2004-03-30
Madam Speaker Braham took the Chair at 10 am.
Dr BURNS (Lands and Planning)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 442 petitioners relating to development in the Coconut Grove/Nightcliff district. I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
developments directly adjacent to ground level houses;
imposes on the owners of neighbouring properties;
aspirations of residents and the longer term social structure of the district; and
sensitive coastal mangrove areas.
Dr BURNS (Lands and Planning)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I am able to present a response to that petition forthwith. In response to community concerns regarding the proposed development, I intervened in the development assessment process by issuing a direction to the Development Consent Authority that prevented it from hearing or determining the application. An Interim Development Control Order No 15 was subsequently made, which introduces new controls for the development of land in the R3 zone where that land is next to or opposite land that is zoned R1 on a local street.
The Interim Development Control Order prevents the construction of a residential building that exceeds three storeys above ground level. It also requires a minimum landscape setback which, I might add, is actually double what was there before, and the construction of solid screen fencing. These provisions are aimed at limiting potential visual or acoustic detriment to existing residential amenity.
The Interim Development Control Order applies to approximately 100 lots in the Darwin area. Under the Planning Act, there is no right of compensation for changes to the development potential of land arising from an amendment to the planning scheme. The Interim Development Control Order will apply while the public process to amend the provisions of the Northern Territory Planning Scheme is enacted.
The applicant in the Ostermann Street case has been invited to submit a new application compliant with the Interim Development Control Order. Any new application will be advertised and proceed through the normal assessment process as established by the Planning Act.
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that responses to Petition Nos 45, 46, 47 and 51 have been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the responses will be included in the Parliamentary Record.
Petition No 45
Presented by: Mr Mills
Date response received:15 March 2004
Date response presented: 30 March 2004
Response:
Homosexual Activity
Date presented: 25 November 2003
Presented by: Mr Bonson
Date response received:15 March 2004
Date response presented: 30 March 2004
Response:
Homosexual Activity
Date presented: 25 November 2003
Presented by: Mr Wood
Date response received:15 March 2004
Date response presented: 30 March 2004
Response:
Mandatory life sentence for murder
Date presented: 27 November 2003
Presented by: Mr Wood
Date response received:15 March 2004
Date response presented: 30 March 2004
Response:
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, last week I travelled to Canberra to attend the Treasurers Conference. I did so with two objectives. The first was to seek a meeting with Treasurer Costello regarding the Commonwealth Grants Commission assessment for the Northern Territory for 2004-05. The second was to take on the big states and their attempts to undermine, with a view to eventually overturning, the principle of equalisation in the distribution of federal monies from the GST, in other words, the principle of horizontal fiscal equalisation.
The Commission’s recommendations this year are disappointing with an effective annual loss of $48m. That loss reflects the review of the methodology of the Grants Commission, the five year review, and that will form the basis of course of the annual recommendations until the completion of the next review, not due until 2009. So, reflecting on the Commission’s recommendations, the Territory’s estimated GST revenue for 2004-05 will be $1664m. That is an increase of just $16m from 2003-04 to 2004-05, which is just 1% in real dollars.
On Thursday, 25 March, I was pleased to secure a meeting with the federal Treasurer to discuss the outcomes of the review. In its report, the Commonwealth Grants Commission acknowledged that its recommendations did not adequately recognise some of the unique circumstances of the Territory. They pointed to two key expenditure areas of debt charges and depreciation. I was pleased that the federal Treasurer gave us a positive hearing on this with a view that discussions will continue between Commonwealth and Territory officials to identify possible options to fully capture the Territory’s special needs in those areas. I am given added confidence here because last year at the Treasurers Conference I raised the question of population counts with the federal Treasurer. He undertook to take that on and, since then, the Chief Minister and I have met with the head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics with a view to tightening how they do the census and what assistance the Northern Territory government can give them when the next census is due. His record says that when he takes things away to consider, he does so. I am confident that we will get a full hearing on this.
The second objective of taking the fight to the larger states from undermining the principles of horizontal fiscal equalisation was a joint effort by the Treasurers of South Australia, ACT, Queensland and the Premier and Treasurer of Tasmania, and me. Marshall Perron used to refer to horizontal fiscal equalisation as the glue that binds the federation together and I think it was a Commonwealth Treasury official who coined that term many years previously. However, it is a principle that acknowledges that it does cost a lot more to deliver services in rural and remote parts of Australia than it does in the more settled areas, and federal grants raised through taxation are distributed to each state and territory on that basis. So, the fight is not new. It is something that our predecessors used to have to take on in every ministerial council and we continue to do that.
The Weekend Australian reported I was the most heated of all the Treasurers in the argument and that is probably true. I strongly believe, as I pointed out to the Treasurers of Victoria and New South Wales, it does cost a bit more to put a doctor in Borroloola or a school in Yuendumu than it does in Parramatta Road or Brunswick or Coburg in Melbourne. We are pleased to see the small states stick together but we did, however, accept a review of the process for arriving at the decisions. There is no doubt that additions and alterations over the years have meant that the formula has become ever more complex and groaning under its own weight. A review was needed and warranted, but we made it crystal clear that the review does not go to the principle of equalisation. The review will be conducted by heads of Treasuries.
Members should be in no doubt that the $48m cut to the government is a significant hit. I pointed out to Treasurer Egan in New South Wales that if they had taken an equivalent hit, they would have lost $1.6bn rather that the $356m about which he was shedding tears and telling the media that he would go and cut his wrists. That would have been the reality of an equivalent cut to New South Wales. It is a significant hit to our bottom line; one that will make the job of delivering services and boosting jobs much harder. It will make for a tight budget in May.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I expected that that last comment ‘a tight budget in May’ because there is an extraordinary amount of spin occurring here. I would have expected, too, that Treasurer Costello would have informed you, Treasurer, of your deceit of Territory businesses in pretending that it was Mr Costello or the Grants Commission that were requiring you to pass on the Power and Water Corporation increase.
Mr Stirling: It was not the Grants Commission. I never said it was.
Mr MILLS: You did so.
Mr Stirling: Never said it was!
Mr MILLS: You did so. You did indeed.
Mr Stirling: Read the NT News!
Mr MILLS: In fact …
Ms Martin: You just don’t understand the difference.
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: In fact …
Mr Elferink: Stand up and deny it in this House when you’re ready.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker. If the member for Macdonnell is going to accuse my colleague, the Treasurer, of lying, he can only do so by way of substantive motion and I ask him to withdraw.
Mr MILLS: The NT News accused the Treasurer of telling porky pies …
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mr MILLS: … perhaps a more appropriate word. But nonetheless, from the visit to Canberra, we return with a predicted message that there is going to be some sort of pressure on the current budget. In fact, the intent is the eradication of BAD tax. BAD tax is perhaps something you are going to take accolades for, but in fact it was the federal Treasurer who leant upon all state treasurers to remove that tax because he knows, and you know, the amount of money that is flowing into the Northern Territory courtesy of GST revenue has increased for this next budget.
Last year, the increase was $81.8m. That is the increase on basic funding. Territory businesses and families should know the truth. There has been an $87.8m increase on base funding for this budget. There is more money coming into the Territory, more money coming to Treasury from the Commonwealth, more money coming into Territory businesses by stamp duty, payroll tax and other taxes than you are actually spending on Territorians. You are managing the budget, you are intending to manage the budget, but you are not managing the Northern Territory economy.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, nurses are a key part of our health system and represent over a quarter of our total work force within the health agency. In our Building Healthier Communities five year framework, we make very clear undertakings to support our nurses as a work force, and to give them greater career satisfaction from working in the Northern Territory.
The government has already made a great deal of progress in this area and we are on track to fulfil our election commitment of 75 extra hospital-based nurses. Given that, I find the member for Port Darwin’s media release last week very puzzling indeed. She said …
Mr Dunham: Come and get a briefing. You’ll understand it then.
Dr TOYNE: I am about to give you a briefing. In fact, I have been advised that to date …
Mr Dunham: You’ll need a calculator. Bring it along with you.
Dr TOYNE: …if I can be heard, 38 new nursing positions have been created, which includes 16 extra critical care nurses, 11 clinical nurse educators, three renal nurses and five extra midwifery nurses for the Northern Territory.
We are absolutely on track to deliver on the 75 nursing positions over and above the establishment that existed before we came to government. We have over 1000 nurses in our system, so the 75 additional positions are only one part of the story. We are doing a lot of work now to increase the recruitment and retention prospects of bringing nurses into the Northern Territory.
We are allocating $236 000 in grants to further their professional training. These grants will help our nurses to improve their qualifications, provide incentives to remain in our work force and ease the financial burden on people studying to be nurses. Twenty-two nursing students from Charles Darwin University have been awarded grants; 53 nurses have been awarded grants to pursue studies including 33 who are studying for a Batchelor of Nursing qualification.
Areas of health where nurses are most needed, in particular those studying post-graduate degrees in critical care, midwifery, renal and preoperative care, have been targeted. This government is committed to using local tertiary institutions so that graduates have the best possible education and training in the Northern Territory. The Bachelor of Nursing course in Alice Springs is the result of a partnership between CDU and the department, and is already producing nurses trained in Central Australia. I met a number of current students in Alice Springs a couple of weeks ago, and they are a very inspiring lot, Madam Speaker.
We also want to reward our nurses for the dedicated service they provide to the Northern Territory, and provide them with salary and conditions that encourage them to stay here. On 18 February 2004, the Nurses 2003-2006 Certified Agreement was presented to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission for certification. This agreement represents significant improvements in pay and conditions for nurses who work for the department, including an 11% pay rise over three years. This agreement also provides for formal collaboration between the Department of Health and Community Services and the Australian Nursing Federation during the life of the agreement, which should deliver greater industrial stability to the nursing work force.
We value our nurses. We value our work force in general in the agency. We want to see that we cannot only attract good recruits into the service but also to retain them.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report this morning. I will be writing to the minister in due course seeking a detailed outline of where every one of those 38 positions is located and when they were filled. I will be very interested to hear whether or not they have been filled. When Labor won the last election, one of their election promises was 75 extra hospital nurses and one of the other promises was extra nurses to work in child health in remote communities. I will be interested to see whether these 38 extra positions encompass community nurses out bush with that child program, or whether they are hospital positions or not. I will be interested to hear whether or not the grants cover the HECS payments of nurses, which was a very good CLP policy in years gone by. I certainly gained from that myself as a nurse.
With regards to the minister’s continual inference that there are no problems out there with nursing numbers in the Northern Territory, I refer members to an article in yesterday’s paper, dated 29 March, page 6, where it mentions the employment of Carol Barnes as the new senior nurse at Alice Springs hospital. I congratulate Carol on that appointment. However, Ms Barnes goes on to say that one of her aims is going to be to work to alleviate heavy workloads in the hospital, and that ‘nurses were suffering heavy workloads at Alice Springs Hospital’. That second quote comes from Denis Blackford, the secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation. In the article, Carol Barnes agreed that nurses’ workloads were increasing and, I quote:
That is yesterday - Alice Springs Hospital - problems with nursing workloads, which was exactly my point in my press release when I referred to your grant, minister.
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, I would again counsel the member to not go out too far on a limb on this issue because the limb is going to break on you and you might have a nasty fall.
Regarding the remainder of our election promise, we will be announcing, as we go along, the completion of the fulfilment of that promise. I am more than happy to give details of where those positions are.
Regarding some of the issues you have raised about Alice Springs, we will get back to you on that. We are looking at that situation continually, in conjunction with the AMA. I believe that we are finding some good outcomes for the present situation in Alice Springs. We will get back to you on that.
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, last sittings I was pleased to table the road map for the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service to move to an exciting new era. At that time, I announced the Martin Labor government had allocated $2.5m over four years in extra resources to the Fire Service to help put the road map into place. The report, prepared by Ms Susan Harben and Mr Chris Gration, provided clear recommendations for a brighter future within our fire service. I believe there is widespread recognition from within the fire service and the wider community that these recommendations are a practical and commonsense approach to move beyond the cycle of conflict that has built up over many years. All members of this House who have people from the fire service in their electorates would know of the anguish and conflict that has existed in our fire service for many years, and the pain it was causing firefighters and their families.
Work on the new road map to a new era began immediately. The report’s recommendations are being implemented, including new ways to strengthen industrial relations practices and improved communications, both within the service and the wider community.
This budget will be the last budget where the fire service does not have its own designated output group. This has been a significant issue for members within the fire service who believed, rightly or wrongly, that by not having direct accountability to me as minister for fire services for the budget every year, was detrimental to their sense of being in control of their own organisation. It is one of the key issues that has been well supported by the fire service.
Progress is being made on implementing the recommendation for a new, flatter senior management structure. I can advice honourable member that the acting director, Bruce Mouatt, circulated the new organisation structure to firefighters last week and personally visited all fire stations across the Northern Territory to brief all serving members on the new structure. As I said, when the report was released, the funding and restructure decisions are of massive significance. However, the capacity of the fire service to move to a new era rests in a large part with the men and women of the organisation.
From the time the review began, I have been getting overwhelmingly positive feedback from firefighters and staff. I have been pleased to meet with firefighters in Darwin and Alice Springs just recently, and I will meet with other serving officers at all stations across the Northern Territory as soon as I can. The feedback following the release of the report has been equally as encouraging, with almost collective sighs of relief from everybody who has embraced the report and has recognised that it was long overdue. Everybody in the organisation looks forward to a new era.
I commend the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Services Acting Director, Mr Bruce Mouatt, and all of those in the fire service, for the way the way the report has been taken on board and the constructive manner in which its recommendations are being implemented. I also commend all serving firefighters who positively responded to the review.
As an anecdote, last Friday night a social event occurred. An invitation from the acting director was sent to all firefighters in Darwin and Palmerston for a social night at the Peter McAulay Centre, something that would have been unthinkable a few months ago. Seventy to 80 firefighters and their families turned up at that function; a great night was had by all. It was once unthinkable; management and firefighters. A great nigh was had by all at a great social occasion. In speaking this morning to people who were there, they said many people thought it would never happen and, if we did it again, we would probably have double the attendance. Therefore, good signs of the organisation finally coming together; a new road map for the fire service. I wish everybody - management, firefighting personnel and unions - the best of luck in implementing the review.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I make a few comments in relation to this. The first comment I make is that this should be a ministerial statement. The opposition is now trapped in a position where we have two minutes to respond to a review which is well over 100 pages long. Having said that, I have now had an opportunity to read the review. Some concerning aspects come out of it.
One is the sacking of Mr Pepper. In spite of the deceit engaged in by this government, internal documents inside the fire service list quite clearly that Mr Pepper was given an ‘involuntary redundancy’. That was in a situation where Mr Pepper had no financial control over his own organisation. The fact is that the financial control of the organisation was left to the Commissioner of Police, the Deputy Commissioner, and one of the Assistant Commissioners. The problem with that is that, if you read the review, the commissioner believed very much in the hands-off approach of management of the fire service, and actually went on to suggest that the director should be encouraged to deal with the minister directly.
That placed Mr Pepper, at the time, in an invidious situation where he had no financial control over his own organisation, an up-line which said go and talk directly to the minister, and a commissioner who had an interest in implementing the O’Sullivan Review recommendations into the Northern Territory Police Force. Consequently, Mr Pepper was left in a very exposed position by this government. I am deeply concerned that that is the way that they dealt with him, and when they came to the point where they had to deal with him, their approach with him was to basically say involuntary redundancy, see you later, sunshine. That is a great travesty. It is a small wonder that this government is not trying to play the politics that they do in so many other issues, in blaming us for it, because all of this stuff happened under them.
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, the fairy land that the member for Macdonnell lives in is quite astounding. I can say quite categorically here, on the Parliamentary Record, that Mr Pepper was not sacked; he resigned for ill health ...
Mr Elferink: Yes, he was.
Mr HENDERSON: … and I challenged the member for Macdonnell to bring any evidence into this parliament that he was sacked. He was not. He resigned because of ill health.
The financial structure that was established, that the member for Macdonnell was talking about in relation to the structure under Police, Fire and Emergency Service, was the structure that was established under the previous government. He cannot cry foul about that. Again, another attack by members of the opposition on the integrity of our Police Commissioner, by virtually asserting that the Commissioner had ignored his responsibilities to the fire service because of the implementation of the O’Sullivan Review is a scurrilous attack, and one that I repudiate entirely.
Ranger Uranium Mine- Contamination of Water
Mr VATSKALIS (Mines and Energy): Madam Speaker, I rise to report on the water contamination incident which occurred at the Ranger mine site last week. I am advised that at approximately 10.30pm, on Tuesday, 23 March, a hose attachment was made between the process water and the clean water pipe system in the Ranger ore processing facility. Early on Wednesday, 24 March, workers showering after the night shift complained of skin irritation and poor quality drinking water. Initial testing by Energy Resources Australia, ERA, indicated that the water had a mild acidic ph of 4.5 and an elevated uranium content of eight parts per million. Soon after, the incident was reported to my department by the ERA General Manager Operations and the ERA Radiation Safety Officer. In response to this incident, ERA decided to close down both the clean water and process water systems, send non-essential staff home and conduct an orderly shut down of the mine and all processing facilities.
After receiving advice of this incident, my department despatched a team to conduct a preliminary investigation of the incident. The federal government’s Office of the Supervising Scientist also became involved and conducted testing at the mine site and other sites. On Friday, 26 March, ERA also notified my department of two further incidents that had been detected as part of their own investigation into the main incident. They allowed that some evidence suggests that the connection between the two water systems may have been made before, and the header tank, located at Jabiru East, had overflowed. This time was also affected by the process water which had been drawn to the clean water circuit.
Let me make it quite clear, this government’s first priorities are the welfare of the mine workers affected by the incident and the protection of the environment. Senior executive from ERA yesterday informed me that Rio Tinto, the parent company, had sent its Chief Medical Officer to individually counsel workers who were affected by the water incident.
We are also concerned about the effect of this incident on the environment. My department is closely monitoring the results of testing carried out by the Office of Supervising Scientist and ERA so that we can assess the exact nature of any water that may have been released to the external environment. ERA has maintained communication with all the stakeholders.
The incident has caused justifiable alarm amongst the Mirrar people, the traditional owners of the area, as well as those living in Jabiru township and surrounds. Officers from my department are conducting an investigation into the cause and nature of this event, so that they can ensure an incident such as this does not occur again. These officers are collecting evidence so that they are in a position to identify any breaches of relevant legislation and regulations, and recommend to me any appropriate action that may be necessary as a consequence of this water incident.
I would also like to refer to the Senate inquiry into the regulation of uranium mining, which reported in October last year. I am pleased to report that we have made serious efforts in implementing its various recommendation as well as the complementary recommendations made by our own review conducted by Mr David Lee. I am not pleased, however, to see that the federal government has thus far not responded to the Senate report. I have therefore decided to write to my federal counterpart to request his attention to these important issues, which will assist both jurisdictions to continue mining uranium in a safe manner.
To conclude, discussions are ongoing between by department, the Office of the Supervising Scientist and ERA on a timetable to reopen the mine for normal operations. I reiterate this government’s commitment that the mine should only be reopened when the mine workers, people of the Jabiru area and the environment have guarantees that the operations are safe and compliant with all relevant legislation and regulations.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, there was a time in the not too distant past when this parliament used to have a committee that looked at the Alligator Rivers region. We had a committee from this parliament that looked at matters relating to the uranium province. We now have a government that is standing up and protesting about how much it cares about matters relating to this province but has disbanded this committee.
I suggest that you rethink that, minister, and give this term of reference to the environment committee that is under way looking at a variety of other things including cane toads, and put that back in place. As I understand it, there are three reviews of this incident. There are at least three ministers on the other side with responsibility: the minister for work health, the minister for radiation protection who is the health minister, and the minister for resources. So there are at least three ministers with an air of responsibility in this area.
I would like to know why there was such a lapse of time between the incident and medical advice being given to employees. I would have thought that would be a matter of some immediate urgency and I would like to know why there was a significant lapse of time.
It is trite for this minister to stand up and say he is concerned about the welfare of workers and the protection of the environment. There are bigger issues than that. This mine is significantly regulated. As I said, there are three reviews on foot of which I am aware. It is a mine that has been more regulated probably than any other mine. It has a degree of notoriety attached to it merely because of the resource that it procures. If this government is genuinely concerned about it, it should look at reinstating the CLP policy of having a committee of this parliament looking at the uranium province of the Alligator Rivers region.
Mr VATSKALIS (Mines and Energy): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his contribution, but remind him that under the CLP Mining Act, it is the Department of Mines and Energy that looks into incidents at mine sites, not Work Health. I am very pleased to hear you support Work Health looking into these kinds of incidents in mine situations because the big question is: how can the facilitator be the regulator of the mining industry?
At the same time, the Office of the Supervising Scientist, which is a federal authority, is looking very closely at the operation of the mine. The same thing happens with Mines and Energy, and that will continue. I reiterate that the mine will not open until there is such an agreement between the Office of the Supervising Scientist, ERA and my department that the operations are safe to recommence. I will not hesitate to take any action if we find out that an offence has been committed; I will not exclude legal action and prosecution.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
Continued from 25 February 2004.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, it is the intention of the opposition to support passage of this legislation. I thank the staff of the minister’s office and department who provided adequate briefings to assure us that the intent of this legislation moves the enjoyment the sport of racing forward, secures it within the mind of the community, and provides adequate measures to work against the potential for manipulation of racing and gambling to the detriment of the community.
I note, too, the intent being to move in line with the recommendations of the National Competition Policy to alter the construction of the act so that we do have clearly stated within the structure of the legislation the objectives of the act, so it puts very clearly, what is this about. Judging by the adequate consultation with stakeholders, which include the Darwin Turf Club, the NT TAB, Centrebet, IAS Bet Limited, Northern Territory Gaming and Wagering Advisory Forum, former Chief Minister, Mr Marshall Perron, and Punting Partners, their involvement in the review certainly adds weight to the amendments that have been proposed today.
The areas that have been proposed in this act cover the objectives, the functions of the Racing Commission, and we cover components of that within the legislation which are in line with the recommendations of the review committee and NCP requirements, down to licences and permits. It is good to see the recommendation to continue with the reinforced licensing of industry participants to provide those adequate safeguards; the provision of criminal history checks also provides greater security; repeal of registrations and probity racing; in section 79 - offences by bookmakers – there are adequate measures there; suspension or cancellations of licence, the Commission may grant a licence in clause 12; and it strengthens the probity requirements of the licensing process under the principal act by directing the Racing Commission to have regard to certain matters when determining whether to grant or refuse a licence.
The number of issues that have been covered do have the support of opposition. However, I ask the minister to clarify a curious element within the legislation as proposed, which is related to the Unlawful Betting Amendment Bill. As it was communicated to us in the briefing, what is occurring makes perfect sense in terms of the regular practice on a racecourse of someone taking a wager on behalf of others, and basically conducting a business as an experienced punter touting for business. That is deemed technically to be unlawful. As it was explained in the briefing, that practice has been in existence for sometime – it is a technicality that deems it unlawful. I inquired as to this anomaly, by definition, being in existence, and if it had any connection to a pre-existing problem or issue. We were unable to discover that during the course of the briefing. Has there been a problem in this area in the past, and is this amendment seeking to address a previous concern, or is it simply a redrafting to align the legislation with existing and previous practice?
With those comments, Madam Speaker, we support the bill.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition, the spokesperson for racing and gaming, for his comments. I just wanted to seek advice, and I may have to seek further advice even yet, on the questions raised in relation to the Unlawful Betting Act. Certainly, one of them goes to removing the practice of advertising. For information around that, I might have to seek further advice.
On the other issue, I think the Leader of the Opposition is referring to a syndicated betting-type arrangement where I might set myself up as a punter extraordinaire and invite people to put their funds with me, and I will invest them wisely on race days around wherever, and return a dividend to whoever is, perhaps, wise enough or even silly enough to put their hard-earned dollars in my pocket, and I will go out and do my best to return a surplus dividend to them. Prohibition on that goes. There is no concern in the industry at the moment - certainly nothing ever has been put to me - in and around that; that it has been a problem or should be addressed.
It is simply a question of NCP looking at this and saying: ‘You have to regulate it, you have to protect probity, you have to protect integrity of the industry’. However, where you have issues that do not go to that - and if someone can set themselves up like that it would be a pretty hard ask to get money out of people on the basis that you are going to return a profit on the track or tracks but, notwithstanding the practical difficulties involved, National Competition Policy is saying there is no good reason why you ought have a prohibition of that nature. Therefore, that prohibition drops out.
I believe it would be an interesting exercise. You would have to have a strong record of credibility in the marketplace and, obviously, a good track record. You would have to be able to show that, over a consistent period, you were able to return a profit before anyone in their right mind would say: ‘Here is $1000, do your best for me because I do not know anything about this punting game, and I am putting my trust in you’. As bad as my judgment is when it comes to horses, dogs, trotters, even football, I certainly trust my own instincts. It is my money and if I loose it, it is my fault and I have no one else to blame. Therefore, if someone was around to set themselves up in that type of operation, I do not think they would have my hard-earned.
Nonetheless, in how the act is constructed, those questions of probing and integrity - which are the backbone of why we have legislation such as this - competition policy says there is no good reason why it should be there. I believe that probably goes to the Leader of the Opposition’s concerns.
With those remarks, I again thank the Leader of the Opposition, the spokesperson, for his comments on the bill, and we thank them for their support. Notwithstanding there are a couple of issues in here - and the Leader of the Opposition well knows what they are - which still sit there despite being part of this review that we do have to come back to at a later stage.
Motion agreed to; bills read a second time.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bills be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bills read a third time.
Continued from 18 February 2004.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, the opposition supports this bill - my apologies for not getting back to the Attorney-General earlier. We have tried to, between us, implement something that vaguely resembles a system whereby, as a matter of courtesy, I will indicate to him early on if we are supporting or opposing legislation. I apologise for that. As I said, we support this legislation. If the CLP were in government we would have introduced this legislation as well.
I need not go into the details of it. However, I am pleased to see the admissions made by the Attorney-General in his second reading speech on 18 February in which he spoke in fairly glowing terms, I thought, of the code of practice established under the CLP. It has been operating to regulate and assist tow truck drivers and others in the industry since 1996. The code of practice has worked very well. This amendment has become necessary as a result of National Competition Policy, and as the minister correctly points out in his second reading speech, this amendment will ensure the ongoing operation of the successful code of practice. I do not think I need to take up any more time. I thank the minister for the bill, and it is supported.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for their support for this bill. It is infinitely sensible to keep this arrangement in place. We have given fairly strong undertakings that the National Competition Council will not be troubled by this arrangement. They recognise the overwhelming public benefit that accrues to the Northern Territory public by having this arrangement in place. I would just like to read into Hansard the letter we received from the Consumer Affairs Council in support of this legislation. It is fairly important that our peak body opinion is on the public record:
And I will certainly do that.
Madam Speaker, I do not think there is much more to be said other than this is a sensible way of avoiding the need to go to regulations every two years under our legislation in order to maintain this variation on a fully competitive situation within that particular marketplace, and we will move on.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Continued from 18 February 2004.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I rise to give the opposition’s position in relation to this bill. I state at the outset that we will not be opposing this bill. However, there will be elements of qualification in relation to the opposition’s position. This, of course, is the very well publicised bill that deals with tail docking of animals primarily, however, there are other aspects of the bill such as horse firing and cropping of ears and such things, which are issues in the public arena.
There are any number of procedures conducted by animal breeders upon their animals. Some of them are for cosmetic reasons; others are for other reasons. Covered in this bill is the issue of horse firing, which is a procedure that is supposed to elevate inflammation of the tendons of an animal. However, it is a procedure that has a very large question mark hanging over it regarding its effectiveness. In some quarters it is considered to be little more than quackery. Considering the amount of suffering that an animal goes through as a result of a procedure like that, I believe that is the reason the government would introduce a bill of this nature.
Other procedures that we normally use for hurting animals are across the board. In the cattle industry, if memory serves me correctly, under the Brands Act it is still compulsory to brand an animal. If that is the case, I would curious to know if the government has any intention of introducing legislation that makes it optional.
We do all sorts of things to our animals in other areas, and I note that the minister said that if he had a tail, he would like to keep it. That is a fair enough point to make. However, I am curious to know how the minister feels about neutering of animals in that case and what he intends to do in relation to that if that is his logic.
There is an ongoing argument that seems to be being driven by organisations such as the Australian Veterinary Association dealing with the docking of tails, stating that it is a cosmetic procedure only and has no real effect on the health of the dog. The government’s change in position prior to introducing this legislation from banning tail docking to allowing tail docking for prophylactic reasons demonstrates an understanding that there are necessary procedures from time to time for tail docking. Those procedures are required purely for the purpose of protecting the animal from damage. There are any number of hunting dogs and dogs used for those purposes, which from time to time will damage their tails. Having seen hunting dogs operate in my lifetime in the bush, I have seen these dogs exposed to danger and damage in those processes. If a vet, under this bill, is convinced that there is a need to remove the tail of a dog through a normal docking procedure after the dog has reached the age of five days, then the procedure may be allowed. I note that the minister has brought that in to the House.
However, the question I raise in relation to this issue is that it is only vets who will be available to do these procedures. Some concern has been raised with me that vets may feel pressured by the AVA to not perform these procedures despite their better judgment. That is an issue between the vets and the AVA; it is not an issue for members in this House. However, the vet must be satisfied of course that the procedure is prophylactic in nature and not merely cosmetic.
I have had submissions in relation to qualified people such as breeders themselves being able to tail dock for prophylactic purposes. The jury is out, as far as I am concerned, on that procedure. At this stage, the bill does not propose anyone other than a vet being allowed to do it. The position of the CLP is this: at some point in the future, should we be in government, we will certainly review the operation of the legislation to see if there is room for people other than vets to be allowed to engage in tail docking procedures for prophylactic purposes. Should the argument be successfully made out, we would proceed accordingly.
Madam Speaker, the opposition does not propose to oppose this bill. However, we, in government, will review its operation and we will take whatever steps are necessary at that time to fix the bill if indeed it does require fixing as a result of due processes.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I also rise in support of the bill. I did take note that the member for Macdonnell said that he feels a review would be necessary, and that would be a wise thing to do. It was fairly controversial when it was introduced. I note this issue was discussed in the parliament around June last year, so it has taken some time from when you might say the heat of the debate occurred to when the legislation has come before this parliament. It raised a lot of debate in the rural area. In the Litchfield shire there are quite a number of people who own and show dogs. They contacted not only me but also the member for Goyder regarding this particular issue. Although the person who was leading the charge, you might say, on this issue in the rural area has since left, my understanding is they were happy with this particular change to the legislation.
Some people could see it as a way of getting around tail docking that was done for cosmetic purposes. That is covered, because vets are the only people who can actually carry out this procedure. I believe it is worthwhile that the government does review the situation. Maybe the government needs to talk to vets after it has been in operation for 12 months or longer, and at least keep a record of what has occurred and have an understanding of which breeds have been subject to this action by vets, and what were the reasons given – just so we have some idea of what is actually happening in the industry.
I support the changes to the act. However, I agree with the member for Macdonnell that we review it some time in the future.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill. This bill covers two issues which have been of national concern for many years, namely, tail docking of dogs and horse firing. For many years, animal welfare groups have campaigned for a ban on the practice of tail docking and, in a landmark decision by ministers for all state and territory jurisdictions, a nationally coordinated ban on routine tail docking of dogs has been implemented. For any jurisdiction to go it alone in this area was not considered sensible, with no possibility of enforcement where dogs are regularly traded across state and territory borders.
In October 2003, the Primary Industries Ministerial Council agreed to implement a nationally-coordinated ban on routine tail docking for non-therapeutic cosmetic reasons. In some jurisdictions, the ban is already in force or will come into force on 1 April 2004. After this date, dogs’ tails will no longer be docked anywhere in Australia unless there is a medical reason behind the operation. Only a qualified veterinarian will be permitted to carry out the surgery in the Northern Territory.
Puppies’ tails of some breeds have been routinely docked at around two to five days of age, using a pair of scissors or a very tight rubber band. Tail docking has not necessarily been carried out by a veterinary surgeon. No anaesthetic is generally used, even though the cut goes through highly sensitive nerves. Many veterinarians oppose the procedure on the grounds that it is cruel, painful and unnecessary. Advocates of tail docking claim that it does not cause pain or discomfort, as the nervous system of puppies is not fully developed. The best available advice from veterinary experts indicates that this is not the case. The basic nervous system of a dog is fully developed at birth, and the available evidence indicates that puppies have similar, if not increased sensitivity to pain as adult dogs. Docking of a puppy’s tail involves cutting through muscles, tendons, highly sensitive nerves and severing bone and cartilage connections. Tail docking is usually carried out without any anaesthesia, and inflammation and damage to the tissues can also cause ongoing pain while the wound heals.
After 1 April 2004, it will no longer be legally acceptable in Australia to dock dogs’ or pups’ tails except for medical purposes. Cosmetic tail docking has also been banned in a number of countries including Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany and Demark. Several other European countries including Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria, have also ratified a European convention that prohibits the cosmetic docking of tails.
In the United Kingdom, tail docking can only be carried out by a registered veterinary surgeon. The practice is opposed by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons which describes it as an unacceptable mutilation. There are over 70 breeds of dog that traditionally have their tails cut off a few days after birth. Many people think that dogs of docked breeds which include Dobermans, Rottweilers, most terriers, spaniels, pointers and other gun dogs, are born with short tails. This is not true. The reasons why some breeds and not others are docked is simply because of the fashion set for that particular breed. The only dog with a naturally short tail is the stumpy-tailed cattle dog.
Research has shown that docking does not reduce tail injury in the general dog population. Furthermore, many breeds of hunting breeds do not have docked tails and the length of the tail in docked breeds varies according to the breed standard. There are, of course, many who believe that dogs of certain breeds with docked tails are more attractive. Cosmetic reasons alone should not, however, allow the imposition of pain on a dog. Therapeutic reasons should sensibly be required if we are to put a dog through pain or discomfort. This will mean that some breed associations may need to address their requirements.
The weight of opposition to tail docking is considerable. The Australian Veterinary Association and the RSPCA is strongly opposed to tail docking on the grounds that it is an unnecessary surgical procedure and contrary to the welfare of dogs. The National Consultative Committee for Animal Welfare, which advises the federal government on animal welfare issues, is also opposed to tail docking because it serves no practical purpose and may compromise the welfare of animals. The change in the Northern Territory’s animal welfare legislation to ban the practice of tail docking of dogs is a huge step forward for the welfare of our closest companions.
This is also reinforced by the Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol 81, No 4, April 2003 which has an article specifically about tail docking in dogs and review of the issues. It goes through all of the issues, some of which have been raised in this House this morning, and it particularly looks at matters relating to pain and whether or not dogs do experience pain as a result of tail docking. It says here regarding the basis of claims that a number of chronic health problems are associated with tail docking: problems reviewed previously include atrophy and degeneration of tail and pelvic muscles leading to increased risk of faecal incontinence and compromised pelvic diaphragm integrity, leading to an increased incidence of perineal hernia - which I must say does not sound very pleasant. It also mentions that most vets believe that - I think its 76% of veterinarians who are involved with tail docking - dogs do experience pain, even though it appears that breeders do not believe this is the case. Therefore, there is a bit of distinction between who is and who is not doing the tail docking.
In relation to this article it also says that the overwhelming summary of all the things relating to tail docking, is that, in fact, it should not happen. It states:
Therefore, I speak strongly in support of the legislation in relation to tail docking.
I would just like to make a brief comment in relation to horse firing which, I must say, I had never heard of before. The practice of horse firing involves a hot iron being placed on a horse’s leg to create an inflammatory response to encourage healing of a damaged tendon or tendon sheath. The practice of horse firing is not an effective treatment and causes unnecessary suffering to the horse. The National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare, which advises the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on animal welfare issues, the Northern Territory’s Principal Club, the Darwin Turf Club, and the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee which advises the minister on animal welfare, has recommended a ban on the practice of horse firing.
Animals have an intrinsic value of their own and, accordingly, must be considered to possess the right to live in a way which enables them to have a positive life and develop and enjoy their inherited qualities.
Madam Speaker, I support the bill.
Mr AH KIT (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I thank members for their comments and in particular the member for Nightcliff for the way she has been able to summarise the issues quite well and I thank her for that.
The shadow opposition spokesperson, the member for Macdonnell, mentioned the branding of animals. I take that as a reference to horses and cattle throughout the Territory. I am not quite sure what is in place in other legislation around the country. Certainly, I will be directing staff to have a look at that. I have worked on a couple of cattle stations as a young fellow and have been a part of the branding process in branding cattle, earmarking cattle and also seeing horse firing in action.
These amendments do away with the tail docking exercise and the horse firing. I am quite happy to receive a submission from the shadow spokesperson in regards to what his suggestion would be. I note his comments also that if in government they would review it. I am certainly not afraid to have a look at any ideas put forward by members opposite or independent members of this parliament. In reference to the comments made by the member for Nelson I will pick up the suggestion and come back to parliament and report how things are happening 12 months on because I think that is only the right thing to do.
Once again I thank members for their support and their contribution to the debate. Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr AH KIT (Local Government)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Continued from 24 February 2004.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I take the opportunity to respond to the Auditor-General’s report on the 2002-03 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report.
The 2002-03 TAFR was tabled in parliament in the October 2003 sittings. The report now tabled by you on behalf of the Auditor-General provides additional commentary on the TAFR in regards to its former outcomes and analysis. Before I go to the specifics of the report, I am pleased to say the report provides positive commentary on the Territory’s first accrual outcome financial statements. Given the significant financial framework changes that have taken place since 1 July 2002, this is a significant achievement for all who have contributed to the reforms. With the move from a cash framework to an accrual framework, the format of the 2002-03 TAFR differed significantly from that in previous years. The information contained in the TAFR has been enhanced and results in improved accountability and transparency and a more user friendly document. As this is the first accrual TAFR it is expected that over the next two to three years the format will continue to be enhanced.
I turn to specific comments in the report. The executive summary states that the Territory’s overall financial condition is improving and that the deficit reduction strategy is achieving its aims. In addition, the Auditor-General comments that matters raised in regards to the 2001-02 TAFR have been resolved in the 2002-03 TAFR. The Auditor-General then goes on to highlight a few areas where he believes that further improvements to financial reporting are required, or where additional comment is warranted. It is these matters that I now wish to address in turn.
Reporting framework and audit opinion: the first section of the report discusses the reporting framework under which the TAFR has been prepared. It provides a brief analysis of the two relevant external reporting standards available, namely the Australian Accounting Standards (AAS), and the Government Financial Statistics (GFS) Accrual-Based Uniform Presentation Framework, (UPF).
The report goes on to state that whilst the government chose to adopt the UPF requirements, it was pleasing to see the TAFR also included explanatory notes similar to those required under an Australian Accounting Standards approach, but which are not required under the Uniform Presentation Framework. This is another indication of the accountability, transparency and more user friendly document that this government has strived to produce.
As in previous years, the Auditor-General has issued his audit opinion in two parts: an unqualified opinion was issued on the compliance with the Treasurer’s prescribed reporting format; and a qualified opinion dealing with the prescribed reporting format’s lack of compliance with the Australian Accounting Standards. This qualification has occurred every year since 1999 when AAS 31 came into force.
The use of GFS as a reporting mechanism in the TAFR aligns to the basis on which the Northern Territory’s budget is produced. It is a similar situation to other jurisdictions’ budgets. All jurisdictions recognise that the Australian Accounting Standards as they currently stand are inappropriate for the reporting of government fiscal outcomes. Until harmonisation of these standards with those of the Uniform Presentation Framework is achieved, this government will continue to adopt the GFS approach in future financial reporting.
Summary and analysis of operating results and financial position: the next section of the report discusses the operating results, and financial position reported in the TAFR. The Auditor-General states that in almost every case, revenues exceed those earned in 2001-02 and originally budgeted. The most significant increase in revenue is due to an increase in amounts received from the Commonwealth, predominantly GST revenue due to higher national collections of GST revenue.
The increase of $20m in Northern Territory taxation revenue since 2001-02 that the Opposition Leader appears so quick to deride did not come out of, and I quote: ‘every man, woman and child’ in raised taxes. Despite the rate of taxation falling in 2002-03, the increase in tax revenue is as a result of increased economic activity and large one-off conveyancing transactions.
Of the - and again I quote the Opposition Leader - ‘extra $128m I managed to get out of the federal government’, this amounts represents the actual increase in total public sector grants and subsidies for the Territory between 2000-01 and 2002-03. It is quite simply the share of GST revenue to which the Territory is entitled under the inter-governmental agreement on which GST funding is based.
The Auditor-General states that the Northern Territory government is managing costs reasonably effectively with total expenditure on a general government sector basis up 2.4% on 2001-02 and less than 1% on budget.
The comments speak volumes about the prudent management of the Territory’s financial performance that this government has employed since it took office. It is also in line with the government’s commitment to the deficient reduction strategy, which aims to return government spending to a level commensurate with the revenue earned.
The Leader of the Opposition’s claim that Territorians were charged an extra $17m in government fees and charges for goods and services is misleading. Fees and charges did not increase, but, rather, there was an increase in the volume of sales of goods and services between 2001-02 and 2002-03 for the total public sector. General government receipts from sales of goods and services increased by $1.5m over the period. These fees and charges are levied to recover some of the associated costs and exclude the commercial operations of government businesses included in the total public sector. Increases in economic activity create increased demand for government services and, as a consequence, increase the value of government’s goods and services revenue.
Further to the claims of cuts in capital works, I can reiterate that there were none. It is agreed that some work was not completed within the financial year and resulted in transfers to 2003-04, but that is usual for capital works due to difficulties of project timing and seasonal interference. The delays and associated transfers were somewhat lower in 2002-03 than in previous years.
The Auditor-General goes on to state the nett operating balance of a $1m deficit was $37m better than the final estimate. The cash surplus recorded of $9m represented a significant reduction from the deficit of $31m included in the final budget estimate. It must be said that despite the $9m surplus, the underlying position was a $31m deficit, because $40m of expenditure budgeted for 2002-03 was carried into 2003-04.
The Opposition Leader subsequently went on to claim that the government had an extra 7% in total revenue to spend, but only increased spending by 2.3% and stashed the difference. The figures quoted by the Opposition Leader refer to changes from 2001-02 to 2002-03. The relevant figures are actually revenue received and actual expenditure in 2002-03 which produced a cash surplus of $9m.
However, the $40m carried over was not stashed but spent in the first few months of 2003-04. The Auditor-General comments that despite a large surplus in cash flows from operations, overall the cash reserves of the Northern Territory government have been depleted by $61.6m due to significant investments in financial and non-financial assets. It is contrary to the Leader of the Opposition’s statement that I had an extra $80m in the bank at the end of 2002-03 and excess cash of $307m. Whilst this is an increase of $78m on 2001-02, these funds represent the value of Territory securities at a point in time and, very significantly, throughout the year. These funds are held for liquidity purposes, which enable the Territory government to meet its financial commitments as and when they fall due.
The Auditor-General goes on to say that on a non-financial public sector basis, nett worth has dropped by $238m due to the downward revaluation of predominantly roads and bridges, together with the increase in liabilities for unfunded superannuation. The downward revaluations were as a direct result of accrual accounting and the decision taken by this government to ensure that significant assets were appropriately valued by an independent source. It is expected that once this task is complete, valuations will stabilise. In the early years of accrual accounting, some significant revaluations were to be expected. The unfunded portion of superannuation now represents more than half the Territory’s nett debt and employee liabilities. This government’s target of achieving a budget surplus is not only fiscally responsible, but will allow for the capacity to begin to address this issue. Nett debt on a non-financial public sector basis stands at $1723m at 30 June 2003, which represents a reduction of $143m over that budgeted, and $30m over that reported in the previous year. The outcome for 2002-03 indicates that a key aim of the deficit reduction strategy, namely, reducing nett debt, is beginning to take effect.
Analysis of the government’s fiscal strategy: the Auditor-General has assessed the Territory fiscal strategy outcome and found that the government has made progress in achieving its fiscal commitments. The government’s fiscal commitments are articulated in its three key fiscal strategy principles, which include sustainable government services, a competitive tax environment, and prudent management of liabilities. Each principle contains targets which are the basis on which fiscal decisions are taken. Sustainable government services include the general government sector targets of a cash surplus by 2004-05; a positive GFS operating balance within 10 years from 2002-03; and maintenance of a capital investment strategy based on service delivery and economic development requirements.
The Auditor-General stated that the first target had been achieved based on the outcome of the $9m surplus in 2002-03. However, as stated previously, the surplus was only achieved through a significant carry out of expenditure. Therefore, in 2002-03, the government’s target of a cash surplus has yet to be achieved. However, the 2002-03 outcome does demonstrate the government’s progress in moving toward a balanced budget. The Auditor-General has commented that it is still too early in the introduction of accrual accounting to report on the progress of achieving the target of a positive nett operating balance within 10 years. However, progress was achieved in 2002-03 through the achievement of a nett operating deficit of just $1m. This is a $37m improvement on the 2002-03 final budget forecast of $38m.
In 2002-03, the government maintained sufficient capital investment to meet the Territory’s service delivery and economic development requirements. While the Territory’s capital expenditure, after excluding railway transactions, was $38m dollars below budget, capital investment increased by $45m from 2001-02. The reclassification of some $13m of capital items as operating items, together with delays in construction meant a lower than expected outcome for the Territory’s capital program. The fiscal strategy principle of a competitive tax environment includes comparative analysis, or ranking, of taxation revenue per capita with the other states, and an analysis of the Territory’s revenue raising capacity and effort compared to the Australian average. The Auditor-General’s report confirms that the Territory remains the second lowest tax per capita jurisdiction.
The fiscal strategy principle of prudent management of liabilities provides an analysis of Northern Territory non-financial public sector nett debt, and nett debt and employee liabilities over time. It also provides a comparative analysis of the Territory’s nett debt and nett debt plus employee liabilities with other states. The report has found that the Territory has achieved prudent management of both its nett debt and employee liabilities in 2002-03. This is based on reductions in the ratio of nett debt to total revenue from 67% in 2001-02 to 64% in 2002-03, and reductions in nett debt and employee liabilities to revenue from 134% in 2001-02 to 131% in 2002-03.
Additional reporting measures of the Territory’s fiscal strategy have been recommended by the Auditor-General. This includes measures of sustainability, flexibility and vulnerability, which include non-financial assets and gross state product in their calculations. Such measures should be based on fiscal indicators which are more relevant to the Territory government’s fiscal performance. Measures which use non-financial assets and the Territory’s gross state product provide limited usefulness in measuring the government’s fiscal performance. In respect of non-financial assets, government assets are better measured by the services they provide to the community rather than their ability to meet government liabilities. In many cases, government assets could never be sold because of market, political or social constraints. Asset valuation policies can also impact on the value of such measures over time.
Gross state product or economic growth is commonly used by analysts to measure a jurisdiction’s fiscal performance. However, in the Territory’s case, gross state product is a poor indicator of the Territory’s fiscal performance. Volatility in offshore gas and petroleum production can significantly distort the Territory’s gross state product, with production having little impact on the Territory’s onshore economy or government tax revenue. However, while some of the measures recommended are not considered appropriate, others are broadly contained in the fiscal strategies such as comparisons of nett debt. In addition, I believe some of the other measures proposed will be become more useful to the Territory over time. These include the proposed measurements of nett worth which, whilst being a key indicator under an accrual environment, will only become of benefit in the future once asset valuations have stabilised.
Of the Leader of the Opposition’s claim that certain agencies such as Health and Education have large cash balances at year end, what the Opposition Leader fails to realise is that these cash balances of $17m and $11m respectively, represent approximately two weeks of expenditure outlays. It is also exasperated by the fact that, traditionally, the Commonwealth government offloads special purpose grant payments just prior to year end, which are fully committed to be expended in the following year.
Financial performance of GBDs and GOCs: the report states that, generally, government business divisions are not achieving budgeted levels of profitability although the profitability and, consequently, the nett deficit and nett debt positions have improved due to the strong results of PowerWater and the Northern Territory Treasury Corporation. This is, in some instances, due to the current structure of the GBDs themselves. A review of the framework for GBDs is under way and will result in a better understanding of the basis of the budget estimates and the constraints experienced by GBDs in a government environment.
The positive comments made by the Auditor-General in his report are all the more pleasing given the Leader of the Opposition’s closing remarks in his response to the tabling of the TAFR in the last sittings, and I quote:
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, the report is a positive one for the Martin government. It indicates that results presented for our first accrual set of financial outcome numbers presented fairly the Territory’s financial position. It also highlights the positive steps taken by this government in continuing its commitment to accrual reporting and to a deficit reduction strategy which, over time, will reduce the interest and debt burden of Territorians.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I begin by putting on the record this side of parliament’s appreciation for the work and contribution of Mike Blake as Auditor-General. Although he has only been with us for a short time, he has made a very valuable contribution both to the workings of this parliament and to the Territory. His readiness and availability to help MLAs has been remarkable - many of us have availed ourselves of his briefings post his reports - and not only to us as members but to the public service as well. His efforts to help us all understand the financial situation in this time of great change have been above and beyond the call of duty. His efforts to make these explanations of his reports readily understood by the most financially illiterate of us are deserving of the highest accolades. I wish him, and his wife, well in his new position in Tasmania. But I do wish he was not going.
The Auditor-General’s role is a vital one in our democracy and grows ever more so with the ascendency of executive over the parliament. The Auditor-General is the watchdog, the expert investigator, the educator and protector, on behalf of Territorians, of the public purse. On behalf of the CLP parliamentary wing, I hope that we do find another Mike Blake.
Madam Speaker, I now turn to the Auditor-General’s Analysis of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement for 2002-03. As he points out very early in his report, the change to accrual based TAFS and the government’s decision to switch the emphasis of the Treasurer’s annual financial report does make it very difficult to assess comparative performance. This point was raised in the debate on TAFS itself earlier in this year and I hope, like the Auditor-General, that this problem will be overcome with time.
One of the issues that the Auditor-General mentioned several times in his analysis is growing employee liabilities, including unfunded superannuation. As he notes in his report, in the year 2003 a further $69m in unfunded superannuation liabilities was added to the Territory’s debt. Members may recall that this Labor government had a plan to tackle this ever growing level of debt by setting aside $10m a year. The government admitted this level of funding would only, ‘commence meeting the unfunded superannuation liability’. However, that policy was abandoned after one year so the debt just keeps growing. The Auditor-General notes that the unfunded superannuation at 30 June 2003 was 34% greater than it was at 30 June 2000; a 34% increase. So much for the commitment.
Any improvement in nett debt is being offset by this increase in employee liabilities. The Auditor-General notes that the interest payments on nett debt which is $242m greater than it was at 30 June 2001, before this government came to power, are a concern. The interest paid in 2002-03 was $164.9m, or almost 10% more than had been paid in 2000-01. As the Auditor-General points out, this is a concern, particularly in an environment of increasing interest rates.
It is acknowledged that the government is reducing its level of debt now that it no longer has to fund the Territory’s contribution to the railway. However, one has to ask whether this will continue with the wharf development on the horizon and the desperate need for more investment in infrastructure needed now to boost the economy. The government is using the bonus it is receiving from the GST to repay debt. That might attract favourable comment from many of the dry economic analysts, but is it the right course for a young economy like the Northern Territory? Isn’t there some middle road between reducing debt at all costs and financing the infrastructure and development of the Territory and boosting the economy? This government seems to be intent on impressing the analysts rather than providing for Territorians.
The CLP believes that we must do more to help Territorians than just address the bottom line. The government agrees that if it repays debt and thereby reduces interest payments, it will have more money down the track to spend on services. However, if the government boosts the economy, fosters development, produces and provides more incentives for population growth, there will be more money in the economy to finance both debt and interest payments.
The government claims that its ever increasing tax take - and it looks like being up $20m, which is more than 8% this year - is the result of greater activity in the marketplace. Even the most cursory look around the Darwin CBD and beyond at the empty shops, restaurants and businesses would belie any increase in activity. If that is the government’s argument, why don’t they use it to promote greater activity by the government to develop, to boost the economy and thereby provide revenue to reduce debt? I believe the government can do this, and it will be the policy that the CLP adopts if Territorians choose a government that will serve them rather than accountants.
We are building a future for the Territory and Territorians. We are not in the same position as nor are we comparable with southern states. They have had a century or more to build their infrastructure and industry base. We have had barely a quarter of a century and it should be noted that much of the debt reduction achieved by the other states in the past decade or so has been through the selling off or privatisation of state assets. We do not have that opportunity.
We agree that debt reduction has its place in fiscal management. As Auditor-General comments in this report, and I quote:
Our first priority must be to build the Territory and provide a great future for generations of Territorians. The priority should not be supplanted by a fixation with the bottom line. I am convinced that a growing Territory economy will provide the resources and meet our debt levels. I am equally convinced that putting the hand brake on investment and development will have a detrimental effect on the economy and on the future.
The caution this government has displayed, putting aside for a moment that some of it can be put down to its inability to make decisions, is more about building an image of being a good financial manager rather than being good managers of the Territory. Go for a walk down the streets of Darwin or Winnellie, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek , Wadeye, Oenpelli and ask Territorians whether they are more concerned about the government’s good bottom line or whether they want development. I do not think you have to employ many interstate consultants to tell us the answer to that question. The Territory’s history, since it won the right to govern itself, has been written by governments which were prepared to take a chance to invest, to promote, to back Territorians and our future. We still need that kind of government. Sadly, we do not have it.
Nothing of what I have said should be taken as a criticism of the Auditor-General’s analysis. It is not his job to set economic policy for the government of the day. It is his job to audit and analyse the figures as presented in the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement. It is his job to analyse that and to report on the government’s overall financial condition.
There is the conundrum: does the government’s financial condition reflect the condition of the Northern Territory economy? The Treasurer and his government can sit back and take the kudos for the Auditor-General’s opinion that the Territory government’s overall financial condition shows that it is improving. However, does that mean that the majority of Territorians, the private businesses big and small, also have an improving financial condition? Of course it does not. It also has a responsibility of government.
The Auditor-General notes that on a general government sector basis, expenditure increased by 2.4% between 2001-02 and 2002-03. That is just above being in line with inflation. That is an expenditure increase of 2.4%. But government revenue on the same general government sector basis, either own source or grants, went up by more than 8% - expenditure, 2.4%, revenue in, 8% increase for the same period when the special railway grant is excluded. I spoke about this when we debated the Treasurer’s report in February and the Auditor-General confirms it in this report. Was all that extra difference between the increase and the expenditure, and the increase in revenue, used on the bottom line? Could some of that money have been used to reduce the tax burden on business and on job creation?
It is well and good to have a great job plan, which is largely bolstered by federal money which you take personal credit for - a jobs plan but no plan to create jobs that may be provided for those who are in a jobs provision strategy. Could not some of that have been used to build a Territory for the future? We do not need the Treasurer or any other government spokesman to get up and tell us that they have spent all this extra millions on education, health, police or whatever. We know you did, and so you should have with all the extra revenue, particularly form the GST, that you have received. The fact remains, as the Auditor-General says, your total expenditure only increased by 2.4% in line with inflation. Across the whole of government, you have not increased the budgets of the departments or agencies except to match the increased cost caused by inflation.
These departments or agencies which received extra did so at the expense of others who received less than what they received in 2001-02 once inflation is taken into account. I am sure the Treasurer will get up and argue that the increased revenue meant that the government was able to pay its way without having to fund the deficit. But, even on your own strategy, you are not expecting to be in such a position in several years. You were prepared to continue with deficits for several more years for the good of the Territory until the GST funds grew so big that revenues far exceeded expenditure. The unexpected bonuses from the GST that you have already received have gone straight to your bottom line, for the sake of your image and not for the good of the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, let me touch on several other issues raised by the Auditor-General in his analysis. Once again, he returned to the performance of the government business divisions, or GBDs. He reports that, generally, they have not received budgeted levels of profitability. Eight of the 12 GBDs came in with a poorer result than was forecast in the budget. The total nett profit from all 12 before tax and dividends increased by 25%, but that was mainly due to the enormous increase in profit of Power and Water Corporation. As the Auditor-General notes, it lifted profit from $18.6m to $45.8m, more than covering the losses in the other GOCs and GBDs. However, the total taxes and dividends the government received from the GOCs and GBDs jumped more than 126%; that is 126% revenue from the GBDs and GOCs to Treasury.
The Auditor-General reports that the government took $54.205m in taxes and dividends out of the GBDs and GOCs even though they only made $28.491m in profit before taxes and dividends, taking $54.2m after they made a profit of $28.49m. PowerWater kicked in $20m from its profit of $45.8m, but the real bonus for the government was the NT Treasury Corporation. The Auditor-General reports that the corporation made $23.6m profit before taxes and dividends, and then managed to contribute $32.7m in dividends and taxes to the government’s revenue. Well, that is really a profitable business if you can get one. I wonder how many private shareholders would expect their companies to pay a dividend far in excess of the profits that were made?
As the Auditor-General notes, the nett worth of the NT Treasury Corporation dropped mainly due to this excessive payment to government. In fact, the nett worth of the corporation dropped by more than $18m, or 35% on the budgeted figure. That, of course, just about equates to the extra it paid to the government if the normal dividend policy of 50% of profit was applied to its profit figure. It seems some bottom lines are there to be tampered with if the government wants to make its bottom line look good.
Before moving on, let me just go back to the figure for PowerWater. It made $45.8m profit before taxes and dividends. It paid out $20m to the government, leaving it with $25m to reinvest in infrastructure, maintenance and programs or whatever. These are the figures reported by the Auditor-General. Given that result, how on earth can the government justify increasing prices for any electricity consumers? No matter what excuses the government comes out with - and there have been several, and all shot down when placed under scrutiny - there is no justification for price increase. On the contrary, there would appear to be room for some relief for Territorians from the high prices that we pay for electricity. However, we do not expect this from government; they are too busy concentrating on their bottom line to worry about the bottom line of ordinary Territory families and businesses who are trying to cope.
The remaining comment I would like to make on this analysis of the TAFS by the Auditor-General is his call for the government to include the measures of sustainability, flexibility and vulnerability when assessing its fiscal performance. He reports on these three measures and, generally, gives the government a tick for its efforts. While any suggestion of the Auditor-General is well worth considering, I hope that in adopting them, the government does not again change the basis for measuring fiscal outcomes. Hopefully, they will have additional measures rather than replacement measures. As the Auditor-General notes, the government has already switched measures between 2001-02 and 2002-03. The previous year was based on five elements; the year we are presently reviewing has three measures. As I said at the outset, we have had serious problems in making comparisons between one year and another during this time of change from cash-based accounts to accrual. We all need a few years of consistency so that we can make real comparisons.
Madam Speaker, I again thank the Auditor- General for his report and his efforts, particularly the way he has tried to make his report understandable to ordinary folk. However, I would conclude with the comment that, while the books and the accounts of the government must be analysed, audited and debated, they do not necessarily reveal the health of the Northern Territory economy. The government cannot and must not sit back and think it has done a good job because the bottom line is improving. That is only part of its responsibilities and, to consider increased economic activity when we see in excess of 3000 economically active Territorians depart the Territory for other places where their economic prospects would be of greater benefit in their own judgment, we will see the effect of a concentration on a bottom line which is intent to make the Treasurer and this government appear good in the face of a Northern Territory community but, in fact, it is the managing responsibility to manage the economy and not the budget that is of greater concern to all of us.
Your major task is to develop and promote development, invest in the future, and provide incentives to Territorians so that they can prosper and grow, and they have a confidence in the future. On that task, Madam Speaker, they are failing Territorians no matter what their bottom line may look like.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I thought someone from the government might speak on what the Treasurer claims is an excellent Auditor-General’s report based on his annual financial statement for year 2002-03. The Auditor-General’s report is interesting reading, and I applaud the Auditor-General and join with the Leader of the Opposition in saying that losing Mike Blake is a sad loss to the Northern Territory. He has certainly made an analysis of the performance of the government clearly understandable in the way he lays out his report. Mind you, having said that, I am sure, for all of us, we all need as much assistance as we can get with regards to analysing clearly the government’s performance.
Certainly, one looks for that in the comments that the Treasurer makes in responding to the Auditor-General’s statement. I would have to say that, in his response, I did not get the clarity that I was after.
If you turn to page 28 of the Auditor-General’s Report, if you look at the General Government Expenditure on those sectors of the Northern Territory where expenditure is highlighted - and I might add in that regard I wonder why tourism is not itemised as a separate activity; I would think tourism underpins the economy of the Northern Territory in many respects; employs a large number of Territorians and certainly deserves to be highlighted through the budgetary effort in the actual spending that is occurring in that area and its not there. But certainly, I believe that most Territorians would believe that when it comes to the Northern Territory talking about the mining industry, the construction industry, the agricultural, pastoral and horticultural industry, then behind them probably tourism and defence, these underpin the whole economic revenue base of the Northern Territory.
If one looks at the performance of the Northern Territory government as highlighted under General Government Expenditure, we see that in agriculture, forestry and fishing, expenditure has been reduced. In transport and other communications, expenditure has been reduced. In mining, manufacturing and construction, expenditure has been reduced. There is no doubt that expenditure has been improved in a range of areas, in particular, health and education which have received enormous growth - 7.8% in health and 4.1% in that year alone in education. I do not decry the importance of spending in those areas at all. But I certainly believe that when it comes to statements of growing the economic activity of the Northern Territory, supporting those business people, small and large who have come to the Northern Territory and invested in our Territory, those industries that underpin our growth need significant expenditure by government and that is not reflected in these figures.
What is reflected is the fact that the Treasurer and the Labor government continue to mislead Territorians as to the amount of money they are receiving from the Commonwealth. The Auditor-General is absolutely clear in his explanation as to the amounts of monies that come in to the Northern Territory. On page 24 and further itemised on page 27, GST-related expenditure for example, actual revenue to the Northern Territory for 2000-01 from the Commonwealth was $1.277bn and for actual 2002-03 the revenue of the Northern Territory was $1.514bn, having an enormous amount of increase in GST revenues just in that year alone.
I wonder how Labor politicians all over Australia must feel about the GST now? I know that the new Labor leader has taken opposition to the GST off the Labor agenda. But it must be a sense of joy and relief to be in government and see these amounts of money coming through from the Commonwealth and to get the flexibility of using those enormous increases in money for getting your budget line improved. Certainly from my calculations, and these come also from Commonwealth Treasury figures but I am happy to be corrected if the Treasurer disputes them, that GST revenue for 2000-01 in the Northern Territory was $1.225bn. That has improved on a yearly basis for the 2004-05 estimate now of $1.664bn. That is an increase in GST revenue over that period alone of $439m.
So, we have a Northern Territory government that, apart from its own source revenue raising capabilities, has received that sort of money, hundreds of millions of dollars from the Commonwealth and through the largesse of the GST. It is in that context that the performance of the Northern Territory government needs to be examined. On the one hand, clearly shown in the Auditor-General’s comments is the fact that the Commonwealth revenue has increased exponentially in GST payments in the Northern Territory, and also in his comments he makes the clear statement that when it comes to own source revenue, the Northern Territory government is doing as much as it can.
Page 38 of the Auditor-General’s report says that the level of taxation revenue per capita compared to target and other states and territories based on the GGS, the 2002-03 outcome was $1248 per capita for that year, which is 11% higher than the original budget of $1122 per capita and 8.5% higher than that achieved in 2001-02. That is the situation we have in the Northern Territory. We have less spending on the economic drivers in the Northern Territory in a real sense; the economic industry areas that contribute to wealth creation in the Northern Territory, less money being spent by government on them; increased GST revenue to the Northern Territory through the largesse of the GST, yet at the same we find that the per capita taxation on Territorians has increased by 11%, higher than their own budget figures.
Any wonder that commentators are calling the Northern Territory economy, at best, sluggish. No wonder that if anyone talks to any business person in the Northern Territory at the moment, their common response is that the cost of doing business is driving people out of business. The Northern Territory at the moment has lost the edge, frankly, by comparison with other states because people are not seeing the benefit of staying and doing business in the Northern Territory. They are relocating interstate for a range of reasons. Most worrying of all is that those who are leaving more and more are the ones who have been in business in the Northern Territory and have taken their business elsewhere, or they are people who are not dependent on welfare money. They are people who are economic contributors themselves who have taken the money and left as well.
It is one thing, as the Leader of the Opposition said, to pride yourself on a dry economic argument that debt is under control. God damn! Bill Hayden’s words ring in this Chamber. A drover’s dog could be a good treasurer in this economic environment with the largesse that is coming from the Commonwealth; you just sit back with the purse open and say: ‘How much are you going to give me this year?’ $439m, according to the Commonwealth figures, has been given to the Northern Territory above the bottom line that has been received in previous years, and the Treasurer says part of that is because of increased economic activity. I am yet to hear anyone from the government tell me what this increased economic activity is. Please tell us: what is all of this increased economic activity that is providing such a windfall to Northern Territory coffers? Perhaps it is stamp duty. Perhaps it is the fact that we have investors from down south who are investing in the Territory market and they are paying stamp duty. Perhaps Territorians are investing in homes. Perhaps it is Territory families trying to buy homes for their children. Perhaps that is contributing to economic activity.
I would like to know what this increased economic activity is because I believe it is the GST. It is first the GST, second the GST and third the GST. That is where the economic activity is coming from. What business is saying, what the average Territorian is saying out there is: ‘Where is the relief? Where’s the beef?’ as Mondale used to say. Where’s the beef? You have all this money coming into the NT Treasury. You are saying what a wonderful economic bottom line we have had and all we find from the Auditor-General is confirmation that this is the highest taxing government the Northern Territory has ever had.
Mr Stirling: Rubbish!
Mr BURKE: It is. It is the highest taxing government. Not only that, the Auditor-General says on page 38 it is not because of a lack of effort, either. Your lack of effort is going really well; your effort is about 100% effort; 92% outcome.
Mr Stirling: 97%. Have a look.
Mr BURKE: 97%! I am sorry! The Treasurer corrects me. The effort is 97%. I tell you if you were doing an exam you would get an A+ for effort. That is what Territorians are worried about. You have hundreds of millions of dollars coming from the GST and you are so miserly you will not pass any of it back. Not only that, you pride yourselves on the taxing effort that has seen the per capita taxation for Territorians increase under a Labor government. I believe that is an indictment in itself.
I know Territorians are looking for a good budget to show some relief, to show something that comes back to them. I am sure we will see it, but you have to make a better effort than that. As the Leader of the Opposition has said quite clearly, we have put our bona fides on the line. Put the CLP in power and this will be the lowest taxing government in Australia. I tell you what: it is something we can stand on the record. That is what you cannot do. One thing the CLP government can stand on after 27 years is a record of economic activity, a record of excitement and economic growth. All you have seen from this Labor government, the Labor politicians who opposed the GST, who said, ‘Woe is me, the GST will be terrible for all Australians’. And they are sitting there with a bag open saying, ‘Give me more’.
You had our Treasurer going to the federal Treasurer and saying, ‘I am putting a strong argument for why we should get more GST’, what a lot of garbage. I can imagine what Peter Costello is saying to you, ‘How much more do you want? I gave you $80m-odd last year, you got another $87m this year, and you want more, and the reason you are being cut is only because you have been overpaid anyway. And, by the way, Treasurer, you knew all this was coming, so look at your own budget papers, because you have actually forecast that you would lose more’.
You are running out there to tell Territorians that somehow you got a shock. You are lucky that the journalists do not do the inquisition of your own budget papers, and see that you forecast that you would lose more. You have known that you have been overpaid on the GST estimates, you would know the adjustment was going to come and, in fact, you forecast about a $40m adjustment more than you got, so you should be pretty happy with the federal Treasurer. To run lines that you sort of had a talk in the back room, ‘I am very confident that he will take that’. I bet you Peter Costello is saying, ‘Haw, haw, haw, go way, you are getting as much as you deserve’.
Mr Stirling: The member for Brennan says we have been overpaid. Small business is going to love that comment.
Mr BURKE: That would be fairly typical of Labor. You would go out there and try to run that line, what you ought to do, Treasurer, for once in your life, is tell the truth to Territorians, and then they will not question you. I have not seen too often a Treasurer come forward with a newspaper and get some inquisition from the newspaper, because they do not believe you when you walk out there and you say; ‘Oh, it is really sad but we have to increase the cost of power in the Northern Territory because of National Competition Policy requirements, and if we do not, they will penalise us’. You know it is a lie because you have already ripped $20m out of PAWC because, as the Auditor-General’s own report says: ‘Your bottom line has been improved because of the strong performance of PowerWater’. Well, if PowerWater are reporting such strong performance such that they can pay a $20m dividend to government, how come the commercial entities out there are getting hit up for more money?
Those commercial entities, as the Leader of the Opposition has pointed out, are not just the large users. You are fibbing again to Territorians if you did. For example, if the Galleria is one of your tranche 4 customers, guess who pays? Not the owner of the Galleria only. The knock down effect is to the guy who runs the coffee shop in the Galleria. That is the knock down effect. So when you walk out there and try to say to Territorians, ‘We are only hitting a few customers and they are large customers’, no wonder they do not believe you. They are sitting back there knowing that if you are a shop owner in a shopping centre, paying rent in the shopping centre at Palmerston, or you are in the Galleria, and your landlord is a tranche 4 customer, guess who is going to get the increase? So tell the truth.
The real truth is this: there is no rationale in this environment to increase the cost in power. The Auditor-General has shown that absolutely clearly. And worse than that, you must sit back and say, ‘Is this really right?’ when you watch PowerWater run full page ads in the paper, which we are all paying for - they must think they have a bit of a public relations problem out there - full page ads in the paper saying, ‘We had to do it to get a $42m subsidy from government’. No, you do not. Tell the truth. If there is a subsidy it is $20m at most. The other $20m kicks back straight into your coffers. Territorians can see that, particularly those businesses out there that are paying the money. They are the ones who can see it coming a mile off.
Your performance as a Treasurer in achieving the bottom line is undoubtedly - according to this - being achieved. It is being achieved by - according to the Auditor-General - increased revenues - predominantly increased revenues from the Commonwealth coming through from the GST - and the highest taxing environment we have ever seen in the Northern Territory. Not only that, the Labor government is doing a great job. In the Treasurer’s own words, they are achieving 97% effort. So, while they can get a dollar out of Territorians, they will go for it. I reckon that if that is national …
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: You are the greatest con merchant going! The other reason Territorians can see through you is - can you imagine the clout of the argument of the Treasurer of the Northern Territory, Syd Stirling, up against Peter Costello? ‘I am going down there and I am going to sort this bloke right out. I am going to show him that I can get the dough back for the Territory’. The first thing Costello would say is: ‘Hey, check your own budget papers, Treasurer. You are the one that forecast you would get a double dip. You get ripped off twice as much, so do not come down here bleating to me about how badly you have been done by’.
Tell Territorians the truth. Stand proudly up there and say, ‘I am achieving a great bottom line for government, Territorians, but it is coming at your expense. It is coming at your expense through the GST, and it is coming at your expense for I will rip every dollar I can out of you through my taxing effort. And do not stand around waiting with bated breath waiting for any relief because it is not coming in a hurry’.
Debate suspended.
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I thank members for their comments in relation to this report this morning. At the outset, I pass on my thanks to Mike Blake and my regret and government’s regret that he is moving on. I am advised that he has a position in Tasmania and he certainly goes with the best wishes of this government. I share the Leader of the Opposition’s view that we can only hope for an Auditor-General of the same calibre, capacity and willingness to communicate with members in a fashion to which non-accountant types like myself and, dare I say, other members in this Chamber can relate.
One of the points made in talking about the switch to accrual forms of reporting is that it was always going to be difficult to make a comparison with the previous year in that first round where we were comparing accrual with cash form, but it only happens once. It is behind us now and the 2003-04 TAFR will line up consistently with, and be comparable to, the 2002-03 report. The difference here, of course, is that 2001-02 was still under cash accounting and the move to accrual has thrown up those disparities.
It is a bit cute of the Leader of the Opposition to get into the argument and comment on debt repayment, interest payments and on the unfunded superannuation. It was successive governments of his persuasion that spiralled these debt levels to the highest in Australia. That is not to demean everything the CLP did. There was a need to build infrastructure in this place, the federal government was not providing everything, and there was a need for a certain amount of that debt. However, at the levels that it reached prior to us coming to government, it was pretty hard to justify.
There is nothing wrong with the level of debt per se. It is exactly that point – it is the level of debt that you incur and that you carry that is important. When we came to government we inherited interest payments, on a daily basis, of $500 000 a day. Of course, that amount of outgoings to service debt restricts the amount of new initiatives that government can bring to the fore. It restricts the amount of dollars and effort that government can put in to enhancing the services and functions that it provides to Territorians.
In relation to superannuation, I used to ask the question, most years in and around estimates, why superannuation for the public sector was not funded, certainly the parliamentary members superannuation scheme is funded to the last cent - not a question - but the overall public sector superannuation was not. The fact is though, while the debt figure is large, and that is with all employee entitlements, it is not just superannuation, that $1.7bn figure, that is long service leave on the books, holiday day pay accruing, all of the additional entitlements are bound up in that $1.723m figure. A big part of it is superannuation. I go to what Treasurer Reed always used to say, and we might have disagreed, but the fact is it is not due on any one day. The government does not and will never have to find on one day of the week $1.7bn. To do so would be a pretty daunting task. It will continue to be funded on an emerging basis, and we will continue to meet it in this fashion, particularly at this stage of the cycle that we are in.
We acknowledge things have been tough, certainly for the last three or four years out there. However, I suggest, if the Leader of the Opposition has not seen any signs of improvement at all, he should get out more. He was at the Mazda showroom opening last week, and he also was looking at the RX8, which is a fantastic little machine that I was interested in. I bumped into one of the Northern Territory hire car company managers, and he could not remember a January and February like he had seen this year. The first two weeks of March were a bit slow, but the forward bookings for the latter part of March, April, May, June, he has not seen anything like it.
My partner tried to ring up for a hire car - the Corvette took a sickie, Madam Speaker - and Jenny needed a hire car because she wanted to take my sister to Litchfield. She rang three companies. It was either the third or fourth company she rang before she got a hire car. That was Wednesday of last week. Now, if that does not suggest visitation of a reasonable magnitude, I do not know what does - so, strong visitation and activity. I am told that the big part of that was corporate travel into the Territory. You only need to speak to Steve at Qantas and he will tell you they are travelling 20% to 30% month to month better than last year. No doubt, the railway bringing people into the Territory is contributing to this as people take the rail up and fly back, or vice versa.
But where are these people staying when they are coming in to the Territory? Our hotel occupancy rate probably languishes around 30% generally during January, February, March. I guess the Leader of the Opposition should check out some of those occupancy rates, because I would say they are considerably higher than the normal 30% you get through the Wet Season. The $27.5m into tourism certainly will be contributing to that visitor growth over the next three years. The anecdotal evidence coming to me is that there is a lot of business and corporate travel in that first couple of months of the year rather than tourists.
The police force, which struggled as we know under our predecessors, will benefit from the $75m that we have had to thump onto the table in order to fix a run down service. Health and education, as the member for Brennan pointed out, have been boosted considerably in our first couple of years of government. Of course, we had record capital works in both 2002-03 and 2003-04, with the highest cash levels that government has ever put against them.
The Power and Water Corporation profit figure reported in the Auditor-General’s report does not take into account, of course, the $42m CSO, plus the $7m in gifted assets the government provides to the Power and Water Corporation. The question around these issues goes to how far you can justifiably ask the taxpayer to subsidise the costs of power to business as we have in this tranche 4 exercise. It is unbelievable that the Leader of the Opposition can suggest that power prices should be falling when you look at the costs of energy increasing - and increasing dramatically - since 2000. That 5.1% increase to tranche 4 customers this year does stand in stark contrast to some of the power cost increases we have seen around Australia. I point to South Australia late last year, in the order of 24% to 25%. That is a hike of some significance. The government and the taxpayer will continue to subsidise the cost of power to this group of 120, and that will cost government around $8.4m this year and next year. It will be a little less in 2006 as the next round of increases comes in but, then, every alternate year it will be the same level of subsidy.
I went before to the fact that the GST - which was mentioned by both members - did not affect revenue into the Northern Territory until 2002-03, when we are about $9m ahead of the game against what we would have received under the previous system. That figure is estimated to be $81m in 2003-04. Therefore, the all-up effect of the GST over those two financial years - and they are the only two financial years we have realised a benefit - is about $90m. For the Leader of the Opposition to suggest that he has different figures from Treasurer Peter Costello, I would be very interested; in fact. I must seek that tabled document and get it across to Treasury for a look.
The ANZ job advertisement index jumped 17% in February. It is a forward-looking indicator as opposed to ABS job statistics which look back at what has occurred. That was the highest increase in Australia. It was followed by a business survey where the Northern Territory was included for the first time, where 26% indicated they would be recruiting increased staff numbers. Again, that was the highest figure of any jurisdiction in Australia, but it was topped by New Zealand.
We are the second-lowest taxing state in Australia overall on a per capita basis and, in the area of small business, we are absolutely the lowest - and the lowest in Australia by a long way. I have previously tabled information in this House which shows the next best to us is about twice our rate of the effect on a business with a payroll of about $600 000 per year.
