2009-08-17
Madam Speaker Aagaard took the Chair at 10 am.
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that responses to petitions Nos 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, and 21 have been received and circulated to honourable members. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition for distribution to the petitioners.
TIO alternative access and service
a reasonable travelling distance to courts and medical services and for emergency responses;
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I received this letter from the Leader of Government Business, Dr Chris Burns:
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I give notice that today I will present a bill entitled Care and Protection of Children Amendment Bill 2009 (Serial 49) and deliver my second reading speech forthwith.
Bill, by leave, presented and read a first time.
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
This bill amends the Care and Protection of Children Act, specifically section 26, which sets out the mandatory obligations which require all Territorians to report suspected or actual harm or exploitation of our children. This section has not been without controversy since its commencement in December 2008.
The current provision makes it an offence for any person with a reasonable belief that a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, harm or exploitation, or is a victim of a sexual offence, to fail to report that belief. The primary function of section 26 of the act is to ensure that any person who reasonably believes that a child is being harmed or exploited must report those concerns. Harm and exploitation of children occurs in many forms. Physical violence, emotional abuse, neglect, maltreatment and sexual abuse are reportable under section 26. We want our children to be safe and, if they are not safe, we want to know about it so we can respond.
It has been well publicised that certain sections of the community have concerns about mandatory reporting requirements relating to children and sexual offences. Sexual offences encompass a number of different crimes, many of which can be committed against both adults and children. Some sexual offences are specifically directed towards protecting children from sexual predators.
Most people in the community are aware that it is unlawful to engage in sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16. The reasoning behind this law is simple: children are not equipped either physically or physiologically to deal with the very confronting issues a sexual relationship brings.
At the same time, the government recognises that many adolescents under the age of 16 years - the legal age of consent – do, in fact, engage in sexual activity. This is the reason government sought a review of section 26 of the Care and Protection of Children Act. In doing so, we are seeking to refine the balance between the need to protect our children from all types of harm and exploitation - including sexual harm and exploitation - with the need to ensure that our young people feel confident they can seek medical, psychological, and other support services they require in relation to their sexual health. This bill is about getting the balance right. I am confident the refined section 26 achieves that aim.
I turn now to the provisions of the bill. First, the bill does not remove mandatory reporting obligations on all persons in the Territory to report to the Department of Health and Families or police any reasonable belief that a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, harm or exploitation. This obligation is mandatory, and failure to report carries a hefty fine. The fine could be as high as $22 000. We are serious about protecting our children from physical violence, neglect, maltreatment, and sexual abuse. This obligation to report has been clarified with respect to the commission of sexual offences against children. All persons must continue to report a reasonable belief that a child has been, or is likely to be, a victim of sexual offence, where the child is under the age of 14. I believe everyone agrees that children under the age of 14 are simply not equipped, physically or emotionally, to participate in and deal with the consequences of sexual activity. As a society, we are required to investigate all instances of sexual activity involving children under the age of 14.
I turn now to special-care relationships. The bill maintains a requirement on all persons to report a reasonable belief that a child under the age of 18 has been, or is likely to be, the victim of a sexual offence pursuant to section 128 of the Criminal Code. Section 128 of the Criminal Code relates to special-care relationships. Although the age of consent is 16 years, there are some circumstances where we say it is unacceptable for an adult to engage in a sexual relationship with a young person aged 16 or 17 years. These circumstances are determined by the nature of the relationship between the adult and the child. Examples of the special-care relationship are step-parents, sporting coaches, teachers, or other adults who have developed a relationship of trust with a young person, where there is the potential for a power imbalance to exist between the adult and the child. Hence, there is a mandatory obligation to report any reasonable belief that this type of sexual offence is occurring.
Next, I turn to modifications made to section 26 with respect to health practitioners. Health practitioners, by virtue of their profession, are often brought into contact with children and young people in a structured environment which enables and, at times requires, them to make appropriate inquiry and assessment of any potential harm and exploitation. This includes children who are 14 or 15 years of age. For this reason it is considered appropriate that health practitioners should have particular obligations to report harm, exploitation and sexual offences in relation to children and young people.
The bill creates additional mandatory reporting obligations for health professionals if they reasonably believe that a child aged 14 or 15 has been, or is likely to be, a victim of a sexual offence, and the age difference between the child and the sexual partner is greater than two years. This new provision means that health practitioners do not have to report sexual activity in adolescents aged 14 or 15, where the age difference between sexual partners is two years or less; that is, the sexual activity is occurring between adolescents of a similar age.
The bill envisages that certain other persons may also be given the same reporting obligations as health practitioners. These other persons will be clearly set out in regulation. It is envisaged that only specific types of employment will be included in the regulation. They may include those who, by reason of their profession, employment, or business operation, come into contact with children.
Importantly, the additional reporting obligations for health practitioners in relation to 14- and 15-year-olds do not apply to parents, extended family, friends, or other member of the community. Parents, extended family, friends, and other members of the community are still required to report a reasonable belief of sexual offences, including underage sex where the victim of the sexual offence is under the age of 14 years, or where a relationship of special care exists between the young person and the adult committing the sexual offence. Of course, we are all still required to report harm or exploitation of children of any age.
I also wish to say something about how people can find out more about their reporting obligations, and how they can make a report to the police or the Department of Health and Families. The Department of Health and Families has been working to put together a series of guidelines for health practitioners, people who work with children, or who work in or operate child-related services. These will be rolled out across the Territory and will be supported by education and training programs. Information about the legislative changes will be available to the public via the department’s website, community health centres, hospitals, and government offices. Health practitioners will receive letters and brochures clarifying and explaining to them the changes to this very important law.
In an effort to provide information to as broad a range of the community as possible, letters will also be sent to schools, non-government organisations, private service providers, and peak body organisations, in particular youth-focused organisations.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the Care and Protection of Children Amendment Bill 2009 (Serial 49) pass through all stages on Thursday, 20 August 2009.
Motion agreed to.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that this House –
8. recognises the extraordinary contribution made by many individual Australians, including Australian Red Cross members, volunteers and staff in the Northern Territory, for the practical carrying into effect of the humanitarian ideals and legal principles expressed in the conventions and additional protocols ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I do not in any way wish to denigrate the motion itself. I am just surprised at the order of business. It was my understanding that we would be dealing with legislation prior to ministerial statements and such things as the normal order of business. I seek your guidance.
Madam SPEAKER: This is the advice I have received. I will just ask the Leader of Government Business.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, that was the advice I received also - in a procedural sense because it was not on the Notice Paper - to say that the most appropriate way to deal with it was in this particular order.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, I should have asked you to seek leave to move the motion prior to doing that. Perhaps that will determine it.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I am just following advice from people. Without reading it through again, I seek leave to move a motion that the House take note of the motion.
Leave granted.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, before I speak to the motion, we took this on advice as being the appropriate place to do this. I thought there was some communication last night about it.
Madam Speaker, 12 August this year marked the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions, and all parliaments throughout Australia, and many throughout the world, are speaking to similar motions during this time.
The Geneva Conventions, and their additional protocols, are at the core of international humanitarian law. The conventions seek to limit the effects of armed combat. They are designed to specifically protect people who are not taking part in the hostilities such as civilians, health workers and aid workers, and those who are no longer participating in hostilities such as wounded, sick, shipwrecked soldiers, and prisoners of war.
The International Red Cross, the Red Crescent Movement and the Australian Red Cross make a tremendous effort in the continuous application of these conventions to limit human suffering in times of armed conflict, and they should be congratulated for their work.
Australia is a country that very much respects and understands humanitarian rights and acknowledges these conventions. Australia and its many aid organisations have a good track record assisting those in need, including in situations where aid workers are themselves at risk.
In the Northern Territory’s recent history, we have acted with compassion and compulsion within the guiding principles of the conventions. We all remember 1999, when the people of Darwin, through government departments, the government of the day, and aid agencies, housed and cared for many East Timorese refugees flown into Darwin. It was an extraordinary time. Many of us participated in any way we could in responding to those refugees flown into Darwin. It was a tremendous act of kindness and humanitarianism to provide these people safe shelter whilst their homeland was going through enormous upheaval. It shows how important the Red Cross was in responding to these very traumatic events happening in East Timor.
Our Darwin-based ADF troops have performed humanitarian operations such as infrastructure development and capacity building around the world in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq and, closer to home in Timor–Leste, as well as the Solomon Islands. Our troops do a fantastic job when overseas, and represent their country with respect and dignity, and show the people whose country they are in the same respect and dignity.
It was only a couple of weeks ago we co-hosted, with Darwin City Council, the Welcome Home Parade for 1st Brigade which had been serving for some eight months in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor. I place on the record today my congratulations to all those returning soldiers, and the Commander of 1st Brigade, Brigadier Michael Krause. I had the fortune of attending the parade at Robertson Barracks before those troops were deployed, and spoke to soldiers who were being deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor - some on their second and even third deployment to Iraq - and also the Welcome Home Parade. The most moving aspect of talking to our soldiers was the fact they had a total commitment to assisting with the nation-building activities in those countries: wanting to do good work, to make a real contribution on the ground to help rebuild and build societies, structures, government structures, and security structures for the benefit of those people. That is part of what is happening around the world under the Geneva Conventions.
The Northern Territory has more humanitarian refugees per capita than other states and territories. Recent research at Charles Darwin University has shown that the annual percentage share of humanitarian stream migrants is nearly always twice as high in the Territory as it is nationally. The side product of this is it adds to our rich multicultural fabric when, and if, these people decide to stay in the Territory. Many of them do. All, or most of us, as members of parliament who represent urban seats, have refugees within our electorates, and I know all of us respond when we are called on to assist those refuges settle into the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory is now training people to work in humanitarian fields through a CDU course, the Bachelor of Humanitarian and Community Studies, which aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to work with individuals, groups and communities in areas of reduced or limited infrastructure. Students are provided with the necessary skills to prepare them to work effectively in remote communities in Australia, disaster affected areas nationally and internationally, and in logistically supporting humanitarian aid agencies.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary, the Territory Branch of the Red Cross held a multimedia exhibition on 12 August called Humanity in the Midst of Conflict. It archived and detailed the impact of war on civilians around the world to remind us why we uphold the principles of the conventions. Hostilities continue in many countries around the world and, in each location, there will be health and aid workers helping affected people, including the wounded of both sides and defence people detained as prisoners of war. Recognition of, and compliance with, these conventions safeguards the wellbeing of these individuals.
I congratulate and thank all those Territorians who volunteer and contribute to Red Cross in any way. By the day-to-day implementation of these conventions, you are helping to make the world a better place.
Madam Speaker, I commend the motion to the House.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition, of course, supports this important motion - a motion referencing an agreement between and binding to nations.
Nations are made up of people, and people work together in communities. This community has exposure to this level of issue addressed by the Geneva Conventions, which came into being after World War II, through - as the Chief Minister referred - the Welcome Home ceremonies for those who have served in conflicts between nations, and how this nation has contributed to the bringing of peace.
