgical wards, and the Day Procedure Unit.
The legal situation between the contractor and the Territory government has been referred by DIPE to the Department of Justice, as specialist legal advice is being obtained. Advice as to the contractor’s liability is expected early in November 2004. Nevertheless, and without prejudice to legal action, government approved $2m in May towards the cost of these rectifications; $1.5m for fire safety, and $0.5m for airconditioning, based on preliminary estimates by DIPE.
Undertaking significant redevelopment works in an operating hospital environment requires substantial forward planning. This planning is well advanced. Safety experts have been called in to assess the fire wall intrusions, and advise on necessary action to rectify the problems to a certifiable standard. A draft report is due on 6 October, and a final report in November. This is a prerequisite to rectification work commencing.
Work has been undertaken to rectify airconditioning defects, and preparation of alternative facilities to receive patients is under way to enable further extensive rectification works to walls, floors and ceilings. Western oriented windows in the main ward have been fitted with tinted glass, and shading shields are being installed. The existing airconditioning to the paediatrics ward has been modified to improve performance. Airconditioning consultants engaged to assess the overall airconditioning functionality recommend substantial upgrading in the paediatrics ward to full functionality. An estimate of $300 000 has been made for this work. This upgrade work will occur concurrently with the fire wall rectification in the paediatric ward.
Fire safety rectification work will commence in November 2004, with a target completion date of September 2005. Further extensions to the completion date are possible, depending on the extent of rectification work required as functional wards are progressively decanted, and the process of discovery continues. Backup arrangements have been put in place with Royal Darwin and Adelaide Hospitals to transfer patients should the need arise. Decanting of functioning wards is planned to commence early in the new year, to take advantage of expected seasonally smaller workloads. The planned order is: operating theatres; Day Procedure Unit; paediatrics; ICU, and maternity special care nursery; followed by surgical wards and medical wards, east and west. Substantive work on fire safety rectification is dependent on use of the private wing to move patients from those wards where the rectifications are being undertaken. The future works program will be dictated by the extent of rectification identified when the wards are opened up for engineering inspection.
DIPE will continue to manage and supervise the capital works. However, in the short-term, DHCS is seeking an independent specialist engineering expert with hospital experience to identify any other outstanding issues related to the redevelopment. This is justified by the progressive discovery of further problems in the equipment reliability, construction and fittings throughout the redevelopment. This advice will complement the work of DIPE to ensure government has access to a comprehensive picture.
The public tender process to undertake the remedial work is almost complete, with tenders closing on 15 September 2004, and offers are presently under assessment.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker. I thank the minister for his report. I have to ask the question of the minister, and I hope he is able to answer it at some point in time: why has this happened? What went wrong with regards to this project and how it was completed? It is obviously a very serious situation, and it is going to cause major disruption to the services of health in the Alice Springs area. Territorians need to know what went wrong with regards to the contractor who did the work at that hospital. I note from the minister’s report that studies are being undertaken with regard to the extent of the problem and that, in November 2004, we are going to have a final report on the things that need to be done.
The minister has known about this problem since February of this year, which means we have a nine-month period between knowing about the problem and the report being finalised. We know that the problems are not going to be fixed until late next year. Obviously, the questions have to be: if a fire were to break out in Alice Springs Hospital today, how safe are the staff? How safe are the patients? Does the hospital afford the sort of protection to staff and patients to allow for staff to evacuate patients? Is the hospital dangerous as it stands today?
Madam Speaker, the cynic in me has to say - and I appreciate the problems at the hospital. However, by golly, for the minister’s and the department’s sake, it has come at a reasonably good time for them. The budget is way overspent at Alice Springs Hospital; they are unable to staff the hospital adequately, particularly with anaesthetists and intensivists; and now we have just heard that patients may well have to be evacuated. I just wonder how much the two things tie together, but that is the cynic in me. I certainly hope things are fixed. I hope that nothing goes wrong in the interim and that, by this time next year, it is all water under the bridge.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, I can certainly assure you that there absolutely planned contingencies for protecting any person in that building. The member needs to be more careful about what she is saying about Alice Springs Hospital. You are now talking about staffing shortages, and budget situations. Yesterday, in two minutes, you managed to put three very serious errors into the Parliamentary Record. You claimed 135 beds, when there is actually 164 beds. We can give you a briefing to tell you exactly were they are. You said there were 50 patients admitted for rotavirus - there were actually 112, and there were 50% above normal admissions for conditions such as pneumonia in adults. You said the budget had been cut by $1.1m. The fact is, it is up by $4m, and we can substantiate that if you want a briefing on it. I believe you want to be very careful about talking about Alice Springs Hospital. Get the facts right.
Electrical Undergrounding Project
Dr BURNS (Essential Services): Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to update Territorians and the House on progress with the Undergrounding Darwin Project. The undergrounding of powerlines in Darwin is now well under way. It is a fantastic project that will transform the face of Darwin. It is providing ongoing employment for a very hard-working band of design and construction workers, and it is generating valuable contracts for the supply of construction materials - and, I might add, they are local companies. There are more jobs for Territorians. Civil works are well under way on the undergrounding project, with boring works completed on more than 130 properties, and over 2300 m of new footpath have been laid. To date, contracts to the value of more than $3.5m have been awarded to local Territory businesses for labour and materials associated with the undergrounding of power to the first 330 homes, and some 40 tradesmen are directly employed on the project.
Residents affected by the works are being kept informed by letters and weekly newspaper advertisements regarding progress. A number of weeks ago, it was my pleasure to go to a sausage sizzle, hosted by the member for Nightcliff. It was well attended, a good spirit there, and residents are really welcoming this initiative. Each package area, comprising between 50 to 100 homes, is planned to take around three to four months to fully complete. The first 330 homes are expected to be supplied with underground power by next month, and all of Nightcliff is expected to be moved to underground power supply by July 2005.
Overall, looking at Darwin as a whole, this $80m, 20-year project will result in almost 9000 lots and 16 000 customer connections, shifting from overhead power supply to reliable and safe underground lines. The powerlines are being placed underground by way of a multi-duct system, built in a wide, but shallow, trench in which conduits are laid, embedded in cement stabilised sand, and covered by a concrete footpath. The innovative design of the trench has the ability to cater for communication cables. Some communication networks currently have sections of their cable network attached to the overhead powerlines.
Discussions are continuing between Power and Water, and the Darwin City Council concerning the cost and returns relating to any future commercialisation of these communication cables. I am pleased to report that I recently met with the Lord Mayor and ward aldermen to map out a course for future discussions to avoid the recent situation where the progress of the works was under threat of stalling through the lack of a council works permit. I am pleased to report to the House that those discussions were very amicable. It was agreed that the issue of any future commercialisation of communication assets would be dealt with separately to the finalisation of the deed of cooperation. I will be meeting again with the Lord Mayor and aldermen in two months time, and I have invited the member for Nightcliff to attend that meeting, just to ensure that we are remaining on target. Unlike the opposition, I believe the council aldermen are very supportive of this project, and realise the enormous benefit to Territorians.
Power and Water has formally provided Telstra and Austar with 90 days notice to remove their cables from power poles located in the first package of works, which are to be removed later this year. Discussions have also occurred with Darwin City Council to ensure community and technical requirements are met, with minimal disruption to residents, and appropriate reinstatement of affected areas.
This project – this is very important – will see the construction of extensive sections of new footpath, which will be gifted to the council for ownership and maintenance. There is not only $1.8m worth of footpaths for the Nightcliff/Rapid Creek area, but $2.4m worth of lights. They are substantial assets that will be in council’s control, and at a considerable saving to council and ratepayers because of this particular project. A formal deed of cooperation between Power and Water and the council is currently being prepared. Basically, there is a work permit applying to the 28 February, but we are hopeful, through the meetings we have had with council, that the deed of cooperation will be signed within the next two months so that the project can move on. It provides security of electricity supply, community safety, removal of power poles and, generally, increasing and providing better amenities for residents in Darwin. This is a government that delivers on its commitments.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, one of the problems with this is consultation. These guys said: ‘We have $80m; we are going to do it. We do not care about the council; they are going to get a new footpath, so who cares anyway?’ What they did not realise is, the council are owners of that land and the asset. It does not hurt to talk to them. You should have done it with your pool fencing and you would not have got into so much trouble. The biggest problem we have here is consultation; talking to the parties involved. They have gone ahead and raced in. When there were problems with the permit, this bloke here talked to workers on site and said: ‘You are not going to get any money at Christmas time; the job is going to come to a halt’. He stirred them all up. Essentially, it was a storm in a teacup - he had already spoken to the Lord Mayor. He ran a political agenda at a time when he should not have, and we still have to 28 March to get this thing formalised.
I hope you go and talk to the council ...
Dr Burns: No, it is not 28 March; get your facts right.
Mr DUNHAM: 28 February; okay, you have less time. I hope you start talking to them. It does not auger well for our convention centre that these people think that if you have the money you can do what you like. There are other parties involved, and it is no good saying: ‘Well, you are getting a new footpath so you should be happy’.
While you are out there having the sausage sizzles and barbecues, and consulting with the people about their new power poles, you might talk to some of the contractors about how all businesses with more than 20 employees have to pay a 0.01% federal payroll tax if Labor is elected on Saturday. Small businesses will not be able to pay their GST quarterly under Labor and, if anybody out there is under a workplace agreement, they will be abolished by Labor. We also see that portability of long service leave will factor into the construction costs. Therefore, I hope when he talking over his sausage, when he is wolfing down the sausage and tomato sauce, that he consults about what Labor might bring. I am sure these small contractors would be very interested in the potential of a Labor government.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would like to reiterate some of the things that the member for Drysdale said. Sometimes, local government gets a hard time from Territory governments. I do not believe there was ever a threat to extend the permit for the undergrounding of power. In my discussions with Darwin City Council, they said there was never any threat …
Dr Burns: If you want a brief you can have one, and I will show you the correspondence. Do not talk about things you do not understand.
Mr Dunham: Oh, rubbish! They talked to you about it. You acted unilaterally.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! The member for Nelson has the floor.
Mr WOOD: That just reiterates the …
Mr Dunham: Arrogance.
Mr WOOD: No, the feeling that the government has to local government is exemplified there.
Dr Burns: No, it does not. It is about knowing what you are talking about.
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, you will have your chance to respond.
Mr Dunham: You threatened to take it to court. You said: ‘See you in court’.
Mr WOOD: I spoke to the Lord Mayor about it and ...
Dr Burns: Well you can come and have a look at the correspondence.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! You will get your chance.
Mr WOOD: Madam Speaker, I spoke to the Lord Mayor, and that is called a briefing. I asked him what the story was, and he said there was no threat to extending the permit. There were negotiations to occur about extending the permit, and the Lord Mayor has said that the minister knew that there would be no threat to the permit. He still went to the press and said workers were going to lose their jobs. That is what I am concerned about. I do not believe the full story has come out, and it needs to be righted.
Dr BURNS (Essential Services): Madam Speaker, first, there has been consultation all the way with Darwin City Council, right from the beginning of this project,. I reject entirely what the member for Drysdale has said. The member for Nelson could have rung me at any time, and I would have explained to him exactly what went on there. I only intervened in that particular issue when I was absolutely convinced that 34 men were going to lose their jobs come noon on Friday. I held back, and I can show you the correspondence, member for Nelson, if you are interested and want to get the full story.
We know that the member for Drysdale has always opposed this particular project. This is what he said in the Assembly on 23 October 2001: ‘I can tell you, the Power and Water Authority would not present me with a works list that had Dundee Beach right up the top, nor the undergrounding of power in the leafy northern suburbs’. The member for Brennan said: ‘I would scrap underground power straight off’. That is where they stand. There have been people wanting to make mischief with this, but I am very welcoming and accommodating of those ward aldermen who do not want to be obstructive of this project.
Mr Dunham: Madam Speaker, I seek to make a personal explanation.
Members interjecting.
Mr Dunham: You should not lie, mate, because eventually it comes back to you.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, thank you. Order! That is enough.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The member for Drysdale accused my colleague of lying, and I ask him to withdraw.
Mr Dunham: I just called him …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale!
Mr BURKE: Can I speak to the point of order, Madam Speaker?
Madam SPEAKER: I am not going to accept that sort of language today.
Mr DUNHAM: Madam Speaker, I withdraw that he lied.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr Burke: This chatter across the Chamber - for God’s sake! Everyone is so sensitive around here.
Madam SPEAKER: It does not matter if it is chatter across the Chamber. I remind members that most of you forget to even press your red button when you are having your side conversations, and all the public servants hear what you are saying. It is about time you stopped the chatter across the table and stop pointing across the table. I will not tolerate the bad behaviour today that you exhibited at times yesterday. Watch your language. That is a warning to all of you on both sides.
Youth at Risk Task Force
Ms SCRYMGOUR (assisting the Chief Minister on Young Territorians, Women's Policy and Senior Territorians): Madam Speaker, the needs of young people are taken seriously by the Martin Labor government. This government knows that, if we get the balance right of support and personal responsibility, then young Territorians stand a good chance for the future. A good future for young Territorians means a good future for the Northern Territory.
There has been much publicity and media attention recently to the plummeting property crime rate in the Northern Territory. Since coming to government, property crime in the Northern Territory has reduced by 47%. One of the outcomes has been 5000 less offences over the past 12 months, which this government is very proud of. Territorians have applauded this; and for good reason. It is a credit to the Minister for Justice, and the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, who have put in place many initiatives as part of our crime prevention strategy. Key to this strategy has been this government’s crime prevention initiatives targeting youth. The whole-of-government has worked together to target young people most at risk. Obviously, more police on the street has played a huge role in this dramatic reduction. However, other agencies have played a key role in working with young people at risk. In coming to government we initiated the Youth at Risk Task Force. It was about targeting kids who were at risk of running off the rails and getting them back on track.
During the life of the task force, under the chair of the Northern Territory Police Superintendent Graham Waite, a broad range of consultations were conducted with government and non-government stakeholders. The task force recommended a better coordination of services to young people at risk, and this has been put into action. These initiatives have been largely unheralded, but they have been very important and I would like to mention some of them today.
We have instituted an intensive family support service. This service assists children, young people and their families, who continue to remain in crisis. The service supports these families to encourage an environment that will help kids move towards adulthood. In Darwin we now have a youth night patrol called Youth Beat. Mission Australia operates this service for the government, and provides a presence, other than the police, to deal with kids causing problems on our streets at night. This initiative, in particular, has led to new levels of support in the community. Through Youth Beat support, parents with youth at risk have started their own support group. I commend Youth Beat and the parents involved for their perseverance and initiative.
In Darwin we are trialling youth centres to provide a supervised environment for young people to gather and participate in a variety of activities. We have one at Nightcliff called Energy Cruise, which is operated through the Red Cross. Government is now exploring ways to extend controlled youth centres to other parts of the Territory. We have put on two child psychiatrists to deal with children and young people who need counselling. The Tamarind Centre now has a child- and youth-friendly space to improve access for young people and their families, and the Office of Youth Affairs has developed mental health tip sheets called the Mind your Mind Kit, promoting positive mental health amongst young people.
The Department of Employment, Education and Training has allocated $0.5m for diversity programs to help wayward students. This program helps students become re-engaged with educational training and employment. DEET has also put on eight school attendance officers to deal with truancy and re-enrolling students in to school. By 2006, the government will have spent over $17m on new youth at risk initiatives. We have ensured that we are involving non-government organisations, such as Mission Australia and the Red Cross, who do a fantastic job.
These programs and initiatives will help keep young people off the street and away from crime. They will help to ensure that those in need have help to stay at school, and provide them with a sound foundation for future employment. It will help divert them from falling into the trap of using drugs and alcohol, which is so important, not just for their wellbeing, but also to the long-term reduction of crime in the Territory.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for her report. There is no doubt that youth are our future, and I acknowledge and appreciate the comments that she made. However, there is one thing that does bother me; that is, that violent crime and sexual abuse figures are definitely on the increase. We have a huge problem in under-reporting and, while these figures are said to be high - which is perhaps because people are encouraged to report sexual abuse crimes - there remains a lot of under-reporting.
As for attendance officers at schools, I acknowledge that we have an increase, but there is only one in Katherine. We need far more than that, as those poor attendance officers are run off their feet.
I acknowledge that there is definitely an improvement, but there is still too much under-reporting of violent crime and sexual abuse figures in the Territory.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (assisting the Chief Minister on Young Territorians, Women's Policy and Senior Territorians): Madam Speaker, in response to the member’s comments, the school attendance officer in Katherine is one more than there was under your government.
Government is very aware that there are still problems. In terms of under-reporting, where we have seen the increase in a lot of statistics, it shows that there is some reporting. After years of neglect, the government is getting on with the job of reforming our child protection system. We are allocating money and the resources to deal with this problem, and we are getting on with the job.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS
Pass Bill through all stages
Pass Bill through all stages
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I move that that so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Criminal Code Amendment (Child Abuse Material) Bill 2004 (Serial 253) passing through all stages at these sittings.
Motion agreed to.
CRIMINAL CODE AMENDMENT (CHILD ABUSE MATERIAL) BILL
(Serial 253)
(Serial 253)
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 the Criminal Code Act with regard to the possession, distribution and sale of child pornography, and the use of children for the production of child pornography.
All members are well aware of the police operation culminating in numerous arrests in the Territory, and approximately 200 people charged nationwide, in Australia’s biggest crackdown on child pornography, as part of a worldwide operation last week.
The timing of this legislation is coincidental. However, given the recent events, the government has taken a decision to seek the cooperation of parliament in passing this legislation through all stages in the current sittings. Whilst we do not pretend passage and commencement will impact on offenders already apprehended by police and yet to face the courts, the ongoing nature of the investigations, and the sheer numbers involved, means we as a parliament, and as a community, have an obligation to pass this legislation as soon as possible.
The need to overhaul the provisions in the Criminal Code regarding child pornography has become evident in recent times to police, prosectors, the judiciary, and the government. Most child pornography is now promoted and distributed by Internet or e-mail, and stored as data on a computer, or data storage devices such as CDs. The existing provisions in the code regarding child pornography were drafted prior to the everyday use of computers and the Internet, and they are not as effective as they could be in prosecuting offences in the current context.
The bill takes a different approach to criminal offences in relation to material that depicts children in a sexual manner or context. There is increasing recognition of the links between the use of such materials and the sexual abuse of children. Children are harmed in the production of this material, but the material is also used to promote and support sexual interest in children, and to groom children for the purposes of abusing them.
The bill, if passed, will provide a more effective way of preventing the use and distribution of this material, and contribute to the prevention of child sexual abuse. The bill introduces a new concept of child abuse material to replace the existing definition of ‘child pornography’ in the Criminal Code. Child abuse material includes material that depicts, describes, or represents in a manner that is likely to cause offence to a reasonable adult, a person who is a child, or appears to be a child, engaging in sexual activity, or in a sexual, offensive or demeaning context, or being subjected to torture, abuse or cruelty.
The definition is broad enough to capture material that represents children in cartoons, and computer generated representation of children. The definition also extends to data from which images, text or sound may be generated. This means that a person may be found guilty of an offence when they are found to have been in possession of a computer or storage device that contains data that can be used to generate images, text or sound that fall within the definition of child abuse material.
The definition of child abuse material includes material that depicts children who appear to be under the age of 18 years. Currently, child pornography only covers children up to the age of 16 years. This change will bring the Northern Territory legislation into line with the requirements of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography. State and territory ministers agreed at the March 2004 meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, to introduce any necessary amendments to ensure that the state and territory legislation complies with this protocol.
The bill will repeal the existing offences in relation to child pornography, and replace them with a single offence that covers possession, distribution or sale of child abuse material. The maximum penalty for this new offence is 10 years imprisonment for an individual, and 10 000 penalty units for a corporation. This is a significant increase in penalties from the existing offences, and is meant to provide the courts with sufficient discretion to impose a penalty that is commensurate with the amount and nature of material that is the subject of the prosecution.
The increase in penalty also recognises the link between possession of material that depicts children in a sexual manner, and the commission of sexual offences against children. The offence is intended to be offender-based, so that in cases where an offender is found with more than one item or image, only one count will be brought against them. The current provisions in the code require a charge in relation to each item or image and, where hundreds of thousands of images are found, the administration of prosecutions is complex and time-consuming.
The bill also seeks to introduce an evidentiary presumption to overcome problems where material is found stored on a computer or data storage device, and the accused claims that they accidentally downloaded the material, or that another person had access to their computer. The presumption is modelled on the existing one in the Misuse of Drugs Act in relation to possession of drugs. While this presumption may be broad enough to include Internet service providers (ISPs) who are involved in the management or control of Internet services used by other people to distribute or store child abuse material, it is only intended to apply to those providers who are aware, or reasonably suspect, that their service is being used for this purpose.
The bill also introduces changes in relation to the use of certificates issued by the Commonwealth Classification Board. Currently, under the code, a prosecution cannot be commenced until the material the subject of the proceedings has been classified. This is time-consuming and expensive, and can lead to delays in the prosecution of offences. The new definition of child abuse material does not require a classification for a prosecution, but the bill retains an option for the prosecution to obtain a certificate from the Classification Board certifying that a film, publication or computer game is classified RC on the basis that it, prima facie, depicts child abuse material.
The bill also introduces a new offence of using a child for the production of child abuse material. This will carry a maximum penalty of 14 years for an individual and, in the case of a corporation, 15 000 penalty units. This provision will implement obligations under the International Labour Organisation Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the ILO 182. This convention defines worst forms of child labour to include the use, procuring or offering of a child for the production of child pornography. The existing provisions in the code do not adequately provide for offences in relation to these activities.
The bill also seeks to repeal some defences that are currently available to child pornography offences. These defences are available when an accused did not know, or could not have reasonably known, that the material was classified RC, or would be classified RC, or where the person depicted in the material is actually over the age of 16 years. The first defence will be redundant because of the new proposed definition of child abuse material. The second defence has caused difficulty, as it is often difficult to prove that a child depicted in an image is under a particular age due to the international nature of the traffic in pornography, and the use of technology to produce images. The actual age of the person depicted is immaterial if the person appears to be, or is depicted as, a child, since it is the appearance of the person depicted that motivates offenders.
The proposed new provision in relation to forfeiture will permit the retention and destruction of material, and other items seized at the same time as the child abuse material following a conviction.
The proposed provision in relation to court proceedings has been developed because it is increasingly common for the material the subject of a prosecution to be displayed or played in court, rather than reduced to multiple hard copies. This approach is preferred because, in some cases, the material consists of moving images and it is preferable not to make multiple copies of the material, which is then left on files and distribution of the material for the purposes of prosecution is, therefore, limited. This is consistent with the criminalisation of the possession of this material. In these cases, it is appropriate that the court is closed while the material is displayed. This is important and timely legislation that deserves urgent passage.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
PLACE NAMES AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 251)
(Serial 251)
Bill presented and read a first time.
Dr BURNS (Lands and Planning): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
The main purposes of this bill are to redefine the meaning of ‘public place’ on which the scope for the act depends; require wider consultation during the process of naming or renaming places; provide for delegation by the minister for the naming of certain classes of places; and enable the minister to dispense with the need for gazettal of place names.
A new definition of ‘place’ is substituted for a narrow definition of ‘public place’ in the current act, and encompasses the natural features, administrative areas, roads, parks, public infrastructure, and places of public or historic interest that the community would expect the act to cover. The Place Names Committee, to date, has been unable to satisfy numerous requests to officially name many such places. The fact that such places do not have official names can create uncertainty and confusion.
An amendment to section 9 of the principal act requires the Place Names Committee to seek the views of organisations and individuals potentially affected by naming proposals, including representative indigenous organisations and landowners, as well as local governments. While in practice the Place Names Committee does consult widely, it is currently only required to seek the views of local councils, which cover only a small area of the Northern Territory. This amendment will ensure the right people are consulted, irrespective of the location of the proposed names.
Further amendments provide for the minister to delegate naming powers to the chairperson of the Place Names Committee, or the Surveyor-General in cases where, for example, the boundaries of an existing named place are changed, or the same name is applied to an extension of a road.
Names that have long been used on maps, or have been in common use for at least 10 years, can also be made official through such delegated powers. Rather than gazette every approved place name, the amendments will, instead, establish a publicly accessible place names register, which will contain all official names including their location and history. However, names may still be published in the Gazette where this is considered appropriate and the Place Names Committee may develop guidelines to determine when this should apply.
Finally, the amendments also include the updated gender provisions in line with Northern Territory government policy. These amendments will enable streamlined administrative procedures to be introduced to support not only new place names, but also the conversion to official status of many place names that have been long used in the Northern Territory with minimal administrative complexity and cost.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members.
Debate adjourned.
CHILD PROTECTION (OFFENDER REPORTING AND REGISTRATION) BILL
(Serial 246)
(Serial 246)
Continued from 26 August 2004.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I state the opposition’s position in relation to this bill, and say at the outset that, like every good idea, the opposition will indicate its support for the bill because it is exactly that - it is a good idea.
It is curious, however – and it is worth holding up the government’s attitudes towards good ideas and the opposition’s response to good ideas in relation to the bill brought in by members from opposite sides of the House. Yesterday, we saw some five or six pieces of legislation - which the government repeatedly said were all good ideas - knocked back. The position of the CLP is, and always will be, that when a good idea comes into this House and is well presented, it will get support from the CLP. We are here to govern for all Territorians, and not worry about the political face that we present to the people of the Northern Territory, or the fact that a bill has been sponsored by the party opposite. We like good ideas, and we will continue to support them.
Having made that point, this is a good idea. It comes after a long history of individuals and groups being very concerned about people being in the community who were convicted and sentenced for sexual offences, without having an effective way of being able to track those people. We are talking about people who commit sexual offences against children. The minister has said the definition of a ‘child’ as in the Criminal Code, will be 18 years and that is clearly defined in the bill.