I want to finish on the note that I mentioned before, and that is for the member for Brennan to come in and suggest that we have been overpaid by the GST is most …
Mr Burke: I never said that and you know it.
Mr STIRLING: … is most un-Territorian - most un-Territorian …
Ms CARTER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Treasurer will not be able to find in the Hansard record any reference like that at all, and he should withdraw that inference.
Madam SPEAKER: The member for Brennan has the opportunity to speak for himself and he can do it by way of explanation of speech.
Mr STIRLING: Madam Speaker, I sincerely hope the member for Port Darwin is right because I do not want to see it. I do not want to see that recorded in Hansard where anyone else could pick it up. I tell you that that just makes my job that much more difficult when a member of this parliament suggests that we get too much money, when they well know from their last effort in government. The member for Brennan should know more than any of the others just how tough it is in the Territory.
I do thank members for their comments, and, on behalf of government and, in fact, all members of this Chamber, wish the outgoing Auditor-General the very best in Tasmania. He has served this parliament and Territorians very well, and he has served members of this parliament well. We will miss him; he goes with our best wishes. I hope that our recruitment exercise is able to turn someone up to do the job equally - not just the calibre and capacity that Mike Blake exhibited, but his ability to communicate in language that people can understand.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the March 2004 Report of the Auditor-General for the Northern Territory to the Legislative Assembly. An information session for members on this report will be conducted by the Auditor-General in the Members and Guests Lounge at 12.15pm on Thursday, 1 April 2004. I encourage all members to attend.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper, and that I have leave to continue my remarks at a later date.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
Continued from 24 February 2004.
Dr BURNS (Lands and Planning): Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak in support of Building Healthier Communities: A Framework for Health and Community Services; a way forward, I believe in the Territory over the next five to 10 years. There have been a number of reports into health over the last few years. I can remember Strategy 21 coming out under the previous government, and I believe that contained some worthwhile ideas. I particularly commend that report in the way that it tapped into the Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy, which was a product from what was then known as Territory Health Services. It provided a stepping stone if you like for viewing, particularly Aboriginal health in a very holistic way, and trying to address some of the deficits that occur in Aboriginal health. As the authors of that Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy acknowledged in their report, there needed to be much greater and broader thought given to the social context in which we try to address Aboriginal health issues. I believe that this particular Building Healthier Communities does so, along with other government initiatives, and it uses very plain, and simple but also profound language and strategies to reach those goals.
As the Minister for Health stated in his speech, there are six ways in which this framework will operate: giving kids a good start to life; strengthening families and communities; getting serious about Aboriginal health; creating better pathways to health services; filling service gaps; and tackling substance abuse. It also identifies four key areas for strengthening and reforming our health and community services system. Those four areas are: building quality health and community services; creating better ways of working together; valuing and supporting our work force; and creating a health information network.
It is not my intention today to go through each and every aspect of this framework. I would like to focus on some aspects which I think deserve highlighting. The first thing is to say that this particular strategy comes on the heels of the Bansemer report, and to a large degree complements the findings of the Bansemer Review into the operations of the Health Department. One important aspect is that it has left the purchaser/provider model behind. That was part of Strategy 21, and to be honest, I always thought it had problems within the context of the Northern Territory health sector, because really there were not all that many providers around. To my mind, the purchase/provider model in many ways created another layer, or another tier, another silo, which ever way you want to look at it, within what was then Territory Health Services. It was often very difficult to find out exactly who was doing what, and there was some confusion amongst staff about what their functions were, and exactly how the whole model fitted together.
It has been positive step to get rid of the purchaser/provider model. I do not think it was ever really going to work in the Territory, and now we need to move on.
Both the Bansemer Review and this particular strategy come in the context that this is a government that has put an extra $100m at least into our health system. I believe it is a strategic investment. That $100m does not include the extra monies for child welfare or mental health services, so it is well in excess of $100m that has been invested in our health system. Territorians hold health as a major priority and I believe we are fulfilling the wishes and ideals of Territorians.
One important aspect I commend about this report is that it tackles many of the issues head on and in plain, simple language. That is deeply appreciated. The Minister for Family and Community Services, the member for Arafura, spoke as a minister, an Aboriginal person, as an Aboriginal mother and family member. She is well qualified to make comments and those comments go a long way to addressing some of the issues and moving forward. A major recommendation of the Bansemer Review was the establishment of an Office of Aboriginal Health and it has attracted expertise from all over Australia and within the Territory. I commend that. One of the major areas identified within this strategy is work force issues. This is all inter-related: for people to have access to health professionals, we need to recruit and train those health professionals. That has always been a major issue within the Territory.
In 1995 when I worked at the Menzies School of Health Research, I undertook a consultancy for the Commonwealth government into the provision of primary health services in the Maningrida region. What I found when comparing what would be expected in services elsewhere in Australia – we are talking about a substantial community of some 2300 Aboriginal people – was that almost on every count when you looked at every sort of health professional or health provision, they were well under par. Probably not so much nurses because nurses were really covering a whole range of fields, but doctors, dentists, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, the people in that region were lucky to have any sort of a service at all, a fraction of a service per year. It is not a reflection on physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dental therapists or dentists who worked within the public system; it was just that they were stretched very thinly.
Basically, it is very important that we highlight recruitment of health professionals and their retention. Accommodation for professionals, particularly those living in remote areas, has been high on the priority list of this government and is a very important aspect. That is something I found in the study that I did at Maningrida. I am sure it exists beyond there. Lack of accommodation really constrains the growth and provision of health services in remote areas. There are issues of access, recruitment and retention of health workers.
One important aspect is that this government has established a position known as Nurse Practitioner. Those of us who have worked in these areas over time know the fantastic and sometimes unrecognised job that nurses in the Territory do. Many of them have had to fill the role of doctor and have taken instructions over the telephone, diagnosed, prescribed and administered. All praise to them. There is recognition from government of their particular role.
A very important part of our health system is Aboriginal health workers. Dr Didi Devanesen was someone who really pioneered this area of Aboriginal health workers. It is something that is unique to the Territory. We must continue to invest in and support the scheme. I know a number of Aboriginal health workers. It is a very difficult area for people to work in, they come under all sorts of pressure, and they get all sorts of blame if things go wrong. I know many of them feel constrained by the fact that to some degree they are working in clinics and many of them would like to have outreach services to elderly people, to diabetics, to maternal and child care aspects of their community’s life. We need to continue working on this, and this is something that has been recognised within this framework.
Going back to nurses and other health professionals, this government is intent on funding child health practitioners, to underscore that first aim of this strategy, giving children a good start in life. Health, at that critical level early in life, is very important to kids. The Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy underlines that. It is very important that children, both before they are born and in the first years of life, get a very good start in life, in health, in education and in a whole range of ways. I believe this particular strategy supports that very important cornerstone of health.
Another area that this government has been very keen to support is in the area of mental health. Members would be aware that an extra $12.7m over three years has been provided for that. Mental health services, over time, have fallen by the wayside. Particularly in remote areas, there has not been a proper recognition of mental health needs. I know that Aboriginal societies always looked after people who may have had mental health problems in times past, but the pressures on communities have exacerbated mental health concerns and also drug abuse, particularly cannabis use. It is very important that mental health is recognised within this strategy and framework and I support that.
Child protection is an area that this government has taken very seriously. Tens of millions of dollars, I believe it is somewhere between $40m to $50m, have been invested over three years. That is in increased investment in staff and resources, and an increase of 8% in resources for foster carers. There has been an increase in funding for children in care, and advocacy for children who may be disadvantaged or require child protection. Also, significantly, an increase in the number of indigenous staff working in this particular area of child protection.
Renal dialysis is a very important issue. We know the terrible facts and figures about renal disease amongst Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Two of the aims of this particular strategy are to create better pathways to health services, and filling service gaps. All of that is about bringing health services closer to where people live. Renal dialysis illustrates that and, unfortunately, I know a number of people, some of them very young Aboriginal people who do have renal disease and some of them have been able to access renal dialysis in their home communities; others are still waiting.
There is one particular family, and I know they will not mind me speaking about them. This is a friend of mine from Maningrida, Mr Charlie Yirrawala and his wife. His wife has renal disease. They are currently living in Rapid Creek and there is incredible disruption to the family. Charlie has, at various times, been president of the Maningrida Council and someone who has really served his community and is respected in that community. They have had to uproot and come to Darwin and it has meant all kinds of stress for the family. As an aside, Charlie, as a way of trying to amuse himself or be productive, has been making bamboo fish wires. I have been helping him with that. They are for sale, so if any member wants an original bamboo fish wire, they can come and see me and I will place an order with Charlie. They are a work of art, although I have not had a chance to test mine yet. It is a very well-made spear that he has made.
The report has flagged that Maningrida will be getting renal dialysis services in the near future. I am sure Charlie and his family will applaud that. They will be able to go back home and Charlie will - well, I know he is using his fish wires around Darwin, but there is nothing better for him than to go back to his home country and use those spears that he has been making.
Dental health is a very important issue. Sometimes we underestimate the importance of dental health on general health. There is a body of evidence to show, very conclusively, that dental health is very important for people’s health. It has been a battle for many years, because there have been some very dedicated dentists in the public health system over many years - and most people would know Graham Buchanan who travelled the length and breadth of the Territory. I believe Graham is now retired. I have been to various places and Graham has been making dentures. He used to work all day with people in the chair, and having outreach and treating people, and then he would come home and, when everyone else was winding down, you would see Graham there with a jar of hot water fashioning dentures; a very dedicated dentist.
However, it has always been a challenge to get dentists and dental services out in the bush. As people know, there are some reforms coming up in the sittings of this parliament about allied health professionals. I do not want to pre-empt debate, but I believe that will open up more avenues for dental therapists to legally provide dental services to people in the bush. It is very important and I commend it.
I would also remark that my understanding is that there are new dental health clinics being built in Darwin and Palmerston. Therefore, I was at a bit of a loss to pick up on what the member for Port Darwin was saying about this government not being committed to dental health services in the Northern Territory. The member for Port Darwin might do better to listen to what a whole lot of people are saying about what the federal government is not doing in dental health, and access to public dentists by the Commonwealth. There are many pensioners who are very angry. Some of them have spoken to me, and are very concerned about it. If the federal Coalition is serious about dental health services, they need to start investing some serious money into it.
One very important area flagged by this particular strategy is drug abuse and alcohol and other drugs. As a government, I believe that we have done a lot more than the previous government ever did about treatment of drug abuse …
Mr Burke: Garbage!
Dr BURNS: … and providing pharmacotherapies …
Mr Burke: Oh, I thought you were talking about dental.
Dr BURNS: … which is something which I believe the previous government was ideologically opposed to. They watched the problem with illicit morphine just absolutely get out of control and mushroom. The member for Brennan can huff and puff, but he was Health minister during some of this time. I can see the member for Katherine looking at me quizzically …
Mr Burke: You used to sit in my office with a big smile and grin on your face saying how good we were.
Dr BURNS: I never said anything about morphine.
Mr Burke: You did so; you used to come up regularly and have a drink. What is wrong with you?
Dr BURNS: Well, I had discussions with you about kava, but let us talk about morphine - all the illicit morphine. It took the HIC, the Commonwealth body, to come up here to put the finger on his government to try to control what was out of control: illicit morphine use and diversion of prescription morphine onto the streets of Darwin.
I have said in this parliament here before and I am willing to furnish it to any member, I calculate it had to be worth, at various times at its peak, between $10m to $15m a year. With one of these 100 mg morphine tablets being sold for $50 to $100, pensioners or other people with prescriptions would go and, basically, get a card of 20 of these things and on-sell the rest of them. It was a well-known practice and it was absolutely shameful. It drew some comment in an article in the Medical Journal of Australia. If any member wants my file on it, I am more than willing to share it with them.
However, at the same time, the previous government was ideologically opposed to any therapy for anyone who had a drug addiction. They said that they would put them on a one-way bus out of the Territory. In contrast, what actually happened through their policy was that there was a whole lot of people whom I believe were attracted into the Territory because of the ready access to morphine. There was an article in the Australian New Zealand Journal of Public Health which actually showed that.
We have also set up drug courts and that is a way forward. Many of these people who do have a drug problem are also perpetrators of crime. Part of the success of our push against property crime in Darwin is the fact that we have been very successful in eliminating drug houses and cracking down hard on drugs. We have also had initiatives regarding itinerancy. We have a long way to go with that. I am not saying that problem is solved but we are putting resources in there and attention in there and I think it is bearing some fruit.
Smoking and tobacco use: we had the guts to bring in tobacco legislation to bring us in line with the rest of Australia, particularly in relation to passive smoking issues. I also commend my colleague, the member for Arnhem, with his Stronger Regions program. Building capacity into Aboriginal communities and councils is a very important platform for health.
In short, Madam Speaker, I support this strategy. I think it is going to work and we all should support it.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I rise today to give my support to Building Healthier Communities – A Five Year Framework for Health and Community Services. This is a very innovative, and very bold strategy. It is one that recognises the health outcomes and the health needs of the Territory. It is one that looks not only at the health issues but also at the whole of the community wellbeing and what that means to the community to get along into a healthier lifestyle.
The framework, as it is being rolled out, is not one quick hit. It recognises that we did not get to this place through just five years, 10 years of inappropriate funding levels. Because that is what it is about. It is not about neglect. The health system has always had good quality service providers within it. I am not for one minute saying that the state that we have seen our health services in in the Territory is because of any inept or inappropriate behaviours by those who have been working in it. The simple fact is that the magnitude of the health issues that confront our community, it was not the funding levels provided, the resources provided to the health budget.
That is for many reasons. I am not saying for one moment that all times that was a concerted policy by the previous governments. The fact is that health can eat up a lot of dollars and you have to cut up the cake as best you can for the whole of the community. However, I believe the Minister for Health and the Minister for Family and Community Services have had a good look at how it is cut up and said it can be done up a lot better, it can be done up a lot more equitably, and with that in mind they have gone about creating this rather innovative framework.
To get there they have had a look at the Building Healthier Communities, and they have identified six areas that this government will tackle over the span of the framework which is 2004-09. It talks about giving kids a good start in life and strengthening families and communities. This framework is holistic in its approach to community. This framework does not just look at hospitals or at clinics. It looks at the whole lifestyle. When they talk about healthier families it is not just getting mum or dad and a nipper off to the GP for a dose of syrup or anything. It is talking about supporting the family through troubled times. It is talking about getting the kids off to Auskick. It is talking about looking at the dysfunctionality that is sometimes prevalent in our families and in our society and addressing those causes.
The framework goes to looking at treating the entire family and this is a great change from our government to previous governments. Of course you cannot get away, neither would we want to get away, from the serious issues in Aboriginal health. This policy looks directly at that. This framework looks directly at that and targets it more appropriately with a greater strategic view, with looking not only the immediate presenting of the individual for health interventions but looking at the community and what we can do in the form of preventative health. My colleague, the member for Johnston, was talking about renal dialysis out on the communities and what a great benefit it will be. That is tremendous. Prior to coming to government, who could forget the infamous Lateline interview when the previous Minister for Health was interviewed about no renal dialysis in Tennant Creek? That was a sorry interview and did not stand the Territory in good stead, but it highlighted the differences between the previous government and our government’s attitude to the need for such health interventions in our more regional and remote localities.
It is good to see in this framework that the government is looking at treating the hospital network as one. This is innovative. Instead of looking at five different centres and five different establishments and having it structured around that funder/purchaser/provider model, which, is a very hard model to work with. It was very complex and challenging to a lot of people who did not fully understand it. It did not work. It was trialled, and full points to the government of the day for having a go at it, but it did not work. The comprehensive review that was carried out from Bansemer resolved that there is a better way of doing it by grouping these hospitals together under programs and sharing the intellectual and physical resources and making sure that we can cover health needs. We are a small population base over a large area and the ways of doing things in other jurisdictions, such as where the provider models originated, do not work here. It is time that we created our own model, and that is what we have done.
We did not import southern models and impose them on our hospitals. We are saying that we have Territory health to deal with; let us group it all together and look at using our resources the best way. As the minister said, you now have specialists at RDH looking at issues in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. If you have a specialist in Katherine whose skills and knowledge can be used at RDH, we can get them there. We have the communications infrastructure to do it and we are using it. That is a great innovation that this framework facilitates.
The framework details working more closely with different community organisations around the place. ‘Networking’ is the term that the Minister for Health used. He saw this as a major benefit flowing from the program models that we are bringing into the NT-wide network. Through networking, we are hoping to be able to get into more clinical collaboration, sharing the expertise, getting our leadership across the hospital network. We want to be able to work more with non-government organisations. We are doing that by bringing in better standards. One of the main benefits of this program is the ability to set and monitor standards of care across all regions. It will give us a chance to work with NGOs and the Divisions of General Practice.
In the Territory we talk about different communities and the networks set up to support those. There is a network that does not get much of a run in the papers, is under-acknowledged in the community, and that is the Divisions of General Practice. We have about three here in the Territory: the state division, the Top End Division; and a Central Division of General Practice. These divisions are there to support GPs and their practices. This is an unsung area of our health network. These organisations do a wonderful job. They are run by a board and cover such things as coordination and education development in the practice; coordinating pharmacy programs; immunisation, which is a big one, a preventative area that can be done through a general practice, which is great because the more we can have early intervention, the cheaper they are. They handle mental health programs and they even provide IT support to practices. They also advocate and set standards for GPs. We want to work with such groups, and that is identified in this framework
I have nothing but praise for the Top End Division. They have a newsletter and I am reading here from the March 2004 newsletter, dealing with the new Medicare package which has just been announced. It reads:
For those who are not too sure what RRMA is, it is the Rural Remote Metropolitan Areas classification. This is handed out by the federal government:
The concession, by the way, is the bulk billing. The bulk billing incentive increased by 50% for regional, rural and remote Australia, and all of Tasmania. GPs in regional, rural and remote Australia and all of Tasmania who bulk bill concession card holders and children under 16 will benefit from a 50% increase in the bulk billing incentive payment from $5 to $7.50. We received $10, thanks to the hard lobbying of the Top End Division. All of Tasmania and some areas of South Australia got it. That is Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, Penguin, you name it, they got it. Not us in the Territory. And why did Tasmania get it? Because they had a hard working, knew how to negotiate, independent and, I dare say, it was Senator Harradine who helped get it through the Senate.
We have had the CLP here today talking about the good office of the federal Treasurer, Mr Costello, and what a good bloke he is giving us all this GST revenue. We have members of the so-called independent Territory party, the CLP, independents arguably as much as Harradine, arguably as much as Megs, down there in Canberra, who should be in there fighting for the Territory. We really need this. We have very little bulk billing going on in the Territory. We need this incentive. But where were our independent CLP senators and members of the House of Representatives? They were sitting on their hands and going with the Liberal/National Party coalition. They did not stand up. They should have been in there with the independent senators, fighting the fight and making sure we got it. If ever there was a jurisdiction which had a far stronger case than anywhere else, it is the Territory. To say that our need is not equal to, or less than that of Hobart or Launceston, is right off the map.
I believe the CLP party wing and the CLP administrative committee should get their members in from Canberra and say to them, ‘You are independent, why did you not get us this?’ They were quick to do it to ex-Senator Tambling, they were quick to get into him and look what happened, but that was over a gambling issue. A man who stood on moral principles and they did him over. Here we are just asking for the CLP, who are independents in Canberra, so they tell us, to get in there and try to get a fair deal for Territorians.
It stinks, Madam Speaker. I will be writing to many people. I will be letting them know that we have been done over on this Medicare benefit, because bulk billing is something we need. What they have done to us on this is deplorable, and they should be punished and it should be known far and wide. I do not find any excuse whatsoever for that sort of mismanagement and shabby treatment of the people of the Territory.
I had the pleasure of working in the Department of Health for a short time in different areas. They have a dedicated work force, particularly in the nursing stream. I was very pleased to hear today the statement by the minister about the increases, through the EBA, for nurses. They are a hard-working work force. We have problems with recruitment and retention, but you have to look at why they come to Territory. We do recruit a lot but in a certain demographic of the nursing work force there is high mobility. You only have to pick up the Australian Nursing Journal and look in the back five pages to see companies are touting for nurses in Saudi Arabia, in London, and in America. This is the pool we are contesting to bring nurses to the Territory. We successfully get them here because we have things to offer nurses that are not available elsewhere. We have a challenging environment for them work in.
I had the pleasure of living on a community for 12 months where my wife was a practicing nurse. I saw first-hand the work they do. It is very rewarding work, and you will not find a more dedicated set of staff than you would possibly find in the community clinics. However, they should be - and they are now being - properly remunerated. This is a great working partnership with nurses and government to see that they are remunerated to where they are, at this stage, one of the highest remunerated nursing areas in Australia.
I commend the minister and the government. I also praise the union for working collaboratively to get this offer on the table, to make sure that, over three years, that they are right up to steam with a good, strong pay case which reflects their commitment, and which will also act as a great magnet to bringing and retaining more staff in the Territory in the future years. Pay is only one component of why nurses work in the Territory. The others are job satisfaction and working conditions. We are looking at improving the conditions across the board. This is marvellous and something we should always constantly look to strive to do our best. Nurses are not just driven by pay alone. We have to keep on working, concentrating and looking at professional development, and we have to, most sincerely, look at work force relations - relationships between the management and the nurses.
I believe they would be one of the largest skilled bodies in the work force, perhaps slightly behind teachers, if not on par. These are all university graduates, people who are looking for challenges in their working career and who are looking for paths. I believe this government, through this strategy, is on line for doing just that.
I only have a few minutes left, so I will wind up. On the back page of Building Healthier Communities, there is a little list. It says there of our government:
That is an extra $100m:
One that I am particularly proud of. Talking about spin-offs for the community, we have:
Madam Speaker, if you go along Mitchell Street, you will see the great benefits of the Tobacco Control Act. Never before did we have a caf set and alfresco dining area in Darwin. It was never there, this act came in, and bang! It starting working.
Ms Carter: Oh, spare me! You are not seriously suggesting that there were no outdoor eateries until that act came in!
Mr KIELY: The member for Port Darwin may correct me, but I do not think that, let’s see Shenanigans, I don’t think all the cafes along Mitchell Street, I don’t think there were any along Mitchell Street …
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: Madam Speaker, something else I am proud of is that this Martin government has committed an extra $13m over the next three years to improve mental health services, meaning more staff and better services. This is definitely an area that for one reason or another was neglected by the previous government.
Building Healthier Communities is our framework for building on any successes. I am pleased, proud, and on behalf of the constituents of Sanderson, we are pleased and proud of the work for this government is doing to improve health system. Once again, I commend all those who have worked over these many years, under very trying conditions, and I hope that we can provide, not only a better health service, but a better place to work in the future.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, I commend every member who has contributed to this debate over the two sittings; some of greater qualities than others I have to say. However, it is good to see health taken seriously in this Chamber, and for people to be very keen to put points of view forward. That is really what the business of this House is.
I have seen this little book in some huge range of places around the Territory; I will go through a few of them - Nyirripi Clinic; the Arunga Health Service in Ambladawatj; the Urapunga health service in Utopia; Gunbalanya Clinic; Ntaria Clinic; Kalkarindji Clinic; Laramba Clinic; Yuendumu Clinic. I have seen it in many working units in Alice Springs Hospital; I have seen it in many working units of the Darwin Hospital, and Tennant Creek Hospital. I have seen it and discussed it with people at Anyinginyi Congress in Tennant Creek, the Central Australia Aboriginal Congress, and Palmerston Community Health Clinic, just to name a few places in the last 10 weeks that we have visited.
It has come at the right time to present a document of this kind, which is a compilation of the government’s priorities with people, to flesh out and then implement. That last point is that this is not a plan, it is not the fully worked, ‘We know what’s good for you document’. It is, essentially, a collecting point around which people can express their opinions whether they belong to a non-government organisation, whether they belong to health agency itself, whether belong to community groups, or just simply plain, old community members who have an interest in health, no matter how narrow or broad that might be.
This is a document to support a dialogue, a discourse on health for the next five years. We are taking that very seriously. As we speak we are rolling out planning sessions with both agency personnel and NGOs to seek their views on how best to move forward on these types of priorities. We did not want to have all the detail in here, and I think it has worked very well. It is a document that does not drive people away. It is a document in plain English. It is sticking to crucial, critical issues that we need to deal with if we are going to move health along.
There are only 10 elements in this framework, and we believe that the mix of elements that we put into the framework is going to give everyone a platform to contribute their particular issues. We welcome the partnerships that come out of that as we work forward.
When you go around, particularly going to all the different working units of the health system, you can see that often it is the little, niggly issues that attack the morale of staff. I have to say that I am not seeing bad morale generally around the system. In fact, I am seeing some people that are really rollicking along and feeling very proud of what they are doing. I will give you some examples. At the Nyirripi Clinic, there was no nurse when I went there. There is a nurse now, but the Senior Health Worker was carrying the clinic program and he was very, very proud of what he was doing. The community was very supportive of him. While that is not an ideal situation, and even having only one RN there is not ideal, there is no doubt that the service was being maintained to the general satisfaction of the community and the health worker was very proud to do the work that he was doing.
At Ambladawatj, the health service had collapsed. It is a Commonwealth funded health service but because of the security issue in the community, all the health staff had gone. That is all back together now. We have sorted that out through justice processes, and that demonstrates that different agencies within the NT government have to work together to sort out these very challenging issues that we have around the Territory.
Urapunga had just installed x-ray equipment and ultrasound facilities at the clinic at Utopia. That has cut down the enormous number of patient transfers into Alice Springs and back again. At Gunbalanya, they had just achieved national accreditation for their clinic programs and facilities - a fantastic effort in a very old building out at Gunbalanya. The staff got their protocols together, the work spaces up to scratch and they achieved accreditation.
At Ntaria, I have never seen so many Aboriginal health workers not only there, but working full-on on every sort of program that the community needed. Again, there was an enormous amount of pride on the part of the nursing staff and the doctors for that achievement.
Kalkarindji had a terrible old clinic. It was flooded during the Kalkarindji floods four or five years ago. It was under water, and the building shows it. It was a pre-fabricated building to start with and, even though it has been refurbished to some degree, it has to be replaced and we are going to move to do that. Laramba is a one-nurse clinic, which enjoys an enormously strong community. It is probably one of the few places where a one-nurse station is a secure place to be. Yuendumu has a new clinic on the way. We met with health workers and nurses and that clinic is going really well, judging by what I saw.
At the Palmerston Community Health Centre we saw RNs carrying the front line of delivery of our health services to Palmerston. It has been not only accredited nationally but singled out as one of the finest examples of a community health centre in Australia. The consultant who came to assess the centre returned to personally present them with their accreditation certificate. I am very proud of that.
We hear a lot of doom and gloom about health in the Northern Territory, but this is what is going on out there: high quality work, a lot of pride in work that is being done, a lot of initiative and a lot of innovation.
I have been to three of our hospitals - Alice Springs, Darwin and Tennant Creek - and I have made the House aware of some of the remaining problem areas in our hospitals. There is plenty of work to be done into the future, but let us not forget places like the emergency department of Darwin hospital. I was there about an hour ago and it is not only brilliantly equipped, but it has a staff that is well trained and adequate to the task they are performing. It would be in the top 10 EDs in Australia. We have work to do in other hospitals, particularly Alice Springs, in that area. We need to develop ED, intensive care and high dependency into a stronger and more sustainable service. We know that and we will be working on it.
Tennant Creek is looking at achieving national accreditation and completing the pack of cards. That will mean every one of our public hospitals will be at the level of national accreditation. That will be a huge achievement for the Territory, and a great reassurance to the people of the Northern Territory that their hospitals are up to scratch by national standards. I have spoken to Aboriginal health services beyond the two clinics at Utopia and Amaroo. Anyinginyi Congress and the Central Australian Congress are very supportive of what we are doing in health. I believe we will find on things like the primary health care rollout that we can work very closely with the congresses and get a lot further than we would get under our own steam.
That is a quick tour, following our document around, that the Minister for Family and Community Services and I immediately moved to work on when we found ourselves in the portfolio. It has now presented a vision, a way forward, for our health professionals, no matter what context they are working in, and at a time they absolutely needed that. There had been a lot of upheaval, I guess it would be fair to say, with the Bansemer Report implementation, and it is fair to say that our predecessor, the member for Nightcliff, had the tough stint in the portfolio doing some of that major surgery that had to be done on our agency, and I pay tribute to that early work. We have the fun part, that is to go out there and really start to direct the reform programs, but we are doing it from a solid base that is not wildly out of control in the way that we inherited it. That is a tribute to both the Bansemer Report and our predecessor in the work that she did as minister.
I will quickly deal with some of the issues that were brought up during debate. Member for Port Darwin, we have not cut bed numbers as a savings strategy or for any other strategy. We have simply adopted what the whole of this country does in its large public hospitals, and that is to run as close to full occupancy as possible to minimise costs and maximise the spread of services offered to the public. It means, obviously, that if you get an outbreak of a particular illness like Rotavirus in kids, or some episode that has caused an unusual amount of injuries, like a big football match in town, it can occasionally fill the hospital capacity. Management practices all around the world, and certainly all around Australia, is that you manage your flow of patients through the beds, you have flexible arrangements to source extra beds, as we have with the private hospital, and you have better discharge planning rather than simply put more beds into the system, which will sit as a cost enveloping additional capacity that you really should not need if you are going to manage up to best practice. Of course, you can add new ambulatory care and chronic disease management to that mix of management that has to be applied in hospitals in this day and age.
The comments about the actual document, I have pointed out that this is not meant to have all the meat on the bones; it is meant to be a framework, as the name suggests. It is meant to invite a collaborative planning process with our own public servants within the agency, with NGOs and the general community so that we can work together to find the appropriate mix of resources and operational arrangements in each of the priority areas that are in the framework. I look forward to that process over the ensuing years, and I believe that we have a very good starting point to launch into that. The member for Port Darwin needs to realise that this is a framework; it is not a fully-worked plan.
We have dealt with the issue of the 75 nurses this morning, and I will not labour the point on that. However, I can certainly repeat my assertion that this government will deliver fully on that promise within this term of government as indicated. We believe we are on track to do that, and I am answerable to this House on the achievement of it.
There was some discussion about the Loan Report and the further recommendations in Bansemer about our oral health services, particularly to the schools. We will be moving to make a start on implementing an upgrade of school dental services, and I will be delighted to report to the House once Cabinet has finished its work on those issues. The new dental officers enterprise bargaining agreement has also provided us with a powerful new way to attract the dentists we need into our system. That should alleviate some of the waiting times for surgery and other dental procedures that are currently in the system.
We look at the assertions by the member for Drysdale - busy as always, trying to muddy the waters. He was claiming that we had a funding and resources move away from the community sector to the acute sector. There is no doubt that there was a major blow-out in the acute sector that was inherited at the time the Bansemer Report was done. In fact, the expenditure in our hospitals was threatening to swallow up all sorts of areas around it. That was the whole problem that was dealt with through the Bansemer recommendation. As a first step in this process, we now have a fence line between community health services, and their resourcing, and the hospital acute sector which will prevent one budget borrowing from another. That will stabilise the situation. We will then, under the five-year framework, be moving to incrementally build community health service delivery up, particularly to remote health and indigenous health. We are not promising that is all going to appear overnight. What we are saying is that we now have a stable situation where we can start to build the community services up from the point at which we inherited them.
The member for Araluen was worried about the breast screen services in Alice Springs. I can report to the member that the number of women screened in 2003 exceeded the previous two years. There were 1049 screened in 2003, 966 in 2002, and 1009 in 2001. All tenders for the screening and assessment components of Breast Screen NT Service were declined. Tenderers were advised on 8 March alternative options and models are now being explored for an NT-wide service. For the first screening block in 2004, 429 letters were sent to women to repeat screening that had been done two years ago. In addition, a public campaign has been undertaken publicising the screening block in Alice Springs, together with current information on the breast screen service. I believe the first block was done on 15 March. Do not quote me on that, but I am pretty sure I read that earlier on in the week. The next screening block proposed will be later this year. Reminder letters will be sent to women who are due to be screened and a publicity campaign will be undertaken to advise the public in Central Australia. I am more than happy to give that material to you and your electorate office. If you want to help us to get the word around, that would be great.
The Women’s Information Centre was another issue raised by the member. We are committed to keeping it open. The service is going to be reviewed to see what mix of information and activities it is currently doing; but it is a re-missioning of it rather than a cancellation of it. We will consult with both community governments and local governments on where we are going to take that.
They are the main points I would like to make. I certainly welcomed some of the comments from the member for Port Darwin in support of the statement. From Hansard:
I congratulate the new minister on this statement.
This is to my colleague and I am very pleased to see her work acknowledge early in our mutual careers in this portfolio.
We are widening our range of responses in family and community services. We put quite clearly more resources and fairly quickly, and in fact that had already happened under the previous minister, to build up areas like mental health and child protection. We will continue to do that. We will continue to focus on those issues, not only from the point of view of health, but in my dual portfolio I will be looking very closely at further things that we can do under the law and under the process of the justice system to support what is done through the FACS part of the agency.
I again thank the members for their contributions. It has been a worthwhile debate and we have some fresh ideas on where to go with this. I move that the statement be noted, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Continued from 27 February 2003.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Mr Deputy Speaker, I have been with the committee since its inception. From the outset, I would like to record my admiration for the initial chair, the member for Arafura, for the skill with which she handled the job. I welcome the new chair, the member for Nightcliff, to her role, and I wish her all the best with it. In addition, I would also like to place on the record my thanks to the staff of the Legislative Assembly, particularly Pat Hancock and Liz McFarlane, for the great work that they have done in supporting members of this committee .
I have, however, been a little bit disappointed at the length of time that this interim report has sat on the Notice Paper; it has been over 12 months now. What we see in this sittings is that it has almost been overtaken by the arrival of the Alcohol Framework interim report, hence the need for it to be debated today.
I sought nomination to this committee because of my long standing interest in, and concern for, the issues pertaining to substance abuse in the Territory. The Northern Territory has a long and sad history of substance abuse. Factors which contribute to this legacy include our relatively young population; a social culture which generally condones substance abuse in its many forms; the ready availability of the substances in question; the fact that many people enjoy using substances; and, in certain situations, poverty, isolation and boredom.
The issue of substance abuse in the Northern Territory is complex. Years ago when I was studying for a qualification in health promotion, I completed a unit called Addiction Studies. I recall reading very early in the set readings that anthropologists have found that all societies in the world use at least one substance to alter their experience of reality. Why? Because people like to do it. The problem comes when people cannot control the use of the substance and the substance instead controls them. After completing studies in health promotion I gained a position in Darwin in the area working to help reduce the harmful effects of tobacco smoking on individuals and the community. During this time I gained a better understanding of how vital it is for the person who partakes in substance abuse to want to change the behaviour to reduced or stop the use of the drug. How important it is for the individual to make a decision to stop using a drug.
I do not differentiate between substances and how they need to be dealt with. I do not consider one worse than the other. All drugs, including legal drugs, can be and are harmful when consumed in a dangerous manner. In order for a person to quit using a substance in a harmful manner they need to: (1) recognise that they are consuming the drug at a level which is harmful; (2) genuinely want to reduce or cease using; (3) learn what steps they can take to reduce or cease use; (4) take action to reduce or cease use of the drug; and (5) if they fail, to learn from their experience so they increase their chance of success the next time they try. These are the steps regardless of the drug be it tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, kava, petrol, morphine, etcetera.
No one would claim that quitting substance abuse is easy. Usually, the person is physically addicted to the substance. That is, when they do not use the substance they feel mentally and physically unwell. They suffer symptoms of withdrawal when they quit. In addition, the social setting in which a person uses the substance could put a lot of pressure on them to keep using it. For example, if all their friends use a particular substance, for example, petrol, if they decide to stop, they risk losing their friends. In addition, their friends may exert pressure on them to resume using and rejoin the group. It is very hard to quit a drug if all those around you continue to use it and, at the same time, you are craving for it.
Since the work of the committee commenced, we have travelled throughout the Territory listening to people talk about the substance abuse problems in their communities, and that includes urban centres. Generally, what has been painted for the committee is a picture of despair. From the alarming number of suicides on the Tiwi Islands to petrol sniffing in the Centre, substance abuse appears to be getting worse. When we visited the Tiwi Islands, I met up with a friend who lives there. She told me how a couple of weeks earlier, the church bell had begun to ring furiously. She and a few friends went to investigate and found someone hanging, dead, on the rope. This event has deeply affected my friend.
I was in Central Australia on another trip and the committee had been inside a community meeting room listening to stories about the petrol sniffing problem. When we finished, I went outside and there was a boy, no more than 10, sitting near our cars sniffing petrol from a bottle. He smiled broadly at me and waved and ran away.
Although the committee’s study, consultations and deliberations are far from over, I make the following comments - they are my current opinions and I may well change them over time. Of particular concern are the cannabis users who now use a strong form of cannabis in bucket bongs. The committee had to have bucket bongs explained to us. I have recently had that explanation confirmed in a movie titled He Died with a Felafel in His Hand. For those innocent of the bucket bong process, I suggest you check out this movie. The end result of using a bucket bong is that the person smoking the cannabis gets a super hit of cannabis smoke from the bucket bong when they inhale. It is literally injected into their lungs. I would expect that compared to a joint of cannabis leaf mixed with tobacco, which was the form of cannabis many of Australia’s over 40s would recall, a bucket bong would just about blow the user’s head off, so to speak. Half a dozen of those a day and you would useless.
The committee has been told that this is the preferred form of cannabis use on many of the Aboriginal communities, particularly in the Top End. The result has been horrific, with parents and other family members being harassed for money for the drug. It has been argued that cannabis use has a major part to play in suicides in the area. Dealers from the urban centres and from interstate are targeting remote communities when they know the money is around, such as on pension and royalty days. Dealers are selling cannabis at exorbitant prices and we were shown tiny little bags of cannabis which were selling on communities for up to $150. Everyone in the community has suffered as a result of this drug use.
As I have already mentioned, petrol sniffing is another problem the committee has encountered. We have been told the problem comes and goes, depending on the trend in a particular area. Groups of young people take up the drug, arguably because it is available to them, as opposed to alcohol, which is restricted until they are 18. The user hallucinates and avoids reality while under the influence of petrol. They can suffer terrible mental and physical health problems, and their community can be terrorised by their actions.
However, despite the problems caused by these drugs, alcohol is still by far the biggest substance abuse problem in the Northern Territory. From the violence witnessed in almost all Northern Territory centres to the neuropathy and brain damage suffered by long term users, the Northern Territory continues to suffer from alcohol poisoning. I am not going to use the limited time I have to catalogue the problem. We all know it too well. The causes are multiple. In the general urban setting, the problem is not helped by the huge number of liquor outlets. Every supermarket and corner shop has to be able to sell alcohol in order to survive, or so we are told, and yet we in the urban setting are the first to complain bitterly when the footpaths and parks are full of drunks. To my mind, the government needs to review the placement of licences, with a view to offering to buy back in those places where the community does not want them. This would be a voluntary process. Current licensees would not be forced to participate if they considered the offer inadequate. It is a fact, established by research, and I am sure the ministers for Health and Community Services would agree with me, that if the supply of or access to a drug can be reduced, then consumption is reduced.
On Aboriginal communities, the biggest problem appears to be a lack of hope. The people know the wealth and services of the developed world are passing them by. Why? Because their involvement in economic activity is minimal. When we went to the Tiwi Islands, I asked one person at a hearing why the locals were not keen to work for the company looking after the timber forests, why they would not plant, prune and harvest wood. We were told that people did not want to work there because they had to travel to work for half an hour from town and that, by the time work finished, and they travelled back, the club would have already been opened for an hour. When we were in Jabiru, I asked a person from Gunbalanya if there was any chance of an upmarket ecotourist lodge, targeting rich tourists and located in the wonderful lagoon at Gunbalanya with the escarpment in the background, being developed. I was told, ‘No, no way. The Northern Land Council says no tourists in Arnhem Land’.
It does not matter what race a person is or where they live. Nowadays, if you want to enjoy the benefits of having a job, and those benefits are more than money - they also include self-esteem, having a purpose, contributing to the wellbeing of the community - you have to develop personal skills which you can sell to an employer. You have to behave in a manner which would make an employer want to keep employing you, and you have to live in a community which has chosen to exploit its resources, often its natural resources, to foster enterprises which employ people.
Substance abuse, no matter where it is happening and who is doing it, is a major problem in the Northern Territory. In many cases, it is a symptom of the factors impacting on the person. Those factors, such as hopelessness, poverty and boredom, often caused by unemployment, must be addressed in the medium to long term. In the short term, the effects of substance abuse, such as physical and mental illness, violence, littering and intimidation, must also be addressed.
The committee has heard of some programs which are addressing substance abuse problems successfully. In addition, I know many Aboriginal leaders are working with their people to progress the involvement in the economy. There is some hope. I look forward to working with the substance abuse committee as we continue our work examining the situation and, eventually, formulating recommendations which we hope the government will adopt to help address this serious problem in the Northern Territory.
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of students from Katherine South Primary School and their teacher. On behalf of members, I welcome them to the House.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I will also contribute to the interim report of the committee to date on issues of alcohol abuse, cannabis abuse and inhalant abuse. I also echo the member for Port Darwin’s thanks to the previous chair, the member for Arafura, and also to the member for Johnston, whose place I took when he entered Cabinet. Unlike most of the members of the committee – because it is a very solid committee – I have only been there for a little over 12 months. There was a lot of work undertaken before I joined the committee. However, I have seen the secretariat in action and also echo the member for Port Darwin’s thanks and praise for the effort and the expertise that Ms Pat Hancock and Ms Liz McFarlane bring to the job. Without their support, I do not think we could progress the way we have to date.
The committee travels around a lot and the members are all together through the year. It is a pleasure to be on that committee; there is a very bipartisan approach. Each member brings to the committee their own views of the world and their own expertise. I agree with the member for Port Darwin on quite a number of points that she raised. I do not fully agree with her all the way on the reasons why we have the levels of abuse on indigenous communities that we have. I do not see it as a matter of employment. We need to go even further back and look at matters of education, community health, and the attendant lifestyle. Perhaps it is a bit like the egg and chicken, but there have to be innovative ways of bringing enterprise and different income streams into communities.
However, that in itself is not an end to substance abuse. It does really get back down to addressing family dysfunctionality, the needs of youth, being able to map out a future which is in sync with their cultural beliefs, as well as finding the way that matches up with the western economies. It is not just a matter of saying: ‘Let us create enterprise out there and, therefore, we will have full-time employment, get an income stream and quality of life and lifestyle will improve and we will do away with substance abuse’.
Substance abuse, as has been proven in studies time and again, is across all levels of society. You see it more noticeably at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale, but it is also in the middle and in the top end of the scale. High income earners are also affected by substance abuse.
What I have noticed through the findings and discussions of the committee is that substance abuse in the Territory is not a ‘black problem’; it is a community problem. Substance abuse happens in town, in the bush, in the cities. It is right across the Territory. The committee, I believe, shared the view that it is just not a matter of looking at one segment of the community and saying: ‘Right, we will address that and bring in laws and that will sort that issue out’. It is a matter of the community taking unfortunate ownership of this issues, and the community working together to look at ways of rectifying the situation. Let us not look – and I hasten to add that no member of the committee does - at this as a problem belonging to one segment of the community. We all have ownership of it; we all must find a way through it. This is what the committee is endeavouring to do.
The effects of alcohol in our society, alcohol abuse, are there for us all to see. Reports recently about the crime statistics, the level of violence in the community - which is predominantly between people who know each other, which is predominantly within the Aboriginal community and which is paralleled with family violence which can be tracked straight back to alcohol abuse. Apart from the money that people spend on purchasing abusive substances, be it alcohol or cannabis, which is the direct cost, there is also the cost to the community in having to pick up the pieces afterwards, which is enormous. This, too, puts an economic imperative on why we as a community and as a government should address it. Hopefully, we can stabilise it, get on top of it, and then we will have more money for different programs in the years to come.
That is not going to happen overnight. We look at all the different reviews that have gone into substance abuse. We look at the great work that was done around the 1990s by the previous government with the Living with Alcohol programs. I have heard nothing but praise for that program, and I offer my praise too. It was well intentioned and it was getting results. Perhaps in the future years we can look at something like that. If I was a member of the previous government that is one thing that I would certainly be proud as punch about and stand up and say, well look, we tried hard to get over the issue.
Alcohol and the abuse of alcohol is pretty well known around the place, and I am not really going to go in depth on that. I do not think there is a great need; the interim report addresses it many, many times. What I will look at is petrol sniffing. In the Northern Territory, petrol sniffing is an activity whose deadly allure seems to be quite selective. Remote Aboriginal communities appear to be the most susceptible to its charms and even then it is mostly children and young teenagers who are afflicted. By contrast, alcohol and cannabis users cut across almost every racial, ethnic, gender and age category in our population. Despite the fact that its current manifestation in the Territory may be limiting in geographical incidence and demographic profile of the relevant risk groups in society, petrol sniffing makes it into our committee’s ‘big three’ due to the comprehensive and irreversible damage inflicted on the serious user over a very small period of time.
Where there are some frequent but nevertheless notable instances of persons addicted to, say, heroin being able to feed and maintain their habit while maintaining a comparatively normal and moderately healthy lifestyle, I have never heard of any equivalent instance amongst petrol sniffing addicts. The point is often made that a large part of the danger of heroin addiction arises from the many noxious, collateral activities in the part and parcel of life as an injecting narcotics user who often employ these impurities and additives and the mixed substances purchased from dubious sources in the hope that it will contain some percentage of the narcotic drug sought, to the risk of criminal activities engaged in to obtain the money to buy the drug, to the particular dangers associated with the sharing of hypodermic needles. With petrol sniffing and the absorption into the human system of such a grossly hostile and indigestible substance, the immediate and direct cause of catastrophic physical harm over months and years compounds into irreversible brain damage and associated cessation of motor and other functions.
So what can be done? Emerging from the relevant literature and from submissions made to us so far, is one identifiable key factor, at least in relation to the way in which petrol sniffing has taken hold in the remote communities where the petrol sniffing problem is at its most severe. That key factor is access and availability. Communities which have adopted the drastic but determined strategy of banning petrol altogether and switching to alternative fuels instead have tended to overcome their petrol sniffing problem. This is a solution which cannot be imposed on a community by government, and which may only be viable and appropriate in certain communities in any event. However, the strategy does serve to highlight the critical importance of access and availability.
In an article published in The Australian on 7 February 2003, journalist Richard Sproule recorded some noteworthy comments from the coordinator of the Alice Springs-based Central Australian Youth Link-up Service, Mr Blair McFarland. The article was headed: Sniffers must be denied fuel access. Part of the quote from Mr McFarland reads as follows:
The other legislative reform we need is support for communities brave and determined enough to embrace the difficult option of banning petrol all together from their area. There should be a statutory framework similar to the Restricted Area provisions in the Liquor Act that would make it an offence to bring petrol into the community and to possess and/or to consume petrol in the community. Naturally, such legislative reform strategies will have to be synchronised with effective support across a range of government and non-government agencies for complementary strategies, both existing and new. In particular, we need to support those communities that want to try and take their own problems in hand by sending sniffers to supervised camps at remote outstations.
Our committee will be looking into the detail of how legislative reform aimed at restricting availability and access on the one hand and the various rehabilitation strategies that seem to be working on the other can be made to work together. I expect that we will be submitting recommendations in this respect in our final report.
Cannabis: it is noted in our report that the jury is still out on the issue of whether hydroponically grown cannabis packs a stronger punch because it has a higher THC content, or because the hydroponic method of cultivation enables consumers to more effectively isolate and select those parts of the plant in which drugs are highly concentrated. Whatever the explanation, it is clear that much of the cannabis being consumed in the 21st century is considerably more powerful in intoxicating effect than the cannabis that was around in say the 1960s or 1970s, which fits just about the age group that the member for Port Darwin was talking about. Perhaps it is a combination of the means of administering as well as portions of the plant that were used. I am not too sure.
Measured recreational or therapeutic use for long-term adult users is one thing, but when cannabis is being smoked on a regular basis by young teenagers and even children, as has been reported to our committee, the increasing strength in addictive or habituate potential of cannabis becomes a matter of considerable concern.
I am, of course, particularly concerned about the reports our committee received of commercially organised transportation of cannabis into remote Aboriginal communities in the bush electorates.
In contrast to the situation I have just discussed regarding petrol sniffing, the legislative machinery already in place is probably adequate to enable effective harm minimisation strategy to be developed and implemented in tandem with the interdiction campaigns already being run by the Northern Territory police. Our committee will be looking at additional resources that may be required on both fronts and may be recommending ways in which existing resources could be more effectively targeted. There needs to be programs that our youth can undertake and have the confidence and ability to break free from the vortex of destruction that surrounds them in the wider community.
As I said, I believe the alcohol side of the report is going to be picked up by the Alcohol Framework project team so we might see very swift movement on that. The recommendations of the Alcohol Framework team are contentious in some areas of the community, but I am sure that with the collective will of this parliament, as we had in the 1990s, we will be able to emerge with a good win that is beneficial to the community. All of us stand to benefit by getting on top of substance abuse issues.
Earlier in my contribution, I thanked the Secretariat and I acknowledged the previous chair as well as the contributions of the member for Johnston. I also acknowledge the contributions of the member for Greatorex, who was instrumental in guiding the committee in a lot of ways. His expertise on this subject through his previous profession was invaluable. I am sure that the committee will be comfortable with drawing on his skills any time in the future and that he would offer them fully and willingly. So, to the member for Greatorex, thank you for your contribution.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Deputy Speaker, after all that praise it makes it very hard for me to say anything negative, doesn’t it? I would like to acknowledge the positive comments made by the previous speakers before me in regard to this topic. It was something that was pretty close to my heart, not only from my previous position, but from the things that I see substance abuse do to people. It is a tragedy that we lose so many valuable contributions from members of the community through the misuse of substance that can be used very profitably through judicious recreational use.
I pay tribute to Pat Hancock and Liz McFarlane for the sterling work that they have done right from the very beginning of the substance abuse committee. Their work in coordinating all the meetings that we have had from the time, the reading they have gone through, the summaries they have produced, the collation of papers they have provided to the committee has been monumental work that would not be matched by the patience of Job.
This committee also disappointed me in many ways - very many ways. In the first instance ...
Members interjecting.
Dr LIM: And here we go, I need to say that for the record. In this Notice Paper it is written:
For more than 12 months we have been waiting for this continuation that did not occur. For months we asked the Chair what was she going to do with the report, if she would allow other members of the committee to speak on the report while the information was still fresh in our minds. It never happened. Let me take a step back to the time when this committee was formed by this Assembly, when this Assembly stressed so strongly that it was important for a select committee of this parliament to investigate substance abuse in the community. At the same time, we had the Health minister who then appointed the Val Asche committee to look at illicit drugs.
We had a committee that was designed to look at substance abuse in the Territory. At that time, there was no restriction as to what the committee was going to look at. It was going to look at substance abuse in the widest terms that you could possibly define that in. At the same time, you had another committee going, with resources taken away to fund that committee. Had the money for the Val Asche committee been put to this Legislative Assembly to fund the work of this substance abuse committee, we could have done so much more, in a very bipartisan, cooperative way. No, that was not going to be. So, with very restricted funding, we struggled for years to bring something worthwhile to this Assembly. Then, when the interim report came out, instead of being allowed to debate it to make it worthy of this Assembly, we were not allowed to do so. The chairman of the committee could tell you - I am sure she would if she could, unfortunately, she cannot anymore, she did not even want to get up to continue her words when this matter of business came up for debate. She just sat there. You would have thought that if it was going to be ‘Ms Scrymgour in continuation’, she would have stood up and said something. That is the tragedy of how committee work that could have been done so well, fell apart – fell apart.
Let me come to the topics that we discussed in committee. For several meetings, we debated amongst ourselves what we would look at: ‘What will this committee do regarding substance abuse?’ It took us a long while to think through whether we dealt with drugs of addiction like heroin and others. No, we could not do that because the Val Asche committee was looking at that already, so there was no point in doubling up. So what would we look at? We finally restricted ourselves to alcohol, marijuana and petrol sniffing, because it was felt that this was enough for the committee to deal. Had we taken on all of the widest range of substance abuse, we would get so bogged down that we would never have got anywhere.
We went through many hearings in the urban areas and bush communities. We visited right across the Territory and listened to many delegations. I felt somewhat – not cheated – but lacking, in the sense that we were hearing from many people who were in the service industry side of substance abuse - the people who are affected by substance abuse and the agencies that were designed to look after these people. Naturally, from listening to those delegations, you get a very biased view. There are so many people there in such distress that you suddenly forget that there is the other side of the equation, which is the industry that supplies it, and the work of those individuals in the industry to also make a profit. The balance is how much profit do you make and at what expense do you have, towards humanity. That balance would probably be better debated by people wiser than me.
With regards to alcohol, at the end of the day, we need to look at the problem drinkers. I am not talking about blaming the victim. I believe that unless you actually deal with the person who has the problem, you will never ever sort it out. You can have restriction after restriction coming in - whether it be the Alice Springs model, the Katherine model or the Tennant Creek model, or wherever you like. At the end of the day, it does not work because unless the problem drinker recognises there is a problem and they are prepared to do something about it, it will not work. The classic example is the prohibition that occurred in the United States in the early 1900s. It did not work. It did not work because people were not prepared to give up the so-called privilege or right to drink alcohol. Therefore, unless government is prepared to deal with the problem drinker – and I have made many suggestions to the committee about how I believe it can work – the problem will continue, no matter what we do.
Marijuana is an illicit drug; it is used recreationally, and many people say it is okay. Even the Chief Minister says it is okay. I have never tried it, would not know what it would do to me, and I do not ever propose to try it. However, in our travels to the communities, we heard about people using bucket bongs, and the effect of bucket bong smoking of marijuana on people. Whether today’s marijuana is stronger than the strain that was used in the old days, smoking a cone of marijuana in one puff – in one breath, must surely do tremendous damage to oneself. When you smoke a roll-up cigarette of marijuana, and you take several puffs mixed with air and conversation and perhaps a drink, the effect would be very much diluted because it is taken over time and in a diluted form. Inhaling the contents of one cone in one breath obviously produces a tremendous surge of - I cannot remember the word now - the intoxicating substance into the bloodstream and then into the brain. It is no wonder it produces psychoses in the people who partake in this fashion of smoking marijuana.
When we were on the Tiwi Islands it was described to us how the paranoia and psychosis is so floridly experienced and seen amongst the users that the nursing fraternity out in the islands were not able to look after these patients, could not look after these substance abusers. Frequently, these young people who inhaled these bucket bongs would have to be evacuated to the Royal Darwin Hospital due to the acute psychotic state they were in. By the time they reached Darwin, after an evac, most of the chemical effects of the single inhalation of a cone of marijuana had disappeared, so that to all intents and purposes, they were back to normal. So, here we have huge expense to the health services to rescue a young person who has abused this drug. If we could rescue these kids by bringing them to the Royal Darwin Hospital, well and good, but there are times when these kids commit suicide or do other acts of violence during their episodes of psychoses, and that is a real tragedy.
Regarding petrol sniffing, the two most telling experiences I had with this was one when we visited Yuendumu and were shown the Mt Theo experience. The petrol sniffer worker there showed us the brain story they developed there, and how they used the brain story to try to teach the youngsters the effects of petrol sniffing on the brain. The example was he had a lump of butter upon which he poured some petrol, and you saw the butter dissolving right in front of you. If that was not a clear example of what petrol sniffing can do to your brain, I do not know what is.
The other personal experience I had with petrol sniffing was when I was working on a session basis with the Alice Springs Hospital, and I had to escort a patient from Alice Springs to the Royal Adelaide Hospital via the RFDS. The petrol sniffer was restrained on a stretcher in the RFDS aircraft and I was seated in the cabin with the duty nurse. The patient woke up from his stupor and appeared to be very uncomfortable, being restrained lying on his back on the stretcher and unable to move or shift or even give himself any relief of his back. Taking pity on the young fellow, I loosened the restraints …
Ms Carter: Oh foolish man!
Dr LIM: ‘Oh foolish man’, says the member for Port Darwin, and yes, it was. I loosened his restraint, did not take it off. I do not know where it comes from but petrol sniffers have this strength that is unimaginable. It appears as if there is no inhibition at all in the way they can do things. This young fellow became very violent within the cabin of an aircraft that was flying at some 20 000 feet. The poor pilot was scared to death because he was not able to leave the controls, and the nurse and I were in the back, struggling with a very strong petrol sniffer who kicked me and threw me to the back of the aircraft. The only way I could stop him and re-apply the restraint was to jump on the young fellow and use my body as a restraint on him. I hung onto the stretcher with the young boy sandwiched between me and the stretcher. The nurse was then able to give him an intravenous injection to settle him down after which we re-tied him. That led to a bit of an inquiry within the RFDS as to what we should or should not ever do again.
Petrol sniffing obviously causes huge problems in the individual and something serious needs to be done soon. I heard the comments made by the member for Sanderson regarding to legislative changes. I look forward to further debate on this matter.
While we were doing all this work out in the communities and in the urban areas, lo! and behold, another committee was formed: the Manzie-Ah Chee committee with a budget of $250m. To do what? To look at the material that we had gathered, digested and written an interim report from. What is this government thinking about? They had the Val Asche committee, they have this Substance Committee, then they have the Manzie-Ah Chee committee, all doing the same work.
All that told me was that this government thought our committee was a useless committee. They would not resource it properly, told us to go and do some work while behind us, they undermined the work of the committee. That is how badly this government tries to govern the Territory. This government is saying to Territorians: ‘We have a select committee in parliament, but we don’t care about them. We just send them around the Territory, keep them busy, keep our backbenchers busy so they don’t hassle us too much’. That is the message they are sending to Territorians and it is such a pity.
Our Executive Officer, Pat Hancock, and Liz McFarlane are very capable officers. With an adequate budget, we could have employed Mr Renouf to help us to do the work. The committee could have come out with a proper report, not an interim report that went nowhere, but a proper report with good recommendations for this government to consider. But no, that is not the way to do it. This government sent six very valuable members of parliament, including the Deputy Speaker, all around the Territory, spending money, and we got nowhere. Here we are, more than 12 months after the interim report was tabled, debating the interim report that contains nothing significant in recommendations.
If the first chair of the committee, who is now the Minister for Community Services, was really serious about it on behalf of her government, she would give this committee some teeth, some resources so they can get some proper recommendations to this parliament in a non-partisan way. That would then give this committee something to look forward to, an aim that it can work towards and some beneficial outcomes that are not party political. The way it is at the moment, it is all government run, and this committee, with all the work that it has done, has come to nought. That is the tragedy of it all.
The former chair, now the Minister for Community Services, cannot respond to this debate because it is a report that she tabled. She cannot respond any more so we do not know where there is going to go. I am no longer on the committee. I left more out of frustration than anything else because it was not getting very far. Territorians have received very little benefit from this committee. A lot of money has been expended, a lot of work has been put in and, at the end of the day, we have very little to show for it.
I understand the committee is going to have some further deliberations on other matters. I do not know what they are; I am not privy to them. However, I wish the committee well and I hope that the current chair seeks greater support from government so that they can achieve some better outcomes. I congratulate everybody who has been very patiently contributing to this committee, and I again thank the officers, Pat Hancock and Liz McFarlane for their efforts. I look forward to hearing future reports from this committee if any come up in the future.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to speak to the Select Committee’s Interim Report on Substance Abuse in the Community, specifically in relation to alcohol abuse, cannabis use and inhalant abuse, otherwise known as petrol sniffing. I also join with the other speakers in paying tribute to the previous chair, the member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour, now the Minister for Family and Community Services. The member for Arafura did a very professional job. I know that everything she attempted to do was in the interests of the Northern Territory. Equally, I pay tribute to Dr Richard Lim who sat on the committee. We did not always agree on a whole range of issues, but I thank Dr Lim for his professional advice and his support for the committee, equally as I do in respect to Dr Chris Burns, who was on for a shorter period, but certainly, his contribution was immensely appreciated as well. I thank Liz McFarlane and Pat Hancock for their very professional work. They were always supportive and were always in a position to provide us with information as required. Pat, I know you are in the Chamber this evening, so if you could extend our appreciation to Liz as well, it would be much appreciated.
I do not propose to go into a great detail on the contents of this report, because it has all been said. The issues arising from the report have all been shared, and we are not far apart in regards to how we should go forward.
There are obviously a number of issues, though, that I would like to comment on. The first is alcohol abuse. There is absolutely no doubt that it is the single most destructive factor that is impacting on indigenous people throughout the Northern Territory and non-indigenous people as well. I dare say there probably is not one community that is not impacted upon by the excessive abuse of alcohol. We can go back to 1990, when a previous committee of this House, as I understand it, identified that approximately 5% of the Territory’s gross domestic product was impacted because of alcohol abuse. I do not have figures for what that data is today, but I would suspect that it certainly has not improved, and is probably far in excess of that figure of $149.8m that was quoted at the time. Equally, in 1990, 60% of all arrests or summonses recorded by NT Police were for alcohol related offences. We only have to look at figures for 2000 and 2001, and they are contained in the report, where we are able to ascertain that in certain communities throughout the Northern Territory, certainly in the remote regions, in excess of 90% of all offences are alcohol related. What I am trying to say is that things have not improved.
The other issue is cannabis use in the Northern Territory. Very clearly, there has been a significant increase and uptake of cannabis use by people in the Northern Territory, particularly in indigenous communities. We visited communities through the course of our deliberations, taking evidence from people, and it became very clear that it is an issue that impacts upon families and communities but, most importantly, on the capacity of people to be engaged in gainful employment. It impacts upon their capacity to earn, and the community’s disposable income in being provided a living in terms of food.
We also know that it is very much on the increase in communities around Alice Springs and Barkly and it has been reported that in some cases in Katherine, people as young as 12 have been using cannabis. The interesting thing from all of this - and this arose from a police submission to the committee, where they make very clear that the rate of use Territory-wide was 36.5%. That sends a very strong message to us that we have to deal with it.
The other issue I wanted to talk about is petrol sniffing. I would like to then come back to two other issues which I think we can do in trying to address it. As I mentioned, petrol sniffing has been around in the Northern Territory for a long time. People have reported it during the World War II. It is a practice which is gaining widespread use throughout the Northern Territory. That also impacts upon the communities and families, probably in a different way. Nonetheless, its impact is no less destructive.
In respect to petrol sniffing, people who have been following articles in the media over the last couple of days would be aware of a dilemma that is occurring in regards to the Pitjantjatjara lands in South Australia. I believe it has been reported that there have been something like 16 deaths associated with perhaps petrol sniffing or alcohol abuse. It never ceases to amaze me why petrol sniffing in the Territory has not taken off as much as it has in South Australia. I really think it is only a matter of time before it does. If we have a look at the situation in South Australia, we know that we are in for big problems in regard to how we deal with it.
There are two issues that I want to particularly address, which arose out of the report. One refers to the coordination of government services and consultation in remote communities. Wherever I have gone, particularly in places like Lajamanu, Ali Curung and to a certain extent, Ngukurr – I was at Ngukurr – very clearly, the communities were concerned about the lack of coordination of government services or, indeed, a lack of services into those communities and, by not providing those services, clearly, there is no consultation with those communities. I am not being critical here; I am just being honest. I am just reporting the views put by indigenous people in those communities who are asked to deal with all these issues with very little support and very little resources. We have to seriously think of how we provide those services to the community. I do not think you can chuck a blanket across the whole of the Northern Territory. I do not think pan approaches work anymore. What we have to do is be very specific in respect of whom we target at a regional level and, more importantly, at a community level.
That is a challenge for us. I know that the Minister for Community Development is working towards that purpose, and I really hope that in the future we go down the path of providing specific services direct to the community. Sometimes, the administrative and the management costs are taken up with all these big organisations which, in some cases, are no better than government service providers that do not get out there. All the resources are based in the regions and that is no different from my community in Tennant Creek; unfortunately, the dollars come into the big ones and they do not get out to the smaller communities. So, there is a challenge for us, in how we provide services to the bush communities.
The other issue that I wanted to talk very briefly about was domestic violence. This morning, the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General referred to figures for Katherine, where three has been a significant increase in physical violence or violent crimes. Unfortunately, in my electorate in Tennant Creek we have had a 50% increase in crimes of violence or physical crimes against a person. I had the opportunity over the last couple of weeks to speak to people like Superintendent Jeanette Kerr, who is only in an acting capacity in Tennant Creek at the moment, but she and a lot of people are very concerned about a trend that seems to be growing. I also believe that there has been an increase of reporting on the part of women and that is good. But equally, I think there has been an increase on a part of some members in our community who are perpetrating these crimes of violence on, in most cases, women.
I am not necessarily suggesting that punitive responses are always the best way forward, but in certain circumstances like this, I really think that we have to be fair dinkum and honest and send a message to the community that violence cannot be condoned in any form. Again, it is something that we have to look at and maybe can be incorporated as part of an ongoing matter for this committee in regards to domestic violence, alcohol and particularly indigenous women. I am quite sincere about this. I know that it is something we have to address. I am not suggesting mandatory sentencing at all in respect to those people who perpetrate these sorts of crimes, but certainly they should be very much aware that their actions are not condoned and it is not part of normal community behaviour.
It is an area that concerns me, and I really do hope that we take it up and we put in place responses which are going to address the unacceptable behaviour towards many women in the Northern Territory.
The reason why I feel so strongly about this, and indeed most of the members who are bush members or probably members in Darwin and Alice Springs, is you see it all the time. You see people walking around with black eyes, broken legs, broken arms and it is there before us. I honestly believe that we have to do something about it. I get a bit tired of walking into offices, and walking into homelands where these people have been subjected to this sort of violence. Somehow we have to get the message across that it is not acceptable and if it means you being detained for a certain period until you undertake a rehabilitation program then so be it. But certainly, something has to be done.
The other issue which I wanted to raise just very briefly was the Alcohol Framework report, which was commissioned by the minister for licensing. I do not necessarily agree with Dr Lim that it is a waste of resources. I do not believe that to be the case at all. I believe it complements and supplements the work that this committee has done and previous committees have done and if we can work in a partnership to get an outcome in regards to grog abuse then so be it, and I am sure that will occur.
Just on that report, there are two things that arise. One is treatment services, particularly for people impacted by alcohol, petrol or cannabis abuse. We have to review our treatment services throughout the Northern Territory. I am not just referring to those that are government operated, but community-based treatment services. It is time to have a look and see how we are doing things and, where appropriate, make changes that are going to provide a better treatment regime for rehabilitating people. Factored into that must also be training. I do not think we do training as well as we should. Obviously, there should be a lot more resources allocated to this area.
The Alcohol Framework project is a good opportunity for dealing with some of these problems and issues. I say to Dr Lim that you really should not underestimate the minister for licensing, the member for Nhulunbuy, Syd Stirling. I know he is very passionate about the impact of grog, petrol sniffing and cannabis on communities throughout the Northern Territory. The challenge will be with the minister in dealing with this very important issue, an issue that impacts upon us all. I have every confidence that the minister will come up with strategies that will work towards alleviating many of the issues that we face.
In conclusion, thank you very much to all involved. I wish the new chair, the member for Nightcliff, the very best. I know that she will drive the committee in a direction that is going to derive maximum benefits for all people in the Northern Territory.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I will follow in the footsteps of other members and thank the previous chair, the member for Arafura, for the work she has done over a long period of time. We have travelled many miles together as a group, and the committee in general, as the member for Johnston said, has one goal in mind and that is to try to find solutions to what are major problems in the community.
I thank Pat Hancock and Liz McFarlane for the mountains of books they have given us. I could say they make wonderful door stops, but they do not. We have had large volumes of transcripts and those transcripts reflect a lot of the work that these two people have done. They have had to set their microphones and equipment in some fairly difficult places, some very hot places and dusty places, and sometimes they had technical difficulties and had to transcribe as much as they could by ear and that was a big effort. Anyone who has looked at the transcripts of substance abuse hearings will know that these two ladies have done an enormous amount of work. I thank the members for Johnston and Greatorex who also worked on the committee, and I the members who are presently on the committee. There is still a fair bit of work to do.
I might take up the issue that the member for Greatorex raised about the Alcohol Framework. I would be hiding behind the consensus of people today if I did not say I have some concerns about the Alcohol Framework, not necessarily because of what it has done, because I think it is a terrific document. However, I felt that at the time, and I have even said so publicly, that the minister should have at least consulted with the committee to let us know that that was going to occur. We became aware of it more by press release rather than by being told that there was going to be another group that would be looking at alcohol. At that time it was a little disappointing, considering that looking at alcohol was the main job we were doing, and was certainly the drug, wherever we travelled, that was regarded as the most dangerous drug, if you want to call it that. To then find that the minister had set up another group to look at it, did leave you a little empty. Be that as it may, the Alcohol Framework Report is a very good report. I still have to go through all of it. It is a fairly detailed report. It has many questions in there that we all should try to have some input as parliamentarians and encourage people in other parts of the communities to have input as well.
Returning to our interim report - I sometimes look at the interim report and if you compare it with the amount of literature we have in our offices, it does look very small. However, it does raise some issues, and it does mention those in the document under the title, ‘Issues of concern to the committee’. I would like to put my two bobs’ worth in, in commenting on some of those issues that were raised by the committee in this report.
One of them comes under the heading: ‘Availability as a factor in alcohol abuse’. Under that section it makes the statement that it considers that it is timely for the community to consider what contribution the marketing and ready availability of alcohol makes for problems. I have probably mentioned this previously, but I believe we have to look at the way alcohol is marketed in the Northern Territory. The people who promote alcohol do not do it just because they think it will get a bit of a laugh, or it is a very clever advertisement. The whole reason they market and advertise alcohol is to sell as much as alcohol as is possible. Many of the ads are very clever. Who would not get a laugh from XXXX ad? They are smart ads. They are meant to make you laugh.
However, they always have a subliminal message, that is, drink the product. We all know about the changes in the colouring of fruit flavoured alcohol drinks and the attempts to have Moo Juice on the market. I have spoken here before about the subliminal advertising of what is a very popular form of chocolate biscuits. They are not doing that because they want to sell more biscuits. They are doing it in combination with a company that wants to sell alcohol. Otherwise, what would be the point of putting your name and the exact brand type on the packet?
One area that we as a committee could look at, which I do not believe is addressed in the Alcohol Framework to any large extent, is the marketing and advertising of alcohol in the community. I am not trying to put any group of people down, but those people who, I suppose, have a lower education and cannot always see the subtlety behind some of these advertisements, are the ones these ads can affect. In about 1978, I brought out a series of television ads when I was on Bathurst Island, trying to get some small funding from the NT government at that stage. The reason we tried to bring those ads out was because of the alcohol advertising that was occurring on television at that time. I think the slogan was, ‘You’ve got to be a man amongst the men’. Well, for a lot of people, they thought that was exactly right, if you did not drink that particular brand of beer, you were not a man. At that time, we tried to counteract it with advertising, but unless you have the means to do it, it is very difficult and it really does not achieve much.
The member for Barkly also mentioned - and this is on another matter regarding alcohol - looking at those groups that deal with alcohol abuse and reviewing their performance. That is a very good point. However, I would also like to raise the issue that was raised in Alice Springs. The ex-chairman of the committee would remember a fairly fiery meeting where we discussed the possibility of what to do with people who, as we say, go around the revolving door when it comes to trying to assist them in overcoming alcohol abuse. It has been mentioned a number of times whether we should have some form of enforcement through the courts of removing those people from the streets and into compulsory rehabilitation. That raises a whole range of issues of civil liberties and effectiveness - many issues.
However, it is an issue that needs to be debated, because many people cannot help themselves. What do we do? Just leave them to become a pest on the street or become a victim of a road accident? What do we do? Do we just wash our hands of the problem or do we try to fix it? There is certainly more room for debate in that area.
Another area we should look at, with regards to alcohol, is discussions with the manufacturers of alcohol. I have raised this a couple of times but there is one group of people I do not think we have yet sat down with and discussed the problems that occur in the Northern Territory with regard to alcohol abuse, and that is the manufacturers. It is not the hoteliers, nor the distributors, but the people who are on the boards of these big companies. It would be well worth some time approaching these people and discussing with them the concerns we have, to see if they are at least willing to do something at their end. After all, these companies make large profits and I do not think enough of those profits are turned back into the community, or the communities, where it is most needed, to patch up those issues and problems caused by the substance that they produce.
The issue of high suicide rates is certainly very concerning, when you talk about mixing that with the effects of cannabis. We visited Melville and Bathurst Islands. As one who worked there many years ago - and even though it did have some alcohol problems then - to come back and find out that it has one of the worst suicide rates in Australia, is very depressing. We have two islands there which literally have everything going for them. The land is the land they have owned for thousands of years, with beautiful beaches and plenty of food. They have good housing, and plenty of football, as you would have noticed on the weekend. Yet, for some reason, drug abuse seems to be the reason that this community - and the Tiwis are wonderful people - is now suffering under the burden of having the highest suicide rate in Australia. What the solutions to that are I do not know. However, it is something that this committee cannot shy away from because it is a major concern.
While we are talking about high suicide rates, I suppose we also have to talk about violence. The member for Barkly mentioned violence, and it certainly is an issue. You only have to look at the figures in the report - and there are plenty of other reports - which establish that the average for the Northern Territory is 67% of violent crimes related to alcohol - I beg your pardon, not just violent crimes, but just crime in general - 67% of crime in general is alcohol related, and that goes up as high as 94%. That is an enormous figure and something we need to be concerned about.
But that probably does not also take into account the damage to families, the social destruction of families. It is fairly common now to see marriages break up, and I will bet my bottom dollar that quite a few of those marriages have broken up because of alcohol abuse. It may have been a violent outcome as well, but it also may have been that people found it very difficult to live with one partner due to alcohol problems.
The other issue about cannabis is the availability and that is one area the government has to put more work into. It may require having people on the ground who are people the police can work with - informants. We went to one community where the issue was, ‘Who is bringing the cannabis into this community?’ Immediately, the conversation stopped and they said, ‘Why isn’t the government taking the aeroplanes away from those people who import alcohol?’ You knew straight away you had hit a bit of a raw nerve. I would not be surprised that in some communities the people who you would expect to be leaders, in some cases are the people who bring the drug into the community. You have a real problem there with being able to control the cannabis in that community, especially if people were making quite large sums of money, as the member for Port Darwin said, up to about $150 per bag. So there is certainly an incentive for people not to say who is bringing it in because they can make large sums of money.
On the large issue of petrol, petrol would have to be one of the most depressing drugs, if you could call it that, I have seen. The major problem with petrol is that while cannabis and alcohol might kill you eventually, you might call petrol ‘sudden death’ compared to the rest. To see young people with a tin wrapped around their neck – and I had not seen much of that at all because there was very little in the Top End – but to see it in some of the communities was very sad. You have so much talent and so much hope for the future for these young people, being destroyed by petrol. The good side of it was that have a community like Yuendumu where they are prepared to back their own community by taking young people out to Mt Theo. Certainly, Mt Theo was a light against a lot of other places. The reason it was a light was because the community supported it. We went to other communities and there obviously was not the will - maybe it was very difficult – but there was not the will to do something similar. They are struggling for sure, but Mt Theo seemed at least to have a solution.
I think that the government – and not necessarily this government, but the Commonwealth as well – must keep funding those efforts because there are times when there is no one petrol sniffing and of course someone could say it is a success, therefore it does not require any more funding. But then it could come up again. You can get visitors from Bulgul or somewhere else who can come in, and as we know, once you get one person come in who is a petrol sniffer, it can all start over again. So you must allow funding to be ongoing if you want to make these programs successful
I was also left with a lasting impression from Yuendumu of the effect that petrol has on your brain. When you saw two plates of butter come out, and one was in petrol and one was in water, and you see all that butter dissolved, and that is what more or less what happens to your brain, it certainly leaves a long lasting impression. Probably the sad thing is it does not leave a long lasting impression on some of the young people in those communities.
Just one other thing, Madam Speaker, I suppose from my point of view of growing vegetable gardens on two communities - one at Daly River and one at Bathurst Island for a long time – the thing that I found sad was that in all the communities we visited, I saw not one vegetable garden or fruit orchard successfully operating any more, even though many of the communities would have had a history of growing their own vegetables and fruit. The only place I saw anything like a garden was at Ramingining. I asked the question: are there any people in that community who do not use drugs at all? There were, I think, three families and one of those families only supplied some fruit and vegetables to the community.
Maybe that is just coincidence, but it seemed to me to tie up what I have always felt: that the communities have basically gone down hill not only due to substance abuse but unemployment. I know the member for Johnston says that unemployment on its own probably is not the issue, but since about 1978, Unemployment Benefits were introduced and people did not have to work. That in itself has contributed seriously to dysfunction. People receive money and they do not have to do any work, whereas in days gone by, there was work for everyone and you could not receive an Unemployment Benefit. There was work for everyone and unemployment did not exist.
The Commonwealth government has to supply enough funds to these communities - and I have said it time and time again - and the capital, management skills and include that with the educational program and look into things, as the member for Johnston said, such as alternative forms of employment. We have to do it in combination. You cannot tackle alcohol and drug abuse on its own without having all these other things working in the community.