I note the Chief Minister drew specific reference to the work of the Red Cross in our community. If these types of agreements are to have any substance it must be manifest in the way in which we, as individuals, respond to one another; how we involve and engage ourselves in organisations which are there to strengthen and promote community, and the principles upon which a good community is built. Otherwise, these motions are just abstract.
They must have a practical outworking in peoples lives, such as the attendance at commemorations of the 60th anniversary. I acknowledge the member for Katherine in attendance, representing the Territory parliament. I believe you were the only member there. It is good to see the parliament was represented at the community ceremonies. I understand the nature of a motion such as this is to reinforce our respect, as individuals albeit in the Territory, for the principles that have given rise to the agreement between nations.
It is important, I believe, to acknowledge the exposure that we have, as Territorians, to issues which are the subject of the Geneva Conventions such as Balibo Five, the movie which premiered last week. Members may be familiar with it. The nature of that conflict and the murder of journalists - five journalists at Balibo, and three other journalists and Roger East – should be the subject of the Geneva Conventions, it is strongly argued, as a matter of principle. I believe, as a practical outworking with these things, we should not forget the subject of the movie; a graphic and powerful confrontation of a nature that is a challenge to our response to the principles of the Geneva Conventions, a challenge to our own history, how this occurred in this nation, and how it is we have such a blind spot to such matters.
I commend those who have worked to bring this movie together, so that we can, as a nation, look at what occurred not far from here. For those who have not seen the movie, it is a timely reminder - I suggest at a time like this when we speak of Geneva Conventions - to have a practical application of this to weigh in our minds, our understanding of Australian history and how it is there was such a cover-up of that which occurred not far from here which was, effectively, a violation of Geneva Conventions - journalists being murdered, and young journalists at that.
We also need to acknowledge what this ugly terrorism is that we see within our own region. I am sure terrorists have no respect for the principles that are the content of the Geneva Conventions. It is important for us to look into the face of terrorism, and to recognise what really is the antidote to terrorism. One part of it is, of course, agreements between nations. However, will those which are the subject of these agreements comply with the agreements? Clearly, terrorists will not. It was remarked at Persona Indonesia - and quite astutely – when Colin McDonald leaned forward and said: ‘What a remarkable event this Persona Indonesia is. You have such a gathering of people, a cross-section of our community’. There was Jess Mauboy up there singing in Bahasa Indonesia, an African-American MC leading the show, a band from Kupang playing Country and Western music, Indigenous people down the front of the stage dancing to music from Lombok, locals wearing batik shirts and practising Bahasa Indonesia, and we were all there together. Colin also said: ‘This is the antidote to terrorism; the communities getting together’. Therefore, you cannot have just pure legal binding agreements without the substance you find within a community. The form is the letter, the words, that are used to shape an agreement, but the substance is when communities get to understand each other and work together. I believe we see that powerfully represented here in the Northern Territory.
These are things we can draw from this. Motions such as this could be quite empty but, really, in this is a challenge to each of us: how we actually live out the principles of the Geneva Conventions. Agreements have been signed, even recently in this parliament. How do we view the agreement, how do we work with the agreement, how do we understand the underlying principles that are the subject of the agreement? It goes all the way through to our practical workings on a day-to-day basis; how we react to opportunities to put money in the box of a lady who might be shaking a can representing the Red Cross, to watching a movie like Balibo Five, and how we respond to that as Australians. Do we honestly open our eyes and ask the hard questions, even of those who were, at the time, members of the Labor Party with Gough Whitlam, the former Prime Minister? What role did he have to play in that government at that time? These are difficult, but important, questions. If we do not take that approach, it effectively becomes just an academic exercise to pass a motion in here; we all stand behind it, someone turns up to a commemoration at the Supreme Court, that is good; we move on, turn the page. No, there is a challenge - always a challenge - in matters such as this.
Madam Speaker, with those words from the Territory opposition, we provide our support also for this important motion.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, as we have heard, last week marked the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Conventions are the basis of international humanitarian law, setting out international rules which seek to limit the effect of armed conflict on people with the aim of reducing suffering. The Geneva Conventions consist of four treaties and three protocols, which are most commonly referred to in the singular as the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention is the cornerstone of state behaviour in times of war, ameliorating the condition of the wounded and sick armed forces in the field and at sea, treatment of prisoners of war, and the protection of civilians.
The protocols deal with the protection of victims of international and non-international armed conflicts, and the adoption of a distinctive emblem for medical services: the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Australia ratified the Geneva Convention and has implemented domestic legislation. The laws are promoted by the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent movement, which have a specific mandate under international humanitarian law. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement is made up of 186 national societies, including the Australian Red Cross with more than one hundred million volunteers worldwide. The movement includes the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which is the coordinating body; and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which works mostly in areas of conflict.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s mission is to prevent or reduce human suffering wherever it is found. Its fundamental principles are: humanity; neutrality; and independence. The movement has a long history beyond the Geneva Convention, beginning almost 140 years ago with the actions of one man.
On a hot June day in 1859, Jean Henri Dunant, a Swiss banker travelling on business in northern Italy, witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino, a horrifying and bloody conflict between 300 000 soldiers from Imperial Austria and the Franco-Sardinian Alliance. He witnessed men wounded in battle, lying where they fell for days, bleeding and tormented by thirst, hunger, flies, and burning heat; and dead being thrown into huge pits along with the seriously injured, but alive nonetheless. Amid the stench and sounds of pain and anguish, thieves moved from person to person, robbing both the wounded and dead. Dunant was moved by the sight of the appalling injuries and rallied villagers from the town of Castiglione delle Stiviere to assist and tend the wounded. These townsfolk were the first volunteers of Red Cross. Dunant was convinced the power of humanity could be engaged to alleviate suffering on a global scale. His account of Solferino led to the creation of today’s International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and the beginning of international humanitarian law.
The Australian Red Cross was founded in 1914, following the declaration of World War I, and has continued to work in Australia since that time. There are an estimated 60 000 volunteers and members delivering programs and support in Australia. The anniversary of the Geneva Conventions is a time to recognise and celebrate the work of the Australian Red Cross, the International Red Cross, and the Red Crescent Movement. I add my congratulations to those who dedicate their time to Red Cross. It is important to note that the Australian Red Cross President is Her Excellency, the Governor-General of Australia, Ms Quentin Bryce AC; the Chairman is Mr Greg Vickery AM; and their able Chief Executive Officer is Mr Robert Tickner.
I pay particular acknowledgement to the Northern Territory Red Cross. We know their Executive Director, Sharon Mulholland, is a tireless worker and is guided and supported by those very able volunteers who make up the Board of the Northern Territory Red Cross. Their Chairman is Deven Patel. He began his involvement with Red Cross in 1978, when he was doing an audit of Red Cross as a junior auditor with KPMG. I reference these acknowledgements from the information provided on the Australian Red Cross website.
Also in the Territory, board member Belinda Peacocke is a Divisional Representative to the National Red Cross Council. She has been involved in Red Cross NT since 2002, having actively participated in various youth programs.
We also have Foster Stavridis on the board who is a Divisional Representative to the National Red Cross Council. He has extensive corporate experience encompassing a number of fields of strategic business practices, and has undertaken significant project management assignments within the law enforcement environment.
Charles Burkitt is also on the board. He has extensive experience in financial markets, being an investment advisor for over 15 years, currently with ABN AMRO Morgans. He has a long, indirect family association with Red Cross NT, and has participated in fundraising events during this period.
Another board member is Kat Byron, the Youth Board representative. She has experience in the youth sector and, as a past Red Cross youth services employee and a current volunteer, Kat provides a young person’s perspective to Red Cross Territory activities.
Also on the board is Simon Lee. Simon has worked as a Japanese government bond trader, an army legal officer, a Northern Territory government prosecutor, and has, since July 2005, been a barrister practising privately at the bar in Darwin. He is a very active member of the Bar Association, having organised their recent Bar Association dinner.
Another board member is Kath Phelan. She has enormous experience in education and management in both the public and private sectors, and has a very strong interest in the welfare of young people. Kath is now retired. She was my former Principal at Nightcliff High School. She has been a volunteer and member of the Red Cross NT Board since 2006.
The other board member is Federal Court judge, His Honour Justice John Reeves. He was appointed as a Federal Court judge in November 2007. We know he has practiced significantly as a barrister in Darwin for some 20 years, and was appointed QC in 1997.
As you can see from the list of board members, the Northern Territory Red Cross is well served by very remarkable Territorians who are doing great volunteer work alongside Sharon Mulholland as their Executive Director. I give my thanks and gratitude as Attorney-General for the work they are doing.
Madam Speaker, the Geneva Convention is still very relevant today. It continues to provide an important framework for protecting civilians and those no longer participating in combat. With so many of our local forces serving in combat zones, we recognise how important this humanitarian movement is. I join with other speakers today in commending this motion. I congratulate the Red Cross in Australia and the Northern Territory for its service to society, both here in Australia, and also abroad.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I will speak briefly to support this motion. Whilst, initially, I was somewhat surprised we in the Northern Territory jurisdiction would be discussing this motion, I have had cause to contemplate it in more detail. My initial reservation, of course, was based on the fact that the Northern Territory, as a jurisdiction, has never raised an army and has never gone to war. Naturally, that would be inappropriate. The Australian Constitution is quite clear as to which jurisdiction is responsible for raising an army and making the decision to go to war.
However, I cannot sit through this debate without making some observations, because the operation of the Geneva Convention is a reflection of what has happened in the second half of the 20th century and actually affects large numbers of people who live in Darwin.
We heard from the Attorney-General in relation to the circumstances which led to the formation of the International Red Cross. War is always a ghastly business. In that particular era, the rising nature of industrialised war was changing the way injuries were inflicted upon people, particularly in numbers, and the mechanical nature of the way war was fought. What was not changing was an almost medieval approach to what to do with those casualties once they had been afflicted. Clearly, the Red Cross was a response to that. The moral issues that surrounded the formation of the Red Cross and which were brought into sharp relief by the effects of the use of chemical warfare, particularly in World War I, but also more easily recognised weapons such as the machine gun and, after World War II, of course, with nuclear weapons, we have found ourselves in an environment where we question the nature of war itself and its reasons for existing.
War was once described as a mere extension of politics; it was what happened when debate and diplomacy failed, and was what you did next. I am not entirely sure I subscribe to that particular world view. I would like to read much more to be convinced war naturally has to be an extension of politics. I hope, in many respects, politics could avoid war.
Certainly, the experiences of my own family, which I have discussed before in this place - my mother’s internment in a concentration camp as a child, my father’s repeated arrests for the purposes of forced labour by Nazis - bring home the issues that reside within the nature of war. The way we deal with war, as humanity, is something at the forefront of my mind.