Part 1 of the bill, as the minister quite accurately pointed out, provides definitions. Part 2 creates a section for reportable offenders. The ‘reportable offender’ is a person who is convicted and sentenced of an offence against a child. It is a very tight definition and the opposition is in support of it. I point out to honourable members, clause 11 of the proposed bill:
- (1) Subject to section 13, the following persons are not reportable offenders:
- (b) a person who is subject to a good behaviour bond (or an equivalent order under a law of a
foreign jurisdiction) in respect of a Class 1 or Class 2 offence;
At first blush, I thought they actually have to be sentenced and be a reportable offender. A real sentence of punishment and, presumably imprisonment, goes along with this sort of thing. I wonder whether that was too tightly written. The opposition understands where the government is coming from in relation to this and, on the face of it, we do not have a major problem with the structure. However, it is something which the government should pay attention to and keep track of, to make certain that it is sufficient in reporting in the future.
A person convicted of a Class 1 offence is basically a person who is convicted of having some sort of penetrable intercourse with a child under Schedule 1 of the bill, and that is a crime of violence - one that the opposition finds abhorrent. Rightly so, there is a reporting period attached to that of some 15 years. The opposition thinks that is perfectly reasonable.
A Class 2 offence is basically the possession of child pornography. The Attorney-General has tabled the increased penalties for possession of that sort of child pornography and, in the current climate, one can understand why the government is responding in this fashion. It is also people who have indecently dealt with a child. Without going into detail, it is basically non-penetrative dealing with a child in a sexual way. Once again, people like that in the community need to be tracked.
If we look at what has happened internationally over the last few years, we have seen vigilantism, not only from small groups calling for this sort of legislation, but also by media organisations and others. English experience has seen media groups outing and naming paedophiles in communities, and you find yourself in the situation where the media takes over a role of encouraging community response outside of the sphere of government. That can have negative effects in a number of ways.
Clearly, there has been a call for these sorts of registers around the country. The Northern Territory government is bringing itself into line with places where registers do exist and, as I understand it, the register being proposed is in accordance with what is being done on a nationally level. The CLP opposition has no problem with that. The bill requires the Commissioner of Police maintain the register. I am certain that appropriate funds will be made available for the commissioner to meet his obligations under the bill.
Part 5 of the bill deals with child protection orders. A child protection order, as explained by the minister in the second reading speech, is an order that can place certain restrictions on a person who is subject to this legislation.
Another issue I wish to raise as a possible issue for the future is how this bill operates in remote localities. I understand that where people are not particularly close to a police station, there are different reporting processes. However, where a person is within, I think, 100 km of a police station, the act will apply to them. In such an instance, I am curious to know exactly what steps will be taken in the bush to ensure that this act is complied with, and how it operates. Perhaps the minister can indicate a future review of the legislation to ensure it is operating effectively.
Madam Speaker, the opposition supports this bill; we will not oppose it. I notice there are several amendments which the minister will be introducing. I have only seen these amendments this morning. However, they appear to tidy up a few loose ends in the bill. I am sure the minister, in his concluding remarks, will refer to the amendments and explain why they are being introduced. If there is an issue with them, we will raise it during the committee stage. Otherwise, the opposition supports this legislation.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, much of what needed to be said has already been said by the member for Macdonnell. However, I note with interest that it appears, at this stage at least, that no one from the government side other than the minister proposes to speak in relation to this bill. At least two of us propose to speak from this side of the House, such is the importance of this proposed legislation.
We absolutely support the mandatory registration of adult child sex offenders. We do not need to go into detail as to why that is the case. Interestingly, the Police minister, in his second reading speech, referred to the fact that a national framework had been endorsed by the Australasian Police Ministers Council in July 2003. We commend him on taking his part at that council, and for agreeing to be part of the national strategy. Had the CLP been in government, it also would have agreed to play its part.
There is a need for a national framework. I had a view on this well before I entered politics, and believe it should have happened years ago. However, the nation was clearly not ready, which is evidenced by the fact that New South Wales has only had legislation since 2000, and Victoria and Queensland, as I understand it, have only recently introduced legislation. The country seems to have got there eventually, but some will say this is just popular politics. That is not a view shared on this side of the House, nor is it shared on the other side of the House, I suspect.
This legislation makes a lot of sense. Indeed, had a register been in existence some years ago, a number of children may well have been saved from the traumas of being sexually abused by perpetrators. I agree with the Police minister’s comments that this will improve the investigation and prosecution of offences, and greatly enhance the ability of police to investigate and prosecute.
I thank the minister for playing his part in a national sense. I also commend whoever wrote the second reading speech, which I thought was very good. I also thank the Police minister who, unlike the Attorney-General, is extending us the courtesy of referring to parts of the bill, and specifically pointing us to them. Increasingly, the Attorney-General is giving us a second reading speech, and then inviting us to join the dots. I am more than happy to join the dots, but it does not strike me as being a particularly affective thing to do, and certainly is a discourteous approach to legislation. Whoever wrote this, thank you and well done. We support the bill, Madam Speaker.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Family and Community Services): Madam Speaker, the introduction of the Child Protection (Offender Reporting and Registration) Bill 2004 is a welcome development in the framework of strategies this government is developing to better protect our children. As Minister for Family and Community Services, I have responsibility for ensuring child and adult victims of sexual assault are supported at the point of disclosure, provided with forensic medical examinations where necessary, and provided with counselling support for as long as they and their families need this professional support.
Since coming to government, the Martin government has tripled the budget to Child Protection Services from $7.8m in 2001 to over $20m in this year’s budget. Tripling a budget in a three-year period is a very substantial funding increase; it underscores our commitment. There is more funding to come with an additional $53m over the next five years. This money is being directed towards increased child protection specialists; 30 new staff having been recruited since January 2004.
Reforms to the child protection system are being undertaken, and funding increased to the non-government sector to provide intensive support services to high need families. The Community Welfare Act is being reviewed and legislation drafted, consistent with providing the best possible responses to young people, families and communities dealing with the impact of child abuse and neglect. In addition, I have an ongoing responsibility for the provision of sexual assault counselling for adults who have experienced sexual assault as children. Counsellors of these services deal with the impact of child sexual assault on a daily basis, and Mental Health Services provide support to many adults who have experienced sexual assault as children.
The social and economic cost to the community of child sexual assault is enormous. Through our Building Healthier Communities framework, this government is ensuring the cohesive development of approaches to support children and families impacted upon by child sexual assault. Child sexual assault is prevalent in all jurisdictions, and we must ensure that we work across the government and non-government sectors to prevent and respond to the impact of this crime. This government is ensuring there is a collaborative approach to address the issues of child sexual assault. Perhaps the most difficult of crimes for any community to address is the sexual assault and exploitation of children. Many adults, who, in past generations have experienced childhood sexual assault, are well aware of the impacts of child sexual assault on their progress through life. Sometimes, this experience influences adults to remain silent about abuses they may be aware of against children. Some adults stand defiantly and support children to speak out if sexual abuse has occurred.
This government has demonstrated its resolve in tackling this difficult community problem through the introduction of this legislation, and through exploring service delivery options for the victims of such crime and for offenders. The registration and reporting obligations on sex offenders is one way in which we, as a community, can better monitor and prevent access by such offenders to children. We know that many of those who sexually offend against children are likely to reoffend. We also know that many adults who have offended against children, have done so for much of their adolescence and adult life.
We have a social responsibility to establish systems to deter reoffending. Reporting and registration of offenders is one such system. We also know that this legislation on its own does not take away the need for parents, families and the community to maintain their vigilance in relation to the safety of their children. The community must ensure they continue to notice and report inappropriate behaviour by adults towards children. We need to keep listening to our children’s attempts to tell us if they have been violated in some way, or if they are uncomfortable with adults in their lives. Children speak through words and their behaviour, and we must keep listening and responding.
Recent media reports in relation to child pornography on the Internet remind us that many child sex offenders are yet to be discovered and continue in their offending behaviour. This undermines the fabric of our community. When such offenders are identified, we need robust laws to ensure professional investigation, prosecution and adequate penalties that reflect the seriousness of these crimes against children. This is one area in which we need to provide follow-up to offenders, being aware of the likelihood of reoffending. We can now be more forward looking in our capacity to prevent further sexual abuse of children through legislation, rather than waiting until another offence has occurred. We are reminded by recent media reports that child sex offenders are found within all walks of life, and in positions of trust and respect in our community.
It can only benefit our children when those who have been convicted of sexual offences are more closely monitored by police, and access to children is limited. As Minister for Family and Community Services, I am ensuring that reforms to the child protection system adequately address this important area of child sexual assault. I applaud the minister and the introduction of the Child Protection (Offenders Reporting and Legislation) Bill 2004 as another way, and another step forward, in preventing sexual offences against our children.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Madam Speaker, I support this bill, which is aimed at protecting our children. Under the bill, Northern Territory Police will be to apply for a ban by a court order, banning convicted registered child sex offenders from going to places where they may pose a threat to children.
The bill, which I understand should come into force with the new register in early 2005, will give police strong powers to help protect children from paedophiles. Central to the new powers will be the establishment of a police database, recording personal details of convicted child sex offenders, including people found guilty of sexual intercourse, gross indecency, and child pornography.
Depending on the seriousness of the offence, offenders will have to stay on the database for up to 15 years, allowing police to keep track of child sex offenders in our community. Details to be entered into the police database include the name and any former names of the offender, place of employment, make and model of the vehicle they drive, any distinguishing marks including tattoos, and details of membership in clubs or associations involving children. For as long as they are on the database, registered child sex offenders will be banned from applying for, or working in, jobs that bring them into close contact with children, including as a teacher, child-care worker, taxi driver, or at religious or sporting associations. Offenders who breach these laws face up to two years imprisonment.
The bill also gives police a new power to apply for a court order to ban convicted child sex offenders on the database from undertaking activities, or going to areas where they may pose a threat to children, such as schools and markets. This bill is one of a number of government measures to help protect our children from these truly despicable crimes, including laws cracking down on child pornography.
Madam Speaker, I take this opportunity to thank the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services, the Minister for Family and Community Services, and the Northern Territory Police for all the hard work they have been put into this important area of law and order. I commend the minister and the police who have been working at establishing the new register and system. It is a positive step along the way, and I look forward to it coming into operation in the early 2005.
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I thank all members who contributed to the debate, and thank the opposition for their support. This is a national initiative where all the states are coming together to establish a national child protection register, and is probably overdue. New South Wales has had their register in place since 2000, and it was on the Police Ministerial Council agenda close to two years ago now. It has taken a long time to get all of the states in agreement as to the detail, although states can have minor variations. Essentially, the detail which will be implemented across all of the states is reflected in this bill; however, there are some areas where the states can digress.
The reality is, as members said, that all of the modelling and profiling shows that many child sex offenders turn into repeat and recidivist offenders. This legislation, as the member for Araluen said, is not populist. It is there to further try and protect our children across Australia, and here in the Northern Territory, from repeat offenders. Those offenders who commit these crimes, now do so not only in the full knowledge that, if caught, they are likely to go to gaol for a considerable amount of time, but also that upon release they will be compelled to comply with a very strict national reporting regime. There is no longer the capacity to duck across the border and escape attention from police; offenders will have to report nationally for eight to 15 years.
I firmly believe this is going to serve as a very strong signal. It will be an impediment to further offending, and is going to protect children across Australia and in the Northern Territory from repeat paedophile attempts at accessing children. In the future, many children across Australia will not be assaulted as a result of this bill, and the reporting regime that it compels offenders to comply with. It is all about protecting our kids.
I have seen some appalling articles from the Law Council of Australia saying this is an enormous increase in police powers and an assault on people’s liberties; that when they have served a custodial sentence, they are free to go out into society. I sometimes wonder where these civil libertarians are coming from, because the lawyers who argue this are intelligent, well-read and knowledgeable people. They should look at the national and international evidence, which shows that a large majority of people who engage in sexual assaults on children go on to be repeat offenders. With that knowledge, why those lawyers would argue that somehow it is an affront to offenders’ liberties as individuals, once they are released, totally astounds me.
The contract for eight to 15 years will be between the offender who has been released and the police. The details of that registration are confidential on the database, only accessible by police. The offender has to report annually, and advise within 14 days if they change details but, apart from that, they are free to go about in society. What it does mean, however, is that the police know where these people are across Australia. In the event they receive a complaint of an assault against a child, they can go very quickly to the database, look at the areas and eliminate, hopefully, a large number of people from their investigations; and, as many of these people are repeat offenders, catch and charge the assailant.
This is great legislation, and it will protect our children. Many assaults that might have occurred will probably not occur as a result of this legislation, and the reporting requirements. People who engage in this type of despicable behaviour will know upon release that police have their eyes on them and know where they are, and that they are likely to be caught if they offend again. That should be enough of a deterrent for them to desist from that behaviour. It is great legislation, and it is great that this House gives it full support.
Picking up on points raised by the member for Macdonnell in regards to future reviews, clause 7 of the legislation requires the Commissioner of Police to provide me with an annual report in relation to the administration of the act, including the number of reportable offenders in the Territory, and any other orders made over the previous 12 months. There is a reporting requirement in the legislation for the commissioner to report to the minister of the day. I am absolutely certain that if the commissioner requires amendments to this legislation to tighten it up and make it more effective, he will have support of any minister - me and future ministers to come - and, ultimately, of the parliament.
Regarding remote reporting and it effectiveness, obviously that is something we are going to look closely at as this legislation comes into force. This is picked up in clause 34, which very clearly explains the reporting by remote offenders. However, it is something which we are going to have to keep an eye on as the legislation evolves. It will evolve nationally, and continue to provide further protection for our children.
The bill should not be seen in isolation in regards to this government’s absolute determination to protect our children across the Northern Territory. We are introducing, and have introduced, a raft of legislation. This is a huge problem, not only in the Northern Territory, but nationally, and all of us recognise that. We are introducing legislation to protect child witnesses in court so they can give evidence without intimidation and hostile questioning from defence lawyers, which is about getting to the truth - not about some smart lawyer being able to get an offender off on a point of technicality or evidence. This is about getting to the truth, and we are introducing legislation to protect child witnesses in court.
The child pornography legislation which has been put through parliament on urgency in these sittings, again, is to protect our children from people who commit pornography offences, and particularly against children. In all of those images, there is a child being exploited. They are being exploited not only for sexual gratification, but for financial gain. This bill, and the amendments that we have before the House on urgency, go to saying that this parliament and the Northern Territory community take those offences very seriously, and penalties are being amended accordingly.
As the Minister for Family and Community Services said, there is a huge increase in the budget to Family and Children’s Services. The people on the frontline who have to deal with these offences - the welfare officers, child psychologists, and the police - were critically under-resourced to perform their tasks. When the issue came to Cabinet calling for that funding increase, every one of us around the Cabinet table was shocked that the department only had the capacity to actually deal with very severe and emergency cases. The capacity to do any preventative work was absolutely zero, and the capacity to deal at the earlier stages of family dysfunction or child abuse, was also non-existent. They only had the capacity to step in when it was at absolute crisis point; and some of the stories we heard were horrific. To commit the level of funding to give the agency the capacity to get in earlier and to try and save some of the trauma that children across the Territory were experiencing, was a pretty easy decision for the Cabinet to make. I have huge admiration for the people who work in that area; it must be a very traumatic place to be, but they do a great job.
This is not populist politics; this is legislation that will go to protecting children in the Northern Territory and across Australia. It is amongst the most significant legislation that has been brought to this parliament in that affect and I thank all members for their support.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Clauses 1 to 13, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 14 to 19, by leave, taken together.
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, I put on the Parliamentary Record my thanks to the members of the Northern Territory Police Force who worked so hard putting this bill together. I forgot to thank them at the completion of my remarks on the second reading, but they did a huge amount of work in pulling this bill together in a very tight time frame - an extraordinary effort. From myself as minister and, I am sure, all members of this House, to members of the Northern Territory Police Legal Services who put this bill together: our thanks and gratitude.
Before I move the amendment, for clarification, the schedule of amendments does not really include any substantive changes to the clauses in the bill, and it really is a tidying up of the legislation. Many of these amendments are required for the same reason. I will move for them to try and save some time, rather than repeating myself time and again.
Clauses 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 and 35 clarify that ‘government custody’ means government custody in the Territory or elsewhere, as required. These amendments are necessary because the definition of ‘government custody’ in clause 3, included custody in a foreign jurisdiction in paragraph (b). Therefore, for the purposes of clause 14 and those other clauses, if a person was in government custody in a foreign jurisdiction on the commencement date, the person would need to make an initial report to the commissioner. There is no reason why a person in New Zealand, for example, should have to report to the commissioner. That is the explanation for the amendments to those clauses.
Mr Chairman, I move amendment 88.1.
Mr ELFERINK: For the sake of hurrying things up, I know exactly where the minister is coming from, and have no problem with what he is suggesting. We can roll it on and say we can take clauses 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 and 35 together. I accept the explanation by the minister; it stands to reason and we have no issue at all with that.
Clauses 14 to 19, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 20 to 34, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 35:
Mr HENDERSON: The explanation is as before, therefore I move amendment 88.8.
Clause 35, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 36 and 37, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 38:
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, I move amendment 88.9. This deletes a typographical error.
Mr ELFERINK: I have read the section, and we can see no objection to it whatsoever.
Clause 38, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 39 and 40, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 41:
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, again, for the same reasons given earlier - and these amendments do not run in a clear order so I will move quickly through them - I move amendment 88.10.
Clause 41, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 42 to 46, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 47:
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, again for the reasons I have already explained, I move amendment 88.11.
Clause 47, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 48 to 51, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 52:
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, again for reasons already explained, I move amendment 88.12.
Clause 52, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 53 and 54, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 55:
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, again for reasons previously explained, I move amendment 88.13.
Clause 55, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 56 to 63, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 64:
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, I move amendment 88.14. This amendment clarifies that the commissioner may allow CrimTrac to establish and maintain the register for and on his behalf. This amendment was sought by the Commonwealth Attorney-General; and we agree. CrimTrac is maintained in Canberra for and on behalf of all of the states and territories. To ensure the commissioner is not in breach of the disclosure provisions, it was considered necessary to expand the provision to allow a person, CrimTrac, to establish and maintain the register on the Commissioner’s behalf.
Mr ELFERINK: Mr Chairman, I seek an assurance from the minister. Is it only CrimTrac that will be given this authority? I understand reading the section, it could be broader on a literal interpretation. However, if we can get that assurance the opposition will voice no objection.
Mr HENDERSON: Yes, I can give the member for Macdonnell that comfort. The reason is CrimTrac is a national database that all the states and territories can use, and we will have a national register. It will only be CrimTrac that will have the capacity to maintain that register, on behalf of the commissioner.
Mr ELFERINK: In that case, we voice no further objections and support the amendment.
Clause 64, as amended, agreed to.
Clause 65 agreed to.
Clause 66:
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, I move amendment 88.15.
This provision creates an offence for disclosing information from the register. The penalty in any other case was found not to be necessary, and the penalties have been reworded to take this into account.
Mr ELFERINK: Mr Chairman, I want to know the rationale behind the value of $10 000 reward in terms of a disclosure. Without trying to be tricky or anything, I am trying to ascertain why the figure of $10 000 was arrived at, and why the principle of disclosure and breach of this bill is being treated in a two-tier system rather than just a general principle of disclosure.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, member for Macdonnell. As explained to me, the two tiers define the level of aggravation for disclosure. For example, if a person in releasing the information has gained a direct benefit from doing so, obviously the level of aggravation, in terms of penalties for illegal disclosure, would be much higher than if there was no substantial personal benefit. The reason for the two levels in the bill is to put in place an aggravated offence in regards to the level of disclosure.
It clearly states in this clause, that disclosure of information from this register is very serious, and the penalties are between two and 10 years. This shows people who have access to the register, that they will be jumped on very severely in the event they disclose any of the information contained in it.
Mr ELFERINK: I am not entirely sure that I understand why the two-tier system applies to a particular amount of money. I read between the lines and see it as an attempt to offset cheque book journalism, and that may well be the case.
In any case, I cannot see that there is an issue with it. Suffice to say that I am surprised at the application of a two-tier system. However, the opposition is not going to die at the stake about this, and have no further objection.
Clause 66, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 67 to 73, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 74:
Mr HENDERSON: Mr Chairman, I move amendment 88.16. The phrase ‘more than’ is being deleted as it is already included in the opening words of clause 74(2).
Mr ELFERINK: The opposition has no objection.
Clause 74, as amended, agreed to.
Remainder of the bill, by leave, taken as a whole and agreed to.
Bill reported, report adopted.
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
- Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Alcan Refinery Expansion
Alcan Refinery Expansion
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, the Northern Territory economy has enjoyed a wonderful few weeks, with a selection of great announcements on new projects. My segment today will focus on one of the most significant of those announcements; the $2bn expansion of the Alcan refinery in Gove.
On 9 September, the board of Alcan announced it had given the final go ahead to this great project. I was very privileged to be able to join with Richard Yank, President of Alcan’s operations in Australia, to jointly make the Australian announcement. It was an appropriate symbol, if one was ever needed, of the excellent partnership established between Alcan and this government, while it also reflected on the relationship the company has with the people of Gove and the wider Territory. Alcan has a great team, and this announcement demonstrated the tremendous amount of work the team has completed to get this project to this position at this time.
From our first days after coming into office, my government has set an ambition to broaden the base of the Territory economy. This was not some glib line expressed by a politician, but a genuine determination to ensure that the Territory did achieve everything that was in its potential to achieve: an economy with a strong and competitive core. A rapidly expanding set of new industries would together shift the Territory from a good regional economy into one that could stand to compete in an ever more competitive national and international marketplace.
I hope that the benefits of this strategy are clear to all. It means an increase in the number of economic transactions in the Territory, over time limiting the volatility in the overall performance of the economy, something that leading figures in the business community mention regularly. It will also mean a more sustainable economy; one capable of withstanding the increasing complexity of the world economy. When one sector struggles, we will have a number of others that will carry the burden for the Territory. Importantly, it means great jobs for Territorians, who will have the opportunity to participate in an open economy within industries tuned for the 21st century.
The $2bn capital committed by Alcan to expand its refinery operations at Gove sits comfortably within this framework. When completed in 2007, it will be a benchmark facility employing a significant number of Territorians, contributing to our export performance while utilising our resources in a responsible and professional manner. This is exactly the type of investment that economies the world over are focussing in on, and it is no accident of place that it is occurring here. The board of Alcan made their decision to invest in the Territory because they understand the full potential of this great community. It is important to always see these investments in the wider context of what else is happening in our economy.
Right now, along with the general upswing in the Territory economy, we also have the $1.6bn Wickham Point LNG project in full swing, with in excess of 1000 workers on site right now. Early next year, cranes will appear on the Darwin City Waterfront project as construction commences on this projected $1bn project. Shortly after that, it is anticipated that the $500m Blacktip and $500m trans-Territory pipeline projects will achieve project approval. That is $5.8bn of private capital investment being injected into the Territory economy, broadening our economic base and building further sustainability for the longer term. It also provides a wonderful example of the confidence national and international investors have in our future.
There has been a mine and refinery at Gove since the early 1970s. It has already seen 30-plus years of successful production and export of both alumina and bauxite. It has been an important part of our economy with its contribution to exports, the jobs created, and the business opportunities it has sustained. A walk through Winnellie or Berrimah and a quick chat with business operators there, will quickly demonstrate the impact the operations at Gove continue to have on the wider community. The project has had some challenges, from time to time, in its relationships with traditional owners, but Alcan is one of the most enlightened transnationals in this area. The project has also provided a testing ground for a wider range of what are now Australia’s business leaders. It is truly incredible to discover just how many leaders of Australian business have done their apprenticeship - in its widest possible definition - in Gove. The announcement of 9 September is going to write another chapter in the history of this most significant of facilities on the north-eastern tip of Arnhem Land.
I want now to turn to the details of the new project. The board of Alcan has agreed to commit $US3bn, or $AUS2bn, to construct a third alumina train within the boundaries of the current refinery on the Gove Peninsula. When complete, the refinery will increase its throughput capacity from two million tonnes per year to 3.8 million tonnes of alumina. This alumina will then be exported to Alcan facilities around the world. Significantly, it will provide 47% of the total take by Alcan of alumina. Mining will also increase as a result. It will increase from six million tonnes per year to eight million tonnes of bauxite. Again, significantly, raw bauxite exports will stop and all material will pass through the value-adding alumina refining process. The expanded refinery will commence full production in 2007. At that time, it will be one of the world’s largest facilities, operating on one of the lowest points of the cost curve. These attributes spell world class and world competitive, exactly the type of investment the Territory needs and is now attracting.
Work has already commenced on-site with preliminary geotechnical activities under way. It will rapidly ramp up in Gove, Darwin and at a number of sites around the world. At its peak, the project will generate 1700 construction jobs, with those workers housed in a purpose-built construction camp in Gove. All of those jobs are open to the people of Gove, and to all Territorians. However, we do accept that some key skill groups in the peak of the demand will require people from outside the Territory to join the project. We welcome them and hope they will choose, as many before them already have, to make the Territory their permanent home - either during or after the completion of the construction project.
Altogether there will be approximately 7.6 million hours expended to deliver this project. This includes three million hours on the direct work force; approximately 1.8 million hours on indirect construction; almost one million hours on engineering; 700 000 hours on project control; and 1.2 million hours on off-site construction. These numbers are ample demonstration of what it takes to bring together a $2bn project.
In terms of key construction quantities, to further reinforce this fact the project will require 1400 new items of equipment; 13 000 tonnes of structural steel, 12 000 tonnes of tankage; 75 000 tonnes of concrete; 440 000 m3 of earthworks; 220 km of new pipe; 500 km of electrical cable; plus a new boiler and turbine for the power station at the plant. There will also be a number of elements constructed offshore in the form of pre-assembled modules, or PAMs. These are now a typical element of work on industrial process facilities. The end result of all this effort will see a third production line - or train, to be technically correct - rise out of the ground within the current footprint of the plant.