As long as we have a system that tells people they will still get money for doing nothing, where there are houses, like at Yuendumu, which really need lots of attention. There is obviously lots of employment there for people. There was a football oval with no grass. It needed some irrigation and some grass planted. Trees could be planted. There is lots of work. Sadly, that has not occurred.
I hope that when we come out with a final report - and I am not sure that we will ever have a final report on this difficult issue – that one of the issues we will examine is the effect of unemployment or employment on alcohol, cannabis and petrol sniffing.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I rise as the new chair of the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community to speak on the Interim Report on Substance Abuse, which was tabled in the February 2003 sittings by the former chair, the member for Arafura.
I put on the record the thanks of the committee to the member for Arafura for all her hard work and passion in her work on this committee. I would also like to say, only having been the chair for about a month, that I have been very impressed by the passion and commitment of all members on the committee. Seeing some of the evidence that has been gathered over the past two years, it is very clear that the committee has spent a lot of time and a lot of thought on many of the issues that are of real significance to the people of the Northern Territory. I extend my thanks to all members, current and past, particularly the members for Johnston and Greatorex who are no longer members of the committee.
It reminds me that one of the reasons that one becomes a member of parliament is that you think there are things that you can do to change the Northern Territory – change the world we live in – and belonging to a committee like this on which there is largely bipartisan support for a very significant issue indicates that we are all here for good reasons.
I would also like to thank the secretary of the committee, Pat Hancock, and Liz McFarlane, whom other members have also thanked for their work tonight.
I will make some brief comments on some of the matters that have been raised by members in their speeches tonight and then go on to a more formal speech. I accept the criticism of the members for Port Darwin and Greatorex in relation to the slowness in bringing this forward and in relation to how this fits in with the Alcohol Framework. What has happened, though, is that the body of work which has been brought together by this committee has in fact not been a waste of time, but has been significantly used by the Alcohol Framework team. As members would be aware, the evidence which was provided has been used significantly by them and is mentioned in the Alcohol Framework documents. Also, since I have been the chair, I have also been present during a meeting with Gordon Renouf, the project team officer, and tomorrow we are going to have a very significant briefing from the Alcohol Framework team.
Sometimes it is very easy to feel that we have been sidelined as politicians, but in this case, what is actually happening is that we are working quite closely with a project which is of high priority to the government. Instead of saying that we have been sidelined, perhaps we can say that we are working in partnership with another team which has a lot of resources behind them, and so that we can see that the things which we have all wanted to see happen in the Northern Territory will, in fact come, to fruition. I look forward to that discussion tomorrow at the substance abuse committee with that group.
I also thank the member for Sanderson for his contribution, particularly his comments on alcohol in the Northern Territory, and on the Living with Alcohol program which used to exist in the Northern Territory. Looking through the documents that have been prepared previously, it is clear that the committee felt that the Living with Alcohol program was very significant and it is good to see that this has been picked up by the Alcohol Framework so that we can see some of those issues picked up in a more modern context. Of course, they started off in 1991 or 1992, and so we can be looking at new ways of doing those same kinds of things in this coming decade.
The member for Barkly spoke with real passion, particularly about domestic violence, and the significant issue that alcohol plays with domestic violence throughout the Northern Territory. Perhaps one of the greatest shames of living in the Northern Territory and something which we would all feel very strongly about, and I personally feel very strongly about. We must not just focus on alcohol as a problem of indigenous people, and perhaps sometimes there is this image that only Aboriginal people are involved with alcohol, whereas alcohol is a very significant problem for all members of the Northern Territory. We do have the highest rates of alcohol consumption in Australia, perhaps not the kind of record that we would be wishing for. There are many records that we might like, but that is probably not one of them.
The member for Nelson raised some very interesting issues in relation to marketing and advertising of alcohol. This is something that I personally feel quite passionate about as well. Members may be interested to know that it is something which the drug ministers’ conferences have been looking at over the past year, in relation to the advertising of alcohol and other drugs, and particularly tobacco, with young people. At the moment, there is a self-regulation system across Australia. However, it does appear that self-regulation is not really working at all, particularly on Internet advertising and some magazine advertising, the rules are definitely flouted all the time, and generally looking at regulations brought in across Australia. The federal government has been looking at this in the last year, particularly with the assistance of the Victorian government.
Substance misuse is something which affects the whole of our society, and we can see the results in our families, schools, workplaces, and our government departments and community organisations work hard to assist Territorians with what could seem an impossible task. As I said before, sadly, in the Territory we have the highest rate of alcohol consumption in Australia.
Professor Tim Stockton of the National Drug Research Institute presents very sobering, and perhaps sobering is indeed the word, statistics relating to alcohol consumption and related harm in the Northern Territory in Australia for the years 2000 and 2001. Per capita consumption for those aged 15-plus is 9.3 in Australia, while the rate is 13.82 for the Territory. The percentage of at risk drinking causing acute harm is 20.5% Australia-wide and 33.3% in the Territory. Similarly, the percentage of at risk drinking causing chronic harm is 9.9% nationally, but 17.7% in the Territory. Similarly, the nett lives, age 15-plus, lost per 100 000 were 1.87% nationally and 3.26% in the Territory; and hospital episodes for 15-plus per 10 000 persons was 41.10% nationally and 79.3% in the Territory - a terrible statistic. On every measure, the Territory well exceeds the national rate on alcohol consumption and related harm - a very salutary set of statistics.
This interim report reflects the evidence taken by the committee up to February 2003, with regard to alcohol, cannabis and petrol sniffing. At the time of tabling this report, the committee had held 14 public meetings and hearings, taking evidence from a total of 132 witnesses. As well, it received 74 written submissions from various sectors of the community. As such, the report results from extensive consultations across a broad spectrum of the Northern Territory population. It should be noted that the committee has been active in the 13 months since this report was tabled. It has continued with its community consultation program and evidence given to it with regard to alcohol, and has been made available to the review team established by the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing to develop a comprehensive alcohol framework for the Northern Territory.
As I said before, the consultation and cooperation between the framework project team and the committee continues, as they are scheduled to appear before the committee during the sittings. I am also pleased that the alcohol framework interim report tabled by my colleague, the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing at the last sittings, takes on board the issues regarding alcohol regulation and dealing with alcohol abuse which the committee raised in its February 2003 report.
One of the challenges faced by all governments around Australia, including the Northern Territory government, is how to properly work across agencies. This is always problematic, probably because the greatest difficulty lies with the very complexity of the substance abuse problem. Directly dealing with substance abuse impacts operationally on a range of government agencies before even taking into account the socioeconomic disadvantages and social dysfunction of sectors of our community, the factors which underline the high level of abuse of some substances, particularly those which the committee has concentrated on, namely alcohol, cannabis and petrol sniffing.
I am very pleased that the Alcohol Framework Report also emphasises the need for coordination of policy development and programs as crucial to making a difference in addressing this scourge of alcohol abuse in the Territory. However, the very extent of alcohol abuse, the high levels of consumption experienced across almost all sectors of the Northern Territory population, and the way it touches everyone through the drain it creates on the Territory economy, by far outweighs other substance abuse. This is borne out by crime statistics, traffic statistics, health statistics and Correctional Services statistics. Alcohol abuse causes a high level of family and social dysfunction across the Northern Territory, which has implications for most areas of government.
For this reason, central coordination of alcohol policies and programs is crucial if we are to make a difference. In her tabling statement, the then chair noted the membership of the committee placed an onerous responsibility on herself and the five other members of the committee, in that the problems of substance abuse are so substantial and intertwined with social and economic issues which have particular impact on the Territory’s indigenous population. I can well understand the weight of responsibility that her role as chair placed upon her as an Aboriginal woman, because Aboriginal women do bear the brunt of physical abuse, which is far too often the result of alcohol abuse. They also bear the weight of responsibility for caring for children and others in the family, often made dysfunctional from various types of substance abuse and addiction - but more often from alcohol abuse.
Only last week in the Northern Territory News, the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, in commenting on the latest crime in justice figures, highlighted the role of alcohol in violent crime, particularly violent crime against indigenous women. Quoting Katherine figures, 78% of assaults were committed by indigenous people and 67% of all assaults were committed while the assailant was drunk, the minister said: ‘This is largely an issue of domestic violence, male on female’. Going through the many transcripts of evidence and submissions to the committee, this is a depressing fact which is repeated all over the Territory.
However, while I do not want to take away from the seriousness of the indigenous struggle and the impact of alcohol, I also do not want the data to mask the fact that alcohol is also a problem in non-indigenous Territory society. It maybe less visible - certainly it is not played out to the same extent in public - and may cause comparatively less immediate trauma, but it is there. It is reflected in the longer term health implications of risky and high risk alcohol consumption.
The National Health and Medical Research Council set guidelines for what constitutes at risk drinking habits. For men, seven standard drinks a day or more places a drinker at risk of short term acute harm and high risk of long term chronic harm. The corresponding figure for women is five drinks a day. The level of drinking leading to any longer term risk is five a day for men and three a day for women.
I have already stated that the Northern Territory has the highest per capita alcohol consumption rates in Australia, a country which has no mean record for its rates of drinking. These figures are conservative, sadly, as it excludes home brew, mail order purchases from interstate, and alcohol purchased by the armed forces and one would expect that the latter figure may be substantial considering the large armed forces component of the Northern Territory population and the drinking ability of young males.
There is no way that these statistics can only be sheeted home to the indigenous drinking population. A society which regards drinking at this level as normal must pay in morbidity and mortality rates over time. The fact that cultural change is possible is borne out by the success of the Living with Alcohol program which was introduced in 1991 and operated until 2000. The program was based on recommendations of the Northern Territory parliamentary committee on Substance Abuse in the Community. An independent review of the program undertaken by the National Drug Research Institute found that it resulted in major benefits to the Northern Territory, including estimated savings of $31.078m per year between 1991 and 1995, the last year of which data was available for this 1997 study.
The various benefits to the Territory community are enunciated in the Alcohol Framework interim report and they are worth putting on the record: alcohol related fatal accidents reduced by 30%; alcohol related deaths reduced by 31%; alcohol related accidents reduced by 29%; arrests for exceeding the illegal blood alcoholic limit by 29%; apparent per capita consumption reduced by 18%; and light beer consumption increased to 30% of the beer market compared to 1% in 1992.
I am pleased that the Alcohol Framework project team has resurrected these issues and opened them up for discussion. I look forward to our forthcoming discussions with the project team. I also look forward to the input by the public to the proposal suggested in the interim report.
Other than alcohol abuse, the committee’s 2003 interim report raised five other issues: the availability of mental health services and the coordination between mental health service providers and substance abuse service providers. I would just like to put on the record that in 2003 the Bansemer Report of the Department of Health and Community Services indicated this was an area where there needed to be more coordination. In fact, those two areas of substance abuse and mental health have been brought together in the department, and certainly it is a very significant issue and with the coordination brought together in the department, that this will mean significant changes in this area.
The next area is how substance abuse appears to be a contributing factor to high suicide rates in certain indigenous communities. The member for Nelson touched on this issue in relation to the Tiwi Islands where it is a very sad situation for the young men living on the Tiwi Islands and there are high rates of suicide. Once again, I point out that the government last year put together a suicide prevention kit and whilst it is only a kit, it is a start to looking at some of these very significant issues, and I am hoping that this committee will look further at these issues in the future.
Other issues are the issue of cannabis supply and distribution in indigenous communities; coordination of government services to and consultation with remote communities; and finally legislative measures for addressing petrol sniffing in remote communities. On this latter point, I can report that the committee is currently looking at petrol sniffing and talking to experts in the area and it is my intention that it will be reporting on this in the middle of the year.
The member for Nelson commented on the Mt Theo program on petrol sniffing. Although I was not with the committee when they visited Yuendumu, I have been there and have seen that program in action. I would have to say that is a fabulous example of how communities can work together on problems and solve them in specific ways. We must remind ourselves always that because something might work at Mt Theo near Yuendumu, it may not work at Mutitjulu, but we need to work solutions for local communities. I commend the people involved in that program at Yuendumu, it is very significant.
Members will probably be aware of my concerns for young people and one of the things that we are going to be looking at is how cannabis is affecting young people not simply in our remote communities, but also in our urban areas. Over the next few months, we will be looking at this significant issue, particularly in Darwin and in Alice Springs.
The committee has already taken a fair bit of evidence on cannabis, extracted from information provided by Department of Health and Community Services officials last year. It appears that the Australian National Drug Survey of 1998 identified cannabis as the most widely used illicit drug and noted that use is increasing. In 1991, around 33% of the population aged 14 years and over had tried cannabis. By 1998, this figure had increased to 39%, 44% male and 35% female, with 18% using in the last 12 months. Apparently, most cannabis use is not regular. The majority of users did not use in the past year or had used less frequently than weekly. The proportion of users who became weekly users was 7% of women and 15% of men. This was most common in the 20 to 24 age group.
As with the wider population, of all the illicit drugs, cannabis is the main illicit drug used by indigenous people. In the 1994 National Drug Survey, urban indigenous people identified 48% had tried cannabis, with 22% being current users. In the 1999 Australian Secondary School Alcohol and Drugs Survey, students reported that when using cannabis, 80% of them also used another substance. Alcohol and tobacco were the substances most predominantly used in conjunction with cannabis by both males and females.
Unfortunately, in the Northern Territory there is a fundamental lack of good information about cannabis use and misuse in remote areas, particularly in Aboriginal communities. However, there are a number of trend surveys that indicate cannabis use is increasing in urban centres, particularly among younger users. I suppose that is why we feel it is going to be very important to look at how young people first come into contact with cannabis in our schools and communities. As the mother of teenage sons, I have noticed there seems to be a trend whereby you leave primary school and there is no issue with illicit drugs, alcohol or tobacco …
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I move that the member be granted an extension of time, pursuant to standing orders.
Motion agreed to.
Mrs AAGAARD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. One of the issues is that you have primary school children and there seems to be no issue with the use of illicit drugs and it appears to me that by the time the young people have gone into Year 8, they are okay until the end of Year 8 when suddenly there seems to be a change in what is going on in the school community. I have noticed this with a lot of children I know. By the time they get to Year 9, many of these students have started to use or experiment with cannabis. What I am interested in is: what is it that triggers that interest? They go from beginning of Year 8 to beginning of Year 9 and that last term of Year 8 seems to be the danger time for young people. I have noticed it with friends of my sons that that seems to be the trigger time. In the coming period, we will be looking at what is happening in our schools and what kinds of things we can be doing to try to prevent this, and what would be good to put in place such as family diversion programs or diversions for students and young people
Madam Speaker, once again, I commend all members for their contributions both here and as members of the committee. I look forward to reporting to the House again in the future.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
Continued from 24 February 2004.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, this is the second mid-year report from the Treasurer since the practice was initiated by the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act. You will recall that last year the report was posted on the Treasury web site during the first week of the February sittings, a week before the Treasurer was planning to bring it into the House.
This year, the report came out in the second week of January, while just about everyone, except the hard working Treasury staff, were enjoying the Christmas/New Year holiday break. However, the Treasurer waited until the second week of the February sittings to bring it into this House, and I can understand the Treasurer’s reluctance to bring this report forward for public scrutiny. While I would never suggest the Treasurer has used creative accounting in this document, you would have to be admired for the creative use of expressions. For example, the Treasurer states: ‘Growth is expected to strengthen to 1.6% in the 2003-04 period’. A very modest prediction, but growth nonetheless. Or is it? Until you read on and find that, in his budget, the Treasurer was actually predicting growth of 3.4%, so halfway through the year, the Treasurer has had to downgrade his prediction by more than 50%. Yet, he still tries to sell it as ‘growth is expected to strengthen’.
The report explains that downward revisions to oil production from Laminaria/Corallina, as well as the impact of delays in production of condensate from Bayu-Undan Stage 1, is largely to blame for the downward revision in growth. As the first Labor Treasurer explained in her first full budget in August 2002, when similar off-shore problems affected the growth figures, it often masks the pick up in onshore growth. The then Treasurer and Chief Minister went on to explain that: ‘Consumption is a good indicator of onshore economic activity’. So then, let us look at what this Treasurer’s mid-year report says about consumption. He says: ‘Private consumption growth is expected to moderate in 2004 after peaking in 2002-03’. He continues: ‘Some easing back is to be expected after such a strong pick up’. Thus, ‘moderate’ equates to ‘easing back’ and are both just euphemisms for private consumption is actually not growing, but falling.
In a similar fashion and creative mood, the Treasurer explains the cut in capital expenditure, not only this year, but into the next three years, not as a cut at all, but rather: ‘A return to more historical levels’. The record amounts bragged of in recent budgets are now revealed to have been driven by the railway and the port projects, both initiatives of the former CLP government.
Similarly with employment growth, this report reveals that the government has had to revise downward its expectations. They are now looking at a 1% growth in employment rather than the 2% predicted in the budget for 2003-04. We on this side have been saying for ages that employment was falling, but the government – and particularly this Treasurer – has had the blinkers on and has preferred to put the blame on ABS for faulty figures. I must say, I did meet a senior ABS official who was in the Territory responding to the assertions made by the Treasurer and the Martin Labor government with regards to the issue being ABS figures. They take that charge very seriously. It does not say much for his, or his government’s, knowledge of what is actually going on when he explains this revised estimate by saying:
We have been telling this government for years now that tourism was suffering and even they began realising it late last year, with a belated injection of funds into the Tourist Commission. Neither the impact of the downturn in tourism, nor the loss of jobs due to the completion of the construction stage of the railway were unexpected. They were obvious to everybody except this government.
Another revision that this report reveals is that the government now concedes that the Territory’s population has been falling. People voting with their feet against the policies, and the impact of the policies, of this Labor government, has meant the population growth for 2003-04 has now been revised downwards from the budget prediction of an increase of 0.7%, to a loss of 0.2%. In fact, the only thing this report is predicting will increase is the cost of living.
There are several other areas that I would like to touch on in relation to this mid-year report from the Treasurer. One is the expected feigned outrage over an alleged cut in the Commonwealth GST funding and how that will mean, in the Treasurer’s words: ‘We can expect a tight 2004-05 budget’. The other is the record of this Labor government’s self-proclaimed rigorous financial management that is expected to produce a surplus or a tiny deficit.
Turning to the last point, which has been in the news again only last week, with a meeting of the Treasurers in Canberra - and I will ignore for the moment that the greatest threat to Territory revenues from GST funding does not come from the Commonwealth government or the Commonwealth Grants Commission assessment, but rather from the Labor comrades of this government in other states. I will ignore that the New South Wales government is spending millions of dollars on an advertising campaign to tell their citizens how much money they are losing to the Territory and other states. I will also ignore the campaign by Labor Premiers and the Treasurers of New South Wales and Victoria to get the whole rationale for the Grants Commission overturned in their favour, which would be to the extreme detriment of the Northern Territory. I will ignore that this Territory Labor Treasurer voted with those states, and against some of the smaller states, to have some form of review of the way the GST revenue is allocated.
When the Grants Commission revision of relativities was announced in the beginning of March, Treasurer Stirling immediately went on the offensive. Look at this press release, 4 March:
That was the first paragraph of the release and it went on:
But what about the facts? What about the reality? In the Grants Commission report, it says that under the previous relativity figure the Northern Territory was estimated to receive in 2003-04, $1.691bn from GST revenue and HCG, which is health care grants. Under the new relativities for 2004-05, the Territory is expected to receive $1.761bn in GST and HCG, an increase of $69.9m. That is a bit different to losing $48m. In fact, it is a positive turn-around of $117.9m.
However, let us take a step back to the Treasurer’s budget books for 2003-04 - very interesting reading. In that, he predicted the combined GST/HCG revenue from the Commonwealth grant would be $1.671bn - $20m less than the Grants Commission estimate. He predicted that, in 2004-05, based on the Treasury’s own estimate of a lower relativity level, the combined GST/HCG funding would be $1.725bn or $36m less than the Grants Commission estimate. So, according to his own expectation in the 2003-04 budget, he is better off to the tune of $56m over the two years just based on the Grants Commission’s estimate. That is not a cut; it is actually an increase.
Let us move forward to the report we are considering today, the Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report. In that, he reports that the GST funding for 2003-04 has increased by $40.7m over what he expected to receive. He says that he expects to receive $1.67bn from GST funding alone in 2004-05, an increase on the 2003-04 figure of $37.7m and an additional $28.1m on what he was expecting when he produced the 2003-04 budget.
The money just keeps flowing in and the Treasurer keeps carping on about not having enough. In the same mid-year report he states that he expects the Commonwealth Grants Commission to lower the relativity levels for the Northern Territory in its review. He, or rather the astute people in the Treasury, predicted that the Grants Commission would lower the relativity level from $4 386 390 to $4.285m and on that basis his report says:
Unfortunately, the answer is the worst possible one: the Treasurer is trying to con Territorians. He is trying to make us believe that somehow even though we are going to be better off to the tune of more than $60m over the two years than he originally expected, somehow or other he does not have enough money to improve education and health services. If he is not going to use all this extra money on those priority areas, where is it going to be spent?
Madam Speaker, just before leaving this particular sorry saga, let me throw in another figure. In this budget for 2003-04, it is predicted that the Territory would receive $1.592bn from the GST; in this mid-year report he upped that to $1.633bn. The latest Commonwealth Treasury figures say it will be $1.648bn. In other words, the Territory will get an unexpected GST bonus this year of more than $55m. To put that in its proper perspective, the total GST funding for 2003-04 will be $133m more than the Territory received in 2002-03. How can you believe anything this Treasurer and this government says about its finances when it cries poor about receiving a 9% increase in its funding from the Commonwealth government?
It is certainly not spending an extra 9% on Territorians. It is certainly not helping business to grow the economy by using these mammoth GST bonuses to ease the tax burden. It is certainly not using the GST rivers of gold on new projects to kick start the economy. Treasurer, just where are you putting this extra money?
I now turn to the second of the points I raised earlier and that is the self proclaimed success of the Labor government as financial managers and I may add, I may also answer some of the questions I have just raised. This mid-year report states that instead of the predicted cash deficit of $24m predicted in the budget of 2003-04, this will be down to a deficit of $1m. Similarly, with the accrual measures for the nett operating balance for the general government sector, this has increased from a predicted surplus of $2m to an expected surplus of $5m according to the mid-year report, and why has this happened? Is it the strong financial management of this government and this Treasurer? Is it the fiscal integrity and transparency of this government and this Treasurer? Or is it, once again, the ever-increasing funding from the GST? The answer is obvious. It is the GST and nothing whatsoever to do with the Treasurer’s ability to balance the books. What is not so obvious is whether the Treasurer has been playing a game of smoke and mirrors in order to create an image of being a good financial manager.
Mr Bonson: He is good all right.
Mr MILLS: Look back at Budget Paper No 2 for 2003-04, if you would like to turn to that, member for Millner. The Treasurer was predicting growth in GST collections of 2.5% for 2003-04 despite the Commonwealth making a much higher prediction. Just to make it clear, let me quote the line from Budget Paper No 2:
This would result in predicted funding of GST revenue of $1.592bn. In the Mid-Year Report, the tune has changed: the Commonwealth was right in its estimates for 2002-03 and, consequently, the Territory’s conservative growth estimate of 2.5% is revised upwards to 6.3%. This will result in GST revenue, according to the Mid-Year Report, of $1.633bn. According to the latest Commonwealth estimates, it will be $1.648bn. It is not hard to be a good financial manager when you have a windfall of more than $55m.
It begs a question: why was the Treasurer’s estimate so low in the first place? Was it because he just did not trust the Commonwealth Treasury’s predictions or was it because he knew that the revenues would be far greater than he was predicting and therefore he would be able to turn around and proclaim what a good Treasurer he was by significantly reducing the deficit? Smart move, but you have been caught out because if this original prediction had been correct, he would be looking at a much larger deficit than what is projected in the budget papers.
As this report reveals, general government operating expenses in 2003-04 have already increased by $45m and that increase does not include the extra $3m for the road network, the extra $7.5m for tourism or the extra $7.3m for the implementation of the police review. No, they were all funded from the Treasurer’s piggy bank as Treasurer’s Advances and, in his words: ‘… do not impact on operating expenses as they have already been accounted for in the 2003-04 Budget’. Operational expenses have increased and, thankfully, so has GST revenue.
Incidentally, I wonder whatever happened to the first Labor Treasurer’s proclamation that departments would be given strict budgets and CEOs would have sign off on those budgets and not exceed them. It would seem to have gone the way of most of Labor’s promises, that is, discarded, thrown out, ignored, when the reality of government finally dawned on them. As the present Treasurer said in this place as recently as 18 February:
Contrast that with the comments of the first Labor Treasurer in the mini-budget of 2001-02, and I quote:
The Chief Minister and then Treasurer went on:
If you look at page 26 of this Mid-Year Report, you find that 16 of the 24 agencies and departments listed under ‘General Government’ have increased their spending between the budget being handed down and now. How many CEOs have been spoken to about not producing financial outcomes within their annual budget? Or is the Chief Minister’s policy now inoperative?
Another measure that is helping this government to pretend to be good financial managers is that, not only is GST continuing to fund their deficits, but their own tax take is continuing to rise. The forecast that the Labor government’s tax take will be up more than $10m on what he took from Territorians in 2003, even with the abolition of the infamous car tax, and according to the Treasurer’s quarterly financial report published 17 March, the tax grab could be more than $20m higher than in 2002-03. That report shows that taxation revenue for 2003-04 to the end of December is well up on what was expected.
With taxes up and the GST providing more and more money, even this inept government can expect to come out smelling like roses as a financial manager. It is a false assumption and one built on creative language and the careful use of figures. It paints a picture of a Territory government that appears to know what it is doing and an economy that is just humming along. Neither is true, and a close analysis of this report clearly shows that. Taxes are up, growth is easing and the economy and Territorians are suffering. No amount of figures and charts can contradict the physical evidence we see every day in the Darwin CBD with closed shops, restaurants and businesses. This government must get its head around the real state of the economy and the plight of Territorians and begin spending the GST bonuses on real works and real developments. If it does not, then while we may be able to produce fine accounting books, there will be no one around to read them.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, it is a pity that I did not quite catch everything the Leader of the Opposition was saying there, but it was enough to respond pretty much on most of the comments he made.
In relation to this question of gross state product and how accurate a measure it is of economic activity in the Northern Territory, previously, I guess, it was the effect of Laminaria, in terms of offshore activity, a major project in dollar terms with the ability to skew quite markedly the effect of gross state product in the Northern Territory. When Laminaria was at its peak, the figures would look very good, but not necessarily having anywhere near the same marked effect of onshore activity as the figures reflected in the gross state product figure would suggest. We saw that over many years in the latter period of the Country Liberal Party government, where gross state product figures came down and, in part, to the declining activity coming out of Laminaria.
Similarly, with this mid-year report, where the original prediction was that the condensate production from Bayu-Undan would kick in to full production in the June quarter 2004, so that it would have been reflected in the latter part of the 2003-04 gross state product figure. That was put back until later in the year, and those figures now will reflect in the 2004-05 gross state product figure. You have to understand and treat that objectively in the sense that it can be a very misleading figure of what is happening, economic activity onshore, and in particular, major projects such as Laminaria, and in this case, it is the condensate production from Bayu-Undan. There is nothing new about that. It is something that the Territory has had to live with over quite some years.
The comments in and around the population, and the population is of concern to us, and it is a concern on a number of fronts. I was genuine this morning, when I raised this question of the last Census undertaken and this government’s view that the figures were wrong, they simply were not an accurate count of the Territory’s population. I raised it at the Treasurers’ conference last year. Treasurer Costello, to his credit, said, ‘Look, we are not trying to rob you. If you think there is a real problem, we will arrange for you to work with ABS to get a more accurate count if you believe you are being badly done by’. Credit to him, and this is why I say I have confidence in him that he will follow through when he says, ‘I will get back to you, I will consider it’, because the Chief Minister and I were quite recently able to meet with the national head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one Dennis Trewin. We went through, at some length, the logistical difficulties of the census in the Northern Territory.
I can give a quite vivid example, I suppose. Members may recall at the time of the last census, there was quite prominent advertising by the ABS and the Commonwealth government that the census was coming. They used the jingle – it was an old song - Stand up and be Counted. It was quite strident note. A muso like the Leader of the Opposition would remember that song, Stand up and be Counted. I have a friend at Galiwinku who has lived and worked there for many years and is related and adopted by families there. She was given one of those subcontracts, or jobs if you like, by ABS to participate in the Galiwinku count of the census. She thought she would start with the family she knows best - that is her own family - and she gathered the paperwork. They would help her and they would get the message across to the sector of the community for which she was responsible.
She went there and she spoke to relations at the door. There was a bit of yelling out the front and a bit of toing-and-froing, and the house emptied. They were all lined up on the road from grandpa down to the very little one. She said: ‘This is fine’. ‘Well, you can count us; we are standing up to be counted’. That is not a joke; that is the literal understanding of the message that those communities got: stand up and be counted. And they did and stood up in a big row. She said: ‘There is a little more to it than that. I cannot simply go along and count one to 18. There is a bit of paperwork’.
Of course, we all know what the extent of the census form runs to, and the ability to capture all of that information in a given period of time. It is actually a little easier - in some ways it is a bit like mobile polling where you vote at a little community on Monday, and you are going to the next community on Tuesday to find out that they have all gone back to the community that you voted at yesterday, because the Northern Land Council has arranged a meeting to discuss some mining venture or something like that. Therefore, you miss out on that whole cohort because you do not get the opportunity to then go back. It is easier in the census because they have a window of opportunity; they have more than a day or more than a few hours such as we have in mobile polling.
However, we went through these issues with the head of ABS, and he was interested to hear, first-hand, some of the difficulties that the Northern Territory confronts in this area. As I said, I am appreciative of Treasurer Costello and his work with ABS to get them to come up here and talk to us about that. Our government has given an undertaken to ABS that we will work with them in whatever way we can in order to get what we believe is needed: a much more accurate count.
It goes further than that as well. This is one that former Treasurer Reed used to rail on about, and quite rightly. That is the inter-census count or the year-to-year of population where they do quarterly counts. It relies very heavily on - of all things - the registration of Medicare. If you have, for example, older people perhaps leaving the Northern Territory interstate permanently – perhaps retirees - one of the things they are likely to do among all the things you do when you change address: if you are older, you are more likely to go along and change your address with Medicare because you do not want to get mucked around if you are going to have to access medical services. That is fine; Mr and Mrs Brown leave Wulagi in the northern suburbs and travel down to the Gold Coast for retirement. On arrival in Queensland, they go along to register a change of address at the Medicare office. As quick as lightening, Mr and Mrs Brown come off the Northern Territory and off their Wulagi address, and they are now registered with Medicare at Smith Street, Gold Coast. That has the effect, of course, of the Northern Territory having two people – if there are two in the family - leaving the Northern Territory, and Queensland has the advantage of plus two under their system.
The problem is when we have, as we have had in the past, a major influx of much younger people seeking work - backpackers if you like in the tourist industry or construction workers travelling around Australia picking up work on the major construction sites - they are young, they are fit, they are virile, and they are healthy. The last thing on their mind, probably, is the need to change their Medicare address, because they will take on anything and they are not going to get crook and they are not going to need the medical system. Now, if they were registered somewhere else in Australia, they do not come off, because they do not reregister here and they certainly do not go onto the Northern Territory. We believe there has to be better ways and more ways of enumerating a population shift between states than simply relying on the Medicare records. It is misleading in a jurisdiction like the Northern Territory, and it affects us so much more than anywhere else.
So there are a couple of areas in which we probably get pretty badly disadvantaged. I was happy to meet, as I said, with the Chief Minister, with Dennis Trewin. He gave us the opportunity to put some of those issues on the table and a willingness to work much more closely with him to get a better understanding on both sides, with a view of course and the end game being, let’s be fair dinkum about the population in the Northern Territory.
It is estimated to have increased by 266 persons, just 0.1 of 1% in the September quarter 2003 to 198 617. That is a quarterly population increase of 0.1 and an annual increase of 0.2. That ranked equal sixth with South Australia followed by the ACT which showed minus 0.08. The major driver of that decline is that nett movement of people to other jurisdictions through interstate migration. I saw a comment, and I think it was picked up by the member for Brennan, from one of the academics at Charles Darwin University saying quite clearly that we are losing the people who contribute to the labour market, contribute to wealth in the Northern Territory. My question to him would be, how would he know? I do not know that the academic at Charles Darwin University checked anywhere. I think it was something that he had formed a view on and I do not know on what basis. Again, Madam Speaker, you would want a little more accurate picture, I think, than what we had in the Northern Territory about the nature of people leaving.
What we need to remember as well, is that the historic pattern of nett interstate migration is one of consistent out-plays, except for that period of the defence build up during 1995 to 1998. On average, nett interstate migration subtracted 920 persons per annum from the Territory population growth over the past two years. That has gotten worst and that is obviously a concern to the government. But, again, how accurate is that in terms of how well the incoming picked up in relation to the methodology the Australian Bureau of Statistics use?
But to say it is all just happened in the last couple of years, it is a consistent pattern over the past 10 years that we have to address. The key to population growth is economic growth and that is the bottom line, and that is what this government is working towards.
Predictions around the GST - and the Leader of the Opposition had a bit to say about this. It is notoriously difficult for everyone in the formative years of the growth of the pool and settling it down, it is a new system, almost impossible to estimate in the first instance. It is bounced around from year to year. But certainly, Access Economics has a view that the Commonwealth estimates looking forward are too high and I think you would have to agree with that, if the construction in residential housing across Australia, that boom and that bubble, if that is coming off what is unsustainable in the longer term, you would have to say that the growth in GST will dissipate, and will dissipate quite markedly if construction comes off the peak across the national level.
The question I have is, if the Leader of the Opposition cannot see that a $48m loss to the Northern Territory is going to impact severely on the budget, then he really does need to think again. The dollar growth from 2003-04 to 2004-05 from the Grants Commission is just a $16m increase to the Northern Territory, a $16m increase. It is about 1% against the $1664m that the Northern Territory will receive.
What the Leader of the Opposition has to tell me is what do I say to the Australian Education Union when they come through the door later this year or early next to negotiate their Enterprise Bargaining Agreement? What do I say to the CPSU and the general government sector when they come through the door much earlier, about mid-year I think, for their EBA? What do we say to the police? They are due in the latter part of this year. Do we sit down with the unions and say: ‘Yes, we recognise your two or three year EBA is up. Guess what? We got 1% from the Commonwealth. So, we are open for business and the parameter is 1%’. I know how far and how long you will last in the room with an opening statement like that: ‘Let’s talk parameters; government got 1% extra out of Canberra. How are you going to go selling that to your members? You are going to have to settle for just 1% increase in your EBA this year’.
Wage movements across Australia, certainly in the public sector, are well in excess of that. Not knowing and not trying to predict what the EBA outcomes will be because it is subject to negotiation across those groups later in the year, but you would have to say, and I would lay any odds, that those EBAs are going to be significantly more than 1% per annum.
The Leader of the Opposition asked this morning and again this evening what we have done with all the money. The agencies of Health and Education have had significant budgetary increases in the time this government has been in office. We all know the reason why Tourism received what is a huge increase in their annual budget allocation, $27.5m over the next three years, $7.5m of it going out this year and every cent of it needed to restore tourism to its rightful place as a strong runner in economic activity in the Northern Territory. Police, we know, are receiving $75m over three years to bolster what was a badly run down police force.
I am not sure what points the Leader of the Opposition was making in relation to CEOs and agencies, but I am pretty proud, and all ministers would be, of the way CEOs and agencies have worked with government in the climate of the first few years of this government. We well knew that prior to our election, agencies would be knocking on the door of government relatively early in the financial year saying that they were not going to make the line. I used to be told every year, normally around September, October or November, only the first few months of that financial year, that Education is not going make the line; they are already $5m behind. You would meet up with the person a few weeks later and now it is at $8m. We used to get similar stories from Health, which would suggest that there was a consistent line across funding of these agencies and that the base funding was not right in the first place.
So, it was the base funding in the first place combined with perhaps a lack of discipline from government down, I do not know; you are not close enough from opposition to say exactly what happened, but it was no secret that the major agencies in particular and often some of the smaller ones would be knocking on government’s door quite early into the financial year saying that they were not going to make the line. It does not happen with that frequency under this government. We have been pretty pleased with the way agencies have responded and the way CEOs have handled their responsibilities and budgets.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his comments. I invite him to a briefing on this question of population, on the role of ABS, on the role of the next census because what happened in the 2001 Census was that the population base drawn as they did then – and we say inaccurately – meant that there was a loss of revenue to the Territory not just then, but all the way through until the next census in 2006. That is what drives us to work closely with ABS to make sure that we get the 2006 figure far more accurate than we suspect they have done in the past. If we were not to be in office in 2006 when the next census comes around, I implore the other side to adopt the same strategy and work cooperatively and as closely with ABS as you possibly can. It is in the interests of the Territory that ABS count every little Territorian as accurately as they possibly can.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to talk about Vince Collins, a name that would be familiar to every member of this House. I preface my remarks by saying that Vince Collins handed out how-to-vote cards for the Labor party in my electorate during the last election, so there is nothing in this personally for me, but I do believe that where an issue of natural justice is involved that it is incumbent that we do everything possible to ensure that that is afforded.
Without going through the detail of the history of the saga of Vince Collins and the Northern Territory government and a company called Australian Essential Oils, essentially, Mr Collins claims that, since 1995, he had an enforceable agreement with the Northern Territory government to harvest the park known as the Howard River Park for the purpose of harvesting essential oils, and that the Northern Territory government, in conjunction with Australian Essential Oils, breached that contract. Also, and concurrently with that, that the Northern Territory government continued to deal in a patent, allowed patent rights to be taken away from Mr Collins and used by another company, knowing that those patent rights belonged to Mr Collins. Those are the allegations that Mr Collins has made over many years, and certainly everyone in this House would be familiar in one way or another with that particular issue.
The reason I rise tonight, in speaking about Mr Collins, is to refer to comments that were made by the current Attorney-General on 18 February 1999, and subsequently on 28 April 1999. It is clearly on the Hansard record. It is worth recalling the comments the Attorney-General made at that time, comments that certainly persuaded Mr Collins that he would be afforded natural justice by an incoming Labor government if that happened to occur, and it did, after that particular election that he would be provided that natural justice. In those two adjournment speeches, the Attorney-General gave a very clear and concise history of the dealings that had been done with Mr Collins. It is obviously open to legal advice as to whether or not his assumptions were accurate or not. However, I can say that, on the documentation that I have now had the opportunity to review fully, he provides a very compelling case. His case is also backed up by a Queens Counsel’s legal opinion.
The current Attorney-General, in opposition at that time, had this to say about Vince Collins and the whole saga, and I quote in part:
The current Attorney-General said at that time:
He then goes on to say it could be resolved by commonsense negotiations and he calls on the ministers involved at that time, the minister for primary industry and the Deputy Chief Minister, to look at it and get some sort of arrangement in place with Vince Collins so that this valuable resource can be used for the benefit of Territorians. He goes on to say:
On 28 April 1999, in re-visiting this debate, he said:
These are the sorts of undertakings that the current Attorney-General made to Mr Collins and in this parliament at that time. Clearly, an Attorney-General who believed he had a legal case that was convincing and, certainly, he gave clear indications that it should be resolved and it would be resolved, if he ever had the possibility to do so.
What has happened since then is that the Labor government and the man who spoke so passionately on Mr Collins’s behalf, has had all of the resources of government at his disposal, all of the legal advice to either dissuade him or convince him of the view at that time at his disposal, and all of the opportunity to resolve this situation satisfactorily on behalf of all parties. The end result is that, in the face of a Queen’s Counsel advice saying that Mr Collins has an enforceable agreement with the Northern Territory government with regards to the 5 plus 5 contract, in the QC’s opinion, and that contract was binding on the Northern Territory government, and also in spite of the advice that he believes that Vince Collins has suffered a significant loss in the order of millions of dollars, what has this government done about it? This government has offered Vince Collins $375 000 in hush money - hush money - to walk away, and also give an indemnity to the Northern Territory government that there will be no further action or comment by Vince Collins on this particular matter.
If it was a disgrace before, it is a bigger disgrace now, because the documentation that I now have and that has been in the hands of the current Attorney-General for some time - certainly more than I have since he has become Attorney-General - clearly shows that, whilst there were processes that were questionable in the Northern Territory government prior to my time as Chief Minister and also during my time as Chief Minister and Attorney-General, we were trying to work through the situation to get a resolution on the matter. The documentation clearly shows that we were looking to put out a block to tender to enable Mr Collins to compete for that tender so that that process could be recommenced and he could get a fair go in clearing blocks in the Northern Territory. We did not reach that stage because that sort of decision of government was in process; documentation was provided to Mr Collins and to Australian Essential Oils to say that their miscellaneous licences would no longer stay in place, but that we will put them out for tender.
Yet, since the Labor government has come to power, nothing has transpired. Nothing has been done for Mr Collins. Mr Collins, in the meantime, now has an indisputable world-wide patent on his product; a product that is estimated in the Northern Territory to be worth probably the best part of $45m over the next few years, if he is given a chance to get his operation into production.
The other organisations that were involved, including Australian Essential Oils, have now departed the scene, and until Mr Collins can get a satisfactory resolution, we have a major discovery in the Northern Territory, a discovery promoted by the current Attorney-General that should be used for the benefit of Territorians, sitting idle. The most that this government can do for Mr Collins, the government that has championed this cause, is to offer him $375 000 in hush money.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it was a disgrace before and it is a bigger disgrace now. I would echo the words of the Opposition Leader and current Attorney-General at that time and say, let us get a resolution to this matter. Vince Collins clearly does not have the resources to go to court and fight the Northern Territory government to obtain the justice that I certainly believe he rightly deserves. It is not an issue of pointing the finger at anyone. It is an issue of let us get this product available to Territorians. I understand that Mr Collins has even gone so far as to offer the Northern Territory government 10% of royalties on this particular product, which seems to me to be a pretty good offer.
All he wants is the issue resolved and fair compensation paid for the detriment that he suffered, so that this thing can be put behind him. On the information that I have received, $375 000 is a trifling offer considering the detriment just in terms of the sale of his house and the loss of his wife’s business alone, let alone Vince Collins. It is a trifling amount of money to offer him. I believe that he has demonstrated by his persistence and his unshakeable belief in his patent rights to this product, and his unshakeable right that he had a binding contract with the Northern Territory government, that if it ever got to court he would win. If it ever got to court I believe that he would win and he would win handsomely against the Northern Territory government, and no one wants it to get to that stage.
What I believe we should be doing is supporting Mr Collins, seeing that we can put this issue behind us, and making sure that we get this product as a Territory product, and market it world wide on behalf of Territorians. I understand he wants to call it True Blue Oils and in that case, I think he has pretty well proved his bona fides. He is true blue in that his integrity has never changed.
I believe that for all of the comments that any of us might have made against Vince Collins in the past, he has had an unshakeable belief that he was right and he has pursued that belief. I believe that over time, he has not only convinced commentators, including the media, whom I understand are particularly interested in this whole saga; but he is certainly now backed up by a world wide patent that no one can take from him. That product will never hit the market in any shape or form unless Vince Collins says so, and Vince Collins is comfortable with the arrangements that are put in place. All of that power I believe lies in the hands of the Northern Territory and the Northern Territory government.
With that plea, I ask that the Attorney-General to look back on his comments in 1999, reflect on the passion that he had in support of Vince Collins then, and re-energise himself with that same passion, and let us get this issue behind us.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, as you are aware, every 21 March Australia celebrates Harmony Day. In the Territory we expanded Harmony Day to Harmony Month, so the month of March is a Harmony Month. We celebrated various activities; we organised those activities, and we had significant community participation. This year, we had about 55 applications for funding and about 23 schools and 28 community groups applied for funding. In total they received about $40 000 of funding.
I am very pleased to say that two schools in my electorate, Alawa Primary School and Nakara Primary School, celebrated Harmony Day. Alawa Primary School celebrated on the Friday, 19 March. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this school because I had organised a long time ago to go to Gove to the Alcan mine site. I missed out but my colleague, the member for Sanderson, attended on my behalf. He told me it was a very interesting celebration. The children enjoyed it and there were many parents in attendance.
On Monday 22 March, I spent the morning with Nakara Primary School students who have a very innovative way of celebrating. Every child brings a plate from their country of origin and they have a multicultural breakfast. It was interesting to see children bringing food from India, Greece, China, and, of course, from Australia. There was a significant variety of foods, much of it prepared by the parents, and all the children enjoyed it. What really impressed me was some of the work the children had written. They stood up and read about what Harmony Day meant to them. Callun Hooley of Year 6/7 at Nakara wrote:
Mitchell Bryan and Alexander Rofe from Year 6/7 wrote:
Grace Murphy, Year 7 Nakara School, wrote:
Leonie Yeh from Year 7 wrote:
That was very impressive writing coming from young children of 10 or 11 years old. What is impressive is that these schools are some of the most multicultural schools in Australia and in Darwin where children of Aboriginal background sit next to children of Chinese background, Italian, Greek and they all see each others as friends and colleagues. They do not see where they are coming from. They do not see the colour of their skin, what their beliefs are or if they speak with an accent or not, and that was very impressive.
I also visited Central Australia last week, and was invited to a Harmony Day event at the Ross Park Primary School. Ross Park Primary School received a Harmony Day grant to carry out such project, employing a dance tutor to work with a group of students with challenging behaviours to produce and perform a multicultural dance. Most impressive was that all the dancers were boys seven, eight and nine years old. Usually, you do not see boys performing dance but this was really very interesting.
The special event took place at a special assembly last Friday, 26 March, and I was very proud to attend it. I was surprised, and I suppose disappointed, that unfortunately the local member, the member for Greatorex, was not present. I know that it was the middle of the day and people have their work, but I wish he was there because both of us come from a non-English speaking background and to go there and celebrate Harmony Day with the children would have been a really big event.
The boys were brilliant dancers. They brought back memories. They danced to Solid Rock, which I can remember when I was growing up, and their teacher, Dwayne Tickner, was brilliant because he brought the boys together and he taught them how to dance and they gave a great performance. I acknowledge the school Principal, Sue Crowe, for inviting me to attend. It was lovely to stand before all the smiling faces and to meet parents and staff. There were about 50 parents there. With 290 students, Ross Park Primary is a very close knit community, so much so that three generations of families still attend the school. The Price family have two generations attending. Dave and Bess Price spoke about Harmony Day and how important it is in our community. Their daughter attended Ross Park Primary and now their grandson is a student at the school.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank Senior Constable Phil Clapin, the school-based constable, and Bev O’Callaghan, the Aboriginal and Islander Educational Worker, who are both doing fantastic jobs with the students. Actually, the school based constable is prepared to do a course or to interest young boys in getting involved with cars, learning to drive and to fix motors – anything to keep boys occupied so that they do not fall into bad company and start creating problems with other students and in the communities. A big thanks to the Ross Park Primary School for inviting me to take part in their Harmony Day which I enjoyed very much.
Every month, I give awards to the best students in the primary schools in my electorate. I try to promote reading, and the prizes are gift vouchers from the book shops in Casuarina Shopping Square. I am very pleased to say, from Alawa Primary School this month, Thanasi Tiliakos received the award for always smiling, being willing to help others in need and being a worthy role model; Jack Doughty for developing a more mature and committed approach to his school work. From Nakara Primary, Jesse Neave for being a thoughtful and helpful class member, and Louisa Baker-Jones for making a huge effort to attend and to get work done. Keep trying, Louisa.
I should also mention my trip to Katherine. I had a fantastic time meeting with the Cattlemen’s Association at their general meeting. We had a great dinner, and next morning visiting, with my family, Katherine Farm, where I suppose my children for the first time in their lives had seen a Brahman bull alive and not in a photograph. They were apprehensive to touch it, but they were happy after that. Also, the snake charmers, if I could call them that, had a beautiful selection of pythons, but the kids were very pleased to touch them. They were going to present a show at about 11 o’clock and had to postpone it because they had about a hundred children all trying to touch the snakes at the same time, which made the snakes a bit nervous.
It was a great day, and we thank the member for Katherine for awarding the best scarecrow prize to one of the schools – I think the child was very impressed. It is a very good opportunity for rural communities to get together, and for people from the big city to come down and see how people in small communities live, especially for young children to become familiar with rural communities and see animals first-hand. I read that somewhere in America they asked children where milk comes from, and quite a significant number of children actually said that milk comes from a box. It appears to be the case now that our society has become so estranged from rural society that children now are really surprised to find that milk actually comes from a real animal, a cow.
Thanks to Katherine for the hospitality – it was a great time. It was a bit wet. The water table was about two metres above ground level, but we certainly enjoyed the visit to Katherine.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to express to this Assembly my disgust and the extreme disappointment of hundreds of students, parents, teachers and community citizens of Katherine and the surrounding regions, which covers thousands of square kilometres, at the refusal of financial support by the Martin Labor government to hold a Croc Festival in Katherine. The festival is planned for three days in August this year. Planning for this event occurs over a long period of time, and a committee in Katherine has been working towards this event for the past 12 months to ensure that the festival has maximum impact and reaches as many students and teachers as possible.
I would like to present to this Assembly a history of the Croc Festival so that everyone is very clear about how it began, how it has developed and what the benefits and outcomes are for the young people who have been fortunate enough to experience one of these festivals. In 1997, the Minister for Health in Queensland, Mike Horan, asked the producers of the very successful Rock Eisteddfod Challenge if they could find a way to get more indigenous people engaged. As a result, the producers toured the Cape York communities with several Queensland health workers, and designed an event which would motivate and inspire young people on the Cape and in the Torres Strait. The first event was staged in Weipa in July 1998, with 17 schools and 350 students attending. The Governor-General opened the festival, with Dr Evelyn Scott, Professor Gus Nossell, and several Queensland ministers in attendance which, of course, recognised the significance of the festival.
Since 1998, the festival has developed to involve many different activities during the day, with school performances on the professional stage in the evening in front of thousands of local community members. From 1999 to 2003, the event grew into other regions of Australia, and last year 12 277 students from 277 schools attended the seven festivals staged at Thursday Island, Tennant Creek, Derby, Kalgoorlie, Port Augusta, Swan Hill and Moree. Alice Springs first staged the event in 2000 at the request of the NT Education Department to assist with the provision of stage, lights and sound equipment for a schools concert, to coincide with the Olympic torch departing Alice Springs.
Despite the fact that, at that time, no Northern Territory government funding was made available to assist with the cost of producing either the festival or the school concert on the following day, Indigenous Festivals of Australia Ltd proceeded with the production of the festival and the concert in good faith, for the benefit of the young people who were travelling in from the remote schools.
In 2001, the federal Coalition promised to fund approximately 60% of the cost of producing seven festivals per year, for four years. This funding was conditional that the states and Territory contributed significant monies to the cost of producing the events. In 2002, Indigenous Festivals of Australia scheduled the production of the Croc Festival in Nhulunbuy, and the Northern Territory government provided $60 000 towards the cost of producing this event; 785 students from 16 schools attended the event, which equates to an investment of $76 per student. In 2003, the Croc Festival was produced in Tennant Creek for the benefit of 950 students from 28 schools, with funding from the Northern Territory government of $42 000, equating to an investment of $44 per student.
Indigenous Festivals of Australia is expecting some 2000 students from 62 schools to attend the planned Katherine event which, with support from the Northern Territory government of $100 000, would equate to an investment of $50 per student. Taking into consideration the beneficial outcomes that have been documented since the festival began in 1998, that investment is minuscule.
I will outline how the Croc Festival benefits our students by detailing the involvement of the Croc Festival organising committee and what they have had to do with the Katherine organising committee. In the fourth term of last year, Katherine and surrounding area schools were advised of the dates of the festival for 2004, and invited to express their intention to enter. Having received expressions to enter the festival, the production office sent production books to the schools, along with their login code for the Croc Festival database system. The production office has since been in regular contact with schools to answer any questions about the event. In term 2 of this year, all students will receive a Croc Festival work book, which has been developed in consultation with teachers, to link the curriculum to the festival to give the students something to work towards. From this time until the festival, students are involved in preparing their production number for the festival as well as other materials which are relevant to the festival. Most students who have expressed their interest in participating in this year’s Croc Festival have begun their activities in term 1, and are eagerly looking forward to participating with hundreds of other students.
Students and teachers will travel to the festival in the days prior to the event and camp in army tents provided.
While schools are preparing in their communities, the production team works with the hosting community to bring together all the necessary elements to stage the event. The production team will arrive in Katherine with its specialised equipment and prepare the site on the days prior to the event. As schools arrive and register, each student will receive their festival pack which includes a backpack, a water bottle, a festival magazine, lunch box, calculator, ruler, pencil case and baseball hat.
The first evening sees the croc disco ice-breaker, which is held on the professional stage built for the event. During the following days, many activities are held during the day such as the Health Expo, I Want to Be workshop, OPSM Eye Care activity, the Australian Hearing Foundation, Careers Market, Questacon, National Aboriginal Sports Corporation of Australia, performing and visual arts activities, cultural activities, Young Achievement Australia, vocational training and, of course, choreographers are provided to each school and other activities pertaining to the area are added closer to the festival.
At the end of the festival the students return to their communities where they perform for their families and friends, write stories and look at the video of their performance which is given to the schools along with a framed gold CD. One of the outcomes of the festival is in the area of education where students are motivated to attend and stay at school, inspired to set goals and work towards them increase their self esteem, confidence and pride, become more resilient, improve their oral communication skills, and very importantly, make friends with students from other communities. They get to see the bigger picture, respect their teachers more, improve their problem solving skills and, very importantly, learn about team work.
The Croc Festival has worked very closely with the educators in the Katherine region to ensure the content and type of activity planned for students at the Croc Fest is relevant and specific to the curriculum being taught. The students are already learning about and working towards this festival in this first term of school.
Other areas of beneficial outcomes for the festival participants include health where students increase their awareness of issues associated with tobacco, alcohol, drugs, nutrition, cleanliness, mental health, and depression. In the area of employment, students learn about the educational requirements of each trade and profession and also that if they stay in school to obtain the skills necessary to get a job that there will be jobs available for them. Another important area addressed is the arts where students learn about visual and performing art, get the opportunity to perform on a professional stage in front of thousands of people, and provide training opportunities for the students who are interested in the arts as a career. The Croc Festival arts activities would complement the excellent work that Arts Katherine has provided through project development for Katherine residents and its surrounding regional and remote communities over the last several years.
Over the past two years they have delivered a high profile projects in regional remote areas and the projects have been Let’s go to the Outback, The Dream Fest and Slow Tucker Long Yarn. Many of these projects have been recognised interstate. Many of Arts Katherine projects are based at community schools and school principals acknowledge the benefit to their students and the community that the projects have stimulated. They are also keen to build on these benefits to provide on-going benefits and inspiration to school children teachers and community elders. One of the outcomes of the project implemented by Arts Katherine has been the students’ eagerness to participate in future development in the arts which in turn has resulted in an improved attendance at schools and considerable increase in self confidence and determination. The Croc Festival’s activities reinforce all the benefits and encourage further participation in the arts.
Additional benefits to Croc Festival participants is students learning respect for fauna and the environment, community members working together towards a common goal of producing an exciting event for young people, and participants are part of a national youth event. The festival provides the opportunity for government agencies, federal, state and local, to work together and school communities have been strengthened as they prepare for the performances and the travel to the festival.
An important factor to consider is the evidence of other festival towns that show that crime rates drop during the weeks before, during and after the festival which reinforces that our youth, if they have interesting and stimulating activities to be involved in, are diverted from practices that lead them getting into trouble, usually through boredom. The staging of the Croc Festival in Katherine would be an enormous boost to our economy and all members of this Assembly are well aware that Katherine’s economy has suffered dramatically over the past couple of years and businesses have suffered accordingly.
I am bitterly disappointed, to say the least, that this Martin Labor government has not recognised the economic benefits to Katherine and the Northern Territory of this festival.
Let me remind you of how we would benefit: through the hire of equipment, for example forklift trucks, cranes, marquees, generators, toilets, showers, the use of local light and sound equipment, local crews and security firms, local facilitators, local caterers, local car and truck rental companies. Accommodation providers would be at capacity, which would be a nice change. Tourism operators would benefit from the increased numbers to our town, not to mention the purchases of fuel and food.
The estimated cost of the additional requirements to run the Croc Festival in Katherine are around $150 000, which would be extremely welcome by the community. The cost to produce this professional event which complies with all occupational health and safety requirements and has proven to be a great success requires substantial community support in addition to financial support. The support we would get includes Indigenous Festivals of Australia which has already confirmed funding for the Katherine Croc Festival with 10 departments from the Australian government committing $219 284; ATSIS Katherine Regional Council, $15 000; Katherine Town Council, $30 000; NT PowerWater, $5000; OPSM, $7142; Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Council, $42 857; and Health Insurance Commission, $7000. That totals $326 283 and Indigenous Festivals Australia has been refused financial support of $100 000 by the Martin Labor government despite proven evidence of the benefits and outcomes of previous Croc Festivals.
The refusal of this government to meet the approximate 25% only shortfall of overall funding to run this festival shows contempt for the students and is an unbelievable slap in the face for Territory youth at the commencement of National Youth Week.
The Martin Labor government has said it recognises the value of all young people in National Youth Week and that young Territorians make a great contribution to our community and the rest of Australia and that it is important that we all listen and acknowledge their voice in society. The government has also said that as part of our celebrations for 25 years of self-government in the Northern Territory, it is fitting that our young people are recognised as an essential part of building a brighter and better future. Those statements, followed by this government’s attitude to over 2000 school students who have committed to this year’s planned Katherine Croc Festival, demonstrate hypocrisy and arrogance at its best.
When this festival was held in Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek, there was not one negative comment in this House and only positive outcomes and benefits have been expressed by the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly. These members are part of the refusal to allow over 2000 school children the same opportunity in Katherine.
A school teacher at Katherine High School has attended Croc Festivals in Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and Kununurra, taking a total of 47 students with her. As a result of her experience, she has compiled …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, your time has expired.
Mrs MILLER: May I have extra time?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, there is no extension of time.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to speak about Colin Dyer, who recently retired from the Northern Territory Public Service and I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution that he made to the Department of Health and Community Services.
Colin came to the Territory in 1970 to work as a medical scientist in the Commonwealth Health Laboratory as the pathology laboratory at the old Darwin Hospital was then known. It is a fairly common story: he told his friends and family that they could expect him back in two years’ time. Thirty-four years later, he is still here.
Colin worked in the haematology section of the Darwin Hospital laboratory until the middle of 1974. During that time, he established a range of new procedures in the lab that meant that some tests, which until then had to be sent to a southern laboratory, could now be done in Darwin. In 1974, he left the laboratory to help establish Darwin’s first private pathology laboratory. In the event, this turned out not to be the smartest of moves, as Cyclone Tracy not only wrecked the fledgling laboratory, but also caused the evacuation of Darwin, which meant that the new laboratory was unviable. Colin rejoined the staff in the lab at Darwin Hospital in 1975.
It was at this time that Colin started stepping out, as they used to say coyly, with Mary, another medical scientist in the lab. They married in 1978 and they are still stepping out together. Mary, too, has just retired from work after more than 30 years work in the lab. In 1979, Colin had what he describes as the first of his mid-life crises, when he decided to study social work. He says this was the result of a visit to Britain where he saw the social changes happening there.
In 1983, Colin rejoined the Northern Territory Public Service, as it had become by then, as a community welfare worker in the Community Welfare Division of the then Department of Community Development. The members were all told that the old Department of Community Development was amalgamated with the then Department of Health, the former Department of Health and Community Services. The welfare division morphed into Family and Community Services. While working with Family and Community Services, Colin held a range of positions. He has been a case worker, a case work supervisor, an office manager and a program manager. He has been a policy officer and senior policy advisor.
He has worked mainly in Darwin, but has also spent varying lengths of time working in FACS offices in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy. Over the years, in fact, Colin developed something of an expert status when it came to the Community Welfare Act. Indeed, I understand that on some occasions when departmental staff sought a legal opinion on some aspects of the act, they were referred to Colin Dyer. Such is the regard in which he was held in this sphere, that he was asked to write the chapter on child welfare law in the second edition of the Northern Territory Law Handbook.
Between 1994 and 1996, Colin represented the Northern Territory on the National Child Protection Council. This council developed a national strategy for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. The Commonwealth and all states and territories endorsed this strategy but, sadly, it was abandoned with a change in federal government and the National Council was abolished.
Apart from his work in FACS, Colin worked for a year as an advisor in the office of my predecessor, and then as Director of Ministerial Liaison in the Department of Health and Community Services. All the members on this side of the House and almost all of the members on the other side of the House know Colin as a died in the wool Labor Party member. Last year, he was honoured with life membership of the ALP. But for all that he has committed to the Labor Party cause, he has also been acutely aware of the responsibility of a public servant: to serve the government of the day.
As a Senior Policy Advisor in FACS, Colin has prepared untold numbers of high quality briefings for all his ministers. These have been included, in no particular order, Don Dale, Steve Hatton, Ian Tuxworth, Mike Reed, Barry Coulter, Fred Finch and, in this House, the members for Brennan, Drysdale and Nightcliff, as well as myself.
As Colin and Mary commence the next phase of their life, travelling to distant parts of the world, I am sure you will join me in wishing them well in their retirement.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I also pay tribute to many hard working achievers in my electorate. Recently, I was privileged to accompany my colleague, the Minister for Health, to Gunbalanya to officially launch the School Breakfast Program at the school there. This program, which is being piloted in five remote community schools, is one of our government’s priorities in its new framework, Building Healthier Communities. This government is serious about giving kids a good start in life, specifically as part of a broader focus upon improving Aboriginal health.
We know that the first few years of life are hugely important for kids’ health throughout their lives, and this is a very good, practical program that can help the children of the community get a good start in life through a good start to the school day.
Since the trial has begun, we are aware that it has had a positive impact on school attendance, and that students are in a better state to achieve important learning outcomes. The program can only work with significant community input and ownership, and I am pleased to say this is the case at Gunbalanya. The leadership in the school community at Gunbalanya is in the very capable hands of Esther Djaygurna, a strong supporter of the program. Esther, an outstanding indigenous educator, is well supported by her senior teacher, Maree Timms, and her school breakfast program workers, Elizabeth Fredericks and Karen Klatt. The program is well supported by the secondary aged students, who assist in preparing the food. I congratulate them for their community mindedness.
Mention should also be made of Alyson Brown from the Department of Employment, Education and Training, and Pam Gollow, the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services’ Top End Coordinator, Nutrition and Physical Activity program, for their invaluable support and assistance to the school breakfast program.
Whilst at Gunbalanya, it was my pleasure to accompany the Minister for Health visiting the Community Health Centre. This health centre has achieved some outstanding health outcomes for the Gunbalanya community. Gunbalanya Health Centre was nationally accredited in February 2004, which means it provides a service that is at least the equivalent of similar community health centres interstate - a fantastic achievement for Sue Ellis, the health centre manager, who is a very efficient and dedicated health professional, and leads a great team of equally dedicated workers.
Most notably, the community has achieved excellent results by way of the declining incidences of anaemia and scabies. Both of these illnesses have a chronic relationship to more serious diseases, particularly kidney disease and the ability to resist chronic infection. Anaemia rates have been reduced from 37% in 1999 to 4% in 2003. Scabies rates have declined from 33% in 2001 to 4% in 2003. This very good work is particularly due to the close collaboration of women from the Gunbalanya Women’s Centre, the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health, Menzies School of Health Research, and officers from the Department of Health and Community Services. On the ground at Gunbalanya, a dedicated health professional like Paula Harrison and local Aboriginal health worker, Junior Galaminda, have played leading roles working closely with the community, particularly the school, to achieve these outstanding results.
To all at Gunbalanya who are dedicated to making a difference, I say congratulations and well done. In the words of the Chief Minister: ‘Together we can build a better Territory’.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I respond to the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services’ invitation earlier today. One of the great tragedies of this farce of ministerial reports in this House is that important issues are never given the opportunity to be properly debated. As long reports hit the table, the minister speaks for five minutes, and the opposition has two minutes to respond. It is a circus that was put in place, basically, so that the government of the day can play to the press gallery. Members will well remember that, at the outset, there was no opportunity to reply at all to ministerial reports. However, I now have to use my adjournment debates to respond to comments made by the ministers in relation to issues that arise in the ministerial reports.
One of the other problems with ministerial reports is that you do not get the Hansard on the same day, other than Question Time, so I cannot remember the exact words, but I will paraphrase the minister as best as I can remember.
He said that, if you can offer one piece of paper that suggests that Mr Pepper was sacked, lay it on the table. He then accused me of being in a fantasy land or some such thing. Curiously, if I had had the opportunity to be a moment quicker at that occasion back from my office, the one minute that the minister was on his feet, I could have produced exactly such a piece of paper, and will do so now.
I have in my possession a piece of paper, ‘Fire Services Separation Statistics, July 2003 to June 2004’. This paper is drawn from the PIPS system. It says in January 2004 there were two separations. One was Craig Kitto, who resigned on 1 January 2004 and, curiously, the second one was Darryl Pepper, EO3C - I imagine that is executive officer 3, a contract - Headquarters is his location, separation date is 9 January 2004. Indeed, that is correct. The separation date was exactly what was put in a memo which was around the fire service which said that Mr Pepper had departed because of ‘health reasons’. However, under the title ‘Reason’, it says ‘redundancy invol’. That is bureau-speak for sacking.
A member: Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Mr ELFERINK: ‘Redundancy invol’. Hang on, this is curious. I thought to myself: ‘I am going to get some interpretation on this; I am not just going to take this piece of paper and accept it. I am going to ring the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment’, and I spoke to John Kirwan this very afternoon. He said: ‘Oh yes, absolutely. That was a big mistake. That was wrong. The PIPS system should never have recorded ‘redundancy invol’ …’ involuntary redundancy, in other words by the way, for the honourable members information – ‘… because there is no such termination process under the PIPS system’. What should have been placed there was ‘termination by employer’ which is completely different to redundancy …
Ms Lawrie: Don’t verbal him. Don’t misconstrue.
Mr ELFERINK: Well, how can I, to pick up this little interjection, how can I misconstrue ‘termination by employer’? There is nothing to misconstrue. The fact is it is a lot more simple than this. I telephoned Mr Pepper some time ago and had a chat to him about this, and yes, he has a medical condition, and ultimately that was the reason why he left. However, during conversation - I do not whether it was deliberate or not -what Mr Pepper told me was that he was approached. And that is the bottom line here. I will tell you why he was approached. If you read the Mtis Review, a review that should be a matter for a ministerial statement in this House, not some flicky little ministerial report, I will quote from page 39 of that review:
It goes on to say that there were only 140 of them.
He was criticised and he was under the hammer. He was under the hammer from the day that he got into the position. Why was he under the hammer? Well, the O’Sullivan Report had just been delivered to this government, and this government had committed $70m at that time – since elevated to $75m – to meet the demands of the O’Sullivan Report. Consequently, the fire service was sidelined by this minister and by the Commissioner for Police. How as it sidelined? Well, if you read the Mtis Review, the average time spent in training, for argument’s sake, for a fire service officer was 7.2 hours last year. As a volunteer with the Emily Hills Bush Fire Fighting Service, I had twice the amount of training than the average fire service officer did last year. I did two days training recently to get my Certificate I in Rake/Hoe. It is astonishing that a fire service has fire officers who get so little training extended to them. And why? Because they had no room, effectively, no room in the training college here in Darwin to train their staff.
So surely, there must be some sort of process through the budget which Mr Pepper would be able to get his finances in order and get some training organised. But that is not so. If you read the Mtis Review, the process was quite simple. The police commissioner and two executives – I said deputy as from today and that is not entirely correct - I wish to place it on the record. The Police Commissioner and two executive officers from the Police Force were the ones who set the fire brigade budget and in fact there was an incredible amount of pressure on the commissioner at the time to be able to work for his police force. So when the Mtis Review spoke to the Police Commissioner in relation to how he managed the police force, the Police Commissioner said he was very ‘hands off’.
I will quote from the Mtis Review:
and it refers to some approaches earlier in the report:
Indeed, the Police Commissioner says that:
This is a curious situation because the report goes on to say that the Fire and Rescue Service Director was at Assistant Commissioner level or thereabouts, or even slightly lower, in the police force.
The structure was quite clear: the Commissioner of Police had the responsibility of looking after the Fire and Rescue Service. He said: ‘Oh, my hands are off this’. He was also in charge of the budget for the Fire and Rescue Service. That budget was under an incredible amount of strain and that is reflected in the Mtis Review in terms of the lack of training being provided to Fire Service officers. All of this, the minister would have been aware of and all of a sudden, Mr Pepper retires hurt.
You do not have to be a genius to figure out what is going on here. The fact is that if it is termination by employer or ‘redundancy invol’, Mr Pepper was approached and he already had an existing condition which, doubtless, was going to become more serious over time, clearly serious enough to warrant his retirement. The fact is – and there is nothing that this minister can say to convince me otherwise – that he was lined up and shot. He was shot because he could not manage his fire service. What were some of the reasons he could not manage the fire service? He had no control over the budgetary processes that were available to him. He had a divided fire service beneath him. He was receiving advice from the Commissioner of Police, his own subordinates, and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment, and all three were providing inconsistent advice. That is here in the Mtis Review.
He was receiving conflicting advice from three different sources, he had no budgetary control, he had an illness and this government was looking for a scapegoat. If I am to be accused of being in a fantasy land when I have seen information like this before me, small wonder that this government tries to cover up its ineptitude in relation to this. Small wonder that this minister has no intention of reviewing this closed process through this parliament by way of a proper and fully debated ministerial statement. It is a bloody disgrace.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Wanguri.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker …
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! If the minister speaks, does that close debate?
Mr HENDERSON: No, it is adjournment.
Mr DUNHAM: Yes, but you moved the adjournment.
Ms Lawrie: No, he adjourned as Leader of Government Business.
Mr HENDERSON: I moved the adjournment as Leader of Government Business; not closing debate.
Mr Dunham: I am sure if you speak, it closes debate.
Mr Elferink: I am pretty sure it is.
Mr HENDERSON: I am not closing debate. They are standing orders.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I must respond to the scurrilous allegations made by the member for Macdonnell. Why he chooses to attack, in a dishonest and cowardly way, the credibility of a man who served …
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order! The speaker cannot allege dishonesty or cowardice of a member of this parliament without doing so by way of substantive motion and he knows that. You cannot allege dishonesty.
Mr HENDERSON: Speaking to the point of order, I withdraw the word ‘dishonest’ but on the word ‘cowardly’, I seek a ruling that it is not offensive language …
Mr DUNHAM: I seek your ruling on that, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Is ‘cowardice’ an appropriate label to use for a member of this parliament?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I shall seek advice. Member for Drysdale, on advice, I shall allow the term.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I am astounded by the sensitivity of the member for Drysdale given the cowardly attack on an individual who served fire fighting in Australia for 28 years in Queensland with distinction, two years in the Northern Territory with distinction, doing a very difficult job, when Mr Darryl Pepper had a very serious and debilitating illness.
I will go through some of the commendations that Mr Pepper received over a 30 year fire fighting career. He was awarded the Australian Fire Services Medal, the Australian National Medal and Clasp, and an Australia Day Medal, and had served the fire services within Queensland and the Northern Territory with distinction. The allegation in debates this morning was that Mr Pepper had been sacked. Mr Pepper had not been sacked, and was not sacked, and the member for Macdonnell well knows this.
I will go to direct quotes from a very honourable man, who served his profession very well for 30 years, in an article in the NT News on 11 January 2004 written by Edith Bevan. These are direct quotes from Mr Darryl Pepper, a man who served with distinction. The article starts:
So here is Mr Darryl Pepper, a man of absolute integrity in fire services throughout Australia, saying that the reason that he came to me and said that he could no longer serve was the nature of his illness, and he has said that publicly. To come into this House tonight, and today, on two occasions, and assert that Mr Darryl Pepper has been sacked, is to call Mr Pepper a liar, and is to say that Mr Pepper, in the interview with Edith Bevan that was published on 11 January 2004, was not telling the truth about why he was leaving the Northern Territory, is an absolutely cowardly attack on a man who has had 30 years of distinguished service to fire fighting in Australia, and does the member for Macdonnell absolutely no credibility at all amongst the men and women of the fire service in Australia.
Mr ELFERINK: Your documents, mate. Your department produced the documents. A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I seek leave to table these documents.
Mr HENDERSON: Absolutely, table the document.
Leave granted.
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Macdonnell – and this issue came up in an NT News article recently - where on the PIPS record that somehow made its way publicly, the information in the separation record on the PIPS information system stated that there was an involuntary separation between the department and Mr Pepper. We have chased this down. My office has spoken to the Office of the Commissioner of Public Employment …
Mr Elferink: I spoke to him personally.
Mr HENDERSON: … and had clarification today, and I know the member for Macdonnell spoke to the Commissioner of Public Employment today, who advised the member for Macdonnell that the staff inadvertently recorded the separation as an involuntary separation as opposed to a voluntary separation, and that record has now been corrected.
In terms of the member for Macdonnell’s conspiracy theory, for some reason wanting to drag the name of a man who served his profession well for 30 years into the mud, he is now dragging the Commissioner for Public Employment into his murky fantasies by somehow saying that this is a cover up. There was a mistake made in the recording of the separation and that has now been corrected as a voluntary separation.
Mr Elferink: No. Termination by employer. Ring him again, Mr Kirwan. Termination by employer.
Mr Baldwin: Ring him again, Mr Kirwan. Termination by employer.
Mr HENDERSON: I have no idea why the members opposite would seek to attack, in this House, a man who has served his profession for 30 years by saying he has been sacked.
Mr Elferink: I am not attacking him, I am attacking you - you.
Mr HENDERSON: He has not been sacked! Here are the words of Mr Pepper. Mr Pepper said that his resignation, contrary to assertions by some fire association members - and yes, he had a difficulty. There were big problems in the fire service. It is not a case of jumping before he was pushed; it was because he did not want to publicise the nature of his illness, but said there was no treatment for it.
I will take the word of Mr Pepper over the word of the member for Macdonnell any day of the week. His attack continues tonight, as well as this morning, not only to the integrity of the then Chief Fire Officer in the Northern Territory, but to the Police Commissioner as well, who has been under siege from the opposition since the day he was appointed to the position of Police Commissioner in the Northern Territory. The member for Macdonnell, in response to the report this morning, asserted that the Police Commissioner had neglected the fire service, that he had his eye off the ball whilst he was implementing O’Sullivan, and that Mr Pepper had to take the fall for the Police Commissioner. Absolute rot!
The reason the fire service was in the position that it was in, regarding a culture of animosity and extreme antagonism between the work force and the management, was because of years of neglect of the problem by the previous administration, who did nothing to lift a finger ...
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: If you read the report, it states that the issues besetting the fire service had gone back over a decade. We have been in government for just over two-and-a-half years, and have concluded an independent review into the fire service that has been embraced. It just shows how out of touch the members opposite are, that they obviously have not spoken to serving fire fighters who believe that this report - unlike previous reports that were commissioned that were never implemented, and not a single cent put towards the implementation - has been the best thing that has happened to the fire service.
They have seen the government’s commitment of $2.5m to address the problem, and management and the work force coming together with a new Acting Chief Fire Officer to resolve the issues, with government finally recognising the extent of the problems.
Instead of getting up and applauding the fire service for putting itself on the line, on the record, saying: ‘We have major problems’, and having the courage to talk to an independent review team and have all of the dirty washing put out into the public domain, with a real plan to move forward, if the shadow minister had been doing his job properly and he would have actually rung a few people within the fire service, they would have told him: ‘This is a great report. We are really pleased with the government’s commitment and really pleased with our new chief executive office, and are absolutely pleased with the way things are heading’. He could have stood up in here and today and said: ‘Well, this is a great day for the fire service; let us move forward and put it behind us’.
But no, he stood up and attacked the reputation of a man who has served firefighting for 30 years - attacked the reputation of a firefighter, alleging that he had been sacked. The only reason I would have, as a minister for a department, to sack anybody would be because of their incompetence or negligence in doing their job. He was …
Mr Dunham: You do not even know your role. You are not allowed to sack anyone. Separation of powers, you goose! You cannot sack anybody, except your own staff in your own office.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, order!
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Drysdale really is the most rude and arrogant member of this House. The allegation was that Mr Pepper had been sacked. For somebody to be sacked that would be …
Members interjecting.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: That would be because somehow Mr Pepper was incompetent, not up to the job. It was a real slur on the character of the man when, on the public record, from the very man that he seeks to attack, Mr Pepper has stated that the reason for his retirement is ill health, the nature and condition of illness that there was no treatment for. Not only is he trying to attack me somehow, he is attacking directly the word of a man who has serviced with distinction, fire fighting Australia for 33 years. Well, members of the fire service are going to hear about this attack on somebody from their profession because he really has gone off half-cocked this time. And I urge the member for Macdonnell in future debates in this House to stand up and apologise to Mr Pepper, a man who served fire fighting in Australia for 30 years with absolute distinction and put on the record his apology for such a scurrilous attack.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, just before I start, I know Hansard sometimes complains about my lack of clarity when I speak, so I would just like to mention to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure that what is written in Hansard today relating to the question I asked you is not the science policy, it is the signs policy. There is quite a bit of difference there, so when reading that, minister, you might take note that I was referring to road signs.