I read with interest not so long ago, a book called Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century in which there was a description of how bombing during World War II changed from an almost – I struggle to find the word – I will not say benign, but non-invasive strategy; that is, you targeted military targets exclusively, as was evidenced even by the initial Nazi raids on England, which attacked military installations only. In fact, the RAF was almost brought to its knees in the first days of the Battle of Britain, not because the Nazis were attacking London, but they had chosen to attack military targets in England.
What happened next was the then Prime Minister arranged, or insisted, that the retaliation for the attacks on England included an attack on Berlin - really a pinprick in the hide of an elephant if you consider the limited capacity of bombers in those days to inflict any serious damage. Like the Doolittle raid after Pearl Harbour, it was more symbolic than an intent to inflict damage. However, it set in motion a chain of events, to which Hitler’s response was to shift his bombing campaign from military targets in England - probably the worst military blunder of that particular battle – and turn the bombing campaign to London itself. While the initial attacks were meant to be on the docks only, the fact is they spread into what was to become known as The Blitz.
What happened then is a deterioration in the morality of what we did as nations - plural. Bombing became an abstract science; something which was done with an indifference to what you were actually doing. It is easy to press a button to open a set of bomb bay doors at 10 000 feet. By the time World War II was over, bombing was done in a strategic and methodical way, it was deliberately designed to destroy cities – the most famous example would probably be Dresden. It was done in a very clinical way, so much so women and children were considered to be legitimate military targets, because the women were running the drill press that built the bullets that shot soldiers and were part of the military machine. Therefore, the carpet bombing of a civilian population was a legitimate military action.
I believe it was General Curtis LeMay who said after World War II, if the Americans had lost the war and he had been put on trial for what he did in the firestorm of Tokyo, he would almost certainly have been convicted of being a war criminal.
Those wars and battles I have discussed so far were wars and battles of ideology. What has happened in the modern era, and I expect to see more of, is the nature of conflict will change. In 1990 or 1991, the most common form of government in the world had become the democracy – the liberal democracy, for lack of better words. It happened very suddenly. The Soviet Union and many of its republics became democratic nations in one fashion or another and, as a consequence, observers such as Francis Fukuyama – an unlikely name for an American philosopher – made comments about this being the age of the end of history. He pointed out there is no instance in history where two democracies have gone to war with each other.
Certainly, democracies have gone to war with totalitarian regimes, and regimes of that nature have gone to war with each other. However, with one possible exception last year, I cannot think of any instance - and I thought about this long and hard - of two well-established democracies going to war with each other. The possible exception is the conflict between Georgia and Russia last year - both nominal democracies. Then again, it was a very contained conflict; it did not spread in the way other wars have spread.
What that highlights is the nature of war itself, or the reasons for going to war have changed. If democracies do not go to war with each other, then what we will start seeing is the ideological battle of how we run government is will not be the source of war that it was in the last century. In the last century, it was left versus right, Nazism, absolutism and those types of things, versus the forces of democracy. If democracy is now so prevalent, the next question is: why do we have conflicts at all? I suspect, we will see more smaller conflicts dotted around the traps – which has been happening in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The forces arrayed against each other will be the forces of - for lack of a better word - reason against the forces of absolutism. We see this expressed in the way organisations such as the Taliban and Hamas engage in conflict with other people. This absolute world view - and I am not picking on Islamic organisations, they are just the ones that spring to mind at the moment - of conflict means we will find ourselves putting out hot spots where these forces of absolutism tend to rear their head. I believe one of the places we will continue to see many hot spots in the future will be Africa.
Having made those observations, what I ask myself is: what makes the people who hold the weapons, the guns, on our side more noble or more justified than people who hold the guns on another side? The more you examine that question, it gives you great pause. What I do know is those people who hold the guns in defence of us, ultimately, do so with a view to, eventually, putting those guns down. I have often thought about this issue and the best analogy I could come to is if someone was attacking me and I had a baseball bat and, on that bat was written the Declaration of Human Rights, what would I choose to do? Would I hit them with the bat, or would I read them the rights and hope they would see the light of day? The truth is you would hit them with the bat first and, having subdued them, you would try to enlighten them with what was written on it.
The people who do this for us are our young men and women in the forces who we see every day in our newspapers and on television sets, who puts their lives on the line and, on occasion, are killed. The federal Minister for Defence, minister Faulkner, recently made the observation it is likely, with the escalation of what is happening in Afghanistan at the moment, more soldiers will be killed and injured in the course of their duty. What are those soldiers fighting for? They are fighting to contain the forces of absolutism; those forces which would deprive us of our democracies, our freedoms, our liberties, and inflict upon us systems of governance which can be best described as medieval. If the Taliban regime was the yardstick by which to measure those forces of absolutism, then I balk at the idea of any such government being given life in the modern world.
This, then, brings me to the local issues which concern me most: what happens to those soldiers we know? Many of those soldiers who have fought and died or been injured have come from our electorates. The member for Nelson has Robertson Barracks in his electorate and I have Larrakeyah Barracks in mine. Recently, we were watching a Welcome Home Parade of so many soldiers from overseas who have fought, particularly in Afghanistan. They hold their weapons with the righteousness of a reasoned and democratic system to defend. They have every justification to hold those weapons, and they do so within rules of engagement and rules of war, something the other side do not.
I pray for the safety of those soldiers who defend our system of government. Even if they defend it overseas, I still support and pray for their safety and wish them the very best in their endeavours. I would like to see no other Australian soldier - or any other soldier for that matter - injured or suffer unnecessarily in the fighting. It is remarkable so few have been taken from us, considering what they have engaged in. From what I have seen on television, it is astonishing we have lost so few. Nevertheless, it is tragic to see it when it happens; to see those injured soldiers, even in the parade the other day, who could not march because of the injuries they received from IADs and other weapons.
Madam Speaker, I support this motion because I support the philosophies of humanity that have been introduced by the Geneva Conventions. I certainly encourage all members to contemplate how personal this stuff gets, because it affects people we know - people we meet in the street, in the pubs, will be people who have picked up weapons in defence of our nation and our system of government in places like Afghanistan. I believe they do so for the right reasons: for humane reasons and for the betterment of our world.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all honourable members for speaking in such full support of this motion commemorating the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions. This is not just a document that sits in the United Nations, it is part of the Northern Territory and, in many ways, Territorians have supported Red Cross over many years.
As local members, all of us at some point have participated in the annual Red Cross Doorknock Appeal to raise money. On the occasions I have had the opportunity and the time to do it, I have always been overwhelmed by turning up to people’s doors and everyone is very free to give money or whatever they can, to support Red Cross.
I pay my respects and thanks to the extraordinarily hard-working board in the Northern Territory: Sharon Mulholland, the Executive Director - everyone knows Sharon’s great work; Deven Patel, as the Chair - Deven has taken it on recently, in 2006 I believe, and is a very passionate Chair of the local Northern Territory Board; Belinda Peacocke; Foster Stavridis; Charles Burkitt; Kat Byron; Simon Lee; Kath Phelan; and Hon John Reeves, Federal Court judge. To all those people, thank you for your time and your contribution to the board. To all the hard-working members of the Australian Red Cross in the Northern Territory and Red Cross supporters - you do a tremendous job, you support a tremendous cause, and it is fantastic the parliament has been able to speak in such full praise of the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions.
Motion agreed to.
Continued from 11 June 2009.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, this bill appears to be pretty straightforward. I will add a few comments, and I have a few questions for the minister. I believe we will be going into committee stage with this, so I will not be taking all the 45 minutes.
In 1988, the Northern Territory was one of the first jurisdictions to introduce registration for recording and monitoring cancer diagnoses and deaths in Australia. Cancer medicine has progressed with remarkable advancements since the late 1980s. This bill is to reflect those advancements and enable the NTCR to continue to provide accurate information as more is known about cancer in the coming years. This legislation, I believe, allows the minister to declare new diseases as cancer for the purpose of inclusion of relevant details into the Cancer Registry.
The revised bill will allow registry data to be used for what is considered appropriate, at the discretion of the Chief Health Officer - that is part of the explanatory statement. I will flag a couple of questions and we can go into it.
This bill, essentially, has the support of the opposition, provided we can get some satisfactory answers, which I am sure the minister has. I have contacted the department regarding privacy. This is probably an area of the bill to do with privacy. From my understanding, the amended part of the act is to gather information from the past to provide a more complete Cancer Registry. What other information will be gathered to create a more complete registry? Do you expect to gather the same information from the past? Will we be gathering everything from now on to move forward to create a more complete register? Will we be able to access that information from the past?
I guess that feeds into some privacy issues. Do people have a choice? I see here the Registrar can request further information from the person who submitted information to a medical practitioner referred to within the information, or another medical practitioner, and the person must comply with that direction within seven days. Obviously, it is mandated that person must comply with that.
If we are allowing the department to access this information, demand information, where does it stop? Is there any protection for those people who do not want their names or the type of cancers identified?
An e-mail I received from the department said:
Essentially, that information and those privacy issues concern me. Does a person have a choice? For example, if someone has a pap smear and cervical cancer is detected, that person, for obvious reasons, might like information kept very private. What will happen to that information? How secure will that information be? Can people access the information in the future, and what guarantees can the minister give the particular information will remain totally private?
I know some stakeholders - that is, the Cancer Council - at first thought this information was de-identified but, after discussions with the department and your office, minister, it is now identifying details. The Cancer Council does, however, support the amendments to the act. They have said this will allow for more accurate data collection which will, in turn, inform our policymakers of service requirements.
An interesting point raised in line with the policymakers’ re-service requirements was whether in situ cancers will be considered as part of this data? This has been raised by the Cancer Council and Bosom Buddies in addressing the important issue. They have said expanding the diagnosis of cancer so it can possibly include in situ cancers which, you may well know - and it does say here - are those cancers that are contained and have not yet become invasive. To date, they have not been included in cancer statistics despite requiring patient bed days, surgery and, sometimes, radiotherapy. These types of cancers do require the resources of the Northern Territory Health department, the public purse, so I am wondering whether this act will allow for the data of in situ cancers to be collected.
We might save the rest for the committee stage; I believe it is relatively straightforward. I hope the minister can answer some of those questions because privacy is a big concern for us. Will people be protected? Will their details be guaranteed to be protected under this new act? If we are going back to the database to collect information to bring it up to speed, to move forward with a new data collection process to create a more complete registry, what sort of questions will be asked, and what is the limit of those questions? We will be asking much more regarding information those people will have to provide.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, my comments will be short. I thank the department for the briefing to my office. As the opposition shadow minister said, it is basically straightforward; it is about bringing data up-to-date. It is also about keeping in line with other Australian state and territory legislation. It is important we have that sort of data because these issues relating to cancer also relate to planning facilities for the future. Those facilities, whether it is oncology or whatever, are not cheap. Governments need to know where the best place is to put their money because they want to invest those dollars where research is required, or where medical facilities are required, to ensure they get best value for money.