The operational phase of this project is going to have a significant impact on our economy. It will create another 120 permanent jobs on top of the 1100 already in place at Gove. It will increase the Territory’s nett exports by $420m per annum. The plant alone will export almost $1bn worth of alumina each year. It will increase our gross state product by $200m per annum. It will increase maintenance and support expenditures, key issues for the myriad of smaller businesses in the Territory, by $120m per year, and will generate significant government revenue for the Commonwealth government, with a modest improvement for the Territory government. It will do all this within the context of responsible environmental management.
Some of the key benefits include a reduction in the residue produced per tonne of alumina; a significant improvement in energy efficiency; a reduction in the consumption of caustic soda per tonne of alumina; as a well as a reduction in caustic soda in the waste stream. There will also be improved water management and enhanced air quality.
Alcan is a global company with global sales of $US25bn, and a market capitalisation of around $US30bn. It takes the long view on projects and clearly has a vision for Gove that stretches out another 40 to 50 years. Importantly, it has an Australian team of the highest calibre and integrity, something Richard Yank is justifiably proud of. As expected, that team has been focussed on the main game of delivering a sustainable project for its board. However, it equally understands the Territory context and that is why it has been able to complete this massive task in an incredibly short time frame.
This process has seen the definitive feasibility study, front end engineering and environmental impact assessment processes, all run concurrently. Indeed, a similar model to what this government has applied to our own Darwin City Waterfront project. I had the opportunity to witness the frenetic pace of this project for myself when I visited the engineering offices in Brisbane last year during one of my investment promotion tours. At that time, there were perhaps 300 people working away on every element of the project. It provided me with a strong sense of the scale of this great project. Minister Vatskalis also met with the same group following his meeting in May with the federal Minister for Resources, Ian Macfarlane, where he sought to lock in our partnership with the Australian government on the project. I am sure he could also sense the quiet determination of this team.
The project team, admirably led by David Sutherland, has also had a strong sense of partnership in all its dealings with this government, which were funnelled through our own Alcan task force. The task force has had representatives from all key agencies including my department through the Office of Territory Development and the Office of Indigenous Policy; the Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development; the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment; the Department of Employment, Education and Training; the Department of Justice; and Treasury.
In a true sense of what a partnership can deliver, the task force and the project team, along with their combined working groups, have dealt with a wide spread of challenges - and met them all. Indeed, when I met with Mike Hanley, the President for Alumina and Bauxite for Alcan, he expressed their great appreciation for the way this government had worked to facilitate the project. Like Darwin City Waterfront; the AustralAsia trade route; Defence; McArthur River Mine; and tourism infrastructure, these task forces all work through the coordinating mechanism of the Major Projects Group - the senior economic CEOs across government.
Now that Alcan has settled on the integrated team approach for delivering the construction phase of the refinery expansion, I can see that same partnership continuing to ensure the Territory benefits from this project, and that the company gets its refinery on time and on budget. In the early phase of this project, my government determined that this project should undergo the highest level of environmental assessment. That assessment has been completed and the government has placed a number of strict environmental conditions upon the project. Those conditions have been incorporated into the mine management plan which will be administered by the Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development. This demonstrates that whilst this government regards economic development as an essential for the future wellbeing of the Territory, major projects must be sustainable economically, socially and environmentally - a vision I believe Alcan shares as well. It is a company that is recognised internationally for its world best practice in environmental work.
A fundamental of driving economic activity is to capture the greatest possible level of business transactions along that value chain. Put simply, it means the more that is bought locally, the stronger our economy will be. That is why this government has been so fully committed to our policy of building Northern Territory industry participation. Each of our task forces is set, as one of its primary objectives, the responsibility to negotiate local industry participation on all projects. The other common objective is securing jobs for Territorians. I am pleased to report that my government has a late draft of the local industry participation plan, a LIP, from the Alcan project team. Further negotiations are to be completed in the coming weeks to finalise the plan for the project. Alcan is already implementing the first of the commitments from their plan. Already, two major industry briefings, the first in Gove and the second in Darwin, have been hosted by Alcan to brief local industry on the opportunities offered by this great project.
Behind the scenes, the Northern Territory Industry Capability Network has been working with the project procurement team in Brisbane to promote Northern Territory industry and business, and they will continue in this role for the life of the project. The message that Alcan has sent to Northern Territory business is a clear one: they are pro-NT, but also expect Territory firms to be competitive in all the essential criteria expected of a world-class project in 2004. It is now up to all of us to make that happen.
When I met with Mike Hanley, Richard Yank and the project team just over a week ago, they made some very telling comments about the capability and capacity of Territory business. They made it clear to me that they were impressed with what they had seen in their industry visits around Darwin and - this is an important issue - they have also been impressed with the Territory’s ability to support the Wickham Point project. The Director of Projects and Technology for Alcan Australia, David Sutherland, told me - and I quote because this is important:
- … Darwin is well placed to provide significant support to the construction project with good firms
which have good capabilities. Because of that, we have recently modified our procurement and
logistics plans to place a greater emphasis on Darwin as a supplier and logistics base for the project.
The Territory’s modest scale means securing labour on major projects is always going to be a critical issue. It has, therefore, been a key issue of discussions between the project team and our task force since the partnership commenced in March last year. The Department of Employment, Education and Training has provided the project with an employment and training framework and their preliminary analysis of the Territory labour market. As I mentioned earlier, by mid-next year the Territory could see perhaps $5.8bn worth of private capital investment under way. This does not include smaller scale private projects or our own capital works program. Securing labour, particularly in specialist skilled trades, is going to be challenging for us and project proponents. We have been - and will continue to do so - investing strongly in training across all trades, but particularly in areas of real shortage. We expect project proponents to do likewise, and I am sure they will.
Alcan will need 1700 workers during the peak phase; however, the average work force size will be less than that. Workers will move across to this project from others winding down, such as Wickham Point, existing industry. New workers will also join out of the planned training programs. I emphasise at this time that training must be linked to an employment opportunity so we will never have classrooms full of people receiving training and then sitting around waiting for a job to emerge. In 2004, the two must be linked from the outset. It is how the railway project was done, how Wickham Point is unfolding, and how Alcan will be achieved.
Whilst construction projects of 2004 are a world away from the caricatures of the past, there is no doubt that putting 1700 people into Gove will present challenges that need to be met. Alcan understands this, and so do we. This government has already committed to providing the necessary government services required for a much larger population. We will address each area on a case-by-case basis to ensure that we are responsive and professional. I have told Alcan that I will arrange for a senior government coordinator to be placed in Gove to ensure that, together, we will manage the challenges in this project.
The Alcan project has been built upon a base case of using fuel oil as an energy source for its operations. However, as all Territorians would now know, their ambition is to secure gas supplies to replace this fuel oil as soon as it is possible. This is one of the great benefits of securing investments such as the third chain expansion; that is, the other investments it then generates. The expansion project is now the catalyst for the development of the Blacktip gas project and the trans-Territory pipeline, two very significant projects for the Territory. Blacktip is a gas field approximately 110 km west of Wadeye. Its development, some $500m worth, will deliver the second onshore gas project to the Territory, something I spoke about in my ministerial statement of last sittings on the Territory’s future gas prospects.
The project proponents, Woodside and ENI, are now working towards a final investment decision in the second quarter of next year. Blacktip and the third train expansion in Gove, together provide the catalyst for the trans-Territory pipeline, a pipeline of some 940 km from Wadeye in the west, to Gove in the east. This is a romantic project, equal to anything else in Australia, traversing both traditional and pastoral lands. Approximately two-thirds of the route is on land subject to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act. The trans-Territory pipeline will require leases from the relevant land trusts in order to construct the pipeline. Approximately 10 other land-holders are affected by the proposed route. The TTP joint venture has commenced discussions with the land-holders and the Northern Land Council. Appropriate discussions are also being held in regard to native title.
The TTP joint venture, which consists of Alcan and the Blacktip joint venture, has been surveying the pipeline route, undertaking relevant geotechnical studies to select an appropriate route, as well as field work relevant to an environmental assessment. The Northern Land Council has expressed a desire to have an equity stake in the TTP. No assessment has been made by this government as to the economics of such a proposal. It is noted, however, that infrastructure investment such as pipelines, typically, are a secure form of investment, providing sound returns over a number of years. Employment numbers across the Blacktip and TTP projects during construction will exceed 1000.
My government, through the efforts of the Department of Employment, Education and Training, will secure as many of these jobs as possible for Territorians. Let it be understood that there is no prescribed upper limit to local employment in East Arnhem Land. Those locals who are capable and willing to be employed have every opportunity to secure a position in a wide variety of positions. My government is, and has been, working with Alcan to maximise local and indigenous business opportunities employment. The Blacktip and TTP projects are a partnership of Alcan and Woodside and ENI and, again, we expect a final investment decision in the second quarter of next year.
The Alcan third train expansion is a $2bn vote of confidence by a global business in the Northern Territory. It is a symbol of the major change occurring in the Northern Territory economy, where the private sector is investing heavily in productive capacity. While our manufacturing base at present is low, these new industrial investments, and those to follow, are quickly turning that around. The expansion will create tremendous opportunities for Territory business, and for Territorians looking for a great job. Alcan understands the Territory, and has worked in partnership with government to get their project to this stage. They have also committed to continuing in that spirit throughout the construction project, as anyone who attended one of their briefings would attest.
This government is proud of the work we have done to contribute to the development of this project. We have found solutions to challenge us along the way, whilst still maintaining the very highest standards in the regulatory environment. It is an exciting time in the Territory; the hard work and effort is starting to pay off. The investments are coming through, and the job and business opportunities are here now. This does not just happen; it takes vision, commitment and professionalism from a government, day in and day out. We continue to deliver this to Territorians.
Madam Speaker, the Alcan third train expansion is a wonderful project for the Territory and it will be a fundamental component of our economic infrastructure for years to come. I congratulate every person who has had some role in this project to date - within Alcan, within government and with the private sector more widely, and the traditional owners and the land council, to whom I pay tribute for their contribution.
There is now much work to be done. It is a fantastic challenge for all of us. The Alcan refinery expansion is truly a Territory-building project that is of long-term benefit to all, and I, with much pride, commend this statement to the House.
Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the statement.
Debate suspended until after Question Time.
PERSONAL EXPLANATION
Member for Nelson
Member for Nelson
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I would like to make an explanation in relation to the speech I made last night. In summing up the Law of Property Amendment Bill, I said that the conveyancing people support it 100%. What I meant to say was the Conveyancing Institute, and I apologise if there was a misunderstanding.
MOTION
Note statement - Alcan Refinery Expansion
Note statement - Alcan Refinery Expansion
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition welcomes the announcement to develop the third train at Gove. When one considers the future of the Northern Territory, any Territorian who stands back and looks at its great potential of natural resources is well justified in having a belief that the Territory has its best days ahead of it. We need to understand how these things are to be progressed.
It is the role of government to facilitate and ensure that the potential is realised. That is the real job of government. The Chief Minister’s statement, by and large, carried a fair analysis of the importance of this announcement to the future of the Northern Territory - which is a vote of confidence in the Territory itself, whichever government is in office - because of the ore body and the fine work of Alcan and those who work offshore exploring for gas. It is the role of government to facilitate and make these things come to fruition.
I acknowledge at the outset that one aspect I find irksome is the stance of this Labor government seeking to find relevance in all these things, as members opposite do, and standing in front of the camera saying: ‘Look what we have done We have done this’. Many Territorians would find this reaching out to gain some relevance and importance in all of this a little offensive. There are so many people who, over many years, have worked hard to make these things come to pass.
I put it in the context of the Benny Hill Show. There were often sketches where you had activity in the foreground, and a codger sidling around the background trying to get in on the action, wearing a silly beret. In many respects, I find the posturing of the Chief Minister when it comes to grand announcements such as the train similar to a Benny Hill act: poke the head out the window - lucky you were not wearing a beret - to show that, ‘Oh, here I am, I actually got this train for you’. Territorians found that slightly offensive, and some expressed it in profound comment behind the scenes. That is an action of a Benny Hill Show, and we have the same sort of thing here, where we are largely sidling in front of this project and saying, ‘Hey, look at me’.
Many times I have seen members opposite present themselves at grand events and awards - where Territorians who have worked very hard have come to realise their achievements and be recognised – and stand up the front and talk about themselves and all their great initiatives as though they are drawing attention to their relevance and importance. It is not about you. You have a simple job to do, which is to facilitate and make these things occur. It is about the people who are actually there. Talk about them and their achievements. Give them some relevance rather than constantly, like a person who feels insecure about their position, asserting your own relevance, and endeavouring to sidle up to a camera as a Benny Hill act, when the real action is right in front of you.
We endorse and applaud this magnificent project, and all that it means. The vote of confidence is such a strong vote in the potential of the Northern Territory that is to be realised. The decision, as we and the Chief Minister know, was made in Montreal. CLP members had a briefing only a few days before the announcement was made and we got a sense of how anxious and concerned local managers were for the decisions and deliberations, and hoped that they would see the great potential of the Northern Territory from Montreal so far away. As the Chief Minister said, she was informed as she alighted from a plane. I was awoken very early in the morning with an excited phone call saying this had occurred; the news was good. That augurs well for the level of enthusiasm for this project, and it also indicates, as we learnt in our briefing, the amount of work that has been done by many people. I was interested to hear about the visits of the member for Casuarina and the Chief Minister’s briefings in other places, and seeing the teams that had been at work behind the scenes. There are large organisations, grand visions, and it has come to pass, and is a very strong vote of confidence in the Northern Territory.
However, it is the simple job of government to play its role - to address the shortfalls and fill in the gaps to facilitate, and ensure there is adequate consultation, direction setting, and the making of decisions - addressing the real problems, and doing what you have been elected to do.
In looking at this great project, and acknowledging the faith that has been demonstrated by the decision made by Alcan in Montreal which will make a profound difference to the Northern Territory, I recognise the most important issue that government must address: the skills shortage. The skills shortage is an issue which we have heard about in recent times, but the dialogue from government has changed. They realise it is now a real problem, and eyes are fixed more securely on it. However, rather than respond directly, roll up the sleeves and get on with it as should have occurred three years ago - that is the simple job of government; that is what you are meant to do - it now casts back and looks at what the former administration did or did not do. That is not going to help any of our young people who would love to have an opportunity to be involved in this project. That is the real job of government. It is above and beyond an issue of tit for tat and which political party has done this or that - it is way above that. We, as a community, need to recognise - not just in the Northern Territory, the area we must take responsibility for - but nationally: this is a profound issue which faces the entire nation.
The Australian Industry Group reports that, at this point in time, we are short of 21 000 apprentices across the nation. It is more pronounced in the Northern Territory, and it is the role of government to ensure that we have adequate policies in place to address that issue. It requires more than rhetoric which speaks of plans but, at the same time, cannot produce the results and is inadequate. Rhetoric that casts blame on others and fails to address the real issues, is selling Territorians short. Those who are currently in school, the mums and dads who are dreaming, hoping and encouraging their kids to get through a school system which will equip them to be part of a growing, booming economy - that is the real business of government. We often think that if we turn up for work on time, we should get a round of applause and, if we do the job we are meant to do, everyone should give you a standing ovation at the end of it. However, in fact, just to go to work …
Ms MARTIN: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I thought we had a statement in detail about Alcan and how this project had come together …
Mr Mills: Oh, there is no point of order.
Ms MARTIN: … and the Opposition Leader is not even referring to it. It is very bizarre.
Madam SPEAKER: We do have a statement on Alcan, but I am sure the Leader of the Opposition is wandering wide, and that is allowable in responses to ministerial statements.
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister is concerned I am touching on the very issue that government needs to address in regards to the Alcan project - skills shortage, which has the most relevant connection to this project. That is the real business which government and you need to address, Chief Minister. If I were Chief Minister, that issue would be top of my …
Ms Martin: You will never be Chief Minister. I am sorry, you do not even have the support of your team.
Mr MILLS: … that would be the issue that I needed to attend to. The issue, Chief Minister, is one of direct relevance to the growth and development of the Northern Territory. This project does not only unlock the potential for the economic development of the Northern Territory. Yes, it is a vote of confidence and a sound endorsement of the potential of the Northern Territory, but it is government - those who have been charged with the responsibility of shaping and forming public policy - that will address the capacity to realise that potential by way of addressing means to reduce the skills shortage which is very real.
The Chief Minister has made a condescending interjection across the Chamber, and quite wrongly, called me a liar, that I am the only one who has acknowledged that there were only 60 locals out of the 1700 skilled workers that Alcan believed they needed. It was, in fact, a direct quote from Mr Yank who made that comment in the Northern Territory News. He was looking at the skills group that we needed, identified 1700 and said we could probably only find about 60 in the Northern Territory. That was a direct quote from Mr Yank from Alcan, Chief Minister. Call me a liar if you wish, but you are not …
Ms Martin: I will, because he does not feel that way at all.
Mr MILLS: Nonetheless, I draw attention to the issue that is the proper domain of government to address, and in that area I have to say, Chief Minister, that apart from all the words and talk about jobs plans and so on, there has been little to show for your efforts. You have had the responsibility to prepare for major projects, and that has been your real responsibility, not endeavouring to lever off big projects to demonstrate you have the capacity to do something. The major project that you have accomplished, Chief Minister, is a swimming pool fence. That is your major project at this point. We will put that aside; I know it is very important to you to find some relevance in this but I am directing you to the most critical issue that we face, and that is the skills shortage.
Before you came in to the election you made some profound commitments to the Northern Territory community. You said you would develop a skills audit; you would conduct a comprehensive skills audit so you would know exactly where our deficiencies were, and so that young Territorians could be prepared adequately. It would direct the energies of our educational institutions and training agenda, to address the specific skill shortages by the audit that you would conduct. You have not conducted the audit.
Ms Martin: Yes, we have. I talked about it in the statement.
Mr MILLS: You have not conducted the skills audit.
Ms Martin: Did you not listen? Have you not read it? Can I refer you to page 21? Come on.
Mr MILLS: In addition, you spoke about your minerals institute. That was something you would establish to assist us to be prepared …
Ms Martin: Alcan is looking forward to seeing your response to the statement.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, order!
Ms Martin: Sorry.
Mr MILLS: They are the real issues that this Chief Minister must attend to, and that is the role of government: simply to do that job. That is what Alcan will be seeing that you do; to play that active role. I have nothing but praise for the operation of Alcan. I was very impressed, as were all my colleagues, with the briefing and the fine work they have done with indigenous young people in bridging the gap and giving them access to employment within the existing project, so they are experienced and well prepared for that uptake. However, I draw attention to the role of government which needs to be ahead of the game. If you are going to need any number of trained and skilled welders for these projects, you cannot train them and have them prepared in a year. This is something that the Territory, with all its development, needs to be prepared for. We see it coming and we prepare for it and focus our energies on that and, therefore, I would assume we would have a greater number than was cited by Mr Yank in his initial media release.
The most exciting element of this project is the initial vote of confidence in the potential of the Northern Territory and the potential that is released in employment. However, allied to that is the flow of gas from one side of the Northern Territory to the other, across land that is held by many different groups. This will be a very focussed …
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I draw your attention to the state of the House.
Madam SPEAKER: There is no quorum; ring the bells.
Mr MILLS: Do I just continue, or …
Madam SPEAKER: No, you need to wait. We still do not have a quorum. Madam Whip, you need to remain in your seat; you cannot leave. We have 10 now. Leader of the Opposition, please resume.
Mr MILLS: Madam Speaker, the vote of confidence in the Northern Territory by the decision made in Montreal is endorsing and empowering for all Territorians, and is the exciting next phase. Central to their deliberations was the potential for gas to fuel this great enterprise, and that lifts it to a whole new realm.
The carriage of gas from Wadeye to Gove is the start of releasing the great potential of gas-fuelled development of the Northern Territory. It will have a focussing effect regarding negotiation. Different groups will be able to work together to achieve an outcome, not just for the immediate benefit, but for the future. Young people will benefit from seeing that pipeline go across our great Territory, knowing that it is the commencement of a whole new phase of development. This is going to usher in a new phase of negotiation and discussion within our community, whereby we will start to consider more deliberately and responsibly what lies ahead of us. The quality of these negotiations will be critical. There is a rising level of goodwill within our community, indigenous and non-indigenous, to sort these things out. I will play my active part to ensure that the real potential of this gas pipeline is be realised.
I say again, the most important issue is ensuring that negotiations are run in good faith with an eye to the future and the welfare of all Territorians, indigenous and non-indigenous, and to address comprehensively and energetically the skills shortage. We must have the enterprises of our educational system focussed directly on the real development potential of the Northern Territory. There are a range of skills required for such projects, from front office managers to highly skilled welders, systems analysts, computer operators and labourers. There is a whole range of skills needed, and it is a great opportunity for education and the training agenda. It is an opportunity for the university to redirect its agenda so priorities are very clearly fixed on how to use the human resources of the Northern Territory, the young people, to un-tap and release the potential of a project such as this.
The potential is awesome and it will have an affect on every family in the Northern Territory. In Aboriginal communities where there seems to be little prospect of economic growth, there will be real potential with the gas pipeline passing through land and the negotiations that will occur. There will be an opportunity for genuine trades and meaningful engagement in a real economy. This is what excites me more than anything. It provides the impetus and a focussing effect on education and training. It is our education system that needs this redirection of energy. There is huge energy in our school system amongst many highly-skilled and motivated teachers and young people who are unsure what they will do with their education. Here is a whole slice of skills that they can access. I want teachers and careers advisors enthusiastically directing young people to the potentials there are in this initial and significant development. I can see a community being built as a result of this.
However, I keep coming back to this: it is the responsibility of government to provide this focus. This is the sort of business that government needs to attend to, rather than the insincere posturing which positions yourself at a place where we create the impression that the vision was created by this Chief Minister for this great project. That is stated in the statements.
Ms Martin interjecting.
Mr MILLS: Yes, Chief Minister, I did read it, and I did listen to you address it, and there is still that theme that comes through: ‘I, and the great vision of this government has made this happen’. That is the part that sticks in Territorians’ gullet.
Ms Martin: No, I did not say that. I said that this was our vision, and this was one element that was happening that fitted with it.
Mr MILLS: Oh yes, I know you are a little sensitive about it, but …
Ms Martin: I am not. You are wrong, and it is important that you get it right.
Mr MILLS: In conclusion Chief Minister, Madam Speaker …
Ms Martin: You could address the parliamentary drug laws, while you are on your feet.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Chief Minister!
Mr MILLS: From opposition, I provide my sincere congratulations to the team at Alcan. It was captivating to be in the room only a few days before the decision was made, to get a sense of the importance of their decision and see how hard they had actually worked - as you could actually see the signs of physical tiredness – and the amount of work that had been brought to a close in Montreal. As the Chief Minister rightly says, this is a vote of confidence in the Northern Territory. This is a vote of recognition of the immense potential of the Territory, and it is the responsibility of we, who have been elected to represent our community, to find a way where that potential is released.
The connection from this great announcement must be made directly to education and training - to our educational institutions; the whole training agenda; for all that happens in the Chamber of Commerce; the different peak industry groups, and the industry representatives and advisory groups. This is where we need to be working to channel all these energies so that the potential of this project will not just be economic and appear in our budget papers, but it will be seen socially in every level of our community, from our Aboriginal communities right through the top end of town, and will see the Territory move forward in a whole new way to a place that we have never been before, and a place we can go; where we can see the Territory change before our eyes. I commend this announcement and support the statement.
Mr HENDERSON (Business, Industry and Resource Development): Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to respond to the Chief Minister’s statement on the magnificent Alcan expansion in Gove.
What a tired and tiresome response from the Leader of the Opposition! Why the opposition continues to be negative about the great level of private sector economic investment in the Northern Territory at the moment, and seeks to find doom and gloom in everything that is going on in the Northern Territory is totally beyond me. This is a fantastic decision - a very exciting decision - for the Northern Territory and, as the Chief Minister said, a vote of confidence in the Northern Territory. Any company that seeks to invest $2bn capital in the Northern Territory obviously wants a return on that for many years to come in a very globally competitive environment, and it is a huge vote of confidence. They have confidence in the Northern Territory, as have many other businesses that are investing heavily in the Northern Territory. The only people who do not have confidence in the Northern Territory at the moment is the opposition. I wish they would get out of their doom and gloom. This follows on from last sittings when we had, again, another visionary statement from the Chief Minister regarding gas onshore in the Territory, and the potential and vision for the huge boost to the economy if we all work together and capitalise on the great opportunities that exist.
It is not going to be easy; it is going to take a lot of hard work. It is a partnership between the public and private sectors, the Commonwealth government – everybody - to try to maximise the benefits of the vast gas reserves offshore of the Northern Territory. The doom and gloom and despairing responses from members opposite was absolutely appalling. I hope that other members from the opposition will speak this afternoon and cheer this statement on; joining with us in seeking to maximise all the benefits that are not only going to come from this $2bn investment, but the additional $120m a year that, as a result, is going to be pumped into the Territory economy for many years to come.
I want to speak about what is a very exciting part of this project and, again, testament to the great commitment that Alcan has to the Northern Territory: the completion of an industry participation plan. This was an initiative of this government. There was no policy inherited from the previous government in regards to local industry participation. Now, any project in the Northern Territory that has over $5m of government investment so that the investment might take place - whether it be through grants of land or other assistance, or a direct tender from government in excess of $5m - will require completion of a local industry participation plan as part of the tender assessment, or as part of the decisions around granting assistance to the project,. This is an initiative of the government.
I urge members to get a copy of this document Building Northern Territory Industry Participation 2003. There are seven key areas of these local industry participation plans that are auditable and accountable. The Local Industry Participation Plan this expansion will further deliver benefits to Northern Territory businesses and the economy. The key elements of an industry participation plan are: project description; how services, suppliers and labour will be utilised; enhancements to business and industry capability; regional economic development benefits; proposals for indigenous participation; a communications strategy; and reporting methodology – and that is broken down even further.
The industry participation plan is one way which we, as government, and through the Territory ICN and Alcan, will formally work towards maximising local industry participation in this project and not leave it to chance. As Minister for Business, Industry and Resource Development, I am very pleased with this initiative of our government. It is going to deliver even greater benefits to the local economy as a result of that public policy now being in place.