I would like to speak on two subjects if I have time. The first one is the 33 storey building that is being proposed for the Darwin CBD. It surprises me that the government has come out strongly about heights of buildings – four storey buildings, now three storey buildings. Martin Jarvis produced a petition relating to the height of a certain building in Coconut Grove, and I say fair enough. Some of those issues need to be looked at. In fact, one thing that we ought to do is look at the land use objectives for the northern suburbs, or produce land use objectives for the northern suburbs.
Be that as it may, what surprises me is that the government is saying, look these buildings are too high, we should reduce them. Yet we produce the tallest building in Darwin ever, a 33 storey building to the maximum height allowed, and we have the Chief Minister saying what a great thing for the economy. Yesterday, we had the Northern Territory News bringing out an editorial saying exactly the same thing. What worries me is that people just say, ‘Huh, 33 storey building, great for the economy, thank you, build it, goodbye’. How silly are we? Isn’t it our job to look at something like that, the biggest project in Darwin ever, and say, ‘Let us look at it and see what effect it will have, what is the building that is being designed, where is it being designed, how many people will live in that building, and what effect will it have on the Darwin CBD?’ And yet, none of that has come out. It just said, build it, it is good for the economy.
Mr Baldwin: No, hang on. It has not been through the DCA yet.
Mr WOOD: Well, it is pretty well - you read yesterday’s editorial in the NT News.
Mr Baldwin: It has not been through the DCA yet.
Mr WOOD: Yes, it has. I have been to a meeting with DCA.
Mr Baldwin: Yes, but they have not made their recommendation.
Mr WOOD: Well, I am putting my two bobs worth through now. The problem with this building is that it sits on four house blocks, those on the corner of Knuckey, McMinn and Gardiner Streets. Gardiner Street has a nine metre wide bitumen surface. You can put two cars down the side and one in the middle. It is going to have a building on it which will take 400 people, so you can imagine how many cars are going to come out of this skyscraper onto this tiny little strip of bitumen. Probably about 800 cars if you take each person has two cars and they go maybe once a day, more likely twice a day.
Mr Dunham: Each person has two cars?
Mr WOOD: Well, a householder has two cars. Member for Drysdale, I will have to explain that there is about a 100 four bedroom houses in this building, or three bedroom houses in this building. I imagine there is going to be some families living here.
So, we have a building that is going to sit on a very small road, not designed for skyscraper, designed for the suburbs of Darwin about pre-war, and yet, here we are developing this huge skyscraper. Besides that, we are going to have a five storeys’ high car park. That is 36 metres of car park above Knuckey Street. How are they going to cover the car park? They are going to use louvres similar to the TIO building so when you walk down Knuckey Street, because the car park is going to be flush with the boundary of Knuckey and McMinn Streets and the boundary of the house next door, you will get five storeys of louvres.
Now, if that is architecturally pleasant, I will eat my hat. Shouldn’t we be constructing buildings that will stand the test of time architecturally, not just stand the test of time from an engineering point of view? You go to Adelaide or Melbourne and look at some of the buildings that we admire. They have open space around them, they have architectural merit. Do you think five metres of louvres has architectural merit? I doubt it.
For some reason, we do not seem to be concerned about it. You would think that if you were going to put 400 people in a suburb, you would require open space. You would probably build enough open space to have a football oval, yet we are putting 400 people on four house blocks and the open space is on the fifth floor. Part of that fifth floor will be private because there will be some residences and offices as well. Here are 400 people with little bits of shade on the fifth floor.
I would like to see some leadership from the government on this. I do not have a problem with a 33-storey building, but I have problem with people not standing up and saying: ‘If we are going to do this, let’s make it worth admiring. Let’s make it so that future residents of Darwin will say: “What a grand building, how well planned it was, how distinctive it was, how spaced it was. What a fine piece of architecture”.’ All we will see is five storeys of louvres with another 28 storeys stuck above it. Now that is really going to look good. The only landscape on this building is in Gardiner Street and the only reason you have landscaping on Gardiner Street is because they have to set it back slightly to allow cars to turn underneath into the car park. That is the only reason.
If we are fair dinkum about planning, we need to look at the bigger picture. Would you normally build a 33-storey building on a tiny little street like Lindsay Street? Or would you say: ‘Sorry, you cannot build there or else you are going to have widen Gardiner Street to a 20 to 30 metre wide road’?
But we are going to use the planning of the 1940s and apply buildings of this century to that design. We are going to leave ourselves an enormous legacy. If you look carefully at the blocks of land for which this building is proposed, there are four other lots of four house blocks that could be built. You could put another three 33-storey buildings with 400 people in them. What does that give you? That gives you about 1600 people on four house blocks in Darwin. That is the potential. Once you set the precedent for this one, surely no Development Consent Authority would knock the rest back.
I believe the government should be proactive in commenting on this building not because it says it should be built, but it should look carefully at the design to see what effect this will have on the future look of our city.
I went to the Development Consent Authority hearing and the Chairman said: ‘This is the biggest project ever in Darwin’. And people just say: ‘Oh great’. Surely it requires a little bit more thought than that. You know, 14 days to comment on a 33-storey building! I reckon we need a lot more time and in fact there probably should have been an EIS on it because it will have an effect. It is not a high rise office block; it is a high rise residential block. The worst thing we can do is let these things go past without any comment, without any care. The danger you have is that if you do not look at these building sufficiently, you will end up with a slum.
If you lived in Melbourne and you saw the high rise Housing Commission houses many years ago, you would have said: ‘Well, they’re great, look at that. Wow!’
Mr Kiely: They won architectural awards.
Mr WOOD: Oh, yes! Why are they pulling them down? Because they turned into slums. That was a sad thing. People were just locked up in them and they did not have anything to do.
We have to be careful that if we are going to design tall buildings that take a lot of people, there has to be open space. There have to be places that people can enjoy when you construct a building like this in the CBD. That is the one issue that I would like the government to at least look a little bit more carefully. I do not know whether it is too late, because I am not sure at what stage it is at now. I know it was deferred, but I would like the minister to at least take into consideration some of those comments. I am not against development and I believe Darwin city certainly needs development, but let us do it carefully.
The second issue, and I might have spoken about some of this before, is that once again, Anzac Day is coming up soon and we will have our Anzac Day cricket match, which is the Litchfield President’s XI versus the Army. We now have a new trophy for it, which is called the Vic Borowicki Trophy. For those of you who do not know, Vic Borowicki was the bloke who built the cricket pitch down near Strauss Airstrip during World War II. The Army has put together a big brass tank shell, mounted it, put the various engravings at the base of it, and we now have a trophy that we can use each Anzac Day called the Vic Borowicki Trophy.
On top of that, this year is special because, just before Christmas I was able to contact the niece and grand-niece of Captain Al Strauss. Captain Al Strauss was the pilot who was shot down over Fannie Bay, whom the 27 mile airstrip was then named after, and that is where you get Strauss Airstrip. They are coming from Ohio specifically for the Anzac Day cricket match and are arriving here on 24 April. I am going to try to cram in as much as possible in the four days they are here. They do not know it yet, but we are having a plaque made up for them at the Anzac cricket ground and they will unveil that plaque. Noelene Trinne is learning the American National Anthem, and we are going to sing both national anthems and raise both flags. It is really important that we do not forget that quite a few American pilots were shot down and killed defending our coast.
It will be a great day. I know they are already a bit emotional about coming out from America. They said to me, and all our correspondence has been by e-mail, that their grandfather and their uncle, who was Strauss’ brother and who was also a pilot, always wanted to come out and see where their brother, or where their uncle, was killed. So, for them, it is something they have wanted to do.
The two people coming out are Judith Green, who is the niece, her mother is still alive, and Paden Green, who is the daughter. Judith Green is a teacher. Through the minister for education, she will also be speaking to some people here; she is doing a Masters Degree in Educational Administration and she wanted to talk to some teachers about looking after students who have problems with staying at school and learning. We have arranged that as well. We also hope to take her to Taminmin High School to address the history class, as the heritage group have asked that Taminmin High School adopt Strauss Airstrip now to help with maintaining that airstrip, so that is also good.
Bob Alford is going to take them down, and I will probably go with them, to Adelaide River the next day. I only found out recently that Strauss, of course, never used the Strauss airstrip. Captain Strauss used an airstrip on the Mt Bundy turnoff, just off the Stuart Highway near Adelaide River. It did not have a name. I gather it was a temporary airstrip, and they used that as their base to fly into Darwin, using P40s, or Kitty Hawks, as they were called. They were preparing to move to the 27 Mile, and two weeks before they moved, Strauss was killed at Fannie Bay.
It is going to be an emotional time. If I have a moment, I will tell you a few things about Captain Strauss’ life. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio. He lived there until he was about 16 and then they moved to Wadesville, Indiana. He was a trumpeter, and his Dad had a small band. They used to go around and play at all the dances. Of course, this was around the Depression so I suppose they would have been trying to earn a few dollars. He studied chemistry. When he finished his degree in chemistry, it was still in the Depression, he joined the United States Army Air Force. Not long after that, he went to the Philippines, which the Japanese were attacking at that time. They moved out of there to Australia. He came to Darwin. Darwin, of course, was bombed on 19 February 1942. He was shot down on 27 April 1942 over Fannie Bay. One thing we will be doing is taking Judith Green and her daughter to Fannie Bay for tea one night. It may be an appropriate time, as the sun goes down, to throw some flowers and remember someone who most people have forgotten or never knew existed: an American Air Force pilot who came out here to fight for our country.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I must start with congratulating the member because it has been a solo journey for the member for Nelson - not only the acknowledgement of the strip, but the heritage that he has dug up. We owe a debt of gratitude to our visitors, and I hope that their visit is a memorable one.
Back to the good news. I had the great fortune to attend the 53rd Westminster Parliamentary Seminar, from 2 to 13 March 2004. I can preface it by saying I believe that it was pretty much a life-changing experience for me. I went in the sound knowledge that I had quite a depth of ignorance about our brothers and cousins in the Commonwealth, and I return just knowing how vast that ignorance is. We tend to see parliament in Australia as something we are pretty blas about. It is really only by mixing with people from countries where they have fought for their democratic organs, and the freedoms that this place bestows on us – the freedom to assemble on behalf of the people, to have fair and open elections, and to pass laws for the benefit of our people - in Australia, that is pretty much taken for granted. We are seen by many people as one of those quaint little things that sits out there and we are not terribly cherished, often, in our own countries.
Well, for countries that have fought for it, democracy and parliaments are cherished. It was a great thing for me to attend this, and I am quite happy to put on the Parliamentary Record that I believe it was of immense benefit to me. Often, trips of this type are also seen as pretty much a jaunt, but I can say quite strongly that I believe the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is a force to be reckoned with in the world. That sounds pretty big, but in these troubled times that we have, it is a matter of making sure there are government, national, sporting, friendship, and personal bonds between nations. If you look at some of the troublesome problems in Africa, particularly with Zimbabwe, the Commonwealth has shown a leadership role. I do not mean that in a colonial sense. The African former colonial Commonwealth countries have also played an immense role in trying to sort out some of the problems in Zimbabwe. It is an easy thing for us to sit a long way away and make judgments, but it is really only by talking on a personal basis with some of the people who are involved, that one gets the notion of what happens in the world and just how lucky we are here.
There were three delegates from Australia; three from Canada; one from the Cayman Islands; one from The Gambia; two from India; a Jamaican; a Kenyan; a Malaysian; a delegate from Montserrat, a very small country; one from New Zealand; two from Nigeria; one from St Helena; two from the Republic of South Africa; and one each from Tonga, Uganda and Zambia. We were quite a mixture, and, with one exception, we were all males. It was an immense experience for all of us, and we all took something away with us, including personal friendships.
I took the opportunity while I was in the United Kingdom to look at some of the issues that impact on us. For instance, matters relating to standards in public life, and some of the things we are talking about. I also was very interested in our joint endeavours in Iraq with the UK. Often, some of the debates in the UK are fairly similar to those in Australia. I have a copy of the Hutton Report into the death of David Kelly and matters relating to the preparedness of Saddam Hussein to launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes and that type of stuff.
I was interested in the Upper House, which I had seen as a fairly quaint and strange beast, but I am more and more convinced that there is potentially a role for such a thing constitutionally. I am not sure that the best replica is to use the UK system which seems to be out there by itself and most nations that have tried to replicate it have been unsuccessful.
It was interesting, too, to talk to fledgling nations that have grappled with issues of constitutions and how they set them up and how they organise their affairs, and it was interesting also to socialise with many of the members, Liberal Democrats, Tories and Labour members, some of whom I would count as my friends. A couple have visited here on CPA trips and it was good to renew those acquaintances.
There will be a more fulsome report available to the parliament in the form of a record of some of our meetings and there is a series of documents that I will be leaving with the Clerk for anybody else who is as fortunate as I believe I have been in being able to attend a trip such as this.
There are definitely some lessons to learn for us here. I am not sure they derive from our Westminster tradition, interestingly. I think we have to look to other Commonwealth countries and often some of the smaller countries offer us lessons that may differ markedly from the UK, but nonetheless derive in the Westminster tradition.
Earlier tonight, there was a thank you for Colin and Mary Dyer. Colin worked in my office when I was Health minister and I have known Colin and Mary for some time. I was interested the minister left out the fact that with his great Labor credentials that he was formerly a president in the Northern Territory of the Labor Party and he was a man who paraded his credentials quite openly. I think he calls himself a Trotskyist but he is certainly an old style of Labor politician. One of the ironies for this government must be that having achieved government, to have the people, the foot soldiers like Colin Dyer out there for decades fighting for it, why he would choose to go after two years. And that is an issue that you must mull over. If you have hungered and been passionate about obtaining government, why is that the true believers like Colin Dyer, when you have attained it, and when he has worked at the pinnacle, he has worked on this building on the fifth floor have chosen to depart?
It could be the great prize that was out there, the great glittering prize, when they see it for what it is, there is some disappointment that associates with that. Maybe that is a matter for an exit interview or a conversation with Colin at some later time. I wish him well and his wife, Mary, who also worked on my staff.
Dr Burns interjecting.
Mr DUNHAM: And – the what? I missed the interjection. I wish them both well and their two daughters who are great Territorians and very intelligent ladies. I thank them for the work that they both did within the health system.
I have some time now to turn to a third subject and that is a discussion this morning at Question Time by Dr Burns, where he was talking about how people are concerned about a building in Coconut Grove, because they were concerned about traffic, parking, privacy, noise, overshadowing and overlooking. He came in here with his cape on and said: ‘I’ll fix this, there will be no four storey buildings there; there will only be three storey ones’.
I wonder if he has gone back to those 500 people who signed that petition and told them that he fixed it: you have three quarters of the traffic, three quarters of parking problem, three quarters of the privacy issues, three quarters of the noise issue, same overshadow and same overlooking. For him to parade in here and demonstrate his great pride by saying he was proud to sign his name on the document, I think maybe he should go back and see whether the solution he had is something that gets universal acclaim and applaud when he goes to barbeques.
It was unfortunate that in the course of that debate, he chose to say that he had nothing but contempt for the member for Drysdale, and it is something I should answer because I would hate something like this to remain on the record unanswered in the event that people think that silence is consent. He said, and I quote:
I am sure if he went to the records of minutes that were taken for a public meeting about this, he will find that not only was I in attendance, but I spoke against the eight floors. It does not do him well, and it is an immensely cowardly thing for him to do to come in here, as a coward, and make allegations of that type, which are untrue.
I now turn to other cowardice. We have the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services berating one of my colleagues for choosing to debate an issue that he was unable to debate in the normal processes of this parliament. I ask members to consider that. If there is a report coming down, let us have the debate out in the open so that we can talk about matters like this. The issue of cowardice and hiding is to have a quick grab and not provide capacity for any rebuttal. If there was to be any allegations and finger pointing about who the cowards are in this place and who is cowardly…
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I think you will find in standing orders that we are not allowed to use such terminology here, but the ruling …
Mr DUNHAM: No, you can. It has been allowed.
Mr KIELY: Do you mind? Mr Acting Deputy Speaker …
Mr Baldwin: What number order is it?
Mr KIELY: Sixty-two. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the earlier ruling was in relation to the words ‘cowardly action’, ‘cowardly’ being the adjective. The member for Drysdale is using it as a noun. You are inferring that people are cowards and you are saying ‘coward’.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I ask that the member for Drysdale withdraw those comments because he is being a bit smart and smarmy, something for which he is renowned.
Mr DUNHAM: I withdraw the noun. Sit down, you cowardly man. Now, the problem we have …
Mr KIELY: A point of order! Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, would you rule on that, please?
Members interjecting.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Could we have some order, please.
Mr DUNHAM: He has made a ruling. Stop being so cowardly.
The problem we have here, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, is that the minister, when he was questioned about something that he could easily have introduced for debate, has chosen to go out and run on some little ranting thing and personally attack the member who raised this. He has an easy remedy, which is to use this House as it was designed: to have debates on reports that come before us, on matters that come to our attention, and to be open and transparent, dare I say.
With those few words, I bid you goodnight.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, first, I would like to add my thanks to Colin and Mary Dyer, to Colin for his work both in the Department of Health and Community Services and he also worked for me for about a year. I would like to put on the record the thanks of those of us on this side of the House for his work with the Australian Labor Party. He was president for a long time and has been involved with many campaigns over a very long time. He was made a Life Member of the Labor Party at the last NT conference, and is someone who we are all very proud to know on this side of the House.
In relation to Colin leaving the department, it is a bit sad that the member for Drysdale has decided to suggest that he wants to leave because of problems with the government. I am very aware that he is a Commonwealth superannuant and, as you would be aware, Commonwealth superannuants need to leave by a particular date in order receive the maximum payout. I am sorry that I have to add that when I am wishing Colin and Mary best wishes for their future and a happy life with their two daughters.
Tonight, I recognise the career of Mr Tad Henry, the Assistant Principal of Nightcliff Primary School, who retired on 19 March 2004. Tad, who would be known to many members of this House, had been the Assistant Principal at Nightcliff Primary School since 1992. Tad was an inspiring teacher and influence on students, and a loyal and decent colleague and friend and counsellor to many parents who have passed through the Nightcliff Primary School.
His popularity was evidenced by the huge turnout at his farewell, with sincere and emotional musical and gift presentations by students and staff, both current and past. It was my pleasure to represent the parent community at the farewell. It was a real pleasure to see so many teachers and principals who had been at the school over the last few years also in attendance. I was particularly happy to see Shirley Nirrpuranydji, who is the principal of Gapuwiyak School and had come in specially for the event; former principal, Warwick Otley; Steve Marshall, who is acting on higher duties at the moment in the Department of Education; Wally Mauger, John Britton, Rob Preswell, Greg Jarvis and Brian Bennett, the current acting principal of the school, as well as past teachers such as Mark Bennett.
Tad grew up as Terrence John Henry, a fact that nobody in the school community actually knew. As a kid, Tad grew up in a carefree existence at Mullumbimby in New South Wales. It was there that he developed a taste for bananas and a love for the bush. A radical at school, he was many times reprimanded and caned for rebellious deeds. With a twinkle in his eye, he often recounted stories of his school days with students as examples of what not to do at school. However, school and teaching must have left positive impressions with Tad because, after completing high school, he decided to become a teacher. Following his teacher training in Newcastle, New South Wales from 1968 to 1970, Tad taught tech studies, physics and industrial arts in New South Wales high schools for five years. Rumour has it that Tad was asked to move on from one outback western New South Wales town by the local mayor because he was pursuing the mayor’s daughter.
Travel and adventure followed. Private enterprise included a driving business in Nelsons Bay, exporting abalone and sea urchins. Tad came to the Northern Territory after Cyclone Tracy and began a buffalo catching and bull shooting business in eastern Arnhem Land for five years. During this time, he developed a great rapport with the Aboriginal people and knowledge of their customs and culture. Tad is an experienced bushman and a creative expert at working with wood.
A desire to work with the Aboriginal people led him to return to teaching in 1983, when he joined the Northern Territory teaching service. His career highlights include: he was an adult educator at the end of 1982 in the NT Correctional Centre; he was a teacher and senior teacher from 1983 to 1985 at Angurugu on Groote Eylandt at the CEC; he was the principal in 1985 at Milikapiti on Melville Island; and from 1986 to 1992, he was the principal at Gapuwiyak. At Gapuwiyak, Tad was affectionately known as the ‘white knight’, as he was always dressed in a white shirt and white trousers. As principal, he is remembered for the energy and effort he put into Aboriginal projects, in particular, his support and promotion of Aboriginal leadership in schools. He mentored Shirley Nirrpuranydji, the current principal at Gapuwiyak. He has been the assistant principal from 1992 until he retired last week at the Nightcliff Primary School.
Throughout his career, Tad has shown a great capacity to care for people, particularly kids in indigenous communities. People are at the heart of all he does. Many have experienced his generosity, his broad shoulders to cry on, his ready listening ear and practical advice gained from a wealth of experience.
Tad will be remembered for his overall passion for his job, his sense of humour, his readiness to tell a joke, to lend a hand and help - a great professional who will be missed by all. One of Tad’s iconic expressions was, when answering the Nightcliff Primary School phone, ‘Welcome to sunny Nightcliff Primary School’. Nightcliff Primary School will be a little less sunny without Tad. Enjoy your retirement, Tad, have a rest and we look forward to hearing of your new adventures in the years to come.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr BONSON (Millner): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about the recent football finals, and in particular the Nightcliff Football Club and the magnificent effort they put into the 2003-04 season. As you would know, the grand final was held on Saturday between St Mary’s and Nightcliff Football Club. The St Mary’s Football Club was victorious by 19 points, however, the Nightcliff Football Club did themselves proud and made a committed effort. This was recognised by the senior coach of St Mary’s Football Club, Damian Hale.
I have before me a publication called The Tigers Footy News – The Grand Final Edition. Many people would know that the Nightcliff footy club has been around for many, many years, and my family has been involved in the football club as committee people, general helpers, fundraisers, players and coaches.
Nightcliff Football Club is sponsored by a number of great sponsors, and I know that the president, Brian Hood, would appreciate me identifying those people and businesses. In particular, the All Financial Services, OAMPS, Arafura Crash Repairs, Crystal Clean Car Wash, Darwin Mitsubishi, Europcar, Glenford Tools, Grassgrowers, Insulation Solutions, Minolta Darwin, TechChips, U-Cart Concrete, Darwin Motorcycle Wreckers, Darwin Squash Centre, Flightpath Golf, Gibbsy’s Autos, Nightcliff Newsagency, Nightcliff Sports Club, Northern Power Services, Planet Tenpin, Roofmasters, Savvas Footwear, and the Cricket and Football Shop. Without club sponsors, it is well known that football clubs and other community groups would struggle. Therefore, they should be congratulated for putting something back into the community and, no doubt, all Nightcliff supporters and other community members patronise these great sponsors.
In the Tigers Footy News grand final edition - it is a unique newsletter - it does a fantastic job of congratulating everyone in the Nightcliff club who puts in an effort. It has Magic’s analysis. Of course, Magic is none other than Michael McLean who, in the last three years has been coaching Nightcliff Football Club after returning from the Brisbane Lions and the Western Bulldogs and a distinguished career in the AFL. He has led Nightcliff Football Club to three final appearances and two grand final appearances out of three. No doubt, next year, third time lucky in his eyes. He is very down at the moment, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is a very positive-thinking human being, and he will recover and make sure that Nightcliff will give it their best shot next year.
The reserve grade coach is Robbie Corrie. Coaching staff includes Ben Harris, Marty Bell, Arlen Kennedy and Marshall Adams. Junior coaches include Nathan Wills, David Peris, Gavin Johns, and Costa Kroess. Team manager is Paul Beleile, Darrin Molloy is the reserve’s team manager, Russel Wills Under-18s, Jeff Perule Under-16s. The medical staff include Sharon Williams, Joanne Leyshon, Louisa Watson, Cindy Marrett and Michael Thompson. Best and fairest for the club during the year include: the reserves best and fairest was David Small and runner-up was Brad Ryan; best team man was Mark Piggin; best utility, Jeff Harvey; most improved, Jamie Adams; most courageous, Gowan Bush; coach’s trophy, Craig Brownlow.
Best for the League team was Warren Berto, who was unfortunately suspended from the grand final but the Berto family is synonymous with football in the Northern Territory and, no doubt, he was sorely missed in the grand final for the Nightcliff Football Club. Runner-up was Shannon Rusca, ex-Brisbane Lions/Western Bulldogs player, now playing for the Nightcliff Tigers. Best team man was Daniel Harris; most courageous was Bill Feeney; best utility, Brendan Bailey; best forward, Rohan Bonson, a player who travels approximately 400 km one-way trip from Barunga to play football here in Darwin. He is an outstanding talented and, if he has the mental strength, nothing will stop him from going further than the competition in the Northern Territory. He took a fantastic mark over an ex-AFL player, Reuben Butheris, which brought the house down. It was a classical high-flyer in the grand final. Well done. Best defender was John Bonson; most improved, Martin Corrie; coach’s trophy, Mark Durfen.
Europcar young player of the year was Ron Ah Fat and Jonathon Peris. I have not had the honour of watching him play yet, but my sources say that Ron Ah Fat is somebody we should be watching out for in the next few years. He is an Under-16 player and he kicks the ball left and right 60 m. He is someone who gets regularly tagged in the Under-16s competition. The Spirit of the Tiger, the Mabel Griffin Award, was given to Paul Beleile and Peter Leyshon. The grand final was held at the Nightcliff Sports Club. It was a fantastic night. There were a good 400 or 500 people attending, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Brian Hood, President of the Nightcliff Football Club deserves special thanks. He has been a tireless worker for between eight and 10 years, along with his wife, Chicky Hatch. They work very hard. Anyone who has been involved in such community groups realises that you are only as strong as your committee and they deserve all the thanks they can get. On that committee is Dean Scott-Toms – I know he is a passionate Tigers’ supporter, but not only that, he is a passionate football supporter. He loves football in the Territory and what it means and he really has an interest in the young players and improving their ability to go away down south. Pam Watson and Norm Watson do a fabulous job behind the scenes, working tirelessly with juniors and seniors. They deserve all the credit and respect that they have at the Nightcliff Football Club. Andy Hills, also known as the ‘Raffle Man’; Peter Leyshon, the social man; Geoff Borella, the juniors’ man; Glen Nicholson, the marker man; and Darrin Molloy, just a madman. Mick Hebron deserves recognition as well. It is the first time he has been on the committee. He is an ex-player and someone who has a real love for the Nightcliff Football Club.
Thanks also go to the runners, Arlen Kennedy, Glen Humphrey, and Ron and Robbie; timekeeper, Chicky Hatch; for sports medicine we mention Joanne Leyshon, Cindy Marrett, Michael Thompson, Louisa Watson and Sharon Williams.
It was a fantastic effort by the Nightcliff Football Club. They work very hard in their community. They put a lot of effort into their Under-14s, Under-16s and Under-18s. I have seen a change from just being interested in the Nightcliff Football Club to what is best for the competition. I have had long conversations with the president of the Nightcliff Football Club, Brian Hood. He is passionate about his football. He is very passionate about the best interests of all young footballers in the Territory. I know his recent background is very similar to mine, in the fact that it is not always about the guys going to the AFL – we will get two or three of those boys drafted every second year. Aussie Rules in the community is all about the other 500 to 1000 people involved at the local level and what they put into the community. The Acting Deputy Speaker would understand what a powerful effect it has in Tennant Creek and in Katherine and in Alice Springs.
I look forward to working with Michael McLean, Mark Motlop and Brian Hood on some ideas to help improve the lifestyles of some of these footballers and encourage them to not only go through football, but the education side of things, and also employment. Employment is a big issue for some of these young Territorians. The effect football can have is shown through examples like young Rowan Bonson, Wayne Runyu and Dwayne Rogers. They travel, as I said, 400 or 500 kilometres one way. They are assisted by the Barunga and Katherine communities; they make the effort to be part of football in Darwin and they deserve the attention once they get here, to possibly go through further education and an opportunity to go further in football. But definitely, just to spread the word of what football can do for themselves and their communities.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the Nightcliff Football Club on the year that they had in 2003-04 and I am sure they can go one step further in 2004-05.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight to pass on my thanks to the Minister for Lands and Planning for his assistance in making a family very, very happy in Alice Springs. I am referring to the Orr family. The minister has confirmed that the overpass north of Alice Springs will be commemorated for James Branson Orr.
Mr Orr served in both World Wars and worked with the Commonwealth Railways in the Northern Territory from 1929 until 1941. He was involved in the arrival of the first Ghan at Stuart, as Alice Springs was then known.
I thank the minister for his assistance. The Orr family wrote to me some few years ago to see if they could have a street named after their grandfather, but unfortunately, as we all know, we have not had any new streets in Alice Springs in recent times so although it was a worthy name to be commemorated, it has not been possible. However, with the building of the railway line to the north of Alice Springs, it has opened up opportunities and there is a wonderful overpass where you can see the line go north and south. The Orr family then came and asked if it was possible for the overpass, which is a Transport and Works road, to be named after their grandfather.
James Branson Orr was born in September 1892 in Brisbane. It is interesting that he served in both World Wars I and II. I was reflecting upon that when I was listening to the member for Nelson because we sometimes forget the people who fought for Australia so long ago. This gentleman enlisted in 1914 and served with 3 Field Company, the Australian Engineers, at Gallipoli, in Egypt and in France. He was wounded in action in France and evacuated to England in 1918. Eventually, he was discharged from the Army in January 1919, having been awarded the Military Medal.
The Military Medal was awarded to James for going to the assistance during heavy shell fire of his Section Officer who had been wounded. He was later to receive the 1914 Star, British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the ANZAC Commemorative Medal. The notation that was the recommendation for him to receive the Military Medal stated:
That is what his Commanding Officer said, and that is why he was awarded the Military Medal.
When World War I was over, James Orr joined Commonwealth Railways in October 1926 and was appointed Train Examiner to the Northern Territory in January 1929. He was in Alice Springs when the first Ghan arrived that August. It is recorded on the plaque at the Ghan Preservation Society Museum that Mr James Orr was the Train Examiner. He worked with Commonwealth Railways until 1941. It was interesting that his duties as a Train Examiner in those days included examining hot boxes, correct couplings and the air supply from the locomotive to the guard’s van, and ensuring that all the loading was secured. He was also responsible for the loading of coal onto the tenders, watering, firing up locos and having them ready for duties. Other duties included being responsible for the water supply for locomotives at Alice Springs and Bundoona, which is a water siding approximately 140 km south of Alice Springs.
James Orr’s involvement for a long period of time in Alice Springs in making sure the Ghan was outfitted and ready to return to Adelaide was an important part of our history. It was obviously very hard work on these steam engines.
Interestingly, in 1942, he joined the Australian Citizens Military Force and served as a Private with 16 Garrison Battalion and 11 Garrison until he was discharged in July 1943. He was awarded the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal for his service during World War II. When you think about it, it is quite an achievement to have served in both World Wars.
He died in 1975, and is survived by his son Kirkland Orr, or Lucky Orr as we call him, who currently lives in Alice Springs, and his daughter Deidre, who lives in Sydney.
It is sometimes difficult for us to remember all those pioneers that did different things in the Territory. This is one way we can commemorate someone who was involved in the Ghan and the Commonwealth Railways at the time, and obviously contributed greatly to Central Australia.
I thank the minister very much for his consideration of this matter and the fact that he has approved it. It has made a family very, very happy. Obviously, the children are getting on in years now. They are not young ones, so for them to have their father commemorated, and Transport and Works informs me that when all is prepared and the sign is ready, we hope the minister will come to Alice Springs and make sure he is there for the unveiling of that sign on the overpass.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, members of this House and Territorians generally will recall the hoopla with which Labor celebrated the birth of their Freedom of Information legislation. I am going to speak about that tonight with regards to the areas of Health and Community Services, and it may take me longer than the 15 minutes I am allocated, so I will split it over a couple of nights.
Freedom of information took its first tentative steps on 1 July 2003 and, from my reckoning, promptly sat down on its bottom and has stayed there ever since. It is worth refreshing our memories as to the glowing introduction the Information Act, which is the official term for the freedom of information act, was given by the Attorney-General and now Health minister when he gave his second reading speech, and I quote:
Sounds lovely, does it not? But as we know, as Labor settled in to their first ever experience of being in government, they soon decided that the last thing they wanted to deliver was open and accountable government. They quickly started to devise ways of reducing openness. Labor has not matured into government. They resent the reality of a strong opposition, and in their fear, they take every opportunity to deny the people of the Northern Territory the very thing they promised, an open and accountable government. They cannot accept, now that they are in government, the valid role of opposition. That is, to hold them accountable for their actions on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory.
The opposition was keen to test the Attorney-General’s freedom of information legislation to see if it could be used to fill information gaps. We applied for copies of all material prepared by each department and provided to their ministers for use in the hearings of the Estimates Committee of the Legislative Assembly held from 24 to 27 June 2003. Of course, we had to pay for it. It cost $2210.40 for the Health and Community Services documents. Of that, $50 was for somebody to find the folders of information, and $60 was for the photocopying. But in this land of open and accountable government, a whopping $2100 was chalked up to pay for somebody to decide whether or not we could have various pieces of information. It apparently took 84 hours, that is, two weeks, for each page to be checked out and, as I will shortly explain, many pages were deemed ‘top secret’.
Four months after making the request, the results arrived. We find that of the 513 pages the Department of Health and Community Services originally considered relevant to our request, a massive 209 of those pages were now considered exempt and, instead of information, we received blank pages. I seek leave to table two examples of these many blank pages.
Leave granted.
Ms CARTER: Of the remaining 300-odd pages, a large proportion were blacked out. I seek leave to table an example of a blacked-out page.
Leave granted.
Ms CARTER: Also, at the beginning of each of the three folders, the index had the major items not provided: blacked-out, etcetera. Here is an example of one of the folders. You can see how the indexed words have been substantially blacked out. This index refers to aged and disability services, acute services which are hospital services, generally, for example. I seek leave to table the copies of those.
Leave granted.
Ms CARTER: Naturally, I do not know what has been hidden, but you can assume that it is important. All this cover-up demonstrates to me is a Health department in big trouble - so much trouble that, shortly after we received this documentation, the then Minister for Health and Community Services, the member for Nightcliff, was unceremoniously dumped by the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister told Territorians the reason the then minister was dumped was because she could not communicate all the good news stories there are in health to the public. What a joke! What the Chief Minister meant was that the member for Nightcliff was not good enough at covering up all the problems and spinning stories as well as the Minister for Business and Industry does when he talks about our ‘gangbuster economy’. Therefore, the poor old member for Nightcliff got the boot, and now we have the overstretched member for Stuart picking up Health - and he is not too sure how long he will last. No wonder he said to the media the day he was forced to take the Health portfolio: ‘I suppose it is the first time in my life I have ever had a health problem’. I bet he and many others have been kicking him ever since for that moment of clear honesty.
It is a shame that the level of openness cannot be reflected in the implementation of his Information Act, because we do know there are problems in Health. We have a lack of doctors - for example, anaesthetists - in Alice Springs; a lack of dentists; a lack of nurses - for example, at the Palmerston Community Health Centre; a lack of hospital beds; violence towards staff; a lack of repairs and maintenance of equipment and buildings; cuts to community health centres such as the closure of the Mitchell Street Centre last year; the child protection mess; and a lack of services in the area of mental health - and so the list goes on. Refusing to provide pages and blacking out information does not make the problem go away; it just makes people like me suspicious.
Mental health is an important issue in the Territory. It is an area of need, and the government should allow proper scrutiny of its actions in this area. I am going to use it as an example, because it picks up on both hospital and community health care. I have some documents here - and I will table them shortly - with regard to mental health. These documents, and how they have been supplied to the opposition, give a graphic example of why Labor’s freedom of information legislation, delivered by the Attorney-General, is a joke. To start with, on page 30 of folder 1 - and I will turn to that - we have mental health services. Three of the six ‘hot’ issues - which is a heading, ‘hot issues’ - headings have been blacked out. What on earth could be ‘hot’ in mental health? At a guess, I would say it is overcrowding in Cowdy Ward in Darwin, where it is not uncommon for two psychiatric patients to have to share a room designed for one patient. I can tell you, because I have visited Cowdy Ward in my role as shadow Health person, they are not happy to share a room.
How about the lack of services in remote areas or the difficulty of attracted qualified mental health staff to the Northern Territory? We can only guess at what information has been withheld. If we turn to page 33 of folder 1 we learn how clever the legislation is at preventing disclosure. Here is a table setting out the explanation as to why there has been a significant variation between the 2002-03 estimate and the 2003-04 budget for mental health. Members will notice, and I will table this shortly, that one third of the table is blacked out. However, because the total for the table is provided, we can figure out what has been covered up and we can figure out that it is a spending cut of $536 000 in one particular, mysterious area. Naturally, the minister would be keen to cover that up, but what has been cut by more than half a million dollars will remain a mystery. Perhaps it was a youth suicide program, perhaps structural upgrades to inpatient accommodation, perhaps the provision of adequate staff. Why should Territorians be told?
If I go to the document provided by the department explaining the exemption, I learn that Territorians cannot know the reason for the cuts because, and I quote:
What it is referring to, and this is the sample I will table, is this tiny little line down the bottom of the page here where a staff member’s phone number has been blacked out. Naturally, I do not want to know that phone number, so thanks, minister, for the very detailed explanation.
But then, with regards to the rest of the censured information, the great black slabs of black, the bits we are interest in, I am directed to, and I quote ‘section 21(4)(b) of the Information Act’. That’s it. No explanation, so I have to go and have a look at the act. What does section 21(4)(b) of the Information Act say? It says, and I quote:
If you watched the previous Health and Community Services minister in the last committee process, she just read what had been prepared for her in these folders. Had I time to ask the question, she would have provided this information, so why be so secretive now?
I will finish there and continue at a later date.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on 25 March, I had the great pleasure of representing the Minister for Sport and Recreation, the Honourable John Ah Kit, at the launch of the Northern Territory Under-18 Women’s Hockey Team here in Parliament House in the new Members and Guests Lounge. What a great venue that is; it is a very nice place now, with wonderful prints on the walls and wood panelling, conducive to intimate launches and gatherings of the community. Well done to the Speaker for making that area available to the team for the launch.
The great thing about the Under-18 Women’s Hockey Team is the sponsorship that it has received from the community. The naming sponsor of the team is Attitude X, which is owned by Darlene Chin. Attitude X is a local business, and it is great to see them coming to the party to look after such a young team. Darlene Chin also has Attitude for Men, and I promise to go down there and look out for my new wardrobe, and I am looking forward to that. Darlene comes from a well known, Darwin sporting family and is familiar with the rigours of representative teams. Attitude X is also responsible for the team’s Walking Out strip, which team members were parading on the night, and it looked tremendous.
There are other team sponsors. I was pleased to see that Quito Washington, a man known to many us from around the parliament, who owns the company Digital Cinema Pictures. He was offering his support to the team.
Garuda Indonesia provided a very special prize for the team, and that is two return tickets to Bali for the Player of Series. Team management and Garuda kept this under wraps prior to the launch, so I had the pleasure of making the announcement. There will be two awards: a Player of the Match and a Player of the Series. Each day, the Player of the Match will be announced and presented with a ceremonial shirt, something along the lines of the yellow daily winner’s shirt in the Tour de France, and the shirt will be passed from one player to the next. At the conclusion of the tournament, a Player of the Series will be named, and that athlete will win the two tickets as part of Garuda’s sponsorship.
It is important to note that Garuda Indonesia is getting behind local events and building up the holiday destination of Bali. They are keen to get people back there. I am keen to support them. Many people in Darwin are. It is wonderful that organisations such as Garuda are sponsoring local teams and events.
It takes a lot to prepare a team for national championships, and Team Attitude X, led by captain Symone Bell, has been under intensive training for five months in gruelling conditions: they have trained all through the Wet and they have an athlete in Alice Springs training in 40 degree temperatures there. The dedication and discipline shown by individual team members, not to mention the support of their families, is to be commended by this House.
The championships will be played at Vodafone Hockey Centre at Marrara beginning on 6 April, next Tuesday. I urge all members to get down there and have a look. On Day 1 at 6.45pm, the Northern Territory will play Queensland. On 7 April, we play Western Australia. On 8 April, we play South Australia. Friday is a rest day. On Saturday, we play Tasmania and on Sunday it is New South Wales – that should be a good game. On Tuesday 13, we play the ACT, and Wednesday 14, we play Victoria. It is a rest day on Thursday, followed by the play-offs on Friday with the final on Saturday at 8.15pm.
It would be great if members can get down there and support Team Attitude X. They do have a lot of support from around the place. Before I talk about that support, I would like to read Team Attitude X into Hansard: Symone Bell, the captain, Kirstie McKellar, vice-captain. I have known Kirstie for a number of years; she baby-sat our children and it seems I have known for an age. She is a champion young player with a great future in hockey and is a young woman with a really good focus. She has actually stretched out her Year 12 studies over a couple of years, so in fact she is doing Years 12 and 13. That is a wonderful achievement for someone to be dedicated to her sport, to be able to get their sport in, but also to realise the benefits of and value of good education, and she is well supported by her mother and father. When we talk about, as we did earlier today in the House, families and what they mean to the community and how they are our future, there is a lot to be said for that family, and, I would suggest, for all of the families here.
Emma Smith is the Alice Springs player who has been training hard during the summer months. She is vice-captain as well, so that is good. We have a Top End and Centre vice-captains. Zayley Ainslie, Tarryn Aldridge, Catherine Anstess from the famous Anstess family. They seem to pop up in everything. This family seems to excel academically and in the sporting field. Congratulations to Catherine. Jenni Gregg, Heather Langham, Kirby Lawler, who is the daughter of the Assistant Principal at Anula; it was great to see her there and being named. There is Candice and Simone Liddy, two sisters, and, you know, mum and dad must be working a fair amount of overtime for two girls on a representative side to keep them going, but, once again, that is the depth of the family support. That is really what families have to do and wherever we can get behind to support families in their endeavours to get their kids into these competitive sports, we should.
Stacey Luck, Jessica Maclean, Elissa Moy, Carmen O’Reilly, Emily Peris, Zoe Smith and Lisa Visentin. Emily Peris and Kirstie McKellar, by the way, are both Territory Pearls players, so they will bring a lot of knowledge and skill to the team, which augurs well for how we will go in the competition. That is pretty good.
This team, apart from the training that they undergo, is also heavily involved in the sports science side of it. They have been into dietary and hydration therapies, and the team is actually going to be wearing ice vests. They are taking quite a serious competitive edge and focus on this game. I believe they are really out to pull over this championship because, above all else, and apart from the skills that the two Territory’s Pearls players will be bringing to the side, they have the home ground advantage, so we look forward to seeing them really excel.
The team Head Coach is Gordon Clarke. I met him on the night. He is a great person, very committed to the team, and we wish him all the luck. The support staff are Jemima Cameron, Jason Butcher and Grant van der Ploeg. The team physio, who is also the physio for the Hockeroos – how lucky is this Under-18 side? – is Jennifer Cooke. The team Manager is someone known to a lot of us here in the House, Robyn Smith. I was speaking to Robyn today, as a matter of fact, and said that I would be mentioning the team and wishing them luck. She said: ‘Oh well, say the normal things: that I need a pay rise and all this sort of stuff’. I cannot guarantee her the pay rise, but recognition for her time and effort and her focus on community is to be commended. She certainly does put more into the community than she could possibly ever be recompensed for, I am sure of that.
I wish the team and all the support staff the best of luck. I know they will do well and, regardless of where they end up in the competition, they are going to do the Territory proud. I also commend the mothers, the fathers, the brothers, sisters, and all those in the family who support them, as well as the teachers at school and their workplaces because all these people combine to get these girls to where they are. From my conversations with them, and by the look of the girls on the night, they will be there. Good on you, Team Attitude X!
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about the advertising on this cask of port which, I should indicate to members, I have emptied - and by emptied I do not mean had the port. I have a full bladder of port sitting in my office in Alice Springs. You will not be surprised to know that I took the bladder of port out before I hopped on the plane. I wanted to bring this cask - and I will table it shortly - for members to have a look at. I have not seen advertising like this on this sort of alcohol, ever. Members, I am sure, on both sides would agree that this is offensive; it is outrageous. Tawny port, as most members will know, the evidence shows, is the most highly consumed alcohol in Tennant Creek– I see the member for Barkly, my apologies – in Alice Springs, and probably in Tennant Creek I would say.
We know that pancreatitis is a serious issue for Aboriginal people who are increasingly drinking tawny port. The manufacturer of this cask, Stanley - it is a Stanley cask - also have other casks with this sort of advertising on it although, when I went to the alcohol outlet, it is the case that not all of their products had this advertising on them. I find this absolutely outrageous and offensive, and I doubt whether there would be anyone in this House who would disagree with me.
Mr Kiely: What does it advertise?
Ms CARNEY: It is a $20 000 dash for cash. This is unlike any advertising that we see these days, in particular, on for instance, chocolate bars and so on, where you undo the wrapper and enter the competition by sending an SMS, or the manufacturer of whatever product it is invites you to go to their web site. Not this, and it is no coincidence in my view - not this. This is fill out the bottom of the form and post it back. There is no reference to SMS or a web site. In my view, this sort of advertising is specifically targeted to problem drinkers and, as a person from Alice Springs and a member of the Legislative Assembly, I would say this is specifically targetted to Aboriginal people in Central Australia, and it is absolutely disgusting.
I raised this issue last week. The Minister for Central Australia was unaware of it. I do not blame him for that. I was not aware of this until someone pointed it out to me, and I went to the grog shop and had a look. I do not tend to look, when I am buying alcohol, in the cask section, and I would not mind guessing that the minister also does not look in the cask section. However, I would urge all members to go into their local grog shops and see whether this advertising is there. There is an obligation on all of us to be very vigilant when considering the advertising on alcohol in the Northern Territory.
This is so blatant. This occupies a third of the cask; it is big glossy colour advertising of $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes. If this is not aimed at problem drinkers in Alice Springs, I do not know what is. I would find it difficult to believe that the manufacturer has a greater market anywhere in this country than Alice Springs and Central Australia generally.
I raise the issue tonight for a few reasons, one is to inform all members of the House of this issue. I very sincerely implore all members to keep an eye out for this issue. It is disgusting that this sort of advertising is allowed. I issued a press release today, I think; I have also written to the minister, I have every confidence that he would share my views about this sort of advertising.
I have called on the minister to regularly monitor the advertising of alcohol in the Northern Territory and, of course, we cannot just think about the problem drinkers in Alice Springs; we have to look at young people, teenagers, whatever the colour of their skin, we do not want this sort of advertising of alcohol in our community per se.
I would like the minister to, and I am sure he will in his letter to me, provide me with assurance that he, his staff, his department and members of his party will call into grog shops to keep an eye on this issue. I have also asked the minister to investigate the possibility of coming up with some legislation to ban this kind of advertising. I know that it could be difficult, but I implore him to at least look at it. There are many very clever people in the Department of Justice and I am sure someone can spend half a day looking at the issue. There is a strong case to ban that sort of offensive advertising. I have also called on the minister to consider writing to the manufacturer asking them to withdraw it from the market.
An article published in the Centralian Advocate today says that the minister will write to the manufacturer. Can I say, that I was very disappointed with the minister’s comments. He said that he doubted and I quote from the article:
Well, I am no marketing expert and I know the minister is not either and I would not mind betting that some very clever people at this company, the manufacturer, Stanley, have got together and worked out how they can possibly pull more people into drinking this product. Companies like this do not just come up with advertising of this nature in the hope that they might be able to flog a few more casks of port. They do so following a very deliberate strategy and marketing campaign. This is a deliberate campaign to target drinkers. Frankly, I am astonished that the minister would say that he is surprised if it contributes to more drinking.
Nevertheless, he said that he will write to the company asking them to withdraw the product. Happily, according to the article in the Centralian Advocate today, someone from the company said that they would be supportive of what the community wanted. He said that it is a national promotion, but if local people do not want this sort of thing then they would have another look at it and they would be supportive of that.
So, in the space of a week, I am very pleased to say that I have raised this issue and it is now on the agenda, perhaps not top of mine for all sorts of people, but I now know that the minister is aware of it, I know that he will write to the company and I know that the media has contacted the manufacturer and happily they are saying they are prepared to have a look at it. I am not sure that I could have had a better outcome in such a short period of time.
However, the fact that this manufacturer on this occasion says they will have a look at it does not mean that other manufacturers in the future will not turn their mind to this sort of disgraceful advertising. It is for that reason that I ask the minister to encourage someone in his department to have a look at the issue. If we can ban rubbish advertising like this, it would be a good outcome for everyone in the Northern Territory.
In conclusion, I really do urge all members who might not go in the cask section of their local grog shop, to all keep an eye on this. We cannot, as citizens of the Northern Territory, and in particular members of parliament, just sit by and watch this sort of garbage happen. I conclude my comments, but I would like to table the cask.
Leave granted.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I would like to make some comments on the Katherine Branch of the Cattlemen’s Association’s AGM held last week. I put on record my congratulations to the outgoing chairman of that branch, Alister Trier, for doing such a great job over the last three years, and the outgoing executive. Congratulations also to the new executive elected on that day.
It was a great meeting with a big turnout of people and it was great also to see the minister there. I am sure he was in good company for the dinner that night because they are great people who come to those meetings and I am sure he felt very welcomed. I did note that the minister talked a little bit about his colleague, the minister for infrastructure and transport, in dispatches as being in Canberra lobbying hard for extra road funding, which was great to hear. However, I put on the record also a little warning to the minister: do not think for one minute you can pretend to lobby for more road funding that is forthcoming, as I understand it, that is perhaps because of the good work over the last year or so that the Cattlemen’s Association of the Northern Territory has done in regards to the next tranche of unincorporated roads funding.
The cattlemen have done a great job on that. It is something that has been top of mind, as I am sure you would know and I am sure the primary industry minister knows. They have done some serious lobbying with the federal government for quite a long time and it will be interesting to see the federal budget as far as extra money goes for road funding in those areas, particularly to do with beef roads. If there is extra money the issue is going to be how that might be applied, through what structures and how it will be administered. I wish the cattlemen every success with that.
I congratulate them for making a couple of very serious presentations on the night: one to Brian and Christine Kelly who have sold the Knotts Crossing Resort. Brian and Christine have done a fantastic job over many years in providing services to locals and tourists and, first and foremost, to the Cattlemen’s Association. They have now sold that. I extend a welcome to the new owners and the new manager who has taken over from Brian and Christine, and wish Brian and Christine all the best for their future endeavours including all of their other interests in the Northern Territory. I am sure that they will make a great success of those as they have done of Knotts Crossing for quite a number of years.
The second presentation was to Peter Blake, a CEO known to everybody in this House. Peter has been CEO of probably most departments of the Northern Territory government that are industry-affiliated departments. Peter has a long record going back to about 1978 at about the time of self-government. Peter is retiring quite soon and takes with him a great deal of corporate history and a great number of many enjoyable experiences. He has done a fantastic job. It will be sad to see him go, although he deserves to go and enjoy retirement after he takes long service leave and all the rest of it. Hopefully, government will see fit to ensure that Peter Blake gets the recognition he deserves at his forthcoming function, where the departments are putting on a celebration for him to mark that occasion.
I see Madam Speaker, by invite to all of us, has invited us to dinner on Thursday, 1 April, in the Speaker’s suite to say our farewells to Peter Blake at a formal level for the great work that he has done. He has certainly seen the Territory develop, as many of us have, over many years and been intrinsically involved in that development, and sorted through the issues in a very professional manner, certainly by providing advice to governments at a very high level for many years – good advice that has stood government in good stead, no matter what their colours. I look forward to sharing a few red wines with Peter on Thursday night to celebrate his departure in the forthcoming period.
The Research Farm at Katherine once again put on a fantastic day, Farm Day, and was well supported by Katherine businesses, and some Darwin businesses, in fact, which was good to see. Many people turned out, even though it was very wet; a few inches of rain fell the night before. Parking became a bit of a problem in the paddock they use, which is normally very dry, but we seem to be getting a normal wet season this year, and it is a good sign for farmers coming into the dry season. Congratulations to the department and all of those associated with it, particularly the businesses of Katherine that turned out to display their wares, and to all the Katherine people and Katherine regional people who turned out to support that day, which was very successful.
On another matter, I raise the issue of the Katherine school buses, which the minister for transport would be aware is an issue in Katherine. I have written to him, as has the member for Katherine, and I am sure he is aware of a number of letters and concerns of Katherine and Katherine rural people, in particular, about the changes in circumstances of the school bus runs. The minister afforded both the member for Katherine and me a briefing the other day with departmental officers who assured us that they had a process in hand to at least appreciate the issues that have come up with the change of the contract. It is not a case of the contractor in this instance being at fault. It is a whole set of circumstances that have meant that children getting on and off buses coming from schools within Katherine out to the rural area are now being dropped off at different places and circumstances have changed.
The briefing provided us with a little more information to give to those concerned. I can tell you, minister, that there have been a good number of representations. People are very concerned with what is going on. It is something that needs to be got in hand very quickly, coming to the end of the first term of school. It is something that perhaps should have been tackled prior to the beginning of the school year. I understand that the department was not aware of the operational methods of the previous contractor, which were not at fault necessarily. They took it on themselves to drop children off and pick them up at more regular points along rural roads than was deemed within the contractual arrangements. That, from many points of view in Katherine, was a good thing, because it actually meant that children were not walking long distances when they were dropped off in front of their gates and that sort of thing.
I understand that there are safety concerns; there are financial concerns with the contract. There are new contractors in place with new buses, which is great to see. Everyone is appreciative of the new buses – airconditioned buses at long last. They are bigger buses with greater capacity which, in itself, leads to problems of turning around and setting down children on the sides of roads.
However, the real issue here is that government make sure - and I made this point at the briefing and I am sure I made the point in the letter to the minister - that government has to actually go and talk to the groups of residences in all of the different rural areas which have the various issues, to understand what is it they are concerned about, because they are so many and varied, and most of them have very legitimate concerns about their children. It is not just a matter of coming to some decisions on where buses should stop. They are not just doing it on the basis of what is suitable as a benchmark in a distance from a child’s gate - a minimum distance, or whatever. Government should actually understand what the concerns of the parents are.
The test, I guess, for whether this issue gets resolved - and I can tell you today and last week, I am still getting very strong representations on this matter - is that government actually talks to parents and understands their issues when they compile the new designated bus stops. If it is not done in an appropriate way, I can tell you now that it will be an ongoing issue for you, minister, and you will have to address at some very large public meetings. I am sure you do not want to have to do that …
Dr Burns: I love public meetings.
Mr BALDWIN: If you would like to, we can certainly arrange them at any time.
We are looking forward to a very speedy resolution of these issues. One that takes into account the concerns of the parents, in particular, and that is in place in a timely manner for the next term of school. Some of the issues are well recorded in the letters that have been received by the government through either the department or directly to the minister. I am sure they will take those on board. I will await the outcome of those.
I make a mention of another issue. This is one that I seem to raise at this time every year; it is budget time. Government is putting the final touches to their budget, and I just raise the issue again of power to Wooliana in the Daly River region, one that is a promise signed off by the now Chief Minister and the candidate of the day, promising that power will be delivered to Wooliana. They have been very patient people. I am repeating a speech I make every year at this time, and sometimes in between.
Dr Burns: You never did it.
Mr BALDWIN: No, we never did it. That is right. However, you promised it, and it is a letter signed by the government. This will be one of your final opportunities to get it going and have it in place. It would be good if it is in the budget and the people of Wooliana expect it to be in the budget this year. Therefore, minister, while you are thinking about all the things you have to think about, make sure that is right at the top of your list.
While I am on you, minister, you have had representations again - and I say again not in terms of you personally, but government generically - of the issue of the causeway into Nauiyu community. It is something that has been ongoing - something that has come out of the 1998 floods, in fact: the strategy to ameliorate the concerns of Daly River and their isolation almost every Wet since the floods. The raising of the causeway from the Five Mile and also into the entrance of Nauiyu community, needs to be started on in this budget period so that next Wet Season those sections of the road have been raised. This will afford the community greater periods of access during times at the height of our Wet Season and will mean that they will have access at many more times between new year and April, so that they can live their lives in a normal way that we would all expect with access for all of the services that are available to them.
Minister, I await that and also I wait for some answers from last sittings with regard with to adjournment speeches. So, get on with it.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I was once again pleased to visit Alice Springs earlier this month where I met with many involved in the transport and construction sectors and also caught up with the developments on some of the major projects and initiatives in the Centre.
The availability of land was one of the key issues raised by people from the construction industry when I met with them in Alice Springs. I am very pleased with the success of negotiations over Larapinta.
Amongst the projects that I also visited, I was very pleased to meet with the developers of Westy’s sporting club, Viv and Craig Oldfield and their partners, and see their plans for what is sure to be a great facility for the people who live in the Gillen area. I enjoyed a beer with the Oldfields and they are great hosts. I wish them well in revitalising Wests Sport Club.
Another very enjoyable visit was to the National Transport Hall of Fame. I thank Peter Mostran, Russ Driver and Liz Martin for giving me the grand tour of this wonderful facility. It is a great attraction in the town and exhibits the trucks and transport so important in opening up the Territory. They are a very important part of our history and they are also a very great tourist attraction. I commend the hard work put in by that committee and particularly Liz Martin who I can see has been a fantastic driving force for that Hall of Fame over many years. It has all been accomplished by volunteers, some support from government in the past, but business community and quite large sponsors like Shell and Kenworth have really got behind this project. It was just great to see some of the very rare exhibits there and some of the personalities that have really shaped the transport industry in the Northern Territory.
I will confess to being a bit of a truckie at heart. I jumped at the chance to get behind the wheel of a semi – no actually is was not a semi, it was a rigid framed truck, it was rigid body but it was a substantial truck – and drive down the Maryvale Road with Titjakala store keeper Joe Rawson. Joe is a great personality and I was so relaxed behind the wheel going down the highway, Joe said to me: ‘I had better watch you mate, you might take my job. You look as though you know what you are doing’. I said: ‘Well, I have driven a few trucks in my time, but it has been a while’. But, it was great to get behind the wheel and the purpose of it was to actually experience the road conditions that people like Joe experience when they are trying to deliver their supplies across these roads, like the Maryvale Road into the stores, and health provisions and medical provisions. I commend Joe because he does a fantastic job. He is down to earth sort of a bloke and we had a good time on the day. I did have to show him how truckies hitch! He did chip me because there was a bit of weld broken away from one of his cages. So the point was made about these roads.
The point with the roads is that they go through an unincorporated area. We have about 9000 km of unincorporated roads in the Territory, and they have not been well funded by the Commonwealth. We have been let down as the Territory through the formula that has been adopted by the Commonwealth to Roads to Recovery. We have a scenario. Mr John Anderson, the Deputy Prime Minister, his federal seat of Gwydir, over the four year life of the Roads to Recovery funding received $42m; the Territory gets $20m. The Territory gets $20m. We have Wilson Tuckey up there in north-west Western Australia. He gets around about the $25m mark. In fact, there are more than a dozen National Party and Coalition members of the federal government who receive more than the Territory. Look at the area of land we have!
I went to Canberra. The member for Daly is right. I went to argue the case. I commend Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson’s office. They saw me. I am working very closely with the cattlemen and, in fact, Mr Tony Searle, who is Deputy Chair of the Cattlemen’s Association, came with me to that meeting and he impressed upon them the fact that the Territory is getting a raw deal. He reiterated that there has been a promise made. The member for Daly was talking about promises. I believe that Senator Campbell, the federal Minister for Roads, has made promises to the cattlemen. It varies according to who is telling you, but it is something in the order of $30m or $40m of extra funding coming into the Territory.
The cattlemen do not want to handle that funding; they believe it is appropriate for the Northern Territory government to handle the funding. Senator Campbell was somehow trying to posit the funding, which is phantom funding at this stage because we have not seen the real colour of that money, but the cattlemen want it to be administered by the Territory. That extra money, whether it is $30m or $40m, could make a hell of a difference to our Territory roads like the Maryvale Road. We could spend money on the worst sections.
The Territory is missing out. If the member for Daly is serious, he will join us and call on his federal counterparts to give the Territory the money it deserves. As the minister for roads in the Territory, I will be taking the fight right up to the Commonwealth and the other states so that the Territory gets the road funding it deserves. It would be a real pleasure to see Maryvale Road and a whole lot of other roads receive attention. I will go up that road once again with Joe, and we will have a good old chat as we go up the road.
Alice Springs is buzzing at present. There is the air service that this government helped to secure, Virgin into Alice. It is working very well. They are looking forward to a bumper tourism season. We are certainly supporting that community. The Larapinta development and others on the horizon are very welcome indeed.
The member for Daly can talk about all these things – Wooliana Road and the rest of it – but what did he do when he was in power? They are still waiting for power. We, as a government, made that commitment and we will stand on our record.
I would like to turn tonight to some very important functions that have been going on in my electorate. On 27 February, I hosted the fourth Mayoral, Ministers and Media Prayer Breakfast at Parliament House. This was a very interesting mix of people representing media, politics and the church. Unfortunately, Lord Mayor Peter Adamson was not able to attend, but it was very well attended. The members for Nelson and Nightcliff were there supporting this very vital group.
Sherrilyn Sellick of Darwin’s Rhema Radio is the chairman and can be given full marks for bringing such an interesting group of speakers and prayers together. The group included: MC Dennis Booth from the NT News. Dennis is known as a Sports Editor, both football and racing. He does a fantastic job; Mr David Way from the RevNet Media who gave a very energetic address; Reverend Paul Downey of the Palmerston Baptist Ministry; Phillip Zamagias who is the Bible Society Director and, in the NT, he is known as the Flying Bible Man because he flies around distributing bibles; Stuart McMillan, who is very well known. He has been working out in the bush with various Uniting Church ministries for many years, and he enjoys a great deal of respect all over the Territory; Mrs Robyn Green who is a singer and song writer; Ms Gail Williams of the Larrakia Nation; and Bishop Phillip Freier was also there as well as David Guiltinan of Youth with a Mission.
It was a great prayer breakfast, I felt invigorated. There was a great spirit there. I certainly enjoyed it and I wish them well in future meetings.
On 5 March, I attended the Moil Preschool fundraising barbeque. There were great sausages - I was pleased to donate some sausages - but there were other donations there as well. Gill Abraham is a fantastic and enthusiastic preschool teacher, and Sue Bennett, a hard working teacher support officer, were there with Lyn Nyhuis, the early childhood senior teacher. Together with Tilly Luis, they provided a fabulous feast for the kids and their parents. There was Tilly’s family, Megan, Jarod and grandson, Zac; Mick, Irene, Matthew, Jason and Christina O’Mara; Gerard, Helen, Declan, Isaac and Lewis Reid; Norma, Edward and Christo Box; Brenda and John with the Bennett-Callam children, Magenta, Clancy, Jedda and Tianna; Monica, Tara and Tahnee Maxwell; Terese Mayer and Liam and Hayden Moseley; Terry, Bernie, Julianne and Valentina Dillon; the Yourell family, who are new from Ballarat, and they include Todd, Rebecca, Aidan, Caleb and Jarrod, and a big welcome to them. Mr Yourell has taken a job at International House at NTU. He has a lot of experience in administration of student accommodation. I wish him and his family all the best in their new endeavours in the Territory, and I know they were made to feel very welcome by the Moil Preschool community.
Also there was Sylvia, Vangie, Vasilis and Iliana Tsoukalis, and the Johnson family of Kathy, Anthony, Adam, Sean and Ella.
It was a great night. The kids were playing there. They could get in the spa and cool down. The barbecue was great, the spirit was great, and you can just feel a real spirit of community in the Moil Preschool. I am happy and very pleased to be associated with it, they do a great job.
They are even talking about a special cane toad project to proof their area from cane toads and make it an ecological experiment where they can breed up frogs and other wildlife. I am sure the kids will enthusiastically get involved in that. That is the Moil Preschool garden, it is the site of a primary school class’s project, and years 5 to 7 Kellam groups, who are designing to replant the garden to include more plants that attract insects and birds, designing and building a frog habitat to grow up tadpoles in the hope of increasing frog numbers and frog species in the preschool, as well as researching and working to cane toad proof the garden, that is a great project.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on 7 March it was Clean Up Australia day. I was very pleased to go along there, along with yourself and a whole range of other people, to clean up Rapid Creek. Along with a whole lot of other people, Ann Foster, Esther Egger, Raphael Lawler, Jessica and Tyrone Sariago, Peter O’Hagan, Tim O’Hagan, Lesley Alford, and Ted Kilpatrick, who is a great spirit in our community. He is involved in so many volunteer things, like the Scouts and Clean Up Australia. Ted is a great bloke. Peter Robinson, Anne Stevens, Matthew and Mona Lisa Bonson, what a handsome couple they are, Steve Brennan, Al and Jacky Stanger, who are just real stalwarts with anything to do with Rapid Creek, and Strider, the legendary Strider, he is a great bloke. He is not like everyone else. He is Strider and he loves to be Strider, and he did a great job. He has a lot of knowledge about native plants and native trees.
It was a great group. We collected bags and bags of rubbish. I am sure the creek thanks us for that, because it is under a bit of pressure.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I think I will leave it there tonight. I have many other things to talk about at a later date to do with my electorate and activities. However, I am glad to attend these community activities and get involved in the Darwin community, and also many of the ethnic groups that are in our community.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
PETITION
Coconut Grove/Nightcliff District - Development
Coconut Grove/Nightcliff District - Development
Dr BURNS (Lands and Planning)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I present a petition from 442 petitioners relating to development in the Coconut Grove/Nightcliff district. I move that the petition be read.
Motion agreed to; petition read:
- To: the Hon Chris Burns, minister for Lands and Planning, members of the Northern Territory government,
we, the undersigned petitioners wish to express our deep concern at flaws and deficiencies in the Darwin
Town Plan 1990 that permit inappropriate and poorly conceived development in the Coconut Grove/Nightcliff
district.
In particular, we have grave concerns at the precedent that will be established if a current development application
to build a four-storey block of flats on the corner of Ostermann Street and Dick Ward Drive is allowed to proceed.
Our concerns stem from:
developments directly adjacent to ground level houses;
imposes on the owners of neighbouring properties;
aspirations of residents and the longer term social structure of the district; and
sensitive coastal mangrove areas.
We ask that the minister and the government take immediate action to halt the development on the corner of
Ostermann Street and Dick Ward Drive, and introduce amendments to the current town plan that will restore
appropriate development which makes a positive contribution to the community and preserves the lifestyle
and amenity enjoyed by local residents.
RESPONSES TO PETITIONS
Coconut Grove/Nightcliff District - Development
Coconut Grove/Nightcliff District - Development
Dr BURNS (Lands and Planning)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I am able to present a response to that petition forthwith. In response to community concerns regarding the proposed development, I intervened in the development assessment process by issuing a direction to the Development Consent Authority that prevented it from hearing or determining the application. An Interim Development Control Order No 15 was subsequently made, which introduces new controls for the development of land in the R3 zone where that land is next to or opposite land that is zoned R1 on a local street.
The Interim Development Control Order prevents the construction of a residential building that exceeds three storeys above ground level. It also requires a minimum landscape setback which, I might add, is actually double what was there before, and the construction of solid screen fencing. These provisions are aimed at limiting potential visual or acoustic detriment to existing residential amenity.
The Interim Development Control Order applies to approximately 100 lots in the Darwin area. Under the Planning Act, there is no right of compensation for changes to the development potential of land arising from an amendment to the planning scheme. The Interim Development Control Order will apply while the public process to amend the provisions of the Northern Territory Planning Scheme is enacted.
The applicant in the Ostermann Street case has been invited to submit a new application compliant with the Interim Development Control Order. Any new application will be advertised and proceed through the normal assessment process as established by the Planning Act.
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that responses to Petition Nos 45, 46, 47 and 51 have been received and circulated to honourable members. The text of the responses will be included in the Parliamentary Record.
Petition No 45
- Services to separating parents in the NT jurisdiction of the Family Law Pathways
Presented by: Mr Mills
- Referred to: Minister for Justice and Attorney-General
Date response received:15 March 2004
Date response presented: 30 March 2004
Response:
- This petition calls for the ‘immediate ending of services to separating parents in the Northern Territory jurisdiction
of the Family Law Pathways being delivered on gender preferences.
The Commonwealth government has established the Family Law Pathways Advisory Group to advise it on how to
achieve a family law system to provide the best possible outcomes for families. The Family Law Pathways branch
within the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department is responsible for the development and promotion of
services for separating and divorcing couples and their children. The Family Law Pathways Group produced a
report for the Commonwealth government in 2001 and the Commonwealth government released its response in
May 2003.
While the Pathways Advisory Group’s report recommended that services for separating and divorcing couples should
be free of cultural and gender bias it is important to make the distinction between gender specific services and services
that are gender biased. At no point did the Pathways Advisory Group condemn gender specific services. It is
widely accepted, and consistent with principles of discrimination, that services may be delivered to client groups with
specific and special needs.
While the Commonwealth government has significant responsibility for the family law system and services for separating
and divorcing couples and their children the Northern Territory also has a role particularly where there are allegations
of violence or child abuse. Northern Territory government agencies are responsible for investigating and taking action
in cases of child abuse and the government provides a range of services in the areas of domestic and family violence
through its own agencies and non government organisations.
It is noted that pursuant to its responsibilities the Commonwealth government supports organisations that provide
services to men and women including specialist services targeted at either men or women.
The petition states that areas of notable concern are: ‘domestic violence administration, domestic violence legal help,
family crisis accommodation centres, child protection, police domestic violence, sexual crimes and restraining orders,
Legal Aid Commission, the legal profession in family law matters.’ Many domestic violence and family violence services
are required to target their services to people who are most in need of assistance. In some cases this means that services
are targeted towards men or women.
The government is not aware of cases where these government agencies or non-government services supported by
the government have been provided in an unlawful or inappropriate manner. Neither is the government aware of any
cases where services are ‘unlawfully contorted’ by ‘case officers’ or the deliberate, unlawful interference in cases
involving fathers or children. The government is satisfied that domestic and family violence services, legal aid services,
child welfare agencies and the legal profession are not abrogating their responsibilities or acting unlawfully.
Homosexual Activity
Date presented: 25 November 2003
Presented by: Mr Bonson
- Referred to: Minister for Justice and Attorney-General
Date response received:15 March 2004
Date response presented: 30 March 2004
Response:
- This petition calls for the government not to lower the age of consent to 16 years of age for boys to consent to
homosexual activity. The petition also calls for the government not to change the anti-discrimination laws so
that church schools can no longer refuse to employ homosexual teachers in the schools they run.
The Law Reform (Gender, Sexuality and De Facto Relationships) Act 2003 passed by the Northern Territory
Legislative Assembly in November 2003, amongst other things, equalised the age of consent for sexual activity
for males and females. This government is committed to ensuring equality under the law for all Territorians.
One of the concerns that the government has is the high rate of suicide and health problems applicable to young
men. While the law discriminated against young gay and bisexual people, it created an impediment, for themselves
and the rest of society, from being viewed as equal and valued contributors to our community.
This reform has not exposed young men to sexual abuse. It has equalised the age at which young persons can give
an effective consent to sexual activity. Sexual activity with a person under this age is illegal and the Law Reform
(Gender, Sexuality and De Facto Relationships) Act 2003 has illustrated this government’s repugnance for these
offences committed against children by increasing the penalties of the ‘carnal knowledge’ type offences and also for
sexual offences dealing with other vulnerable people, such as the mentally ill. This is to address the legitimate
concerns about the need to protect young men and women from predatory sexual behaviour. The Law Reform
(Gender, Sexuality and De Facto Relationships) Act 2003 also created a new incest provision that applies equally to
males and females. Previously there was no offence of homosexual incest.
In short, the reforms have ensured that all young people and vulnerable people are treated equally and that all
receive the same degree of protection from the law whether they are male or female.
It is not the case that church schools previously had the absolute ability to refuse to employ homosexual teachers
in the schools that they ran. The Anti-Discrimination Act allowed a narrow exemption to discriminate against people
on the grounds of sexuality in relation to work with children but only where it could be shown that the discrimination
was reasonably necessary to protect the physical, psychological or emotional wellbeing of children, having regard to
all the relevant circumstances of the case including the person’s actions.
The amendments to Anti-Discrimination Act relating to religious bodies and educational institutions have been
carefully developed and drafted in order to accommodate the concerns expressed by various religious bodies operating
in the Territory and to ensure a good balance between equality of treatment and freedom of religious expression. It
is acknowledged that religious educational institutions may need to discriminate in certain areas when employing teachers
in order to ensure that they reflect and uphold the teachings of the religion and act as role models for the particular faith.
A more specific exemption was therefore developed and was inserted at section 37A of the Anti-Discrimination Act, to
allow for religious schools to discriminate on the grounds of religious belief or sexuality, if the discrimination is in good
faith and to avoid offending the religious sensitivities of the people of the religion. The exemption seeks to provide
a balance between protecting the rights of the individuals and preserving the rights of persons to practice their religion
and religious teachings.
Homosexual Activity
Date presented: 25 November 2003
Presented by: Mr Wood
- Referred to: Minister for Justice and Attorney-General
Date response received:15 March 2004
Date response presented: 30 March 2004
Response:
- This petition appears to call for the government not to lower the age of consent to 16 years of age for boys to consent
to homosexual activity introduced by the Law Reform (Gender, Sexuality and De Facto Relationships) Act 2003. The
petition also appears calls for the government not to change the anti-discrimination laws so that church schools
can no longer refuse to employ homosexual teachers in the schools they run.
This government is committed to ensuring equality under the law for all Territorians. One of the concerns that
the government has is the high rate of suicide and health problems applicable to young men. While the law
discriminated against young gay and bisexual people, it created an impediment for themselves and the rest of society
from being viewed as equal and valued contributors to our community.
The age of consent reforms have been accompanied by measures to toughen-up the laws protecting children from
sexual abuse. This includes the raising of the penalties for ‘carnal knowledge’ type offences and also for sexual
offences dealing with other vulnerable people, such as the mentally ill. This is to address the legitimate concerns
about the need to protect young men and women from predatory behaviour. The Law Reform (Gender, Sexuality and
De Facto Relationships) Act 2003 also created a new incest provision that applies equally to males and females
(previously there was no offence of homosexual incest) and increases the penalties generally for other sexual
offences against children and other vulnerable people.
The amendments to Anti-Discrimination Act relating to religious bodies and educational institutions have been
carefully developed and drafted in order to accommodate the concerns expressed by various religious bodies
operating in the Territory and to ensure a good balance between equality of treatment and freedom of religious
expression.
The general exemption in section 37 of the Anti-Discrimination Act allowing a person to discriminate on the grounds
of sexuality in relation to work with children has been repealed. However, it is acknowledged that religious
educational institutions may wish to discriminate in certain areas when employing teachers in order to ensure they
reflect and uphold the teachings of the religion and act as role models for the particular faith. A specific exemption
was therefore developed and inserted at section 37A of the Anti-Discrimination Act, to allow for religious schools
to discriminate on the grounds of religious belief or sexuality, if the discrimination is in good faith and to avoid
offending the religious sensitivities of the people of the religion. Although not specifically related to the gender
of a person’s partner, the exemption will apply to those cases.
The amendments to the Anti-Discrimination Act will not require discrimination, they simply allow discrimination.
This exemption allows individual churches and schools to determine their own policies in this regard.
Mandatory life sentence for murder
Date presented: 27 November 2003
Presented by: Mr Wood
- Referred to: Minister for Justice and Attorney-General
Date response received:15 March 2004
Date response presented: 30 March 2004
Response:
This petition appears to oppose the Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Act 2003 which was passed
by the Legislative Assembly on 27 November 2003.
The Sentencing (Crime of Murder) and Parole Reform Act 2003 provides for a standard non-parole period of 20 years
that is to be set as part of the sentence for the crime of murder. This period is based on the objective features of the
offence, that is, the facts of the offence itself. Twenty years is provided as the standard non-parole period for an
offence that is in the middle of the range of objective seriousness. This period is increased to 25 years for offences
that have factors that are considered to aggravate the seriousness of the offences, for example that the victim was
subjected also to a sexual assault or the victim was a child.
Some offences and the individual facts of some offenders will warrant different consideration. The legislation,
therefore, provides both for longer non-parole periods to be set, for the court to refuse a non-parole period for
the most serious of crimes and for a lesser non-parole period to be set in ‘exceptional circumstances’. The court
is therefore provided with a range of options with regard to the non-parole periods.
The transitional provisions set non-parole periods for existing prisoners and provide consistency in approach with
the law as it will apply in the future.
MINISTERIAL REPORTS
Treasurers Conference
Treasurers Conference
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, last week I travelled to Canberra to attend the Treasurers Conference. I did so with two objectives. The first was to seek a meeting with Treasurer Costello regarding the Commonwealth Grants Commission assessment for the Northern Territory for 2004-05. The second was to take on the big states and their attempts to undermine, with a view to eventually overturning, the principle of equalisation in the distribution of federal monies from the GST, in other words, the principle of horizontal fiscal equalisation.