I also understand the importance of the privacy matters that relate to the information which is gathered. As I said, the opposition shadow minister raised that issue and I believe it is very important; people certainly want to know those matters will not end up in the hands of people who really do not have the right to know about them.
Madam Speaker, my comments, basically, support this bill; I believe it is an important bill. Although it is relatively small, it has ramifications for the future which are important. Once again, I thank the minister’s department for giving a briefing on the subject.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I support the Cancer (Registration) Bill 2009 which updates and replaces a 21-year-old act, the Cancer Registration Act 1988.
The bill is the instrument which allows the continuation of the Northern Territory Cancer Register to keep data on incidents of cancer which have been diagnosed in the Territory. I understand we are not the only place to keep that kind of information - other jurisdictions do too. It forms a valuable source of information for policy and planning and provision of services to people suffering from cancer.
As the minister explained in his introductory remarks, the Northern Territory register has special importance because it is the best source of information about cancer in the Indigenous population. The proposed bill addresses issues that have arisen in the collection of data. These issues have emerged as a result of changes to legislation nationally, and in the classification and management of cancer. It is difficult to properly plan and develop the best policies if the data at our disposal is not complete or accurate. The purpose of the original act, and of the new bill, is to ensure the Northern Territory Cancer Register includes all cancers occurring in the Territory.
The minister provided some clear examples of where problems exist under the current act; for example, cancers diagnosed by health care providers without a pathological test may not be included on the register, and the Australian government Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 makes it inappropriate for private health providers to disclose identifiable information to the Northern Territory Cancer Register. These issues are addressed in the bill before the House. The Cancer (Registration) Bill 2009 will require that hospitals notify cancer diagnoses and place them on the register, which already occurs in other Australian states and territories. The bill will also require private health care providers to respond to requests from the Cancer Registrar on incomplete or inconsistent information, which also occurs in other states and territories except South Australia.
There is no point in storing information unless you can use it to properly plan and develop policies. This is the second major issue the minister flagged and seeks to address in the proposed bill. The current act does not allow data that has been collected to be used to best advantage. This can include the example the minister gave of the contribution to development of national policy. The minister used the 2002 Australian government’s Radiation Oncology Inquiry as an example.
Madam Speaker, it is important the data we collect is used wisely and sensitively, and makes a difference in how we plan to provide for people with cancer in the Territory. That is why I commend this bill to the House.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I urge members to consider this bill very carefully because of the method government has used, in years gone by, to deal with people with cancer. Since its election in 2001, this government has not been friendly in any way or shown any compassion to cancer sufferers in the Northern Territory. It is an issue I became familiar with during 2001, having dealt with people who were afflicted with many types of cancer. At the time, and today, people in the Northern Territory, in the large part, were forced to travel interstate, often for long periods of time, to receive treatment for cancer. This treatment can take months. It is a massive disruption in people’s lives; having to go interstate, being away from family and friends and support networks.
I can only imagine the horror of having a doctor or specialist inform me that I have cancer. I imagine it would be a life-changing moment. After you have been given this diagnosis, you then have to, somehow or other, get on a plane. I have to say the support from government for people travelling interstate is not particularly great in relation to the cost of airline tickets. The small subsidy for travel and accommodation costs does not go a long way, particularly if a person has a family, a job, and mortgage repayments to deal with at the same time. It certainly makes a massive impact on one’s life. Over years of talking with people who have been through that situation, I have come to realise the major disruption it causes to people’s lives.
I can understand that is what motivated the Labor Party, in the lead-up to the 2001 Territory election, to make a commitment to build an oncology unit. Clearly, they were seeking people’s support, and identified an oncology unit as a need in the Territory. I suppose the Country Liberals, prior to the election, should have been more attuned to the population’s needs and should have done something about getting an oncology unit built. Let bygones be bygones. Labor certainly beat the Country Liberals to the mark, identifying that need in the community and making the commitment to constructing an oncology unit in the Northern Territory.
They even went as far as, in the mini-budget of 2002 …
A member: 2001.
Mr TOLLNER: 2001 was it? … to allocating money in that budget for the construction of an oncology unit. They allocated $14m in that budget. That was the estimated cost. They had several reports and reviews done and, on the best advice at that time, said they could go it alone and build Territorians an oncology unit. We know what happened then: Labor reneged on that promise; they turned their back on people with cancer. They said they could not possibly do it all off their own bat, they would actually require some support from the Commonwealth.
This is really, I suppose, what sparked my interest, as I was then the federal member for Solomon, and was keen to see the Commonwealth assist the Territory government in making an oncology unit a reality in the Northern Territory. In fact, I staked my job on it at the time. I said I would ensure the Commonwealth came through with some support funding. However, over the years, what we saw was the Territory government completely back away from their commitment. They backed away from the $14m they committed in the budget in 2001, to the stage now where the Northern Territory government is not putting up one red cent - not one red cent - for cancer treatment in the Northern Territory.
They are committing a block of land, which they say is worth X number of dollars, and that is their contribution. The totality of the funding for the oncology unit in the Northern Territory is coming from the Commonwealth. I understand it has been a long, drawn-out process. It may well be next year before the doors of that facility are finally flung open and it starts treating Territorians who have cancer. Territorians, particularly Top Enders, will be able to stay in their own location and have visits from people here. They will not have the same problems that are occurring now, where they have to travel thousands of kilometres for treatment, and family and friends will be a lot nearer and able to visit.
However, it is sometime next year we are talking about, almost a full decade - a full decade - since it was first promised ...
Mr Conlan: No, it was promised in 2001; in opposition.
Mr TOLLNER: In opposition. Well, there you go. It has taken the Labor Party in the Northern Territory a full decade to deliver on their 2001, or 2000 election commitment – a full decade. This is something they budgeted for in 2001. Now, they are not putting any money into it at all; the entire bill is being picked up by the Commonwealth.
I ask members: how do you feel about the commitment you get from Labor? How can they raise the hopes of people who are diagnosed with cancer by suggesting: ‘Yes, we will have something built here. We will have something here in the Northern Territory you will be able to use’? - raise their hopes and constantly dash them.
Over the period I was in the federal parliament, people on the other side accused the Commonwealth of not building it. They said it was the Commonwealth’s fault the unit was not built. The Commonwealth did not make the election commitment. The Commonwealth did not say they were going to build the unit all on their own. The Commonwealth always said they would simply support the construction of it. Later on, the Territory government said they could not do it all on their own; they realised they had mismanaged the books to the point where they could not afford to build an oncology unit. They could not afford to keep their own promises. Here we are now, toward the end of 2009, and we are still waiting for the opening of the oncology unit.
I look at other services we need in the Northern Territory. I believe it was identified formally in 2006, when the federal Coalition made an election commitment to assist in and provide funding for a cardiac facility in the Northern Territory to provide cardiac services from our hospital. There are as many people travel interstate – in fact, I believe there are more people - for cardiac services as for cancer services. There is a crying need in the Northern Territory to offer cardiac services at Royal Darwin Hospital. We should be able to do that.
It is not a big deal, once the oncology unit is completed. Certainly, it is much cheaper to provide cardiac services than to provide oncology services. Since the 2007 federal election, we have heard absolutely nothing – zero, nought - from the Territory government about providing cardiac services in the Northern Territory.
What is considered these days as a reasonably simple operation, like stenting - putting a stainless steel sleeve into somebody’s heart - cannot be done in the Northern Territory. People have to travel interstate. It is not even on the books. We look at Royal Darwin Hospital and see the great leaps and steps that have occurred over the last 10 years. Where have they come from? Not from the Territory government - not from the Territory government at all. We see the Territory government jumping up every time there is an announcement about the National Critical Care and Trauma Centre, or about oncology, taking credit for these things. I believe that is what the member for Nelson talks about when he talks about spin; the propensity of government to stand up and take credit for these things, and say it was all their hard work when, in fact, there is no contribution whatsoever. All the Territory government has to do is facilitate these things.
That is certainly the case with the oncology unit. The Territory government just has to facilitate the construction of it. They are not actually putting up their own money; they are putting up the Commonwealth’s money. Still, it has taken almost a decade for that to happen.
Mr Mills: Shame!
Mr TOLLNER: It is shameful – it is absolutely shameful. I feel we cannot let a bill like the Cancer (Registration) Bill 2009 pass without drawing members’ attention to this. I have spoken to my good friend, the member for Greatorex, our Health spokesperson, who tells me he has some concerns about the privacy of patients’ records. I have encouraged him, and I imagine he will question the minister on this aspect of the bill when it goes to committee stage.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, would you mind if I make an announcement that there is a pair arrangement I have just received which is signed by the government Whip and the opposition Whip for the members for Karama and Blain for the period 11.20 am until 2 pm today.
Mr TOLLNER: That is where we are at. I hope no one out there will take this bill on what it is shown to be, because the fact is this government has no commitment to people with cancer or cardiac issues. What this government is committed to is saving itself money so it can squirrel away funds somewhere else - goodness knows where. One day there will be a change of government, we will open the books, and we may get a few answers to where the money is going in the Northern Territory.
What they have a commitment to is getting a message out there - that is all they are committed to - and they are committed to their political highs because the only thing that matters for this government is being in government. They are not interested in providing services to people with cancer, or providing services to people with cardiac or respiratory problems - there are a range of other services we do not offer here - but they are interested in taking credit for every single little thing they can. I have outlined the National Critical Care and Trauma Centre which, every time there is a new piece of machinery or a doctor is appointed, the first one you hear from is the minister saying: ‘We have done this’, or ‘We have done that’. Every time there is an issue with the oncology unit, we do not have the federal Health minister, Nicola Roxon, coming up to make announcements – no. We do not even have the local member, Damien Hale, making the announcements.
I know about the media conference where Damien Hale was standing waiting to speak to the media and, bang, he is elbowed out of the way by the Territory minister, who had not put a single cent into the whole deal. However, it is a Territory minister who made the announcement and took the credit; it is not the embattled member for Solomon who gets to make any announcements here in the Northern Territory.
No, Madam Speaker, this government is all about spin. It is all about manipulating public perception of the job it is doing. I hope members will analyse this critically. I am not suggesting there are any funny bits in this bill. However, members should take an interest because this government does not do what it says it will. As I keep saying: look at what they do, do not listen to what they say - look at what they do. What they do in the Northern Territory is very little of anything except push their own barrow and blow their own trumpets.
Mr VATSAKLIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I am surprised to listen to the member for Fong Lim’s diatribe when we have the Cancer (Registration) Bill before us; it has nothing to do with the oncology unit, or who is delivering it. However, in one thing he was right: in 2006 he kept his word on delivering the oncology unit. We did not see it in the Territory then, and he did not keep his job. However, let us forget this for another day; this is about a new bill with regard to cancer registration.