I place on the record my thanks for all the hard work that the Northern Territory ICN has done to date, not only on the Alcan expansion but also at Wickham Point with Bechtel. I spoke at the forum held in Darwin a couple of weeks ago. Alcan was very quick out of the box and put forums on in Gove and Darwin. There were 120 attendees in Gove and 230 in Darwin on 15 and 16 September. The forums were supported by my department and the Chamber of Commerce to brief local business. Everybody who had not already done so, were urged to register with the ICN as Alcan have committed to working, in the first instance, through the ICN to try and identify Territory companies who can participate in this project. As the Chief Minister said, over 1700 construction jobs will be created and that is great news for the Territory.
Again, there was doom and gloom from the Leader of the Opposition. The Chief Minister’s statement talks at length about how we are going to be working with Alcan to maximise local employment on the project. The runs are on the board at Wickham Point with the Bechtel and ConocoPhillips LNG project where 54% of the work force are local employees. There are about 1000 people working there at the moment, and 540 of them are local Territory people. That is a huge result and a testament to the commitment of Bechtel, the industry training providers, the university - everybody - to try to maximise local employment. Here is an example of what 54% means: for one of my constituents in Leanyer who is a boilermaker, it means an extra $600 a week into the family home for the next 2 years. That family is very pleased about it and, hopefully, he will either go and work on another train at the LNG plant, or go over to Gove. However, $600 extra per week presently going into that family home washes around the economy. There are 540 Territorians who have received that type of pay increase as a result of the Wickham Point project. That is a direct benefit, and money which will continue to flow through the Territory economy.
As the Chief Minister said, direct production employment at the mine will increase by about 120 jobs and inject a further $120m of operational expenditure in the Northern Territory. Estimates indicate $83m of that will occur in the Gove region - ongoing expenditure out in the economy, wages for people - a fantastic outcome. Again, credit to Alcan and their commitment to indigenous training and employment. I know that they are going to work very hard in this area, particularly to provide opportunities to the Yolngu people at East Arnhem Land. I am pleased to announce that my department is seeking to enhance the outcomes for the local indigenous people at East Arnhem by appointing an indigenous enterprise support officer in Nhulunbuy. We are hoping to have that person very soon at Gove assisting in the training, recruitment and placement of indigenous people on the project.
The expansion will allow Alcan to continue the development of sustainable indigenous relationships through a number of initiatives. The YNOTS program provides skills, development and training to young indigenous people. Initially, graduates from the program will be involved in car detailing; rehabilitation works; civil works such as operating backhoes and truck driving; fencing, waste removal and general labour services, maximising indigenous employment opportunities by working with indigenous organisations, and supporting Aboriginal business development in the region. Again, exciting potential for this project.
The Chief Minister said the initial business case and the final investment decision was made around the current fuel source, heavy fuel oil. However, we are hoping by the second quarter of next year for the final investment decisions on the Blacktip Bonaparte Gulf gas development, the Woodside and ENI project and the trans-Territory pipeline. All the indicators are proving up and good. Woodside and ENI have invested a lot of money in further development appraisal of that particular resource and Alcan is expending a lot of money planning for the trans-Territory pipeline.
This will be a huge project – a 940 km long 16 inch diameter pipeline requiring 93 000 tonnes of pipe, and 16 000 tonnes of plant and equipment, including compressors, valves and cathodic protection. At a project cost of $500m, it will provide a diverse range of opportunities for Territory business, with over 1200 jobs created during construction. Opportunities will be available for indigenous employment and training and they will not be restricted to direct involvement in construction. Some of the services required include cultural heritage and sacred site surveys; protection and management of sacred sites during the construction phase; camp sites which will be relocated every 28 days; camp catering; water bores; harvesting of valuable timber resources along the pipe route; collection, storage and propagation of native flora seeds; photographic recording of social impact assessment; weed surveys; control measures; and many other areas. Some of the diverse opportunities that will be available to Territory businesses if the project comes to fruition are: construction, including trenching; welding; pipe coating; instrumentation installation; Nhulunbuy maintenance and storage facility; borrow pits for gravel and sand; and the supply of plant and equipment such as graders, bulldozers and excavators. There are huge opportunities for the Northern Territory and Northern Territory business.
Alcan is a fabulous company committed to serving their local economy. The Leader of the Opposition is constantly trying to find some negatives in this project. He talked about the problems we have with skilled labour in the Northern Territory. As I have said during the last few parliamentary sittings, the single biggest problem that the economy faces is access to skilled labour. However, we are not alone; it is an Australian wide issue with far less people entering the traditional trade areas, and the tradesmen and women working in the field getting older. It is a real problem for the economy - not only for the Northern Territory, but nationally, and we could see it reflected in commitments made by both parties in the lead-up to the election on Saturday. The Leader of the Opposition also said that the Territory government is missing in action and not doing anything. This goes to show either (a) how little he knows about what is going on in the Northern Territory at the moment and does not talk to enough people out there or (b) he is deliberately misleading Territorians in this parliament.
We have made a massive commitment. The first ever Northern Territory Jobs Plan, coordinated by the Department of Employment, Education and Training, and tens of millions of dollars additional invested in training across the Northern Territory. DEET is working for the first time in the Territory’s history on a formal audit of skills needs across the Northern Territory, which will be released before the end of this year. I am sure my colleague the Minister for Employment, Education and Training will update us on this. The audited forecast will be released publicly every six months and, for the first time, employers and training providers will be able to plan for the skills that will be required in the future.
That is the visionary work this government is doing, as opposed to the previous government which, essentially, failed to do anything in that area. It is not just me saying this. I quote from the editorial in the Northern Territory News today; perhaps the Opposition Leader has not read today’s paper. The editorial is entitled ‘Investing in future’. I will not read the whole editorial, but it is a good one.
Ms Martin: It is a good one. Why not?
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: Okay, I will read it. I have been encouraged to:
- A couple of decades ago school leavers …
A couple of decades ago, so previous terms of government.
- … had little difficulty in finding an apprenticeship in one trade or another.
Not any more.
Profits are tighter nowadays and many businesses are no longer willing to invest as much in training
as they were.
This problem is particularly acute in the Territory. Most of our businesses are small and, because of
this, taking on apprentices can be a significant burden. This leaves many young Territorians with
nowhere to go for training but down south.
Therefore, the Northern Territory government’s $7m in incentives for employers to take on apprentices
is welcome.
The second round of incentives - which include payments of up to $7700 for employers, has begun.
The incentives seem to be working. More than 250 apprentices and trainees have been employed since they
were introduced earlier this year.
Two hundred and fifty young Territorians additional employed:
- As employment minister Syd Stirling says, the Territory needs a strong flexible work force ‘that has the
skills and training to take up the many job opportunities opening up’.
Business people are often forced to import skilled labour from down south. This is because the Territory
is a socially mobile community - there is not a pool of skilled workers sitting around waiting for work.
But building up a base of home-grown tradesmen and women is one step towards stabilising the jobs market.
The employer incentives are a worthwhile investment in the Territory’s future.
That is not doom and gloom. It is recognition from the Northern Territory News; a paper we all love to hate. However, it is our local paper which informs Territorians - and that editorial is an accolade for the government’s investment in training young people - that, since the beginning of this year there is an extra 250 apprentices, and more to come.
The Opposition Leader has failed to recognise the reality of what is happening out there. I have met quite a few of those apprentices and many of the employers who are putting people on. They think the scheme is fantastic and would love to invest more money in it, because it is creating opportunities and recognising training needs. As well, we are working with Alcan, Bechtel and the training providers to try to meet the skills shortfall. The Opposition Leader also talked about lack of welding skills. My department of DBIRD funds the Welding Technology Institute of Australia which has a person at Charles Darwin University particularly to improve the welding skills of, not only apprentices, but tradesmen in the Northern Territory.
A few weeks ago, I was very pleased to award certificates to three Territory businesses. You may have missed the announcement, but this was an Australian first: three Northern Territory businesses became the first Australian companies to receive international recognition for their welding quality management systems. We beat the rest of Australia! The companies were Universal Diesel and Engineering, Topline Steel Fabrication and A & B Welding. These certificates open up new avenues for business locally, nationally and internationally, in as much as they are accredited at world-class international standards to provide welding services to these major projects in the Top End.
That is what we are doing as a government. We are working and supporting the Welding Technology Institute of Australia. We are working with Territory businesses to help them understand the skills and accreditation they need to achieve, to partner, and to be able to get a slice of the work that is coming up in the Northern Territory. As the Chief Minister said, that has been acknowledged by Alcan by the fact they have recognised that the capability profiles of Territory businesses have improved out of sight in the last few years. Much more of the work they thought was going to go interstate, can now be done in the Northern Territory as a result of companies like Universal Diesel and Engineering, Topline Steel Fabrication and A & B Welding investing in their business and enhancing their skills and capabilities. They will do very well and, as the Chief Minister, just reminded me, E.C. & E., another local company, has completed the construction of the roof of the LNG tank. That is an enormous tank. I believe it is the largest above-ground LNG storage vessel in the world and for that project to go to a local Territory company, was a huge coup.
We can do it, so let us get out there and back Territory business. Let us get out there and encourage Territory businesses to invest in their own enterprises and work with government to train our young people with the skills to participate in these projects that are coming up, and not walk around with our head in a black cloud talking about doom and gloom. I urge the opposition to get behind what is happening in the Territory: to talk up the economy and opportunities which will lead to further investment, and encourage not only jobs growth, but highly-skilled, high-wage jobs. This is a fantastic project. I am absolutely delighted that Alcan have shown such confidence in the future of the Northern Territory, and I want to congratulate the Chief Minister on her statement this afternoon.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, this is great news. I believe it is the appropriate type of material to bring to this House for debate, and collection of information from members. If, per chance, on some occasions the opposition does not agree with the government, it is a pretty long bow to draw that we do not agree with the Alcan expansion or that the Territory has a bright future. Those stupid and trite extrapolations deserve to be ignored.
It is important when we have debates that we point out if something is wrong, or has been put in such a way as to give the wrong impression, because the frankness of this House should be paramount. We should be able to question government on its bona fides in coming into a place like this with a statement that, very hairy chestedly, points out that the government was the major broker in a particular deal. I believe it is important that we interrogate some of those assertions, and we do so in a way for the benefit of the people rather than some sort of idea that if you say anything negative then you are criticising Alcan, the Northern Territory, traineeships or whatever.
There are a number of things missing in the Chief Minister’s statement. I am grateful to the Leader of Government business because he picked up at least one of them: the good work done by Woodside ENI. There are two major planks to this. The first is that there will be an expansion of an already significant world-class facility, and the second is that they will be moving to our own local production of energy. These are both great stories. I was surprised the Chief Minister did not take more opportunity to talk about the great work done by Woodside, and I am glad the Leader of Government Business has filled in some of those gaps.
On the matters that are missing, this House should look at the normalisation of the township of Nhulunbuy. It has been a township for 30 years and, according to this statement, it will go for another 40 to 50. It has a powerful economic raison d’tre and a powerful service industry to the people who live there. It is a significant port that both exports and imports large volumes of materials which set little blips off on national import and export data - such is the importance of this town. We should look, therefore, to having Nhulunbuy become a normal Australian town where people are able to buy their houses, to mortgage and encumber them. It continues to be a lease of Aboriginal land and, when the Chief Minister talks about welcoming people here who will be associated with this project and, hopefully, keeping them here, I believe that is one of the impediments. The township of Nhulunbuy is a very difficult place to put down roots because, essentially, you are buying the sublease of the lease of Aboriginal land in perpetuity.
Dr Burns: That is not true. Many people have been there 30 years - and proud of it.
Mr DUNHAM: To pick up the interjection, if the government thinks the status of Nhulunbuy is adequate and sufficient, I suggest they are not serving the people well. There are many people who want to participate in democratic processes, own real property, and live for some generations in a place, and that should be available to them.
Matters relating to the government’s role need investigation. I went back a couple of years to the famous blue paper, Building a Better Territory – the government’s assertion is that this has been at the forefront of their minds since they were elected – and I quote from page 28 of the Chief Minister’s statement:
This does not just happen. It takes vision, commitment and professionalism, day in and day out, from a
government, and we continue to deliver this to Territorians
She alluded to the fact that they have been doing this for some years, yet it is hard to see anything about the great work that has been done out there. Perhaps it was a secret; something they did not want to parade too loudly. It does feature here in this document, which talks about Alcan, Gove, bauxite alumina expansion, so it was definitely on the horizon. However, if we go the budget documents, you can see that, whilst it has been discussed, it really does not feature. It has never been factored into futures for this place. We can go to the budget papers for this year. For instance, at Mining and Energy in Budget Paper No 2, Fiscal and Economic Outlook, where you would think a project of this magnitude would have a few lines, the only thing that is remotely connected is:
- … Territory produces a diverse range of mineral products notably, oil, bauxite, manganese, lead, zinc
and uranium.
So, it is in there because we know they produce bauxite. It goes on to say:
- … strengthening global demand is expected to lead to increase demand for minerals, although increased
supply globally is expected to result in price falls for many Territory-produced minerals
Unfortunately, it shows on the Mineral and Energy Production Processing chart, in nominal dollars, a fall.
We know they did not anticipate this thing happening, or that they certainly did not have much confidence in it. Perhaps that is why they did not put money into the budgets of the organisations that were going to carry out work. Therefore, when we hear the Chief Minister talking about ‘whatever it takes we will put out there, we will put these services out there and we will make sure we hold up our end’, one wonders where that features in the budget, because this is an enormous project for us.
If you go to the Wran Report, the report of the Committee on Darwin, there was a significant body of work done on the impact of mining on the wider community, and something like 2.7 jobs were created in areas outside the direct mine. That is, every time the mine created a job – on this site there are 1700 - something like 2.7 jobs were created in Berrimah, Winnellie or Gove in newsagents, car washes and all sorts of industries like that. Although this report is some years out of date, when the Committee on Darwin did its body of work on the impact of the Gove mine community - which is Alcan - in the Northern Territory, there were significant dollars - $30m I think - which went into Gove, and a similar amount into the greater Darwin community. Significant amounts would also go interstate.
The Chief Minister talked about seeing 300 people in a room in Brisbane beavering away and, I guess, that is good for the Australian economy. Focussing on the Territory, it is a great thing that our mining wealth is tapped for the benefit of all. I was pleased to hear the Leader of Government Business talk about the jobs, and I was particularly pleased to hear him talking about locating an officer in the town to look at indigenous employment. Over the years, we have not pushed hard enough ...
Mr Stirling: You blokes always had someone there looking at that, did you?
Mr DUNHAM: No, I am actually agreeing with you; more could have been done about indigenous employment in Gove. I had a friend at Weipa and I was pleasantly surprised to see the number of Aboriginal apprentices who went through that mine. It was mining on the other side of the Gulf, albeit exactly the same product, bauxite. However, in Nhulunbuy it was largely the province of YBE and, under Nabalco there was pretty much a hands-off type corporate disposition towards employing and training local people, particularly Aboriginal people. It was seen more as a matter for YBE, which was then subcontracted. I am pleased at this shift. It augers well for the company and it is something that it and the government should take marks for. It is a great idea and I give you three ticks for it.
If you look at the Chief Minister’s statement you would think this is a greenfields thing that has jumped out of the ground, and has been the good work of government. The Chief Minister talked, for instance, about it being one of these things where it is not just being fortunate about its geography or something - I forget the exact words. However, she talked about how it is not some accident of geography that this thing is happening. Actually, it is. It is on a very good ore body, it is very easy to produce the product from this mine, and there is also significant infrastructure. We are talking about the third train when there are already two there. It is not a greenfields site. If you look at the work that was done - I will not claim it was CLP work - in the original 1960s when they forged out of the wilderness this mine and a town, you can see the enormous amount of energy that had to go into this place. I now have the exact quote - the Chief Minister said; ‘… it is no accident of place that it is occurring here’.
While there are enormous benefits of operating out of Darwin - and I am grateful that she has included a quote from one of the senior officers of Alcan, Mr David Sutherland - there is no doubt this is a highly efficient mine, with a product which has been well used over a number of decades, with a very strong sense of its place in the market. Yes, it is great that it is happening. However, do not pretend you have been awake day and night dreaming of how to get it to go because it has been around for a while.
The Chief Minister also said in her statement that:
- It is a symbol of the major change occurring in the Northern Territory economy where the private sector is
investing heavily in productive capacity.
This is a major investment. However, they are not investing in something that used to belong to the government; they are investing in something that has always been private enterprise. It has always been a private enterprise that stood. Government’s role is to stand beside it to make sure that those things that are truly the province of government, to facilitate help and provision of government services, are readily available.
Therefore, I go back to the budget documents and ask why the government was so reluctant to configure this mine into its economic forecasts for mining, and why it has not configured the expenditures that are necessary to service this mine into the budget papers? If these have been included, it has been done in a way that does not identify them going towards the extended operations this company’s impact will have on the town.
There are also a couple of other things on which she was silent. She talked about minister Vatskalis meeting minister Ian Macfarlane, where he sought to lock in our partnership with the Australian government. I would like detail on that: whether it, in fact, did occur and what the parameters are. She talked about the fact that the Senior Economic Projects Group has looked at this over a long time and has assessed the government need. I would like to know the cost of that - what particular costs will come? If one looks at the budget papers, it seems that it either comes out of hide – that is, you have to find within - or there is new money that has yet to be appropriated.
I particularly go to the mining portfolio where I know, despite the magnitude that has been described in this statement, there are no additional inspectors for this expansion. That is an issue because I would not like to see the mining department blamed for issues when it does not have the human resources to be able to cope. I hope the ministers who talk about the resources that will go to facilitating this will, including the mining minister, tell me how many inspectors will be on-site for this mine, because I know the answer to be nil.
Royalties has been a significant and vexed issue on the Gove Peninsula. As the minister would know, there was a significant report done for a former Labor Aboriginal Affairs minister which dealt with the distribution of royalties, particularly the lion’s share that previously went to the Gumatj, and a fairer arrangement that was put in place to go to other clan groups. It is important, when we talk about the benefits that are bestowed on the community from mining operations, that we do talk about royalties and how this treasure chest for Aboriginal people can be deployed to best benefit Aboriginal people. I would like to see some assessments on what the government is going to spend, how much money is going to be put into royalties, and how that royalty money will be disbursed for the benefit of people.
The Chief Minister’s upbeat pronouncement about this is well placed. She is dead right; this is good for Australia. It is good for training, the economy and the Northern Territory. The opposition, in its response, is well placed to signify likewise. We are very welcoming of this mine, and of the fact that these workers will be here. However, we need some more definitive data. Along with data on the costs, we also need data on the royalty disbursements, on progress towards the normalisation of the town of Nhulunbuy, and there should be some contribution on this audit of jobs. It is not good enough for the government to say; ‘60 is not the right figure - you are wrong and a liar, and it is a different figure’, without disclosing what that figure is. If there has been an audit, it is important.
There are a number of us in the community who are looking for career opportunities for our children and it is important that the government divulges this audit data for us. We need to know what it says: ‘There will be this many jobs for riggers, fitters, welders, boilermakers, truck drivers, civil people’. We also need to know that it included some of the peak bodies that cover those groups, the civil engineers and civil contractors, and we look towards matching our tertiary and training facilities with those jobs.
If this group has been working at it for three or four years and, despite it not appearing in the budget documents, that work has been done, it should be divulged to the parliament in this debate. We should be told: ‘We know it is 1700 people; these are the trades; these are the hard to recruit categories; we are going to expand these modules at the university; we have this number of Year 12s coming through; they will require the jobs in two years and it is a two-year training course’. Bingo! Everything lines up. However, we do not have that. We have a lot of rhetoric about wanting lots of jobs for people, but there is no ceiling on it; anyone who is qualified and who is able to work, I can tell you there can be pretty strong disqualifiers in some of these places. Those two disqualifiers themselves often work very strongly in some of these communities because people are not prepared to do the work that is necessary on these mine sites, or they are not qualified.
Let us see the audit figures. If the government has been beavering away for the three years since its election, it should be pretty easy to come up with. You have the CEO group looking at it. You should know how much you are going to spend and, if it is not in the budget, it should be captured in some documents that show us the financial ramifications, and whether that will be forthcoming in future budgets, or whether it will be in out of session appropriation through the Treasurer’s Advance or something.
I would also ask the Chief Minister, who has now made two statements about the second onshore gas project to the Territory, to visit Mereenie, Palm Valley, and Dingo, because it is a great thing that offshore gas is coming onshore, and that this is the second offshore gas resource to be brought onshore. However, it is not the second onshore gas project. Her knowledge about what powers Channel Island Power Station is deficient to a large extent. It is important she come to grips with this because it is a significant issue facing the Territory. This gas is being depleted; it has a horizon and it is expensive. The fact that we missed the opportunity with Sunrise is partly due to the ignorance about matters relating to our potential gas supplies. I ask the Chief Minister to get involved in this; to become very knowledgeable and passionate about deploying that enormous resource offshore for the benefit of Territorians. If people are writing a statement saying this is only the second onshore gas facility, they should pick up a map, or even a budget document where this is mentioned, and have a look.
It is definitely welcome that the township of Nhulunbuy has another 50 years of life; that some 1700 – the majority Territorians, hopefully - will be employed in the next year or so; and that the product being mined out there is world class and able to compete on a world market. However, members have to be aware when these ministers cite documents saying how they have all these employers out there. The Treasurer hates ABS, but has his own Commissioner of Public Employment document which shows employment, which was at 97 000 in 2001 is now at 95 400; that we have lost jobs in this place. We have definitely lost jobs. If you do not like ABS, and you do not hear that from the business community, which I do, go to your own figures. One of the problems we hear of is not just training people, it is the fact that competent, trained, qualified people are leaving. We need to turn that around. Hopefully, this will be a step on the way, but please get your head out of the sand and do not pretend that this exodus of jobs is not happening and it is some sort of statistical aberration.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, despite the best efforts of the member for Drysdale to be positive, he really cannot sustain it for any length of time. There are some quite bizarre little remarks he has made in there along the way; some of which I will pick up, but most of which I will ignore, because my home town of Nhulunbuy is absolutely ecstatic. They were very excited when it was announced that this $2bn expansion of the local refinery was going to go ahead. It is an enormous project. It will change Nhulunbuy; however, that is accepted and acknowledged, and people are looking forward to getting on with it.
I want to try and put some perspective on it because it is a massive project, but it will also provide great benefits to local business. I will also talk about how the government is working with the project, with Alcan, to upskill Territorians and get them into some of those jobs.
As the Chief Minister said, when completed, the refinery will double its capacity almost, from two million tonnes of alumina per annum to 3.8 million tonnes. Up to 1700 people will be employed during the construction phase and, once completed, the expanded operation will provide 120 additional permanent positions. This will lead to an increase of $120m a year in expenditure within the Northern Territory. This is not to be sneezed at in the size of our economy.
Alcan is also a company that strives to maximise local purchasing. I have been to a number of their purchasing seminars where they bring all their suppliers together to discuss their needs over the next year, and how they will be running their purchasing. Again and again, you see the percentage level of Territory buy/Territory purchase from Alcan very high, indeed. Last Friday, I spoke at the Telstra business evening in Nhulunbuy about some of the opportunities for local small business, and how the government is working with Alcan to maximise those opportunities. The long-term increase of 120 workers in Nhulunbuy will impact on the services provided, and the local community needs to be well prepared for that, as does government. There will be a need, when those 120 jobs are in place and 120 new families locate to Nhulunbuy, for a case for greater child-care places, more students in school, and a greater need and pressure on housing. Those questions are already before government which is considering exactly what the needs will be. There will be increased pressure on services and physical infrastructure. There are a lot of things the local community needs to prepare for, and a lot of issues to be worked through.
Alcan has committed to providing government with a local industry participation plan and we will ensure that this plan is fully implemented. Employment and training issues have already been the subject of debate, accompanied with quite misguided and inaccurate comments from the Leader of the Opposition. Despite his recent discovery of the issue of skilling the work force, it is something that the government has been working on for some time. The Employment and Training Division of DEET, with assistance from the Territory Construction Association, has undertaken analysis of what the projected Alcan expansion project work force will look like. This will assist in identifying, in the first place, employment opportunities for Territorians and the allocation of funds to conduct targeted skilling programs for them.
Construction will require 760 workers on average, peaking with 1700 workers in May 2006. Alcan will open an employment office in Darwin for most of the local recruitment, and that will result in more jobs for Territorians. The employment office is expected to be situated on the eighth floor of the Mitchell Centre. DEET has developed a labour market supply and demand analysis for the construction of the Alcan refinery camp expansion and day-to-day operation of the construction camp at Nhulunbuy. The analysis indicates 380 jobs will be able to be filled by local Territory labour; and 490 jobs could be filled by Territorians with up-skilling and short course training. That leaves around 110 jobs considered to be in deficit, which could not be trained for in time and would require skilled migration in to the Territory.
It needs to be understood that this type of detailed research has never been done before. It is the result of the government developing the Work Force Unit within DEET’s newly created Employment Branch. It will allow the government to build the share and realistic expectation of work force demand and labour force supply, and it will guide training plans to backfill labour, drawing from businesses and skilled Territorians for jobs. It will help repeat the successes of the LNG plant where locals make up around 54% of the work force. This is well beyond the initial projections of Bechtel who said not to expect more than about a 30% local participation rate in the project, where we are currently standing at about 54% across the board. On the figures of the analysis of the Alcan project, we would expect as strong, if not slightly stronger, local Territory input into those jobs.
Of the issues raised by the member for Drysdale, I have stuck on one because he said that people need to have - I think it was along the lines of - certainty or the ability to own property. Well, I wonder what I shelled out a whole lot of dollars for back in 1999, because it was a block construction, three-bedroom cottage that I continue to live in to this very day. Whilst I do not own it, I am paying a bank for it and I assume they hold something by way of a paper or certificate. I hope they have something that shows that whilst they hold the mortgage and I am paying for it, it is actually my place. No one else can live there apart from Jenny. We are quite happy there, and I regard it as my piece of property. There are quite a few of us, actually, who own their homes in Nhulunbuy. One wonders what the member for Drysdale was alluding to when he said you cannot own or do anything, because there are businesses that have been operating in and around Nhulunbuy for 30 years, and many of those business people own their own dwellings.