The Commission’s recommendations this year are disappointing with an effective annual loss of $48m. That loss reflects the review of the methodology of the Grants Commission, the five year review, and that will form the basis of course of the annual recommendations until the completion of the next review, not due until 2009. So, reflecting on the Commission’s recommendations, the Territory’s estimated GST revenue for 2004-05 will be $1664m. That is an increase of just $16m from 2003-04 to 2004-05, which is just 1% in real dollars.
On Thursday, 25 March, I was pleased to secure a meeting with the federal Treasurer to discuss the outcomes of the review. In its report, the Commonwealth Grants Commission acknowledged that its recommendations did not adequately recognise some of the unique circumstances of the Territory. They pointed to two key expenditure areas of debt charges and depreciation. I was pleased that the federal Treasurer gave us a positive hearing on this with a view that discussions will continue between Commonwealth and Territory officials to identify possible options to fully capture the Territory’s special needs in those areas. I am given added confidence here because last year at the Treasurers Conference I raised the question of population counts with the federal Treasurer. He undertook to take that on and, since then, the Chief Minister and I have met with the head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics with a view to tightening how they do the census and what assistance the Northern Territory government can give them when the next census is due. His record says that when he takes things away to consider, he does so. I am confident that we will get a full hearing on this.
The second objective of taking the fight to the larger states from undermining the principles of horizontal fiscal equalisation was a joint effort by the Treasurers of South Australia, ACT, Queensland and the Premier and Treasurer of Tasmania, and me. Marshall Perron used to refer to horizontal fiscal equalisation as the glue that binds the federation together and I think it was a Commonwealth Treasury official who coined that term many years previously. However, it is a principle that acknowledges that it does cost a lot more to deliver services in rural and remote parts of Australia than it does in the more settled areas, and federal grants raised through taxation are distributed to each state and territory on that basis. So, the fight is not new. It is something that our predecessors used to have to take on in every ministerial council and we continue to do that.
The Weekend Australian reported I was the most heated of all the Treasurers in the argument and that is probably true. I strongly believe, as I pointed out to the Treasurers of Victoria and New South Wales, it does cost a bit more to put a doctor in Borroloola or a school in Yuendumu than it does in Parramatta Road or Brunswick or Coburg in Melbourne. We are pleased to see the small states stick together but we did, however, accept a review of the process for arriving at the decisions. There is no doubt that additions and alterations over the years have meant that the formula has become ever more complex and groaning under its own weight. A review was needed and warranted, but we made it crystal clear that the review does not go to the principle of equalisation. The review will be conducted by heads of Treasuries.
Members should be in no doubt that the $48m cut to the government is a significant hit. I pointed out to Treasurer Egan in New South Wales that if they had taken an equivalent hit, they would have lost $1.6bn rather that the $356m about which he was shedding tears and telling the media that he would go and cut his wrists. That would have been the reality of an equivalent cut to New South Wales. It is a significant hit to our bottom line; one that will make the job of delivering services and boosting jobs much harder. It will make for a tight budget in May.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I expected that that last comment ‘a tight budget in May’ because there is an extraordinary amount of spin occurring here. I would have expected, too, that Treasurer Costello would have informed you, Treasurer, of your deceit of Territory businesses in pretending that it was Mr Costello or the Grants Commission that were requiring you to pass on the Power and Water Corporation increase.
Mr Stirling: It was not the Grants Commission. I never said it was.
Mr MILLS: You did so.
Mr Stirling: Never said it was!
Mr MILLS: You did so. You did indeed.
Mr Stirling: Read the NT News!
Mr MILLS: In fact …
Ms Martin: You just don’t understand the difference.
Members interjecting.
Mr MILLS: In fact …
Mr Elferink: Stand up and deny it in this House when you’re ready.
Mr HENDERSON: A point of order, Madam Speaker. If the member for Macdonnell is going to accuse my colleague, the Treasurer, of lying, he can only do so by way of substantive motion and I ask him to withdraw.
Mr MILLS: The NT News accused the Treasurer of telling porky pies …
Madam SPEAKER: There is no point of order.
Mr MILLS: … perhaps a more appropriate word. But nonetheless, from the visit to Canberra, we return with a predicted message that there is going to be some sort of pressure on the current budget. In fact, the intent is the eradication of BAD tax. BAD tax is perhaps something you are going to take accolades for, but in fact it was the federal Treasurer who leant upon all state treasurers to remove that tax because he knows, and you know, the amount of money that is flowing into the Northern Territory courtesy of GST revenue has increased for this next budget.
Last year, the increase was $81.8m. That is the increase on basic funding. Territory businesses and families should know the truth. There has been an $87.8m increase on base funding for this budget. There is more money coming into the Territory, more money coming to Treasury from the Commonwealth, more money coming into Territory businesses by stamp duty, payroll tax and other taxes than you are actually spending on Territorians. You are managing the budget, you are intending to manage the budget, but you are not managing the Northern Territory economy.
Nurses – Recruitment and Retention
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, nurses are a key part of our health system and represent over a quarter of our total work force within the health agency. In our Building Healthier Communities five year framework, we make very clear undertakings to support our nurses as a work force, and to give them greater career satisfaction from working in the Northern Territory.
The government has already made a great deal of progress in this area and we are on track to fulfil our election commitment of 75 extra hospital-based nurses. Given that, I find the member for Port Darwin’s media release last week very puzzling indeed. She said …
Mr Dunham: Come and get a briefing. You’ll understand it then.
Dr TOYNE: I am about to give you a briefing. In fact, I have been advised that to date …
Mr Dunham: You’ll need a calculator. Bring it along with you.
Dr TOYNE: …if I can be heard, 38 new nursing positions have been created, which includes 16 extra critical care nurses, 11 clinical nurse educators, three renal nurses and five extra midwifery nurses for the Northern Territory.
We are absolutely on track to deliver on the 75 nursing positions over and above the establishment that existed before we came to government. We have over 1000 nurses in our system, so the 75 additional positions are only one part of the story. We are doing a lot of work now to increase the recruitment and retention prospects of bringing nurses into the Northern Territory.
We are allocating $236 000 in grants to further their professional training. These grants will help our nurses to improve their qualifications, provide incentives to remain in our work force and ease the financial burden on people studying to be nurses. Twenty-two nursing students from Charles Darwin University have been awarded grants; 53 nurses have been awarded grants to pursue studies including 33 who are studying for a Batchelor of Nursing qualification.
Areas of health where nurses are most needed, in particular those studying post-graduate degrees in critical care, midwifery, renal and preoperative care, have been targeted. This government is committed to using local tertiary institutions so that graduates have the best possible education and training in the Northern Territory. The Bachelor of Nursing course in Alice Springs is the result of a partnership between CDU and the department, and is already producing nurses trained in Central Australia. I met a number of current students in Alice Springs a couple of weeks ago, and they are a very inspiring lot, Madam Speaker.
We also want to reward our nurses for the dedicated service they provide to the Northern Territory, and provide them with salary and conditions that encourage them to stay here. On 18 February 2004, the Nurses 2003-2006 Certified Agreement was presented to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission for certification. This agreement represents significant improvements in pay and conditions for nurses who work for the department, including an 11% pay rise over three years. This agreement also provides for formal collaboration between the Department of Health and Community Services and the Australian Nursing Federation during the life of the agreement, which should deliver greater industrial stability to the nursing work force.
We value our nurses. We value our work force in general in the agency. We want to see that we cannot only attract good recruits into the service but also to retain them.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I welcome the minister’s report this morning. I will be writing to the minister in due course seeking a detailed outline of where every one of those 38 positions is located and when they were filled. I will be very interested to hear whether or not they have been filled. When Labor won the last election, one of their election promises was 75 extra hospital nurses and one of the other promises was extra nurses to work in child health in remote communities. I will be interested to see whether these 38 extra positions encompass community nurses out bush with that child program, or whether they are hospital positions or not. I will be interested to hear whether or not the grants cover the HECS payments of nurses, which was a very good CLP policy in years gone by. I certainly gained from that myself as a nurse.
With regards to the minister’s continual inference that there are no problems out there with nursing numbers in the Northern Territory, I refer members to an article in yesterday’s paper, dated 29 March, page 6, where it mentions the employment of Carol Barnes as the new senior nurse at Alice Springs hospital. I congratulate Carol on that appointment. However, Ms Barnes goes on to say that one of her aims is going to be to work to alleviate heavy workloads in the hospital, and that ‘nurses were suffering heavy workloads at Alice Springs Hospital’. That second quote comes from Denis Blackford, the secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation. In the article, Carol Barnes agreed that nurses’ workloads were increasing and, I quote:
- The patients we look after are sicker than they were in the past and they stay in hospital for a shorter time.
That is yesterday - Alice Springs Hospital - problems with nursing workloads, which was exactly my point in my press release when I referred to your grant, minister.
Madam SPEAKER: Your time has expired.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, I would again counsel the member to not go out too far on a limb on this issue because the limb is going to break on you and you might have a nasty fall.
Regarding the remainder of our election promise, we will be announcing, as we go along, the completion of the fulfilment of that promise. I am more than happy to give details of where those positions are.
Regarding some of the issues you have raised about Alice Springs, we will get back to you on that. We are looking at that situation continually, in conjunction with the AMA. I believe that we are finding some good outcomes for the present situation in Alice Springs. We will get back to you on that.
Fire and Rescue Service – Implementation of Recommendations
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, last sittings I was pleased to table the road map for the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service to move to an exciting new era. At that time, I announced the Martin Labor government had allocated $2.5m over four years in extra resources to the Fire Service to help put the road map into place. The report, prepared by Ms Susan Harben and Mr Chris Gration, provided clear recommendations for a brighter future within our fire service. I believe there is widespread recognition from within the fire service and the wider community that these recommendations are a practical and commonsense approach to move beyond the cycle of conflict that has built up over many years. All members of this House who have people from the fire service in their electorates would know of the anguish and conflict that has existed in our fire service for many years, and the pain it was causing firefighters and their families.
Work on the new road map to a new era began immediately. The report’s recommendations are being implemented, including new ways to strengthen industrial relations practices and improved communications, both within the service and the wider community.
This budget will be the last budget where the fire service does not have its own designated output group. This has been a significant issue for members within the fire service who believed, rightly or wrongly, that by not having direct accountability to me as minister for fire services for the budget every year, was detrimental to their sense of being in control of their own organisation. It is one of the key issues that has been well supported by the fire service.
Progress is being made on implementing the recommendation for a new, flatter senior management structure. I can advice honourable member that the acting director, Bruce Mouatt, circulated the new organisation structure to firefighters last week and personally visited all fire stations across the Northern Territory to brief all serving members on the new structure. As I said, when the report was released, the funding and restructure decisions are of massive significance. However, the capacity of the fire service to move to a new era rests in a large part with the men and women of the organisation.
From the time the review began, I have been getting overwhelmingly positive feedback from firefighters and staff. I have been pleased to meet with firefighters in Darwin and Alice Springs just recently, and I will meet with other serving officers at all stations across the Northern Territory as soon as I can. The feedback following the release of the report has been equally as encouraging, with almost collective sighs of relief from everybody who has embraced the report and has recognised that it was long overdue. Everybody in the organisation looks forward to a new era.
I commend the Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Services Acting Director, Mr Bruce Mouatt, and all of those in the fire service, for the way the way the report has been taken on board and the constructive manner in which its recommendations are being implemented. I also commend all serving firefighters who positively responded to the review.
As an anecdote, last Friday night a social event occurred. An invitation from the acting director was sent to all firefighters in Darwin and Palmerston for a social night at the Peter McAulay Centre, something that would have been unthinkable a few months ago. Seventy to 80 firefighters and their families turned up at that function; a great night was had by all. It was once unthinkable; management and firefighters. A great nigh was had by all at a great social occasion. In speaking this morning to people who were there, they said many people thought it would never happen and, if we did it again, we would probably have double the attendance. Therefore, good signs of the organisation finally coming together; a new road map for the fire service. I wish everybody - management, firefighting personnel and unions - the best of luck in implementing the review.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I make a few comments in relation to this. The first comment I make is that this should be a ministerial statement. The opposition is now trapped in a position where we have two minutes to respond to a review which is well over 100 pages long. Having said that, I have now had an opportunity to read the review. Some concerning aspects come out of it.
One is the sacking of Mr Pepper. In spite of the deceit engaged in by this government, internal documents inside the fire service list quite clearly that Mr Pepper was given an ‘involuntary redundancy’. That was in a situation where Mr Pepper had no financial control over his own organisation. The fact is that the financial control of the organisation was left to the Commissioner of Police, the Deputy Commissioner, and one of the Assistant Commissioners. The problem with that is that, if you read the review, the commissioner believed very much in the hands-off approach of management of the fire service, and actually went on to suggest that the director should be encouraged to deal with the minister directly.
That placed Mr Pepper, at the time, in an invidious situation where he had no financial control over his own organisation, an up-line which said go and talk directly to the minister, and a commissioner who had an interest in implementing the O’Sullivan Review recommendations into the Northern Territory Police Force. Consequently, Mr Pepper was left in a very exposed position by this government. I am deeply concerned that that is the way that they dealt with him, and when they came to the point where they had to deal with him, their approach with him was to basically say involuntary redundancy, see you later, sunshine. That is a great travesty. It is a small wonder that this government is not trying to play the politics that they do in so many other issues, in blaming us for it, because all of this stuff happened under them.
Mr HENDERSON (Police, Fire and Emergency Services): Madam Speaker, the fairy land that the member for Macdonnell lives in is quite astounding. I can say quite categorically here, on the Parliamentary Record, that Mr Pepper was not sacked; he resigned for ill health ...
Mr Elferink: Yes, he was.
Mr HENDERSON: … and I challenged the member for Macdonnell to bring any evidence into this parliament that he was sacked. He was not. He resigned because of ill health.
The financial structure that was established, that the member for Macdonnell was talking about in relation to the structure under Police, Fire and Emergency Service, was the structure that was established under the previous government. He cannot cry foul about that. Again, another attack by members of the opposition on the integrity of our Police Commissioner, by virtually asserting that the Commissioner had ignored his responsibilities to the fire service because of the implementation of the O’Sullivan Review is a scurrilous attack, and one that I repudiate entirely.
Ranger Uranium Mine- Contamination of Water
Mr VATSKALIS (Mines and Energy): Madam Speaker, I rise to report on the water contamination incident which occurred at the Ranger mine site last week. I am advised that at approximately 10.30pm, on Tuesday, 23 March, a hose attachment was made between the process water and the clean water pipe system in the Ranger ore processing facility. Early on Wednesday, 24 March, workers showering after the night shift complained of skin irritation and poor quality drinking water. Initial testing by Energy Resources Australia, ERA, indicated that the water had a mild acidic ph of 4.5 and an elevated uranium content of eight parts per million. Soon after, the incident was reported to my department by the ERA General Manager Operations and the ERA Radiation Safety Officer. In response to this incident, ERA decided to close down both the clean water and process water systems, send non-essential staff home and conduct an orderly shut down of the mine and all processing facilities.
After receiving advice of this incident, my department despatched a team to conduct a preliminary investigation of the incident. The federal government’s Office of the Supervising Scientist also became involved and conducted testing at the mine site and other sites. On Friday, 26 March, ERA also notified my department of two further incidents that had been detected as part of their own investigation into the main incident. They allowed that some evidence suggests that the connection between the two water systems may have been made before, and the header tank, located at Jabiru East, had overflowed. This time was also affected by the process water which had been drawn to the clean water circuit.
Let me make it quite clear, this government’s first priorities are the welfare of the mine workers affected by the incident and the protection of the environment. Senior executive from ERA yesterday informed me that Rio Tinto, the parent company, had sent its Chief Medical Officer to individually counsel workers who were affected by the water incident.
We are also concerned about the effect of this incident on the environment. My department is closely monitoring the results of testing carried out by the Office of Supervising Scientist and ERA so that we can assess the exact nature of any water that may have been released to the external environment. ERA has maintained communication with all the stakeholders.
The incident has caused justifiable alarm amongst the Mirrar people, the traditional owners of the area, as well as those living in Jabiru township and surrounds. Officers from my department are conducting an investigation into the cause and nature of this event, so that they can ensure an incident such as this does not occur again. These officers are collecting evidence so that they are in a position to identify any breaches of relevant legislation and regulations, and recommend to me any appropriate action that may be necessary as a consequence of this water incident.
I would also like to refer to the Senate inquiry into the regulation of uranium mining, which reported in October last year. I am pleased to report that we have made serious efforts in implementing its various recommendation as well as the complementary recommendations made by our own review conducted by Mr David Lee. I am not pleased, however, to see that the federal government has thus far not responded to the Senate report. I have therefore decided to write to my federal counterpart to request his attention to these important issues, which will assist both jurisdictions to continue mining uranium in a safe manner.
To conclude, discussions are ongoing between by department, the Office of the Supervising Scientist and ERA on a timetable to reopen the mine for normal operations. I reiterate this government’s commitment that the mine should only be reopened when the mine workers, people of the Jabiru area and the environment have guarantees that the operations are safe and compliant with all relevant legislation and regulations.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, there was a time in the not too distant past when this parliament used to have a committee that looked at the Alligator Rivers region. We had a committee from this parliament that looked at matters relating to the uranium province. We now have a government that is standing up and protesting about how much it cares about matters relating to this province but has disbanded this committee.
I suggest that you rethink that, minister, and give this term of reference to the environment committee that is under way looking at a variety of other things including cane toads, and put that back in place. As I understand it, there are three reviews of this incident. There are at least three ministers on the other side with responsibility: the minister for work health, the minister for radiation protection who is the health minister, and the minister for resources. So there are at least three ministers with an air of responsibility in this area.
I would like to know why there was such a lapse of time between the incident and medical advice being given to employees. I would have thought that would be a matter of some immediate urgency and I would like to know why there was a significant lapse of time.
It is trite for this minister to stand up and say he is concerned about the welfare of workers and the protection of the environment. There are bigger issues than that. This mine is significantly regulated. As I said, there are three reviews on foot of which I am aware. It is a mine that has been more regulated probably than any other mine. It has a degree of notoriety attached to it merely because of the resource that it procures. If this government is genuinely concerned about it, it should look at reinstating the CLP policy of having a committee of this parliament looking at the uranium province of the Alligator Rivers region.
Mr VATSKALIS (Mines and Energy): Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his contribution, but remind him that under the CLP Mining Act, it is the Department of Mines and Energy that looks into incidents at mine sites, not Work Health. I am very pleased to hear you support Work Health looking into these kinds of incidents in mine situations because the big question is: how can the facilitator be the regulator of the mining industry?
At the same time, the Office of the Supervising Scientist, which is a federal authority, is looking very closely at the operation of the mine. The same thing happens with Mines and Energy, and that will continue. I reiterate that the mine will not open until there is such an agreement between the Office of the Supervising Scientist, ERA and my department that the operations are safe to recommence. I will not hesitate to take any action if we find out that an offence has been committed; I will not exclude legal action and prosecution.
Reports noted pursuant to Sessional Order.
RACING AND BETTING AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 207)
UNLAWFUL BETTING AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 208)
(Serial 207)
UNLAWFUL BETTING AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 208)
Continued from 25 February 2004.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, it is the intention of the opposition to support passage of this legislation. I thank the staff of the minister’s office and department who provided adequate briefings to assure us that the intent of this legislation moves the enjoyment the sport of racing forward, secures it within the mind of the community, and provides adequate measures to work against the potential for manipulation of racing and gambling to the detriment of the community.
I note, too, the intent being to move in line with the recommendations of the National Competition Policy to alter the construction of the act so that we do have clearly stated within the structure of the legislation the objectives of the act, so it puts very clearly, what is this about. Judging by the adequate consultation with stakeholders, which include the Darwin Turf Club, the NT TAB, Centrebet, IAS Bet Limited, Northern Territory Gaming and Wagering Advisory Forum, former Chief Minister, Mr Marshall Perron, and Punting Partners, their involvement in the review certainly adds weight to the amendments that have been proposed today.
The areas that have been proposed in this act cover the objectives, the functions of the Racing Commission, and we cover components of that within the legislation which are in line with the recommendations of the review committee and NCP requirements, down to licences and permits. It is good to see the recommendation to continue with the reinforced licensing of industry participants to provide those adequate safeguards; the provision of criminal history checks also provides greater security; repeal of registrations and probity racing; in section 79 - offences by bookmakers – there are adequate measures there; suspension or cancellations of licence, the Commission may grant a licence in clause 12; and it strengthens the probity requirements of the licensing process under the principal act by directing the Racing Commission to have regard to certain matters when determining whether to grant or refuse a licence.
The number of issues that have been covered do have the support of opposition. However, I ask the minister to clarify a curious element within the legislation as proposed, which is related to the Unlawful Betting Amendment Bill. As it was communicated to us in the briefing, what is occurring makes perfect sense in terms of the regular practice on a racecourse of someone taking a wager on behalf of others, and basically conducting a business as an experienced punter touting for business. That is deemed technically to be unlawful. As it was explained in the briefing, that practice has been in existence for sometime – it is a technicality that deems it unlawful. I inquired as to this anomaly, by definition, being in existence, and if it had any connection to a pre-existing problem or issue. We were unable to discover that during the course of the briefing. Has there been a problem in this area in the past, and is this amendment seeking to address a previous concern, or is it simply a redrafting to align the legislation with existing and previous practice?
With those comments, Madam Speaker, we support the bill.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing): Madam Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition, the spokesperson for racing and gaming, for his comments. I just wanted to seek advice, and I may have to seek further advice even yet, on the questions raised in relation to the Unlawful Betting Act. Certainly, one of them goes to removing the practice of advertising. For information around that, I might have to seek further advice.
On the other issue, I think the Leader of the Opposition is referring to a syndicated betting-type arrangement where I might set myself up as a punter extraordinaire and invite people to put their funds with me, and I will invest them wisely on race days around wherever, and return a dividend to whoever is, perhaps, wise enough or even silly enough to put their hard-earned dollars in my pocket, and I will go out and do my best to return a surplus dividend to them. Prohibition on that goes. There is no concern in the industry at the moment - certainly nothing ever has been put to me - in and around that; that it has been a problem or should be addressed.
It is simply a question of NCP looking at this and saying: ‘You have to regulate it, you have to protect probity, you have to protect integrity of the industry’. However, where you have issues that do not go to that - and if someone can set themselves up like that it would be a pretty hard ask to get money out of people on the basis that you are going to return a profit on the track or tracks but, notwithstanding the practical difficulties involved, National Competition Policy is saying there is no good reason why you ought have a prohibition of that nature. Therefore, that prohibition drops out.
I believe it would be an interesting exercise. You would have to have a strong record of credibility in the marketplace and, obviously, a good track record. You would have to be able to show that, over a consistent period, you were able to return a profit before anyone in their right mind would say: ‘Here is $1000, do your best for me because I do not know anything about this punting game, and I am putting my trust in you’. As bad as my judgment is when it comes to horses, dogs, trotters, even football, I certainly trust my own instincts. It is my money and if I loose it, it is my fault and I have no one else to blame. Therefore, if someone was around to set themselves up in that type of operation, I do not think they would have my hard-earned.
Nonetheless, in how the act is constructed, those questions of probing and integrity - which are the backbone of why we have legislation such as this - competition policy says there is no good reason why it should be there. I believe that probably goes to the Leader of the Opposition’s concerns.
With those remarks, I again thank the Leader of the Opposition, the spokesperson, for his comments on the bill, and we thank them for their support. Notwithstanding there are a couple of issues in here - and the Leader of the Opposition well knows what they are - which still sit there despite being part of this review that we do have to come back to at a later stage.
Motion agreed to; bills read a second time.
Mr STIRLING (Racing, Gaming and Licensing) (by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bills be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bills read a third time.
CONSUMER AFFAIRS AND FAIR TRADING AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 205)
(Serial 205)
Continued from 18 February 2004.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, the opposition supports this bill - my apologies for not getting back to the Attorney-General earlier. We have tried to, between us, implement something that vaguely resembles a system whereby, as a matter of courtesy, I will indicate to him early on if we are supporting or opposing legislation. I apologise for that. As I said, we support this legislation. If the CLP were in government we would have introduced this legislation as well.
I need not go into the details of it. However, I am pleased to see the admissions made by the Attorney-General in his second reading speech on 18 February in which he spoke in fairly glowing terms, I thought, of the code of practice established under the CLP. It has been operating to regulate and assist tow truck drivers and others in the industry since 1996. The code of practice has worked very well. This amendment has become necessary as a result of National Competition Policy, and as the minister correctly points out in his second reading speech, this amendment will ensure the ongoing operation of the successful code of practice. I do not think I need to take up any more time. I thank the minister for the bill, and it is supported.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, I thank the opposition for their support for this bill. It is infinitely sensible to keep this arrangement in place. We have given fairly strong undertakings that the National Competition Council will not be troubled by this arrangement. They recognise the overwhelming public benefit that accrues to the Northern Territory public by having this arrangement in place. I would just like to read into Hansard the letter we received from the Consumer Affairs Council in support of this legislation. It is fairly important that our peak body opinion is on the public record:
- Operation of the Tow Truck Industry Code of Practice
The most recent meeting of Council was briefed on the continuing successful operation of the tow truck Code of Practice
which provides for a tow truck roster allocation scheme which dispatches tow trucks to police attended accident sites
for the swift and efficient towing of vehicles under an industry code of practice.
It is understood that the code of practice was developed in 1996 as a result of industry, government, police and
consumer concern about tow trucks racing to accident sites to secure work in what is a very competitive industry.
Council member, Graeme Bevis, briefed members on the operation of the scheme which was conducted by
MTA(NT) in cooperation with the NT Police with the dispatch of tow trucks through a sequential roster allocation
scheme.
Council believes there is considerable consumer and continuing public benefit from the operation of the towing
roster. Taking into account reports of problems within the towing industry of other jurisdictions, the Northern
Territory scheme appears to be operating efficiently. It can be demonstrated as a worthy example of an industry
effectively regulating itself, and providing a complaint-free and effective service for those members of the motoring
public unfortunate enough to be involved in a crash on our roads.
My purpose in writing on behalf of Council therefore is to advise you of Council’s support for the tow truck roster
allocation scheme and its continuing operation. We believe the industry should be complimented on efficient and
effective management of a very important public service.
Perhaps you would be good enough to pass the views of Council onto the Chairman of the Towing Code
Administering Authority, the Commissioner of Consumer Affairs, Richard O’Sullivan.
And I will certainly do that.
Madam Speaker, I do not think there is much more to be said other than this is a sensible way of avoiding the need to go to regulations every two years under our legislation in order to maintain this variation on a fully competitive situation within that particular marketplace, and we will move on.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Dr TOYNE (Justice and Attorney-General)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill now be read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
ANIMAL WELFARE AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 204)
(Serial 204)
Continued from 18 February 2004.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Madam Speaker, I rise to give the opposition’s position in relation to this bill. I state at the outset that we will not be opposing this bill. However, there will be elements of qualification in relation to the opposition’s position. This, of course, is the very well publicised bill that deals with tail docking of animals primarily, however, there are other aspects of the bill such as horse firing and cropping of ears and such things, which are issues in the public arena.
There are any number of procedures conducted by animal breeders upon their animals. Some of them are for cosmetic reasons; others are for other reasons. Covered in this bill is the issue of horse firing, which is a procedure that is supposed to elevate inflammation of the tendons of an animal. However, it is a procedure that has a very large question mark hanging over it regarding its effectiveness. In some quarters it is considered to be little more than quackery. Considering the amount of suffering that an animal goes through as a result of a procedure like that, I believe that is the reason the government would introduce a bill of this nature.
Other procedures that we normally use for hurting animals are across the board. In the cattle industry, if memory serves me correctly, under the Brands Act it is still compulsory to brand an animal. If that is the case, I would curious to know if the government has any intention of introducing legislation that makes it optional.
We do all sorts of things to our animals in other areas, and I note that the minister said that if he had a tail, he would like to keep it. That is a fair enough point to make. However, I am curious to know how the minister feels about neutering of animals in that case and what he intends to do in relation to that if that is his logic.
There is an ongoing argument that seems to be being driven by organisations such as the Australian Veterinary Association dealing with the docking of tails, stating that it is a cosmetic procedure only and has no real effect on the health of the dog. The government’s change in position prior to introducing this legislation from banning tail docking to allowing tail docking for prophylactic reasons demonstrates an understanding that there are necessary procedures from time to time for tail docking. Those procedures are required purely for the purpose of protecting the animal from damage. There are any number of hunting dogs and dogs used for those purposes, which from time to time will damage their tails. Having seen hunting dogs operate in my lifetime in the bush, I have seen these dogs exposed to danger and damage in those processes. If a vet, under this bill, is convinced that there is a need to remove the tail of a dog through a normal docking procedure after the dog has reached the age of five days, then the procedure may be allowed. I note that the minister has brought that in to the House.
However, the question I raise in relation to this issue is that it is only vets who will be available to do these procedures. Some concern has been raised with me that vets may feel pressured by the AVA to not perform these procedures despite their better judgment. That is an issue between the vets and the AVA; it is not an issue for members in this House. However, the vet must be satisfied of course that the procedure is prophylactic in nature and not merely cosmetic.
I have had submissions in relation to qualified people such as breeders themselves being able to tail dock for prophylactic purposes. The jury is out, as far as I am concerned, on that procedure. At this stage, the bill does not propose anyone other than a vet being allowed to do it. The position of the CLP is this: at some point in the future, should we be in government, we will certainly review the operation of the legislation to see if there is room for people other than vets to be allowed to engage in tail docking procedures for prophylactic purposes. Should the argument be successfully made out, we would proceed accordingly.
Madam Speaker, the opposition does not propose to oppose this bill. However, we, in government, will review its operation and we will take whatever steps are necessary at that time to fix the bill if indeed it does require fixing as a result of due processes.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, I also rise in support of the bill. I did take note that the member for Macdonnell said that he feels a review would be necessary, and that would be a wise thing to do. It was fairly controversial when it was introduced. I note this issue was discussed in the parliament around June last year, so it has taken some time from when you might say the heat of the debate occurred to when the legislation has come before this parliament. It raised a lot of debate in the rural area. In the Litchfield shire there are quite a number of people who own and show dogs. They contacted not only me but also the member for Goyder regarding this particular issue. Although the person who was leading the charge, you might say, on this issue in the rural area has since left, my understanding is they were happy with this particular change to the legislation.
Some people could see it as a way of getting around tail docking that was done for cosmetic purposes. That is covered, because vets are the only people who can actually carry out this procedure. I believe it is worthwhile that the government does review the situation. Maybe the government needs to talk to vets after it has been in operation for 12 months or longer, and at least keep a record of what has occurred and have an understanding of which breeds have been subject to this action by vets, and what were the reasons given – just so we have some idea of what is actually happening in the industry.
I support the changes to the act. However, I agree with the member for Macdonnell that we review it some time in the future.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the Animal Welfare Amendment Bill. This bill covers two issues which have been of national concern for many years, namely, tail docking of dogs and horse firing. For many years, animal welfare groups have campaigned for a ban on the practice of tail docking and, in a landmark decision by ministers for all state and territory jurisdictions, a nationally coordinated ban on routine tail docking of dogs has been implemented. For any jurisdiction to go it alone in this area was not considered sensible, with no possibility of enforcement where dogs are regularly traded across state and territory borders.
In October 2003, the Primary Industries Ministerial Council agreed to implement a nationally-coordinated ban on routine tail docking for non-therapeutic cosmetic reasons. In some jurisdictions, the ban is already in force or will come into force on 1 April 2004. After this date, dogs’ tails will no longer be docked anywhere in Australia unless there is a medical reason behind the operation. Only a qualified veterinarian will be permitted to carry out the surgery in the Northern Territory.
Puppies’ tails of some breeds have been routinely docked at around two to five days of age, using a pair of scissors or a very tight rubber band. Tail docking has not necessarily been carried out by a veterinary surgeon. No anaesthetic is generally used, even though the cut goes through highly sensitive nerves. Many veterinarians oppose the procedure on the grounds that it is cruel, painful and unnecessary. Advocates of tail docking claim that it does not cause pain or discomfort, as the nervous system of puppies is not fully developed. The best available advice from veterinary experts indicates that this is not the case. The basic nervous system of a dog is fully developed at birth, and the available evidence indicates that puppies have similar, if not increased sensitivity to pain as adult dogs. Docking of a puppy’s tail involves cutting through muscles, tendons, highly sensitive nerves and severing bone and cartilage connections. Tail docking is usually carried out without any anaesthesia, and inflammation and damage to the tissues can also cause ongoing pain while the wound heals.
After 1 April 2004, it will no longer be legally acceptable in Australia to dock dogs’ or pups’ tails except for medical purposes. Cosmetic tail docking has also been banned in a number of countries including Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany and Demark. Several other European countries including Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria, have also ratified a European convention that prohibits the cosmetic docking of tails.
In the United Kingdom, tail docking can only be carried out by a registered veterinary surgeon. The practice is opposed by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons which describes it as an unacceptable mutilation. There are over 70 breeds of dog that traditionally have their tails cut off a few days after birth. Many people think that dogs of docked breeds which include Dobermans, Rottweilers, most terriers, spaniels, pointers and other gun dogs, are born with short tails. This is not true. The reasons why some breeds and not others are docked is simply because of the fashion set for that particular breed. The only dog with a naturally short tail is the stumpy-tailed cattle dog.
Research has shown that docking does not reduce tail injury in the general dog population. Furthermore, many breeds of hunting breeds do not have docked tails and the length of the tail in docked breeds varies according to the breed standard. There are, of course, many who believe that dogs of certain breeds with docked tails are more attractive. Cosmetic reasons alone should not, however, allow the imposition of pain on a dog. Therapeutic reasons should sensibly be required if we are to put a dog through pain or discomfort. This will mean that some breed associations may need to address their requirements.
The weight of opposition to tail docking is considerable. The Australian Veterinary Association and the RSPCA is strongly opposed to tail docking on the grounds that it is an unnecessary surgical procedure and contrary to the welfare of dogs. The National Consultative Committee for Animal Welfare, which advises the federal government on animal welfare issues, is also opposed to tail docking because it serves no practical purpose and may compromise the welfare of animals. The change in the Northern Territory’s animal welfare legislation to ban the practice of tail docking of dogs is a huge step forward for the welfare of our closest companions.
This is also reinforced by the Australian Veterinary Journal, Vol 81, No 4, April 2003 which has an article specifically about tail docking in dogs and review of the issues. It goes through all of the issues, some of which have been raised in this House this morning, and it particularly looks at matters relating to pain and whether or not dogs do experience pain as a result of tail docking. It says here regarding the basis of claims that a number of chronic health problems are associated with tail docking: problems reviewed previously include atrophy and degeneration of tail and pelvic muscles leading to increased risk of faecal incontinence and compromised pelvic diaphragm integrity, leading to an increased incidence of perineal hernia - which I must say does not sound very pleasant. It also mentions that most vets believe that - I think its 76% of veterinarians who are involved with tail docking - dogs do experience pain, even though it appears that breeders do not believe this is the case. Therefore, there is a bit of distinction between who is and who is not doing the tail docking.
In relation to this article it also says that the overwhelming summary of all the things relating to tail docking, is that, in fact, it should not happen. It states:
- It seems difficult to argue that tail docking, as the widespread practice that it presently is, is justified. It cannot be
defended on the basis of arguments from tradition or to satisfy a breed standard created in another time and
place. Moreover, there is no clear evidence that any kind of benefit associated with tail docking exists that can
outweigh the potential harm that may be caused to the animals involved.
Therefore, I speak strongly in support of the legislation in relation to tail docking.
I would just like to make a brief comment in relation to horse firing which, I must say, I had never heard of before. The practice of horse firing involves a hot iron being placed on a horse’s leg to create an inflammatory response to encourage healing of a damaged tendon or tendon sheath. The practice of horse firing is not an effective treatment and causes unnecessary suffering to the horse. The National Consultative Committee on Animal Welfare, which advises the federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry on animal welfare issues, the Northern Territory’s Principal Club, the Darwin Turf Club, and the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee which advises the minister on animal welfare, has recommended a ban on the practice of horse firing.
Animals have an intrinsic value of their own and, accordingly, must be considered to possess the right to live in a way which enables them to have a positive life and develop and enjoy their inherited qualities.
Madam Speaker, I support the bill.
Mr AH KIT (Local Government): Madam Speaker, I thank members for their comments and in particular the member for Nightcliff for the way she has been able to summarise the issues quite well and I thank her for that.
The shadow opposition spokesperson, the member for Macdonnell, mentioned the branding of animals. I take that as a reference to horses and cattle throughout the Territory. I am not quite sure what is in place in other legislation around the country. Certainly, I will be directing staff to have a look at that. I have worked on a couple of cattle stations as a young fellow and have been a part of the branding process in branding cattle, earmarking cattle and also seeing horse firing in action.
These amendments do away with the tail docking exercise and the horse firing. I am quite happy to receive a submission from the shadow spokesperson in regards to what his suggestion would be. I note his comments also that if in government they would review it. I am certainly not afraid to have a look at any ideas put forward by members opposite or independent members of this parliament. In reference to the comments made by the member for Nelson I will pick up the suggestion and come back to parliament and report how things are happening 12 months on because I think that is only the right thing to do.
Once again I thank members for their support and their contribution to the debate. Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
Mr AH KIT (Local Government)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MOTION
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly,
Analysis of the 2002-03 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly,
Analysis of the 2002-03 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement
Continued from 24 February 2004.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I take the opportunity to respond to the Auditor-General’s report on the 2002-03 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Report.
The 2002-03 TAFR was tabled in parliament in the October 2003 sittings. The report now tabled by you on behalf of the Auditor-General provides additional commentary on the TAFR in regards to its former outcomes and analysis. Before I go to the specifics of the report, I am pleased to say the report provides positive commentary on the Territory’s first accrual outcome financial statements. Given the significant financial framework changes that have taken place since 1 July 2002, this is a significant achievement for all who have contributed to the reforms. With the move from a cash framework to an accrual framework, the format of the 2002-03 TAFR differed significantly from that in previous years. The information contained in the TAFR has been enhanced and results in improved accountability and transparency and a more user friendly document. As this is the first accrual TAFR it is expected that over the next two to three years the format will continue to be enhanced.
I turn to specific comments in the report. The executive summary states that the Territory’s overall financial condition is improving and that the deficit reduction strategy is achieving its aims. In addition, the Auditor-General comments that matters raised in regards to the 2001-02 TAFR have been resolved in the 2002-03 TAFR. The Auditor-General then goes on to highlight a few areas where he believes that further improvements to financial reporting are required, or where additional comment is warranted. It is these matters that I now wish to address in turn.
Reporting framework and audit opinion: the first section of the report discusses the reporting framework under which the TAFR has been prepared. It provides a brief analysis of the two relevant external reporting standards available, namely the Australian Accounting Standards (AAS), and the Government Financial Statistics (GFS) Accrual-Based Uniform Presentation Framework, (UPF).
The report goes on to state that whilst the government chose to adopt the UPF requirements, it was pleasing to see the TAFR also included explanatory notes similar to those required under an Australian Accounting Standards approach, but which are not required under the Uniform Presentation Framework. This is another indication of the accountability, transparency and more user friendly document that this government has strived to produce.
As in previous years, the Auditor-General has issued his audit opinion in two parts: an unqualified opinion was issued on the compliance with the Treasurer’s prescribed reporting format; and a qualified opinion dealing with the prescribed reporting format’s lack of compliance with the Australian Accounting Standards. This qualification has occurred every year since 1999 when AAS 31 came into force.
The use of GFS as a reporting mechanism in the TAFR aligns to the basis on which the Northern Territory’s budget is produced. It is a similar situation to other jurisdictions’ budgets. All jurisdictions recognise that the Australian Accounting Standards as they currently stand are inappropriate for the reporting of government fiscal outcomes. Until harmonisation of these standards with those of the Uniform Presentation Framework is achieved, this government will continue to adopt the GFS approach in future financial reporting.
Summary and analysis of operating results and financial position: the next section of the report discusses the operating results, and financial position reported in the TAFR. The Auditor-General states that in almost every case, revenues exceed those earned in 2001-02 and originally budgeted. The most significant increase in revenue is due to an increase in amounts received from the Commonwealth, predominantly GST revenue due to higher national collections of GST revenue.
The increase of $20m in Northern Territory taxation revenue since 2001-02 that the Opposition Leader appears so quick to deride did not come out of, and I quote: ‘every man, woman and child’ in raised taxes. Despite the rate of taxation falling in 2002-03, the increase in tax revenue is as a result of increased economic activity and large one-off conveyancing transactions.
Of the - and again I quote the Opposition Leader - ‘extra $128m I managed to get out of the federal government’, this amounts represents the actual increase in total public sector grants and subsidies for the Territory between 2000-01 and 2002-03. It is quite simply the share of GST revenue to which the Territory is entitled under the inter-governmental agreement on which GST funding is based.
The Auditor-General states that the Northern Territory government is managing costs reasonably effectively with total expenditure on a general government sector basis up 2.4% on 2001-02 and less than 1% on budget.
The comments speak volumes about the prudent management of the Territory’s financial performance that this government has employed since it took office. It is also in line with the government’s commitment to the deficient reduction strategy, which aims to return government spending to a level commensurate with the revenue earned.
The Leader of the Opposition’s claim that Territorians were charged an extra $17m in government fees and charges for goods and services is misleading. Fees and charges did not increase, but, rather, there was an increase in the volume of sales of goods and services between 2001-02 and 2002-03 for the total public sector. General government receipts from sales of goods and services increased by $1.5m over the period. These fees and charges are levied to recover some of the associated costs and exclude the commercial operations of government businesses included in the total public sector. Increases in economic activity create increased demand for government services and, as a consequence, increase the value of government’s goods and services revenue.
Further to the claims of cuts in capital works, I can reiterate that there were none. It is agreed that some work was not completed within the financial year and resulted in transfers to 2003-04, but that is usual for capital works due to difficulties of project timing and seasonal interference. The delays and associated transfers were somewhat lower in 2002-03 than in previous years.
The Auditor-General goes on to state the nett operating balance of a $1m deficit was $37m better than the final estimate. The cash surplus recorded of $9m represented a significant reduction from the deficit of $31m included in the final budget estimate. It must be said that despite the $9m surplus, the underlying position was a $31m deficit, because $40m of expenditure budgeted for 2002-03 was carried into 2003-04.
The Opposition Leader subsequently went on to claim that the government had an extra 7% in total revenue to spend, but only increased spending by 2.3% and stashed the difference. The figures quoted by the Opposition Leader refer to changes from 2001-02 to 2002-03. The relevant figures are actually revenue received and actual expenditure in 2002-03 which produced a cash surplus of $9m.
However, the $40m carried over was not stashed but spent in the first few months of 2003-04. The Auditor-General comments that despite a large surplus in cash flows from operations, overall the cash reserves of the Northern Territory government have been depleted by $61.6m due to significant investments in financial and non-financial assets. It is contrary to the Leader of the Opposition’s statement that I had an extra $80m in the bank at the end of 2002-03 and excess cash of $307m. Whilst this is an increase of $78m on 2001-02, these funds represent the value of Territory securities at a point in time and, very significantly, throughout the year. These funds are held for liquidity purposes, which enable the Territory government to meet its financial commitments as and when they fall due.
The Auditor-General goes on to say that on a non-financial public sector basis, nett worth has dropped by $238m due to the downward revaluation of predominantly roads and bridges, together with the increase in liabilities for unfunded superannuation. The downward revaluations were as a direct result of accrual accounting and the decision taken by this government to ensure that significant assets were appropriately valued by an independent source. It is expected that once this task is complete, valuations will stabilise. In the early years of accrual accounting, some significant revaluations were to be expected. The unfunded portion of superannuation now represents more than half the Territory’s nett debt and employee liabilities. This government’s target of achieving a budget surplus is not only fiscally responsible, but will allow for the capacity to begin to address this issue. Nett debt on a non-financial public sector basis stands at $1723m at 30 June 2003, which represents a reduction of $143m over that budgeted, and $30m over that reported in the previous year. The outcome for 2002-03 indicates that a key aim of the deficit reduction strategy, namely, reducing nett debt, is beginning to take effect.
Analysis of the government’s fiscal strategy: the Auditor-General has assessed the Territory fiscal strategy outcome and found that the government has made progress in achieving its fiscal commitments. The government’s fiscal commitments are articulated in its three key fiscal strategy principles, which include sustainable government services, a competitive tax environment, and prudent management of liabilities. Each principle contains targets which are the basis on which fiscal decisions are taken. Sustainable government services include the general government sector targets of a cash surplus by 2004-05; a positive GFS operating balance within 10 years from 2002-03; and maintenance of a capital investment strategy based on service delivery and economic development requirements.
The Auditor-General stated that the first target had been achieved based on the outcome of the $9m surplus in 2002-03. However, as stated previously, the surplus was only achieved through a significant carry out of expenditure. Therefore, in 2002-03, the government’s target of a cash surplus has yet to be achieved. However, the 2002-03 outcome does demonstrate the government’s progress in moving toward a balanced budget. The Auditor-General has commented that it is still too early in the introduction of accrual accounting to report on the progress of achieving the target of a positive nett operating balance within 10 years. However, progress was achieved in 2002-03 through the achievement of a nett operating deficit of just $1m. This is a $37m improvement on the 2002-03 final budget forecast of $38m.
In 2002-03, the government maintained sufficient capital investment to meet the Territory’s service delivery and economic development requirements. While the Territory’s capital expenditure, after excluding railway transactions, was $38m dollars below budget, capital investment increased by $45m from 2001-02. The reclassification of some $13m of capital items as operating items, together with delays in construction meant a lower than expected outcome for the Territory’s capital program. The fiscal strategy principle of a competitive tax environment includes comparative analysis, or ranking, of taxation revenue per capita with the other states, and an analysis of the Territory’s revenue raising capacity and effort compared to the Australian average. The Auditor-General’s report confirms that the Territory remains the second lowest tax per capita jurisdiction.
The fiscal strategy principle of prudent management of liabilities provides an analysis of Northern Territory non-financial public sector nett debt, and nett debt and employee liabilities over time. It also provides a comparative analysis of the Territory’s nett debt and nett debt plus employee liabilities with other states. The report has found that the Territory has achieved prudent management of both its nett debt and employee liabilities in 2002-03. This is based on reductions in the ratio of nett debt to total revenue from 67% in 2001-02 to 64% in 2002-03, and reductions in nett debt and employee liabilities to revenue from 134% in 2001-02 to 131% in 2002-03.
Additional reporting measures of the Territory’s fiscal strategy have been recommended by the Auditor-General. This includes measures of sustainability, flexibility and vulnerability, which include non-financial assets and gross state product in their calculations. Such measures should be based on fiscal indicators which are more relevant to the Territory government’s fiscal performance. Measures which use non-financial assets and the Territory’s gross state product provide limited usefulness in measuring the government’s fiscal performance. In respect of non-financial assets, government assets are better measured by the services they provide to the community rather than their ability to meet government liabilities. In many cases, government assets could never be sold because of market, political or social constraints. Asset valuation policies can also impact on the value of such measures over time.
Gross state product or economic growth is commonly used by analysts to measure a jurisdiction’s fiscal performance. However, in the Territory’s case, gross state product is a poor indicator of the Territory’s fiscal performance. Volatility in offshore gas and petroleum production can significantly distort the Territory’s gross state product, with production having little impact on the Territory’s onshore economy or government tax revenue. However, while some of the measures recommended are not considered appropriate, others are broadly contained in the fiscal strategies such as comparisons of nett debt. In addition, I believe some of the other measures proposed will be become more useful to the Territory over time. These include the proposed measurements of nett worth which, whilst being a key indicator under an accrual environment, will only become of benefit in the future once asset valuations have stabilised.
Of the Leader of the Opposition’s claim that certain agencies such as Health and Education have large cash balances at year end, what the Opposition Leader fails to realise is that these cash balances of $17m and $11m respectively, represent approximately two weeks of expenditure outlays. It is also exasperated by the fact that, traditionally, the Commonwealth government offloads special purpose grant payments just prior to year end, which are fully committed to be expended in the following year.
Financial performance of GBDs and GOCs: the report states that, generally, government business divisions are not achieving budgeted levels of profitability although the profitability and, consequently, the nett deficit and nett debt positions have improved due to the strong results of PowerWater and the Northern Territory Treasury Corporation. This is, in some instances, due to the current structure of the GBDs themselves. A review of the framework for GBDs is under way and will result in a better understanding of the basis of the budget estimates and the constraints experienced by GBDs in a government environment.
The positive comments made by the Auditor-General in his report are all the more pleasing given the Leader of the Opposition’s closing remarks in his response to the tabling of the TAFR in the last sittings, and I quote:
- How much the Treasurer is to be commended is slightly more doubtful and I await the Auditor-General’s report
on this TAFR.
Madam Speaker, in conclusion, the report is a positive one for the Martin government. It indicates that results presented for our first accrual set of financial outcome numbers presented fairly the Territory’s financial position. It also highlights the positive steps taken by this government in continuing its commitment to accrual reporting and to a deficit reduction strategy which, over time, will reduce the interest and debt burden of Territorians.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, I begin by putting on the record this side of parliament’s appreciation for the work and contribution of Mike Blake as Auditor-General. Although he has only been with us for a short time, he has made a very valuable contribution both to the workings of this parliament and to the Territory. His readiness and availability to help MLAs has been remarkable - many of us have availed ourselves of his briefings post his reports - and not only to us as members but to the public service as well. His efforts to help us all understand the financial situation in this time of great change have been above and beyond the call of duty. His efforts to make these explanations of his reports readily understood by the most financially illiterate of us are deserving of the highest accolades. I wish him, and his wife, well in his new position in Tasmania. But I do wish he was not going.
The Auditor-General’s role is a vital one in our democracy and grows ever more so with the ascendency of executive over the parliament. The Auditor-General is the watchdog, the expert investigator, the educator and protector, on behalf of Territorians, of the public purse. On behalf of the CLP parliamentary wing, I hope that we do find another Mike Blake.
Madam Speaker, I now turn to the Auditor-General’s Analysis of the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement for 2002-03. As he points out very early in his report, the change to accrual based TAFS and the government’s decision to switch the emphasis of the Treasurer’s annual financial report does make it very difficult to assess comparative performance. This point was raised in the debate on TAFS itself earlier in this year and I hope, like the Auditor-General, that this problem will be overcome with time.
One of the issues that the Auditor-General mentioned several times in his analysis is growing employee liabilities, including unfunded superannuation. As he notes in his report, in the year 2003 a further $69m in unfunded superannuation liabilities was added to the Territory’s debt. Members may recall that this Labor government had a plan to tackle this ever growing level of debt by setting aside $10m a year. The government admitted this level of funding would only, ‘commence meeting the unfunded superannuation liability’. However, that policy was abandoned after one year so the debt just keeps growing. The Auditor-General notes that the unfunded superannuation at 30 June 2003 was 34% greater than it was at 30 June 2000; a 34% increase. So much for the commitment.
Any improvement in nett debt is being offset by this increase in employee liabilities. The Auditor-General notes that the interest payments on nett debt which is $242m greater than it was at 30 June 2001, before this government came to power, are a concern. The interest paid in 2002-03 was $164.9m, or almost 10% more than had been paid in 2000-01. As the Auditor-General points out, this is a concern, particularly in an environment of increasing interest rates.
It is acknowledged that the government is reducing its level of debt now that it no longer has to fund the Territory’s contribution to the railway. However, one has to ask whether this will continue with the wharf development on the horizon and the desperate need for more investment in infrastructure needed now to boost the economy. The government is using the bonus it is receiving from the GST to repay debt. That might attract favourable comment from many of the dry economic analysts, but is it the right course for a young economy like the Northern Territory? Isn’t there some middle road between reducing debt at all costs and financing the infrastructure and development of the Territory and boosting the economy? This government seems to be intent on impressing the analysts rather than providing for Territorians.
The CLP believes that we must do more to help Territorians than just address the bottom line. The government agrees that if it repays debt and thereby reduces interest payments, it will have more money down the track to spend on services. However, if the government boosts the economy, fosters development, produces and provides more incentives for population growth, there will be more money in the economy to finance both debt and interest payments.
The government claims that its ever increasing tax take - and it looks like being up $20m, which is more than 8% this year - is the result of greater activity in the marketplace. Even the most cursory look around the Darwin CBD and beyond at the empty shops, restaurants and businesses would belie any increase in activity. If that is the government’s argument, why don’t they use it to promote greater activity by the government to develop, to boost the economy and thereby provide revenue to reduce debt? I believe the government can do this, and it will be the policy that the CLP adopts if Territorians choose a government that will serve them rather than accountants.
We are building a future for the Territory and Territorians. We are not in the same position as nor are we comparable with southern states. They have had a century or more to build their infrastructure and industry base. We have had barely a quarter of a century and it should be noted that much of the debt reduction achieved by the other states in the past decade or so has been through the selling off or privatisation of state assets. We do not have that opportunity.
We agree that debt reduction has its place in fiscal management. As Auditor-General comments in this report, and I quote:
- The current fiscal strategy targets broadly align with the intent of the elements of the previous fiscal strategy.
Our first priority must be to build the Territory and provide a great future for generations of Territorians. The priority should not be supplanted by a fixation with the bottom line. I am convinced that a growing Territory economy will provide the resources and meet our debt levels. I am equally convinced that putting the hand brake on investment and development will have a detrimental effect on the economy and on the future.
The caution this government has displayed, putting aside for a moment that some of it can be put down to its inability to make decisions, is more about building an image of being a good financial manager rather than being good managers of the Territory. Go for a walk down the streets of Darwin or Winnellie, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek , Wadeye, Oenpelli and ask Territorians whether they are more concerned about the government’s good bottom line or whether they want development. I do not think you have to employ many interstate consultants to tell us the answer to that question. The Territory’s history, since it won the right to govern itself, has been written by governments which were prepared to take a chance to invest, to promote, to back Territorians and our future. We still need that kind of government. Sadly, we do not have it.
Nothing of what I have said should be taken as a criticism of the Auditor-General’s analysis. It is not his job to set economic policy for the government of the day. It is his job to audit and analyse the figures as presented in the Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement. It is his job to analyse that and to report on the government’s overall financial condition.
There is the conundrum: does the government’s financial condition reflect the condition of the Northern Territory economy? The Treasurer and his government can sit back and take the kudos for the Auditor-General’s opinion that the Territory government’s overall financial condition shows that it is improving. However, does that mean that the majority of Territorians, the private businesses big and small, also have an improving financial condition? Of course it does not. It also has a responsibility of government.
The Auditor-General notes that on a general government sector basis, expenditure increased by 2.4% between 2001-02 and 2002-03. That is just above being in line with inflation. That is an expenditure increase of 2.4%. But government revenue on the same general government sector basis, either own source or grants, went up by more than 8% - expenditure, 2.4%, revenue in, 8% increase for the same period when the special railway grant is excluded. I spoke about this when we debated the Treasurer’s report in February and the Auditor-General confirms it in this report. Was all that extra difference between the increase and the expenditure, and the increase in revenue, used on the bottom line? Could some of that money have been used to reduce the tax burden on business and on job creation?
It is well and good to have a great job plan, which is largely bolstered by federal money which you take personal credit for - a jobs plan but no plan to create jobs that may be provided for those who are in a jobs provision strategy. Could not some of that have been used to build a Territory for the future? We do not need the Treasurer or any other government spokesman to get up and tell us that they have spent all this extra millions on education, health, police or whatever. We know you did, and so you should have with all the extra revenue, particularly form the GST, that you have received. The fact remains, as the Auditor-General says, your total expenditure only increased by 2.4% in line with inflation. Across the whole of government, you have not increased the budgets of the departments or agencies except to match the increased cost caused by inflation.
These departments or agencies which received extra did so at the expense of others who received less than what they received in 2001-02 once inflation is taken into account. I am sure the Treasurer will get up and argue that the increased revenue meant that the government was able to pay its way without having to fund the deficit. But, even on your own strategy, you are not expecting to be in such a position in several years. You were prepared to continue with deficits for several more years for the good of the Territory until the GST funds grew so big that revenues far exceeded expenditure. The unexpected bonuses from the GST that you have already received have gone straight to your bottom line, for the sake of your image and not for the good of the Northern Territory.
Madam Speaker, let me touch on several other issues raised by the Auditor-General in his analysis. Once again, he returned to the performance of the government business divisions, or GBDs. He reports that, generally, they have not received budgeted levels of profitability. Eight of the 12 GBDs came in with a poorer result than was forecast in the budget. The total nett profit from all 12 before tax and dividends increased by 25%, but that was mainly due to the enormous increase in profit of Power and Water Corporation. As the Auditor-General notes, it lifted profit from $18.6m to $45.8m, more than covering the losses in the other GOCs and GBDs. However, the total taxes and dividends the government received from the GOCs and GBDs jumped more than 126%; that is 126% revenue from the GBDs and GOCs to Treasury.
The Auditor-General reports that the government took $54.205m in taxes and dividends out of the GBDs and GOCs even though they only made $28.491m in profit before taxes and dividends, taking $54.2m after they made a profit of $28.49m. PowerWater kicked in $20m from its profit of $45.8m, but the real bonus for the government was the NT Treasury Corporation. The Auditor-General reports that the corporation made $23.6m profit before taxes and dividends, and then managed to contribute $32.7m in dividends and taxes to the government’s revenue. Well, that is really a profitable business if you can get one. I wonder how many private shareholders would expect their companies to pay a dividend far in excess of the profits that were made?
As the Auditor-General notes, the nett worth of the NT Treasury Corporation dropped mainly due to this excessive payment to government. In fact, the nett worth of the corporation dropped by more than $18m, or 35% on the budgeted figure. That, of course, just about equates to the extra it paid to the government if the normal dividend policy of 50% of profit was applied to its profit figure. It seems some bottom lines are there to be tampered with if the government wants to make its bottom line look good.
Before moving on, let me just go back to the figure for PowerWater. It made $45.8m profit before taxes and dividends. It paid out $20m to the government, leaving it with $25m to reinvest in infrastructure, maintenance and programs or whatever. These are the figures reported by the Auditor-General. Given that result, how on earth can the government justify increasing prices for any electricity consumers? No matter what excuses the government comes out with - and there have been several, and all shot down when placed under scrutiny - there is no justification for price increase. On the contrary, there would appear to be room for some relief for Territorians from the high prices that we pay for electricity. However, we do not expect this from government; they are too busy concentrating on their bottom line to worry about the bottom line of ordinary Territory families and businesses who are trying to cope.
The remaining comment I would like to make on this analysis of the TAFS by the Auditor-General is his call for the government to include the measures of sustainability, flexibility and vulnerability when assessing its fiscal performance. He reports on these three measures and, generally, gives the government a tick for its efforts. While any suggestion of the Auditor-General is well worth considering, I hope that in adopting them, the government does not again change the basis for measuring fiscal outcomes. Hopefully, they will have additional measures rather than replacement measures. As the Auditor-General notes, the government has already switched measures between 2001-02 and 2002-03. The previous year was based on five elements; the year we are presently reviewing has three measures. As I said at the outset, we have had serious problems in making comparisons between one year and another during this time of change from cash-based accounts to accrual. We all need a few years of consistency so that we can make real comparisons.
Madam Speaker, I again thank the Auditor- General for his report and his efforts, particularly the way he has tried to make his report understandable to ordinary folk. However, I would conclude with the comment that, while the books and the accounts of the government must be analysed, audited and debated, they do not necessarily reveal the health of the Northern Territory economy. The government cannot and must not sit back and think it has done a good job because the bottom line is improving. That is only part of its responsibilities and, to consider increased economic activity when we see in excess of 3000 economically active Territorians depart the Territory for other places where their economic prospects would be of greater benefit in their own judgment, we will see the effect of a concentration on a bottom line which is intent to make the Treasurer and this government appear good in the face of a Northern Territory community but, in fact, it is the managing responsibility to manage the economy and not the budget that is of greater concern to all of us.
Your major task is to develop and promote development, invest in the future, and provide incentives to Territorians so that they can prosper and grow, and they have a confidence in the future. On that task, Madam Speaker, they are failing Territorians no matter what their bottom line may look like.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I thought someone from the government might speak on what the Treasurer claims is an excellent Auditor-General’s report based on his annual financial statement for year 2002-03. The Auditor-General’s report is interesting reading, and I applaud the Auditor-General and join with the Leader of the Opposition in saying that losing Mike Blake is a sad loss to the Northern Territory. He has certainly made an analysis of the performance of the government clearly understandable in the way he lays out his report. Mind you, having said that, I am sure, for all of us, we all need as much assistance as we can get with regards to analysing clearly the government’s performance.
Certainly, one looks for that in the comments that the Treasurer makes in responding to the Auditor-General’s statement. I would have to say that, in his response, I did not get the clarity that I was after.
If you turn to page 28 of the Auditor-General’s Report, if you look at the General Government Expenditure on those sectors of the Northern Territory where expenditure is highlighted - and I might add in that regard I wonder why tourism is not itemised as a separate activity; I would think tourism underpins the economy of the Northern Territory in many respects; employs a large number of Territorians and certainly deserves to be highlighted through the budgetary effort in the actual spending that is occurring in that area and its not there. But certainly, I believe that most Territorians would believe that when it comes to the Northern Territory talking about the mining industry, the construction industry, the agricultural, pastoral and horticultural industry, then behind them probably tourism and defence, these underpin the whole economic revenue base of the Northern Territory.
If one looks at the performance of the Northern Territory government as highlighted under General Government Expenditure, we see that in agriculture, forestry and fishing, expenditure has been reduced. In transport and other communications, expenditure has been reduced. In mining, manufacturing and construction, expenditure has been reduced. There is no doubt that expenditure has been improved in a range of areas, in particular, health and education which have received enormous growth - 7.8% in health and 4.1% in that year alone in education. I do not decry the importance of spending in those areas at all. But I certainly believe that when it comes to statements of growing the economic activity of the Northern Territory, supporting those business people, small and large who have come to the Northern Territory and invested in our Territory, those industries that underpin our growth need significant expenditure by government and that is not reflected in these figures.
What is reflected is the fact that the Treasurer and the Labor government continue to mislead Territorians as to the amount of money they are receiving from the Commonwealth. The Auditor-General is absolutely clear in his explanation as to the amounts of monies that come in to the Northern Territory. On page 24 and further itemised on page 27, GST-related expenditure for example, actual revenue to the Northern Territory for 2000-01 from the Commonwealth was $1.277bn and for actual 2002-03 the revenue of the Northern Territory was $1.514bn, having an enormous amount of increase in GST revenues just in that year alone.
I wonder how Labor politicians all over Australia must feel about the GST now? I know that the new Labor leader has taken opposition to the GST off the Labor agenda. But it must be a sense of joy and relief to be in government and see these amounts of money coming through from the Commonwealth and to get the flexibility of using those enormous increases in money for getting your budget line improved. Certainly from my calculations, and these come also from Commonwealth Treasury figures but I am happy to be corrected if the Treasurer disputes them, that GST revenue for 2000-01 in the Northern Territory was $1.225bn. That has improved on a yearly basis for the 2004-05 estimate now of $1.664bn. That is an increase in GST revenue over that period alone of $439m.
So, we have a Northern Territory government that, apart from its own source revenue raising capabilities, has received that sort of money, hundreds of millions of dollars from the Commonwealth and through the largesse of the GST. It is in that context that the performance of the Northern Territory government needs to be examined. On the one hand, clearly shown in the Auditor-General’s comments is the fact that the Commonwealth revenue has increased exponentially in GST payments in the Northern Territory, and also in his comments he makes the clear statement that when it comes to own source revenue, the Northern Territory government is doing as much as it can.
Page 38 of the Auditor-General’s report says that the level of taxation revenue per capita compared to target and other states and territories based on the GGS, the 2002-03 outcome was $1248 per capita for that year, which is 11% higher than the original budget of $1122 per capita and 8.5% higher than that achieved in 2001-02. That is the situation we have in the Northern Territory. We have less spending on the economic drivers in the Northern Territory in a real sense; the economic industry areas that contribute to wealth creation in the Northern Territory, less money being spent by government on them; increased GST revenue to the Northern Territory through the largesse of the GST, yet at the same we find that the per capita taxation on Territorians has increased by 11%, higher than their own budget figures.
Any wonder that commentators are calling the Northern Territory economy, at best, sluggish. No wonder that if anyone talks to any business person in the Northern Territory at the moment, their common response is that the cost of doing business is driving people out of business. The Northern Territory at the moment has lost the edge, frankly, by comparison with other states because people are not seeing the benefit of staying and doing business in the Northern Territory. They are relocating interstate for a range of reasons. Most worrying of all is that those who are leaving more and more are the ones who have been in business in the Northern Territory and have taken their business elsewhere, or they are people who are not dependent on welfare money. They are people who are economic contributors themselves who have taken the money and left as well.
It is one thing, as the Leader of the Opposition said, to pride yourself on a dry economic argument that debt is under control. God damn! Bill Hayden’s words ring in this Chamber. A drover’s dog could be a good treasurer in this economic environment with the largesse that is coming from the Commonwealth; you just sit back with the purse open and say: ‘How much are you going to give me this year?’ $439m, according to the Commonwealth figures, has been given to the Northern Territory above the bottom line that has been received in previous years, and the Treasurer says part of that is because of increased economic activity. I am yet to hear anyone from the government tell me what this increased economic activity is. Please tell us: what is all of this increased economic activity that is providing such a windfall to Northern Territory coffers? Perhaps it is stamp duty. Perhaps it is the fact that we have investors from down south who are investing in the Territory market and they are paying stamp duty. Perhaps Territorians are investing in homes. Perhaps it is Territory families trying to buy homes for their children. Perhaps that is contributing to economic activity.
I would like to know what this increased economic activity is because I believe it is the GST. It is first the GST, second the GST and third the GST. That is where the economic activity is coming from. What business is saying, what the average Territorian is saying out there is: ‘Where is the relief? Where’s the beef?’ as Mondale used to say. Where’s the beef? You have all this money coming into the NT Treasury. You are saying what a wonderful economic bottom line we have had and all we find from the Auditor-General is confirmation that this is the highest taxing government the Northern Territory has ever had.
Mr Stirling: Rubbish!
Mr BURKE: It is. It is the highest taxing government. Not only that, the Auditor-General says on page 38 it is not because of a lack of effort, either. Your lack of effort is going really well; your effort is about 100% effort; 92% outcome.
Mr Stirling: 97%. Have a look.
Mr BURKE: 97%! I am sorry! The Treasurer corrects me. The effort is 97%. I tell you if you were doing an exam you would get an A+ for effort. That is what Territorians are worried about. You have hundreds of millions of dollars coming from the GST and you are so miserly you will not pass any of it back. Not only that, you pride yourselves on the taxing effort that has seen the per capita taxation for Territorians increase under a Labor government. I believe that is an indictment in itself.
I know Territorians are looking for a good budget to show some relief, to show something that comes back to them. I am sure we will see it, but you have to make a better effort than that. As the Leader of the Opposition has said quite clearly, we have put our bona fides on the line. Put the CLP in power and this will be the lowest taxing government in Australia. I tell you what: it is something we can stand on the record. That is what you cannot do. One thing the CLP government can stand on after 27 years is a record of economic activity, a record of excitement and economic growth. All you have seen from this Labor government, the Labor politicians who opposed the GST, who said, ‘Woe is me, the GST will be terrible for all Australians’. And they are sitting there with a bag open saying, ‘Give me more’.
You had our Treasurer going to the federal Treasurer and saying, ‘I am putting a strong argument for why we should get more GST’, what a lot of garbage. I can imagine what Peter Costello is saying to you, ‘How much more do you want? I gave you $80m-odd last year, you got another $87m this year, and you want more, and the reason you are being cut is only because you have been overpaid anyway. And, by the way, Treasurer, you knew all this was coming, so look at your own budget papers, because you have actually forecast that you would lose more’.
You are running out there to tell Territorians that somehow you got a shock. You are lucky that the journalists do not do the inquisition of your own budget papers, and see that you forecast that you would lose more. You have known that you have been overpaid on the GST estimates, you would know the adjustment was going to come and, in fact, you forecast about a $40m adjustment more than you got, so you should be pretty happy with the federal Treasurer. To run lines that you sort of had a talk in the back room, ‘I am very confident that he will take that’. I bet you Peter Costello is saying, ‘Haw, haw, haw, go way, you are getting as much as you deserve’.
Mr Stirling: The member for Brennan says we have been overpaid. Small business is going to love that comment.
Mr BURKE: That would be fairly typical of Labor. You would go out there and try to run that line, what you ought to do, Treasurer, for once in your life, is tell the truth to Territorians, and then they will not question you. I have not seen too often a Treasurer come forward with a newspaper and get some inquisition from the newspaper, because they do not believe you when you walk out there and you say; ‘Oh, it is really sad but we have to increase the cost of power in the Northern Territory because of National Competition Policy requirements, and if we do not, they will penalise us’. You know it is a lie because you have already ripped $20m out of PAWC because, as the Auditor-General’s own report says: ‘Your bottom line has been improved because of the strong performance of PowerWater’. Well, if PowerWater are reporting such strong performance such that they can pay a $20m dividend to government, how come the commercial entities out there are getting hit up for more money?
Those commercial entities, as the Leader of the Opposition has pointed out, are not just the large users. You are fibbing again to Territorians if you did. For example, if the Galleria is one of your tranche 4 customers, guess who pays? Not the owner of the Galleria only. The knock down effect is to the guy who runs the coffee shop in the Galleria. That is the knock down effect. So when you walk out there and try to say to Territorians, ‘We are only hitting a few customers and they are large customers’, no wonder they do not believe you. They are sitting back there knowing that if you are a shop owner in a shopping centre, paying rent in the shopping centre at Palmerston, or you are in the Galleria, and your landlord is a tranche 4 customer, guess who is going to get the increase? So tell the truth.
The real truth is this: there is no rationale in this environment to increase the cost in power. The Auditor-General has shown that absolutely clearly. And worse than that, you must sit back and say, ‘Is this really right?’ when you watch PowerWater run full page ads in the paper, which we are all paying for - they must think they have a bit of a public relations problem out there - full page ads in the paper saying, ‘We had to do it to get a $42m subsidy from government’. No, you do not. Tell the truth. If there is a subsidy it is $20m at most. The other $20m kicks back straight into your coffers. Territorians can see that, particularly those businesses out there that are paying the money. They are the ones who can see it coming a mile off.
Your performance as a Treasurer in achieving the bottom line is undoubtedly - according to this - being achieved. It is being achieved by - according to the Auditor-General - increased revenues - predominantly increased revenues from the Commonwealth coming through from the GST - and the highest taxing environment we have ever seen in the Northern Territory. Not only that, the Labor government is doing a great job. In the Treasurer’s own words, they are achieving 97% effort. So, while they can get a dollar out of Territorians, they will go for it. I reckon that if that is national …
Members interjecting.
Mr BURKE: You are the greatest con merchant going! The other reason Territorians can see through you is - can you imagine the clout of the argument of the Treasurer of the Northern Territory, Syd Stirling, up against Peter Costello? ‘I am going down there and I am going to sort this bloke right out. I am going to show him that I can get the dough back for the Territory’. The first thing Costello would say is: ‘Hey, check your own budget papers, Treasurer. You are the one that forecast you would get a double dip. You get ripped off twice as much, so do not come down here bleating to me about how badly you have been done by’.
Tell Territorians the truth. Stand proudly up there and say, ‘I am achieving a great bottom line for government, Territorians, but it is coming at your expense. It is coming at your expense through the GST, and it is coming at your expense for I will rip every dollar I can out of you through my taxing effort. And do not stand around waiting with bated breath waiting for any relief because it is not coming in a hurry’.
Debate suspended.
MOTION
Note paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly,
Analysis of the 2002-03 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement
Note paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly,
Analysis of the 2002-03 Treasurer’s Annual Financial Statement
Continued from earlier this day.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I thank members for their comments in relation to this report this morning. At the outset, I pass on my thanks to Mike Blake and my regret and government’s regret that he is moving on. I am advised that he has a position in Tasmania and he certainly goes with the best wishes of this government. I share the Leader of the Opposition’s view that we can only hope for an Auditor-General of the same calibre, capacity and willingness to communicate with members in a fashion to which non-accountant types like myself and, dare I say, other members in this Chamber can relate.
One of the points made in talking about the switch to accrual forms of reporting is that it was always going to be difficult to make a comparison with the previous year in that first round where we were comparing accrual with cash form, but it only happens once. It is behind us now and the 2003-04 TAFR will line up consistently with, and be comparable to, the 2002-03 report. The difference here, of course, is that 2001-02 was still under cash accounting and the move to accrual has thrown up those disparities.
It is a bit cute of the Leader of the Opposition to get into the argument and comment on debt repayment, interest payments and on the unfunded superannuation. It was successive governments of his persuasion that spiralled these debt levels to the highest in Australia. That is not to demean everything the CLP did. There was a need to build infrastructure in this place, the federal government was not providing everything, and there was a need for a certain amount of that debt. However, at the levels that it reached prior to us coming to government, it was pretty hard to justify.
There is nothing wrong with the level of debt per se. It is exactly that point – it is the level of debt that you incur and that you carry that is important. When we came to government we inherited interest payments, on a daily basis, of $500 000 a day. Of course, that amount of outgoings to service debt restricts the amount of new initiatives that government can bring to the fore. It restricts the amount of dollars and effort that government can put in to enhancing the services and functions that it provides to Territorians.
In relation to superannuation, I used to ask the question, most years in and around estimates, why superannuation for the public sector was not funded, certainly the parliamentary members superannuation scheme is funded to the last cent - not a question - but the overall public sector superannuation was not. The fact is though, while the debt figure is large, and that is with all employee entitlements, it is not just superannuation, that $1.7bn figure, that is long service leave on the books, holiday day pay accruing, all of the additional entitlements are bound up in that $1.723m figure. A big part of it is superannuation. I go to what Treasurer Reed always used to say, and we might have disagreed, but the fact is it is not due on any one day. The government does not and will never have to find on one day of the week $1.7bn. To do so would be a pretty daunting task. It will continue to be funded on an emerging basis, and we will continue to meet it in this fashion, particularly at this stage of the cycle that we are in.
We acknowledge things have been tough, certainly for the last three or four years out there. However, I suggest, if the Leader of the Opposition has not seen any signs of improvement at all, he should get out more. He was at the Mazda showroom opening last week, and he also was looking at the RX8, which is a fantastic little machine that I was interested in. I bumped into one of the Northern Territory hire car company managers, and he could not remember a January and February like he had seen this year. The first two weeks of March were a bit slow, but the forward bookings for the latter part of March, April, May, June, he has not seen anything like it.
My partner tried to ring up for a hire car - the Corvette took a sickie, Madam Speaker - and Jenny needed a hire car because she wanted to take my sister to Litchfield. She rang three companies. It was either the third or fourth company she rang before she got a hire car. That was Wednesday of last week. Now, if that does not suggest visitation of a reasonable magnitude, I do not know what does - so, strong visitation and activity. I am told that the big part of that was corporate travel into the Territory. You only need to speak to Steve at Qantas and he will tell you they are travelling 20% to 30% month to month better than last year. No doubt, the railway bringing people into the Territory is contributing to this as people take the rail up and fly back, or vice versa.
But where are these people staying when they are coming in to the Territory? Our hotel occupancy rate probably languishes around 30% generally during January, February, March. I guess the Leader of the Opposition should check out some of those occupancy rates, because I would say they are considerably higher than the normal 30% you get through the Wet Season. The $27.5m into tourism certainly will be contributing to that visitor growth over the next three years. The anecdotal evidence coming to me is that there is a lot of business and corporate travel in that first couple of months of the year rather than tourists.
The police force, which struggled as we know under our predecessors, will benefit from the $75m that we have had to thump onto the table in order to fix a run down service. Health and education, as the member for Brennan pointed out, have been boosted considerably in our first couple of years of government. Of course, we had record capital works in both 2002-03 and 2003-04, with the highest cash levels that government has ever put against them.
The Power and Water Corporation profit figure reported in the Auditor-General’s report does not take into account, of course, the $42m CSO, plus the $7m in gifted assets the government provides to the Power and Water Corporation. The question around these issues goes to how far you can justifiably ask the taxpayer to subsidise the costs of power to business as we have in this tranche 4 exercise. It is unbelievable that the Leader of the Opposition can suggest that power prices should be falling when you look at the costs of energy increasing - and increasing dramatically - since 2000. That 5.1% increase to tranche 4 customers this year does stand in stark contrast to some of the power cost increases we have seen around Australia. I point to South Australia late last year, in the order of 24% to 25%. That is a hike of some significance. The government and the taxpayer will continue to subsidise the cost of power to this group of 120, and that will cost government around $8.4m this year and next year. It will be a little less in 2006 as the next round of increases comes in but, then, every alternate year it will be the same level of subsidy.
I went before to the fact that the GST - which was mentioned by both members - did not affect revenue into the Northern Territory until 2002-03, when we are about $9m ahead of the game against what we would have received under the previous system. That figure is estimated to be $81m in 2003-04. Therefore, the all-up effect of the GST over those two financial years - and they are the only two financial years we have realised a benefit - is about $90m. For the Leader of the Opposition to suggest that he has different figures from Treasurer Peter Costello, I would be very interested; in fact. I must seek that tabled document and get it across to Treasury for a look.