Thank you very much to members for their comments, and I appreciate the comments about privacy. That was the first thing that struck me, the first thing I questioned. When you collect information, you have to be very careful how this information is collected, how it is kept, and who it is provided to.
One of the things I have to point out is that no extra personal information will be covered under this bill; it will be exactly as it was before. A similar situation exists with the Notifiable Diseases Act with information regarding name, date of birth, ethnicity, and everything that is relevant. That is very important because we have to know the people and where they are coming from, because then we are able to identify whether there is a particular type of cancer occurring in a particular area and we have clusters. Then, we know how to defend and provide the infrastructure to address this issue.
The register meets Northern Territory and national privacy legislation. The Northern Territory Information Commissioner has endorsed confidentiality will be maintained at all times. The information will be provided under the existing national and Territory guidelines only when people move from our jurisdiction to another jurisdiction. We can provide this information to their council authority so there is continuity. It is also for research. The way that research information will be handled has to comply with the Ethics Committee established in every state and territory and, also, nationally. It is not free for all; you cannot get information if you just go there and ask for it. There has to be a reason, and it is very strictly controlled.
Regarding your question about in situ cancer, cancer is defined under national agreements. This agreement does not include in situ cancers; therefore, they will not be included. However, this is a new bill, and this will provide for improved collection of information. It also expands on where the information comes from. Before, it was actually through the diagnosis of pathological tests and laboratories; now we have other areas. Also, due to improvement in medical science, we can now identify new types of cancers. That is included in this legislation.
The most important issue is - and I absolutely agree with the member for Greatorex - the patient’s confidentiality is paramount. I have asked that of the department, and I am satisfied that the information will be kept under strict control and not provided willy-nilly to anybody who asks for it. It has to comply with the national and Territory standards.
We now have an amendment which was actually identified when we finalised the operational requirements of the bill. We are trying to have information collected under the repealed act to be continuous with that collected under the proposed new act. The information we had before will be continuous with information we are collecting now. This includes provision for the Cancer Registrar to go back and ask health providers for further information in order to have a complete and accurate register. Also, the proposed amendments to the new clause 26 make this intention explicit within the act. It is not a policy change; it is to make this bill more workable and to ensure the information we have now, and had in the previous register, is the same, so we have a complete set of information in our registration bill.
Madam Speaker, it is not about cancer, it is not about treatment; it is about collecting appropriate information in order to make better decisions in the future.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, could we take the bill as a whole, because I only have a couple of questions. Rather than go through clause by clause, can I just ask the minister a couple of questions and take the bill as a whole?
Madam CHAIR: We need to work through the amendments.
Clauses 1 and 2, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 3:
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Chair, I move amendment 16.1.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 3, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 4 to 25, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 26:
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, I move amendment 16.2.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 26, as amended, agreed to.
Remainder of the bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
Mr CONLAN: Minister, regarding the information that will be gathered for this, can you tell us whereabouts it is stored and in what capacity?
Mr VATSKALIS: It is within the registry within the Health department in a secure IT file.
Mr CONLAN: Okay, so it is like a vault, or is it just files?
Mr VATSKALIS: Well no, it is an electronic, IT file.
Mr CONLAN: IT file?
Mr VATSKALIS: The same way sensitive information such as notifiable diseases, and other sensitive information, is stored. They are not locked away; they are put in a computer system with encryption and passwords which can be accessed only by authorised people in the department.
Mr CONLAN: You may have mentioned it in your speech; I did not quite pick it up. Do people have a choice about that information being identified? Is there any choice there?
Mr VATSKALIS: No. Under the current legislation, the information for all people diagnosed with cancer is collected. The new bill applies the same criteria. It is no different to other legislation like the Notifiable Diseases Act. People who have a notifiable disease are recorded, and have no choice of opting out of it. However, again, it is not something we actually use for any other purpose, only for our own policy development, treatment methods, conveying this information if they move from the Northern Territory, let us say to Western Australia, or if an authority or an organisation does research based on the information we can provide.
Mind you, we have the most complete Cancer Register for Indigenous people in Australia, and it will continue.
Mr CONLAN: Is there any way for the registrar to gather information from interstate? That is assuming most people are diagnosed in the Northern Territory even before they go interstate. Is it worth considering, or is it worthwhile for the registrar to be able to request such information from interstate, particularly if the person is diagnosed in the Territory?
Mr VATSKALIS: If people move from another jurisdiction to the Northern Territory, we can go back to the registrar and ask for their information so we have a complete set of data for that person who comes here. Again, it depends on the legislation they have in other states but, usually, when people with cancer move to the Territory we can go back to where they came from and ask for this information.
Mr CONLAN: What if they were diagnosed first in the Territory and then move interstate?
Mr VATSKALIS: If they are diagnosed in the Territory …
Mr CONLAN: Diagnosed here.
Mr VATSKALIS: … they are registered here, and if they move interstate, we already have the information here before they even go. This information does not disappear, it stays here. We will convey this information to the other authority.
Mr CONLAN: If they die interstate as a result of cancer, are we able to acquire that information as well?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, if it is registered. Our register is independent of the legislative provisions of other states. Some states can give it to us. Some states have certain requirements to give it to us.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Chair, I believe that is all I have.
Ms CARNEY: Minister, given the sensitivity of the information gathered, I believe it is important to outline this for the Parliamentary Record. Can you advise what security measures are in place to ensure the information on the register is kept private?
Mr VATSKALIS: The information is kept in an electronic file, in accordance with the provisions of the Northern Territory legislation and the national legislation.
Ms CARNEY: What exists to ensure the information does not fall into the wrong hands, or is not, inadvertently or otherwise, provided to people who should not be in receipt of it?
Mr VATSKALIS: The information is kept in a secure environment. It can only be accessed by people authorised by the Chief Medical Officer. Not everyone can access it.
Ms CARNEY: You say it is kept electronically. Does that mean it is security encrypted, coded, and all that sort of thing?
Mr VATSKALIS: The same way other relevant information is kept. A number of registers we have in the Health department are kept in the same way, in accordance with the national provisions.
Ms CARNEY: The information is only able to be accessed by the CMO or his or her delegate?
Mr VATSKALIS: That is what I am advised.
Ms CARNEY: Can you advise who those delegates are, or could be?
Mr VATSKALIS: The authorised person to access this information is the registrar.
Ms CARNEY: Can you advise who those people are likely to be?
Mr VATSKALIS: There are three people: the data manager, the registrar, and the statistician can access this information for statistics.
Ms CARNEY: They are the only three people authorised by the CMO to access or to disseminate this information? Correct?
Mr VATSKALIS: I am advised there are these three people.
Ms CARNEY: What are the penalties for the, inadvertent or otherwise, release of this information?
Mr VATSKALIS: As described in the general provisions of the Privacy Act.
Ms CARNEY: Can you please outline what those provisions are?
Mr VATSKALIS: Sorry, I do not have it in front of me. They are described in the Privacy Act. This is what would happen for breach of privacy.
Mr CARNEY: It is curious, minister, that you come in here and assure me, my colleagues and, indeed, the parliament to trust you and those three people. I am not saying that they should not be. However, given we are health consumers, and represent our electorates, who are also health consumers, they should receive something other than a reference by you to something in the Privacy Act. I ask that you obtain that information and provide it to the parliament. If you are unable to do so, I guess you have a couple of options. One is to ask your advisors to get that information; another one is to adjourn this debate. I believe members of parliament should satisfy themselves and you, as minister, with what the penalties are because it is an important public policy point, and I ask you to answer it.
Mr VATSKALIS: In Part 4, clause 4(13) Confidential Information, it specifies a person must not disclose information obtained by the person in the course of carrying out functions for the administration of this act. The maximum penalty is 10 penalty units.
Ms CARNEY: There is no period of imprisonment prescribed? It is just penalty units?
Mr VATSKALIS: Sorry?
Ms CARNEY: No period of imprisonment, just penalty units?
Mr VATSKALIS: No, it prescribes only penalty units.
Ms CARNEY: Only penalty units. Thank you. What capacity is there, if at all, for a health consumer to elect not to be on the register?
Mr VATSKALIS: As I explained before, there is no option for a person to opt out of being on the register.
Ms CARNEY: Why not?
Mr VATSKALIS: Well, establishing a register like that, you have to collect information from every person ...
Ms CARNEY: Can you speak up?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes. When you establish a register like that, you do it for the purpose of identifying persons, areas, type of cancers, in order to develop policy; a way to address this issue. If we start saying, ‘You can be in it but you do not have to if you do not want to’, then it compromises the integrity of the register, which then has no value in collecting the information.
Ms CARNEY: You would be aware, presumably as Health Minister, that there is ongoing research in relation to cervical cancer, I assume? Yes? I take it from your nodding head that is a yes, for Hansard?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, it is.
Ms CARNEY: I ask you to provide a rationale for the apparent inconsistency where women of the Territory, myself included, can elect - as I have elected - not to be on the PAP Smear Register. There are many reasons why I have elected not to be on it; privacy is one of them. How do you reconcile, on the one hand, in relation to PAP smears for cervical cancer, a health consumer can elect not to be on that register and, yet, you say with cancer, generally, a person does not have that right?
Mr VATSKALIS: Member for Araluen, a PAP smear is for screening purposes. This is for diagnosed cases of cancer. So, you can choose to be on the PAP Smear Register or not, because that is only for diagnosis to ascertain if the person has cervical cancer, or the possibilities. This is for diagnosed cases of cancer.
Ms CARNEY: All right. Thank you for outlining what the rationale is. Prior to hearing that - because we had discussed it - we could not work out exactly what the rationale was. So, thank you for answering that question. Whether it is satisfactory or not, frankly, I am not sure. In any event, why do you not, as a government, provide the opportunity for someone who elects not to be on the register? Why do you not provide them with that opportunity?
Mr VATSKALIS: As I said before, what is the point of having a register if you cannot have an accurate picture of what is happening in the Territory? There is no purpose in having it because it is deficient; if 10% of people decide to opt out, or 20%, then you do not have an accurate picture of the Territory. You cannot do proper planning for the future, for service delivery, identifying areas, identifying types of cancers. You have a complete register, or you do not have any at all.
Ms CARNEY: I do not know the answer to this. Are there other health registers in the Territory for other types of illnesses? If so, can you outline them? I am assuming the obvious one is a list going of swine flu victims, but what else is there? I am just wondering why this is a stand-alone part of public health policy.
Mr VATSKALIS: It is not the only register that is compulsory. The Notifiable Diseases Register is compulsory. Swine flu is notifiable, so all these cases are notified. I have been advised a register is compulsory by national requirements, so everyone has to be on it if they are diagnosed with cancer.
Ms CARNEY: Assuming you consulted with various agencies or stakeholders through the process, did you receive any advice or recommendations that health consumers have the right not to have their information on the register?
Mr VATSKALIS: My advice is that the Cancer Council, which we consult with, is fine with it.