He also raised the point about not trying to shoot the messenger in regards to ABS and how badly we are going regarding jobs. ABS is due out tomorrow at about 11 am and it will be interesting to see the figures again. I suspect they will be on the nose in the number of jobs, our participation rate, the number of unemployed Territorians going up, and the number of employed Territorians going down, despite every other indicator to the contrary coming out of ABS itself. Therefore, it will be interesting to see what there is by way of explanation with this next set of ABS figures, because we know they have picked up within their rotating sample - a part of the sample that carries a very high unemployment rate. It has the ability of skewing the figures right across the board, and it is. I recall this happening under the previous government in the mid-1990s. In fact, towards the latter end of the 1990s when we knew, and I knew, that economic conditions were pretty buoyant and business levels pretty strong, ABS was continuing to run a very ordinary set of employment data on a month-to-month basis. The same thing happened then, as is occurring now. However, we will see tomorrow what ABS brings out in addition to the job news.
It is great news for Nhulunbuy. It will have a quite a large impact on the town with, at its peak, 1700 people living in a construction camp within the town borders. Most of the construction camp will be self-contained in regards to the overall impact on the town; however, there will be enormous opportunities for local business.
Both Alcan and the Chamber of Commerce have been encouraging businesses to group together to get economies of scale and competitive size when it comes to bidding for contracts that come out of this massive project. Alcan certainly have their eye on this project to make it a flagship of the fleet in alumina production from them, and they are not holding back. It was a question, of course, that was within Nabalco for many years. The board of Nabalco and Aluswiss would never commit to the final decision regarding the expansion, although in their heart of hearts they knew it was the right thing to do and would gather evermore efficiencies out of the plant and its operation.
I congratulate Alcan for recognising quite early and quickly what they had purchased, and the potential in regards to expansion and increased efficiencies, both from the expansion and the ability to change to gas. Initially, at least, the expansion will be in place and it will be a great thing for Nhulunbuy, the Northern Territory and for those many Territorians who will come to live in Nhulunbuy and participate in this project.
Mr VATSKALIS (Mines and Energy): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on the morning of 9 September I was in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, leading a trade delegation to promote live cattle export to Malaysia and the Philippines when my mobile phone received an SMS message: ‘Alcan is approved’. I was tremendously excited. Only a few days earlier we had been in Brisbane and met with the federal minister for Resources, Mr Ian Macfarlane, and we had discussed exactly that issue: the potential of Alcan to be one of the biggest plants in the Northern Territory, and what the Territory and federal governments could do together to make sure that this was going to happen. One thing we wanted to do was ensure that the board in Montreal was going to approve the expansion of Alcan.
When I first came to the Territory in the early 1990s, I recall visiting Nhulunbuy as part of my job in environmental health. While there I met a lot of people who used to work for Nabalco which later changed to Alcan, a Canadian-based company with significant holdings in bauxite, alumina and aluminium all over the world.
Earlier this year, I was advised of the possibility of Alcan’s expansion to convert bauxite to alumina and the significant work required to achieve this, and also of the significant benefits to the Territory should the board of directors in Montreal approve the expansion. I was very pleased that the Chief Minister and government moved quickly to establish a working group to assist Alcan to facilitate any of the processes that were required so the board of directors could make the final decision.
Part of this facilitation process was the reason that I, members of the working group, the task force, and members of the Mining Petroleum Division of my department, visited Brisbane to meet the Alcan team who were preparing the expansion, to speak to Ian Macfarlane. We visited the building where the Alcan team was housed. I was very impressed by the 300 people working tirelessly on the design, the costing - anything necessary to prove to the board in Montreal that the expansion was possible and could happen within the specified cost. I was fascinated by the use of sophisticated computer software that could create a three-dimensional layout of the factory and what it would look like. It could take you through the expanded factory, pointing out the different areas - the new to be constructed, and the existing one. As Minister for Mines and Energy, I also visited the Alcan plant in Nhulunbuy and had several briefings regarding what would happen if the approval came through.
When I received the SMS message to tell me that the Alcan board of directors in Montreal had finally given the tick of approval for the expansion, I was absolutely thrilled. The expansion is not insignificant. We are talking about a $2bn expansion which will take place within the footprint of the existing plant. It maximises the efficiency of the factory, increasing production and processing of the bauxite from two million tonnes of alumina per annum to 3.8 million tonnes by 2007. At the same time, it will increase the production of power which has been a problem for the past three years, restricting the growth of Nhulunbuy. It will also increase the demand for workers, result in expansion of the earthworks, increase the life span of the existing mine, and has the possibility of the mine acquiring other tenements where more bauxite findings are. I am aware that Alcan has acquired Pechiney, a French aluminium company with significant holdings around the world. One of the projects of Alcan for this expansion was that they can transport bauxite from the different mines around the world to convert to alumina. This can then be distributed to the other smelters throughout the world.
We are talking about a $2bn expansion, employing 1700 workers during the construction phase, some of whom will have to do very specialised work. Not all workers will be able to be found in the Territory and this is something which we are familiar with. The Territory does not have an industrial base and has to rely on workers in other Australian states for some of the specialised skills required. I recall that before the Wickham Point LNG plant commenced construction, a representative of Bechtel briefed me on the skills they required. He said they required specialist welders and had received 150 applicants. The person who won the job was a single mother who had learnt specialist welding in Karratha on the North-West Shelf. Of all the applicants, she was the only one who could do the specialist welding tasks required by the company in the energy plant. I am sure the same will happen in Nhulunbuy. Until we build an industrial base and be able to have these skills in the Territory and keep them here, this story is going to be repeated.
However, on the positive side, this is something that will provide opportunities for all Territorians, not only for the people who are going to move here to stay and work on the construction phase or during the operations. It will also provide business opportunities, particularly those in the transport industry, and suppliers of equipment, tools and materials. Qantas will also benefit from increased charter flights in and out of Nhulunbuy, and also the shipping industry, including Perkins, who has barges going to Nhulunbuy once or twice a week. I have been advised that Perkins is acquiring a new boat to transport some of the significant oversized equipment that Alcan will require.
This expansion is very good news for the Northern Territory and Australia. Not only will our industrial base be expanded, but also work skills and job availability. The additional gross state product to the Northern Territory economy will be $90m per annum. Territory businesses will be able to secure significant construction and servicing contracts, as tenders will be awarded on a competitive basis as Alcan has done in the past.
There will be a significant saving to the environment. Switching from diesel to gas which will come from Blacktip, the emission of greenhouse gases from the Alcan plant will be reduced significantly. I understand there will also be a reduction in residue of 25% per tonne of alumina produced, energy efficiency improvements of 4% through additional stationary calciners, and the recovery of alumina from ore will go up 10% which, I believe, will extend the life span of the factory to 27 years. All other improvements will increase the savings and profitability of the plant.
Members on the other side said, once again, that this has nothing to do with us; this is a decision made by Alcan based on produce and profitability. Of course. They are a private industry and are going to make a decision based on the profitability. However, private businesses in the western world will not rely on the profitability of a particular plant to make a decision. There are other factors that come into account: how well they can work with the government and be sure that they will be solvent and their solvency will not be at risk; how well the government can facilitate and help them to go through the different procedures required; and if there are environmental impact statements or environmental reviews, or even the mine management plan, that is required to be put in place under the Northern Territory legislation.
I recall a number of people in Alcan were talking about the solvency risk the company may face in Queensland, especially after that government took away the Weipa bauxite findings and passed legislation to offer them back to tender. I hope Alcan will tender for the mine in Weipa, because it will be additional bauxite for the plant in the Northern Territory.
The reasons that Alcan has decided to invest in the Territory is that they had the plant in place and could establish the expansion within the footprint; they already had an airport and a port in the area; are very close to some of the Asian countries that can provide bauxite for their own mines; and some of the smelters are very close to the Nhulunbuy plant so they can export the alumina for aluminium.
The other thing they have shown is the commitment by this government to assist them - a commitment that translated to a cooperative approach between Northern Territory ministers and federal ministers who respected their political differences. They were prepared to work together to make sure that this thing happened for the benefit of the Territory and Australia. I commend Ian Macfarlane who not only listened to us, but was prepared to work with us to ensure that the decision was in favour of the Territory and Australia. When we put to him the problems we faced such as the services, road, and the fact that it was not a greenfields site - it was a new plant, but built in an existing facility - however, the Commonwealth has to treat it in a different way. We also asked for assistance on the road from Katherine to Nhulunbuy and the requirements for a service corridor, some of the bridges, and other issues. In addition, we discussed the possibility of briefing the Alcan board, and Mr Macfarlane was willing to go to Montreal, should it have been required, to discuss this issue with the board. I was very pleased, as that bipartisan approach meant a lot to the Territory and Australia.
In regards to some other issues raised by members, Alcan already has a plan in place and knows how to operate within the legislative framework of the Northern Territory. The member for Drysdale asked what will happen with inspectors and if there were going to be any more. Alcan knows they are obliged under our legislation to provide a mine management plan on an annual basis. My department, in consultation with the Office of Environment and Heritage, will assess this updated mining management plan and will direct, or work together with Alcan, to resolve some of the issues. With regard to inspectors, the member for Drysdale should also be aware that I have asked for a review of the Minerals and Energy Group. The Titles Division’s review has finished and we are through the process of the review of the Mines and Petroleum Management Division. I specifically asked that attention be given to the approval, regulatory, and investigative roles of the division in order to separate these roles and to make sure that the public, and the industry, has absolute confidence in the Mines and Petroleum Management Division. Part of this review will assess the ability of the division to conduct investigations and to contact all these different mines. They are already doing this, but we want to enhance their ability to do it better. We want the public, the work force and the miners to have the confidence that the division can do their job properly.
Members on the other said they thought about it first. That is fantastic; it is great and good to see governments in the Territory, irrespective of their political persuasion, working for the benefit of all Territorians. We are not going to claim this happened because of us; we are prepared to acknowledge things were initiated by other governments. In the future, we hope other governments are prepared to acknowledge things that were initiated by us. The important thing is that we are all working for the benefit of the Territory and Territorians, not only to improve the gross state product, but to provide jobs during the construction phase and ongoing jobs for Territorians. Most importantly, we have to expand our industrial base which is very poor. We rely a lot upon the pastoral industry and tourism, and have to expand it.
In the Territory we have the significant presence of the Defence Forces but, unfortunately, a lot of the equipment they use has to go south to be serviced or repaired. People are desperate when they have to lose the use of a piece of equipment - a tank or an aeroplane - for 15, 20 or 25 days. It is something we have to learn to do, and put in place the basics so it can be done here.
It is not going to happen tomorrow, but we are starting with the Alcan expansion and other projects that are currently under way in the Territory: the LNG plant and a number of mines that are proposed to be opened, such as Arafura Resources mining again in Pine Creek. There is Harts Range with garnet; and Giants Reef, a significant mine in Tennant Creek that has breathed new life into the town. There is talk of building new houses there for people who will work at Giants Reef and Bootu Creek.
Mining is important for the Territory and I am very excited and passionate about it. I want to promote exploration and mining in the Territory and am prepared to support projects like Alcan. I say again that I was very pleased and proud to be part of this task force that facilitated the whole process for the expansion of Alcan. I was extremely pleased when, on 9 September, I received an SMS that said, finally, the tick of approval was given by the board and Alcan is now a reality.
I congratulate everybody who worked on the task force. I will not mention specific names as I do not want to forget anybody, and the people know who they are. I also want to congratulate my colleague, the member for Johnston, staff of DIPE, and the member for Arafura and her Office of Environment and Heritage for the fantastic work they did. I also congratulate the Chief Minister for her determination to pursue this issue and work very hard for the expansion of Alcan to become a reality.
Dr BURNS (Transport and Infrastructure): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the statement by the Chief Minister and congratulate her in proving the economic credentials of this government in support of this great project. The announcement by Alcan of its investment decision is most welcome. The $2bn Alcan Refinery expansion project is larger than the Alice Springs to Darwin railway when combined with the trans-Territory pipeline and the Blacktip projects, and will result in the investment of another $3bn in the Territory. This project, combined with the LNG plant currently under construction and the Darwin waterfront project, heralds a new era of investment and confidence in the Territory under this government.
One only has to look at the financial and national press over the last six months to see the articles and expressions of confidence in the future of the Territory. Everyone is commenting on it. Even people who come here for holidays have commented to me that this place has an excitement. It is on the threshold of great development and the Alcan project certainly adds to that.
It is worth repeating the scope of this particular project as described by the Chief Minister in her statement. When complete, the refinery will increase its throughput capacity from two million tonnes per year to 3.8 million tonnes of alumina. That alumina will be exported to Alcan around the world and will provide 47% of the total take of Alcan’s alumina. We are all aware that Alcan is a trans-national, multinational company, so it is significant that 40% of the alumina it takes comes from the Northern Territory and represents a massive amount of its stock. We have also heard from the minister for business that the project at its peak will generate about 1700 construction jobs. Those workers will be housed in a purpose-built construction camp at Gove. The size of the labour force and the number of hours that need to be invested in this project - and I will repeat what the Chief Minister said – is three million hours in the direct work force; 1.8 million hours on indirect construction; one million hours on engineering; 700 000 hours on project control; and 1.2 million hours in offsite construction. There we have it. It is hard to really comprehend the extent of this expansion but I have given and repeated some parameters given by the Chief Minister.
The total investments over the next few years in the Territory is nearing the $6bn mark, including this particular investment. It not only provides continued evidence of commercial confidence in investing in the Territory, but this government’s ability to attract significant projects on a national and international scale. It also proves our public service is capable of responding to the demands of commercial negotiations and supporting projects of this scale.
Alcan has commended the task force which the Chief Minister established to navigate the proposal through the investment decision. We have heard the line from Shane Stone - I think he must be writing speeches for the other side - ‘This is a decision by Alcan. It has nothing to do with the government’. The fact is that the task force has been commended by the company as a vehicle to support the investment and, in my portfolio areas, there has been close cooperation and dialogue, and a lot of support from this government for this investment decision. As a Cabinet, we met a number of times with the Alcan people and, individually, I am sure most of us have met with them and taken on board the issues as they were raised. This government has played an integral role in supporting this project - and let no one forget that. We do it on behalf of the Territory, not on behalf of ourselves.
The expansion project will employ up to 1700 people during the construction phase and provide permanent jobs for about 120 people in Nhulunbuy. It will provide an exciting opportunity for youth and the local people to gain employment and derive business opportunities from this and associated projects. We had a Community Cabinet in Nhulunbuy probably two months ago, and it was my pleasure to take a helicopter tour with Alcan officials and survey the site. This included the proposed construction camps at Nhulunbuy, and some of the red mud storage. I will come to those issues soon. Cleaners, cooks, groundsmen, laundry, security, maintenance, and administration staff will be required. There will be significant movement of workers between Nhulunbuy and other centres during the construction phase, and it is fantastic to see the new airport being constructed at Nhulunbuy. It has been a long time coming. The old one has a lot of fond memories for people, but the new airport under construction looks spectacular and I know the Nhulunbuy people are very proud of it. There will be more vehicles and flights to and from Gove and a likely increase of accommodation requirements in Darwin.
All of these jobs are open to the people of Gove and all Territorians, and there will be other business opportunities for Territory companies. The Minister for Mines and Energy mentioned Perkins Shipping, and it was my pleasure when I was doorknocking a week or so ago, to talk to one of the foremen from Perkins who was very excited about this development. He spoke about the expansion of Perkins’ activities and what this project will mean to their business. The only complaint this person had was that it was becoming very hard to obtain backup machinery in Darwin. However, there were opportunities for businesses to buy auxiliary forklifts and provide hire services to businesses such as Perkins. Things are growing. The project will have a knock-on effect, along with all the other projects operating in Darwin and the Northern Territory. It is fantastic. Apart from shipping, there will be handling and fabrication associated with this expansion project. The Minister for Business and Industry is currently negotiating an industry participation arrangement to ensure the best outcome for Territorian. I am sure Alcan will be listening very carefully and provide a lot of support for Territory businesses and employees.
Alcan does have a great commitment to the local community, and a very proactive approach to indigenous business and employment. I have never lived at Gove, but I have been travelling out there since the 1970s and stayed there for three or four weeks at a time. I have always thought it a beautiful place with so many natural attractions and a great sense of community. The one thing that never ceases to amaze me about Gove and Nhulunbuy is the number of sporting clubs and community organisations which the community is right behind - and the company is right behind the community, indigenous and non-indigenous together. The spirit is fantastic.
It was not in good taste for the member for Drysdale to say how difficult it is for people to put roots down in Gove and stay there for any time. He was clanging his old bell about the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act and the lease at Gove. I have not spent a hell of a lot of time there, but I have spent a significant time and have never failed to meet people and their families who have been at Gove for 30 years; since the inception and building of the plant. These are people who moved there and have stayed. There is fantastic fishing, and a great community life. Some of these people have raised children there who have done very well. Some of them remain in the Gove area and work for Alcan, which is a fine testament to the town and the company. I am sure Alcan will continue to nurture this kind of relationship and continue to attract Territorians who are second-generation workers to service the mine and facility.
As an aside, Nabalco, as it was then, was very supportive of research I carried out at the Menzies School of Health Research. They gave some seeding grant money and provided accommodation for me there, together with a vehicle and assistance with transport costs. They were very supportive of the research carried out on the health of people in the region. I am forever grateful for that support which helped me to get an NH&MRC project grant for further study out there, and to support the local community. I have nothing but praise for the company.
The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Environment is represented on the Alcan task force and has had a major role in coordinating many of the approval processes required to bring this project to reality. The facilitation of the project is ongoing. The trans-Territory pipeline and the Blacktip project are truly an enormous undertaking. The legislation which a project of this scale needs to comply with includes planning and building control; bushfire control; Crown lands administration; parks and wildlife; water and weeds control; roads and traffic regulations - the list could go on and on. It does, however, demonstrate the complexity of the issues for Alcan and government.
Whilst at the Community Cabinet, apart from seeing the red mud ponds, I also toured the Perkins wharf at Nhulunbuy. There will have to be a significant upgrade of the wharf, and also relocation of the boat ramp beside it. These are important issues and it will be done in consultation with the community. There is also a complex range of issues regarding leases, and both the Territory and Commonwealth have responsibilities here. It is a complex and sensitive area, but the company knows this government will give them as much support as we possibly can, and I trust the Commonwealth will be doing likewise to support this project.
The project does have significant benefits, not only for the economy, but also the environment. There will be a reduction in the residue produced per tonne of alumina; a significant improvement in energy efficiency; a reduction in the consumption of caustic soda per tonne of alumina produced; as well as a reduction of caustic soda in the waste stream. There will also be improved water management and enhanced air quality, which will ultimately be improved even further through the use of LNG rather than the fairly sulphurous fuel oil that is currently used in the process treatment.
Although I have been going to Gove for some time, I had never taken a tour of the facility and looked at the processes. It was extremely interesting to see the red side of the plant, the white side of the plant, and to start to understand the very sophisticated process that Alcan has for the production of alumina from the raw product. It is quite a dangerous and hazardous process and, unfortunately, lives have been lost over the years. The company showed me the control room, and each step of the process. It is a mighty process, right from grinding the raw material down, to the adding of caustic soda and the extraction and crystallisation of the alumina. I really enjoyed having that tour and understanding more about the process.
There are environmental requirements to do with the project which are included in the mine management plan and will be oversighted by the Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development. Negotiations are continuing with Alcan on a whole range of infrastructure issues, with the aim of deriving as much benefit for Territorians as possible. There will be a coordinated effort across agencies to provide information to Alcan. This will provide an exceptional tool which will continue to allow the electronic transfer of information on the location of infrastructure, such as bores, airstrips, powerlines, communities and natural features.
The proposed trans-Territory pipeline from the Blacktip project to Gove is 940 km long and DIPE will be providing – I know that is the proposed second stage of this development - all sorts of support for the corridor and building of the pipeline. It is a very exciting project. There will be mapping and a whole range of things that planning, environment and infrastructure will be doing to facilitate the process. It will cross roads, rivers and other major infrastructure, and there is a lot of work to be done by government to support this particular project. However, we have demonstrated that we are very interested and supportive of it. The company is appreciative of our support, which will continue.
This is a great project for the Territory, and I support the statement by the Chief Minister on this very important project for the economy and the social benefit of the Northern Territory.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, as a lot of members of the government and opposition, and a lot of Territorians, I am excited about this project. For a long time, I have been saying that bringing gas onshore at Wickham Point and the waterfront development, are great for the Territory. However, I believe that the expansion at Alcan and the Territory pipeline to be the best things to happen to the Territory for ages. They will give us the opportunity to really grow the Territory and international interest.
The expansion of Alcan is only going to come about because of the trans-Territory pipeline which will bring in gas from the Bonaparte Gulf platform. It will be landing at Wadeye and going to the onshore gas plant there. The pipeline will cut across the Stuart Highway near Tindal and then over to Gove. The trans-Territory pipeline project is a joint project for and on behalf of the Blacktip joint venture, which is ENI Australia, Woodside Energy Ltd Group and Alcan South Pacific.
The pipeline will cut across 950 km in length going between Wadeye and Gove. The pipeline corridor may also cater for a pipeline for condensate export to potential markets in the Northern Territory and beyond. That is great news. The gas pipeline will transport treated gas in the Blacktip field to supply fuel to the Alcan alumina refinery in Gove. The pipeline will consist of a buried high tensile steel pipe located in a corridor up to 30 m wide. Above-ground facilities along the pipeline route will include compressor, meter, and scrapper stations, mainline valves, and other ancillary facilities. In the event of a condensate pipeline being laid in the gas pipeline trench, there will be a need for road tanker loading facilities located at appropriate intervals along the route.
You can see that, just in the pipeline itself, there is a huge amount of infrastructure and effort to be done. From Wadeye to Gove there are many communities along the way and there will be a lot of consultation with stakeholders who must become part of this process. I am pleased to say that, over the years, we have been working with the stakeholders along the route. Discussions have been held in Wadeye, Palumpa, Peppimenarti, Daly River, Kybrook, Barunga, Jilkminggan, Wugularr, Bulman, Weemol, Ngukurr, Burrapunta, Gapuwiyak, Ramingining, Galiwinku - all these places along the route are being involved, all the way to the homelands. This is a great project which is involving the communities. It is not a Darwin-based project, it is not a Gove-based project; this is a community-based project and the company and government are working in partnership with the Northern Land Council and the other various councils. They are working together because this is a project which everyone recognises will benefit all Territorians and, indeed, the whole of Australia.
Whilst I was researching my comments on the Chief Minister’s statement, I came across the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia’s web site. In their newsletter, I saw an article which I thought was important and should be included in my contribution. It is titled: ‘Exploration Warms Up in the Northern Territory’s Onshore Basins’:
- Land council successes herald new era for explorers.
- Hydrocarbon exploration in the Northern Territory sees a major boost following breakthroughs in
negotiations between Aboriginal land councils and petroleum exploration companies.
On June 3rd 2004, the Northern Territory Minister for Mines and Energy, Kon Vatskalis, announced
Merlin Energy and the Central Land Council had signed the Northern Territory’s first Indigenous
Land Use Agreement for a petroleum exploration permit. This will be the first petroleum exploration
permit issued in the Territory involving the Indigenous Land Use Agreement provisions of the Native
Title Act. The parties have also entered into a separate agreement for exploration of Aboriginal
freehold land negotiated under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act.
Timor Sea Petroleum, Geoscience Symposium - it goes on to say more about the involvement of the government and Mr Vatskalis’s portfolio in helping the Territory to bring gas onshore. The interesting thing is that this is from the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia talking about working in partnership with indigenous communities and members, which is fantastic. Lately, we have been hearing some pretty scurrilous things said about the inability to work with these groups, but this is from the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia’s third newsletter, the August/September edition. That is not too bad, is it? It puts to bed the misnomer that the opposition had been going on about, and I am pretty happy with it.
There has been comment about needing to prepare: ‘You really need to prepare. You have this project coming onshore. You did not know anything about it; it just fell in your laps’. What a load of poppycock! You do not have $2bn projects fall out of the sky on you. Blind Freddy knows that.
Look at this. This is from the Northern Land Council’s media release: ‘Employment and Training drive gathers pace’, dated 19 February 2004:
- The Northern Land Council has continued to expand its employment and training activities, signing a
memorandum of understanding with Jobfind Centres Australia Pty Ltd and enhancing its program of
training courses run in conjunction with the peak industry body, the Territory Construction Association.
The memorandum of understanding was signed on 4 February. It goes on to say that the federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, DEWR, is involved. Therefore, we have both the federal and Northern Territory governments involved. Mr Fry says that of the 21 graduates of a particular course, 19 have already been placed either in direct employment or apprenticeships. This is all as a result of this memorandum of understanding which the Northern Land Council signed.
The last paragraph of this media release from February is great news for us. It says:
- The Top End is entering a new era of development and there will be many opportunities for Aboriginal people
on projects such as the Army’s new training facility at Bradshaw and the trans-Territory gas pipeline,’ Mr Fry
said. ‘We are determined to ensure that our countrymen are job ready …
I will read that again:
- We are determined to ensure that our countrymen are job ready when these opportunities present themselves.
This does not look like things have fallen out of the sky to me. This looks like a well thought out project and people on the ground are getting ready. The NLC is getting ready, the community members are getting ready, this government is ready. Our institutions are gearing up because we worked hard for this. We talk about working with the communities. Listen to this from the Katherine Region On-line site:
- Event day: Monday 4 October
Event time 6 pm to 7.30 pm – one-and-a-half hours.
Contact Name: Theresa Cunningham.
Event Title: Trans-Territory Pipeline Information Seminar.