The ANZ job advertisement index jumped 17% in February. It is a forward-looking indicator as opposed to ABS job statistics which look back at what has occurred. That was the highest increase in Australia. It was followed by a business survey where the Northern Territory was included for the first time, where 26% indicated they would be recruiting increased staff numbers. Again, that was the highest figure of any jurisdiction in Australia, but it was topped by New Zealand.
We are the second-lowest taxing state in Australia overall on a per capita basis and, in the area of small business, we are absolutely the lowest - and the lowest in Australia by a long way. I have previously tabled information in this House which shows the next best to us is about twice our rate of the effect on a business with a payroll of about $600 000 per year.
I want to finish on the note that I mentioned before, and that is for the member for Brennan to come in and suggest that we have been overpaid by the GST is most …
Mr Burke: I never said that and you know it.
Mr STIRLING: … is most un-Territorian - most un-Territorian …
Ms CARTER: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The Treasurer will not be able to find in the Hansard record any reference like that at all, and he should withdraw that inference.
Madam SPEAKER: The member for Brennan has the opportunity to speak for himself and he can do it by way of explanation of speech.
Mr STIRLING: Madam Speaker, I sincerely hope the member for Port Darwin is right because I do not want to see it. I do not want to see that recorded in Hansard where anyone else could pick it up. I tell you that that just makes my job that much more difficult when a member of this parliament suggests that we get too much money, when they well know from their last effort in government. The member for Brennan should know more than any of the others just how tough it is in the Territory.
I do thank members for their comments, and, on behalf of government and, in fact, all members of this Chamber, wish the outgoing Auditor-General the very best in Tasmania. He has served this parliament and Territorians very well, and he has served members of this parliament well. We will miss him; he goes with our best wishes. I hope that our recruitment exercise is able to turn someone up to do the job equally - not just the calibre and capacity that Mike Blake exhibited, but his ability to communicate in language that people can understand.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
TABLED PAPER
Auditor-General for the Northern Territory March 2004 Report
to the Legislative Assembly
Auditor-General for the Northern Territory March 2004 Report
to the Legislative Assembly
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I table the March 2004 Report of the Auditor-General for the Northern Territory to the Legislative Assembly. An information session for members on this report will be conducted by the Auditor-General in the Members and Guests Lounge at 12.15pm on Thursday, 1 April 2004. I encourage all members to attend.
MOTION
Print Paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly, March 2004
Print Paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly, March 2004
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the report be printed.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly, March 2004
Note Paper - Auditor-General’s Report to the Legislative Assembly, March 2004
Ms MARTIN (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly take note of the paper, and that I have leave to continue my remarks at a later date.
Leave granted.
Debate adjourned.
MOTION
Note Statement – Building Healthier Communities: A Five Year Framework for Health and Community Services
Note Statement – Building Healthier Communities: A Five Year Framework for Health and Community Services
Continued from 24 February 2004.
Dr BURNS (Lands and Planning): Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak in support of Building Healthier Communities: A Framework for Health and Community Services; a way forward, I believe in the Territory over the next five to 10 years. There have been a number of reports into health over the last few years. I can remember Strategy 21 coming out under the previous government, and I believe that contained some worthwhile ideas. I particularly commend that report in the way that it tapped into the Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy, which was a product from what was then known as Territory Health Services. It provided a stepping stone if you like for viewing, particularly Aboriginal health in a very holistic way, and trying to address some of the deficits that occur in Aboriginal health. As the authors of that Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy acknowledged in their report, there needed to be much greater and broader thought given to the social context in which we try to address Aboriginal health issues. I believe that this particular Building Healthier Communities does so, along with other government initiatives, and it uses very plain, and simple but also profound language and strategies to reach those goals.
As the Minister for Health stated in his speech, there are six ways in which this framework will operate: giving kids a good start to life; strengthening families and communities; getting serious about Aboriginal health; creating better pathways to health services; filling service gaps; and tackling substance abuse. It also identifies four key areas for strengthening and reforming our health and community services system. Those four areas are: building quality health and community services; creating better ways of working together; valuing and supporting our work force; and creating a health information network.
It is not my intention today to go through each and every aspect of this framework. I would like to focus on some aspects which I think deserve highlighting. The first thing is to say that this particular strategy comes on the heels of the Bansemer report, and to a large degree complements the findings of the Bansemer Review into the operations of the Health Department. One important aspect is that it has left the purchaser/provider model behind. That was part of Strategy 21, and to be honest, I always thought it had problems within the context of the Northern Territory health sector, because really there were not all that many providers around. To my mind, the purchase/provider model in many ways created another layer, or another tier, another silo, which ever way you want to look at it, within what was then Territory Health Services. It was often very difficult to find out exactly who was doing what, and there was some confusion amongst staff about what their functions were, and exactly how the whole model fitted together.
It has been positive step to get rid of the purchaser/provider model. I do not think it was ever really going to work in the Territory, and now we need to move on.
Both the Bansemer Review and this particular strategy come in the context that this is a government that has put an extra $100m at least into our health system. I believe it is a strategic investment. That $100m does not include the extra monies for child welfare or mental health services, so it is well in excess of $100m that has been invested in our health system. Territorians hold health as a major priority and I believe we are fulfilling the wishes and ideals of Territorians.
One important aspect I commend about this report is that it tackles many of the issues head on and in plain, simple language. That is deeply appreciated. The Minister for Family and Community Services, the member for Arafura, spoke as a minister, an Aboriginal person, as an Aboriginal mother and family member. She is well qualified to make comments and those comments go a long way to addressing some of the issues and moving forward. A major recommendation of the Bansemer Review was the establishment of an Office of Aboriginal Health and it has attracted expertise from all over Australia and within the Territory. I commend that. One of the major areas identified within this strategy is work force issues. This is all inter-related: for people to have access to health professionals, we need to recruit and train those health professionals. That has always been a major issue within the Territory.
In 1995 when I worked at the Menzies School of Health Research, I undertook a consultancy for the Commonwealth government into the provision of primary health services in the Maningrida region. What I found when comparing what would be expected in services elsewhere in Australia – we are talking about a substantial community of some 2300 Aboriginal people – was that almost on every count when you looked at every sort of health professional or health provision, they were well under par. Probably not so much nurses because nurses were really covering a whole range of fields, but doctors, dentists, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, the people in that region were lucky to have any sort of a service at all, a fraction of a service per year. It is not a reflection on physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dental therapists or dentists who worked within the public system; it was just that they were stretched very thinly.
Basically, it is very important that we highlight recruitment of health professionals and their retention. Accommodation for professionals, particularly those living in remote areas, has been high on the priority list of this government and is a very important aspect. That is something I found in the study that I did at Maningrida. I am sure it exists beyond there. Lack of accommodation really constrains the growth and provision of health services in remote areas. There are issues of access, recruitment and retention of health workers.
One important aspect is that this government has established a position known as Nurse Practitioner. Those of us who have worked in these areas over time know the fantastic and sometimes unrecognised job that nurses in the Territory do. Many of them have had to fill the role of doctor and have taken instructions over the telephone, diagnosed, prescribed and administered. All praise to them. There is recognition from government of their particular role.
A very important part of our health system is Aboriginal health workers. Dr Didi Devanesen was someone who really pioneered this area of Aboriginal health workers. It is something that is unique to the Territory. We must continue to invest in and support the scheme. I know a number of Aboriginal health workers. It is a very difficult area for people to work in, they come under all sorts of pressure, and they get all sorts of blame if things go wrong. I know many of them feel constrained by the fact that to some degree they are working in clinics and many of them would like to have outreach services to elderly people, to diabetics, to maternal and child care aspects of their community’s life. We need to continue working on this, and this is something that has been recognised within this framework.
Going back to nurses and other health professionals, this government is intent on funding child health practitioners, to underscore that first aim of this strategy, giving children a good start in life. Health, at that critical level early in life, is very important to kids. The Preventable Chronic Disease Strategy underlines that. It is very important that children, both before they are born and in the first years of life, get a very good start in life, in health, in education and in a whole range of ways. I believe this particular strategy supports that very important cornerstone of health.
Another area that this government has been very keen to support is in the area of mental health. Members would be aware that an extra $12.7m over three years has been provided for that. Mental health services, over time, have fallen by the wayside. Particularly in remote areas, there has not been a proper recognition of mental health needs. I know that Aboriginal societies always looked after people who may have had mental health problems in times past, but the pressures on communities have exacerbated mental health concerns and also drug abuse, particularly cannabis use. It is very important that mental health is recognised within this strategy and framework and I support that.
Child protection is an area that this government has taken very seriously. Tens of millions of dollars, I believe it is somewhere between $40m to $50m, have been invested over three years. That is in increased investment in staff and resources, and an increase of 8% in resources for foster carers. There has been an increase in funding for children in care, and advocacy for children who may be disadvantaged or require child protection. Also, significantly, an increase in the number of indigenous staff working in this particular area of child protection.
Renal dialysis is a very important issue. We know the terrible facts and figures about renal disease amongst Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory. Two of the aims of this particular strategy are to create better pathways to health services, and filling service gaps. All of that is about bringing health services closer to where people live. Renal dialysis illustrates that and, unfortunately, I know a number of people, some of them very young Aboriginal people who do have renal disease and some of them have been able to access renal dialysis in their home communities; others are still waiting.
There is one particular family, and I know they will not mind me speaking about them. This is a friend of mine from Maningrida, Mr Charlie Yirrawala and his wife. His wife has renal disease. They are currently living in Rapid Creek and there is incredible disruption to the family. Charlie has, at various times, been president of the Maningrida Council and someone who has really served his community and is respected in that community. They have had to uproot and come to Darwin and it has meant all kinds of stress for the family. As an aside, Charlie, as a way of trying to amuse himself or be productive, has been making bamboo fish wires. I have been helping him with that. They are for sale, so if any member wants an original bamboo fish wire, they can come and see me and I will place an order with Charlie. They are a work of art, although I have not had a chance to test mine yet. It is a very well-made spear that he has made.
The report has flagged that Maningrida will be getting renal dialysis services in the near future. I am sure Charlie and his family will applaud that. They will be able to go back home and Charlie will - well, I know he is using his fish wires around Darwin, but there is nothing better for him than to go back to his home country and use those spears that he has been making.
Dental health is a very important issue. Sometimes we underestimate the importance of dental health on general health. There is a body of evidence to show, very conclusively, that dental health is very important for people’s health. It has been a battle for many years, because there have been some very dedicated dentists in the public health system over many years - and most people would know Graham Buchanan who travelled the length and breadth of the Territory. I believe Graham is now retired. I have been to various places and Graham has been making dentures. He used to work all day with people in the chair, and having outreach and treating people, and then he would come home and, when everyone else was winding down, you would see Graham there with a jar of hot water fashioning dentures; a very dedicated dentist.
However, it has always been a challenge to get dentists and dental services out in the bush. As people know, there are some reforms coming up in the sittings of this parliament about allied health professionals. I do not want to pre-empt debate, but I believe that will open up more avenues for dental therapists to legally provide dental services to people in the bush. It is very important and I commend it.
I would also remark that my understanding is that there are new dental health clinics being built in Darwin and Palmerston. Therefore, I was at a bit of a loss to pick up on what the member for Port Darwin was saying about this government not being committed to dental health services in the Northern Territory. The member for Port Darwin might do better to listen to what a whole lot of people are saying about what the federal government is not doing in dental health, and access to public dentists by the Commonwealth. There are many pensioners who are very angry. Some of them have spoken to me, and are very concerned about it. If the federal Coalition is serious about dental health services, they need to start investing some serious money into it.
One very important area flagged by this particular strategy is drug abuse and alcohol and other drugs. As a government, I believe that we have done a lot more than the previous government ever did about treatment of drug abuse …
Mr Burke: Garbage!
Dr BURNS: … and providing pharmacotherapies …
Mr Burke: Oh, I thought you were talking about dental.
Dr BURNS: … which is something which I believe the previous government was ideologically opposed to. They watched the problem with illicit morphine just absolutely get out of control and mushroom. The member for Brennan can huff and puff, but he was Health minister during some of this time. I can see the member for Katherine looking at me quizzically …
Mr Burke: You used to sit in my office with a big smile and grin on your face saying how good we were.
Dr BURNS: I never said anything about morphine.
Mr Burke: You did so; you used to come up regularly and have a drink. What is wrong with you?
Dr BURNS: Well, I had discussions with you about kava, but let us talk about morphine - all the illicit morphine. It took the HIC, the Commonwealth body, to come up here to put the finger on his government to try to control what was out of control: illicit morphine use and diversion of prescription morphine onto the streets of Darwin.
I have said in this parliament here before and I am willing to furnish it to any member, I calculate it had to be worth, at various times at its peak, between $10m to $15m a year. With one of these 100 mg morphine tablets being sold for $50 to $100, pensioners or other people with prescriptions would go and, basically, get a card of 20 of these things and on-sell the rest of them. It was a well-known practice and it was absolutely shameful. It drew some comment in an article in the Medical Journal of Australia. If any member wants my file on it, I am more than willing to share it with them.
However, at the same time, the previous government was ideologically opposed to any therapy for anyone who had a drug addiction. They said that they would put them on a one-way bus out of the Territory. In contrast, what actually happened through their policy was that there was a whole lot of people whom I believe were attracted into the Territory because of the ready access to morphine. There was an article in the Australian New Zealand Journal of Public Health which actually showed that.
We have also set up drug courts and that is a way forward. Many of these people who do have a drug problem are also perpetrators of crime. Part of the success of our push against property crime in Darwin is the fact that we have been very successful in eliminating drug houses and cracking down hard on drugs. We have also had initiatives regarding itinerancy. We have a long way to go with that. I am not saying that problem is solved but we are putting resources in there and attention in there and I think it is bearing some fruit.
Smoking and tobacco use: we had the guts to bring in tobacco legislation to bring us in line with the rest of Australia, particularly in relation to passive smoking issues. I also commend my colleague, the member for Arnhem, with his Stronger Regions program. Building capacity into Aboriginal communities and councils is a very important platform for health.
In short, Madam Speaker, I support this strategy. I think it is going to work and we all should support it.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I rise today to give my support to Building Healthier Communities – A Five Year Framework for Health and Community Services. This is a very innovative, and very bold strategy. It is one that recognises the health outcomes and the health needs of the Territory. It is one that looks not only at the health issues but also at the whole of the community wellbeing and what that means to the community to get along into a healthier lifestyle.
The framework, as it is being rolled out, is not one quick hit. It recognises that we did not get to this place through just five years, 10 years of inappropriate funding levels. Because that is what it is about. It is not about neglect. The health system has always had good quality service providers within it. I am not for one minute saying that the state that we have seen our health services in in the Territory is because of any inept or inappropriate behaviours by those who have been working in it. The simple fact is that the magnitude of the health issues that confront our community, it was not the funding levels provided, the resources provided to the health budget.
That is for many reasons. I am not saying for one moment that all times that was a concerted policy by the previous governments. The fact is that health can eat up a lot of dollars and you have to cut up the cake as best you can for the whole of the community. However, I believe the Minister for Health and the Minister for Family and Community Services have had a good look at how it is cut up and said it can be done up a lot better, it can be done up a lot more equitably, and with that in mind they have gone about creating this rather innovative framework.
To get there they have had a look at the Building Healthier Communities, and they have identified six areas that this government will tackle over the span of the framework which is 2004-09. It talks about giving kids a good start in life and strengthening families and communities. This framework is holistic in its approach to community. This framework does not just look at hospitals or at clinics. It looks at the whole lifestyle. When they talk about healthier families it is not just getting mum or dad and a nipper off to the GP for a dose of syrup or anything. It is talking about supporting the family through troubled times. It is talking about getting the kids off to Auskick. It is talking about looking at the dysfunctionality that is sometimes prevalent in our families and in our society and addressing those causes.
The framework goes to looking at treating the entire family and this is a great change from our government to previous governments. Of course you cannot get away, neither would we want to get away, from the serious issues in Aboriginal health. This policy looks directly at that. This framework looks directly at that and targets it more appropriately with a greater strategic view, with looking not only the immediate presenting of the individual for health interventions but looking at the community and what we can do in the form of preventative health. My colleague, the member for Johnston, was talking about renal dialysis out on the communities and what a great benefit it will be. That is tremendous. Prior to coming to government, who could forget the infamous Lateline interview when the previous Minister for Health was interviewed about no renal dialysis in Tennant Creek? That was a sorry interview and did not stand the Territory in good stead, but it highlighted the differences between the previous government and our government’s attitude to the need for such health interventions in our more regional and remote localities.
It is good to see in this framework that the government is looking at treating the hospital network as one. This is innovative. Instead of looking at five different centres and five different establishments and having it structured around that funder/purchaser/provider model, which, is a very hard model to work with. It was very complex and challenging to a lot of people who did not fully understand it. It did not work. It was trialled, and full points to the government of the day for having a go at it, but it did not work. The comprehensive review that was carried out from Bansemer resolved that there is a better way of doing it by grouping these hospitals together under programs and sharing the intellectual and physical resources and making sure that we can cover health needs. We are a small population base over a large area and the ways of doing things in other jurisdictions, such as where the provider models originated, do not work here. It is time that we created our own model, and that is what we have done.
We did not import southern models and impose them on our hospitals. We are saying that we have Territory health to deal with; let us group it all together and look at using our resources the best way. As the minister said, you now have specialists at RDH looking at issues in Alice Springs and Tennant Creek. If you have a specialist in Katherine whose skills and knowledge can be used at RDH, we can get them there. We have the communications infrastructure to do it and we are using it. That is a great innovation that this framework facilitates.
The framework details working more closely with different community organisations around the place. ‘Networking’ is the term that the Minister for Health used. He saw this as a major benefit flowing from the program models that we are bringing into the NT-wide network. Through networking, we are hoping to be able to get into more clinical collaboration, sharing the expertise, getting our leadership across the hospital network. We want to be able to work more with non-government organisations. We are doing that by bringing in better standards. One of the main benefits of this program is the ability to set and monitor standards of care across all regions. It will give us a chance to work with NGOs and the Divisions of General Practice.
In the Territory we talk about different communities and the networks set up to support those. There is a network that does not get much of a run in the papers, is under-acknowledged in the community, and that is the Divisions of General Practice. We have about three here in the Territory: the state division, the Top End Division; and a Central Division of General Practice. These divisions are there to support GPs and their practices. This is an unsung area of our health network. These organisations do a wonderful job. They are run by a board and cover such things as coordination and education development in the practice; coordinating pharmacy programs; immunisation, which is a big one, a preventative area that can be done through a general practice, which is great because the more we can have early intervention, the cheaper they are. They handle mental health programs and they even provide IT support to practices. They also advocate and set standards for GPs. We want to work with such groups, and that is identified in this framework
I have nothing but praise for the Top End Division. They have a newsletter and I am reading here from the March 2004 newsletter, dealing with the new Medicare package which has just been announced. It reads:
- Both Houses of parliament recently passed Medicare Plus legislation. The initiatives provided in Medicare Plus
provide limited benefit or reliefto Darwin urban general practice, predominately attributed to Darwin’s RRMA1
capital city status.
For those who are not too sure what RRMA is, it is the Rural Remote Metropolitan Areas classification. This is handed out by the federal government:
- The Top End Division of General Practice has consistently challenged the unfairness of the RRMA1 classification and
the discriminatory nature it promotes. The recent concessions provided to both Tasmania and South Australia
under Medicare Plus legislation may provide a further opportunity to argue reconsideration of the Darwin urban
status. Due to representations by the division there have been some concessions provided to 10 urban practices in
the provision.
The concession, by the way, is the bulk billing. The bulk billing incentive increased by 50% for regional, rural and remote Australia, and all of Tasmania. GPs in regional, rural and remote Australia and all of Tasmania who bulk bill concession card holders and children under 16 will benefit from a 50% increase in the bulk billing incentive payment from $5 to $7.50. We received $10, thanks to the hard lobbying of the Top End Division. All of Tasmania and some areas of South Australia got it. That is Hobart, Launceston, Burnie, Penguin, you name it, they got it. Not us in the Territory. And why did Tasmania get it? Because they had a hard working, knew how to negotiate, independent and, I dare say, it was Senator Harradine who helped get it through the Senate.
We have had the CLP here today talking about the good office of the federal Treasurer, Mr Costello, and what a good bloke he is giving us all this GST revenue. We have members of the so-called independent Territory party, the CLP, independents arguably as much as Harradine, arguably as much as Megs, down there in Canberra, who should be in there fighting for the Territory. We really need this. We have very little bulk billing going on in the Territory. We need this incentive. But where were our independent CLP senators and members of the House of Representatives? They were sitting on their hands and going with the Liberal/National Party coalition. They did not stand up. They should have been in there with the independent senators, fighting the fight and making sure we got it. If ever there was a jurisdiction which had a far stronger case than anywhere else, it is the Territory. To say that our need is not equal to, or less than that of Hobart or Launceston, is right off the map.
I believe the CLP party wing and the CLP administrative committee should get their members in from Canberra and say to them, ‘You are independent, why did you not get us this?’ They were quick to do it to ex-Senator Tambling, they were quick to get into him and look what happened, but that was over a gambling issue. A man who stood on moral principles and they did him over. Here we are just asking for the CLP, who are independents in Canberra, so they tell us, to get in there and try to get a fair deal for Territorians.
It stinks, Madam Speaker. I will be writing to many people. I will be letting them know that we have been done over on this Medicare benefit, because bulk billing is something we need. What they have done to us on this is deplorable, and they should be punished and it should be known far and wide. I do not find any excuse whatsoever for that sort of mismanagement and shabby treatment of the people of the Territory.
I had the pleasure of working in the Department of Health for a short time in different areas. They have a dedicated work force, particularly in the nursing stream. I was very pleased to hear today the statement by the minister about the increases, through the EBA, for nurses. They are a hard-working work force. We have problems with recruitment and retention, but you have to look at why they come to Territory. We do recruit a lot but in a certain demographic of the nursing work force there is high mobility. You only have to pick up the Australian Nursing Journal and look in the back five pages to see companies are touting for nurses in Saudi Arabia, in London, and in America. This is the pool we are contesting to bring nurses to the Territory. We successfully get them here because we have things to offer nurses that are not available elsewhere. We have a challenging environment for them work in.
I had the pleasure of living on a community for 12 months where my wife was a practicing nurse. I saw first-hand the work they do. It is very rewarding work, and you will not find a more dedicated set of staff than you would possibly find in the community clinics. However, they should be - and they are now being - properly remunerated. This is a great working partnership with nurses and government to see that they are remunerated to where they are, at this stage, one of the highest remunerated nursing areas in Australia.
I commend the minister and the government. I also praise the union for working collaboratively to get this offer on the table, to make sure that, over three years, that they are right up to steam with a good, strong pay case which reflects their commitment, and which will also act as a great magnet to bringing and retaining more staff in the Territory in the future years. Pay is only one component of why nurses work in the Territory. The others are job satisfaction and working conditions. We are looking at improving the conditions across the board. This is marvellous and something we should always constantly look to strive to do our best. Nurses are not just driven by pay alone. We have to keep on working, concentrating and looking at professional development, and we have to, most sincerely, look at work force relations - relationships between the management and the nurses.
I believe they would be one of the largest skilled bodies in the work force, perhaps slightly behind teachers, if not on par. These are all university graduates, people who are looking for challenges in their working career and who are looking for paths. I believe this government, through this strategy, is on line for doing just that.
I only have a few minutes left, so I will wind up. On the back page of Building Healthier Communities, there is a little list. It says there of our government:
- We have a solid record. Since 2001, the Martin Labor government has injected an extra $100m …
That is an extra $100m:
- … into health and community services in the Territory. Amongst our many achievements, we have:
opened a state-of-the-art Emergency Department at Royal Darwin Hospital and put on extra staff; …
rewarded nurses with significant salary increases, better benefits and a clear career structure;
- committed a record $53.8m over five years to build a better child protection system, providing
improved help for families in crisis, and just as importantly, more support for families before crises
occur;
- kept on track with our commitment to increase the number of hospital nurses by 75 over the government’s
first term; …
- increased the child care subsidy to support working families;
- opened a new kidney dialysis unit in Tennant Creek and begun support for the delivery of dialysis in
remote communities; …
One that I am particularly proud of. Talking about spin-offs for the community, we have:
- introduced the Tobacco Control Act, a collaborative, flexible and effective approach to reducing the harm
to people’s health from smoking; …
Madam Speaker, if you go along Mitchell Street, you will see the great benefits of the Tobacco Control Act. Never before did we have a caf set and alfresco dining area in Darwin. It was never there, this act came in, and bang! It starting working.
Ms Carter: Oh, spare me! You are not seriously suggesting that there were no outdoor eateries until that act came in!
Mr KIELY: The member for Port Darwin may correct me, but I do not think that, let’s see Shenanigans, I don’t think all the cafes along Mitchell Street, I don’t think there were any along Mitchell Street …
Members interjecting.
Mr KIELY: Madam Speaker, something else I am proud of is that this Martin government has committed an extra $13m over the next three years to improve mental health services, meaning more staff and better services. This is definitely an area that for one reason or another was neglected by the previous government.
Building Healthier Communities is our framework for building on any successes. I am pleased, proud, and on behalf of the constituents of Sanderson, we are pleased and proud of the work for this government is doing to improve health system. Once again, I commend all those who have worked over these many years, under very trying conditions, and I hope that we can provide, not only a better health service, but a better place to work in the future.
Dr TOYNE (Health): Madam Speaker, I commend every member who has contributed to this debate over the two sittings; some of greater qualities than others I have to say. However, it is good to see health taken seriously in this Chamber, and for people to be very keen to put points of view forward. That is really what the business of this House is.
I have seen this little book in some huge range of places around the Territory; I will go through a few of them - Nyirripi Clinic; the Arunga Health Service in Ambladawatj; the Urapunga health service in Utopia; Gunbalanya Clinic; Ntaria Clinic; Kalkarindji Clinic; Laramba Clinic; Yuendumu Clinic. I have seen it in many working units in Alice Springs Hospital; I have seen it in many working units of the Darwin Hospital, and Tennant Creek Hospital. I have seen it and discussed it with people at Anyinginyi Congress in Tennant Creek, the Central Australia Aboriginal Congress, and Palmerston Community Health Clinic, just to name a few places in the last 10 weeks that we have visited.
It has come at the right time to present a document of this kind, which is a compilation of the government’s priorities with people, to flesh out and then implement. That last point is that this is not a plan, it is not the fully worked, ‘We know what’s good for you document’. It is, essentially, a collecting point around which people can express their opinions whether they belong to a non-government organisation, whether they belong to health agency itself, whether belong to community groups, or just simply plain, old community members who have an interest in health, no matter how narrow or broad that might be.
This is a document to support a dialogue, a discourse on health for the next five years. We are taking that very seriously. As we speak we are rolling out planning sessions with both agency personnel and NGOs to seek their views on how best to move forward on these types of priorities. We did not want to have all the detail in here, and I think it has worked very well. It is a document that does not drive people away. It is a document in plain English. It is sticking to crucial, critical issues that we need to deal with if we are going to move health along.
There are only 10 elements in this framework, and we believe that the mix of elements that we put into the framework is going to give everyone a platform to contribute their particular issues. We welcome the partnerships that come out of that as we work forward.
When you go around, particularly going to all the different working units of the health system, you can see that often it is the little, niggly issues that attack the morale of staff. I have to say that I am not seeing bad morale generally around the system. In fact, I am seeing some people that are really rollicking along and feeling very proud of what they are doing. I will give you some examples. At the Nyirripi Clinic, there was no nurse when I went there. There is a nurse now, but the Senior Health Worker was carrying the clinic program and he was very, very proud of what he was doing. The community was very supportive of him. While that is not an ideal situation, and even having only one RN there is not ideal, there is no doubt that the service was being maintained to the general satisfaction of the community and the health worker was very proud to do the work that he was doing.
At Ambladawatj, the health service had collapsed. It is a Commonwealth funded health service but because of the security issue in the community, all the health staff had gone. That is all back together now. We have sorted that out through justice processes, and that demonstrates that different agencies within the NT government have to work together to sort out these very challenging issues that we have around the Territory.
Urapunga had just installed x-ray equipment and ultrasound facilities at the clinic at Utopia. That has cut down the enormous number of patient transfers into Alice Springs and back again. At Gunbalanya, they had just achieved national accreditation for their clinic programs and facilities - a fantastic effort in a very old building out at Gunbalanya. The staff got their protocols together, the work spaces up to scratch and they achieved accreditation.
At Ntaria, I have never seen so many Aboriginal health workers not only there, but working full-on on every sort of program that the community needed. Again, there was an enormous amount of pride on the part of the nursing staff and the doctors for that achievement.
Kalkarindji had a terrible old clinic. It was flooded during the Kalkarindji floods four or five years ago. It was under water, and the building shows it. It was a pre-fabricated building to start with and, even though it has been refurbished to some degree, it has to be replaced and we are going to move to do that. Laramba is a one-nurse clinic, which enjoys an enormously strong community. It is probably one of the few places where a one-nurse station is a secure place to be. Yuendumu has a new clinic on the way. We met with health workers and nurses and that clinic is going really well, judging by what I saw.
At the Palmerston Community Health Centre we saw RNs carrying the front line of delivery of our health services to Palmerston. It has been not only accredited nationally but singled out as one of the finest examples of a community health centre in Australia. The consultant who came to assess the centre returned to personally present them with their accreditation certificate. I am very proud of that.
We hear a lot of doom and gloom about health in the Northern Territory, but this is what is going on out there: high quality work, a lot of pride in work that is being done, a lot of initiative and a lot of innovation.
I have been to three of our hospitals - Alice Springs, Darwin and Tennant Creek - and I have made the House aware of some of the remaining problem areas in our hospitals. There is plenty of work to be done into the future, but let us not forget places like the emergency department of Darwin hospital. I was there about an hour ago and it is not only brilliantly equipped, but it has a staff that is well trained and adequate to the task they are performing. It would be in the top 10 EDs in Australia. We have work to do in other hospitals, particularly Alice Springs, in that area. We need to develop ED, intensive care and high dependency into a stronger and more sustainable service. We know that and we will be working on it.
Tennant Creek is looking at achieving national accreditation and completing the pack of cards. That will mean every one of our public hospitals will be at the level of national accreditation. That will be a huge achievement for the Territory, and a great reassurance to the people of the Northern Territory that their hospitals are up to scratch by national standards. I have spoken to Aboriginal health services beyond the two clinics at Utopia and Amaroo. Anyinginyi Congress and the Central Australian Congress are very supportive of what we are doing in health. I believe we will find on things like the primary health care rollout that we can work very closely with the congresses and get a lot further than we would get under our own steam.
That is a quick tour, following our document around, that the Minister for Family and Community Services and I immediately moved to work on when we found ourselves in the portfolio. It has now presented a vision, a way forward, for our health professionals, no matter what context they are working in, and at a time they absolutely needed that. There had been a lot of upheaval, I guess it would be fair to say, with the Bansemer Report implementation, and it is fair to say that our predecessor, the member for Nightcliff, had the tough stint in the portfolio doing some of that major surgery that had to be done on our agency, and I pay tribute to that early work. We have the fun part, that is to go out there and really start to direct the reform programs, but we are doing it from a solid base that is not wildly out of control in the way that we inherited it. That is a tribute to both the Bansemer Report and our predecessor in the work that she did as minister.
I will quickly deal with some of the issues that were brought up during debate. Member for Port Darwin, we have not cut bed numbers as a savings strategy or for any other strategy. We have simply adopted what the whole of this country does in its large public hospitals, and that is to run as close to full occupancy as possible to minimise costs and maximise the spread of services offered to the public. It means, obviously, that if you get an outbreak of a particular illness like Rotavirus in kids, or some episode that has caused an unusual amount of injuries, like a big football match in town, it can occasionally fill the hospital capacity. Management practices all around the world, and certainly all around Australia, is that you manage your flow of patients through the beds, you have flexible arrangements to source extra beds, as we have with the private hospital, and you have better discharge planning rather than simply put more beds into the system, which will sit as a cost enveloping additional capacity that you really should not need if you are going to manage up to best practice. Of course, you can add new ambulatory care and chronic disease management to that mix of management that has to be applied in hospitals in this day and age.
The comments about the actual document, I have pointed out that this is not meant to have all the meat on the bones; it is meant to be a framework, as the name suggests. It is meant to invite a collaborative planning process with our own public servants within the agency, with NGOs and the general community so that we can work together to find the appropriate mix of resources and operational arrangements in each of the priority areas that are in the framework. I look forward to that process over the ensuing years, and I believe that we have a very good starting point to launch into that. The member for Port Darwin needs to realise that this is a framework; it is not a fully-worked plan.
We have dealt with the issue of the 75 nurses this morning, and I will not labour the point on that. However, I can certainly repeat my assertion that this government will deliver fully on that promise within this term of government as indicated. We believe we are on track to do that, and I am answerable to this House on the achievement of it.
There was some discussion about the Loan Report and the further recommendations in Bansemer about our oral health services, particularly to the schools. We will be moving to make a start on implementing an upgrade of school dental services, and I will be delighted to report to the House once Cabinet has finished its work on those issues. The new dental officers enterprise bargaining agreement has also provided us with a powerful new way to attract the dentists we need into our system. That should alleviate some of the waiting times for surgery and other dental procedures that are currently in the system.
We look at the assertions by the member for Drysdale - busy as always, trying to muddy the waters. He was claiming that we had a funding and resources move away from the community sector to the acute sector. There is no doubt that there was a major blow-out in the acute sector that was inherited at the time the Bansemer Report was done. In fact, the expenditure in our hospitals was threatening to swallow up all sorts of areas around it. That was the whole problem that was dealt with through the Bansemer recommendation. As a first step in this process, we now have a fence line between community health services, and their resourcing, and the hospital acute sector which will prevent one budget borrowing from another. That will stabilise the situation. We will then, under the five-year framework, be moving to incrementally build community health service delivery up, particularly to remote health and indigenous health. We are not promising that is all going to appear overnight. What we are saying is that we now have a stable situation where we can start to build the community services up from the point at which we inherited them.
The member for Araluen was worried about the breast screen services in Alice Springs. I can report to the member that the number of women screened in 2003 exceeded the previous two years. There were 1049 screened in 2003, 966 in 2002, and 1009 in 2001. All tenders for the screening and assessment components of Breast Screen NT Service were declined. Tenderers were advised on 8 March alternative options and models are now being explored for an NT-wide service. For the first screening block in 2004, 429 letters were sent to women to repeat screening that had been done two years ago. In addition, a public campaign has been undertaken publicising the screening block in Alice Springs, together with current information on the breast screen service. I believe the first block was done on 15 March. Do not quote me on that, but I am pretty sure I read that earlier on in the week. The next screening block proposed will be later this year. Reminder letters will be sent to women who are due to be screened and a publicity campaign will be undertaken to advise the public in Central Australia. I am more than happy to give that material to you and your electorate office. If you want to help us to get the word around, that would be great.
The Women’s Information Centre was another issue raised by the member. We are committed to keeping it open. The service is going to be reviewed to see what mix of information and activities it is currently doing; but it is a re-missioning of it rather than a cancellation of it. We will consult with both community governments and local governments on where we are going to take that.
They are the main points I would like to make. I certainly welcomed some of the comments from the member for Port Darwin in support of the statement. From Hansard:
I congratulate the new minister on this statement.
- It is good to see in the statement a continued emphasis on child protection and working with, rather than
against, families.
This is to my colleague and I am very pleased to see her work acknowledge early in our mutual careers in this portfolio.
We are widening our range of responses in family and community services. We put quite clearly more resources and fairly quickly, and in fact that had already happened under the previous minister, to build up areas like mental health and child protection. We will continue to do that. We will continue to focus on those issues, not only from the point of view of health, but in my dual portfolio I will be looking very closely at further things that we can do under the law and under the process of the justice system to support what is done through the FACS part of the agency.
I again thank the members for their contributions. It has been a worthwhile debate and we have some fresh ideas on where to go with this. I move that the statement be noted, Mr Deputy Speaker.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MOTION
Note Paper - Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community - Interim Report
on Issues of Alcohol Abuse, Cannabis Abuse and Inhalant Abuse
Note Paper - Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community - Interim Report
on Issues of Alcohol Abuse, Cannabis Abuse and Inhalant Abuse
Continued from 27 February 2003.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Mr Deputy Speaker, I have been with the committee since its inception. From the outset, I would like to record my admiration for the initial chair, the member for Arafura, for the skill with which she handled the job. I welcome the new chair, the member for Nightcliff, to her role, and I wish her all the best with it. In addition, I would also like to place on the record my thanks to the staff of the Legislative Assembly, particularly Pat Hancock and Liz McFarlane, for the great work that they have done in supporting members of this committee .
I have, however, been a little bit disappointed at the length of time that this interim report has sat on the Notice Paper; it has been over 12 months now. What we see in this sittings is that it has almost been overtaken by the arrival of the Alcohol Framework interim report, hence the need for it to be debated today.
I sought nomination to this committee because of my long standing interest in, and concern for, the issues pertaining to substance abuse in the Territory. The Northern Territory has a long and sad history of substance abuse. Factors which contribute to this legacy include our relatively young population; a social culture which generally condones substance abuse in its many forms; the ready availability of the substances in question; the fact that many people enjoy using substances; and, in certain situations, poverty, isolation and boredom.
The issue of substance abuse in the Northern Territory is complex. Years ago when I was studying for a qualification in health promotion, I completed a unit called Addiction Studies. I recall reading very early in the set readings that anthropologists have found that all societies in the world use at least one substance to alter their experience of reality. Why? Because people like to do it. The problem comes when people cannot control the use of the substance and the substance instead controls them. After completing studies in health promotion I gained a position in Darwin in the area working to help reduce the harmful effects of tobacco smoking on individuals and the community. During this time I gained a better understanding of how vital it is for the person who partakes in substance abuse to want to change the behaviour to reduced or stop the use of the drug. How important it is for the individual to make a decision to stop using a drug.
I do not differentiate between substances and how they need to be dealt with. I do not consider one worse than the other. All drugs, including legal drugs, can be and are harmful when consumed in a dangerous manner. In order for a person to quit using a substance in a harmful manner they need to: (1) recognise that they are consuming the drug at a level which is harmful; (2) genuinely want to reduce or cease using; (3) learn what steps they can take to reduce or cease use; (4) take action to reduce or cease use of the drug; and (5) if they fail, to learn from their experience so they increase their chance of success the next time they try. These are the steps regardless of the drug be it tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, kava, petrol, morphine, etcetera.
No one would claim that quitting substance abuse is easy. Usually, the person is physically addicted to the substance. That is, when they do not use the substance they feel mentally and physically unwell. They suffer symptoms of withdrawal when they quit. In addition, the social setting in which a person uses the substance could put a lot of pressure on them to keep using it. For example, if all their friends use a particular substance, for example, petrol, if they decide to stop, they risk losing their friends. In addition, their friends may exert pressure on them to resume using and rejoin the group. It is very hard to quit a drug if all those around you continue to use it and, at the same time, you are craving for it.
Since the work of the committee commenced, we have travelled throughout the Territory listening to people talk about the substance abuse problems in their communities, and that includes urban centres. Generally, what has been painted for the committee is a picture of despair. From the alarming number of suicides on the Tiwi Islands to petrol sniffing in the Centre, substance abuse appears to be getting worse. When we visited the Tiwi Islands, I met up with a friend who lives there. She told me how a couple of weeks earlier, the church bell had begun to ring furiously. She and a few friends went to investigate and found someone hanging, dead, on the rope. This event has deeply affected my friend.
I was in Central Australia on another trip and the committee had been inside a community meeting room listening to stories about the petrol sniffing problem. When we finished, I went outside and there was a boy, no more than 10, sitting near our cars sniffing petrol from a bottle. He smiled broadly at me and waved and ran away.
Although the committee’s study, consultations and deliberations are far from over, I make the following comments - they are my current opinions and I may well change them over time. Of particular concern are the cannabis users who now use a strong form of cannabis in bucket bongs. The committee had to have bucket bongs explained to us. I have recently had that explanation confirmed in a movie titled He Died with a Felafel in His Hand. For those innocent of the bucket bong process, I suggest you check out this movie. The end result of using a bucket bong is that the person smoking the cannabis gets a super hit of cannabis smoke from the bucket bong when they inhale. It is literally injected into their lungs. I would expect that compared to a joint of cannabis leaf mixed with tobacco, which was the form of cannabis many of Australia’s over 40s would recall, a bucket bong would just about blow the user’s head off, so to speak. Half a dozen of those a day and you would useless.
The committee has been told that this is the preferred form of cannabis use on many of the Aboriginal communities, particularly in the Top End. The result has been horrific, with parents and other family members being harassed for money for the drug. It has been argued that cannabis use has a major part to play in suicides in the area. Dealers from the urban centres and from interstate are targeting remote communities when they know the money is around, such as on pension and royalty days. Dealers are selling cannabis at exorbitant prices and we were shown tiny little bags of cannabis which were selling on communities for up to $150. Everyone in the community has suffered as a result of this drug use.
As I have already mentioned, petrol sniffing is another problem the committee has encountered. We have been told the problem comes and goes, depending on the trend in a particular area. Groups of young people take up the drug, arguably because it is available to them, as opposed to alcohol, which is restricted until they are 18. The user hallucinates and avoids reality while under the influence of petrol. They can suffer terrible mental and physical health problems, and their community can be terrorised by their actions.
However, despite the problems caused by these drugs, alcohol is still by far the biggest substance abuse problem in the Northern Territory. From the violence witnessed in almost all Northern Territory centres to the neuropathy and brain damage suffered by long term users, the Northern Territory continues to suffer from alcohol poisoning. I am not going to use the limited time I have to catalogue the problem. We all know it too well. The causes are multiple. In the general urban setting, the problem is not helped by the huge number of liquor outlets. Every supermarket and corner shop has to be able to sell alcohol in order to survive, or so we are told, and yet we in the urban setting are the first to complain bitterly when the footpaths and parks are full of drunks. To my mind, the government needs to review the placement of licences, with a view to offering to buy back in those places where the community does not want them. This would be a voluntary process. Current licensees would not be forced to participate if they considered the offer inadequate. It is a fact, established by research, and I am sure the ministers for Health and Community Services would agree with me, that if the supply of or access to a drug can be reduced, then consumption is reduced.
On Aboriginal communities, the biggest problem appears to be a lack of hope. The people know the wealth and services of the developed world are passing them by. Why? Because their involvement in economic activity is minimal. When we went to the Tiwi Islands, I asked one person at a hearing why the locals were not keen to work for the company looking after the timber forests, why they would not plant, prune and harvest wood. We were told that people did not want to work there because they had to travel to work for half an hour from town and that, by the time work finished, and they travelled back, the club would have already been opened for an hour. When we were in Jabiru, I asked a person from Gunbalanya if there was any chance of an upmarket ecotourist lodge, targeting rich tourists and located in the wonderful lagoon at Gunbalanya with the escarpment in the background, being developed. I was told, ‘No, no way. The Northern Land Council says no tourists in Arnhem Land’.
It does not matter what race a person is or where they live. Nowadays, if you want to enjoy the benefits of having a job, and those benefits are more than money - they also include self-esteem, having a purpose, contributing to the wellbeing of the community - you have to develop personal skills which you can sell to an employer. You have to behave in a manner which would make an employer want to keep employing you, and you have to live in a community which has chosen to exploit its resources, often its natural resources, to foster enterprises which employ people.
Substance abuse, no matter where it is happening and who is doing it, is a major problem in the Northern Territory. In many cases, it is a symptom of the factors impacting on the person. Those factors, such as hopelessness, poverty and boredom, often caused by unemployment, must be addressed in the medium to long term. In the short term, the effects of substance abuse, such as physical and mental illness, violence, littering and intimidation, must also be addressed.
The committee has heard of some programs which are addressing substance abuse problems successfully. In addition, I know many Aboriginal leaders are working with their people to progress the involvement in the economy. There is some hope. I look forward to working with the substance abuse committee as we continue our work examining the situation and, eventually, formulating recommendations which we hope the government will adopt to help address this serious problem in the Northern Territory.
___________________________
Visitors
Visitors
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: Honourable members, I advise of the presence in the gallery of students from Katherine South Primary School and their teacher. On behalf of members, I welcome them to the House.
Members: Hear, hear!
_________________________
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Deputy Speaker, I will also contribute to the interim report of the committee to date on issues of alcohol abuse, cannabis abuse and inhalant abuse. I also echo the member for Port Darwin’s thanks to the previous chair, the member for Arafura, and also to the member for Johnston, whose place I took when he entered Cabinet. Unlike most of the members of the committee – because it is a very solid committee – I have only been there for a little over 12 months. There was a lot of work undertaken before I joined the committee. However, I have seen the secretariat in action and also echo the member for Port Darwin’s thanks and praise for the effort and the expertise that Ms Pat Hancock and Ms Liz McFarlane bring to the job. Without their support, I do not think we could progress the way we have to date.
The committee travels around a lot and the members are all together through the year. It is a pleasure to be on that committee; there is a very bipartisan approach. Each member brings to the committee their own views of the world and their own expertise. I agree with the member for Port Darwin on quite a number of points that she raised. I do not fully agree with her all the way on the reasons why we have the levels of abuse on indigenous communities that we have. I do not see it as a matter of employment. We need to go even further back and look at matters of education, community health, and the attendant lifestyle. Perhaps it is a bit like the egg and chicken, but there have to be innovative ways of bringing enterprise and different income streams into communities.
However, that in itself is not an end to substance abuse. It does really get back down to addressing family dysfunctionality, the needs of youth, being able to map out a future which is in sync with their cultural beliefs, as well as finding the way that matches up with the western economies. It is not just a matter of saying: ‘Let us create enterprise out there and, therefore, we will have full-time employment, get an income stream and quality of life and lifestyle will improve and we will do away with substance abuse’.
Substance abuse, as has been proven in studies time and again, is across all levels of society. You see it more noticeably at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale, but it is also in the middle and in the top end of the scale. High income earners are also affected by substance abuse.
What I have noticed through the findings and discussions of the committee is that substance abuse in the Territory is not a ‘black problem’; it is a community problem. Substance abuse happens in town, in the bush, in the cities. It is right across the Territory. The committee, I believe, shared the view that it is just not a matter of looking at one segment of the community and saying: ‘Right, we will address that and bring in laws and that will sort that issue out’. It is a matter of the community taking unfortunate ownership of this issues, and the community working together to look at ways of rectifying the situation. Let us not look – and I hasten to add that no member of the committee does - at this as a problem belonging to one segment of the community. We all have ownership of it; we all must find a way through it. This is what the committee is endeavouring to do.
The effects of alcohol in our society, alcohol abuse, are there for us all to see. Reports recently about the crime statistics, the level of violence in the community - which is predominantly between people who know each other, which is predominantly within the Aboriginal community and which is paralleled with family violence which can be tracked straight back to alcohol abuse. Apart from the money that people spend on purchasing abusive substances, be it alcohol or cannabis, which is the direct cost, there is also the cost to the community in having to pick up the pieces afterwards, which is enormous. This, too, puts an economic imperative on why we as a community and as a government should address it. Hopefully, we can stabilise it, get on top of it, and then we will have more money for different programs in the years to come.
That is not going to happen overnight. We look at all the different reviews that have gone into substance abuse. We look at the great work that was done around the 1990s by the previous government with the Living with Alcohol programs. I have heard nothing but praise for that program, and I offer my praise too. It was well intentioned and it was getting results. Perhaps in the future years we can look at something like that. If I was a member of the previous government that is one thing that I would certainly be proud as punch about and stand up and say, well look, we tried hard to get over the issue.
Alcohol and the abuse of alcohol is pretty well known around the place, and I am not really going to go in depth on that. I do not think there is a great need; the interim report addresses it many, many times. What I will look at is petrol sniffing. In the Northern Territory, petrol sniffing is an activity whose deadly allure seems to be quite selective. Remote Aboriginal communities appear to be the most susceptible to its charms and even then it is mostly children and young teenagers who are afflicted. By contrast, alcohol and cannabis users cut across almost every racial, ethnic, gender and age category in our population. Despite the fact that its current manifestation in the Territory may be limiting in geographical incidence and demographic profile of the relevant risk groups in society, petrol sniffing makes it into our committee’s ‘big three’ due to the comprehensive and irreversible damage inflicted on the serious user over a very small period of time.
Where there are some frequent but nevertheless notable instances of persons addicted to, say, heroin being able to feed and maintain their habit while maintaining a comparatively normal and moderately healthy lifestyle, I have never heard of any equivalent instance amongst petrol sniffing addicts. The point is often made that a large part of the danger of heroin addiction arises from the many noxious, collateral activities in the part and parcel of life as an injecting narcotics user who often employ these impurities and additives and the mixed substances purchased from dubious sources in the hope that it will contain some percentage of the narcotic drug sought, to the risk of criminal activities engaged in to obtain the money to buy the drug, to the particular dangers associated with the sharing of hypodermic needles. With petrol sniffing and the absorption into the human system of such a grossly hostile and indigestible substance, the immediate and direct cause of catastrophic physical harm over months and years compounds into irreversible brain damage and associated cessation of motor and other functions.
So what can be done? Emerging from the relevant literature and from submissions made to us so far, is one identifiable key factor, at least in relation to the way in which petrol sniffing has taken hold in the remote communities where the petrol sniffing problem is at its most severe. That key factor is access and availability. Communities which have adopted the drastic but determined strategy of banning petrol altogether and switching to alternative fuels instead have tended to overcome their petrol sniffing problem. This is a solution which cannot be imposed on a community by government, and which may only be viable and appropriate in certain communities in any event. However, the strategy does serve to highlight the critical importance of access and availability.
In an article published in The Australian on 7 February 2003, journalist Richard Sproule recorded some noteworthy comments from the coordinator of the Alice Springs-based Central Australian Youth Link-up Service, Mr Blair McFarland. The article was headed: Sniffers must be denied fuel access. Part of the quote from Mr McFarland reads as follows:
- It is not a matter of drug of choice in these communities; it is a matter of availability and petrol is it.
The other legislative reform we need is support for communities brave and determined enough to embrace the difficult option of banning petrol all together from their area. There should be a statutory framework similar to the Restricted Area provisions in the Liquor Act that would make it an offence to bring petrol into the community and to possess and/or to consume petrol in the community. Naturally, such legislative reform strategies will have to be synchronised with effective support across a range of government and non-government agencies for complementary strategies, both existing and new. In particular, we need to support those communities that want to try and take their own problems in hand by sending sniffers to supervised camps at remote outstations.
Our committee will be looking into the detail of how legislative reform aimed at restricting availability and access on the one hand and the various rehabilitation strategies that seem to be working on the other can be made to work together. I expect that we will be submitting recommendations in this respect in our final report.
Cannabis: it is noted in our report that the jury is still out on the issue of whether hydroponically grown cannabis packs a stronger punch because it has a higher THC content, or because the hydroponic method of cultivation enables consumers to more effectively isolate and select those parts of the plant in which drugs are highly concentrated. Whatever the explanation, it is clear that much of the cannabis being consumed in the 21st century is considerably more powerful in intoxicating effect than the cannabis that was around in say the 1960s or 1970s, which fits just about the age group that the member for Port Darwin was talking about. Perhaps it is a combination of the means of administering as well as portions of the plant that were used. I am not too sure.
Measured recreational or therapeutic use for long-term adult users is one thing, but when cannabis is being smoked on a regular basis by young teenagers and even children, as has been reported to our committee, the increasing strength in addictive or habituate potential of cannabis becomes a matter of considerable concern.
I am, of course, particularly concerned about the reports our committee received of commercially organised transportation of cannabis into remote Aboriginal communities in the bush electorates.
In contrast to the situation I have just discussed regarding petrol sniffing, the legislative machinery already in place is probably adequate to enable effective harm minimisation strategy to be developed and implemented in tandem with the interdiction campaigns already being run by the Northern Territory police. Our committee will be looking at additional resources that may be required on both fronts and may be recommending ways in which existing resources could be more effectively targeted. There needs to be programs that our youth can undertake and have the confidence and ability to break free from the vortex of destruction that surrounds them in the wider community.
As I said, I believe the alcohol side of the report is going to be picked up by the Alcohol Framework project team so we might see very swift movement on that. The recommendations of the Alcohol Framework team are contentious in some areas of the community, but I am sure that with the collective will of this parliament, as we had in the 1990s, we will be able to emerge with a good win that is beneficial to the community. All of us stand to benefit by getting on top of substance abuse issues.
Earlier in my contribution, I thanked the Secretariat and I acknowledged the previous chair as well as the contributions of the member for Johnston. I also acknowledge the contributions of the member for Greatorex, who was instrumental in guiding the committee in a lot of ways. His expertise on this subject through his previous profession was invaluable. I am sure that the committee will be comfortable with drawing on his skills any time in the future and that he would offer them fully and willingly. So, to the member for Greatorex, thank you for your contribution.
Members: Hear, hear!
Dr LIM (Greatorex): Mr Deputy Speaker, after all that praise it makes it very hard for me to say anything negative, doesn’t it? I would like to acknowledge the positive comments made by the previous speakers before me in regard to this topic. It was something that was pretty close to my heart, not only from my previous position, but from the things that I see substance abuse do to people. It is a tragedy that we lose so many valuable contributions from members of the community through the misuse of substance that can be used very profitably through judicious recreational use.
I pay tribute to Pat Hancock and Liz McFarlane for the sterling work that they have done right from the very beginning of the substance abuse committee. Their work in coordinating all the meetings that we have had from the time, the reading they have gone through, the summaries they have produced, the collation of papers they have provided to the committee has been monumental work that would not be matched by the patience of Job.
This committee also disappointed me in many ways - very many ways. In the first instance ...
Members interjecting.
Dr LIM: And here we go, I need to say that for the record. In this Notice Paper it is written:
- Interim Report of the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Committee, February 2003 (Ms Scrymgour):
Resumption of debate on the question - That the Assembly take note of the Paper. (Adjourned 19 February 2003 -
Ms Scrymgour in continuation).
For more than 12 months we have been waiting for this continuation that did not occur. For months we asked the Chair what was she going to do with the report, if she would allow other members of the committee to speak on the report while the information was still fresh in our minds. It never happened. Let me take a step back to the time when this committee was formed by this Assembly, when this Assembly stressed so strongly that it was important for a select committee of this parliament to investigate substance abuse in the community. At the same time, we had the Health minister who then appointed the Val Asche committee to look at illicit drugs.
We had a committee that was designed to look at substance abuse in the Territory. At that time, there was no restriction as to what the committee was going to look at. It was going to look at substance abuse in the widest terms that you could possibly define that in. At the same time, you had another committee going, with resources taken away to fund that committee. Had the money for the Val Asche committee been put to this Legislative Assembly to fund the work of this substance abuse committee, we could have done so much more, in a very bipartisan, cooperative way. No, that was not going to be. So, with very restricted funding, we struggled for years to bring something worthwhile to this Assembly. Then, when the interim report came out, instead of being allowed to debate it to make it worthy of this Assembly, we were not allowed to do so. The chairman of the committee could tell you - I am sure she would if she could, unfortunately, she cannot anymore, she did not even want to get up to continue her words when this matter of business came up for debate. She just sat there. You would have thought that if it was going to be ‘Ms Scrymgour in continuation’, she would have stood up and said something. That is the tragedy of how committee work that could have been done so well, fell apart – fell apart.
Let me come to the topics that we discussed in committee. For several meetings, we debated amongst ourselves what we would look at: ‘What will this committee do regarding substance abuse?’ It took us a long while to think through whether we dealt with drugs of addiction like heroin and others. No, we could not do that because the Val Asche committee was looking at that already, so there was no point in doubling up. So what would we look at? We finally restricted ourselves to alcohol, marijuana and petrol sniffing, because it was felt that this was enough for the committee to deal. Had we taken on all of the widest range of substance abuse, we would get so bogged down that we would never have got anywhere.
We went through many hearings in the urban areas and bush communities. We visited right across the Territory and listened to many delegations. I felt somewhat – not cheated – but lacking, in the sense that we were hearing from many people who were in the service industry side of substance abuse - the people who are affected by substance abuse and the agencies that were designed to look after these people. Naturally, from listening to those delegations, you get a very biased view. There are so many people there in such distress that you suddenly forget that there is the other side of the equation, which is the industry that supplies it, and the work of those individuals in the industry to also make a profit. The balance is how much profit do you make and at what expense do you have, towards humanity. That balance would probably be better debated by people wiser than me.
With regards to alcohol, at the end of the day, we need to look at the problem drinkers. I am not talking about blaming the victim. I believe that unless you actually deal with the person who has the problem, you will never ever sort it out. You can have restriction after restriction coming in - whether it be the Alice Springs model, the Katherine model or the Tennant Creek model, or wherever you like. At the end of the day, it does not work because unless the problem drinker recognises there is a problem and they are prepared to do something about it, it will not work. The classic example is the prohibition that occurred in the United States in the early 1900s. It did not work. It did not work because people were not prepared to give up the so-called privilege or right to drink alcohol. Therefore, unless government is prepared to deal with the problem drinker – and I have made many suggestions to the committee about how I believe it can work – the problem will continue, no matter what we do.
Marijuana is an illicit drug; it is used recreationally, and many people say it is okay. Even the Chief Minister says it is okay. I have never tried it, would not know what it would do to me, and I do not ever propose to try it. However, in our travels to the communities, we heard about people using bucket bongs, and the effect of bucket bong smoking of marijuana on people. Whether today’s marijuana is stronger than the strain that was used in the old days, smoking a cone of marijuana in one puff – in one breath, must surely do tremendous damage to oneself. When you smoke a roll-up cigarette of marijuana, and you take several puffs mixed with air and conversation and perhaps a drink, the effect would be very much diluted because it is taken over time and in a diluted form. Inhaling the contents of one cone in one breath obviously produces a tremendous surge of - I cannot remember the word now - the intoxicating substance into the bloodstream and then into the brain. It is no wonder it produces psychoses in the people who partake in this fashion of smoking marijuana.
When we were on the Tiwi Islands it was described to us how the paranoia and psychosis is so floridly experienced and seen amongst the users that the nursing fraternity out in the islands were not able to look after these patients, could not look after these substance abusers. Frequently, these young people who inhaled these bucket bongs would have to be evacuated to the Royal Darwin Hospital due to the acute psychotic state they were in. By the time they reached Darwin, after an evac, most of the chemical effects of the single inhalation of a cone of marijuana had disappeared, so that to all intents and purposes, they were back to normal. So, here we have huge expense to the health services to rescue a young person who has abused this drug. If we could rescue these kids by bringing them to the Royal Darwin Hospital, well and good, but there are times when these kids commit suicide or do other acts of violence during their episodes of psychoses, and that is a real tragedy.
Regarding petrol sniffing, the two most telling experiences I had with this was one when we visited Yuendumu and were shown the Mt Theo experience. The petrol sniffer worker there showed us the brain story they developed there, and how they used the brain story to try to teach the youngsters the effects of petrol sniffing on the brain. The example was he had a lump of butter upon which he poured some petrol, and you saw the butter dissolving right in front of you. If that was not a clear example of what petrol sniffing can do to your brain, I do not know what is.
The other personal experience I had with petrol sniffing was when I was working on a session basis with the Alice Springs Hospital, and I had to escort a patient from Alice Springs to the Royal Adelaide Hospital via the RFDS. The petrol sniffer was restrained on a stretcher in the RFDS aircraft and I was seated in the cabin with the duty nurse. The patient woke up from his stupor and appeared to be very uncomfortable, being restrained lying on his back on the stretcher and unable to move or shift or even give himself any relief of his back. Taking pity on the young fellow, I loosened the restraints …
Ms Carter: Oh foolish man!
Dr LIM: ‘Oh foolish man’, says the member for Port Darwin, and yes, it was. I loosened his restraint, did not take it off. I do not know where it comes from but petrol sniffers have this strength that is unimaginable. It appears as if there is no inhibition at all in the way they can do things. This young fellow became very violent within the cabin of an aircraft that was flying at some 20 000 feet. The poor pilot was scared to death because he was not able to leave the controls, and the nurse and I were in the back, struggling with a very strong petrol sniffer who kicked me and threw me to the back of the aircraft. The only way I could stop him and re-apply the restraint was to jump on the young fellow and use my body as a restraint on him. I hung onto the stretcher with the young boy sandwiched between me and the stretcher. The nurse was then able to give him an intravenous injection to settle him down after which we re-tied him. That led to a bit of an inquiry within the RFDS as to what we should or should not ever do again.
Petrol sniffing obviously causes huge problems in the individual and something serious needs to be done soon. I heard the comments made by the member for Sanderson regarding to legislative changes. I look forward to further debate on this matter.
While we were doing all this work out in the communities and in the urban areas, lo! and behold, another committee was formed: the Manzie-Ah Chee committee with a budget of $250m. To do what? To look at the material that we had gathered, digested and written an interim report from. What is this government thinking about? They had the Val Asche committee, they have this Substance Committee, then they have the Manzie-Ah Chee committee, all doing the same work.
All that told me was that this government thought our committee was a useless committee. They would not resource it properly, told us to go and do some work while behind us, they undermined the work of the committee. That is how badly this government tries to govern the Territory. This government is saying to Territorians: ‘We have a select committee in parliament, but we don’t care about them. We just send them around the Territory, keep them busy, keep our backbenchers busy so they don’t hassle us too much’. That is the message they are sending to Territorians and it is such a pity.
Our Executive Officer, Pat Hancock, and Liz McFarlane are very capable officers. With an adequate budget, we could have employed Mr Renouf to help us to do the work. The committee could have come out with a proper report, not an interim report that went nowhere, but a proper report with good recommendations for this government to consider. But no, that is not the way to do it. This government sent six very valuable members of parliament, including the Deputy Speaker, all around the Territory, spending money, and we got nowhere. Here we are, more than 12 months after the interim report was tabled, debating the interim report that contains nothing significant in recommendations.
If the first chair of the committee, who is now the Minister for Community Services, was really serious about it on behalf of her government, she would give this committee some teeth, some resources so they can get some proper recommendations to this parliament in a non-partisan way. That would then give this committee something to look forward to, an aim that it can work towards and some beneficial outcomes that are not party political. The way it is at the moment, it is all government run, and this committee, with all the work that it has done, has come to nought. That is the tragedy of it all.
The former chair, now the Minister for Community Services, cannot respond to this debate because it is a report that she tabled. She cannot respond any more so we do not know where there is going to go. I am no longer on the committee. I left more out of frustration than anything else because it was not getting very far. Territorians have received very little benefit from this committee. A lot of money has been expended, a lot of work has been put in and, at the end of the day, we have very little to show for it.
I understand the committee is going to have some further deliberations on other matters. I do not know what they are; I am not privy to them. However, I wish the committee well and I hope that the current chair seeks greater support from government so that they can achieve some better outcomes. I congratulate everybody who has been very patiently contributing to this committee, and I again thank the officers, Pat Hancock and Liz McFarlane for their efforts. I look forward to hearing future reports from this committee if any come up in the future.
Mr McADAM (Barkly): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise to speak to the Select Committee’s Interim Report on Substance Abuse in the Community, specifically in relation to alcohol abuse, cannabis use and inhalant abuse, otherwise known as petrol sniffing. I also join with the other speakers in paying tribute to the previous chair, the member for Arafura, Marion Scrymgour, now the Minister for Family and Community Services. The member for Arafura did a very professional job. I know that everything she attempted to do was in the interests of the Northern Territory. Equally, I pay tribute to Dr Richard Lim who sat on the committee. We did not always agree on a whole range of issues, but I thank Dr Lim for his professional advice and his support for the committee, equally as I do in respect to Dr Chris Burns, who was on for a shorter period, but certainly, his contribution was immensely appreciated as well. I thank Liz McFarlane and Pat Hancock for their very professional work. They were always supportive and were always in a position to provide us with information as required. Pat, I know you are in the Chamber this evening, so if you could extend our appreciation to Liz as well, it would be much appreciated.
I do not propose to go into a great detail on the contents of this report, because it has all been said. The issues arising from the report have all been shared, and we are not far apart in regards to how we should go forward.
There are obviously a number of issues, though, that I would like to comment on. The first is alcohol abuse. There is absolutely no doubt that it is the single most destructive factor that is impacting on indigenous people throughout the Northern Territory and non-indigenous people as well. I dare say there probably is not one community that is not impacted upon by the excessive abuse of alcohol. We can go back to 1990, when a previous committee of this House, as I understand it, identified that approximately 5% of the Territory’s gross domestic product was impacted because of alcohol abuse. I do not have figures for what that data is today, but I would suspect that it certainly has not improved, and is probably far in excess of that figure of $149.8m that was quoted at the time. Equally, in 1990, 60% of all arrests or summonses recorded by NT Police were for alcohol related offences. We only have to look at figures for 2000 and 2001, and they are contained in the report, where we are able to ascertain that in certain communities throughout the Northern Territory, certainly in the remote regions, in excess of 90% of all offences are alcohol related. What I am trying to say is that things have not improved.
The other issue is cannabis use in the Northern Territory. Very clearly, there has been a significant increase and uptake of cannabis use by people in the Northern Territory, particularly in indigenous communities. We visited communities through the course of our deliberations, taking evidence from people, and it became very clear that it is an issue that impacts upon families and communities but, most importantly, on the capacity of people to be engaged in gainful employment. It impacts upon their capacity to earn, and the community’s disposable income in being provided a living in terms of food.
We also know that it is very much on the increase in communities around Alice Springs and Barkly and it has been reported that in some cases in Katherine, people as young as 12 have been using cannabis. The interesting thing from all of this - and this arose from a police submission to the committee, where they make very clear that the rate of use Territory-wide was 36.5%. That sends a very strong message to us that we have to deal with it.
The other issue I wanted to talk about is petrol sniffing. I would like to then come back to two other issues which I think we can do in trying to address it. As I mentioned, petrol sniffing has been around in the Northern Territory for a long time. People have reported it during the World War II. It is a practice which is gaining widespread use throughout the Northern Territory. That also impacts upon the communities and families, probably in a different way. Nonetheless, its impact is no less destructive.
In respect to petrol sniffing, people who have been following articles in the media over the last couple of days would be aware of a dilemma that is occurring in regards to the Pitjantjatjara lands in South Australia. I believe it has been reported that there have been something like 16 deaths associated with perhaps petrol sniffing or alcohol abuse. It never ceases to amaze me why petrol sniffing in the Territory has not taken off as much as it has in South Australia. I really think it is only a matter of time before it does. If we have a look at the situation in South Australia, we know that we are in for big problems in regard to how we deal with it.
There are two issues that I want to particularly address, which arose out of the report. One refers to the coordination of government services and consultation in remote communities. Wherever I have gone, particularly in places like Lajamanu, Ali Curung and to a certain extent, Ngukurr – I was at Ngukurr – very clearly, the communities were concerned about the lack of coordination of government services or, indeed, a lack of services into those communities and, by not providing those services, clearly, there is no consultation with those communities. I am not being critical here; I am just being honest. I am just reporting the views put by indigenous people in those communities who are asked to deal with all these issues with very little support and very little resources. We have to seriously think of how we provide those services to the community. I do not think you can chuck a blanket across the whole of the Northern Territory. I do not think pan approaches work anymore. What we have to do is be very specific in respect of whom we target at a regional level and, more importantly, at a community level.
That is a challenge for us. I know that the Minister for Community Development is working towards that purpose, and I really hope that in the future we go down the path of providing specific services direct to the community. Sometimes, the administrative and the management costs are taken up with all these big organisations which, in some cases, are no better than government service providers that do not get out there. All the resources are based in the regions and that is no different from my community in Tennant Creek; unfortunately, the dollars come into the big ones and they do not get out to the smaller communities. So, there is a challenge for us, in how we provide services to the bush communities.
The other issue that I wanted to talk very briefly about was domestic violence. This morning, the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General referred to figures for Katherine, where three has been a significant increase in physical violence or violent crimes. Unfortunately, in my electorate in Tennant Creek we have had a 50% increase in crimes of violence or physical crimes against a person. I had the opportunity over the last couple of weeks to speak to people like Superintendent Jeanette Kerr, who is only in an acting capacity in Tennant Creek at the moment, but she and a lot of people are very concerned about a trend that seems to be growing. I also believe that there has been an increase of reporting on the part of women and that is good. But equally, I think there has been an increase on a part of some members in our community who are perpetrating these crimes of violence on, in most cases, women.
I am not necessarily suggesting that punitive responses are always the best way forward, but in certain circumstances like this, I really think that we have to be fair dinkum and honest and send a message to the community that violence cannot be condoned in any form. Again, it is something that we have to look at and maybe can be incorporated as part of an ongoing matter for this committee in regards to domestic violence, alcohol and particularly indigenous women. I am quite sincere about this. I know that it is something we have to address. I am not suggesting mandatory sentencing at all in respect to those people who perpetrate these sorts of crimes, but certainly they should be very much aware that their actions are not condoned and it is not part of normal community behaviour.
It is an area that concerns me, and I really do hope that we take it up and we put in place responses which are going to address the unacceptable behaviour towards many women in the Northern Territory.
The reason why I feel so strongly about this, and indeed most of the members who are bush members or probably members in Darwin and Alice Springs, is you see it all the time. You see people walking around with black eyes, broken legs, broken arms and it is there before us. I honestly believe that we have to do something about it. I get a bit tired of walking into offices, and walking into homelands where these people have been subjected to this sort of violence. Somehow we have to get the message across that it is not acceptable and if it means you being detained for a certain period until you undertake a rehabilitation program then so be it. But certainly, something has to be done.
The other issue which I wanted to raise just very briefly was the Alcohol Framework report, which was commissioned by the minister for licensing. I do not necessarily agree with Dr Lim that it is a waste of resources. I do not believe that to be the case at all. I believe it complements and supplements the work that this committee has done and previous committees have done and if we can work in a partnership to get an outcome in regards to grog abuse then so be it, and I am sure that will occur.
Just on that report, there are two things that arise. One is treatment services, particularly for people impacted by alcohol, petrol or cannabis abuse. We have to review our treatment services throughout the Northern Territory. I am not just referring to those that are government operated, but community-based treatment services. It is time to have a look and see how we are doing things and, where appropriate, make changes that are going to provide a better treatment regime for rehabilitating people. Factored into that must also be training. I do not think we do training as well as we should. Obviously, there should be a lot more resources allocated to this area.
The Alcohol Framework project is a good opportunity for dealing with some of these problems and issues. I say to Dr Lim that you really should not underestimate the minister for licensing, the member for Nhulunbuy, Syd Stirling. I know he is very passionate about the impact of grog, petrol sniffing and cannabis on communities throughout the Northern Territory. The challenge will be with the minister in dealing with this very important issue, an issue that impacts upon us all. I have every confidence that the minister will come up with strategies that will work towards alleviating many of the issues that we face.
In conclusion, thank you very much to all involved. I wish the new chair, the member for Nightcliff, the very best. I know that she will drive the committee in a direction that is going to derive maximum benefits for all people in the Northern Territory.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I will follow in the footsteps of other members and thank the previous chair, the member for Arafura, for the work she has done over a long period of time. We have travelled many miles together as a group, and the committee in general, as the member for Johnston said, has one goal in mind and that is to try to find solutions to what are major problems in the community.
I thank Pat Hancock and Liz McFarlane for the mountains of books they have given us. I could say they make wonderful door stops, but they do not. We have had large volumes of transcripts and those transcripts reflect a lot of the work that these two people have done. They have had to set their microphones and equipment in some fairly difficult places, some very hot places and dusty places, and sometimes they had technical difficulties and had to transcribe as much as they could by ear and that was a big effort. Anyone who has looked at the transcripts of substance abuse hearings will know that these two ladies have done an enormous amount of work. I thank the members for Johnston and Greatorex who also worked on the committee, and I the members who are presently on the committee. There is still a fair bit of work to do.
I might take up the issue that the member for Greatorex raised about the Alcohol Framework. I would be hiding behind the consensus of people today if I did not say I have some concerns about the Alcohol Framework, not necessarily because of what it has done, because I think it is a terrific document. However, I felt that at the time, and I have even said so publicly, that the minister should have at least consulted with the committee to let us know that that was going to occur. We became aware of it more by press release rather than by being told that there was going to be another group that would be looking at alcohol. At that time it was a little disappointing, considering that looking at alcohol was the main job we were doing, and was certainly the drug, wherever we travelled, that was regarded as the most dangerous drug, if you want to call it that. To then find that the minister had set up another group to look at it, did leave you a little empty. Be that as it may, the Alcohol Framework Report is a very good report. I still have to go through all of it. It is a fairly detailed report. It has many questions in there that we all should try to have some input as parliamentarians and encourage people in other parts of the communities to have input as well.
Returning to our interim report - I sometimes look at the interim report and if you compare it with the amount of literature we have in our offices, it does look very small. However, it does raise some issues, and it does mention those in the document under the title, ‘Issues of concern to the committee’. I would like to put my two bobs’ worth in, in commenting on some of those issues that were raised by the committee in this report.
One of them comes under the heading: ‘Availability as a factor in alcohol abuse’. Under that section it makes the statement that it considers that it is timely for the community to consider what contribution the marketing and ready availability of alcohol makes for problems. I have probably mentioned this previously, but I believe we have to look at the way alcohol is marketed in the Northern Territory. The people who promote alcohol do not do it just because they think it will get a bit of a laugh, or it is a very clever advertisement. The whole reason they market and advertise alcohol is to sell as much as alcohol as is possible. Many of the ads are very clever. Who would not get a laugh from XXXX ad? They are smart ads. They are meant to make you laugh.
However, they always have a subliminal message, that is, drink the product. We all know about the changes in the colouring of fruit flavoured alcohol drinks and the attempts to have Moo Juice on the market. I have spoken here before about the subliminal advertising of what is a very popular form of chocolate biscuits. They are not doing that because they want to sell more biscuits. They are doing it in combination with a company that wants to sell alcohol. Otherwise, what would be the point of putting your name and the exact brand type on the packet?
One area that we as a committee could look at, which I do not believe is addressed in the Alcohol Framework to any large extent, is the marketing and advertising of alcohol in the community. I am not trying to put any group of people down, but those people who, I suppose, have a lower education and cannot always see the subtlety behind some of these advertisements, are the ones these ads can affect. In about 1978, I brought out a series of television ads when I was on Bathurst Island, trying to get some small funding from the NT government at that stage. The reason we tried to bring those ads out was because of the alcohol advertising that was occurring on television at that time. I think the slogan was, ‘You’ve got to be a man amongst the men’. Well, for a lot of people, they thought that was exactly right, if you did not drink that particular brand of beer, you were not a man. At that time, we tried to counteract it with advertising, but unless you have the means to do it, it is very difficult and it really does not achieve much.
The member for Barkly also mentioned - and this is on another matter regarding alcohol - looking at those groups that deal with alcohol abuse and reviewing their performance. That is a very good point. However, I would also like to raise the issue that was raised in Alice Springs. The ex-chairman of the committee would remember a fairly fiery meeting where we discussed the possibility of what to do with people who, as we say, go around the revolving door when it comes to trying to assist them in overcoming alcohol abuse. It has been mentioned a number of times whether we should have some form of enforcement through the courts of removing those people from the streets and into compulsory rehabilitation. That raises a whole range of issues of civil liberties and effectiveness - many issues.
However, it is an issue that needs to be debated, because many people cannot help themselves. What do we do? Just leave them to become a pest on the street or become a victim of a road accident? What do we do? Do we just wash our hands of the problem or do we try to fix it? There is certainly more room for debate in that area.
Another area we should look at, with regards to alcohol, is discussions with the manufacturers of alcohol. I have raised this a couple of times but there is one group of people I do not think we have yet sat down with and discussed the problems that occur in the Northern Territory with regard to alcohol abuse, and that is the manufacturers. It is not the hoteliers, nor the distributors, but the people who are on the boards of these big companies. It would be well worth some time approaching these people and discussing with them the concerns we have, to see if they are at least willing to do something at their end. After all, these companies make large profits and I do not think enough of those profits are turned back into the community, or the communities, where it is most needed, to patch up those issues and problems caused by the substance that they produce.
The issue of high suicide rates is certainly very concerning, when you talk about mixing that with the effects of cannabis. We visited Melville and Bathurst Islands. As one who worked there many years ago - and even though it did have some alcohol problems then - to come back and find out that it has one of the worst suicide rates in Australia, is very depressing. We have two islands there which literally have everything going for them. The land is the land they have owned for thousands of years, with beautiful beaches and plenty of food. They have good housing, and plenty of football, as you would have noticed on the weekend. Yet, for some reason, drug abuse seems to be the reason that this community - and the Tiwis are wonderful people - is now suffering under the burden of having the highest suicide rate in Australia. What the solutions to that are I do not know. However, it is something that this committee cannot shy away from because it is a major concern.
While we are talking about high suicide rates, I suppose we also have to talk about violence. The member for Barkly mentioned violence, and it certainly is an issue. You only have to look at the figures in the report - and there are plenty of other reports - which establish that the average for the Northern Territory is 67% of violent crimes related to alcohol - I beg your pardon, not just violent crimes, but just crime in general - 67% of crime in general is alcohol related, and that goes up as high as 94%. That is an enormous figure and something we need to be concerned about.