Remainder of the bill agreed to.
Bill reported with amendments; report adopted.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I make a statement on the future strategic directions for education and training in the Northern Territory. Education and training is the No 1 priority of my government. We know that education changes lives, it provides opportunities, and it expands horizons. Importantly, we know education and training not only changes the lives of individuals, but it can also transform communities. We know that education is the key to transforming the Territory and the lives of Territorians. This means we need a robust education system: a system recognised for a culture of high expectations and high-performing people, programs, and processes; a system focused on supporting our students and schools to achieve their best.
This government’s goal is a smart Territory, a smart, skilled and innovative Territory where the potential of every child is recognised, and where every school works with the department and their community to ensure our children get the education and training they need to fulfil their potential.
The Territory has grown and developed significantly over the last decade. Darwin is now a outward-looking, vibrant, tropical capital city. Palmerston is a rapidly-growing city of choice; Alice Springs is becoming recognised as Australia’s inland capital; and our regional and remote communities are rapidly evolving to be towns servicing growth areas. Now, more than ever, we need more skilled, smart people to drive our future. To achieve this we need students at school longer, developing the skills and capacities to be work ready when they graduate. This means parents and schools working collaboratively to ensure students attend school 90% or more of the time. This means students achieving or exceeding the national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and senior secondary students graduating with either a VET Certificate II or above, with a TER score which will get them into university.
To get there, the education and training system must provide effective support and expertise to our schools, our teachers, our parents, and our students. We must have a system that ensures we have in place quality strategies and programs for all stages of schooling; a system that ensures we have quality people and partnerships on the ground focused on making a difference for every student, which provides strategic and data-driven support focused on achievement and improvement in every area of business.
The Territory government has an unrelenting focus on reforming and strengthening education and training at all levels. More than ever before, the government has significantly increased and expanded the resources in place - resources that specifically target improving the infrastructure of schools, as well as the quality of leadership and coordination that guides the performance of the education and training system.
In 2004, we established a Teacher Registration Board to effectively lead and sustain professional standards across the Territory teaching workforce. In 2004, we pioneered the Laptop for Teachers program, an innovation that enables our teachers to use learning technologies as part of their daily work, an initiative with significant impact and has been warmly appreciated by teachers across the Territory. In 2006, we reformed secondary education by establishing the middle years of schooling as a distinct and important stage of schooling in the lives of our young people.
In 2007, we introduced the school Accountability and Performance Improvement Framework to drive the achievement of improved results. This framework is now working to establish improved results in our schools. In 2007, we instituted the NT Safe Schools Code of Conduct. This code outlines the expectations of parents, carers and schools in ensuring schools are safe places to learn and work. It provides the much-needed policy and practical support the system required to drive and guide the quality of learning environments in our schools.
Since 2008, we have strategically collaborated with the Clontarf Football Academy to establish academies in schools in Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs. This foundation uses evidence-based practices to improve the health, employment, education and life skills of Australia’s teenage Indigenous males.
In addition to all of this, we now have a well-established plan delivering infrastructure; a plan that has commenced building new schools, major upgrades, improved repairs and maintenance, as well as additional classrooms and facilities right across the Territory. This year, the Territory and federal governments combined will spend an unprecedented $235m to improve, upgrade and modernise the infrastructure and facilities in our schools.
This government is committed to the ongoing reform and improvement of our education and training system. The future direction of my government is centred on one clear goal: real and improved student outcomes. We recognise that, while we have made significant gains in recent times, there is much more to be done. Last month, I launched the next phase of our efforts to provide the best possible education and training system to Territorians: the Education and Training Strategic Plan 2009-12. It is attached to this ministerial statement. This plan provides a clear direction for education and training. It is designed to spell out my government’s vision, ideas and expectations for education and training over the next three years.
The strategic plan gives a clear path forward for every level of leadership and action throughout the system. The plan is the culmination of many things but, in particular, it takes on board the key recommendations of the Ladwig and Sarra report. It incorporates an agency structure and focus which is centred around student learning and achievement, and it puts into place the significant national partnership arrangements my government has signed with our federal partners.
The focus of the next three years will be an emphasis on the development of a quality system based on high expectations of success, with clear goals and expectations; a system which is strategically resourced to maximise the outcomes of students in remote, rural, and urban schools; promotes coherent curriculum pathways through the stages of schooling; promotes teacher learning and development in line with the outcomes we want for our students; and most importantly, provides every student with an orderly and supported environment.
To get there, my government’s strategic plan focuses on the development of quality programs to improve attendance, participation, and achievement at every level; the recruitment and retention of quality people in partnerships to develop the right people who are committed to the Territory and know how to make a difference; and the building of quality systems to support our schools achieve real and improved outcomes for every student.
Central to every aspect of the education and training plan, the government expects improvements in attendance, achievements in English, literacy and numeracy, as well as Year 12 completions and certifications, and the culture to establish high expectations for students, teaching, and schooling. These three core aims will underpin the effort of each school, each initiative, and each decision.
For the next three years, this government’s attention is focused on using the available research and data to improve the access, engagement and achievement in the early years, as well as primary years, middle years, and senior years of schooling.
The first eight years of a child’s life are critical to their education. It is in these years that a young child develops the confidence and behaviours which will influence their involvement in learning for the rest of their lives. The government will release a detailed reform plan for these early years in 2010. Essentially, we will closely integrate the delivery of health and education services, and focus resources on families. We will assist families in the educational development of their children from birth to the early years of schooling. This will deliver working partnerships across the Territory government and productive relationships with the federal government.
This government will introduce a range of innovative programs into these years. We will establish integrated family hubs in our growth towns which will deliver both health and education services, including the government’s election commitment to the Families as First Teachers program. Parents will be assisted to develop the communication and language skills, as well as the social and emotional skills essential for laying the strong foundation to their children’s future success in learning. We will work with our federal counterparts to build and sustain a system focused on quality care and learning. As part of our consideration of the details of this policy, the government will identify the resources to be directed to the early years of schooling to improve the achievement of our students across the curriculum and, importantly, in the national literacy and numeracy standards.
The primary and middle years of schooling are critical phases in a young person’s development and, as such, the education strategic plan will include strategies and programs to improve student engagement in achievements. These stages of schooling are critical stages; they build on the essential literacy, numeracy, ICT skills, and the social and emotional competence developed in the early years. These stages of schooling introduce students to more in-depth specialist learning, and develop their capacity to become lifelong learners.
To support and improve the standards of attendance, achievement, and engagement in schooling, the government will focus attention on providing students and teachers with curriculum options and resources that are both engaging and rigorous. We will use the opportunities provided by the work of the National Curriculum Board to strategically align the primary and middle years with the early and senior years, respectively. We will also continue to work on supporting schools to offer positive and engaging learning environments for students, including exploring the options provided by VET.
The government believes it is critical we keep more students at school longer. That is why we have extended the compulsory years of schooling to the end of Year 10, and introduced a requirement that all young people up to 17 years of age be at school, in work, or in training. The next three years of strategic action are focused on making school more relevant, practical, and focused on bankable outcomes for every student. This will ensure our senior secondary schools cater for the broad range of student needs, both now and into the future. We will work with schools to provide strategies and programs that will ensure every student has a clear pathway from the middle years into Year 10, and through to Year 12, to university, further education or training, or a job.
The Territory already leads the country in proactively supporting individual students to make choices that will maximise their options beyond schooling. The introduction of personal learning plans and dedicated careers advisors in every senior secondary school ensures that assistance with subject choices and pathways continues to improve student achievement at the completion of their schooling. The real focus of reform in these years is the government intends to lift the value of vocational education and training in the senior years.
The Northern Territory Certificate of Education will become the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training. This government expects vocational education and training offerings for students to be coordinated and targeted. The strategic plan will lead the way in making sure our schools give students opportunities to complete a proper qualification; a qualification I believe needs to be at least at Certificate II or III level. This new direction will revamp training in schools and provide coordinated delivery between senior secondary schools, Charles Darwin University, and other providers of training. Each senior school will provide improved VET options, and better VET timetabling to maximise student opportunities to graduate work ready. This government’s plan will resource schools to achieve this goal, but in a way that does not allow duplication of facilities and programs.
We will resource schools to help them transition students from school to work. In this day and age, schools have a responsibility that extends beyond the school fence. Helping transition students into work is one such responsibility. I expect a school like Taminmin High School, which has been outstanding in its application of this program, to be a model for other schools. Taminmin will be resourced to expand their programs into schools, particularly in the Top End growth towns.
To ensure a clear path is reinforced in key growth town schools, the government will enter into partnerships with key employers to provide employment guarantees to a number of successful students. In places such as Nhulunbuy, Groote Eylandt, Jabiru, and Yuendumu, where there are clearly large employers, a guarantee of employment will mean far greater success rates amongst students. It provides them with a clear path to a positive outcome; it gives their education a meaning as well as a purpose
Whilst we will be lifting the focus on VET, the government is also conscious of the need to continue to offer those who choose an academic pathway with the best possible education. To that end, the government intends to establish centres of excellence in maths, science, and engineering in selected senior secondary schools. We will partner with CDU to develop these centres of excellence, along with a centre of excellence in tourism and hospitality.
In late May, the government announced A Working Future, the government’s policy for the development of regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory. It identifies 20 towns across the Territory which will be the focus of growth throughout the Territory. To ensure improving education and training in these towns is a major focus, we will conduct a comprehensive mapping exercise of the education and training needs of six towns. We will assess those requirements, looking at children from birth through to post-school options. We will look at the industry, the jobs, and the employment needs of the community, and map our education response accordingly. Once this is completed, we will have a comprehensive plan for each school, with local and departmental buy-in which we can all implement. The towns involved in the initial plans are Lajamanu, Ngukurr, Umbakumba, Angurugu, Ntaria, Maningrida, Gunbalanya, and Jabiru.
The government will also step up the use of learning technologies right across our education and training system. We will develop a virtual school, based at Nightcliff Middle School, to deliver education across the Territory, and to improve student access to SACE-approved academic, and some VET courses, not available in their home school.
The government’s plan for education and training will emphasise getting the right people in the right jobs. It will consolidate our efforts to recruit, retain, and develop our best people. It will extend investment in Indigenous staff development, ensuring we build the Territory’s capacity to grow our own teachers, leaders and paraprofessionals. In addition, it will evaluate recruitment strategies, especially the recruitment of staff to remote schools.
This government wants teachers and principals keen to commit to communities for longer periods of time and, most importantly, committed to making a difference for Indigenous students and supporting the Territory’s objective to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participation and achievement in our schools. This government will streamline the levels of support we provide to teachers and staff in remote areas. One-stop shops, staffed with remote teacher support officers, will work directly with teachers and principals in remote areas to ensure services and support are effective and timely.