Description: Alcan will provide information about the proposed Trans-Territory pipeline project. If
approved for development, the pipeline will be built from Wadeye, Port Keats, to Gove, Nhulunbuy. Details
will be provided about the timelines for construction, the areas of spending and the range of business
opportunities. The Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development is compiling a new
Katherine TTP capability profile. Learn how individual business can promote product and services in
the Katherine TTP capabilities.
There you are. Officers of Business, Industries and Resource Development, minister Henderson’s portfolio, were in Katherine on Monday talking to businesses about this. Again, this puts to bed the notion that there has been no forethought, or that this is a lucky project which fell out of the sky. It is not. This government has been working hard - the Office of Territory Development has been working extremely hard - to make sure all of us benefit from this project.
As I said, the trans-Territory pipeline will link into the expansion at Gove. It is important to talk about Alcan, the type of corporate citizen they are, and what they do. The Alcan bauxite mine and aluminium refinery is located at Nhulunbuy, we all know that. It is from this remote location that Alcan Gove supplies alumina and bauxite for the international aluminium industry. It is regarded as one of the most cost-efficient producers in the highly competitive world alumina market with a commitment to innovation and excellence.
The values of this company are important because corporate integrity is a very important thing these days:
- The values of this company are based on integrity, accountability, trust, transparency and team work to
guide us as we incorporate economic, environmental, health, safety and social considerations into our
long-term business strategy, daily activities and decisions.
That is part of their Corporate Charter. It is fabulous that this company has decided to stay and invest in the Territory. These are the corporate citizens that this government is attracting. They are not cowboys! They are in for the long haul; have a great trans-national reputation, are very innovative, good for the community, and they are welcome. This company strives to be part of the community. They have a particular dedication to communities and partnerships, and I quote from their web site:
- Alcan strives to make a real difference in the communities and economies in which we operate,
maintaining good relationships with local communities, customers, suppliers and government.
We have developed close indigenous partnerships with communities in remote locations, including
Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory and Gladstone in north Queensland where we support indigenous
culture, training and employment.
Alcan’s community contributions include financial and in-kind sponsorship of local community and cultural
groups, major sponsorship of the Northern Territory Land Care awards and sponsorship of National Land
Care awards, vocational training … financial infrastructure and education to support the local schools and
service providers.
This is a fabulous corporate citizen to be welcomed into the Territory and they deserve the full support of this government, and parliament. Their indigenous partnerships have existed for some time. The relationship Alcan maintains with Aboriginal communities is unique in the mining industry. I suggest that it is as well. I quote:
- In areas of great sensitivity and rich Aboriginal culture, Alcan and traditional landowners have established
a relationship marked by cooperation, respect, goodwill and recognition of the mutual benefits to be gained
from working together.
This attitude is critical for a successful business operating in remote areas of the Territory. It is important they think this way on that end of the pipeline. That type of business culture, and respect for indigenous people and our countrymen in the bush, will translate at the other end. What a boon; not only for Nhulunbuy and the people there, but for Wadeye which needs infrastructure and good indigenous employment opportunities. That is what this pipeline and expansion will do.
In their partnership program, Alcan have been very innovative in that they have the YNOTS program which:
- … provides training in operating mining and earthmoving equipment, office administration and
fundamental workplace skills such as literacy, numeracy, safety and communications.
Since YNOTS was established in 2001, around 20 people each year have successfully completed the
course and gained nationally-recognised certificates.
Once again, we see evidence on the ground of people and companies preparing; of governments, individuals, councils and groups around them at the local level getting the people ready - getting them job ready.
YNOTS is a great program. It has been recognised as best practice model for indigenous vocational training, with a number of prestigious awards, including the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships; Northern Territory Minister for Business and Resources Development - Special Recognition Award; Northern Territory Training Award; Adult Learner’s Award - Outstanding Employer Contribution to Literacy Support and Outstanding Tutor Award; and Corporate Leaders for Indigenous Employment - Individual Achievement Award.
It is important for the House to know that the Territory is getting job ready on all fronts for this development; for this great Territory community building project.
The refinery itself has great opportunities. The scope of professions that can be found on a workplace such as this include: fitters, boilermakers, welders, electrical instrument tradespersons, diesel mechanics, mine equipment operators, power station operators, refinery operators, chemists, engineers, accountants, environmental specialists, human resource advisors, information technology specialists, supply and logistics officers, purchasing officers, supervisors, occupational health and safety advisors, emergency services officers, laboratory assistants, technicians, and secretarial and clerical officers. Here are opportunities for our countrymen to get jobs; for people on the communities who will be getting their certificates, to work at this place. There are also great opportunities for people from Darwin, Alice Springs and Katherine. There will be jobs along the pipeline, in Darwin and Katherine. This is truly a great opportunity for the whole Territory.
The member for Drysdale spoke about what is happening at Nhulunbuy itself; that they should be getting a town council. Perhaps you should be thinking about that, you know democratic rights. Have a look at Nhulunbuy and where it is situated on the Gove Peninsula. It is approximately 750 km by road from Katherine, and is home to approximately 4000 people, making it the Territory’s fourth largest town. The facilities are pretty good. There is a regional hospital, public library, bank, credit union, variety shops, supermarkets, post office, local radio station, Olympic-size swimming pool. It has clubs such as the surf club, golf course, squash, tennis, bowling green, bow club, gun club, football clubs, and, of course, it has the mine as the primary reason for being there at the moment.
When I looked at that - what is out there at the moment and the size of it - it reminded me of when I was living in Queensland around 1971-72 and went to a place called Gladstone, which is on the coast. Gladstone at that time had around 6000 people and were just building up their smelter. They, too, were getting a communications corridor built – at this stage it was a train to bring in the ore to power the station, and bring the alumina in. It was a sleepy little town in Queensland of 6000 people, and up went this huge infrastructure - this bauxite refinery - and it was a catalyst. It was a catalyst for the establishment of a great and thriving centre. Now, some 30 years on, Gladstone is a thriving town in central Queensland. It has diversified and has tourism - you can go to Heron Island, which is at the base of the Great Barrier Reef – industry, and lots of business opportunities.
The similarities between Gladstone and what is happening at Nhulunbuy should not be lost on us. We have the time and opportunities for well thought-out planning and consultation: working and growing large industry, developing small business opportunities and diversifying the economic base. There is a town sitting right at the top of the Gulf, which I believe could be the capital of the Gulf area. Weipa, another bauxite mine, is straight across the gulf about 800 km away. At the Weipa site, they put the bauxite on ships and tranship it around the Cape to Gladstone, through the Great Barrier Reef. There are long-term opportunities there, I would suggest, for us to grow the mine.
The mine itself and the energy source it will be refining, is estimated at 40 years. I suggest the town will go for a lot longer, but we need to sit down, work with all the stakeholders, consider global options, and start looking at where we want this town in the future. What do we want it to be? I suggest we want it to be the hub of East Arnhem; we want it to grow. There are great opportunities in the future for the Territory to benefit from what is happening there
Right now, we have a great boost to the Territory happening as far as the economy goes and what it means for us in the short-term - and by the short-term I mean five or 10 years. However, we have to think of our children and the Territory. We have a huge catchment area of many communities, full of our countrymen we have to think of. We have to get that economic base going. This is what this will do for the Territory. When I say I am excited - like big Kev - I am, because I do see this as a future opportunity. In all the time we have been going in the Territory, we have never really been able to effectively establish industries in the bush. This will give us the chance. This will open up Wadeye and Alcan, and we will be able to look for people coming in from their communities so they are not that far removed. We have a road structure going into there now. I would hate to think, and could not possibly imagine, how much it would cost to put through a bitumen road. However, it may well happen and that will open up the whole of East Arnhem.
Mr BONSON: Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the member for Sanderson be granted an extension of time to continue his remarks.
Motion agreed to.
Mr KIELY: The opportunities that are there for us all because of this project, are because this government was prepared to sit down and work in a cooperative and manageable manner with the mining industry, the land councils, and the people in the greater community. It is fabulous. There are a lot of doomsayers around the place and, as the Deputy Chief Minister said, people getting around with their heads in black clouds. It is time the people who think that way took their heads out of the clouds and looked at what this project truly means for the people of the Territory and, I dare say, the rest of Australia. There are great opportunities from this trans-Territory pipeline. From Nhulunbuy, it is not much of a push to Borroloola where we need more energy produced for the McArthur River mines. This is not a big project in the greater scheme of things, but could well be on the cards in the future. From there, it is only a hop, skip and a jump to Mt Isa and the national grid. We have Sunrise coming onshore. What better things could be waiting for us?
These are all opportunities which may present themselves in the future and which I am confident this government, and the governments that will follow, will take advantage of. We will need the benefits and the cooperation of all levels of government - federal, Territory, local government and the different land councils in the Territory. However, I believe it can well and truly be done.
In conclusion, I would like to return to the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia’s newsletter. This particular article is called ‘Building a Long-term and Competitive Gas Business’. It says that:
- Woodside Energy Gas Business Unit Director, David Maxwell, mapped out a vision of the company’s future in
the Territory at an international industry forum in Darwin last month.
And as Woodside strives to build a long-term and competitive gas business in the Northern Territory,
its future is inextricably linked with the Top End’s emergence as a regional energy hub. ‘Woodside’s
Australian and Timor Sea portfolio of existing and potential operating projects will require a further
capital investment of some $26bn over the next 40 years,’ said Maxwell.
‘These projects will sustain some 4300 direct jobs and total fuel production over this period is likely to
exceed eight billion barrels of oil equivalent. These projects are also expected to deliver significant
government revenues and export income of $150bn’.
That is in today’s terms:
‘By 2020, it is reasonable to expect three operating LNG hubs focussed on gas reserves adjacent to the
Pilbara coast, the Kimberley coast and the Timor Sea, and possibly a trans-Australia gas pipeline’, he said.
It goes on, and is there on the web for everyone to look at.
I am excited, and a lot of other people should be excited about this. I am sure the Chief Minister is excited, and I thank her for all her efforts in pulling this together. However, I am not about to say this is a Labor project and that is not, as I do not believe that is the way it should operate. At times, I am forced to speak like that because when the train came along it was a CLP project; gas onshore, ‘Oh well, the CLP was in there and you just picked it up’. Now this comes along and: ‘Oh no, that was all industry’s and you had no part to play in it’. You cannot have it both ways. If you are going to measure something, use the same yardstick.
The train is a Territory project, Wickham Point development is a Territory project, and this is a Territory project. We do not do things here for the Labor Party - we do them for the people of the Territory.
Mr BONSON (Millner): Mr Deputy Speaker, I support the ministerial statement on the Alcan expansion. I have listened to all members’ contribution in the debate and agree this is a responsibility which the Northern Territory government needs to take hold of and embrace, and encourage its development over the next few years.
The aim of any government is to create a future for its constituents, its citizens and, in this case, all Territorians and Australian citizens as a whole. Whatever background, religion, race or colour it does not matter. This is a fantastic opportunity for people in remote areas, and the benefits which are going to flow from it will be measurable in economic and social outcomes for all residents of the Northern Territory.
I agree with the Chief Minister who said that the first goal was to secure the project, then work with the proponent to leverage as many outcomes as possible for their constituencies. That means jobs, skills transfer, and optimum local content. One of the big issues within the Territory at the moment is ensuring that local people are trained and employed on these big projects.
We also have to consider that we need to encourage people to come and live in the Territory, no doubt like the Deputy Speaker did many years ago. Once they come to work here, often they will settle. My wife’s father, for example, travelled from another country to Australia. He landed in Darwin and went to Groote Eylandt where he worked and lived for 35 years. He raised a family there and has now settled and retired here in Darwin. These opportunities can happen, but we have to encourage people from outside the Northern Territory to come to this great place in which we live. There is no doubt that benefits and skills have to flow to the locals. By doing this, we can encourage and drive our economic future with the knowledge that we have the resources and the people skills to continue the work we have ahead in years to come.
Like the Chief Minister, I welcome the announcement by the president of Alcan’s Australian Operations, Mr Richard Yank, who, with the Alcan board, approved the $2bn expansion of Alcan Gove refinery. I was amazed to listen to the Chief Minister deliver this fantastic statement, which gives great detail of the size of the project we are talking about. I want to comment on what that means for the constituents of Millner electorate, the wider Darwin constituency, Palmerston and all Territorians. The refinery will almost double its capacity, increasing alumina production from two million to 3.8 million tonne per annum. That is amazing and conceptually hard to imagine. I lived and worked in Nhulunbuy in the early 1990s, and have been to the mine site There is no doubt that it is the main economic generator for Nhulunbuy.
What we cannot forget is the large number of people we have come to know as traditional owners - I suppose in the Australian language - the Yolngu people. Hopefully, we will see real benefits flowing to them and the Yolngu people taking up those opportunities. We are talking about communities such as Ski Beach and Yirrkala. I have had, through many past lives in work and sport, opportunities to mix with a lot of families from those areas, and there is no doubt in my mind that the potential is there for them to really succeed. It has been interesting to watch the change in philosophy as to how indigenous people approach mining as an economic outcome. Fifteen or 20 years ago, the views of indigenous people and miners were poles apart. There is no doubt that a working relationship, the breaking down of barriers and understanding each other’s stance on certain issues has improved this relationship.
To explain to people who read this, or are listening to the broadcast: this will be the world’s largest refinery. At present, the record is held by Queensland Aluminium Ltd in Gladstone, which has an annual aluminium production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per annum. This means the Gove refinery’s output of 3.8 million tonnes per annum, will a world-class development. Australians often say we have the world’s largest this and that, but this will be largest alumina mine and it is an unbelievable concept for all Australians to consider. Hopefully, people living in the south of Australia will begin to understand that the top half of Australia, one-sixth of the continent, is the Northern Territory and there needs to be investment in its future.
I was interested to hear the Chief Minister say this project is bigger than the AustralAsia Railway, which is an amazing event and we know how many years it took to develop. However, here we are, soon after the railway was commissioned, with another project that is even bigger. It is bigger than the Darwin City Waterfront development, and the Wickham Point LNG plant, from which we are starting to see benefits flowing: job opportunities, economic growth, excitement and energy. We have some massive projects in the Northern Territory and this government is doing a fantastic job in creating a vision of where the Territory is going. It is a positive vision about the future of the Territory. It is about creating opportunities for all Territorians, young and old, to be a part of this future and vision. We can never underestimate the perception of people having a brighter future. In reality we have to achieve that, but we also have to create the feeling that there is the opportunity for a better life so people are encouraged to work harder and participate in our community. Let us face the fact that there are many people in the Territory who do not feel the excitement to participate in the wider community and, as a result, they suffer from that non-participation.
It is interesting to look at the forecast of what this is going to do for the Northern Territory. The Chief Minister said it is going to increase employment, with up to 1700 people being employed during the construction phase. There are approximately two million man-hours of construction on site in Gove, and the expanded operation will provide 120 additional permanent positions during operation, mostly at the refinery. There will an increase in gross state product of $19m per annum during construction, and $200m per annum during operations, and the value of Territory exports will increase by $420m to a total $980m per annum. There will also be an increase of $120m per annum in expenditure within the Northern Territory and an increase in government revenue for both the Commonwealth and Northern Territory which will assist in their service delivery. The Chief Minister outlined some of the pure money figures we are talking about, and it is hoped those figures can be reflected in what happens on the ground with employment. I believe they will.
I also picked up on the Chief Minister’s statement that there was a need, by herself and the government as a whole, to secure this investment, to encourage Alcan to continue with their investigations about delivering this project. It is purely a mechanical process. I was interested in her comments about the creation of a task force within the major project groups of the government. Many constituents, listeners and readers of this statement would be interested in this. How does government say we are going to take control of this with two hands? We are going to drive it so we can assist a big development like this - which is going to have huge effects into the future - through a task force process comprised of senior public servants from all the relevant agencies reporting to the major project groups, liaising with Alcan to ensure that all issues affecting the project were identified and appropriate actions were taken. As a result of this partnership, the Chief Minister says that we were able to deliver this project and the success of this will, no doubt, have a major impact on the future of all Northern Territorians.
This huge project is going to have a major effect on the environment, and I was interested in the Chief Minister’s explanation of the environmental considerations. Not only do we live within an economy, but we also live in a society in which the environment is important. As the Chief Minister said, she determined that the project would undergo the highest level of environmental assessment. This assessment has been completed and the government has placed a number of strict environmental conditions on the project. I am sure there are many people out there with a keen interest in the environment who will be happy that the Chief Minister has that in her statement. She goes on to say that these conditions have been incorporated in the mine management plan administered by the Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development. I look forward to hearing from the Minister for Business and Industry on how the environmental issues are dealt with in the future.
I was very interested in the trans-Territory pipeline joint venture for which organisations to build, own and operate the pipeline were being sought. Obviously, this is a great opportunity for a consortium, or a group of individuals, who have the ability to find the finance, produce and manage such a huge project and make some economic wealth from this project.
I was also interested to hear the Chief Minister talk about the Northern Land Council, which has expressed an interest. Not only have they expressed interest to her as an individual member, but the community has expressed a desire to have an equity stake in the trans-Territory pipeline. Without knowing all the details of their proposal, and not operating at that level - obviously the Chief Minister will be with Cabinet within the next few weeks - at least there is a way that indigenous people can obtain an equity share which will secure an economic future for indigenous people. Both sides of this House would agree that the reality of the plight of the poverty, health, and education issues that surround indigenous people can really only be attacked and resolved through economic independence: employment, opportunities to run businesses, etcetera. The NT and Commonwealth governments will play important roles in delivering services such as hospitals and schools, but jobs and economic independence is the only way, I believe, for indigenous people. Sole reliance on the Northern Territory or the Commonwealth governments providing answers for them, unfortunately, has not been possible in the last 200 years and I do not think it will be in the next 200 years. Therefore, we have to start thinking out of the box. Again, without knowing what this proposal is, I encourage the land council to continue their investigations and, hopefully, with the NT government we can work with them and fully investigate all possible outcomes. If we can assist, let us do it. If we cannot, it is bad luck, but maybe there is another project in the future.
As the Chief Minister said, major projects represent opportunities for the Northern Territory economy to grow, increase the skills of local businesses and, thereby, the Northern Territory’s ability to compete for other major projects through the vision of skilled and capable local contractors and employers. In summary, this Alcan project is massive in size, as we know, and I am visualising what impact it can have on the Territory. I do not believe anyone in this House can deny we need to support it as a Legislative Assembly. As the Northern Territory government, we have to get behind what this project can deliver in the economic, social and environmental sense for the Territory. Over future years, no doubt the opposition will keep the government accountable to this vision of maximising the resources and benefits which we can gain from this project. The role of government, of course, is to create a vision of the future that is better, and provide opportunities for all Territorians to access that future and vision.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I look forward to this future development beginning, expanding and increasing the opportunities for all Territorians - black, white, green or purple, whatever religion or race, and wherever they live in remote rural or urban areas. I sincerely hope that it can deliver on half of what we, as a people, envision.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank everyone for their contribution. This is an important statement. I was a little disappointed with the response from the opposition. Often I have been urged by them to bring statements into the House so we can have a thorough and detailed discussion about major projects for the Territory, and we only had two contributions from the opposition. In important areas such as employment, education and training, we did not even have a contribution from the shadow spokesperson. It is disappointing, certainly from the Opposition Leader. I listened carefully to his contribution to this statement and I am still struggling to understand what he said. It was like a lecture from the member for Blain, which had almost semi-religious overtones. However, I failed to understand what, in fact, he was talking about.
He did refer, at some time, to Benny Hill and hats but what, in fact, that had to do with a $2bn project for the Territory, I am still struggling to understand. Part of his contribution - and I am sorry to focus on this, but this is our Opposition Leader, the man who would be the Chief Minister to oversee projects like this. His contribution on the biggest single private investment into the Territory was simply - and I do not want to be unkind – a joke. He did not prepare. I doubt whether he had even read the statement and he had nothing of any significance to say in his contribution to this debate.
He spent some significant time accusing the government of trying to claim credit for things, of having almost an arrogance about saying in the House that this is a great project, as though we were saying we had developed it from scratch and were trying to claim credit for it. I defy the Opposition Leader to find any statement or any line in this statement, that does that. This is a very factual statement. It looks at the development of the project and at the contribution made by many different aspects. It says what the challenges are, and how we have gone about working, from government’s point of view, with the proponents Alcan, the investors of the $2bn, into making this project come about. It is very simple. We are not saying we have everything organised and under control at this stage, but we have done the work.
The reason we have done the work is that when in February last year, Alcan announced moving the project from a possibility to feasibility –that is when they got SNC-Lavalin, and Leighton Contractors in to do a $40m feasibility on the expansion of the plant – we put together a task force in government which pulled together different elements of government to work with Alcan on almost a day-to-day basis, to make sure that we were responding to some of the challenges that would come forward and where it was appropriate for government to be involved. That is all I said. It is a very responsible way for government to respond to a project of this size: to work with the proponents and make sure that the resources of government are adequately focussed to meet their needs. We did that. I am proud of it. I am proud of the people who were on that task force. They have worked hard.
When Alcan announced on 9 September - I, as the Opposition Leader said, did not announce the project - at the press conference, I congratulated them and said what a great project it would be for the Territory. However, I have had to listen to a lecture from the Opposition Leader about somehow or other claiming credit. It was a very weird contribution from the Opposition Leader, particularly the Benny Hill bit. He used lines like ‘casting blame on others’. This was not actually a church service, with all due respect to those who are regular church goers. He was simply talking about another issue, I felt, for most of his contribution. This is the Opposition Leader and the shadow Treasurer, who simply failed to give a reasonable response to a major statement on what is the biggest private sector investment. It is the biggest vote of confidence in the future of the Territory that we have seen, at least since the LNG plant was announced.
I thank all other members for their contribution. The member for Drysdale had a schizophrenic contribution to this debate. He kept on saying it is a terrific project, great for the Territory, and will see jobs, additional revenue and opportunities for business, and then proceeded to criticise government for what we had not done. Simply, if he had stayed to listen to the contributions from ministers, he would have seen that many of the issues he actually raised were being dealt with because, quite properly, I gave an overview of the project, but other ministers with responsibilities like Employment, Education and Training, were going to talk about the detail.
Let us look at some of the detail. We have done a labour market analysis about the skills Alcan needs and where we think we can meet them, and were able to hand that to Alcan. The project is 1700 at its maximum but, probably on average, about 800 workers to expand the plant at Gove. Our assessment is that we can probably provide about 500 Territorians. We can provide 500 of those 800 at any time. Our assessment is that we currently have the skills for about 390 of those, and we can provide the training for an additional 100 or so to get them skilled for the project when needed. So there we are: we have done the work. It is not arrogance; it is doing the proper work we needed to do through Employment, Education and Training, to work with Alcan through the task force to identify the skills we need.
When we talk about a project that is 1700 at its peak, and probably 800 at average, we have a pretty good assessment that we can provide 500 locally. That is terrific. That matches the actuality we have seen on the LNG plant with Bechtel. I say again: they said to us ‘You will be lucky to get 30% local’. We are currently running at 54% of the work force being local. Adding to that, we welcome new Territorians. Most of us in here were at one stage new Territorians; that is how we built this Territory. However, we can balance it with making sure that locals can acquire the skills to be part of it, importantly, from the start.
Another issue raised was the impact on Nhulunbuy of the 120 additional jobs once the plant is expanded. That is in three years time. We are doing the work to look at what the impact on services will be and, while 120 of those jobs are new, I hope that some of those jobs will go to local people from East Arnhem who we can skill up to take them in the three years. That is important. We are looking at the housing, the education and the health needs. That will be done and a senior person will be placed in Nhulunbuy to oversee that from a government point of view.
That is why we have the task force: to make sure we identify the issues and put in place the resources at this stage, for the future of Nhulunbuy. It is an additional senior resource into the town from government, to make sure we start pulling some of those things together to do the right assessments. The longer term impact on Nhulunbuy will not be for three years because the workers will be at a camp outside town, but we will monitor the impact of those workers on the town. There will be a social impact assessment. It was a requirement of the environmental assessment, and that is being done.
In relation to the question of expenditure in the budget and where the lines in the capital works budget are, this is a private sector project. We are talking to them about what government contribution might be, and that will be coped with largely within the current capital works budget. Again, we are working ahead of this. The task force has identified these needs and, not surprisingly, there are still discussions going on. They will continue and all that emerges will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. However, until those costs emerge, and where it is appropriate for government to pick up any costs, we will be doing that appropriately.
Mr Dunham: You told us you had done the work.
Ms MARTIN: Mr Deputy Speaker, if the member for Drysdale raises issues, it is quite appropriate that he stays during the debate to hear other ministers’ contributions, and at least should listen to what I have to say …
Mr Dunham: I did hear them. You were absent yourself. You are hardly ever in here.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order!
Ms MARTIN: Mr Deputy Speaker, this is a terrific project for the Territory. This may sound like repetition, but it is a vote of confidence in our future. We have heard some fairly negative things said about mining over the last week, and here you have a major mining company which says: ‘The Territory is a great place to be; it is somewhere we can have confidence in investing capital of $2bn’. They have such a strong belief in our future that they are looking to 40 to 50 years and beyond.
Alcan should be congratulated for that confidence in the Territory’s future and I am heartened by what David Sutherland had to say about our businesses. As I said in the statement, the initial assessment was that perhaps Territory business would not necessarily have the capacity to be able to deliver for this project. We have seen the capacity of business develop through many years, but lift to a new level through the ADrail project, and to yet another level in the capacity of Territory businesses dealing with the LNG project and Bechtel - $230m of contracts have been let to Territory businesses building that LNG plant. The capacity that businesses are developing, sometimes with clustering, sometimes partnerships, has seen Alcan say they can see a lot more of what they need being sourced in Darwin and the Territory. This is a real tribute to Territory businesses. They have had a challenge. They have developed their capacity; they are competitive; and there will be really sustainable work coming from this $2bn Alcan investment in the Territory’s future. Well done, Territory businesses. We will continue as government, quite appropriately, to work with them to develop that capacity.