But that probably does not also take into account the damage to families, the social destruction of families. It is fairly common now to see marriages break up, and I will bet my bottom dollar that quite a few of those marriages have broken up because of alcohol abuse. It may have been a violent outcome as well, but it also may have been that people found it very difficult to live with one partner due to alcohol problems.
The other issue about cannabis is the availability and that is one area the government has to put more work into. It may require having people on the ground who are people the police can work with - informants. We went to one community where the issue was, ‘Who is bringing the cannabis into this community?’ Immediately, the conversation stopped and they said, ‘Why isn’t the government taking the aeroplanes away from those people who import alcohol?’ You knew straight away you had hit a bit of a raw nerve. I would not be surprised that in some communities the people who you would expect to be leaders, in some cases are the people who bring the drug into the community. You have a real problem there with being able to control the cannabis in that community, especially if people were making quite large sums of money, as the member for Port Darwin said, up to about $150 per bag. So there is certainly an incentive for people not to say who is bringing it in because they can make large sums of money.
On the large issue of petrol, petrol would have to be one of the most depressing drugs, if you could call it that, I have seen. The major problem with petrol is that while cannabis and alcohol might kill you eventually, you might call petrol ‘sudden death’ compared to the rest. To see young people with a tin wrapped around their neck – and I had not seen much of that at all because there was very little in the Top End – but to see it in some of the communities was very sad. You have so much talent and so much hope for the future for these young people, being destroyed by petrol. The good side of it was that have a community like Yuendumu where they are prepared to back their own community by taking young people out to Mt Theo. Certainly, Mt Theo was a light against a lot of other places. The reason it was a light was because the community supported it. We went to other communities and there obviously was not the will - maybe it was very difficult – but there was not the will to do something similar. They are struggling for sure, but Mt Theo seemed at least to have a solution.
I think that the government – and not necessarily this government, but the Commonwealth as well – must keep funding those efforts because there are times when there is no one petrol sniffing and of course someone could say it is a success, therefore it does not require any more funding. But then it could come up again. You can get visitors from Bulgul or somewhere else who can come in, and as we know, once you get one person come in who is a petrol sniffer, it can all start over again. So you must allow funding to be ongoing if you want to make these programs successful
I was also left with a lasting impression from Yuendumu of the effect that petrol has on your brain. When you saw two plates of butter come out, and one was in petrol and one was in water, and you see all that butter dissolved, and that is what more or less what happens to your brain, it certainly leaves a long lasting impression. Probably the sad thing is it does not leave a long lasting impression on some of the young people in those communities.
Just one other thing, Madam Speaker, I suppose from my point of view of growing vegetable gardens on two communities - one at Daly River and one at Bathurst Island for a long time – the thing that I found sad was that in all the communities we visited, I saw not one vegetable garden or fruit orchard successfully operating any more, even though many of the communities would have had a history of growing their own vegetables and fruit. The only place I saw anything like a garden was at Ramingining. I asked the question: are there any people in that community who do not use drugs at all? There were, I think, three families and one of those families only supplied some fruit and vegetables to the community.
Maybe that is just coincidence, but it seemed to me to tie up what I have always felt: that the communities have basically gone down hill not only due to substance abuse but unemployment. I know the member for Johnston says that unemployment on its own probably is not the issue, but since about 1978, Unemployment Benefits were introduced and people did not have to work. That in itself has contributed seriously to dysfunction. People receive money and they do not have to do any work, whereas in days gone by, there was work for everyone and you could not receive an Unemployment Benefit. There was work for everyone and unemployment did not exist.
The Commonwealth government has to supply enough funds to these communities - and I have said it time and time again - and the capital, management skills and include that with the educational program and look into things, as the member for Johnston said, such as alternative forms of employment. We have to do it in combination. You cannot tackle alcohol and drug abuse on its own without having all these other things working in the community.
As long as we have a system that tells people they will still get money for doing nothing, where there are houses, like at Yuendumu, which really need lots of attention. There is obviously lots of employment there for people. There was a football oval with no grass. It needed some irrigation and some grass planted. Trees could be planted. There is lots of work. Sadly, that has not occurred.
I hope that when we come out with a final report - and I am not sure that we will ever have a final report on this difficult issue – that one of the issues we will examine is the effect of unemployment or employment on alcohol, cannabis and petrol sniffing.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Madam Speaker, I rise as the new chair of the Select Committee on Substance Abuse in the Community to speak on the Interim Report on Substance Abuse, which was tabled in the February 2003 sittings by the former chair, the member for Arafura.
I put on the record the thanks of the committee to the member for Arafura for all her hard work and passion in her work on this committee. I would also like to say, only having been the chair for about a month, that I have been very impressed by the passion and commitment of all members on the committee. Seeing some of the evidence that has been gathered over the past two years, it is very clear that the committee has spent a lot of time and a lot of thought on many of the issues that are of real significance to the people of the Northern Territory. I extend my thanks to all members, current and past, particularly the members for Johnston and Greatorex who are no longer members of the committee.
It reminds me that one of the reasons that one becomes a member of parliament is that you think there are things that you can do to change the Northern Territory – change the world we live in – and belonging to a committee like this on which there is largely bipartisan support for a very significant issue indicates that we are all here for good reasons.
I would also like to thank the secretary of the committee, Pat Hancock, and Liz McFarlane, whom other members have also thanked for their work tonight.
I will make some brief comments on some of the matters that have been raised by members in their speeches tonight and then go on to a more formal speech. I accept the criticism of the members for Port Darwin and Greatorex in relation to the slowness in bringing this forward and in relation to how this fits in with the Alcohol Framework. What has happened, though, is that the body of work which has been brought together by this committee has in fact not been a waste of time, but has been significantly used by the Alcohol Framework team. As members would be aware, the evidence which was provided has been used significantly by them and is mentioned in the Alcohol Framework documents. Also, since I have been the chair, I have also been present during a meeting with Gordon Renouf, the project team officer, and tomorrow we are going to have a very significant briefing from the Alcohol Framework team.
Sometimes it is very easy to feel that we have been sidelined as politicians, but in this case, what is actually happening is that we are working quite closely with a project which is of high priority to the government. Instead of saying that we have been sidelined, perhaps we can say that we are working in partnership with another team which has a lot of resources behind them, and so that we can see that the things which we have all wanted to see happen in the Northern Territory will, in fact come, to fruition. I look forward to that discussion tomorrow at the substance abuse committee with that group.
I also thank the member for Sanderson for his contribution, particularly his comments on alcohol in the Northern Territory, and on the Living with Alcohol program which used to exist in the Northern Territory. Looking through the documents that have been prepared previously, it is clear that the committee felt that the Living with Alcohol program was very significant and it is good to see that this has been picked up by the Alcohol Framework so that we can see some of those issues picked up in a more modern context. Of course, they started off in 1991 or 1992, and so we can be looking at new ways of doing those same kinds of things in this coming decade.
The member for Barkly spoke with real passion, particularly about domestic violence, and the significant issue that alcohol plays with domestic violence throughout the Northern Territory. Perhaps one of the greatest shames of living in the Northern Territory and something which we would all feel very strongly about, and I personally feel very strongly about. We must not just focus on alcohol as a problem of indigenous people, and perhaps sometimes there is this image that only Aboriginal people are involved with alcohol, whereas alcohol is a very significant problem for all members of the Northern Territory. We do have the highest rates of alcohol consumption in Australia, perhaps not the kind of record that we would be wishing for. There are many records that we might like, but that is probably not one of them.
The member for Nelson raised some very interesting issues in relation to marketing and advertising of alcohol. This is something that I personally feel quite passionate about as well. Members may be interested to know that it is something which the drug ministers’ conferences have been looking at over the past year, in relation to the advertising of alcohol and other drugs, and particularly tobacco, with young people. At the moment, there is a self-regulation system across Australia. However, it does appear that self-regulation is not really working at all, particularly on Internet advertising and some magazine advertising, the rules are definitely flouted all the time, and generally looking at regulations brought in across Australia. The federal government has been looking at this in the last year, particularly with the assistance of the Victorian government.
Substance misuse is something which affects the whole of our society, and we can see the results in our families, schools, workplaces, and our government departments and community organisations work hard to assist Territorians with what could seem an impossible task. As I said before, sadly, in the Territory we have the highest rate of alcohol consumption in Australia.
Professor Tim Stockton of the National Drug Research Institute presents very sobering, and perhaps sobering is indeed the word, statistics relating to alcohol consumption and related harm in the Northern Territory in Australia for the years 2000 and 2001. Per capita consumption for those aged 15-plus is 9.3 in Australia, while the rate is 13.82 for the Territory. The percentage of at risk drinking causing acute harm is 20.5% Australia-wide and 33.3% in the Territory. Similarly, the percentage of at risk drinking causing chronic harm is 9.9% nationally, but 17.7% in the Territory. Similarly, the nett lives, age 15-plus, lost per 100 000 were 1.87% nationally and 3.26% in the Territory; and hospital episodes for 15-plus per 10 000 persons was 41.10% nationally and 79.3% in the Territory - a terrible statistic. On every measure, the Territory well exceeds the national rate on alcohol consumption and related harm - a very salutary set of statistics.
This interim report reflects the evidence taken by the committee up to February 2003, with regard to alcohol, cannabis and petrol sniffing. At the time of tabling this report, the committee had held 14 public meetings and hearings, taking evidence from a total of 132 witnesses. As well, it received 74 written submissions from various sectors of the community. As such, the report results from extensive consultations across a broad spectrum of the Northern Territory population. It should be noted that the committee has been active in the 13 months since this report was tabled. It has continued with its community consultation program and evidence given to it with regard to alcohol, and has been made available to the review team established by the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing to develop a comprehensive alcohol framework for the Northern Territory.
As I said before, the consultation and cooperation between the framework project team and the committee continues, as they are scheduled to appear before the committee during the sittings. I am also pleased that the alcohol framework interim report tabled by my colleague, the Minister for Racing, Gaming and Licensing at the last sittings, takes on board the issues regarding alcohol regulation and dealing with alcohol abuse which the committee raised in its February 2003 report.
One of the challenges faced by all governments around Australia, including the Northern Territory government, is how to properly work across agencies. This is always problematic, probably because the greatest difficulty lies with the very complexity of the substance abuse problem. Directly dealing with substance abuse impacts operationally on a range of government agencies before even taking into account the socioeconomic disadvantages and social dysfunction of sectors of our community, the factors which underline the high level of abuse of some substances, particularly those which the committee has concentrated on, namely alcohol, cannabis and petrol sniffing.
I am very pleased that the Alcohol Framework Report also emphasises the need for coordination of policy development and programs as crucial to making a difference in addressing this scourge of alcohol abuse in the Territory. However, the very extent of alcohol abuse, the high levels of consumption experienced across almost all sectors of the Northern Territory population, and the way it touches everyone through the drain it creates on the Territory economy, by far outweighs other substance abuse. This is borne out by crime statistics, traffic statistics, health statistics and Correctional Services statistics. Alcohol abuse causes a high level of family and social dysfunction across the Northern Territory, which has implications for most areas of government.
For this reason, central coordination of alcohol policies and programs is crucial if we are to make a difference. In her tabling statement, the then chair noted the membership of the committee placed an onerous responsibility on herself and the five other members of the committee, in that the problems of substance abuse are so substantial and intertwined with social and economic issues which have particular impact on the Territory’s indigenous population. I can well understand the weight of responsibility that her role as chair placed upon her as an Aboriginal woman, because Aboriginal women do bear the brunt of physical abuse, which is far too often the result of alcohol abuse. They also bear the weight of responsibility for caring for children and others in the family, often made dysfunctional from various types of substance abuse and addiction - but more often from alcohol abuse.
Only last week in the Northern Territory News, the Minister for Justice and Attorney-General, in commenting on the latest crime in justice figures, highlighted the role of alcohol in violent crime, particularly violent crime against indigenous women. Quoting Katherine figures, 78% of assaults were committed by indigenous people and 67% of all assaults were committed while the assailant was drunk, the minister said: ‘This is largely an issue of domestic violence, male on female’. Going through the many transcripts of evidence and submissions to the committee, this is a depressing fact which is repeated all over the Territory.
However, while I do not want to take away from the seriousness of the indigenous struggle and the impact of alcohol, I also do not want the data to mask the fact that alcohol is also a problem in non-indigenous Territory society. It maybe less visible - certainly it is not played out to the same extent in public - and may cause comparatively less immediate trauma, but it is there. It is reflected in the longer term health implications of risky and high risk alcohol consumption.
The National Health and Medical Research Council set guidelines for what constitutes at risk drinking habits. For men, seven standard drinks a day or more places a drinker at risk of short term acute harm and high risk of long term chronic harm. The corresponding figure for women is five drinks a day. The level of drinking leading to any longer term risk is five a day for men and three a day for women.
I have already stated that the Northern Territory has the highest per capita alcohol consumption rates in Australia, a country which has no mean record for its rates of drinking. These figures are conservative, sadly, as it excludes home brew, mail order purchases from interstate, and alcohol purchased by the armed forces and one would expect that the latter figure may be substantial considering the large armed forces component of the Northern Territory population and the drinking ability of young males.
There is no way that these statistics can only be sheeted home to the indigenous drinking population. A society which regards drinking at this level as normal must pay in morbidity and mortality rates over time. The fact that cultural change is possible is borne out by the success of the Living with Alcohol program which was introduced in 1991 and operated until 2000. The program was based on recommendations of the Northern Territory parliamentary committee on Substance Abuse in the Community. An independent review of the program undertaken by the National Drug Research Institute found that it resulted in major benefits to the Northern Territory, including estimated savings of $31.078m per year between 1991 and 1995, the last year of which data was available for this 1997 study.
The various benefits to the Territory community are enunciated in the Alcohol Framework interim report and they are worth putting on the record: alcohol related fatal accidents reduced by 30%; alcohol related deaths reduced by 31%; alcohol related accidents reduced by 29%; arrests for exceeding the illegal blood alcoholic limit by 29%; apparent per capita consumption reduced by 18%; and light beer consumption increased to 30% of the beer market compared to 1% in 1992.
I am pleased that the Alcohol Framework project team has resurrected these issues and opened them up for discussion. I look forward to our forthcoming discussions with the project team. I also look forward to the input by the public to the proposal suggested in the interim report.
Other than alcohol abuse, the committee’s 2003 interim report raised five other issues: the availability of mental health services and the coordination between mental health service providers and substance abuse service providers. I would just like to put on the record that in 2003 the Bansemer Report of the Department of Health and Community Services indicated this was an area where there needed to be more coordination. In fact, those two areas of substance abuse and mental health have been brought together in the department, and certainly it is a very significant issue and with the coordination brought together in the department, that this will mean significant changes in this area.
The next area is how substance abuse appears to be a contributing factor to high suicide rates in certain indigenous communities. The member for Nelson touched on this issue in relation to the Tiwi Islands where it is a very sad situation for the young men living on the Tiwi Islands and there are high rates of suicide. Once again, I point out that the government last year put together a suicide prevention kit and whilst it is only a kit, it is a start to looking at some of these very significant issues, and I am hoping that this committee will look further at these issues in the future.
Other issues are the issue of cannabis supply and distribution in indigenous communities; coordination of government services to and consultation with remote communities; and finally legislative measures for addressing petrol sniffing in remote communities. On this latter point, I can report that the committee is currently looking at petrol sniffing and talking to experts in the area and it is my intention that it will be reporting on this in the middle of the year.
The member for Nelson commented on the Mt Theo program on petrol sniffing. Although I was not with the committee when they visited Yuendumu, I have been there and have seen that program in action. I would have to say that is a fabulous example of how communities can work together on problems and solve them in specific ways. We must remind ourselves always that because something might work at Mt Theo near Yuendumu, it may not work at Mutitjulu, but we need to work solutions for local communities. I commend the people involved in that program at Yuendumu, it is very significant.
Members will probably be aware of my concerns for young people and one of the things that we are going to be looking at is how cannabis is affecting young people not simply in our remote communities, but also in our urban areas. Over the next few months, we will be looking at this significant issue, particularly in Darwin and in Alice Springs.
The committee has already taken a fair bit of evidence on cannabis, extracted from information provided by Department of Health and Community Services officials last year. It appears that the Australian National Drug Survey of 1998 identified cannabis as the most widely used illicit drug and noted that use is increasing. In 1991, around 33% of the population aged 14 years and over had tried cannabis. By 1998, this figure had increased to 39%, 44% male and 35% female, with 18% using in the last 12 months. Apparently, most cannabis use is not regular. The majority of users did not use in the past year or had used less frequently than weekly. The proportion of users who became weekly users was 7% of women and 15% of men. This was most common in the 20 to 24 age group.
As with the wider population, of all the illicit drugs, cannabis is the main illicit drug used by indigenous people. In the 1994 National Drug Survey, urban indigenous people identified 48% had tried cannabis, with 22% being current users. In the 1999 Australian Secondary School Alcohol and Drugs Survey, students reported that when using cannabis, 80% of them also used another substance. Alcohol and tobacco were the substances most predominantly used in conjunction with cannabis by both males and females.
Unfortunately, in the Northern Territory there is a fundamental lack of good information about cannabis use and misuse in remote areas, particularly in Aboriginal communities. However, there are a number of trend surveys that indicate cannabis use is increasing in urban centres, particularly among younger users. I suppose that is why we feel it is going to be very important to look at how young people first come into contact with cannabis in our schools and communities. As the mother of teenage sons, I have noticed there seems to be a trend whereby you leave primary school and there is no issue with illicit drugs, alcohol or tobacco …
Dr BURNS: Madam Speaker, I move that the member be granted an extension of time, pursuant to standing orders.
Motion agreed to.
Mrs AAGAARD: Thank you, Madam Speaker. One of the issues is that you have primary school children and there seems to be no issue with the use of illicit drugs and it appears to me that by the time the young people have gone into Year 8, they are okay until the end of Year 8 when suddenly there seems to be a change in what is going on in the school community. I have noticed this with a lot of children I know. By the time they get to Year 9, many of these students have started to use or experiment with cannabis. What I am interested in is: what is it that triggers that interest? They go from beginning of Year 8 to beginning of Year 9 and that last term of Year 8 seems to be the danger time for young people. I have noticed it with friends of my sons that that seems to be the trigger time. In the coming period, we will be looking at what is happening in our schools and what kinds of things we can be doing to try to prevent this, and what would be good to put in place such as family diversion programs or diversions for students and young people
Madam Speaker, once again, I commend all members for their contributions both here and as members of the committee. I look forward to reporting to the House again in the future.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
MOTION
Note Paper - Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report, 2003-04
Note Paper - Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report, 2003-04
Continued from 24 February 2004.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, this is the second mid-year report from the Treasurer since the practice was initiated by the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act. You will recall that last year the report was posted on the Treasury web site during the first week of the February sittings, a week before the Treasurer was planning to bring it into the House.
This year, the report came out in the second week of January, while just about everyone, except the hard working Treasury staff, were enjoying the Christmas/New Year holiday break. However, the Treasurer waited until the second week of the February sittings to bring it into this House, and I can understand the Treasurer’s reluctance to bring this report forward for public scrutiny. While I would never suggest the Treasurer has used creative accounting in this document, you would have to be admired for the creative use of expressions. For example, the Treasurer states: ‘Growth is expected to strengthen to 1.6% in the 2003-04 period’. A very modest prediction, but growth nonetheless. Or is it? Until you read on and find that, in his budget, the Treasurer was actually predicting growth of 3.4%, so halfway through the year, the Treasurer has had to downgrade his prediction by more than 50%. Yet, he still tries to sell it as ‘growth is expected to strengthen’.
The report explains that downward revisions to oil production from Laminaria/Corallina, as well as the impact of delays in production of condensate from Bayu-Undan Stage 1, is largely to blame for the downward revision in growth. As the first Labor Treasurer explained in her first full budget in August 2002, when similar off-shore problems affected the growth figures, it often masks the pick up in onshore growth. The then Treasurer and Chief Minister went on to explain that: ‘Consumption is a good indicator of onshore economic activity’. So then, let us look at what this Treasurer’s mid-year report says about consumption. He says: ‘Private consumption growth is expected to moderate in 2004 after peaking in 2002-03’. He continues: ‘Some easing back is to be expected after such a strong pick up’. Thus, ‘moderate’ equates to ‘easing back’ and are both just euphemisms for private consumption is actually not growing, but falling.
In a similar fashion and creative mood, the Treasurer explains the cut in capital expenditure, not only this year, but into the next three years, not as a cut at all, but rather: ‘A return to more historical levels’. The record amounts bragged of in recent budgets are now revealed to have been driven by the railway and the port projects, both initiatives of the former CLP government.
Similarly with employment growth, this report reveals that the government has had to revise downward its expectations. They are now looking at a 1% growth in employment rather than the 2% predicted in the budget for 2003-04. We on this side have been saying for ages that employment was falling, but the government – and particularly this Treasurer – has had the blinkers on and has preferred to put the blame on ABS for faulty figures. I must say, I did meet a senior ABS official who was in the Territory responding to the assertions made by the Treasurer and the Martin Labor government with regards to the issue being ABS figures. They take that charge very seriously. It does not say much for his, or his government’s, knowledge of what is actually going on when he explains this revised estimate by saying:
- The extent of the fallback in employment associated with the completion of the railway and weaker tourism
activity has been more pronounced than expected.
We have been telling this government for years now that tourism was suffering and even they began realising it late last year, with a belated injection of funds into the Tourist Commission. Neither the impact of the downturn in tourism, nor the loss of jobs due to the completion of the construction stage of the railway were unexpected. They were obvious to everybody except this government.
Another revision that this report reveals is that the government now concedes that the Territory’s population has been falling. People voting with their feet against the policies, and the impact of the policies, of this Labor government, has meant the population growth for 2003-04 has now been revised downwards from the budget prediction of an increase of 0.7%, to a loss of 0.2%. In fact, the only thing this report is predicting will increase is the cost of living.
There are several other areas that I would like to touch on in relation to this mid-year report from the Treasurer. One is the expected feigned outrage over an alleged cut in the Commonwealth GST funding and how that will mean, in the Treasurer’s words: ‘We can expect a tight 2004-05 budget’. The other is the record of this Labor government’s self-proclaimed rigorous financial management that is expected to produce a surplus or a tiny deficit.
Turning to the last point, which has been in the news again only last week, with a meeting of the Treasurers in Canberra - and I will ignore for the moment that the greatest threat to Territory revenues from GST funding does not come from the Commonwealth government or the Commonwealth Grants Commission assessment, but rather from the Labor comrades of this government in other states. I will ignore that the New South Wales government is spending millions of dollars on an advertising campaign to tell their citizens how much money they are losing to the Territory and other states. I will also ignore the campaign by Labor Premiers and the Treasurers of New South Wales and Victoria to get the whole rationale for the Grants Commission overturned in their favour, which would be to the extreme detriment of the Northern Territory. I will ignore that this Territory Labor Treasurer voted with those states, and against some of the smaller states, to have some form of review of the way the GST revenue is allocated.
When the Grants Commission revision of relativities was announced in the beginning of March, Treasurer Stirling immediately went on the offensive. Look at this press release, 4 March:
- ‘Territorians can expect a tight 2004-05 budget, with the Northern Territory likely to lose $48m in GST funding
following the latest carve-up of Commonwealth grants’, Treasurer Syd Stirling said today.
That was the first paragraph of the release and it went on:
- The result seriously impacts on the Territory government’s ability to deliver much needed improvements in
priority areas such as education and health.
But what about the facts? What about the reality? In the Grants Commission report, it says that under the previous relativity figure the Northern Territory was estimated to receive in 2003-04, $1.691bn from GST revenue and HCG, which is health care grants. Under the new relativities for 2004-05, the Territory is expected to receive $1.761bn in GST and HCG, an increase of $69.9m. That is a bit different to losing $48m. In fact, it is a positive turn-around of $117.9m.
However, let us take a step back to the Treasurer’s budget books for 2003-04 - very interesting reading. In that, he predicted the combined GST/HCG revenue from the Commonwealth grant would be $1.671bn - $20m less than the Grants Commission estimate. He predicted that, in 2004-05, based on the Treasury’s own estimate of a lower relativity level, the combined GST/HCG funding would be $1.725bn or $36m less than the Grants Commission estimate. So, according to his own expectation in the 2003-04 budget, he is better off to the tune of $56m over the two years just based on the Grants Commission’s estimate. That is not a cut; it is actually an increase.
Let us move forward to the report we are considering today, the Treasurer’s Mid-Year Report. In that, he reports that the GST funding for 2003-04 has increased by $40.7m over what he expected to receive. He says that he expects to receive $1.67bn from GST funding alone in 2004-05, an increase on the 2003-04 figure of $37.7m and an additional $28.1m on what he was expecting when he produced the 2003-04 budget.
The money just keeps flowing in and the Treasurer keeps carping on about not having enough. In the same mid-year report he states that he expects the Commonwealth Grants Commission to lower the relativity levels for the Northern Territory in its review. He, or rather the astute people in the Treasury, predicted that the Grants Commission would lower the relativity level from $4 386 390 to $4.285m and on that basis his report says:
- ... budget projections will not be jeopardised by the CGC’s 2004 Review outcome. No revision has been made to
the Budget estimates.
Unfortunately, the answer is the worst possible one: the Treasurer is trying to con Territorians. He is trying to make us believe that somehow even though we are going to be better off to the tune of more than $60m over the two years than he originally expected, somehow or other he does not have enough money to improve education and health services. If he is not going to use all this extra money on those priority areas, where is it going to be spent?
Madam Speaker, just before leaving this particular sorry saga, let me throw in another figure. In this budget for 2003-04, it is predicted that the Territory would receive $1.592bn from the GST; in this mid-year report he upped that to $1.633bn. The latest Commonwealth Treasury figures say it will be $1.648bn. In other words, the Territory will get an unexpected GST bonus this year of more than $55m. To put that in its proper perspective, the total GST funding for 2003-04 will be $133m more than the Territory received in 2002-03. How can you believe anything this Treasurer and this government says about its finances when it cries poor about receiving a 9% increase in its funding from the Commonwealth government?
It is certainly not spending an extra 9% on Territorians. It is certainly not helping business to grow the economy by using these mammoth GST bonuses to ease the tax burden. It is certainly not using the GST rivers of gold on new projects to kick start the economy. Treasurer, just where are you putting this extra money?
I now turn to the second of the points I raised earlier and that is the self proclaimed success of the Labor government as financial managers and I may add, I may also answer some of the questions I have just raised. This mid-year report states that instead of the predicted cash deficit of $24m predicted in the budget of 2003-04, this will be down to a deficit of $1m. Similarly, with the accrual measures for the nett operating balance for the general government sector, this has increased from a predicted surplus of $2m to an expected surplus of $5m according to the mid-year report, and why has this happened? Is it the strong financial management of this government and this Treasurer? Is it the fiscal integrity and transparency of this government and this Treasurer? Or is it, once again, the ever-increasing funding from the GST? The answer is obvious. It is the GST and nothing whatsoever to do with the Treasurer’s ability to balance the books. What is not so obvious is whether the Treasurer has been playing a game of smoke and mirrors in order to create an image of being a good financial manager.
Mr Bonson: He is good all right.
Mr MILLS: Look back at Budget Paper No 2 for 2003-04, if you would like to turn to that, member for Millner. The Treasurer was predicting growth in GST collections of 2.5% for 2003-04 despite the Commonwealth making a much higher prediction. Just to make it clear, let me quote the line from Budget Paper No 2:
- The Territory has projected growth in GST collections of 2.5% in 2003-04 and 5.5% in the forward years.
The low growth projected for 2003-04 reflects the Territory’s expectation that the outcome for 2002-03 is
likely to fall short of the Commonwealth’s current estimates.
This would result in predicted funding of GST revenue of $1.592bn. In the Mid-Year Report, the tune has changed: the Commonwealth was right in its estimates for 2002-03 and, consequently, the Territory’s conservative growth estimate of 2.5% is revised upwards to 6.3%. This will result in GST revenue, according to the Mid-Year Report, of $1.633bn. According to the latest Commonwealth estimates, it will be $1.648bn. It is not hard to be a good financial manager when you have a windfall of more than $55m.
It begs a question: why was the Treasurer’s estimate so low in the first place? Was it because he just did not trust the Commonwealth Treasury’s predictions or was it because he knew that the revenues would be far greater than he was predicting and therefore he would be able to turn around and proclaim what a good Treasurer he was by significantly reducing the deficit? Smart move, but you have been caught out because if this original prediction had been correct, he would be looking at a much larger deficit than what is projected in the budget papers.
As this report reveals, general government operating expenses in 2003-04 have already increased by $45m and that increase does not include the extra $3m for the road network, the extra $7.5m for tourism or the extra $7.3m for the implementation of the police review. No, they were all funded from the Treasurer’s piggy bank as Treasurer’s Advances and, in his words: ‘… do not impact on operating expenses as they have already been accounted for in the 2003-04 Budget’. Operational expenses have increased and, thankfully, so has GST revenue.
Incidentally, I wonder whatever happened to the first Labor Treasurer’s proclamation that departments would be given strict budgets and CEOs would have sign off on those budgets and not exceed them. It would seem to have gone the way of most of Labor’s promises, that is, discarded, thrown out, ignored, when the reality of government finally dawned on them. As the present Treasurer said in this place as recently as 18 February:
- … you have to take the fact that budgets are a line in the sand in a given day.
Contrast that with the comments of the first Labor Treasurer in the mini-budget of 2001-02, and I quote:
- Under the old management culture, agencies were given unrealistically low budgets with detailed allocations for
activities within each agency. The inevitable budget blow-outs were funded without due regard to an overall
fiscal strategy with deficits growing rapidly over the past four years.
The Chief Minister and then Treasurer went on:
- The onus will be on Chief Executive Officers to deliver a threefold bottom line to:
- produce financial outcomes within annual budgets;
- maintain or improve services; and
- maintain high staff morale and job satisfaction.
If you look at page 26 of this Mid-Year Report, you find that 16 of the 24 agencies and departments listed under ‘General Government’ have increased their spending between the budget being handed down and now. How many CEOs have been spoken to about not producing financial outcomes within their annual budget? Or is the Chief Minister’s policy now inoperative?
Another measure that is helping this government to pretend to be good financial managers is that, not only is GST continuing to fund their deficits, but their own tax take is continuing to rise. The forecast that the Labor government’s tax take will be up more than $10m on what he took from Territorians in 2003, even with the abolition of the infamous car tax, and according to the Treasurer’s quarterly financial report published 17 March, the tax grab could be more than $20m higher than in 2002-03. That report shows that taxation revenue for 2003-04 to the end of December is well up on what was expected.
With taxes up and the GST providing more and more money, even this inept government can expect to come out smelling like roses as a financial manager. It is a false assumption and one built on creative language and the careful use of figures. It paints a picture of a Territory government that appears to know what it is doing and an economy that is just humming along. Neither is true, and a close analysis of this report clearly shows that. Taxes are up, growth is easing and the economy and Territorians are suffering. No amount of figures and charts can contradict the physical evidence we see every day in the Darwin CBD with closed shops, restaurants and businesses. This government must get its head around the real state of the economy and the plight of Territorians and begin spending the GST bonuses on real works and real developments. If it does not, then while we may be able to produce fine accounting books, there will be no one around to read them.
Mr STIRLING (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, it is a pity that I did not quite catch everything the Leader of the Opposition was saying there, but it was enough to respond pretty much on most of the comments he made.
In relation to this question of gross state product and how accurate a measure it is of economic activity in the Northern Territory, previously, I guess, it was the effect of Laminaria, in terms of offshore activity, a major project in dollar terms with the ability to skew quite markedly the effect of gross state product in the Northern Territory. When Laminaria was at its peak, the figures would look very good, but not necessarily having anywhere near the same marked effect of onshore activity as the figures reflected in the gross state product figure would suggest. We saw that over many years in the latter period of the Country Liberal Party government, where gross state product figures came down and, in part, to the declining activity coming out of Laminaria.
Similarly, with this mid-year report, where the original prediction was that the condensate production from Bayu-Undan would kick in to full production in the June quarter 2004, so that it would have been reflected in the latter part of the 2003-04 gross state product figure. That was put back until later in the year, and those figures now will reflect in the 2004-05 gross state product figure. You have to understand and treat that objectively in the sense that it can be a very misleading figure of what is happening, economic activity onshore, and in particular, major projects such as Laminaria, and in this case, it is the condensate production from Bayu-Undan. There is nothing new about that. It is something that the Territory has had to live with over quite some years.
The comments in and around the population, and the population is of concern to us, and it is a concern on a number of fronts. I was genuine this morning, when I raised this question of the last Census undertaken and this government’s view that the figures were wrong, they simply were not an accurate count of the Territory’s population. I raised it at the Treasurers’ conference last year. Treasurer Costello, to his credit, said, ‘Look, we are not trying to rob you. If you think there is a real problem, we will arrange for you to work with ABS to get a more accurate count if you believe you are being badly done by’. Credit to him, and this is why I say I have confidence in him that he will follow through when he says, ‘I will get back to you, I will consider it’, because the Chief Minister and I were quite recently able to meet with the national head of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one Dennis Trewin. We went through, at some length, the logistical difficulties of the census in the Northern Territory.
I can give a quite vivid example, I suppose. Members may recall at the time of the last census, there was quite prominent advertising by the ABS and the Commonwealth government that the census was coming. They used the jingle – it was an old song - Stand up and be Counted. It was quite strident note. A muso like the Leader of the Opposition would remember that song, Stand up and be Counted. I have a friend at Galiwinku who has lived and worked there for many years and is related and adopted by families there. She was given one of those subcontracts, or jobs if you like, by ABS to participate in the Galiwinku count of the census. She thought she would start with the family she knows best - that is her own family - and she gathered the paperwork. They would help her and they would get the message across to the sector of the community for which she was responsible.
She went there and she spoke to relations at the door. There was a bit of yelling out the front and a bit of toing-and-froing, and the house emptied. They were all lined up on the road from grandpa down to the very little one. She said: ‘This is fine’. ‘Well, you can count us; we are standing up to be counted’. That is not a joke; that is the literal understanding of the message that those communities got: stand up and be counted. And they did and stood up in a big row. She said: ‘There is a little more to it than that. I cannot simply go along and count one to 18. There is a bit of paperwork’.
Of course, we all know what the extent of the census form runs to, and the ability to capture all of that information in a given period of time. It is actually a little easier - in some ways it is a bit like mobile polling where you vote at a little community on Monday, and you are going to the next community on Tuesday to find out that they have all gone back to the community that you voted at yesterday, because the Northern Land Council has arranged a meeting to discuss some mining venture or something like that. Therefore, you miss out on that whole cohort because you do not get the opportunity to then go back. It is easier in the census because they have a window of opportunity; they have more than a day or more than a few hours such as we have in mobile polling.
However, we went through these issues with the head of ABS, and he was interested to hear, first-hand, some of the difficulties that the Northern Territory confronts in this area. As I said, I am appreciative of Treasurer Costello and his work with ABS to get them to come up here and talk to us about that. Our government has given an undertaken to ABS that we will work with them in whatever way we can in order to get what we believe is needed: a much more accurate count.
It goes further than that as well. This is one that former Treasurer Reed used to rail on about, and quite rightly. That is the inter-census count or the year-to-year of population where they do quarterly counts. It relies very heavily on - of all things - the registration of Medicare. If you have, for example, older people perhaps leaving the Northern Territory interstate permanently – perhaps retirees - one of the things they are likely to do among all the things you do when you change address: if you are older, you are more likely to go along and change your address with Medicare because you do not want to get mucked around if you are going to have to access medical services. That is fine; Mr and Mrs Brown leave Wulagi in the northern suburbs and travel down to the Gold Coast for retirement. On arrival in Queensland, they go along to register a change of address at the Medicare office. As quick as lightening, Mr and Mrs Brown come off the Northern Territory and off their Wulagi address, and they are now registered with Medicare at Smith Street, Gold Coast. That has the effect, of course, of the Northern Territory having two people – if there are two in the family - leaving the Northern Territory, and Queensland has the advantage of plus two under their system.
The problem is when we have, as we have had in the past, a major influx of much younger people seeking work - backpackers if you like in the tourist industry or construction workers travelling around Australia picking up work on the major construction sites - they are young, they are fit, they are virile, and they are healthy. The last thing on their mind, probably, is the need to change their Medicare address, because they will take on anything and they are not going to get crook and they are not going to need the medical system. Now, if they were registered somewhere else in Australia, they do not come off, because they do not reregister here and they certainly do not go onto the Northern Territory. We believe there has to be better ways and more ways of enumerating a population shift between states than simply relying on the Medicare records. It is misleading in a jurisdiction like the Northern Territory, and it affects us so much more than anywhere else.
So there are a couple of areas in which we probably get pretty badly disadvantaged. I was happy to meet, as I said, with the Chief Minister, with Dennis Trewin. He gave us the opportunity to put some of those issues on the table and a willingness to work much more closely with him to get a better understanding on both sides, with a view of course and the end game being, let’s be fair dinkum about the population in the Northern Territory.
It is estimated to have increased by 266 persons, just 0.1 of 1% in the September quarter 2003 to 198 617. That is a quarterly population increase of 0.1 and an annual increase of 0.2. That ranked equal sixth with South Australia followed by the ACT which showed minus 0.08. The major driver of that decline is that nett movement of people to other jurisdictions through interstate migration. I saw a comment, and I think it was picked up by the member for Brennan, from one of the academics at Charles Darwin University saying quite clearly that we are losing the people who contribute to the labour market, contribute to wealth in the Northern Territory. My question to him would be, how would he know? I do not know that the academic at Charles Darwin University checked anywhere. I think it was something that he had formed a view on and I do not know on what basis. Again, Madam Speaker, you would want a little more accurate picture, I think, than what we had in the Northern Territory about the nature of people leaving.
What we need to remember as well, is that the historic pattern of nett interstate migration is one of consistent out-plays, except for that period of the defence build up during 1995 to 1998. On average, nett interstate migration subtracted 920 persons per annum from the Territory population growth over the past two years. That has gotten worst and that is obviously a concern to the government. But, again, how accurate is that in terms of how well the incoming picked up in relation to the methodology the Australian Bureau of Statistics use?
But to say it is all just happened in the last couple of years, it is a consistent pattern over the past 10 years that we have to address. The key to population growth is economic growth and that is the bottom line, and that is what this government is working towards.
Predictions around the GST - and the Leader of the Opposition had a bit to say about this. It is notoriously difficult for everyone in the formative years of the growth of the pool and settling it down, it is a new system, almost impossible to estimate in the first instance. It is bounced around from year to year. But certainly, Access Economics has a view that the Commonwealth estimates looking forward are too high and I think you would have to agree with that, if the construction in residential housing across Australia, that boom and that bubble, if that is coming off what is unsustainable in the longer term, you would have to say that the growth in GST will dissipate, and will dissipate quite markedly if construction comes off the peak across the national level.
The question I have is, if the Leader of the Opposition cannot see that a $48m loss to the Northern Territory is going to impact severely on the budget, then he really does need to think again. The dollar growth from 2003-04 to 2004-05 from the Grants Commission is just a $16m increase to the Northern Territory, a $16m increase. It is about 1% against the $1664m that the Northern Territory will receive.
What the Leader of the Opposition has to tell me is what do I say to the Australian Education Union when they come through the door later this year or early next to negotiate their Enterprise Bargaining Agreement? What do I say to the CPSU and the general government sector when they come through the door much earlier, about mid-year I think, for their EBA? What do we say to the police? They are due in the latter part of this year. Do we sit down with the unions and say: ‘Yes, we recognise your two or three year EBA is up. Guess what? We got 1% from the Commonwealth. So, we are open for business and the parameter is 1%’. I know how far and how long you will last in the room with an opening statement like that: ‘Let’s talk parameters; government got 1% extra out of Canberra. How are you going to go selling that to your members? You are going to have to settle for just 1% increase in your EBA this year’.
Wage movements across Australia, certainly in the public sector, are well in excess of that. Not knowing and not trying to predict what the EBA outcomes will be because it is subject to negotiation across those groups later in the year, but you would have to say, and I would lay any odds, that those EBAs are going to be significantly more than 1% per annum.
The Leader of the Opposition asked this morning and again this evening what we have done with all the money. The agencies of Health and Education have had significant budgetary increases in the time this government has been in office. We all know the reason why Tourism received what is a huge increase in their annual budget allocation, $27.5m over the next three years, $7.5m of it going out this year and every cent of it needed to restore tourism to its rightful place as a strong runner in economic activity in the Northern Territory. Police, we know, are receiving $75m over three years to bolster what was a badly run down police force.
I am not sure what points the Leader of the Opposition was making in relation to CEOs and agencies, but I am pretty proud, and all ministers would be, of the way CEOs and agencies have worked with government in the climate of the first few years of this government. We well knew that prior to our election, agencies would be knocking on the door of government relatively early in the financial year saying that they were not going to make the line. I used to be told every year, normally around September, October or November, only the first few months of that financial year, that Education is not going make the line; they are already $5m behind. You would meet up with the person a few weeks later and now it is at $8m. We used to get similar stories from Health, which would suggest that there was a consistent line across funding of these agencies and that the base funding was not right in the first place.
So, it was the base funding in the first place combined with perhaps a lack of discipline from government down, I do not know; you are not close enough from opposition to say exactly what happened, but it was no secret that the major agencies in particular and often some of the smaller ones would be knocking on government’s door quite early into the financial year saying that they were not going to make the line. It does not happen with that frequency under this government. We have been pretty pleased with the way agencies have responded and the way CEOs have handled their responsibilities and budgets.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his comments. I invite him to a briefing on this question of population, on the role of ABS, on the role of the next census because what happened in the 2001 Census was that the population base drawn as they did then – and we say inaccurately – meant that there was a loss of revenue to the Territory not just then, but all the way through until the next census in 2006. That is what drives us to work closely with ABS to make sure that we get the 2006 figure far more accurate than we suspect they have done in the past. If we were not to be in office in 2006 when the next census comes around, I implore the other side to adopt the same strategy and work cooperatively and as closely with ABS as you possibly can. It is in the interests of the Territory that ABS count every little Territorian as accurately as they possibly can.
Motion agreed to; paper noted.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr HENDERSON (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr BURKE (Brennan): Madam Speaker, I rise this evening to talk about Vince Collins, a name that would be familiar to every member of this House. I preface my remarks by saying that Vince Collins handed out how-to-vote cards for the Labor party in my electorate during the last election, so there is nothing in this personally for me, but I do believe that where an issue of natural justice is involved that it is incumbent that we do everything possible to ensure that that is afforded.
Without going through the detail of the history of the saga of Vince Collins and the Northern Territory government and a company called Australian Essential Oils, essentially, Mr Collins claims that, since 1995, he had an enforceable agreement with the Northern Territory government to harvest the park known as the Howard River Park for the purpose of harvesting essential oils, and that the Northern Territory government, in conjunction with Australian Essential Oils, breached that contract. Also, and concurrently with that, that the Northern Territory government continued to deal in a patent, allowed patent rights to be taken away from Mr Collins and used by another company, knowing that those patent rights belonged to Mr Collins. Those are the allegations that Mr Collins has made over many years, and certainly everyone in this House would be familiar in one way or another with that particular issue.
The reason I rise tonight, in speaking about Mr Collins, is to refer to comments that were made by the current Attorney-General on 18 February 1999, and subsequently on 28 April 1999. It is clearly on the Hansard record. It is worth recalling the comments the Attorney-General made at that time, comments that certainly persuaded Mr Collins that he would be afforded natural justice by an incoming Labor government if that happened to occur, and it did, after that particular election that he would be provided that natural justice. In those two adjournment speeches, the Attorney-General gave a very clear and concise history of the dealings that had been done with Mr Collins. It is obviously open to legal advice as to whether or not his assumptions were accurate or not. However, I can say that, on the documentation that I have now had the opportunity to review fully, he provides a very compelling case. His case is also backed up by a Queens Counsel’s legal opinion.
The current Attorney-General, in opposition at that time, had this to say about Vince Collins and the whole saga, and I quote in part:
- The affair, therefore, represents a denial of natural justice to Vince Collins. Vince Collins had legal rights over the
resource in question, both in terms of the contract that he was in with the Northern Territory government and also by
rights his intellectual property was also represented by the patented process which presumably now the new company
is going to incorporate into its activities.
The current Attorney-General said at that time:
- So we have a situation where someone has, in my view, been severely misused by the processes which were followed
by the government. It is hardly a sign of good support process for a small businessman trying to exploit a major
discovery about Territory resources.
This situation can only be moved on by being tested in a legal battle and there is certainly a possibility for that.
I think Vince would have probably a great deal of chance of proving that his 5 plus 5 contract overrides all
other arrangements that the government departments have made regarding that resource.
He then goes on to say it could be resolved by commonsense negotiations and he calls on the ministers involved at that time, the minister for primary industry and the Deputy Chief Minister, to look at it and get some sort of arrangement in place with Vince Collins so that this valuable resource can be used for the benefit of Territorians. He goes on to say:
- I believe that a man who has spent the last three years trying to defend his natural rights and has suffered a huge
amount of financial privation, not to mention the pressures on his family that this situation has caused, deserves
this to be resolved and deserves it to be resolved without having to shell out a vast amount of additional money
to get satisfaction through a legal process.
This process has been thoroughly mishandled in terms of the government processes within these departments;
Vince was entitled to due process, he was entitled to have the contract that originally put him into that resource
honoured, as is any businessman in this Territory entitled to believe that a legally binding contract they have
with the government is secure.
On 28 April 1999, in re-visiting this debate, he said:
- This is unfinished business and it will be unfinished until someone gets up and explains why a man in a 5 plus 5 contract
can be pushed aside in favour of an interstate company that had been brought in … This man made an important discovery
in the Territory, he has opened up a possibility of a considerable industry based on that product and he has nothing for
his trouble, except years of fighting for his justice at a great cost to his family both on a personal level and on a
financial level. I think it is a disgrace and I think it should be fixed as soon as possible.
These are the sorts of undertakings that the current Attorney-General made to Mr Collins and in this parliament at that time. Clearly, an Attorney-General who believed he had a legal case that was convincing and, certainly, he gave clear indications that it should be resolved and it would be resolved, if he ever had the possibility to do so.
What has happened since then is that the Labor government and the man who spoke so passionately on Mr Collins’s behalf, has had all of the resources of government at his disposal, all of the legal advice to either dissuade him or convince him of the view at that time at his disposal, and all of the opportunity to resolve this situation satisfactorily on behalf of all parties. The end result is that, in the face of a Queen’s Counsel advice saying that Mr Collins has an enforceable agreement with the Northern Territory government with regards to the 5 plus 5 contract, in the QC’s opinion, and that contract was binding on the Northern Territory government, and also in spite of the advice that he believes that Vince Collins has suffered a significant loss in the order of millions of dollars, what has this government done about it? This government has offered Vince Collins $375 000 in hush money - hush money - to walk away, and also give an indemnity to the Northern Territory government that there will be no further action or comment by Vince Collins on this particular matter.
If it was a disgrace before, it is a bigger disgrace now, because the documentation that I now have and that has been in the hands of the current Attorney-General for some time - certainly more than I have since he has become Attorney-General - clearly shows that, whilst there were processes that were questionable in the Northern Territory government prior to my time as Chief Minister and also during my time as Chief Minister and Attorney-General, we were trying to work through the situation to get a resolution on the matter. The documentation clearly shows that we were looking to put out a block to tender to enable Mr Collins to compete for that tender so that that process could be recommenced and he could get a fair go in clearing blocks in the Northern Territory. We did not reach that stage because that sort of decision of government was in process; documentation was provided to Mr Collins and to Australian Essential Oils to say that their miscellaneous licences would no longer stay in place, but that we will put them out for tender.
Yet, since the Labor government has come to power, nothing has transpired. Nothing has been done for Mr Collins. Mr Collins, in the meantime, now has an indisputable world-wide patent on his product; a product that is estimated in the Northern Territory to be worth probably the best part of $45m over the next few years, if he is given a chance to get his operation into production.
The other organisations that were involved, including Australian Essential Oils, have now departed the scene, and until Mr Collins can get a satisfactory resolution, we have a major discovery in the Northern Territory, a discovery promoted by the current Attorney-General that should be used for the benefit of Territorians, sitting idle. The most that this government can do for Mr Collins, the government that has championed this cause, is to offer him $375 000 in hush money.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, it was a disgrace before and it is a bigger disgrace now. I would echo the words of the Opposition Leader and current Attorney-General at that time and say, let us get a resolution to this matter. Vince Collins clearly does not have the resources to go to court and fight the Northern Territory government to obtain the justice that I certainly believe he rightly deserves. It is not an issue of pointing the finger at anyone. It is an issue of let us get this product available to Territorians. I understand that Mr Collins has even gone so far as to offer the Northern Territory government 10% of royalties on this particular product, which seems to me to be a pretty good offer.
All he wants is the issue resolved and fair compensation paid for the detriment that he suffered, so that this thing can be put behind him. On the information that I have received, $375 000 is a trifling offer considering the detriment just in terms of the sale of his house and the loss of his wife’s business alone, let alone Vince Collins. It is a trifling amount of money to offer him. I believe that he has demonstrated by his persistence and his unshakeable belief in his patent rights to this product, and his unshakeable right that he had a binding contract with the Northern Territory government, that if it ever got to court he would win. If it ever got to court I believe that he would win and he would win handsomely against the Northern Territory government, and no one wants it to get to that stage.
What I believe we should be doing is supporting Mr Collins, seeing that we can put this issue behind us, and making sure that we get this product as a Territory product, and market it world wide on behalf of Territorians. I understand he wants to call it True Blue Oils and in that case, I think he has pretty well proved his bona fides. He is true blue in that his integrity has never changed.
I believe that for all of the comments that any of us might have made against Vince Collins in the past, he has had an unshakeable belief that he was right and he has pursued that belief. I believe that over time, he has not only convinced commentators, including the media, whom I understand are particularly interested in this whole saga; but he is certainly now backed up by a world wide patent that no one can take from him. That product will never hit the market in any shape or form unless Vince Collins says so, and Vince Collins is comfortable with the arrangements that are put in place. All of that power I believe lies in the hands of the Northern Territory and the Northern Territory government.
With that plea, I ask that the Attorney-General to look back on his comments in 1999, reflect on the passion that he had in support of Vince Collins then, and re-energise himself with that same passion, and let us get this issue behind us.
Mr VATSKALIS (Casuarina): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, as you are aware, every 21 March Australia celebrates Harmony Day. In the Territory we expanded Harmony Day to Harmony Month, so the month of March is a Harmony Month. We celebrated various activities; we organised those activities, and we had significant community participation. This year, we had about 55 applications for funding and about 23 schools and 28 community groups applied for funding. In total they received about $40 000 of funding.
I am very pleased to say that two schools in my electorate, Alawa Primary School and Nakara Primary School, celebrated Harmony Day. Alawa Primary School celebrated on the Friday, 19 March. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this school because I had organised a long time ago to go to Gove to the Alcan mine site. I missed out but my colleague, the member for Sanderson, attended on my behalf. He told me it was a very interesting celebration. The children enjoyed it and there were many parents in attendance.
On Monday 22 March, I spent the morning with Nakara Primary School students who have a very innovative way of celebrating. Every child brings a plate from their country of origin and they have a multicultural breakfast. It was interesting to see children bringing food from India, Greece, China, and, of course, from Australia. There was a significant variety of foods, much of it prepared by the parents, and all the children enjoyed it. What really impressed me was some of the work the children had written. They stood up and read about what Harmony Day meant to them. Callun Hooley of Year 6/7 at Nakara wrote:
- Harmony day is an important day of the year because it reminds us to think about, and appreciate, all the different
people from other cultures that live in Australia. People from all over the world now call Australia home. When they
came to this country they brought with them their cultures and traditions; about 200 languages are spoken in
Australia today.
- Harmony Day was started to raise awareness and promote understanding of multiculturalism in Australia. Harmony
Day is a good opportunity for us to find out about people that come from different cultures and backgrounds by taking
the time to learn about other people, their beliefs and traditions. We will come to respect, appreciate and celebrate
our differences.
REMEMBER YOU + ME = US
Mitchell Bryan and Alexander Rofe from Year 6/7 wrote:
Today we gather here to celebrate the multicultural society of Australia. In Australia people speak a variety of
different languages such as Chinese, Indonesian and Greek; that is why we have gathered here to celebrate
Harmony Day. Harmony Day is all about respecting people from different countries and from Australia as well.
Let the festivities begin!
Grace Murphy, Year 7 Nakara School, wrote:
Australia is a nation made up of people from many different cultural backgrounds. There are about 200 different
languages spoken and many of the world’s religions practised. Australia is a place with diversity and community
harmony, which we should be proud of.
Leonie Yeh from Year 7 wrote:
- We live in Australia with people from all over the world. There are different cultures, religions, customs and traditions
that everyone should try to respect. We should care about our neighbours, our friends and family, no matter what their
skin colour or the way they speak. Everyone should be trying to make racism a thing of the past. That’s why I
believe Harmony Day should be about living in this country, not as individuals, but as a society.
That was very impressive writing coming from young children of 10 or 11 years old. What is impressive is that these schools are some of the most multicultural schools in Australia and in Darwin where children of Aboriginal background sit next to children of Chinese background, Italian, Greek and they all see each others as friends and colleagues. They do not see where they are coming from. They do not see the colour of their skin, what their beliefs are or if they speak with an accent or not, and that was very impressive.
I also visited Central Australia last week, and was invited to a Harmony Day event at the Ross Park Primary School. Ross Park Primary School received a Harmony Day grant to carry out such project, employing a dance tutor to work with a group of students with challenging behaviours to produce and perform a multicultural dance. Most impressive was that all the dancers were boys seven, eight and nine years old. Usually, you do not see boys performing dance but this was really very interesting.
The special event took place at a special assembly last Friday, 26 March, and I was very proud to attend it. I was surprised, and I suppose disappointed, that unfortunately the local member, the member for Greatorex, was not present. I know that it was the middle of the day and people have their work, but I wish he was there because both of us come from a non-English speaking background and to go there and celebrate Harmony Day with the children would have been a really big event.
The boys were brilliant dancers. They brought back memories. They danced to Solid Rock, which I can remember when I was growing up, and their teacher, Dwayne Tickner, was brilliant because he brought the boys together and he taught them how to dance and they gave a great performance. I acknowledge the school Principal, Sue Crowe, for inviting me to attend. It was lovely to stand before all the smiling faces and to meet parents and staff. There were about 50 parents there. With 290 students, Ross Park Primary is a very close knit community, so much so that three generations of families still attend the school. The Price family have two generations attending. Dave and Bess Price spoke about Harmony Day and how important it is in our community. Their daughter attended Ross Park Primary and now their grandson is a student at the school.
I would also like to acknowledge and thank Senior Constable Phil Clapin, the school-based constable, and Bev O’Callaghan, the Aboriginal and Islander Educational Worker, who are both doing fantastic jobs with the students. Actually, the school based constable is prepared to do a course or to interest young boys in getting involved with cars, learning to drive and to fix motors – anything to keep boys occupied so that they do not fall into bad company and start creating problems with other students and in the communities. A big thanks to the Ross Park Primary School for inviting me to take part in their Harmony Day which I enjoyed very much.
Every month, I give awards to the best students in the primary schools in my electorate. I try to promote reading, and the prizes are gift vouchers from the book shops in Casuarina Shopping Square. I am very pleased to say, from Alawa Primary School this month, Thanasi Tiliakos received the award for always smiling, being willing to help others in need and being a worthy role model; Jack Doughty for developing a more mature and committed approach to his school work. From Nakara Primary, Jesse Neave for being a thoughtful and helpful class member, and Louisa Baker-Jones for making a huge effort to attend and to get work done. Keep trying, Louisa.
I should also mention my trip to Katherine. I had a fantastic time meeting with the Cattlemen’s Association at their general meeting. We had a great dinner, and next morning visiting, with my family, Katherine Farm, where I suppose my children for the first time in their lives had seen a Brahman bull alive and not in a photograph. They were apprehensive to touch it, but they were happy after that. Also, the snake charmers, if I could call them that, had a beautiful selection of pythons, but the kids were very pleased to touch them. They were going to present a show at about 11 o’clock and had to postpone it because they had about a hundred children all trying to touch the snakes at the same time, which made the snakes a bit nervous.
It was a great day, and we thank the member for Katherine for awarding the best scarecrow prize to one of the schools – I think the child was very impressed. It is a very good opportunity for rural communities to get together, and for people from the big city to come down and see how people in small communities live, especially for young children to become familiar with rural communities and see animals first-hand. I read that somewhere in America they asked children where milk comes from, and quite a significant number of children actually said that milk comes from a box. It appears to be the case now that our society has become so estranged from rural society that children now are really surprised to find that milk actually comes from a real animal, a cow.
Thanks to Katherine for the hospitality – it was a great time. It was a bit wet. The water table was about two metres above ground level, but we certainly enjoyed the visit to Katherine.
Mrs MILLER (Katherine): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to express to this Assembly my disgust and the extreme disappointment of hundreds of students, parents, teachers and community citizens of Katherine and the surrounding regions, which covers thousands of square kilometres, at the refusal of financial support by the Martin Labor government to hold a Croc Festival in Katherine. The festival is planned for three days in August this year. Planning for this event occurs over a long period of time, and a committee in Katherine has been working towards this event for the past 12 months to ensure that the festival has maximum impact and reaches as many students and teachers as possible.
I would like to present to this Assembly a history of the Croc Festival so that everyone is very clear about how it began, how it has developed and what the benefits and outcomes are for the young people who have been fortunate enough to experience one of these festivals. In 1997, the Minister for Health in Queensland, Mike Horan, asked the producers of the very successful Rock Eisteddfod Challenge if they could find a way to get more indigenous people engaged. As a result, the producers toured the Cape York communities with several Queensland health workers, and designed an event which would motivate and inspire young people on the Cape and in the Torres Strait. The first event was staged in Weipa in July 1998, with 17 schools and 350 students attending. The Governor-General opened the festival, with Dr Evelyn Scott, Professor Gus Nossell, and several Queensland ministers in attendance which, of course, recognised the significance of the festival.
Since 1998, the festival has developed to involve many different activities during the day, with school performances on the professional stage in the evening in front of thousands of local community members. From 1999 to 2003, the event grew into other regions of Australia, and last year 12 277 students from 277 schools attended the seven festivals staged at Thursday Island, Tennant Creek, Derby, Kalgoorlie, Port Augusta, Swan Hill and Moree. Alice Springs first staged the event in 2000 at the request of the NT Education Department to assist with the provision of stage, lights and sound equipment for a schools concert, to coincide with the Olympic torch departing Alice Springs.
Despite the fact that, at that time, no Northern Territory government funding was made available to assist with the cost of producing either the festival or the school concert on the following day, Indigenous Festivals of Australia Ltd proceeded with the production of the festival and the concert in good faith, for the benefit of the young people who were travelling in from the remote schools.
In 2001, the federal Coalition promised to fund approximately 60% of the cost of producing seven festivals per year, for four years. This funding was conditional that the states and Territory contributed significant monies to the cost of producing the events. In 2002, Indigenous Festivals of Australia scheduled the production of the Croc Festival in Nhulunbuy, and the Northern Territory government provided $60 000 towards the cost of producing this event; 785 students from 16 schools attended the event, which equates to an investment of $76 per student. In 2003, the Croc Festival was produced in Tennant Creek for the benefit of 950 students from 28 schools, with funding from the Northern Territory government of $42 000, equating to an investment of $44 per student.
Indigenous Festivals of Australia is expecting some 2000 students from 62 schools to attend the planned Katherine event which, with support from the Northern Territory government of $100 000, would equate to an investment of $50 per student. Taking into consideration the beneficial outcomes that have been documented since the festival began in 1998, that investment is minuscule.
I will outline how the Croc Festival benefits our students by detailing the involvement of the Croc Festival organising committee and what they have had to do with the Katherine organising committee. In the fourth term of last year, Katherine and surrounding area schools were advised of the dates of the festival for 2004, and invited to express their intention to enter. Having received expressions to enter the festival, the production office sent production books to the schools, along with their login code for the Croc Festival database system. The production office has since been in regular contact with schools to answer any questions about the event. In term 2 of this year, all students will receive a Croc Festival work book, which has been developed in consultation with teachers, to link the curriculum to the festival to give the students something to work towards. From this time until the festival, students are involved in preparing their production number for the festival as well as other materials which are relevant to the festival. Most students who have expressed their interest in participating in this year’s Croc Festival have begun their activities in term 1, and are eagerly looking forward to participating with hundreds of other students.
Students and teachers will travel to the festival in the days prior to the event and camp in army tents provided.
While schools are preparing in their communities, the production team works with the hosting community to bring together all the necessary elements to stage the event. The production team will arrive in Katherine with its specialised equipment and prepare the site on the days prior to the event. As schools arrive and register, each student will receive their festival pack which includes a backpack, a water bottle, a festival magazine, lunch box, calculator, ruler, pencil case and baseball hat.
The first evening sees the croc disco ice-breaker, which is held on the professional stage built for the event. During the following days, many activities are held during the day such as the Health Expo, I Want to Be workshop, OPSM Eye Care activity, the Australian Hearing Foundation, Careers Market, Questacon, National Aboriginal Sports Corporation of Australia, performing and visual arts activities, cultural activities, Young Achievement Australia, vocational training and, of course, choreographers are provided to each school and other activities pertaining to the area are added closer to the festival.
At the end of the festival the students return to their communities where they perform for their families and friends, write stories and look at the video of their performance which is given to the schools along with a framed gold CD. One of the outcomes of the festival is in the area of education where students are motivated to attend and stay at school, inspired to set goals and work towards them increase their self esteem, confidence and pride, become more resilient, improve their oral communication skills, and very importantly, make friends with students from other communities. They get to see the bigger picture, respect their teachers more, improve their problem solving skills and, very importantly, learn about team work.
The Croc Festival has worked very closely with the educators in the Katherine region to ensure the content and type of activity planned for students at the Croc Fest is relevant and specific to the curriculum being taught. The students are already learning about and working towards this festival in this first term of school.
Other areas of beneficial outcomes for the festival participants include health where students increase their awareness of issues associated with tobacco, alcohol, drugs, nutrition, cleanliness, mental health, and depression. In the area of employment, students learn about the educational requirements of each trade and profession and also that if they stay in school to obtain the skills necessary to get a job that there will be jobs available for them. Another important area addressed is the arts where students learn about visual and performing art, get the opportunity to perform on a professional stage in front of thousands of people, and provide training opportunities for the students who are interested in the arts as a career. The Croc Festival arts activities would complement the excellent work that Arts Katherine has provided through project development for Katherine residents and its surrounding regional and remote communities over the last several years.
Over the past two years they have delivered a high profile projects in regional remote areas and the projects have been Let’s go to the Outback, The Dream Fest and Slow Tucker Long Yarn. Many of these projects have been recognised interstate. Many of Arts Katherine projects are based at community schools and school principals acknowledge the benefit to their students and the community that the projects have stimulated. They are also keen to build on these benefits to provide on-going benefits and inspiration to school children teachers and community elders. One of the outcomes of the project implemented by Arts Katherine has been the students’ eagerness to participate in future development in the arts which in turn has resulted in an improved attendance at schools and considerable increase in self confidence and determination. The Croc Festival’s activities reinforce all the benefits and encourage further participation in the arts.
Additional benefits to Croc Festival participants is students learning respect for fauna and the environment, community members working together towards a common goal of producing an exciting event for young people, and participants are part of a national youth event. The festival provides the opportunity for government agencies, federal, state and local, to work together and school communities have been strengthened as they prepare for the performances and the travel to the festival.
An important factor to consider is the evidence of other festival towns that show that crime rates drop during the weeks before, during and after the festival which reinforces that our youth, if they have interesting and stimulating activities to be involved in, are diverted from practices that lead them getting into trouble, usually through boredom. The staging of the Croc Festival in Katherine would be an enormous boost to our economy and all members of this Assembly are well aware that Katherine’s economy has suffered dramatically over the past couple of years and businesses have suffered accordingly.
I am bitterly disappointed, to say the least, that this Martin Labor government has not recognised the economic benefits to Katherine and the Northern Territory of this festival.
Let me remind you of how we would benefit: through the hire of equipment, for example forklift trucks, cranes, marquees, generators, toilets, showers, the use of local light and sound equipment, local crews and security firms, local facilitators, local caterers, local car and truck rental companies. Accommodation providers would be at capacity, which would be a nice change. Tourism operators would benefit from the increased numbers to our town, not to mention the purchases of fuel and food.
The estimated cost of the additional requirements to run the Croc Festival in Katherine are around $150 000, which would be extremely welcome by the community. The cost to produce this professional event which complies with all occupational health and safety requirements and has proven to be a great success requires substantial community support in addition to financial support. The support we would get includes Indigenous Festivals of Australia which has already confirmed funding for the Katherine Croc Festival with 10 departments from the Australian government committing $219 284; ATSIS Katherine Regional Council, $15 000; Katherine Town Council, $30 000; NT PowerWater, $5000; OPSM, $7142; Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Council, $42 857; and Health Insurance Commission, $7000. That totals $326 283 and Indigenous Festivals Australia has been refused financial support of $100 000 by the Martin Labor government despite proven evidence of the benefits and outcomes of previous Croc Festivals.
The refusal of this government to meet the approximate 25% only shortfall of overall funding to run this festival shows contempt for the students and is an unbelievable slap in the face for Territory youth at the commencement of National Youth Week.
The Martin Labor government has said it recognises the value of all young people in National Youth Week and that young Territorians make a great contribution to our community and the rest of Australia and that it is important that we all listen and acknowledge their voice in society. The government has also said that as part of our celebrations for 25 years of self-government in the Northern Territory, it is fitting that our young people are recognised as an essential part of building a brighter and better future. Those statements, followed by this government’s attitude to over 2000 school students who have committed to this year’s planned Katherine Croc Festival, demonstrate hypocrisy and arrogance at its best.
When this festival was held in Nhulunbuy and Tennant Creek, there was not one negative comment in this House and only positive outcomes and benefits have been expressed by the members for Nhulunbuy and Barkly. These members are part of the refusal to allow over 2000 school children the same opportunity in Katherine.
A school teacher at Katherine High School has attended Croc Festivals in Tennant Creek, Nhulunbuy and Kununurra, taking a total of 47 students with her. As a result of her experience, she has compiled …
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Katherine, your time has expired.
Mrs MILLER: May I have extra time?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, there is no extension of time.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise to speak about Colin Dyer, who recently retired from the Northern Territory Public Service and I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution that he made to the Department of Health and Community Services.
Colin came to the Territory in 1970 to work as a medical scientist in the Commonwealth Health Laboratory as the pathology laboratory at the old Darwin Hospital was then known. It is a fairly common story: he told his friends and family that they could expect him back in two years’ time. Thirty-four years later, he is still here.
Colin worked in the haematology section of the Darwin Hospital laboratory until the middle of 1974. During that time, he established a range of new procedures in the lab that meant that some tests, which until then had to be sent to a southern laboratory, could now be done in Darwin. In 1974, he left the laboratory to help establish Darwin’s first private pathology laboratory. In the event, this turned out not to be the smartest of moves, as Cyclone Tracy not only wrecked the fledgling laboratory, but also caused the evacuation of Darwin, which meant that the new laboratory was unviable. Colin rejoined the staff in the lab at Darwin Hospital in 1975.
It was at this time that Colin started stepping out, as they used to say coyly, with Mary, another medical scientist in the lab. They married in 1978 and they are still stepping out together. Mary, too, has just retired from work after more than 30 years work in the lab. In 1979, Colin had what he describes as the first of his mid-life crises, when he decided to study social work. He says this was the result of a visit to Britain where he saw the social changes happening there.
In 1983, Colin rejoined the Northern Territory Public Service, as it had become by then, as a community welfare worker in the Community Welfare Division of the then Department of Community Development. The members were all told that the old Department of Community Development was amalgamated with the then Department of Health, the former Department of Health and Community Services. The welfare division morphed into Family and Community Services. While working with Family and Community Services, Colin held a range of positions. He has been a case worker, a case work supervisor, an office manager and a program manager. He has been a policy officer and senior policy advisor.
He has worked mainly in Darwin, but has also spent varying lengths of time working in FACS offices in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Nhulunbuy. Over the years, in fact, Colin developed something of an expert status when it came to the Community Welfare Act. Indeed, I understand that on some occasions when departmental staff sought a legal opinion on some aspects of the act, they were referred to Colin Dyer. Such is the regard in which he was held in this sphere, that he was asked to write the chapter on child welfare law in the second edition of the Northern Territory Law Handbook.
Between 1994 and 1996, Colin represented the Northern Territory on the National Child Protection Council. This council developed a national strategy for the prevention of child abuse and neglect. The Commonwealth and all states and territories endorsed this strategy but, sadly, it was abandoned with a change in federal government and the National Council was abolished.
Apart from his work in FACS, Colin worked for a year as an advisor in the office of my predecessor, and then as Director of Ministerial Liaison in the Department of Health and Community Services. All the members on this side of the House and almost all of the members on the other side of the House know Colin as a died in the wool Labor Party member. Last year, he was honoured with life membership of the ALP. But for all that he has committed to the Labor Party cause, he has also been acutely aware of the responsibility of a public servant: to serve the government of the day.
As a Senior Policy Advisor in FACS, Colin has prepared untold numbers of high quality briefings for all his ministers. These have been included, in no particular order, Don Dale, Steve Hatton, Ian Tuxworth, Mike Reed, Barry Coulter, Fred Finch and, in this House, the members for Brennan, Drysdale and Nightcliff, as well as myself.
As Colin and Mary commence the next phase of their life, travelling to distant parts of the world, I am sure you will join me in wishing them well in their retirement.
Members: Hear, hear!
Ms SCRYMGOUR: I also pay tribute to many hard working achievers in my electorate. Recently, I was privileged to accompany my colleague, the Minister for Health, to Gunbalanya to officially launch the School Breakfast Program at the school there. This program, which is being piloted in five remote community schools, is one of our government’s priorities in its new framework, Building Healthier Communities. This government is serious about giving kids a good start in life, specifically as part of a broader focus upon improving Aboriginal health.
We know that the first few years of life are hugely important for kids’ health throughout their lives, and this is a very good, practical program that can help the children of the community get a good start in life through a good start to the school day.
Since the trial has begun, we are aware that it has had a positive impact on school attendance, and that students are in a better state to achieve important learning outcomes. The program can only work with significant community input and ownership, and I am pleased to say this is the case at Gunbalanya. The leadership in the school community at Gunbalanya is in the very capable hands of Esther Djaygurna, a strong supporter of the program. Esther, an outstanding indigenous educator, is well supported by her senior teacher, Maree Timms, and her school breakfast program workers, Elizabeth Fredericks and Karen Klatt. The program is well supported by the secondary aged students, who assist in preparing the food. I congratulate them for their community mindedness.
Mention should also be made of Alyson Brown from the Department of Employment, Education and Training, and Pam Gollow, the Northern Territory Department of Health and Community Services’ Top End Coordinator, Nutrition and Physical Activity program, for their invaluable support and assistance to the school breakfast program.
Whilst at Gunbalanya, it was my pleasure to accompany the Minister for Health visiting the Community Health Centre. This health centre has achieved some outstanding health outcomes for the Gunbalanya community. Gunbalanya Health Centre was nationally accredited in February 2004, which means it provides a service that is at least the equivalent of similar community health centres interstate - a fantastic achievement for Sue Ellis, the health centre manager, who is a very efficient and dedicated health professional, and leads a great team of equally dedicated workers.
Most notably, the community has achieved excellent results by way of the declining incidences of anaemia and scabies. Both of these illnesses have a chronic relationship to more serious diseases, particularly kidney disease and the ability to resist chronic infection. Anaemia rates have been reduced from 37% in 1999 to 4% in 2003. Scabies rates have declined from 33% in 2001 to 4% in 2003. This very good work is particularly due to the close collaboration of women from the Gunbalanya Women’s Centre, the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal and Tropical Health, Menzies School of Health Research, and officers from the Department of Health and Community Services. On the ground at Gunbalanya, a dedicated health professional like Paula Harrison and local Aboriginal health worker, Junior Galaminda, have played leading roles working closely with the community, particularly the school, to achieve these outstanding results.
To all at Gunbalanya who are dedicated to making a difference, I say congratulations and well done. In the words of the Chief Minister: ‘Together we can build a better Territory’.
Mr ELFERINK (Macdonnell): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I respond to the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services’ invitation earlier today. One of the great tragedies of this farce of ministerial reports in this House is that important issues are never given the opportunity to be properly debated. As long reports hit the table, the minister speaks for five minutes, and the opposition has two minutes to respond. It is a circus that was put in place, basically, so that the government of the day can play to the press gallery. Members will well remember that, at the outset, there was no opportunity to reply at all to ministerial reports. However, I now have to use my adjournment debates to respond to comments made by the ministers in relation to issues that arise in the ministerial reports.
One of the other problems with ministerial reports is that you do not get the Hansard on the same day, other than Question Time, so I cannot remember the exact words, but I will paraphrase the minister as best as I can remember.
He said that, if you can offer one piece of paper that suggests that Mr Pepper was sacked, lay it on the table. He then accused me of being in a fantasy land or some such thing. Curiously, if I had had the opportunity to be a moment quicker at that occasion back from my office, the one minute that the minister was on his feet, I could have produced exactly such a piece of paper, and will do so now.
I have in my possession a piece of paper, ‘Fire Services Separation Statistics, July 2003 to June 2004’. This paper is drawn from the PIPS system. It says in January 2004 there were two separations. One was Craig Kitto, who resigned on 1 January 2004 and, curiously, the second one was Darryl Pepper, EO3C - I imagine that is executive officer 3, a contract - Headquarters is his location, separation date is 9 January 2004. Indeed, that is correct. The separation date was exactly what was put in a memo which was around the fire service which said that Mr Pepper had departed because of ‘health reasons’. However, under the title ‘Reason’, it says ‘redundancy invol’. That is bureau-speak for sacking.
A member: Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Mr ELFERINK: ‘Redundancy invol’. Hang on, this is curious. I thought to myself: ‘I am going to get some interpretation on this; I am not just going to take this piece of paper and accept it. I am going to ring the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment’, and I spoke to John Kirwan this very afternoon. He said: ‘Oh yes, absolutely. That was a big mistake. That was wrong. The PIPS system should never have recorded ‘redundancy invol’ …’ involuntary redundancy, in other words by the way, for the honourable members information – ‘… because there is no such termination process under the PIPS system’. What should have been placed there was ‘termination by employer’ which is completely different to redundancy …
Ms Lawrie: Don’t verbal him. Don’t misconstrue.
Mr ELFERINK: Well, how can I, to pick up this little interjection, how can I misconstrue ‘termination by employer’? There is nothing to misconstrue. The fact is it is a lot more simple than this. I telephoned Mr Pepper some time ago and had a chat to him about this, and yes, he has a medical condition, and ultimately that was the reason why he left. However, during conversation - I do not whether it was deliberate or not -what Mr Pepper told me was that he was approached. And that is the bottom line here. I will tell you why he was approached. If you read the Mtis Review, a review that should be a matter for a ministerial statement in this House, not some flicky little ministerial report, I will quote from page 39 of that review:
- The current Chief was universally criticised, by his supporters and detractors alike, for the fact that when he first
started as Chief in 2002 it took him three months and in some instances longer … to get out to fire stations and
‘meet his men’ …
It goes on to say that there were only 140 of them.
He was criticised and he was under the hammer. He was under the hammer from the day that he got into the position. Why was he under the hammer? Well, the O’Sullivan Report had just been delivered to this government, and this government had committed $70m at that time – since elevated to $75m – to meet the demands of the O’Sullivan Report. Consequently, the fire service was sidelined by this minister and by the Commissioner for Police. How as it sidelined? Well, if you read the Mtis Review, the average time spent in training, for argument’s sake, for a fire service officer was 7.2 hours last year. As a volunteer with the Emily Hills Bush Fire Fighting Service, I had twice the amount of training than the average fire service officer did last year. I did two days training recently to get my Certificate I in Rake/Hoe. It is astonishing that a fire service has fire officers who get so little training extended to them. And why? Because they had no room, effectively, no room in the training college here in Darwin to train their staff.
So surely, there must be some sort of process through the budget which Mr Pepper would be able to get his finances in order and get some training organised. But that is not so. If you read the Mtis Review, the process was quite simple. The police commissioner and two executives – I said deputy as from today and that is not entirely correct - I wish to place it on the record. The Police Commissioner and two executive officers from the Police Force were the ones who set the fire brigade budget and in fact there was an incredible amount of pressure on the commissioner at the time to be able to work for his police force. So when the Mtis Review spoke to the Police Commissioner in relation to how he managed the police force, the Police Commissioner said he was very ‘hands off’.
I will quote from the Mtis Review:
- Currently, neither of these two approaches seems to apply; …
and it refers to some approaches earlier in the report:
- … nor did the Commissioner of Police, when asked, indicate to the assessors the leadership approach he preferred
for Fire and Rescue Services operating within the Tri-Service … under his leadership’.
Indeed, the Police Commissioner says that:
- … he has a ‘hands off’ approach to NTFRS issues, and regards Police, and Fire and Rescue as having quite
separate cultures; and he has encouraged the current NTFRS Director to have a direct relationship with the
minister.