Importantly, government’s plan stipulates the use of research and data to deliver effective induction and recall processes. We want teachers who understand what they are going into, and a system that delivers effective support and solutions quickly. Central to a smart Territory is having high-performing schools staffed with teaching teams who know which practices and programs make a difference for which groups of students. We want teachers who understand the needs and the challenges of our students. Accordingly, this government’s plan will strengthen the quality teacher initiatives that have already commenced; we will continue in our efforts to grow our own, particularly through intensive effort in Indigenous teacher and childcare training. We will drive efforts to increase the numbers of Indigenous staff working as teachers, paraprofessionals, and across all business of schooling.
One of the most important partnerships in education is the partnership between families and schools. Educating the Territory’s young people takes the effort and energy of both family and teachers. Research from around the world tells us when families and schools work together to support children, students’ academic and wellbeing outcomes improve. In this area, our strategic plan includes improving engagement with parents and communities. It acknowledges the crucial role of school councils, parents and industry in developing quality education. As minister, I particularly support stronger training and information focused on ongoing improvements of this partnership.
The government particularly supports transparency in the operation of schools. This is why we will be part of the national plan to place school performance online and available to all. The strategic plan for education and training will further this agenda, as it sets real targets and measures to guide improvements in schools and the system. It details processes and structures which will make this progress public, allowing meaningful information to be available to the community.
This government has agreed to targets which will close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. We have done this as part of our national partnership agreement with the Commonwealth, and as part of our own vision and directions for government. Right across the system, targets will be set in numeracy, literacy, attendance and exit qualifications. Schools and the department will have clear pathways to achieve those targets and, importantly, accountability in publicly recording progress against them. This government’s agenda to structure and organise education and training so it is focused on real and improved student outcomes will drive improvements in data collection, management, and reporting. Data-driven decision-making will drive whole-of-agency effort and improvement.
This government’s agenda to structure and organise education and training is also focused on ensuring resources are placed where they are needed most. This plan puts an even greater emphasis on school education and training as the core function of the department.
I finish today with the message I started with: education and training is my government’s No 1 priority. Our vision, ideas and expectations for a smart Territory, for an effective education and training system, is centred on: real student outcomes with high numbers of Territorians attending school; achieving literacy and numeracy levels at or above the national averages; completion of Year 12; achieving a tertiary entrance rank; exiting schools with a completed Level II or III VET certificate; graduating and moving to higher education, further training or future employment; undertaking school-based apprenticeships or traineeships; and participating in adult learning aligned with employer needs.
Debate suspended.
Continued from earlier this day.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I am pleased this afternoon to speak in support of this important statement on the future of education in the Territory delivered by the Chief Minister. It is one of the most important ministerial statements delivered since I have been a member of this Assembly. It is absolutely crucial to the development and wellbeing of the Northern Territory.
In the Australian Labor Party, we believe every child and young adult, irrespective of race, religion, gender, parental income and place of living, is entitled to a quality education. Over the years, I have met many hard-working parents, teachers, school principals and students committed to achieving quality outcomes in education. When I move around the schools in my electorate of Johnston, I can see the dedicated school-based community striving for excellence in education. The Henderson Labor government supports this aspiration and has made record levels of investment in the education sector. Along with parents, teachers and students, we recognise that education is critically important to the future of the Territory and its people.
Education is important for many reasons. It helps children and young people to develop their potential as human beings and citizens. It creates a foundation for people to develop skills through further education and employment. It allows us to work productively as members of the broader community. It equips children and young people to experience and contribute to the rapidly changing and amazing world we live in. It builds a solid base of intellectual and vocational capacity, which will allow our country and our Territory to take its place as a leader and innovator in the community of nations. Education is all about an experience through which we learn about ourselves and others. A well-educated community is fundamental to our future’s prosperity. Employers in tourism and business sectors rely on skilled qualified workers and they have a critical interest in education, training and transition to work arrangements.
Earlier this month, it was my pleasure to attend the graduation of 13 apprentices from a cross-section of government agencies. Through successive Job Plans initiatives, the government has consistently provided opportunities for 90 to 120 apprentices a year. In 2007, the focus of the government’s apprenticeship program shifted to create more opportunities for Indigenous Territorians in skill shortage areas, and jobs in regional and remote Territory centres. I was delighted nine of the 13 new graduate apprentices are Indigenous Territorians. In 2008 alone, more than 2900 Territorians commenced apprenticeships and traineeships across all sectors.
The oil and gas industries will provide a critical focus for education and training opportunities in the future. I recently met with principals of the Wood Group, a major international player in the oil and gas industries, which has now acquired, as I understand it, the major interest in RANms, a very successful local company made up of quite diverse interests, such is their confidence in the future of Darwin and the Northern Territory in the INPEX project in oil and gas, and future oil and gas projects. The group has supported the establishment of specialised industry courses at the University of Aberdeen, which could be utilised as a model for specialised training in Darwin. I spoke to them at length on that issue, and they are very pleased to share their knowledge and expertise in this particular area.
It is also noteworthy that the Little Children are Sacred report identified education as fundamental to improving the wellbeing of remote Indigenous children, and in closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.
The government is determined to address the ongoing challenge of delivering quality education in our unique geographic and demographic environment. The Chief Minister reaffirmed, in his statement today, that the government is committed to ongoing reform and improvement in our education and training system. Real and improved student outcomes are our overriding priority. The Education and Training Strategic Plan 2009-12 sets out a clear direction. Among other things, it takes on board the key recommendations of the Ladwig and Sarra report, which sets a broad-ranging reform agenda for the Department of Education and Training.
The Chief Minister outlined the key elements of our strategic plan, which focuses on: the development of quality programs to improve attendance, participation, and achievement at every level of schooling; the recruitment and retention of quality people and partnerships to develop the right people who are committed to the Territory, and who know how to make a difference; the building of quality systems; and support for our schools to achieve real and improved outcomes for every student.
The government expects improvements in attendance, achievement in English literacy, and numeracy, as well as Year 12 completions and certifications. The culture of establishing high expectations for students, teaching, and schooling are very important aims. As the Chief Minister said this morning, these three core aims will underpin the effort of each school, each initiative, and each decision.
We live in a global village which has seen amazing advances in science and technology in recent decades. There are incredible opportunities for our school leavers, trainees, and graduates to pursue careers in the Territory, nationally, and overseas. Education is a fundamental priority of the government. We will continue to work with students, teachers, and parents to deliver quality education and training.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend this very important statement to the House. Education, at every level, from kindergarten right through to Year 12 and to university, is a very important priority of this government - we are involved, and supporting, at every level. I commend the Chief Minister’s statement to the House.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, this is just another example of a fantastically choreographed finale of words – if Territorians could only believe it. Have we had a miraculous change in the last few days in this government? I would like to think so, but I do not think it is so. It has been said time and time again: ‘Judge them on what they do, not on what they say’.
Having had the fortune of being chair of a school council for many years, I know what it is like to deal with this government when it comes to funding and how it provides for our schools. In recent times, I have had a number of people from different school councils contact me because of relationships and networks I built up over that time, with some real problems that exist today, where school fundraising by the mums and dads, the carers of children, and school councils is used to prop up funding to pay for teachers who have been brought in when teachers are away. School councils and others contact me with information like this, with real concerns of why they should fundraise for their schools if the schools are using that money to do things this government should be paying for.
It is great to listen to the rhetoric from that side of the House, the government of the day, on education they do not deliver or another glossy example of how you say you do - but you do not. Territorians are sick and tired of hearing the lovely words that continue to flow and, yet, you just do not deliver. Like housing – you can talk about it repeatedly, but you do not deliver. People do not come into electorate offices with issues regarding housing, education, health, and law and order if you are getting it right. If you are getting it right we are not contacted, you are not contacted. However, it happens time and time again.
So, enough with the spin, enough with all the wonderful words that you are going to change the world. If it was only true, there would not be a person on this side of the House who would disagree with you; we would support you. We would shake your hands and thank you for making this a better Northern Territory. Do not come here and say you are going to do things when it is just either a media grab or to get through another 24 hours. Have some heart and do something for the Territory.
Mr HAMPTON (Central Australia): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to speak today in support of the Chief Minister’s statement on a smart Territory. Earlier today, the Chief Minister said education and training not only changes the lives of individuals, but can transform communities. I agree 100% with that wording.
A decent education can help individuals to achieve their potential. We need our children to be educated, especially here in the Territory where we have seen the impact skills shortages can have. The greatest thing we can do, both for our society and our children, is to educate them. I believe there are very few cultures around the world that do not place a huge emphasis on education, especially when all the statistics say the more educated you are the better your standard of living will be.
I am honoured to represent the people of Kalkarindji, which is in the electorate of Stuart. Kalkarindji achieved lasting fame in 1966 when it was the site of the Wave Hill walk-off led by Vincent Lingiari. This was a landmark in the land rights movement. Again in 2003, Kalkarindji was home to another revolution: Rhonda Rankin, Leanne Brown and Meshach Paddy completed Year 12 at the Kalkarindji CEC. They were the first Indigenous students to complete Year 12 in a remote school. The Kalkarindji CEC has honoured these three young people by naming classrooms after them. Since then, more than 100 Indigenous students have followed in their footsteps and completed their high school education in their own communities in remote parts of the Northern Territory. I can assure members the people of Kalkarindji are very proud of the achievements of their children, and I am sure this is what elders such as Vincent Lingiari would have expected to see flow from the fruits of the land rights movement.
I will touch on a few areas of particular interests to me as Minister for Central Australia. The creation of the Alice Springs Middle School was announced in February this year as a key part of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan. The new school will operate across two campuses at Gillen and ANZAC Hill. Much work and planning by the school councils, staff, parents and students is going into the creation of the new middle school, which will be operational at the start of the 2010 school year. Budget 2009-10 includes $4.73m for capital works at the ANZAC Hill and Gillen campuses.
The creation of the Alice Springs Middle School will give students better subject choices, tailored programs to meet individual needs, and a better use of resources and infrastructure. It will also mean we have a better chance of getting kids to school and keeping them there, which will mean a better education for all our kids in Alice Springs.
As I said, the implementation of the new school is well under way. The new principal, Therese Hicks started her job on the 27 July, and I congratulate Therese on her appointment. Staff at both campuses are involved in designing and implementing teaching and learning programs for the new school, and students and parents are closely involved in the process. At the moment, they are involved in discussions on the new school logo and uniform. A reference group meets fortnightly to advise on matters relevant to the creation of the middle school, and includes teacher and parent representatives from both schools plus primary, principal and Indigenous representatives.
Students at the new middle school in Alice Springs will continue to benefit from ongoing youth support programs such as the Alice Springs Clontarf Football Academy and the Girls at the Centre Program. They will also benefit from the creation of a youth hub at the ANZAC campus which will provide after-hours activities and immediate access to support and integrated town-wide educational and youth services. The youth hub will be managed by the Youth Services Coordinator, Michael White, who is doing a fantastic job in bringing the youth hub project together. The ANZAC campus will also include a 30-bed residential facility to provide a safe environment for kids who cannot live at home. The Youth Action Plan supports children and families by making sure kids get the opportunity for a good education.