It is terrific project and one that has already started. Alcan has put in significant resources up to this stage, but that is only the start of it. For the community at East Arnhem, there will be change. The local member recognised that in his contribution. However, government and Alcan will work with them to manage that change, and to see how opportunities can be grasped. Traditional owners, the Gumatj, through the land council, have been very positive about the project. I am sure there will be lumpy and bumpy bits as we go along, but they will be managed. Certainly, we are keen to see as much local employment - not only local meaning Territory, but local meaning East Arnhem - in this project.
I thank everyone for their contribution. I am disappointed at the very poor contribution from the opposition. We will continue to bring statements into this House on major Territory developments, but hope that we can see a more significant and considered contribution from the opposition in the future.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Mr Deputy Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Yesterday at lunchtime, I had the great pleasure to attend briefly, sadly, the Telstra Business Women’s Awards. I am very pleased to advise the House - and probably many members know already - that Michelle Hanton was named the 2004 Telstra Business Women of the Year. Michelle is known to many of us in this House I am sure. Diagnosed with cancer some years ago, Michelle decided it was not going to beat her and that she would fight back with a vengeance and reclaim her life.
Michelle was the founder and national coordinator of Dragons Abreast Australia, voluntarily working to oversee the nationally represented, volunteer-run organisation that promotes awareness of breast cancer through participation in dragon boat racing. Her concept started with one boat racing in Darwin six years ago, and this month is the sixth anniversary of Dragons Abreast NT, bringing together a group of breast cancer survivors and their supporters. Today, this organisation is national and includes 15 member groups, spread across every state and territory and two other countries. Michelle is a breast cancer spokesperson and has travelled extensively throughout the world to consult and support groups, medical staff and the media. I will speak more of Michelle later on.
This was the 10th year of the Telstra Business Women’s Awards and, since their inception a decade ago, these awards have highlighted the achievements of some truly remarkable Australian women. Previous Northern Territory winners were in attendance at the lunch yesterday. They included Lyn White, last year’s Business Woman of the Year; Julie Newton who won in 2002 - both of whom are from Katherine; Marie Morrison, the winner in 2000; Terina Saunders, the 1999 winner; and Vicki O’Halloran, Business Woman of the Year in 1988. Those women were joined by a room full of enthusiastic men and women who where there to support the many nominees and finalists for 2004.
As I looked around the room, there were many faces I recognised; women who have made a real impact in the Territory in all facets of business and community life, from Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs - and this year, one nomination from Hermannsburg, which was great to see.
The Westpac Group Business Owner Award was sponsored by Westpac Banking Corporation and Regional Manager for the Territory, Joel Wecker. In his initial statement, Joel told how Westpac recognised and appreciated the challenges faced by women in the workplace, and the opportunities that sometimes had to be missed in light of other home and family commitments. One of the challenges for women in business - and I do not think it will ever actually go away - is that there are times when being a woman means you have to juggle the responsibilities of family and home with the commitments to business partners, clients and staff. It was very positive for me yesterday to look around the room at so many faces of Northern Territory women in business, management and community roles.
Finalists in this category of Westpac Group Business Owner were: Alison Hucks of Avant Personnel, providing recruitment and human resource services to the business sector; Marlee Ranacher, co-owner of the remote cattle station Bullo River in the East Kimberley; Cindy Rosenbaum, the owner of Dunnart Advertising and Design; Julie Shugg, Managing Director of AKS Welding and Fabrication; and Susan van-Cuylenburg, Practice Principal and sole owner of Godfrey Pembroke Darwin. The winner was Catherine Spurr.
Cathy is to be congratulated on this wonderful achievement. After commencing her career as an apprentice electronic communications technician, Cathy studied to become qualified as a solicitor and barrister. Through dedication and perseverance, she was able to thrive in the often hectic, male-orientated world of law, to become co-owner of Halfpenny’s Lawyers, a small Darwin practice that specialises in commercial family and criminal law, and the division that Cathy manages, work injuries. In addition, Cathy is President of the Northern Territory Branch of the Labor Party and a volunteer and member of several law societies and associations. While doing this, she managed to bring up two small children - they are not very big as yet. Sometimes, I am in awe at how Cathy manages to balance all the different pressures in her life.
The next category was the Australian Government Private and Corporate Sector Award. The finalists were Claire Ashard, Sales and Marketing Manager for Voyages Alice Springs Resort; Frances Hendrie, office manager for five affiliated companies; Helen Parker, real estate sales executive for the NT News; and the winner announced was Tracey Clapp, a qualified chartered accountant who heads the audit division of PFA Chartered Accountants in Alice Springs, where she has been for the last two years. Prior to this, Tracey worked as an analyst for the multinational accounting firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. PFA Chartered Accountants has built a new office in Alice Springs which Tracey part owns. She has a Bachelor of Business degree majoring in accounting and tourism management.
Lillian Lesueur, General Manager NT of Hudson introduced and presented the Hudson Community and Government Award. Lillian made the very significant point that, although the percentage of women in the workplace has increased to around 53%, the percentage of women in executive positions or women as board members is, in fact, still under 10%. Finalists were Priscilla Collins, Chief Executive Officer of CA Aboriginal Media Association; Barbara Pitman, Executive Officer of Human Services Training Advisory Council; Kezia Purick, CEO of the NT Minerals Council; Julie Smith, Manager of the Women’s Cultural Centre at Hermannsburg; and Kate Vanderlaan, Regional Commander for the Katherine and Northern Operational Service region of the NT Police Force. The winner of this category was Michelle Hanton.
The last award was the Panasonic Young Business Women’s Award. The finalists were Claire Ashard, Tracey Clapp, and Helen Parker, and the winner was Cindy Rosenbaum. In March last year, Cindy purchased Dunnart Advertising and Design, an Alice Springs-based graphic design agency. Cindy and her two staff provide more than 300 Northern Territory and interstate clients with design services for logos, web sites, brochures, major publications and exhibitions. Projects include designing all the recruitment advertisements for government and creating tourist information signage for Parks and Wildlife.
In presenting this award, Roland Tudor, the Director of Corporate Services for Panasonic Australia, explained how the dynamics of his own company had altered in light of the more prominent decision-making role that women now have in business. Where once the target audience was very much male-orientated, it is now women who are making decisions on new technology purchases, the phones and the computers - not just for work, but for home. We have known that the movement to have women in the workplace has been increasing, but now we all need to work towards breaking through any false ceilings that may be found in corporations, and in government, to inhibit the progress of intelligent and dedicated women - and there are many of those.
I want to return to Michelle Hanton. Late last week, I attended the very special launch of the 2005 Dragons Abreast Calendar. This is certainly a unique calendar and, although the concept of a calendar with images of real women - not supermodels - is not new, this particular calendar features some wonderful Territory women who have thrown their all into supporting the work of Dragons Abreast and Michelle’s efforts in raising awareness of breast cancer issues.
I acknowledge them for their participation; it is a list of prominent and, for many, very game women. The images, bar one, were taken by photographer Simon Furlong and all are very tasteful and extremely flattering. Aaron Crocker was the make-up artist who donated his time and product in making all the models look their best. In the calendar, which will be on sale on the 11 October for around $22 – a great buy – are Miss January, Nerys Evans; February is tourism’s woman about town, Sylvia Wolf. Tiina Urvet, who has made her mark as one of the very few female editors in the Murdoch chain, was March - she is at the Northern Territory News, of course. April is pastoralist Terry Underwood and May is Palmerston Mayor, Annette Burke. I had the luck to be June and that was a challenging exercise in itself, to do the whole photography. Jo Reiter of Boyanton Advertising was there, Michelle Hanton, and Mayor Fran Kilgariff of Alice Springs. October is the Dragon’s Abreast paddlers, Pat Hancock, Trish Greenfield and Colleen Haydon – well done. Lisa Ridgeley of Mix 104.9 is November and journalist Alice Burton of the Northern Territory News is December.
I congratulate Jo Reiter of Boyanton Advertising, whose hard work and efforts brought this calendar to fruition, and Lisa Ridgeley of Mix 104.9 whose initial idea this was. Lisa talked her idea through with me on an early morning show – the idea of the real women participating in a calendar - and it was Lisa who decided this was a good idea. She took it to Dragons Abreast and got everyone involved. She carried the idea from a Friday morning when she thought: ‘Why not have a calendar with real women?’. After talking to Dragons Abreast, it became a fundraiser for Dragons Abreast. Lisa just looked overawed last Friday as what was an idea for her had suddenly come to fruition. It is a very professional job and she deserves to be congratulated.
The sponsors of the calendar were Coleman’s Printing, Geoff Annear, and Spicers Paper. I encourage everyone to support Michelle and the Dragons Abreast organisation by buying copies of this wonderful calendar. Everyone you know interstate deserves at least one or two.
Well done to everyone involved. I was fascinated that somehow or other the media had got hold of – ‘There is a calendar full of Territory women and they are all naked from the waist up’. It certainly encouraged a lot more media attention than we might otherwise have received. The photos were incredibly tastefully done. When the media asked me if I was nervous about having to take my clothes off, I said I had no less clothes on than I would have at the gym. They were a bit disappointed. It really is a wonderful calendar. It is very tasteful. It has a touch of the Territory and it is for a great cause. Congratulations to everyone involved.
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I join the Chief Minister in congratulating Michelle Hanton. I have known this young woman since the early days of dragon boat paddling in 1998. Her dynamic enthusiasm is very infectious and gets everybody involved. From those early days of the humble beginnings of dragon boating in the Northern Territory, she has produced a phenomenon that is now world-wide. I congratulate Michelle and all her associates and ‘partners in crime’ for the great things she has done. Seeing her win the Telstra Business Woman of the Year Award is fantastic. She deserves every accolade which has been given to her from the time she got involved in these activities.
On a less happy note, I want to make comment about Mr David Darling. He is a gentleman who was born in Edinburgh in June 1924 and passed away in Alice Springs on 11 September this year. I knew David Darling through my involvement with the Alice Springs College of TAFE when he was there as the hospitality instructor. He taught many students in Alice Springs through the hospitality facility at the Alice Springs College of TAFE, which then became Centralian College and is now part of Charles Darwin University.
I quote from a eulogy read by Laurel Butcher at his funeral service:
- How does one do justice with a tribute to a great friend in such a short time, especially when I have known
him for only about one quarter of his life.
David, Grace and family came to St Phillip’s College in 1982 from PNG. St Phillips in those days was a
boarding college and students attended the other schools in town. It was small and struggling and was
almost a missionary outpost of the church. David was the Chef. The students were well fed and Dave was
popular. The staff of the college melded together to make a family atmosphere for the students.
He was a quiet man who got on with things and got things done. He brought a professionalism to the kitchen
and with the limited resource, he worked wonders. It was during this time that I got to know him David and
Grace would come to my house for some time out, especially on a day off. There were lots of pressures on David,
but never a complaint. I know it is a small world, but at that time my next door neighbour was a colleague of Dave’s
from life in Scotland. Later I had the privilege of having Isobel, his daughter, work with me for nearly 13 years.
On arrival in Alice Springs, the Darling family became a part of the Flynn congregation. David was there quietly
active, assisting generally and particularly if there were any events that needed catering, such as church camps,
or assistance in estimating food requirements. He can take the credit for educating me, a former Victorian, on
the pleasure of ‘Pie floaters!’ I don’t remember what the function was but I do remember a myriad of pies floating
in Green pea soup. I believe South Australians can take the credit for that fantasy, not the Scots!
David’s background enabled him to be a very competent treasurer for the Church.
His activities stretched beyond the Church and St Phillip’s College and his expertise was shared. This was
especially so when he left St Phillip’s College and took on teaching at the catering school, which he played
a significant part in establishing
When he finally retired, he remained quietly active in the community and the church, being available as
consultant.
As time progressed his body showed signs of wearing out, but never a complaint from Dave. He quietly
accepted his lot in life.
One could continue and add to the many other facets of his life: his devotion to Grace and his family, his dislike
of conflict, his many friendships and his enjoyment of life.
A New Testament quote describes Dave: ‘Let him that is greatest among you be servant of all’. Dave was a
servant of all.
There is a David Darling shaped hole in the universe, and it cannot be filled.
The following quote is from a letter written by a 10-year old boy:
- Dear Grandma Grace,
I’m terribly sorry to hear what happened to Grandpa Dave. Mum told me all the memories. Do you want to know
what I will always remember of him? I’ll always remember that time when the picture of him and I was in the
newspaper. I will always remember him as a smart gentleman. He was always wearing a tie.
We’ll see him one day in heaven (hopefully not too soon). But he’ll live on in our hearts forever.
Love, Matthew
He wrote down 80 kisses, one kiss for every year.
David, as I said, was the head hospitality instructor at Gillen House, which was part of the Alice Springs College of TAFE at Flynn Drive. In later years, the hospitality establishment was moved from the premises at Flynn Drive into the main campus at Sadadeen. The complex was demolished and now, where it stood, is a seniors village. Guess what? The first tenants of that seniors village were David and Grace Darling. Grace continues to live there and I hope she enjoys it and continues to have a very fruitful life in Alice Springs.
As well as Grace, David has left behind his family of David Andrew, Isobel Joyce, Ian Stewart, Stephen Willem and Donald James, 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He has one surviving brother, Ronald, who is 76 and lives in England. Grace says that she is only a 16-year-old girl with 56 years of experience in her life. I wish Grace and her family well. I am sure we will all remember David for a long time.
Finally, I want to talk about training in the Northern Territory and the comments made by the minister this morning regarding apprentices and the awards they received over the last couple of years, as well as the many comments made about the Alcan development and the training they are going to bring about in the Territory. I support that. However, this government has really failed. As an example, today I met with a young apprentice baker and pastry maker who has been studying at the Palmerston campus for the last three years. His course was due to finish in March of next year. This week is his swot vacation – next week he sits for his exams and then has a week off, following which he will have two weeks further instruction for this block release of his training. If he continued properly, he would finish his exams and course by March next year as a fully qualified baker and pastry maker, and be employable. In fact, he was offered a job in France as a pastry maker. And guess what? He told me today that, as of next week after his exams, there will be no instructor in Darwin to continue his course.
He has to put off his course until somehow, somewhere, an instructor appears, or he has to go interstate to finish his course. He is a young man who came from Brisbane to live at Port Keats. He took up an apprenticeship in baking and pastry making in Palmerston and has completed two-and-a-half years. Now, six months before finishing that apprenticeship, he suddenly sees that his course is in tatters. He was offered a job in France that he has to give away because he cannot finish his course.
That is the problem with this government. This government does not look after our trainees and apprentices properly. They do not keep an eye on our educational and training institutions to make sure that the resources are there to ensure our students get the continuous training they require. Another student doing this same block release comes from Alice Springs. He has paid the university fees to stay at university accommodation for the next four weeks so he can finish his block, and the instructor is gone. The instructor has a very valid reason to leave the Territory - let us not go into that. I will support the instructor’s leaving. The government does not have a system that will have a replacement teacher if somebody has to leave in a hurry, so these kids are left hanging. The guy in Alice Springs has paid his fees to stay in the university accommodation to study, go for exams next week, have a week’s break and then two weeks more of study. Now he has to go home to Alice Springs. He says: ‘I cannot go home; I have no work. I have paid my fees to stay at the accommodation’. They will not refund his money unless he gives the key back. He says: ‘I do not have the money to buy a ticket, so if I give the key back I have nowhere to sleep. If you do not give me my money back from my rent, I cannot buy an airline ticket to get back to Alice Springs’. Therefore, this poor kid is really stuck in the middle of nowhere – a rock and a hard place really.
This government has to make sure that processes are in place to ensure that our kids are looked after properly. There are 14 to 15 apprentices in this class alone, and all of them are affected. This minister stood up and said: ‘We did such a great job; we have apprenticeships going; we are giving them all the training; we are putting money into it’. Money! These are 14 to 15 young men. The man who came and saw me was 22 years old. He is stuck between a rock and a hard place. He cannot finish his course and has to give up a job that would take him to France. What is this government going to do about it? Is the government going to provide enough funding to fly these 15 students interstate to finish their course? Or are they going to guarantee the students? I ask the minister to come in tomorrow morning and guarantee the students that he will fly in an instructor within the next two weeks to deliver the course. He has to do that. There are 15 kids waiting to finish this course, and the minister must do that.
It is not going to cost government a lot of money. Bring in a qualified trainer from Queensland or South Australia - I do not care where - and say to the students: ‘When you come back from your one week break after exams next week, there will be an instructor in Darwin to provide you with the course. He will be there at Palmerston, and if you come back to school in two weeks time, you can continue your two week’s block release instructions’. Then they can continue to finish the work. There are students from Gove, Yulara, Alice Springs, one from Port Keats, and many living in Darwin. They want to finish the course. If they do not, then all these kids are going to have a 12 months hiatus. They have nearly finished the course, and now they have to wait for the next academic year before they can start again - if an instructor is found. That is not good enough.
The Chief Minister and the minister for Education said: ‘Oh this is great. Alcan is going to give us $2bn worth of development’, and all that. Of course, it is; everybody is very keen to see this happen. However, this government has not put the training in place - not at all. This is where we are going to be let down badly by this government. Until they can prove to me that they can do it right, they will forever be knocked by me. How can you be enthusiastic about a project when this government cannot be there to proactively ensure our projects will be successful? It is just a very pathetic excuse for a government that is supposed to be in control.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I report on my attendance at the executive meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in Ottawa, and the 50th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Toronto. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is an association made up of more than 15 000 members of parliaments and legislatures throughout the Commonwealth. It seeks to promote the continuing evolution of parliamentary democracy and to assist members to deepen the commitment to democratic government, which is one of the criteria for Commonwealth membership.
The membership of the CPA remains high with 162 branches from nine regions that include Africa, Asia, Australia, the British Isles and Mediterranean, Canada, Caribbean, the Americas and the Atlantic, India Pacific, and South-East Asia. Northern Ireland, at the moment, is in abeyance because there is no parliament operating there; as is the Plateau branch in Nigeria. That state government and its Legislative Assembly have been suspended and placed under presidential rule. Because these two country’s branches do not have a parliament as such and a democratic government, they are in abeyance. Nauru, unfortunately, is suspended due to financial difficulties. However, there were over 600 representatives from Commonwealth countries there and, with some of their spouses, there would have been 900 all told.
The executive that I am on has 35 members representing the regions of the Commonwealth. It has increased the number of women on the executive to six, which is still not a lot out of 35, but it is very pleasing to see. A senior member of the Legislative Assembly of the South African province of Gauteng, Hon Lindiwe Maseko, has been elected to chair the Commonwealth women parliamentarians for the next three years, as women are beginning to occupy more of the leading positions. Ms Maseko became the first directly elected representative of women parliamentarians on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s Executive Committee. She joined the committee as it also re-elected another woman, Hon Constance Simelane from Swaziland who is the Minister for Education there, as the acting chairman for the coming year.
The CPA General Assembly Meeting during the conference amended the association’s constitution to formerly recognise the Commonwealth women parliamentarians and to include its elected chairperson on the CPA Executive Committee. This is quite a big step because it recognises the importance of the women parliamentarians and it supports the association’s push to encourage more women into parliament, and to certainly support their plan of action for women.
I add that the member for Araluen, Ms Jodeen Carney, has been nominated as the Australian representative on the Commonwealth women’s parliamentarians committee and I am hoping, with her, that we can have an Australian regions conference for women, as occurred last year in Victoria. We are looking forward to doing that.
The CPA executive is also in charge of looking at the number of requests for seminars and workshops from around the regions of the world. The requests for these always attracts many applications, and there is a growing demand for the CPA services. However, you can understand that with the limited funding the CPA has, and often the limited funding some of the branches have, obviously not all needs can be met. The executive decided that priority for resourcing should be focussed on the developing countries, or those most in need. I am very pleased to say it was accepted that the resources which the CPA had should be utilised on branches that had little funding available to them. Might I add, the Canadian conference which had basically 600 plus, plus 300 accompanying people, would have cost Canada over $1m to run. You cannot expect small branches to run big seminars and conferences like that with limited funding. I am pleased to say that we did approve a workshop to be held in the Solomon Islands, and it is to help that country from this period of internal unrest and financial difficulty. Also, there will be a Pacific region conference in Papua New Guinea next year and we will be able to support them as they are in our region.
The level of funds raised for the work of the association has been expanded by funding from the World Bank Institute and the World Trade Organisation. Every branch pays a membership to the CPA, but having these two particular funding bodies contribute to different seminars has been a great boost. As I say, there are significant costs in running any conference. I add, because sometimes the newspapers get it wrong, that because I am a member of the executive, my air fare and accommodation is paid by the CPA.
One of the other things we have approved is the third Commonwealth Youth Parliament, which is scheduled to take place in April 2005 at the parliament of Queensland, with financial support from the World Bank Institute, which is great. It will bring together youth from all around the Commonwealth to share, network, and promote ideas. That is going to be a great conference for young people, and I know we will have some Australian representatives attending that.
The theme of the conference I went to was the responsibilities and rights of people and parliaments in a global community. Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I seek leave to table the list of workshops for members’ interest and advise them that papers are available if they would like to have a copy of any of them.
Leave granted.
Mrs BRAHAM: Probably one of the themes that we discussed most of all, was the epidemic growth of HIV/AIDS. It was noted that no longer is it a disease that is associated with Africa only: it is growing globally. The speaker from Papua New Guinea spoke of its spread in urban areas of Papua New Guinea and her fear of its impact if it spread into the highlands and remote areas. Governments were urged to be prepared and embark on strong education programs, and provide the expertise to help control it. The paper, basically, looked at why we should, as parliamentarians, get so involved. There was a very strong push to say we are leaders - we have the mandate and the public trust to do these things; we have the influence and the resources to do it; and we have a special responsibility to make sure we do these things. Let us face it: HIV/AIDS is a global emergency now. By the end of 2002, over 20 million people had died of AIDS, another 42 million were infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and over five million more were being newly infected annually, about half of them young people between the ages of 15 and 24. That is the very sad part; it is this age group which HIV/AIDS is disproportionately affecting. Children and young people are affected in huge numbers, their parents are dying, and the epidemic is damaging their country’s economic and development prospects.
Of course, in many countries HIV/AIDS worsens poverty. It erodes any sort of economic growth and causes so many problems within small communities. However, HIV is fully preventable. It is a preventable disease and that is why we talked about making sure we have education so people can be protected against this epidemic that is going around the world. I believe it is a reportable disease in Australia and the Northern Territory. I am not totally sure on that, but it would worry me if it became an epidemic in our remote communities in the Territory. We would have the same sort of problems that are being experienced in many of these developing countries. It is a topic that always creates a lot of concern and it is just scary.
The final plenary session focussed on the trend towards Supra National Parliaments, and there was a paper delivered on the European Parliament as it stands now. Even though there is support for it from many countries, the feedback and strongest message came from the smaller countries who felt that their trade and sustainability was being forfeited, or even overwhelmed, in such large regions. This was certainly reinforced by a member from the Falkland Islands and the effect of the European market upon their economy. Apparently, Africa is looking at an African union and there are many small provinces from Africa which also spoke and said they are not quite sure when this is going to be of benefit to them: are they going to be swallowed by the large countries, and will it have the opposite affect of what people are hoping to get out of these Supra National Parliaments?
I visited the parliaments in Ottawa, Quebec and Toronto. They are beautiful old buildings. They have been well preserved. Quebec is interesting because French is their first language, and even though Ottawa is bilingual, everything is in French. There was an interesting sculpture we came across which was in honour of the fact that in 1929 they passed the Persons Act. This allowed women to be classified as people so they could stand for parliament. This is the first time I have come across a Persons Act, which confers ‘people’ status on women.
The Senate in Canada is interesting. They are not elected, even though we are into election mode at the moment. They are appointed to the age of 75 years. Obviously, they do not think people who are 75 are too old.
Ms Carter: Nor do we.
Mrs Miller: We don’t, either.
Mrs BRAHAM: Good! I am glad you said that. I congratulate the Canadian branches for the huge work they did in putting together this conference. Their hospitality was incredible. We travelled by small aircraft from Ottawa to Quebec and Toronto.
The Small Countries Conference ran at the same time I was at the executive meeting in Ottawa. The member for Brennan attended that conference and I have to commend his contribution. He led a very good workshop on that and I am sure he will report to parliament on it.
Again, I say to members that the CPA has much to offer members who attend conferences. You get a totally different perspective on your role as a parliamentarian when you meet these people from all around the world. It also reinforces to me how lucky we are in Australia to have the parliamentary democracy that we have. Even though we may squabble in this House and have quite robust debates, at the end of the day we can all go outside and have the freedom to speak, and to live a lifestyle that many people envy and would wish to have.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I want to talk about the Kiwanis; a well-known service club in the Northern Territory and beyond. The Kiwanis first started in the Territory in 1971 and currently have 85 members spread amongst the four clubs in Division 9: Alice Springs, Casuarina, Darwin and Palmerston rural.
The first ever Kiwanis Club was organised in Detroit, Michigan and was chartered in 1915 to promote the exchange of business among the members. However, by 1919 the club’s focus changed to community service. Some interesting facts are: Kiwanis International is the second oldest and third largest service network in the world; Kiwanis come from the expression, ‘Nunc Kee-wanis’ in the Otchipew Native American language, and means ‘We have a good time’, ‘We make a noise’, and ‘To express oneself’.
In the Territory, the Kiwanis have raised many thousands of dollars, mainly for children, via many diverse projects. They work closely with the Handicapped Persons Association, the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. Its members doorknock, distribute truckloads of food for the Salvos around Christmas time, and take on special projects to assist where possible. Some of these special projects include building playgrounds for kids and installing equipment, as they did at Ludmilla School, Wagaman, Rapid Creek, and the crche at the university before it moved. They assisted the play group at the Toy Library, and with putting up the shade at the Casuarina Swimming Pool. Many dollars and hours were spent landscaping the grounds for the sheltered homes of the Handicapped Persons Association, painting the house for the Carpentaria Community Services, providing Top End Life’s Happy Harold, and Channel 7’s Kids Christmas Party, as well as many other worthwhile projects.