This is a curious situation because the report goes on to say that the Fire and Rescue Service Director was at Assistant Commissioner level or thereabouts, or even slightly lower, in the police force.
The structure was quite clear: the Commissioner of Police had the responsibility of looking after the Fire and Rescue Service. He said: ‘Oh, my hands are off this’. He was also in charge of the budget for the Fire and Rescue Service. That budget was under an incredible amount of strain and that is reflected in the Mtis Review in terms of the lack of training being provided to Fire Service officers. All of this, the minister would have been aware of and all of a sudden, Mr Pepper retires hurt.
You do not have to be a genius to figure out what is going on here. The fact is that if it is termination by employer or ‘redundancy invol’, Mr Pepper was approached and he already had an existing condition which, doubtless, was going to become more serious over time, clearly serious enough to warrant his retirement. The fact is – and there is nothing that this minister can say to convince me otherwise – that he was lined up and shot. He was shot because he could not manage his fire service. What were some of the reasons he could not manage the fire service? He had no control over the budgetary processes that were available to him. He had a divided fire service beneath him. He was receiving advice from the Commissioner of Police, his own subordinates, and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Employment, and all three were providing inconsistent advice. That is here in the Mtis Review.
He was receiving conflicting advice from three different sources, he had no budgetary control, he had an illness and this government was looking for a scapegoat. If I am to be accused of being in a fantasy land when I have seen information like this before me, small wonder that this government tries to cover up its ineptitude in relation to this. Small wonder that this minister has no intention of reviewing this closed process through this parliament by way of a proper and fully debated ministerial statement. It is a bloody disgrace.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Wanguri.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker …
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! If the minister speaks, does that close debate?
Mr HENDERSON: No, it is adjournment.
Mr DUNHAM: Yes, but you moved the adjournment.
Ms Lawrie: No, he adjourned as Leader of Government Business.
Mr HENDERSON: I moved the adjournment as Leader of Government Business; not closing debate.
Mr Dunham: I am sure if you speak, it closes debate.
Mr Elferink: I am pretty sure it is.
Mr HENDERSON: I am not closing debate. They are standing orders.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I must respond to the scurrilous allegations made by the member for Macdonnell. Why he chooses to attack, in a dishonest and cowardly way, the credibility of a man who served …
Mr DUNHAM: A point of order! The speaker cannot allege dishonesty or cowardice of a member of this parliament without doing so by way of substantive motion and he knows that. You cannot allege dishonesty.
Mr HENDERSON: Speaking to the point of order, I withdraw the word ‘dishonest’ but on the word ‘cowardly’, I seek a ruling that it is not offensive language …
Mr DUNHAM: I seek your ruling on that, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. Is ‘cowardice’ an appropriate label to use for a member of this parliament?
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: I shall seek advice. Member for Drysdale, on advice, I shall allow the term.
Mr HENDERSON: Thank you, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I am astounded by the sensitivity of the member for Drysdale given the cowardly attack on an individual who served fire fighting in Australia for 28 years in Queensland with distinction, two years in the Northern Territory with distinction, doing a very difficult job, when Mr Darryl Pepper had a very serious and debilitating illness.
I will go through some of the commendations that Mr Pepper received over a 30 year fire fighting career. He was awarded the Australian Fire Services Medal, the Australian National Medal and Clasp, and an Australia Day Medal, and had served the fire services within Queensland and the Northern Territory with distinction. The allegation in debates this morning was that Mr Pepper had been sacked. Mr Pepper had not been sacked, and was not sacked, and the member for Macdonnell well knows this.
I will go to direct quotes from a very honourable man, who served his profession very well for 30 years, in an article in the NT News on 11 January 2004 written by Edith Bevan. These are direct quotes from Mr Darryl Pepper, a man who served with distinction. The article starts:
- Top Firie Bows Out – I started at the bottom and worked my way to the top.
The NT’s top fire fighter has quit because of an incurable illness. Darryl Pepper walked away from 30 years in
fire fighting on Friday. He leaves the position of Chief Fire Officer with more than two years still left on his contract,
but his resignation, contrary to assertions by some Fire Association members, is not just a case of jumping before he
was pushed. Mr Pepper said he did not want to publicise the nature of his illness, [and he is entitled not to do that]
but he said there was no treatment for it.
- The decision was hard to make. But your health means everything, and no matter what age you are, you have to
have a healthy body. Besides, after 40 years in the work force and 30 years as a fire fighter, I have done my share.
After 30 years as a fire fighter, I have realised my ambition. I started at the bottom and worked my way to the top.
So here is Mr Darryl Pepper, a man of absolute integrity in fire services throughout Australia, saying that the reason that he came to me and said that he could no longer serve was the nature of his illness, and he has said that publicly. To come into this House tonight, and today, on two occasions, and assert that Mr Darryl Pepper has been sacked, is to call Mr Pepper a liar, and is to say that Mr Pepper, in the interview with Edith Bevan that was published on 11 January 2004, was not telling the truth about why he was leaving the Northern Territory, is an absolutely cowardly attack on a man who has had 30 years of distinguished service to fire fighting in Australia, and does the member for Macdonnell absolutely no credibility at all amongst the men and women of the fire service in Australia.
Mr ELFERINK: Your documents, mate. Your department produced the documents. A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker! I seek leave to table these documents.
Mr HENDERSON: Absolutely, table the document.
Leave granted.
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Macdonnell – and this issue came up in an NT News article recently - where on the PIPS record that somehow made its way publicly, the information in the separation record on the PIPS information system stated that there was an involuntary separation between the department and Mr Pepper. We have chased this down. My office has spoken to the Office of the Commissioner of Public Employment …
Mr Elferink: I spoke to him personally.
Mr HENDERSON: … and had clarification today, and I know the member for Macdonnell spoke to the Commissioner of Public Employment today, who advised the member for Macdonnell that the staff inadvertently recorded the separation as an involuntary separation as opposed to a voluntary separation, and that record has now been corrected.
In terms of the member for Macdonnell’s conspiracy theory, for some reason wanting to drag the name of a man who served his profession well for 30 years into the mud, he is now dragging the Commissioner for Public Employment into his murky fantasies by somehow saying that this is a cover up. There was a mistake made in the recording of the separation and that has now been corrected as a voluntary separation.
Mr Elferink: No. Termination by employer. Ring him again, Mr Kirwan. Termination by employer.
Mr Baldwin: Ring him again, Mr Kirwan. Termination by employer.
Mr HENDERSON: I have no idea why the members opposite would seek to attack, in this House, a man who has served his profession for 30 years by saying he has been sacked.
Mr Elferink: I am not attacking him, I am attacking you - you.
Mr HENDERSON: He has not been sacked! Here are the words of Mr Pepper. Mr Pepper said that his resignation, contrary to assertions by some fire association members - and yes, he had a difficulty. There were big problems in the fire service. It is not a case of jumping before he was pushed; it was because he did not want to publicise the nature of his illness, but said there was no treatment for it.
I will take the word of Mr Pepper over the word of the member for Macdonnell any day of the week. His attack continues tonight, as well as this morning, not only to the integrity of the then Chief Fire Officer in the Northern Territory, but to the Police Commissioner as well, who has been under siege from the opposition since the day he was appointed to the position of Police Commissioner in the Northern Territory. The member for Macdonnell, in response to the report this morning, asserted that the Police Commissioner had neglected the fire service, that he had his eye off the ball whilst he was implementing O’Sullivan, and that Mr Pepper had to take the fall for the Police Commissioner. Absolute rot!
The reason the fire service was in the position that it was in, regarding a culture of animosity and extreme antagonism between the work force and the management, was because of years of neglect of the problem by the previous administration, who did nothing to lift a finger ...
Members interjecting.
Mr HENDERSON: If you read the report, it states that the issues besetting the fire service had gone back over a decade. We have been in government for just over two-and-a-half years, and have concluded an independent review into the fire service that has been embraced. It just shows how out of touch the members opposite are, that they obviously have not spoken to serving fire fighters who believe that this report - unlike previous reports that were commissioned that were never implemented, and not a single cent put towards the implementation - has been the best thing that has happened to the fire service.
They have seen the government’s commitment of $2.5m to address the problem, and management and the work force coming together with a new Acting Chief Fire Officer to resolve the issues, with government finally recognising the extent of the problems.
Instead of getting up and applauding the fire service for putting itself on the line, on the record, saying: ‘We have major problems’, and having the courage to talk to an independent review team and have all of the dirty washing put out into the public domain, with a real plan to move forward, if the shadow minister had been doing his job properly and he would have actually rung a few people within the fire service, they would have told him: ‘This is a great report. We are really pleased with the government’s commitment and really pleased with our new chief executive office, and are absolutely pleased with the way things are heading’. He could have stood up in here and today and said: ‘Well, this is a great day for the fire service; let us move forward and put it behind us’.
But no, he stood up and attacked the reputation of a man who has served firefighting for 30 years - attacked the reputation of a firefighter, alleging that he had been sacked. The only reason I would have, as a minister for a department, to sack anybody would be because of their incompetence or negligence in doing their job. He was …
Mr Dunham: You do not even know your role. You are not allowed to sack anyone. Separation of powers, you goose! You cannot sack anybody, except your own staff in your own office.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Drysdale, order!
Mr HENDERSON: The member for Drysdale really is the most rude and arrogant member of this House. The allegation was that Mr Pepper had been sacked. For somebody to be sacked that would be …
Members interjecting.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Mr HENDERSON: That would be because somehow Mr Pepper was incompetent, not up to the job. It was a real slur on the character of the man when, on the public record, from the very man that he seeks to attack, Mr Pepper has stated that the reason for his retirement is ill health, the nature and condition of illness that there was no treatment for. Not only is he trying to attack me somehow, he is attacking directly the word of a man who has serviced with distinction, fire fighting Australia for 33 years. Well, members of the fire service are going to hear about this attack on somebody from their profession because he really has gone off half-cocked this time. And I urge the member for Macdonnell in future debates in this House to stand up and apologise to Mr Pepper, a man who served fire fighting in Australia for 30 years with absolute distinction and put on the record his apology for such a scurrilous attack.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, just before I start, I know Hansard sometimes complains about my lack of clarity when I speak, so I would just like to mention to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure that what is written in Hansard today relating to the question I asked you is not the science policy, it is the signs policy. There is quite a bit of difference there, so when reading that, minister, you might take note that I was referring to road signs.
I would like to speak on two subjects if I have time. The first one is the 33 storey building that is being proposed for the Darwin CBD. It surprises me that the government has come out strongly about heights of buildings – four storey buildings, now three storey buildings. Martin Jarvis produced a petition relating to the height of a certain building in Coconut Grove, and I say fair enough. Some of those issues need to be looked at. In fact, one thing that we ought to do is look at the land use objectives for the northern suburbs, or produce land use objectives for the northern suburbs.
Be that as it may, what surprises me is that the government is saying, look these buildings are too high, we should reduce them. Yet we produce the tallest building in Darwin ever, a 33 storey building to the maximum height allowed, and we have the Chief Minister saying what a great thing for the economy. Yesterday, we had the Northern Territory News bringing out an editorial saying exactly the same thing. What worries me is that people just say, ‘Huh, 33 storey building, great for the economy, thank you, build it, goodbye’. How silly are we? Isn’t it our job to look at something like that, the biggest project in Darwin ever, and say, ‘Let us look at it and see what effect it will have, what is the building that is being designed, where is it being designed, how many people will live in that building, and what effect will it have on the Darwin CBD?’ And yet, none of that has come out. It just said, build it, it is good for the economy.
Mr Baldwin: No, hang on. It has not been through the DCA yet.
Mr WOOD: Well, it is pretty well - you read yesterday’s editorial in the NT News.
Mr Baldwin: It has not been through the DCA yet.
Mr WOOD: Yes, it has. I have been to a meeting with DCA.
Mr Baldwin: Yes, but they have not made their recommendation.
Mr WOOD: Well, I am putting my two bobs worth through now. The problem with this building is that it sits on four house blocks, those on the corner of Knuckey, McMinn and Gardiner Streets. Gardiner Street has a nine metre wide bitumen surface. You can put two cars down the side and one in the middle. It is going to have a building on it which will take 400 people, so you can imagine how many cars are going to come out of this skyscraper onto this tiny little strip of bitumen. Probably about 800 cars if you take each person has two cars and they go maybe once a day, more likely twice a day.
Mr Dunham: Each person has two cars?
Mr WOOD: Well, a householder has two cars. Member for Drysdale, I will have to explain that there is about a 100 four bedroom houses in this building, or three bedroom houses in this building. I imagine there is going to be some families living here.
So, we have a building that is going to sit on a very small road, not designed for skyscraper, designed for the suburbs of Darwin about pre-war, and yet, here we are developing this huge skyscraper. Besides that, we are going to have a five storeys’ high car park. That is 36 metres of car park above Knuckey Street. How are they going to cover the car park? They are going to use louvres similar to the TIO building so when you walk down Knuckey Street, because the car park is going to be flush with the boundary of Knuckey and McMinn Streets and the boundary of the house next door, you will get five storeys of louvres.
Now, if that is architecturally pleasant, I will eat my hat. Shouldn’t we be constructing buildings that will stand the test of time architecturally, not just stand the test of time from an engineering point of view? You go to Adelaide or Melbourne and look at some of the buildings that we admire. They have open space around them, they have architectural merit. Do you think five metres of louvres has architectural merit? I doubt it.
For some reason, we do not seem to be concerned about it. You would think that if you were going to put 400 people in a suburb, you would require open space. You would probably build enough open space to have a football oval, yet we are putting 400 people on four house blocks and the open space is on the fifth floor. Part of that fifth floor will be private because there will be some residences and offices as well. Here are 400 people with little bits of shade on the fifth floor.
I would like to see some leadership from the government on this. I do not have a problem with a 33-storey building, but I have problem with people not standing up and saying: ‘If we are going to do this, let’s make it worth admiring. Let’s make it so that future residents of Darwin will say: “What a grand building, how well planned it was, how distinctive it was, how spaced it was. What a fine piece of architecture”.’ All we will see is five storeys of louvres with another 28 storeys stuck above it. Now that is really going to look good. The only landscape on this building is in Gardiner Street and the only reason you have landscaping on Gardiner Street is because they have to set it back slightly to allow cars to turn underneath into the car park. That is the only reason.
If we are fair dinkum about planning, we need to look at the bigger picture. Would you normally build a 33-storey building on a tiny little street like Lindsay Street? Or would you say: ‘Sorry, you cannot build there or else you are going to have widen Gardiner Street to a 20 to 30 metre wide road’?
But we are going to use the planning of the 1940s and apply buildings of this century to that design. We are going to leave ourselves an enormous legacy. If you look carefully at the blocks of land for which this building is proposed, there are four other lots of four house blocks that could be built. You could put another three 33-storey buildings with 400 people in them. What does that give you? That gives you about 1600 people on four house blocks in Darwin. That is the potential. Once you set the precedent for this one, surely no Development Consent Authority would knock the rest back.
I believe the government should be proactive in commenting on this building not because it says it should be built, but it should look carefully at the design to see what effect this will have on the future look of our city.
I went to the Development Consent Authority hearing and the Chairman said: ‘This is the biggest project ever in Darwin’. And people just say: ‘Oh great’. Surely it requires a little bit more thought than that. You know, 14 days to comment on a 33-storey building! I reckon we need a lot more time and in fact there probably should have been an EIS on it because it will have an effect. It is not a high rise office block; it is a high rise residential block. The worst thing we can do is let these things go past without any comment, without any care. The danger you have is that if you do not look at these building sufficiently, you will end up with a slum.
If you lived in Melbourne and you saw the high rise Housing Commission houses many years ago, you would have said: ‘Well, they’re great, look at that. Wow!’
Mr Kiely: They won architectural awards.
Mr WOOD: Oh, yes! Why are they pulling them down? Because they turned into slums. That was a sad thing. People were just locked up in them and they did not have anything to do.
We have to be careful that if we are going to design tall buildings that take a lot of people, there has to be open space. There have to be places that people can enjoy when you construct a building like this in the CBD. That is the one issue that I would like the government to at least look a little bit more carefully. I do not know whether it is too late, because I am not sure at what stage it is at now. I know it was deferred, but I would like the minister to at least take into consideration some of those comments. I am not against development and I believe Darwin city certainly needs development, but let us do it carefully.
The second issue, and I might have spoken about some of this before, is that once again, Anzac Day is coming up soon and we will have our Anzac Day cricket match, which is the Litchfield President’s XI versus the Army. We now have a new trophy for it, which is called the Vic Borowicki Trophy. For those of you who do not know, Vic Borowicki was the bloke who built the cricket pitch down near Strauss Airstrip during World War II. The Army has put together a big brass tank shell, mounted it, put the various engravings at the base of it, and we now have a trophy that we can use each Anzac Day called the Vic Borowicki Trophy.
On top of that, this year is special because, just before Christmas I was able to contact the niece and grand-niece of Captain Al Strauss. Captain Al Strauss was the pilot who was shot down over Fannie Bay, whom the 27 mile airstrip was then named after, and that is where you get Strauss Airstrip. They are coming from Ohio specifically for the Anzac Day cricket match and are arriving here on 24 April. I am going to try to cram in as much as possible in the four days they are here. They do not know it yet, but we are having a plaque made up for them at the Anzac cricket ground and they will unveil that plaque. Noelene Trinne is learning the American National Anthem, and we are going to sing both national anthems and raise both flags. It is really important that we do not forget that quite a few American pilots were shot down and killed defending our coast.
It will be a great day. I know they are already a bit emotional about coming out from America. They said to me, and all our correspondence has been by e-mail, that their grandfather and their uncle, who was Strauss’ brother and who was also a pilot, always wanted to come out and see where their brother, or where their uncle, was killed. So, for them, it is something they have wanted to do.
The two people coming out are Judith Green, who is the niece, her mother is still alive, and Paden Green, who is the daughter. Judith Green is a teacher. Through the minister for education, she will also be speaking to some people here; she is doing a Masters Degree in Educational Administration and she wanted to talk to some teachers about looking after students who have problems with staying at school and learning. We have arranged that as well. We also hope to take her to Taminmin High School to address the history class, as the heritage group have asked that Taminmin High School adopt Strauss Airstrip now to help with maintaining that airstrip, so that is also good.
Bob Alford is going to take them down, and I will probably go with them, to Adelaide River the next day. I only found out recently that Strauss, of course, never used the Strauss airstrip. Captain Strauss used an airstrip on the Mt Bundy turnoff, just off the Stuart Highway near Adelaide River. It did not have a name. I gather it was a temporary airstrip, and they used that as their base to fly into Darwin, using P40s, or Kitty Hawks, as they were called. They were preparing to move to the 27 Mile, and two weeks before they moved, Strauss was killed at Fannie Bay.
It is going to be an emotional time. If I have a moment, I will tell you a few things about Captain Strauss’ life. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio. He lived there until he was about 16 and then they moved to Wadesville, Indiana. He was a trumpeter, and his Dad had a small band. They used to go around and play at all the dances. Of course, this was around the Depression so I suppose they would have been trying to earn a few dollars. He studied chemistry. When he finished his degree in chemistry, it was still in the Depression, he joined the United States Army Air Force. Not long after that, he went to the Philippines, which the Japanese were attacking at that time. They moved out of there to Australia. He came to Darwin. Darwin, of course, was bombed on 19 February 1942. He was shot down on 27 April 1942 over Fannie Bay. One thing we will be doing is taking Judith Green and her daughter to Fannie Bay for tea one night. It may be an appropriate time, as the sun goes down, to throw some flowers and remember someone who most people have forgotten or never knew existed: an American Air Force pilot who came out here to fight for our country.
Mr DUNHAM (Drysdale): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I must start with congratulating the member because it has been a solo journey for the member for Nelson - not only the acknowledgement of the strip, but the heritage that he has dug up. We owe a debt of gratitude to our visitors, and I hope that their visit is a memorable one.
Back to the good news. I had the great fortune to attend the 53rd Westminster Parliamentary Seminar, from 2 to 13 March 2004. I can preface it by saying I believe that it was pretty much a life-changing experience for me. I went in the sound knowledge that I had quite a depth of ignorance about our brothers and cousins in the Commonwealth, and I return just knowing how vast that ignorance is. We tend to see parliament in Australia as something we are pretty blas about. It is really only by mixing with people from countries where they have fought for their democratic organs, and the freedoms that this place bestows on us – the freedom to assemble on behalf of the people, to have fair and open elections, and to pass laws for the benefit of our people - in Australia, that is pretty much taken for granted. We are seen by many people as one of those quaint little things that sits out there and we are not terribly cherished, often, in our own countries.
Well, for countries that have fought for it, democracy and parliaments are cherished. It was a great thing for me to attend this, and I am quite happy to put on the Parliamentary Record that I believe it was of immense benefit to me. Often, trips of this type are also seen as pretty much a jaunt, but I can say quite strongly that I believe the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is a force to be reckoned with in the world. That sounds pretty big, but in these troubled times that we have, it is a matter of making sure there are government, national, sporting, friendship, and personal bonds between nations. If you look at some of the troublesome problems in Africa, particularly with Zimbabwe, the Commonwealth has shown a leadership role. I do not mean that in a colonial sense. The African former colonial Commonwealth countries have also played an immense role in trying to sort out some of the problems in Zimbabwe. It is an easy thing for us to sit a long way away and make judgments, but it is really only by talking on a personal basis with some of the people who are involved, that one gets the notion of what happens in the world and just how lucky we are here.
There were three delegates from Australia; three from Canada; one from the Cayman Islands; one from The Gambia; two from India; a Jamaican; a Kenyan; a Malaysian; a delegate from Montserrat, a very small country; one from New Zealand; two from Nigeria; one from St Helena; two from the Republic of South Africa; and one each from Tonga, Uganda and Zambia. We were quite a mixture, and, with one exception, we were all males. It was an immense experience for all of us, and we all took something away with us, including personal friendships.
I took the opportunity while I was in the United Kingdom to look at some of the issues that impact on us. For instance, matters relating to standards in public life, and some of the things we are talking about. I also was very interested in our joint endeavours in Iraq with the UK. Often, some of the debates in the UK are fairly similar to those in Australia. I have a copy of the Hutton Report into the death of David Kelly and matters relating to the preparedness of Saddam Hussein to launch weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes and that type of stuff.
I was interested in the Upper House, which I had seen as a fairly quaint and strange beast, but I am more and more convinced that there is potentially a role for such a thing constitutionally. I am not sure that the best replica is to use the UK system which seems to be out there by itself and most nations that have tried to replicate it have been unsuccessful.
It was interesting, too, to talk to fledgling nations that have grappled with issues of constitutions and how they set them up and how they organise their affairs, and it was interesting also to socialise with many of the members, Liberal Democrats, Tories and Labour members, some of whom I would count as my friends. A couple have visited here on CPA trips and it was good to renew those acquaintances.
There will be a more fulsome report available to the parliament in the form of a record of some of our meetings and there is a series of documents that I will be leaving with the Clerk for anybody else who is as fortunate as I believe I have been in being able to attend a trip such as this.
There are definitely some lessons to learn for us here. I am not sure they derive from our Westminster tradition, interestingly. I think we have to look to other Commonwealth countries and often some of the smaller countries offer us lessons that may differ markedly from the UK, but nonetheless derive in the Westminster tradition.
Earlier tonight, there was a thank you for Colin and Mary Dyer. Colin worked in my office when I was Health minister and I have known Colin and Mary for some time. I was interested the minister left out the fact that with his great Labor credentials that he was formerly a president in the Northern Territory of the Labor Party and he was a man who paraded his credentials quite openly. I think he calls himself a Trotskyist but he is certainly an old style of Labor politician. One of the ironies for this government must be that having achieved government, to have the people, the foot soldiers like Colin Dyer out there for decades fighting for it, why he would choose to go after two years. And that is an issue that you must mull over. If you have hungered and been passionate about obtaining government, why is that the true believers like Colin Dyer, when you have attained it, and when he has worked at the pinnacle, he has worked on this building on the fifth floor have chosen to depart?
It could be the great prize that was out there, the great glittering prize, when they see it for what it is, there is some disappointment that associates with that. Maybe that is a matter for an exit interview or a conversation with Colin at some later time. I wish him well and his wife, Mary, who also worked on my staff.
Dr Burns interjecting.
Mr DUNHAM: And – the what? I missed the interjection. I wish them both well and their two daughters who are great Territorians and very intelligent ladies. I thank them for the work that they both did within the health system.
I have some time now to turn to a third subject and that is a discussion this morning at Question Time by Dr Burns, where he was talking about how people are concerned about a building in Coconut Grove, because they were concerned about traffic, parking, privacy, noise, overshadowing and overlooking. He came in here with his cape on and said: ‘I’ll fix this, there will be no four storey buildings there; there will only be three storey ones’.
I wonder if he has gone back to those 500 people who signed that petition and told them that he fixed it: you have three quarters of the traffic, three quarters of parking problem, three quarters of the privacy issues, three quarters of the noise issue, same overshadow and same overlooking. For him to parade in here and demonstrate his great pride by saying he was proud to sign his name on the document, I think maybe he should go back and see whether the solution he had is something that gets universal acclaim and applaud when he goes to barbeques.
It was unfortunate that in the course of that debate, he chose to say that he had nothing but contempt for the member for Drysdale, and it is something I should answer because I would hate something like this to remain on the record unanswered in the event that people think that silence is consent. He said, and I quote:
- He is the local member. We all remember the twin towers over at Bayview Haven - residents up in arms. The silence
from the member for Drysdale was absolutely deafening.
I am sure if he went to the records of minutes that were taken for a public meeting about this, he will find that not only was I in attendance, but I spoke against the eight floors. It does not do him well, and it is an immensely cowardly thing for him to do to come in here, as a coward, and make allegations of that type, which are untrue.
I now turn to other cowardice. We have the Minister for Police, Fire and Emergency Services berating one of my colleagues for choosing to debate an issue that he was unable to debate in the normal processes of this parliament. I ask members to consider that. If there is a report coming down, let us have the debate out in the open so that we can talk about matters like this. The issue of cowardice and hiding is to have a quick grab and not provide capacity for any rebuttal. If there was to be any allegations and finger pointing about who the cowards are in this place and who is cowardly…
Mr KIELY: A point of order, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker. I think you will find in standing orders that we are not allowed to use such terminology here, but the ruling …
Mr DUNHAM: No, you can. It has been allowed.
Mr KIELY: Do you mind? Mr Acting Deputy Speaker …
Mr Baldwin: What number order is it?
Mr KIELY: Sixty-two. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, the earlier ruling was in relation to the words ‘cowardly action’, ‘cowardly’ being the adjective. The member for Drysdale is using it as a noun. You are inferring that people are cowards and you are saying ‘coward’.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I ask that the member for Drysdale withdraw those comments because he is being a bit smart and smarmy, something for which he is renowned.
Mr DUNHAM: I withdraw the noun. Sit down, you cowardly man. Now, the problem we have …
Mr KIELY: A point of order! Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, would you rule on that, please?
Members interjecting.
Mr ACTING DEPUTY SPEAKER: Could we have some order, please.
Mr DUNHAM: He has made a ruling. Stop being so cowardly.
The problem we have here, Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, is that the minister, when he was questioned about something that he could easily have introduced for debate, has chosen to go out and run on some little ranting thing and personally attack the member who raised this. He has an easy remedy, which is to use this House as it was designed: to have debates on reports that come before us, on matters that come to our attention, and to be open and transparent, dare I say.
With those few words, I bid you goodnight.
Mrs AAGAARD (Nightcliff): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, first, I would like to add my thanks to Colin and Mary Dyer, to Colin for his work both in the Department of Health and Community Services and he also worked for me for about a year. I would like to put on the record the thanks of those of us on this side of the House for his work with the Australian Labor Party. He was president for a long time and has been involved with many campaigns over a very long time. He was made a Life Member of the Labor Party at the last NT conference, and is someone who we are all very proud to know on this side of the House.
In relation to Colin leaving the department, it is a bit sad that the member for Drysdale has decided to suggest that he wants to leave because of problems with the government. I am very aware that he is a Commonwealth superannuant and, as you would be aware, Commonwealth superannuants need to leave by a particular date in order receive the maximum payout. I am sorry that I have to add that when I am wishing Colin and Mary best wishes for their future and a happy life with their two daughters.
Tonight, I recognise the career of Mr Tad Henry, the Assistant Principal of Nightcliff Primary School, who retired on 19 March 2004. Tad, who would be known to many members of this House, had been the Assistant Principal at Nightcliff Primary School since 1992. Tad was an inspiring teacher and influence on students, and a loyal and decent colleague and friend and counsellor to many parents who have passed through the Nightcliff Primary School.
His popularity was evidenced by the huge turnout at his farewell, with sincere and emotional musical and gift presentations by students and staff, both current and past. It was my pleasure to represent the parent community at the farewell. It was a real pleasure to see so many teachers and principals who had been at the school over the last few years also in attendance. I was particularly happy to see Shirley Nirrpuranydji, who is the principal of Gapuwiyak School and had come in specially for the event; former principal, Warwick Otley; Steve Marshall, who is acting on higher duties at the moment in the Department of Education; Wally Mauger, John Britton, Rob Preswell, Greg Jarvis and Brian Bennett, the current acting principal of the school, as well as past teachers such as Mark Bennett.
Tad grew up as Terrence John Henry, a fact that nobody in the school community actually knew. As a kid, Tad grew up in a carefree existence at Mullumbimby in New South Wales. It was there that he developed a taste for bananas and a love for the bush. A radical at school, he was many times reprimanded and caned for rebellious deeds. With a twinkle in his eye, he often recounted stories of his school days with students as examples of what not to do at school. However, school and teaching must have left positive impressions with Tad because, after completing high school, he decided to become a teacher. Following his teacher training in Newcastle, New South Wales from 1968 to 1970, Tad taught tech studies, physics and industrial arts in New South Wales high schools for five years. Rumour has it that Tad was asked to move on from one outback western New South Wales town by the local mayor because he was pursuing the mayor’s daughter.
Travel and adventure followed. Private enterprise included a driving business in Nelsons Bay, exporting abalone and sea urchins. Tad came to the Northern Territory after Cyclone Tracy and began a buffalo catching and bull shooting business in eastern Arnhem Land for five years. During this time, he developed a great rapport with the Aboriginal people and knowledge of their customs and culture. Tad is an experienced bushman and a creative expert at working with wood.
A desire to work with the Aboriginal people led him to return to teaching in 1983, when he joined the Northern Territory teaching service. His career highlights include: he was an adult educator at the end of 1982 in the NT Correctional Centre; he was a teacher and senior teacher from 1983 to 1985 at Angurugu on Groote Eylandt at the CEC; he was the principal in 1985 at Milikapiti on Melville Island; and from 1986 to 1992, he was the principal at Gapuwiyak. At Gapuwiyak, Tad was affectionately known as the ‘white knight’, as he was always dressed in a white shirt and white trousers. As principal, he is remembered for the energy and effort he put into Aboriginal projects, in particular, his support and promotion of Aboriginal leadership in schools. He mentored Shirley Nirrpuranydji, the current principal at Gapuwiyak. He has been the assistant principal from 1992 until he retired last week at the Nightcliff Primary School.
Throughout his career, Tad has shown a great capacity to care for people, particularly kids in indigenous communities. People are at the heart of all he does. Many have experienced his generosity, his broad shoulders to cry on, his ready listening ear and practical advice gained from a wealth of experience.
Tad will be remembered for his overall passion for his job, his sense of humour, his readiness to tell a joke, to lend a hand and help - a great professional who will be missed by all. One of Tad’s iconic expressions was, when answering the Nightcliff Primary School phone, ‘Welcome to sunny Nightcliff Primary School’. Nightcliff Primary School will be a little less sunny without Tad. Enjoy your retirement, Tad, have a rest and we look forward to hearing of your new adventures in the years to come.
Members: Hear, hear!
Mr BONSON (Millner): Mr Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight to talk about the recent football finals, and in particular the Nightcliff Football Club and the magnificent effort they put into the 2003-04 season. As you would know, the grand final was held on Saturday between St Mary’s and Nightcliff Football Club. The St Mary’s Football Club was victorious by 19 points, however, the Nightcliff Football Club did themselves proud and made a committed effort. This was recognised by the senior coach of St Mary’s Football Club, Damian Hale.
I have before me a publication called The Tigers Footy News – The Grand Final Edition. Many people would know that the Nightcliff footy club has been around for many, many years, and my family has been involved in the football club as committee people, general helpers, fundraisers, players and coaches.
Nightcliff Football Club is sponsored by a number of great sponsors, and I know that the president, Brian Hood, would appreciate me identifying those people and businesses. In particular, the All Financial Services, OAMPS, Arafura Crash Repairs, Crystal Clean Car Wash, Darwin Mitsubishi, Europcar, Glenford Tools, Grassgrowers, Insulation Solutions, Minolta Darwin, TechChips, U-Cart Concrete, Darwin Motorcycle Wreckers, Darwin Squash Centre, Flightpath Golf, Gibbsy’s Autos, Nightcliff Newsagency, Nightcliff Sports Club, Northern Power Services, Planet Tenpin, Roofmasters, Savvas Footwear, and the Cricket and Football Shop. Without club sponsors, it is well known that football clubs and other community groups would struggle. Therefore, they should be congratulated for putting something back into the community and, no doubt, all Nightcliff supporters and other community members patronise these great sponsors.
In the Tigers Footy News grand final edition - it is a unique newsletter - it does a fantastic job of congratulating everyone in the Nightcliff club who puts in an effort. It has Magic’s analysis. Of course, Magic is none other than Michael McLean who, in the last three years has been coaching Nightcliff Football Club after returning from the Brisbane Lions and the Western Bulldogs and a distinguished career in the AFL. He has led Nightcliff Football Club to three final appearances and two grand final appearances out of three. No doubt, next year, third time lucky in his eyes. He is very down at the moment, but there is no doubt in my mind that he is a very positive-thinking human being, and he will recover and make sure that Nightcliff will give it their best shot next year.
The reserve grade coach is Robbie Corrie. Coaching staff includes Ben Harris, Marty Bell, Arlen Kennedy and Marshall Adams. Junior coaches include Nathan Wills, David Peris, Gavin Johns, and Costa Kroess. Team manager is Paul Beleile, Darrin Molloy is the reserve’s team manager, Russel Wills Under-18s, Jeff Perule Under-16s. The medical staff include Sharon Williams, Joanne Leyshon, Louisa Watson, Cindy Marrett and Michael Thompson. Best and fairest for the club during the year include: the reserves best and fairest was David Small and runner-up was Brad Ryan; best team man was Mark Piggin; best utility, Jeff Harvey; most improved, Jamie Adams; most courageous, Gowan Bush; coach’s trophy, Craig Brownlow.
Best for the League team was Warren Berto, who was unfortunately suspended from the grand final but the Berto family is synonymous with football in the Northern Territory and, no doubt, he was sorely missed in the grand final for the Nightcliff Football Club. Runner-up was Shannon Rusca, ex-Brisbane Lions/Western Bulldogs player, now playing for the Nightcliff Tigers. Best team man was Daniel Harris; most courageous was Bill Feeney; best utility, Brendan Bailey; best forward, Rohan Bonson, a player who travels approximately 400 km one-way trip from Barunga to play football here in Darwin. He is an outstanding talented and, if he has the mental strength, nothing will stop him from going further than the competition in the Northern Territory. He took a fantastic mark over an ex-AFL player, Reuben Butheris, which brought the house down. It was a classical high-flyer in the grand final. Well done. Best defender was John Bonson; most improved, Martin Corrie; coach’s trophy, Mark Durfen.
Europcar young player of the year was Ron Ah Fat and Jonathon Peris. I have not had the honour of watching him play yet, but my sources say that Ron Ah Fat is somebody we should be watching out for in the next few years. He is an Under-16 player and he kicks the ball left and right 60 m. He is someone who gets regularly tagged in the Under-16s competition. The Spirit of the Tiger, the Mabel Griffin Award, was given to Paul Beleile and Peter Leyshon. The grand final was held at the Nightcliff Sports Club. It was a fantastic night. There were a good 400 or 500 people attending, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Brian Hood, President of the Nightcliff Football Club deserves special thanks. He has been a tireless worker for between eight and 10 years, along with his wife, Chicky Hatch. They work very hard. Anyone who has been involved in such community groups realises that you are only as strong as your committee and they deserve all the thanks they can get. On that committee is Dean Scott-Toms – I know he is a passionate Tigers’ supporter, but not only that, he is a passionate football supporter. He loves football in the Territory and what it means and he really has an interest in the young players and improving their ability to go away down south. Pam Watson and Norm Watson do a fabulous job behind the scenes, working tirelessly with juniors and seniors. They deserve all the credit and respect that they have at the Nightcliff Football Club. Andy Hills, also known as the ‘Raffle Man’; Peter Leyshon, the social man; Geoff Borella, the juniors’ man; Glen Nicholson, the marker man; and Darrin Molloy, just a madman. Mick Hebron deserves recognition as well. It is the first time he has been on the committee. He is an ex-player and someone who has a real love for the Nightcliff Football Club.
Thanks also go to the runners, Arlen Kennedy, Glen Humphrey, and Ron and Robbie; timekeeper, Chicky Hatch; for sports medicine we mention Joanne Leyshon, Cindy Marrett, Michael Thompson, Louisa Watson and Sharon Williams.
It was a fantastic effort by the Nightcliff Football Club. They work very hard in their community. They put a lot of effort into their Under-14s, Under-16s and Under-18s. I have seen a change from just being interested in the Nightcliff Football Club to what is best for the competition. I have had long conversations with the president of the Nightcliff Football Club, Brian Hood. He is passionate about his football. He is very passionate about the best interests of all young footballers in the Territory. I know his recent background is very similar to mine, in the fact that it is not always about the guys going to the AFL – we will get two or three of those boys drafted every second year. Aussie Rules in the community is all about the other 500 to 1000 people involved at the local level and what they put into the community. The Acting Deputy Speaker would understand what a powerful effect it has in Tennant Creek and in Katherine and in Alice Springs.
I look forward to working with Michael McLean, Mark Motlop and Brian Hood on some ideas to help improve the lifestyles of some of these footballers and encourage them to not only go through football, but the education side of things, and also employment. Employment is a big issue for some of these young Territorians. The effect football can have is shown through examples like young Rowan Bonson, Wayne Runyu and Dwayne Rogers. They travel, as I said, 400 or 500 kilometres one way. They are assisted by the Barunga and Katherine communities; they make the effort to be part of football in Darwin and they deserve the attention once they get here, to possibly go through further education and an opportunity to go further in football. But definitely, just to spread the word of what football can do for themselves and their communities.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I congratulate the Nightcliff Football Club on the year that they had in 2003-04 and I am sure they can go one step further in 2004-05.
Mrs BRAHAM (Braitling): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I rise tonight to pass on my thanks to the Minister for Lands and Planning for his assistance in making a family very, very happy in Alice Springs. I am referring to the Orr family. The minister has confirmed that the overpass north of Alice Springs will be commemorated for James Branson Orr.
Mr Orr served in both World Wars and worked with the Commonwealth Railways in the Northern Territory from 1929 until 1941. He was involved in the arrival of the first Ghan at Stuart, as Alice Springs was then known.
I thank the minister for his assistance. The Orr family wrote to me some few years ago to see if they could have a street named after their grandfather, but unfortunately, as we all know, we have not had any new streets in Alice Springs in recent times so although it was a worthy name to be commemorated, it has not been possible. However, with the building of the railway line to the north of Alice Springs, it has opened up opportunities and there is a wonderful overpass where you can see the line go north and south. The Orr family then came and asked if it was possible for the overpass, which is a Transport and Works road, to be named after their grandfather.
James Branson Orr was born in September 1892 in Brisbane. It is interesting that he served in both World Wars I and II. I was reflecting upon that when I was listening to the member for Nelson because we sometimes forget the people who fought for Australia so long ago. This gentleman enlisted in 1914 and served with 3 Field Company, the Australian Engineers, at Gallipoli, in Egypt and in France. He was wounded in action in France and evacuated to England in 1918. Eventually, he was discharged from the Army in January 1919, having been awarded the Military Medal.
The Military Medal was awarded to James for going to the assistance during heavy shell fire of his Section Officer who had been wounded. He was later to receive the 1914 Star, British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the ANZAC Commemorative Medal. The notation that was the recommendation for him to receive the Military Medal stated:
- During the operation on 5 October 1917, he was one of the party engaged on a strong point and, by his
cheerfulness and devotion to duty, set a fine example to all. When his Section Officer was wounded, he
went to his assistance through heavy shell fire. He did splendid work throughout.
That is what his Commanding Officer said, and that is why he was awarded the Military Medal.
When World War I was over, James Orr joined Commonwealth Railways in October 1926 and was appointed Train Examiner to the Northern Territory in January 1929. He was in Alice Springs when the first Ghan arrived that August. It is recorded on the plaque at the Ghan Preservation Society Museum that Mr James Orr was the Train Examiner. He worked with Commonwealth Railways until 1941. It was interesting that his duties as a Train Examiner in those days included examining hot boxes, correct couplings and the air supply from the locomotive to the guard’s van, and ensuring that all the loading was secured. He was also responsible for the loading of coal onto the tenders, watering, firing up locos and having them ready for duties. Other duties included being responsible for the water supply for locomotives at Alice Springs and Bundoona, which is a water siding approximately 140 km south of Alice Springs.
James Orr’s involvement for a long period of time in Alice Springs in making sure the Ghan was outfitted and ready to return to Adelaide was an important part of our history. It was obviously very hard work on these steam engines.
Interestingly, in 1942, he joined the Australian Citizens Military Force and served as a Private with 16 Garrison Battalion and 11 Garrison until he was discharged in July 1943. He was awarded the War Medal and the Australian Service Medal for his service during World War II. When you think about it, it is quite an achievement to have served in both World Wars.
He died in 1975, and is survived by his son Kirkland Orr, or Lucky Orr as we call him, who currently lives in Alice Springs, and his daughter Deidre, who lives in Sydney.
It is sometimes difficult for us to remember all those pioneers that did different things in the Territory. This is one way we can commemorate someone who was involved in the Ghan and the Commonwealth Railways at the time, and obviously contributed greatly to Central Australia.
I thank the minister very much for his consideration of this matter and the fact that he has approved it. It has made a family very, very happy. Obviously, the children are getting on in years now. They are not young ones, so for them to have their father commemorated, and Transport and Works informs me that when all is prepared and the sign is ready, we hope the minister will come to Alice Springs and make sure he is there for the unveiling of that sign on the overpass.
Ms CARTER (Port Darwin): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, members of this House and Territorians generally will recall the hoopla with which Labor celebrated the birth of their Freedom of Information legislation. I am going to speak about that tonight with regards to the areas of Health and Community Services, and it may take me longer than the 15 minutes I am allocated, so I will split it over a couple of nights.
Freedom of information took its first tentative steps on 1 July 2003 and, from my reckoning, promptly sat down on its bottom and has stayed there ever since. It is worth refreshing our memories as to the glowing introduction the Information Act, which is the official term for the freedom of information act, was given by the Attorney-General and now Health minister when he gave his second reading speech, and I quote:
The government is pleased to put in place another pillar of our good government strategy, the Information Bill.
Good government requires openness and accountability. It requires that democratic institutions are protected and
not undermined. It requires that the public has continuing confidence in the operation of government, confidence
which is supported by the ability to scrutinise and participate in decision-making.
Sounds lovely, does it not? But as we know, as Labor settled in to their first ever experience of being in government, they soon decided that the last thing they wanted to deliver was open and accountable government. They quickly started to devise ways of reducing openness. Labor has not matured into government. They resent the reality of a strong opposition, and in their fear, they take every opportunity to deny the people of the Northern Territory the very thing they promised, an open and accountable government. They cannot accept, now that they are in government, the valid role of opposition. That is, to hold them accountable for their actions on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory.
The opposition was keen to test the Attorney-General’s freedom of information legislation to see if it could be used to fill information gaps. We applied for copies of all material prepared by each department and provided to their ministers for use in the hearings of the Estimates Committee of the Legislative Assembly held from 24 to 27 June 2003. Of course, we had to pay for it. It cost $2210.40 for the Health and Community Services documents. Of that, $50 was for somebody to find the folders of information, and $60 was for the photocopying. But in this land of open and accountable government, a whopping $2100 was chalked up to pay for somebody to decide whether or not we could have various pieces of information. It apparently took 84 hours, that is, two weeks, for each page to be checked out and, as I will shortly explain, many pages were deemed ‘top secret’.
Four months after making the request, the results arrived. We find that of the 513 pages the Department of Health and Community Services originally considered relevant to our request, a massive 209 of those pages were now considered exempt and, instead of information, we received blank pages. I seek leave to table two examples of these many blank pages.
Leave granted.
Ms CARTER: Of the remaining 300-odd pages, a large proportion were blacked out. I seek leave to table an example of a blacked-out page.
Leave granted.
Ms CARTER: Also, at the beginning of each of the three folders, the index had the major items not provided: blacked-out, etcetera. Here is an example of one of the folders. You can see how the indexed words have been substantially blacked out. This index refers to aged and disability services, acute services which are hospital services, generally, for example. I seek leave to table the copies of those.
Leave granted.
Ms CARTER: Naturally, I do not know what has been hidden, but you can assume that it is important. All this cover-up demonstrates to me is a Health department in big trouble - so much trouble that, shortly after we received this documentation, the then Minister for Health and Community Services, the member for Nightcliff, was unceremoniously dumped by the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister told Territorians the reason the then minister was dumped was because she could not communicate all the good news stories there are in health to the public. What a joke! What the Chief Minister meant was that the member for Nightcliff was not good enough at covering up all the problems and spinning stories as well as the Minister for Business and Industry does when he talks about our ‘gangbuster economy’. Therefore, the poor old member for Nightcliff got the boot, and now we have the overstretched member for Stuart picking up Health - and he is not too sure how long he will last. No wonder he said to the media the day he was forced to take the Health portfolio: ‘I suppose it is the first time in my life I have ever had a health problem’. I bet he and many others have been kicking him ever since for that moment of clear honesty.
It is a shame that the level of openness cannot be reflected in the implementation of his Information Act, because we do know there are problems in Health. We have a lack of doctors - for example, anaesthetists - in Alice Springs; a lack of dentists; a lack of nurses - for example, at the Palmerston Community Health Centre; a lack of hospital beds; violence towards staff; a lack of repairs and maintenance of equipment and buildings; cuts to community health centres such as the closure of the Mitchell Street Centre last year; the child protection mess; and a lack of services in the area of mental health - and so the list goes on. Refusing to provide pages and blacking out information does not make the problem go away; it just makes people like me suspicious.
Mental health is an important issue in the Territory. It is an area of need, and the government should allow proper scrutiny of its actions in this area. I am going to use it as an example, because it picks up on both hospital and community health care. I have some documents here - and I will table them shortly - with regard to mental health. These documents, and how they have been supplied to the opposition, give a graphic example of why Labor’s freedom of information legislation, delivered by the Attorney-General, is a joke. To start with, on page 30 of folder 1 - and I will turn to that - we have mental health services. Three of the six ‘hot’ issues - which is a heading, ‘hot issues’ - headings have been blacked out. What on earth could be ‘hot’ in mental health? At a guess, I would say it is overcrowding in Cowdy Ward in Darwin, where it is not uncommon for two psychiatric patients to have to share a room designed for one patient. I can tell you, because I have visited Cowdy Ward in my role as shadow Health person, they are not happy to share a room.
How about the lack of services in remote areas or the difficulty of attracted qualified mental health staff to the Northern Territory? We can only guess at what information has been withheld. If we turn to page 33 of folder 1 we learn how clever the legislation is at preventing disclosure. Here is a table setting out the explanation as to why there has been a significant variation between the 2002-03 estimate and the 2003-04 budget for mental health. Members will notice, and I will table this shortly, that one third of the table is blacked out. However, because the total for the table is provided, we can figure out what has been covered up and we can figure out that it is a spending cut of $536 000 in one particular, mysterious area. Naturally, the minister would be keen to cover that up, but what has been cut by more than half a million dollars will remain a mystery. Perhaps it was a youth suicide program, perhaps structural upgrades to inpatient accommodation, perhaps the provision of adequate staff. Why should Territorians be told?
If I go to the document provided by the department explaining the exemption, I learn that Territorians cannot know the reason for the cuts because, and I quote:
- The disclosure of the information is an interference with privacy as it contains a personal telephone number.
The disclosure of this information is not necessary to providing meaningful access to the information requested.
Its disclosure is therefore unreasonable and not in the public interest.
What it is referring to, and this is the sample I will table, is this tiny little line down the bottom of the page here where a staff member’s phone number has been blacked out. Naturally, I do not want to know that phone number, so thanks, minister, for the very detailed explanation.
But then, with regards to the rest of the censured information, the great black slabs of black, the bits we are interest in, I am directed to, and I quote ‘section 21(4)(b) of the Information Act’. That’s it. No explanation, so I have to go and have a look at the act. What does section 21(4)(b) of the Information Act say? It says, and I quote:
- (4) If it is not in the public interest for the applicant to know whether or not the remainder of the information
exists or not, the public sector organisation is not required in the notice of decision under section 20 –
(b) to give reasons for refusing access to the remainder of the information.
If you watched the previous Health and Community Services minister in the last committee process, she just read what had been prepared for her in these folders. Had I time to ask the question, she would have provided this information, so why be so secretive now?
I will finish there and continue at a later date.
Mr KIELY (Sanderson): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on 25 March, I had the great pleasure of representing the Minister for Sport and Recreation, the Honourable John Ah Kit, at the launch of the Northern Territory Under-18 Women’s Hockey Team here in Parliament House in the new Members and Guests Lounge. What a great venue that is; it is a very nice place now, with wonderful prints on the walls and wood panelling, conducive to intimate launches and gatherings of the community. Well done to the Speaker for making that area available to the team for the launch.
The great thing about the Under-18 Women’s Hockey Team is the sponsorship that it has received from the community. The naming sponsor of the team is Attitude X, which is owned by Darlene Chin. Attitude X is a local business, and it is great to see them coming to the party to look after such a young team. Darlene Chin also has Attitude for Men, and I promise to go down there and look out for my new wardrobe, and I am looking forward to that. Darlene comes from a well known, Darwin sporting family and is familiar with the rigours of representative teams. Attitude X is also responsible for the team’s Walking Out strip, which team members were parading on the night, and it looked tremendous.
There are other team sponsors. I was pleased to see that Quito Washington, a man known to many us from around the parliament, who owns the company Digital Cinema Pictures. He was offering his support to the team.
Garuda Indonesia provided a very special prize for the team, and that is two return tickets to Bali for the Player of Series. Team management and Garuda kept this under wraps prior to the launch, so I had the pleasure of making the announcement. There will be two awards: a Player of the Match and a Player of the Series. Each day, the Player of the Match will be announced and presented with a ceremonial shirt, something along the lines of the yellow daily winner’s shirt in the Tour de France, and the shirt will be passed from one player to the next. At the conclusion of the tournament, a Player of the Series will be named, and that athlete will win the two tickets as part of Garuda’s sponsorship.
It is important to note that Garuda Indonesia is getting behind local events and building up the holiday destination of Bali. They are keen to get people back there. I am keen to support them. Many people in Darwin are. It is wonderful that organisations such as Garuda are sponsoring local teams and events.
It takes a lot to prepare a team for national championships, and Team Attitude X, led by captain Symone Bell, has been under intensive training for five months in gruelling conditions: they have trained all through the Wet and they have an athlete in Alice Springs training in 40 degree temperatures there. The dedication and discipline shown by individual team members, not to mention the support of their families, is to be commended by this House.
The championships will be played at Vodafone Hockey Centre at Marrara beginning on 6 April, next Tuesday. I urge all members to get down there and have a look. On Day 1 at 6.45pm, the Northern Territory will play Queensland. On 7 April, we play Western Australia. On 8 April, we play South Australia. Friday is a rest day. On Saturday, we play Tasmania and on Sunday it is New South Wales – that should be a good game. On Tuesday 13, we play the ACT, and Wednesday 14, we play Victoria. It is a rest day on Thursday, followed by the play-offs on Friday with the final on Saturday at 8.15pm.
It would be great if members can get down there and support Team Attitude X. They do have a lot of support from around the place. Before I talk about that support, I would like to read Team Attitude X into Hansard: Symone Bell, the captain, Kirstie McKellar, vice-captain. I have known Kirstie for a number of years; she baby-sat our children and it seems I have known for an age. She is a champion young player with a great future in hockey and is a young woman with a really good focus. She has actually stretched out her Year 12 studies over a couple of years, so in fact she is doing Years 12 and 13. That is a wonderful achievement for someone to be dedicated to her sport, to be able to get their sport in, but also to realise the benefits of and value of good education, and she is well supported by her mother and father. When we talk about, as we did earlier today in the House, families and what they mean to the community and how they are our future, there is a lot to be said for that family, and, I would suggest, for all of the families here.
Emma Smith is the Alice Springs player who has been training hard during the summer months. She is vice-captain as well, so that is good. We have a Top End and Centre vice-captains. Zayley Ainslie, Tarryn Aldridge, Catherine Anstess from the famous Anstess family. They seem to pop up in everything. This family seems to excel academically and in the sporting field. Congratulations to Catherine. Jenni Gregg, Heather Langham, Kirby Lawler, who is the daughter of the Assistant Principal at Anula; it was great to see her there and being named. There is Candice and Simone Liddy, two sisters, and, you know, mum and dad must be working a fair amount of overtime for two girls on a representative side to keep them going, but, once again, that is the depth of the family support. That is really what families have to do and wherever we can get behind to support families in their endeavours to get their kids into these competitive sports, we should.
Stacey Luck, Jessica Maclean, Elissa Moy, Carmen O’Reilly, Emily Peris, Zoe Smith and Lisa Visentin. Emily Peris and Kirstie McKellar, by the way, are both Territory Pearls players, so they will bring a lot of knowledge and skill to the team, which augurs well for how we will go in the competition. That is pretty good.
This team, apart from the training that they undergo, is also heavily involved in the sports science side of it. They have been into dietary and hydration therapies, and the team is actually going to be wearing ice vests. They are taking quite a serious competitive edge and focus on this game. I believe they are really out to pull over this championship because, above all else, and apart from the skills that the two Territory’s Pearls players will be bringing to the side, they have the home ground advantage, so we look forward to seeing them really excel.
The team Head Coach is Gordon Clarke. I met him on the night. He is a great person, very committed to the team, and we wish him all the luck. The support staff are Jemima Cameron, Jason Butcher and Grant van der Ploeg. The team physio, who is also the physio for the Hockeroos – how lucky is this Under-18 side? – is Jennifer Cooke. The team Manager is someone known to a lot of us here in the House, Robyn Smith. I was speaking to Robyn today, as a matter of fact, and said that I would be mentioning the team and wishing them luck. She said: ‘Oh well, say the normal things: that I need a pay rise and all this sort of stuff’. I cannot guarantee her the pay rise, but recognition for her time and effort and her focus on community is to be commended. She certainly does put more into the community than she could possibly ever be recompensed for, I am sure of that.
I wish the team and all the support staff the best of luck. I know they will do well and, regardless of where they end up in the competition, they are going to do the Territory proud. I also commend the mothers, the fathers, the brothers, sisters, and all those in the family who support them, as well as the teachers at school and their workplaces because all these people combine to get these girls to where they are. From my conversations with them, and by the look of the girls on the night, they will be there. Good on you, Team Attitude X!
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about the advertising on this cask of port which, I should indicate to members, I have emptied - and by emptied I do not mean had the port. I have a full bladder of port sitting in my office in Alice Springs. You will not be surprised to know that I took the bladder of port out before I hopped on the plane. I wanted to bring this cask - and I will table it shortly - for members to have a look at. I have not seen advertising like this on this sort of alcohol, ever. Members, I am sure, on both sides would agree that this is offensive; it is outrageous. Tawny port, as most members will know, the evidence shows, is the most highly consumed alcohol in Tennant Creek– I see the member for Barkly, my apologies – in Alice Springs, and probably in Tennant Creek I would say.
We know that pancreatitis is a serious issue for Aboriginal people who are increasingly drinking tawny port. The manufacturer of this cask, Stanley - it is a Stanley cask - also have other casks with this sort of advertising on it although, when I went to the alcohol outlet, it is the case that not all of their products had this advertising on them. I find this absolutely outrageous and offensive, and I doubt whether there would be anyone in this House who would disagree with me.
Mr Kiely: What does it advertise?
Ms CARNEY: It is a $20 000 dash for cash. This is unlike any advertising that we see these days, in particular, on for instance, chocolate bars and so on, where you undo the wrapper and enter the competition by sending an SMS, or the manufacturer of whatever product it is invites you to go to their web site. Not this, and it is no coincidence in my view - not this. This is fill out the bottom of the form and post it back. There is no reference to SMS or a web site. In my view, this sort of advertising is specifically targeted to problem drinkers and, as a person from Alice Springs and a member of the Legislative Assembly, I would say this is specifically targetted to Aboriginal people in Central Australia, and it is absolutely disgusting.
I raised this issue last week. The Minister for Central Australia was unaware of it. I do not blame him for that. I was not aware of this until someone pointed it out to me, and I went to the grog shop and had a look. I do not tend to look, when I am buying alcohol, in the cask section, and I would not mind guessing that the minister also does not look in the cask section. However, I would urge all members to go into their local grog shops and see whether this advertising is there. There is an obligation on all of us to be very vigilant when considering the advertising on alcohol in the Northern Territory.
This is so blatant. This occupies a third of the cask; it is big glossy colour advertising of $10, $20, $50 and $100 notes. If this is not aimed at problem drinkers in Alice Springs, I do not know what is. I would find it difficult to believe that the manufacturer has a greater market anywhere in this country than Alice Springs and Central Australia generally.
I raise the issue tonight for a few reasons, one is to inform all members of the House of this issue. I very sincerely implore all members to keep an eye out for this issue. It is disgusting that this sort of advertising is allowed. I issued a press release today, I think; I have also written to the minister, I have every confidence that he would share my views about this sort of advertising.
I have called on the minister to regularly monitor the advertising of alcohol in the Northern Territory and, of course, we cannot just think about the problem drinkers in Alice Springs; we have to look at young people, teenagers, whatever the colour of their skin, we do not want this sort of advertising of alcohol in our community per se.
I would like the minister to, and I am sure he will in his letter to me, provide me with assurance that he, his staff, his department and members of his party will call into grog shops to keep an eye on this issue. I have also asked the minister to investigate the possibility of coming up with some legislation to ban this kind of advertising. I know that it could be difficult, but I implore him to at least look at it. There are many very clever people in the Department of Justice and I am sure someone can spend half a day looking at the issue. There is a strong case to ban that sort of offensive advertising. I have also called on the minister to consider writing to the manufacturer asking them to withdraw it from the market.
An article published in the Centralian Advocate today says that the minister will write to the manufacturer. Can I say, that I was very disappointed with the minister’s comments. He said that he doubted and I quote from the article:
- He would be surprised if the promotion contributed to further consumption by people already battling alcohol abuse.
Well, I am no marketing expert and I know the minister is not either and I would not mind betting that some very clever people at this company, the manufacturer, Stanley, have got together and worked out how they can possibly pull more people into drinking this product. Companies like this do not just come up with advertising of this nature in the hope that they might be able to flog a few more casks of port. They do so following a very deliberate strategy and marketing campaign. This is a deliberate campaign to target drinkers. Frankly, I am astonished that the minister would say that he is surprised if it contributes to more drinking.
Nevertheless, he said that he will write to the company asking them to withdraw the product. Happily, according to the article in the Centralian Advocate today, someone from the company said that they would be supportive of what the community wanted. He said that it is a national promotion, but if local people do not want this sort of thing then they would have another look at it and they would be supportive of that.
So, in the space of a week, I am very pleased to say that I have raised this issue and it is now on the agenda, perhaps not top of mine for all sorts of people, but I now know that the minister is aware of it, I know that he will write to the company and I know that the media has contacted the manufacturer and happily they are saying they are prepared to have a look at it. I am not sure that I could have had a better outcome in such a short period of time.
However, the fact that this manufacturer on this occasion says they will have a look at it does not mean that other manufacturers in the future will not turn their mind to this sort of disgraceful advertising. It is for that reason that I ask the minister to encourage someone in his department to have a look at the issue. If we can ban rubbish advertising like this, it would be a good outcome for everyone in the Northern Territory.
In conclusion, I really do urge all members who might not go in the cask section of their local grog shop, to all keep an eye on this. We cannot, as citizens of the Northern Territory, and in particular members of parliament, just sit by and watch this sort of garbage happen. I conclude my comments, but I would like to table the cask.
Leave granted.
Mr BALDWIN (Daly): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I would like to make some comments on the Katherine Branch of the Cattlemen’s Association’s AGM held last week. I put on record my congratulations to the outgoing chairman of that branch, Alister Trier, for doing such a great job over the last three years, and the outgoing executive. Congratulations also to the new executive elected on that day.
It was a great meeting with a big turnout of people and it was great also to see the minister there. I am sure he was in good company for the dinner that night because they are great people who come to those meetings and I am sure he felt very welcomed. I did note that the minister talked a little bit about his colleague, the minister for infrastructure and transport, in dispatches as being in Canberra lobbying hard for extra road funding, which was great to hear. However, I put on the record also a little warning to the minister: do not think for one minute you can pretend to lobby for more road funding that is forthcoming, as I understand it, that is perhaps because of the good work over the last year or so that the Cattlemen’s Association of the Northern Territory has done in regards to the next tranche of unincorporated roads funding.
The cattlemen have done a great job on that. It is something that has been top of mind, as I am sure you would know and I am sure the primary industry minister knows. They have done some serious lobbying with the federal government for quite a long time and it will be interesting to see the federal budget as far as extra money goes for road funding in those areas, particularly to do with beef roads. If there is extra money the issue is going to be how that might be applied, through what structures and how it will be administered. I wish the cattlemen every success with that.
I congratulate them for making a couple of very serious presentations on the night: one to Brian and Christine Kelly who have sold the Knotts Crossing Resort. Brian and Christine have done a fantastic job over many years in providing services to locals and tourists and, first and foremost, to the Cattlemen’s Association. They have now sold that. I extend a welcome to the new owners and the new manager who has taken over from Brian and Christine, and wish Brian and Christine all the best for their future endeavours including all of their other interests in the Northern Territory. I am sure that they will make a great success of those as they have done of Knotts Crossing for quite a number of years.
The second presentation was to Peter Blake, a CEO known to everybody in this House. Peter has been CEO of probably most departments of the Northern Territory government that are industry-affiliated departments. Peter has a long record going back to about 1978 at about the time of self-government. Peter is retiring quite soon and takes with him a great deal of corporate history and a great number of many enjoyable experiences. He has done a fantastic job. It will be sad to see him go, although he deserves to go and enjoy retirement after he takes long service leave and all the rest of it. Hopefully, government will see fit to ensure that Peter Blake gets the recognition he deserves at his forthcoming function, where the departments are putting on a celebration for him to mark that occasion.
I see Madam Speaker, by invite to all of us, has invited us to dinner on Thursday, 1 April, in the Speaker’s suite to say our farewells to Peter Blake at a formal level for the great work that he has done. He has certainly seen the Territory develop, as many of us have, over many years and been intrinsically involved in that development, and sorted through the issues in a very professional manner, certainly by providing advice to governments at a very high level for many years – good advice that has stood government in good stead, no matter what their colours. I look forward to sharing a few red wines with Peter on Thursday night to celebrate his departure in the forthcoming period.
The Research Farm at Katherine once again put on a fantastic day, Farm Day, and was well supported by Katherine businesses, and some Darwin businesses, in fact, which was good to see. Many people turned out, even though it was very wet; a few inches of rain fell the night before. Parking became a bit of a problem in the paddock they use, which is normally very dry, but we seem to be getting a normal wet season this year, and it is a good sign for farmers coming into the dry season. Congratulations to the department and all of those associated with it, particularly the businesses of Katherine that turned out to display their wares, and to all the Katherine people and Katherine regional people who turned out to support that day, which was very successful.
On another matter, I raise the issue of the Katherine school buses, which the minister for transport would be aware is an issue in Katherine. I have written to him, as has the member for Katherine, and I am sure he is aware of a number of letters and concerns of Katherine and Katherine rural people, in particular, about the changes in circumstances of the school bus runs. The minister afforded both the member for Katherine and me a briefing the other day with departmental officers who assured us that they had a process in hand to at least appreciate the issues that have come up with the change of the contract. It is not a case of the contractor in this instance being at fault. It is a whole set of circumstances that have meant that children getting on and off buses coming from schools within Katherine out to the rural area are now being dropped off at different places and circumstances have changed.
The briefing provided us with a little more information to give to those concerned. I can tell you, minister, that there have been a good number of representations. People are very concerned with what is going on. It is something that needs to be got in hand very quickly, coming to the end of the first term of school. It is something that perhaps should have been tackled prior to the beginning of the school year. I understand that the department was not aware of the operational methods of the previous contractor, which were not at fault necessarily. They took it on themselves to drop children off and pick them up at more regular points along rural roads than was deemed within the contractual arrangements. That, from many points of view in Katherine, was a good thing, because it actually meant that children were not walking long distances when they were dropped off in front of their gates and that sort of thing.
I understand that there are safety concerns; there are financial concerns with the contract. There are new contractors in place with new buses, which is great to see. Everyone is appreciative of the new buses – airconditioned buses at long last. They are bigger buses with greater capacity which, in itself, leads to problems of turning around and setting down children on the sides of roads.
However, the real issue here is that government make sure - and I made this point at the briefing and I am sure I made the point in the letter to the minister - that government has to actually go and talk to the groups of residences in all of the different rural areas which have the various issues, to understand what is it they are concerned about, because they are so many and varied, and most of them have very legitimate concerns about their children. It is not just a matter of coming to some decisions on where buses should stop. They are not just doing it on the basis of what is suitable as a benchmark in a distance from a child’s gate - a minimum distance, or whatever. Government should actually understand what the concerns of the parents are.
The test, I guess, for whether this issue gets resolved - and I can tell you today and last week, I am still getting very strong representations on this matter - is that government actually talks to parents and understands their issues when they compile the new designated bus stops. If it is not done in an appropriate way, I can tell you now that it will be an ongoing issue for you, minister, and you will have to address at some very large public meetings. I am sure you do not want to have to do that …
Dr Burns: I love public meetings.
Mr BALDWIN: If you would like to, we can certainly arrange them at any time.
We are looking forward to a very speedy resolution of these issues. One that takes into account the concerns of the parents, in particular, and that is in place in a timely manner for the next term of school. Some of the issues are well recorded in the letters that have been received by the government through either the department or directly to the minister. I am sure they will take those on board. I will await the outcome of those.
I make a mention of another issue. This is one that I seem to raise at this time every year; it is budget time. Government is putting the final touches to their budget, and I just raise the issue again of power to Wooliana in the Daly River region, one that is a promise signed off by the now Chief Minister and the candidate of the day, promising that power will be delivered to Wooliana. They have been very patient people. I am repeating a speech I make every year at this time, and sometimes in between.
Dr Burns: You never did it.
Mr BALDWIN: No, we never did it. That is right. However, you promised it, and it is a letter signed by the government. This will be one of your final opportunities to get it going and have it in place. It would be good if it is in the budget and the people of Wooliana expect it to be in the budget this year. Therefore, minister, while you are thinking about all the things you have to think about, make sure that is right at the top of your list.
While I am on you, minister, you have had representations again - and I say again not in terms of you personally, but government generically - of the issue of the causeway into Nauiyu community. It is something that has been ongoing - something that has come out of the 1998 floods, in fact: the strategy to ameliorate the concerns of Daly River and their isolation almost every Wet since the floods. The raising of the causeway from the Five Mile and also into the entrance of Nauiyu community, needs to be started on in this budget period so that next Wet Season those sections of the road have been raised. This will afford the community greater periods of access during times at the height of our Wet Season and will mean that they will have access at many more times between new year and April, so that they can live their lives in a normal way that we would all expect with access for all of the services that are available to them.
Minister, I await that and also I wait for some answers from last sittings with regard with to adjournment speeches. So, get on with it.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I was once again pleased to visit Alice Springs earlier this month where I met with many involved in the transport and construction sectors and also caught up with the developments on some of the major projects and initiatives in the Centre.
The availability of land was one of the key issues raised by people from the construction industry when I met with them in Alice Springs. I am very pleased with the success of negotiations over Larapinta.
Amongst the projects that I also visited, I was very pleased to meet with the developers of Westy’s sporting club, Viv and Craig Oldfield and their partners, and see their plans for what is sure to be a great facility for the people who live in the Gillen area. I enjoyed a beer with the Oldfields and they are great hosts. I wish them well in revitalising Wests Sport Club.
Another very enjoyable visit was to the National Transport Hall of Fame. I thank Peter Mostran, Russ Driver and Liz Martin for giving me the grand tour of this wonderful facility. It is a great attraction in the town and exhibits the trucks and transport so important in opening up the Territory. They are a very important part of our history and they are also a very great tourist attraction. I commend the hard work put in by that committee and particularly Liz Martin who I can see has been a fantastic driving force for that Hall of Fame over many years. It has all been accomplished by volunteers, some support from government in the past, but business community and quite large sponsors like Shell and Kenworth have really got behind this project. It was just great to see some of the very rare exhibits there and some of the personalities that have really shaped the transport industry in the Northern Territory.
I will confess to being a bit of a truckie at heart. I jumped at the chance to get behind the wheel of a semi – no actually is was not a semi, it was a rigid framed truck, it was rigid body but it was a substantial truck – and drive down the Maryvale Road with Titjakala store keeper Joe Rawson. Joe is a great personality and I was so relaxed behind the wheel going down the highway, Joe said to me: ‘I had better watch you mate, you might take my job. You look as though you know what you are doing’. I said: ‘Well, I have driven a few trucks in my time, but it has been a while’. But, it was great to get behind the wheel and the purpose of it was to actually experience the road conditions that people like Joe experience when they are trying to deliver their supplies across these roads, like the Maryvale Road into the stores, and health provisions and medical provisions. I commend Joe because he does a fantastic job. He is down to earth sort of a bloke and we had a good time on the day. I did have to show him how truckies hitch! He did chip me because there was a bit of weld broken away from one of his cages. So the point was made about these roads.
The point with the roads is that they go through an unincorporated area. We have about 9000 km of unincorporated roads in the Territory, and they have not been well funded by the Commonwealth. We have been let down as the Territory through the formula that has been adopted by the Commonwealth to Roads to Recovery. We have a scenario. Mr John Anderson, the Deputy Prime Minister, his federal seat of Gwydir, over the four year life of the Roads to Recovery funding received $42m; the Territory gets $20m. The Territory gets $20m. We have Wilson Tuckey up there in north-west Western Australia. He gets around about the $25m mark. In fact, there are more than a dozen National Party and Coalition members of the federal government who receive more than the Territory. Look at the area of land we have!
I went to Canberra. The member for Daly is right. I went to argue the case. I commend Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson’s office. They saw me. I am working very closely with the cattlemen and, in fact, Mr Tony Searle, who is Deputy Chair of the Cattlemen’s Association, came with me to that meeting and he impressed upon them the fact that the Territory is getting a raw deal. He reiterated that there has been a promise made. The member for Daly was talking about promises. I believe that Senator Campbell, the federal Minister for Roads, has made promises to the cattlemen. It varies according to who is telling you, but it is something in the order of $30m or $40m of extra funding coming into the Territory.
The cattlemen do not want to handle that funding; they believe it is appropriate for the Northern Territory government to handle the funding. Senator Campbell was somehow trying to posit the funding, which is phantom funding at this stage because we have not seen the real colour of that money, but the cattlemen want it to be administered by the Territory. That extra money, whether it is $30m or $40m, could make a hell of a difference to our Territory roads like the Maryvale Road. We could spend money on the worst sections.
The Territory is missing out. If the member for Daly is serious, he will join us and call on his federal counterparts to give the Territory the money it deserves. As the minister for roads in the Territory, I will be taking the fight right up to the Commonwealth and the other states so that the Territory gets the road funding it deserves. It would be a real pleasure to see Maryvale Road and a whole lot of other roads receive attention. I will go up that road once again with Joe, and we will have a good old chat as we go up the road.
Alice Springs is buzzing at present. There is the air service that this government helped to secure, Virgin into Alice. It is working very well. They are looking forward to a bumper tourism season. We are certainly supporting that community. The Larapinta development and others on the horizon are very welcome indeed.
The member for Daly can talk about all these things – Wooliana Road and the rest of it – but what did he do when he was in power? They are still waiting for power. We, as a government, made that commitment and we will stand on our record.
I would like to turn tonight to some very important functions that have been going on in my electorate. On 27 February, I hosted the fourth Mayoral, Ministers and Media Prayer Breakfast at Parliament House. This was a very interesting mix of people representing media, politics and the church. Unfortunately, Lord Mayor Peter Adamson was not able to attend, but it was very well attended. The members for Nelson and Nightcliff were there supporting this very vital group.
Sherrilyn Sellick of Darwin’s Rhema Radio is the chairman and can be given full marks for bringing such an interesting group of speakers and prayers together. The group included: MC Dennis Booth from the NT News. Dennis is known as a Sports Editor, both football and racing. He does a fantastic job; Mr David Way from the RevNet Media who gave a very energetic address; Reverend Paul Downey of the Palmerston Baptist Ministry; Phillip Zamagias who is the Bible Society Director and, in the NT, he is known as the Flying Bible Man because he flies around distributing bibles; Stuart McMillan, who is very well known. He has been working out in the bush with various Uniting Church ministries for many years, and he enjoys a great deal of respect all over the Territory; Mrs Robyn Green who is a singer and song writer; Ms Gail Williams of the Larrakia Nation; and Bishop Phillip Freier was also there as well as David Guiltinan of Youth with a Mission.
It was a great prayer breakfast, I felt invigorated. There was a great spirit there. I certainly enjoyed it and I wish them well in future meetings.
On 5 March, I attended the Moil Preschool fundraising barbeque. There were great sausages - I was pleased to donate some sausages - but there were other donations there as well. Gill Abraham is a fantastic and enthusiastic preschool teacher, and Sue Bennett, a hard working teacher support officer, were there with Lyn Nyhuis, the early childhood senior teacher. Together with Tilly Luis, they provided a fabulous feast for the kids and their parents. There was Tilly’s family, Megan, Jarod and grandson, Zac; Mick, Irene, Matthew, Jason and Christina O’Mara; Gerard, Helen, Declan, Isaac and Lewis Reid; Norma, Edward and Christo Box; Brenda and John with the Bennett-Callam children, Magenta, Clancy, Jedda and Tianna; Monica, Tara and Tahnee Maxwell; Terese Mayer and Liam and Hayden Moseley; Terry, Bernie, Julianne and Valentina Dillon; the Yourell family, who are new from Ballarat, and they include Todd, Rebecca, Aidan, Caleb and Jarrod, and a big welcome to them. Mr Yourell has taken a job at International House at NTU. He has a lot of experience in administration of student accommodation. I wish him and his family all the best in their new endeavours in the Territory, and I know they were made to feel very welcome by the Moil Preschool community.
Also there was Sylvia, Vangie, Vasilis and Iliana Tsoukalis, and the Johnson family of Kathy, Anthony, Adam, Sean and Ella.
It was a great night. The kids were playing there. They could get in the spa and cool down. The barbecue was great, the spirit was great, and you can just feel a real spirit of community in the Moil Preschool. I am happy and very pleased to be associated with it, they do a great job.
They are even talking about a special cane toad project to proof their area from cane toads and make it an ecological experiment where they can breed up frogs and other wildlife. I am sure the kids will enthusiastically get involved in that. That is the Moil Preschool garden, it is the site of a primary school class’s project, and years 5 to 7 Kellam groups, who are designing to replant the garden to include more plants that attract insects and birds, designing and building a frog habitat to grow up tadpoles in the hope of increasing frog numbers and frog species in the preschool, as well as researching and working to cane toad proof the garden, that is a great project.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, on 7 March it was Clean Up Australia day. I was very pleased to go along there, along with yourself and a whole range of other people, to clean up Rapid Creek. Along with a whole lot of other people, Ann Foster, Esther Egger, Raphael Lawler, Jessica and Tyrone Sariago, Peter O’Hagan, Tim O’Hagan, Lesley Alford, and Ted Kilpatrick, who is a great spirit in our community. He is involved in so many volunteer things, like the Scouts and Clean Up Australia. Ted is a great bloke. Peter Robinson, Anne Stevens, Matthew and Mona Lisa Bonson, what a handsome couple they are, Steve Brennan, Al and Jacky Stanger, who are just real stalwarts with anything to do with Rapid Creek, and Strider, the legendary Strider, he is a great bloke. He is not like everyone else. He is Strider and he loves to be Strider, and he did a great job. He has a lot of knowledge about native plants and native trees.
It was a great group. We collected bags and bags of rubbish. I am sure the creek thanks us for that, because it is under a bit of pressure.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I think I will leave it there tonight. I have many other things to talk about at a later date to do with my electorate and activities. However, I am glad to attend these community activities and get involved in the Darwin community, and also many of the ethnic groups that are in our community.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016