Some major international projects have been undertaken by Kiwanis, including Australians and Territorians, and one is supporting iodine deficient countries. As you are aware, iodine deficiency causes birth defects such as mental retardation and goitres. There are 1.3 million children in Third World countries who are at risk of being born with iodine deficiency and, in concert with UNICEF, Kiwanis helped to raise $US78m to build a salt iodisation plant to help combat this problem. Australia was the highest donor per head of population by raising $700 000 towards this project.
Recently, the Kiwanis worked hard to establish Jessie’s Trust Appeal for Jessie Bartolo, a little girl from Berry Springs with cardio-facio-cutaneous, or CFC syndrome. The appeal enabled Jessie and her family to attend the second International CFC conference, which was a fantastic experience of meeting other families and children affected by CFC, and building a support network which will be of great benefit to Jessie and her family in the future.
In February this year, Kiwanis launched its Terrific Kids in Darwin and Katherine Schools program at Wagaman Primary School. The program shows children the rewards that will come their way if they display positive community spirit and good citizenship. Certificates, vouchers and T-shirts are just some of the exciting rewards that will be presented. It was my pleasure to be at Wagaman School when this program kicked off to see the Kiwanis telling the kids all about it. There was a lot of excitement amongst the kids, and local support for the program. I believe Domino’s Pizza is also sponsoring this event, and Kerry from Domino’s does a great job. Kerry and her husband Brian are great supporters of a whole range of things supporting youth within the whole Casuarina area.
The Kiwanis were at the arrival of the first train into Darwin on 17 January. They were the early birds, setting up and serving thousands of hot dogs, steak sandwiches, hamburgers, etcetera, to the crowd of over 8000 at this momentous occasion. What a fantastic fundraiser.
Finally, I mention the kids of East Timor who are close to the Territory Kiwanis’ hearts. The Territory Kiwanis have been collecting and sending supplies to East Timorese children such as pens, paper, biros, nappies and baby bottles to help over 600 orphans. They recently sent a further 18 boxes of clothing and school supplies. This project is a continual round of raising money, collecting and purchasing these supplies, and getting them to East Timor.
Over and above these consumables, the Kiwanis have undertaken the East Timor Dairy Project. When the latest herd of 32 Jersey/Friesian AFS crossbred pregnant heifers with two jersey bulls settle in Timor Leste, 5000 children a day will be receiving fresh milk from the dairy. The milk will be supplied to the schools and orphanages of the Fuiloro district of Timor Leste. This herd was financed by the Kiwanis Clubs of Australia and left Darwin in July. Kiwanis, in association with the Salesian Overseas Mission Fund, are operating a dairy at Fuiloro College, East Timor, with the students being trained in dairy operation and herd care. This free milk is providing an incentive for children to go to school. One obvious impact is in the increase in the level of concentration of the children due to the nutritional support.
One of the main players in Darwin behind the dairy project is Mr Frank Fotiades, who is delighted at the success of this major project, which will have such an important impact on the plight of the children of East Timor. Frank is one of those unique people who, when they take on a job, they give their life and soul to it. Frank’s work should be acknowledged as he has been the prime mover behind many of the Kiwanis projects in the Territory, including the Terrific Kids program and the Jessie Bartolo Appeal. His involvement in the dairy project saw him spending many hours organising the cattle transportation, checking out the cattle, and making sure everything went to plan. This was a huge effort on Frank’s part and I am sure all members join with me in congratulating Frank and the Kiwanis for their fantastic effort. Frank was the first to be awarded the prestigious George Hixson Fellowship Medal for outstanding effort over many years - an award conferred by the votes of peers.
Frank has also represented the Territory at many of the Kiwanis national and international conventions and, I should add, that this has been done at his own expense. Frank has brought back ideas and skills which have ensured the continued success of the Territory’s Kiwanis Club. In recognition of this dedication, Frank was recently elected Governor of the Australian District, oversighting the 10 divisions of the 63 clubs around Australia. Frank has previously been Lieutenant Governor twice before the honour of being Governor. Congratulations to Frank on this great achievement and acknowledgement of his hard work and dedication to the Kiwanis over many years.
Frank cannot do it alone and in support, there are many great people who make up the membership of Kiwanis, including the current Lieutenant Governor of Division 9, Mr Phil Hedger. Phil is replacing Mr George Loch who is one of the original members of the Territory’s Kiwanis. George has held the position of Lieutenant Governor four times in his 28 years of community service. Michelle Henderson from Casuarina has been Lieutenant Governor on two occasions, along with Chris Clayton and also Bob Kirby, both of the Darwin Club. The current President of the Alice Springs Club is James Holland; the Palmerston Rural Club is Wolf Lake; at the Casuarina Club, Tony Schelling; and at Darwin, Anne Hedger.
Another long-serving dedicated Kiwanis member of note is Noel Land who has been a member for over 22 years, serving as presidential special adviser and keeping things on an even keel. I commend Noel for his community service to the Kiwanis and to the Darwin community over many years. He has also been an alderman on Darwin City Council and he worked with the YMCA. Noel was also awarded the prestigious George Hixson Fellowship Medal, together with long timer Mr Trevor Tschirpig, whom I am sure is known to members in this House. Noel Land is now heavily involved in assisting the planning for the national convention to be held in Darwin next August at the SKYCITY Casino. He is responsible for naming the theme of this conference, ‘Kroc at the Top’, and typically that is Noel’s sense of humour at work there. Noel has always been aware of the need to encourage the younger element to join Kiwanis and was delighted when his son and daughter, without encouragement, decided to join Kiwanis off their own bat. His daughter, Alison, has since become very involved with the orphanages in East Timor.
I am looking forward to going to a Kiwanis meeting in the near future. I know all members will join with me to commend the good work done by the members of Kiwanis Clubs in the Northern Territory, nationally and internationally. They are a fantastic group and once again, many congratulations to Frank Fotiades’ great effort and recognition of the many years service he has given to the community and the Kiwanis; he is now filling the most senior position in Kiwanis in Australia. I am sure he will bring credit to the Territory and that the Australian conference will go extremely well when it is held. I am hoping for an invitation to that, and I am sure other members will take a keen and active interest.
To the Kiwanis, thank you on behalf of the Northern Territory community for all the great services you have done, and the great projects you have had overseas to our near neighbours in East Timor. You are a great group. Please keep it up
First is Kate Vanderlaan. I have known Kate for many years. She is a wonderful person and a great police officer. It was a real tribute to Kate and all the hard work she has done over the years, to be recognised by being nominated for the Telstra Business Woman’s Award. My relationship with Kate goes back to the early 1990s when I lived in Katherine. We met at the gym at the YMCA. Any of you who know Kate well, would know that she had quite a period of being a competitive body builder in the Northern Territory. She was quite awesome when she was in competition; something to really take your hat off to. I have some photos that show me flexing my rather pathetic biceps in comparison to Kate’s awesome biceps. It was wonderful to see Kate there yesterday and to acknowledge that she was nominated for an award, and I wish her all the best for her future. It will be a very rosy future. She is still a young woman and very senior within the Northern Territory Police Force now days.
Another nominee was Kezia Purick, who is known to many of us as the Executive Officer of the Northern Territory Minerals Council. Kezia is an absolute delight of a person and real character. She injects into the commercial and economical environment of the Territory’s community, and has a really smart, savvy sense of what is going on. Given the fact that she is involved in the mining industry, it is a credit to her to have been nominated. It is an industry often dominated by men, however, Kezia definitely holds her own. She is somebody who is very well respected in the Northern Territory, and I take my hat off to her for being nominated.
There can only be one winner of the grand prize and that, I am delighted to say, went to Michelle Hanton. Michelle is the person who has brought together, Australia-wide, Dragons Abreast competitive teams and structures. She has been an absolute marvel to watch over the last four or five years, and I am very proud to be the Patron of Dragons Abreast NT.
Michelle is a wonderful leader, and any of the women who have dealings with Michelle in her role with Dragons Abreast will know that it is inspirational to be with her. It is absolutely impossible to say no to anything she wants, and she is able to encourage people and get them onside in a way that they have no idea that they are doing any work. It is a pleasure to be able to do something to help Michelle and the women of Dragons Abreast.
The role of Dragons Abreast, subliminally, is to promote the issue of breast cancer in the Northern Territory and around the country. This is done in a fun and uplifting way, so that people do not realise they are getting a subtle message. However, it is there all the time and the way it is done is marvellous. Lobbying is something that all parliamentarians are subjected to. Some lobbyists do it in a way that is highly abrasive, and the end result is that you do not want to have any dealings with that person in the future and, if you have an appointment with them, it is something that you dread.
Lobbyists should take a leaf from Michelle’s book because of the type of person she is. She encourages and supports, nurtures people and makes everyone feel good. It is impossible to say no to her. That is the sort of person who works well as a lobbyist. You want to help; you want to do what this person wants you to do; you want to take on the issues that she is urging you to. I know it is not done intentionally; it is just the way Michelle is. However, I can tell you, it is a very good way to work as a lobbyist as she works to promote breast cancer awareness, and the needs of breast cancer patients in the Northern Territory. There would be very few of us who do not know Michelle and delight in the way she operates.
On behalf of the Assembly and the people of the Northern Territory, I thank Michelle for the contribution that she has made to the community. I also want to recognise, as I know Michelle would, all the wonderful people who support her: her team, family and all her friends. I congratulate Telstra for hosting the Business Women of the Year Awards and for choosing such a worthy person in Michelle Hanton.
In conclusion, I would like to reinforce the words of the Chief Minister earlier in respect of the Dragons Abreast calendar, launched on Friday last week. It was a fabulous launch. The calendar is a truly beautiful product and something of which all Territorians should be proud. By looking in the calendar, you can see the absolute beauty of our Territory women, and I congratulate Dragons Abreast on its production. I hope everyone buys a calendar as a souvenir because you will not be disappointed. The women are absolutely beautiful.
My congratulations once again to Michelle Hanton. She is doing a great job and I know she has many years ahead of her contributing to the Northern Territory community.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the organisers and the women who took part in the production of the calendar. It is fantastic. I have not seen it yet, but, of course, it is important.
I am a man, and I do not expect to suffer breast cancer, although it is not unknown. However, I have a sister, a wife, and a mother and no one knows what will happen. Money going into research on breast cancer is money well spent.
I turn to my electorate. Everyone knows how much I support the schools in my electorate. Once again, this month I attended the assemblies of Alawa and Nakara Primary Schools and presented achievement awards for September. At Nakara, the achievement awards went to Madeleine Nguyen from the early childhood grade for consistent and conscientious work, and to Taylor Noonan from upper primary for consistently high standards across all key learning areas. At Alawa Primary School, I presented achievement awards to the morning preschool group for being so wonderful and so good, and to Shlock Sharman of Room 7 for displaying a consistent and responsible attitude towards all areas of his school work.
I was also very pleased to meet with the Alawa Primary School Council representatives and the principal, and announce that the government has decided to allocate an extra $850 000 to the Alawa Primary School for renovations. This money was absolutely necessary as, due to the age and design of the school, the original $1m allocated would not have achieved much. We would not have been able to do more than renovate two classrooms, and another classroom would have closed. That has a lot to do with the design of the school.
The Dripstone High School is renowned for its excellent contribution in secondary education in our northern suburbs but, over the years, the school has developed a reputation for its selfless acts of helping the less fortunate. The school has developed annual and traditional events, especially in raising money for a cure for cancer. Dripstone Day has become an event to be marked in the diary as it is filled with action and excitement, including the crop and colour. Crop and colour is an event that the school takes great pride in hosting, as they raise money by shaving or colouring the hair of both staff and students, with all money going to Cancer Council. A couple of years ago, I had my hair shaved and I was very pleased to raise about $14 000 which went for children’s cancer research.
Unfortunately, this year I was unable to attend as I was overseas on a ministerial visit. However, I was very pleased to donate to this fantastic cause. My electorate officer, Debbie, attended, together with Jana from the member for Wanguri’s electoral office, and they assisted the organiser, Mr Greg Cilento. The school raised a total of $3500 for cancer research, and that can also be contributed to four AFLNT coaches who turned up on the day and donated their locks: Mark Motlop from Wanderers, Damian Kale from St Mary’s, Chris Williams from Waratahs, and Mark Tyrell from Palmerston. I want to congratulate the coordinator of the event, Mr Greg Cilento, all the students who took part, and certainly all the people who either cut or coloured their hair and made donations.
I turn to a very important club in my electorate, the Tracy Village Club, which is very well-known. The site of Tracy Village was a tent city when people were living there while rebuilding the city south of Darwin after Cyclone Tracy. This year is the 30th anniversary of Cyclone Tracy.
In the evening of Friday, 17 September, I was very pleased to attend the club together with my colleague the member for Wanguri, and present the Tracy Village Club with the land title. The club did not own the property where it is located; it was owned by the Commonwealth. During the recent agreement between the Defence Housing Authority and the Commonwealth to buy the Lee Point area, the Northern Territory government signed a memorandum of understanding with DHA. A clause of this memorandum was that the Defence Housing Authority would sell the Tracy Village area to the Northern Territory government for $1. When that was completed, we were very happy to transfer the title of the land to Tracy Village Club so they now have their own land. They feel secure and can utilise that land to raise money if they need it. I do not think they will be needing it, because they have been operating very successfully, and I believe they had a significant profit in the last year.
I was very pleased to be there. Nobody in the club knew we were going to present the land title. About 300 people were there and I was very pleased, along with Paul Henderson, the member for Wanguri, to provide the land title documents to Gary Ross, the club manager, John Quinlan, staff, members, and everybody who was present at that presentation at Tracy Village.
I want to turn to something that has created headlines in the past few days, and that is GM cotton. Usually, I adopt new technology very quickly, especially if it will improve the lifestyle of people, or feed people throughout the world. In relation to genetically modified material, food and plants, I am very happy to adopt them as long as they are proven to be safe, and are not going to affect the environment. We have had a lot of discussion about GM cotton and how it can be a very good crop for the Territory which can provide value-adding to the Territory’s export opportunities. However, I am concerned about GM cotton, and I still have not been persuaded about it and its suitability for the Territory. I have done some research and in that research I have seen information that causes me great concerns.
In an article in The Guardian, published on Thursday 8 January 2004, Dr Charles Bambrook, the head of Northwest Science and Environmental Policy at Standpoint, Idaho, said that he has done the first study of the needs of genetically modified crops in pesticides. In his research, Dr Bambrook found that in 2001, 5% more herbicides and insecticides were sprayed, compared with crops only of non-GM varieties. In 2002, 7.9% were sprayed and, in 2003, the estimated rise was 11.5% in total. That means, while in the first three years the genetically modified crop needed reduced levels of pesticides, as time passed, and after three years, the level of pesticides started creeping up.
Genetically modified cotton is a common cotton which has somehow been manipulated genetically. It contains a gene from the bacterial Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), that allows the cotton plant to produce an insecticidal protein, the Bt toxin, which controls important caterpillar pests. In the past, cotton has grown in different countries and, unfortunately - or fortunately - in India it did not perform very well. It was actually out-performed commercially by non-GM cotton. In Indonesia, Monsanto, the company that had introduced GM cotton, withdrew after economic failure. In Indonesia they found that the genetically modified cotton was not resistant to drought or to the brown hover insect, and that the local variety of cotton performed better than the GM cotton. Therefore, Monsanto had to withdraw.
The Bt cotton produces its own natural insecticides. Everybody considers that to be a very good affect as it controls the insect without the need to apply more pesticides. However, in 2002 a study done by scientists at the research institute founded by the China State Environmental Protection Agency, found that the Bt cotton had resulted in a reduced pesticide consumption, and also in the evolution of a Bt toxin resistant bollworm insect, which continues to attack GM cotton. When this report was announced first, it was criticised severely by companies and people who promote GM cotton. However, in 2004, another report came from Liu Xiaofeng, a researcher in Henan, China’s No 2 cotton producing province, which has confirmed the results of the first report. Liu is cited as saying that the cotton bollworm is, indeed, developing resistance and will be no longer susceptible to Bt cotton within six to seven years. He also confirms that Bt cotton is not effective in controlling secondary pests, and that has caused a disaster.
Moving away from China and coming closer to our source, according to the publication, Cotton Wool in Australia, large plantings of Monsanto’s Ingard GM cotton in Australia in recent years have led to concerns about insect resistance to Bt toxin. Meanwhile, Innovate Australia, representing Australia’s Food, Fibre and Natural Resources Research and Development Corporation, reports steadily increasing levels of pesticide applications on Ingard Bt cotton following the initial substantial reductions. Here we have reports - one in America, two in China, and one in Australia - that indicate that GM cotton is not as good as presented to us and might have some problems. It might mean that we have a long way to go to actually perfect the GM cotton. However, until that time, I have serious doubts about the application of pesticides, the development of a toxin resistant insect, and the effects on other secondary insects.
Further to that, looking for more about GM cotton, I found a report that was done by the Office of Environment and Heritage of the Commonwealth of Australia. In this report, they have found that the Bt toxin is leaching out of the plant - especially from the small roots – into the ground. In addition to that, they have found that the Bt toxin combines with the soil, especially if there are clay minerals in the soil, and can remain in the soil for a period of time. However, they have not yet been able to find out the mechanism of the Bt toxin leaching through the roots, how long it will stay in the soil, or how persistent the Bt toxin is in the soil. The concern is what the effect will be of the Bt toxin in the biota and the biological processes in Australian soils. That has not been studied yet.
Here we have some research which has been done, and the recommendation of the report is that further investigation of the potential for long-term persistence of Bt toxin in Australian soil is undertaken; more detailed investigation on the short- and long-term impacts of Bt toxins on soil ecosystems is undertaken; and technical improvements of methods to quantify Bt toxins in soil is made. As I said before, I am very quick to pick up new technology; I am a sucker for electronics and things that go beep, and I like computers. I have no problems adopting new tastes, new flavours and new plants, and certainly when the GM came out I was not fussed; I believed it was a good process. However, we still have to investigate the possible effects on our environment.
We do not want to repeat mistakes we have made in the past - for example, the introduction of the cane toads in Queensland; we could not have foreseen the tragic results of that – by introducing GM cotton, especially when reports find out that the claim of reduction of pesticides may be true in the first three years but in the next few years the level of pesticide application has to increase the possibility of developing pesticide-resistant bugs; the possibility of developing GM modified plants that are resistant to Roundup, which means you cannot kill them; and the possibility of toxins from GM cotton leaching into the environment and possibly posing a threat to other insects. This is something we have to study seriously before we open our gates and say: ‘Yes, we accept cotton. You can put it anywhere you like. You can put it at the Daly, in Katherine, and in Ord River Stage 2’.
We should be very careful. I have no problem if the results in the next five years prove that GM cotton is safe. However, even if that is proven conclusively to everybody, people will still be suspicious. People actually do not like scientists playing god with food products, plants, or animals. Maybe there is something in our psyche that resists these attempts, especially with the development of technology enabling us to go inside the cell of a plant and change it in such a way that we can modify it to give a new flavour, and a new ability to resist attacks by insects and protect itself.
I do not know what it is but, before we make a decision we have to be very careful, not only about putting extra pressure on our water and land resources, but also of the effects genetically modified plants - and certainly genetically modified cotton - may have in our environment. We are very lucky we live in a very clean environment. In some areas, that environment has been untouched for hundreds of years and it would be really crazy to hasten our decision because we can see the economic benefits in short-term, and mess up our beautiful Northern Territory.
Mr MALEY (Goyder): Madam Acting Deputy Speaker, I want to speak on a topic which, during this federal election, has been brought to my attention by constituents in my electorate of Goyder. The topic which I am referring to is the supposed federal member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon. As many in the House are well aware, my electorate, and those nearby, have special needs. Goyder provides a lifestyle that is unique. People move to places like Acacia, Bees Creek, Berry Springs, Cox Peninsula and Virginia to give their families an environment that is peaceful, and so they can enjoy the great outdoors.
People from the rural area, like all Territorians, need access to government services. It is a constant complaint from people in my electorate that they have to travel to Palmerston, and sometimes right into Darwin, to get access to proper government services. Therefore, I cannot understand why the man who is supposed to represent them chooses to continue to have an office in Darwin. The people of Darwin are already very well represented in the federal parliament by the member for Solomon, my friend, David Tollner. Mr Tollner is doing an excellent job representing Darwin and Palmerston in Canberra. However, it seems Mr Snowden does not care for the people of his electorate who live in the Darwin’s rural area; he has taken them for granted. He does not seem to care that some of his constituents, and mine, have to travel up to an hour and-a-half just to see him. It is not good enough.
Mr Snowden is taking the people of my electorate for granted; he does not care for them. When he is in the Top End he would rather stay in Darwin so he does not have to talk to them and help solve their problems. The people in my electorate say the only time they ever see or hear of Mr Snowdon is when the election comes around. They say the only time they see him is when they pass his plastic signs on the road. Little wonder people say cynical things about the politicians in the rural area.
It is a well known fact that when Mr Tollner was elected to represent the people of Darwin, Mr Snowdon was not happy about having to move out of his office - the very office which Mr Tollner operates from today. If Mr Snowdon so badly wants to represent the people of Darwin, he should run for the seat of Solomon, but he is scared of David Tollner, who is a good local member.
The arrogance of the member for Lingiari was made abundantly clear when he was given the choice last year. His choice was to stay and work in his electorate or go to New York and spend three months observing the UN. Guess what he did? That is right, honourable members; he had three months in New York. How wonderful! Do you know how he spent his time there? Playing golf! He proudly told federal parliament this during a speech he made on 18 March this year. No wonder people are asking: ‘Where’s Warren?’.
Mr Snowdon probably does not know that the Humpty Doo Golf Course is a pretty good track. He should probably go out there some time. He might just meet some of his constituents. This just shows the incredible arrogance of the man. Not only does he choose not to have his office in his electorate - my electorate as well - he actively fought to stay in Darwin. He thinks he can spend three months in America, hang around the UN, and look busy playing a bit of golf. Quite frankly, it is a disgrace and rural people have had enough.
He spent too long hanging out with his old boss Paul Keating, whose arrogance and distaste for Territorians and rural people has rubbed off. We all know what Keating thought of the Territory, and it seems Mr Latham has similar views. If Mr Snowdon chose to spend some time with the people around Humpty Doo, Berry Springs, Virginia, Bees Creek, Howard Springs, Coolalinga, Darwin River or Wagait, he might find out that they do not care too much about the grubby and disgusting preference deal that Labor has made with the lunatics in the Greens.
All Territorians should be concerned about what role the Greens will play if filthy Labor manages to win Saturday’s election with the help of the Greens. We will be held to ransom by a bunch of people who do not care much for the future of Territorians. A combination of the Greens and the Labor Party will see a reduction in the number of Australian Defence Force personnel in the north, and Labor’s coast guard will become nothing more than an escort for people smugglers and illegal fishermen.
Mr Snowdon is trying to hide the fact that his party has done a deal with the Greens. Luckily, his cynical ploy was uncovered in the Alice Springs News on 29 September this year by Hal Duell who said:
- Has anyone noticed that in this contest for Lingiari the ALP has chosen to present itself as a Green donkey?
I am referring to their how-to-vote card being handed out at the pre-polling booth at the Australian
Electoral Commission Office on Leichhardt Terrace.
That is a quote from the paper. When the reporter asked those handing out the how-to-vote cards why it was the case, he was told that it was done to make it easy. How insulting! Not only does Mr Snowdon think he can hide his party’s grubby, dirty preference deal with the lunatic Greens, but he thinks his constituents are stupid.
In another of his cynical exercises, Mr Snowdon has written in the Litchfield Times – I think it was yesterday’s edition – outlining the positives of business in the Territory. Tragically, he does not go on to tell the readers of the Litchfield Times the reason why businesses make money and the very positive and wonderful things the federal government has done to develop business.
The Coalition government has made life much easier for both small and large businesses to get ahead. They have paid off Labor’s debt and reduced interest rates from the 17.5% they were under Labor. If Mr Snowdon bothered to take a trip out of Darwin, he might just find out how important low interest rates are to the people in my electorate; to my friends, to my family in the place where I have grown up. Many of them have young families and are just trying to make a go of it. Low interest rates are giving Territory families the security and stability that people ask government to provide. In my electorate of Goyder, statistically, we have one of the higher proportions of home ownership in Australia. People may not have flash dongas, but they own them. With home ownership come mortgages followed, of course, by interest payments on those mortgage repayments. It is a big issue in my electorate, and one which Warren Snowdon really has not given the proper attention he should.
The Howard government has done a great job of undoing the mess that was left behind by Keating and the previous Hawke government. On Saturday, I hope the people of my electorate, and those close by, give Mr Snowdon a rude shock. He deserves it! He has taken them for granted, whilst gallivanting around the world playing golf. He could have been serving the electorate. He could have been living in, and operating his electorate office from, the rural area, but he specifically did not do that. He has specifically taken his way of life, his interaction, from Lingiari into Darwin.
His main opponent is Maisie Austin, a lady who knows what it is like to raise a family and manage a small business in the Territory, and a lady who is a member of a team which will work for the benefit of all Territorians. One thing I like about Maisie is that I know for sure, on a very personal level, she will not take the people of the rural area for granted. She is a great and real grassroots Territorian. She has a Territorian way about her, and I know she will not sit in Darwin and expect people to travel all the way from the rural area to see her. She has already promised that if she wins, she will open an office in the Darwin rural area. Hear, hear to Maisie Austin! Maisie understands that the Territory is unique, and that Territorians have unique issues that require unique and different solutions - not solutions from Canberra, but solutions that are local. Maisie Austin has already shown, as a candidate, that she is willing to sit down and listen to people, and work with them to come up with a local solution.
The member for Lingiari has shown a complete disdain for the people of his electorate, and I can only hope that they give him the treatment he so richly deserves. On Saturday, I am urging the people in my electorate, the people who have been taken for granted by Wazza, to give Wazza the flick.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016