Local businesses in Alice Springs are also playing their part in making sure kids get a decent education by throwing their support behind the No School No Service initiative. Many retailers around town have the No School No Service posters and information displayed, and are enthusiastic about the voluntary code. Local retailers can refuse service to any school-age child under the age of 15 who is in a shop during school hours without a leave pass. The Alice Springs Chamber of Commerce has been very supportive and actively involved in developing the No School No Service scheme. Local schools have implemented a leave pass system to support the code, where all compulsory school-aged children are issued with a leave pass when they have permission to be away from school for part of the day without adult supervision. School truancy is often associated with antisocial behaviour and youth crime, and the No School No Service code, supported by a school leave pass system, will send a strong message that wagging school is not cool.
I turn to my portfolio of Information, Communications and Technology Policy. One of the government’s focuses in this area has been the development of electronic service delivery with an emphasis on e-learning. To be successful at electronic service delivery, government has must deliver a number of key elements and, without doubt, the priority has to be the communications infrastructure itself.
Last year, we saw 800 km of optical fibre laid across Arnhem Land from Jabiru to Nhulunbuy via Oenpelli, Maningrida, Ramingining, Gapuwiyak and Yirrkala. I acknowledge the Northern Territory government’s partners in this $34m project: Telstra, Rio Tinto Alcan, and the Northern Land Council. The project has been acknowledged independently being awarded the Australian Telecommunication User Group’s Excellence Award for Best Communications Initiative for Large Businesses in 2009. The fibre-optic cable has transformed communications in the region and has enabled the delivery of electronic services to the people of Arnhem Land. Schools, as well as health clinics and police stations, have access to high-speed broadband for the very first time.
Meanwhile, we are working on the major challenge of extending this access to other remote parts of the Northern Territory. While this work has been continuing, the Commonwealth has progressed its plans to build a National Broadband Network. The network will deliver 100 MB capacity via optical fibre to 90% of all premises in Australia, and a 12 MB capacity via wireless and satellite technology to the remaining 10%.
Over the past year, I have had several meetings, conversations, and exchanges of communication with Senator Conroy, the federal minister. He has made it clear the NBN is part of the strategy to develop a world-class digital economy. An integral part of this is the Commonwealth’s Digital Education Revolution which provides up to $100m to support high-speed broadband connections to Australian schools, funds to help schools buy or upgrade their information and communications technology for secondary students in Years 9 to 12, and access to ICT training for our teachers. It also provides online learning and access to help parents take part in their child’s education. The Digital Education Revolution is a five-year program with a total funding of $2.2bn. The pace of technological change is amazing. Over the past decade, we have seen exponential growth of the Internet, as well as the applications it can deliver.
At the heart of e-learning is the ability to deliver quality education in a portable way and, in the Territory, we were the pioneers in distance education with our School of the Air programs. With a single teacher hundreds of kilometres away from the students, e-learning offers a simple concept, but not just to children on cattle stations; all Territory children could benefit from these virtual classrooms. Last year, Darwin High School trialled a virtual delivery of Japanese language courses to students in Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy. This year, the Centralian Senior Secondary College has successfully delivered philosophy courses. Next year, there are plans for a number of high schools to deliver courses to students in remote, regional and urban centres. These courses range from languages such as Japanese, Indonesian, Mandarin, ESL English, to hospitality, philosophy, chemistry, and specialist maths.
The Department of Education and Training is determined to take advantage of new technologies to deliver quality senior secondary and vocational education courses to students who cannot access these subjects in the schools they attend.
There are other positive aspects of e-learning, such as financial and environmental benefits. E-learning is still in its infancy and I believe it will have a huge part to play in the education of our children. My job is to ensure the infrastructure is in place to support this new type of teaching.
The Chief Minister briefly touched on the achievements of the Clontarf Football Academy. As the Minister for Sport and Recreation, I am very interested to see the positive impacts sport can bring in transforming the lives of a group of young people. The Clontarf Football Academy is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to improve education, health, life skills, self-esteem, and employment outcomes of young Indigenous men. It does this through the establishment of football academies. Participants must attend school regularly, apply themselves to study, and exhibit self-discipline and appropriate behaviour.
The Clontarf Football Academy kicked off in Alice Springs, and has since spread across the Territory to places such as Darwin, Palmerston and Katherine. There are more than 500 young men taking part, and their school principals have reported improved student attendance and behaviour. It is a great scheme, and I am very pleased the Territory government is contributing over $1m towards its success. Clontarf is a fine example of how sport can contribute to positive educational outcomes.
The government is currently developing its draft Sport and Active Recreation Policy following extensive public consultation. We want to ensure that sport and active recreation have a positive impact, rather than a negative impact, on educational outcomes. With this in mind, I am particularly impressed with the Central Desert Shire and its sporting carnival policy. In part, this reads:
I believe this is a policy that could have a positive impact wherever it is rolled out. I intend to work constructively with my Cabinet colleagues, and with other local shires, and the minister for Arts, to ensure this policy is adopted across the Territory.
Finally, I make a brief reference to the government’s Environment NT School Project Grants. This year, 11 schools have succeeded in their applications for grants worth a total of $21 610. There were two subcategories for the grants: Sustainable Schools Projects, and the School Environmental Education Projects. An example of the first category is Alcoota School’s plan to create an orchard. Students will help design and create the orchard, planting trees and setting up an irrigation system using rainwater stored in water tanks. Students will learn how satisfying and fun it is to grow their own food.
In the School Environmental Education category, Wagaman Primary School was successful in getting a grant for its Bush Tucker Program. Children will be involved in all aspects of the garden, helping them to gain an awareness of ecosystems and the environment, and teaching them about the uses of plants and their importance to Indigenous cultures.
The Chief Minister envisages a smart, skilled and innovative Territory where the potential of every child is realised. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am very pleased to support the Chief Minister’s statement.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Deputy Speaker, regarding this statement regarding a smart Territory, no one would disagree with much of what is described in its broad intent and description of goals and aspirations regarding education. The one thing I draw attention to, quite specifically, is the language. It is, basically, the language of intentions and desires, conveying a sense of commitment and a desire for good things to occur in education.
However, we cannot stay in this place much longer. We need to start casting our language - particularly when it comes to policy, and all the resources around policy - in the language of specific outcomes which are clearly measurable. Once the resource is there, the issue is recognised - in this case, education standards as measured through NAPLAN – and we find results are as they are, then we should be able to provide a policy fix that can give you the capacity, as a leader, to determine what you can reasonably expect as an outcome or measurable achievement - whether it is an improvement in attendance, literacy or numeracy in specific years - and put benchmarks out there so we move beyond the broad, benign talk about things to very specific, discrete and measurable results.
In some of the reports, we head in that direction. However, this is not contained in the language of government. Take, for example, the word ‘reform’. ‘Reform’ means to reshape and, obviously, to reshape for a specific purpose. The purpose of education is to provide learning, equip people with the capacity to participate in future opportunities, also to enrich their lives, give them the capacity to assess, analyse and make clear judgments. That is the purpose of education. In the language of reform under the Labor government, reform has been passed off. Most people get the sense that something quite significant is occurring but, largely, the reform has been about buildings, buses and infrastructure. They are building programs. They are physical things. They help education to occur, but that is not a reform of education; that is a reform of infrastructure surrounding education.
Educational reform goes right to the core; that is the nature and the quality of your curriculum, the capacity of our teachers to teach that curriculum, and certain frameworks around the responsibilities that the education system and parents have, and how to reinforce those expectations and obligations. It is in that area reform should occupy its true place, rather than this general talk of reform, which is a spend on things which are not truly educational by their nature, but things around the school which are not educational reform. I will continue to talk about those things. It is time to focus on standards in education.
Members may be surprised to learn there is international discussion about the nature of curricula. It has been recognised by most jurisdictions that the experiment with the broad and abstract curriculum called the ‘outcomes based approach’ has failed. It gave rise to the approach - if anyone was at school in the late 1960s and early 1970s - where it was no longer the phonetic approach; it was a ‘look and say’, general whole-word approach. There was a shift more to the recognition of the effort or the attitude of students rather than the discrete and measurable objective learning.
A number of jurisdictions internationally had experimented with this approach, and it was a fad for a time. Many have abandoned it, but not in Australia. When the Australian system and results are compared internationally, the nation is slipping behind. We have certainly long been aware of the particular attitude of Asian countries, particularly students, and the value for learning and the support they get from the family. It is also the case in European countries as well.
Australia is losing its place. That is a fact, and why it has given rise to discussion about the nature of our curriculum. I believe it is necessary for us to move more courageously in that direction and recognise it is time for change. I am pleased the national curriculum discussion is also paying some reference to this. I only hope there is a strong move in this direction, because we desperately need it.
The traditional approach to learning is one that has produced results. You only have to go to remote communities and speak to the older people who were taught under an older, more traditional system. They are the ones who can read complex text, read The Australian, read the documents the young people bring them, because they have been taught to read. The young ones have difficulty and, in a large part, that has to do with the change in which the curriculum has been framed and how it is presented in the classroom. So, there are lessons there right under our nose; that the older ones know how to read because they were taught to read, and the younger ones have been exposed to a teaching method which has failed many students.
Internationally, Australia is losing its place. I believe it is most important we recognise the need to have the right approach to teaching literacy and numeracy, specifically for those who are falling behind, and particularly those in remote communities. It is time to talk about serious curriculum reform. If we are really going to talk about reforms in education - it is about curriculum; the provision of the tools for teachers to effectively teach. In my view, they need a more discrete syllabus approach which gives them discrete tools with which to teach the core subjects.
It may be a surprise to know many teachers spend their time, basically, writing lesson plans and curriculum. It is a broad framework in which they operate, so they are constantly spending their time creating lesson plans when, in fact, the bulk of the time should be focused on instruction in the basics and, then, there should be a little time for the other. However, a large amount of time - and any teacher would be very aware of this - is spent on lesson preparation when the core elements should already be there as tools for teachers to teach with. Why? Because their core business is teaching, not so much lesson preparation and writing curriculum and lesson programs. There should be a greater focus on the interaction between the teacher and the student guided by a very discrete syllabus-based approach. I believe we have to go that way because we are not making the gains we must. If we have an approach such as that, then we have the capacity for clear measurement.
I have been heartened by investigation of other jurisdictions. They do not have the same apprehension about regular, standardised testing. We, as a culture in this country, have always been against standardised testing because some kids might not do so well and they will feel bad about that. However, I believe Australians would recognise if they are playing a game of football or something like that, and they do not do particularly well, then what do they do? Go and cry and try another sport? No, they go and try a bit harder and the coach develops strategies to strengthen them at their point of weakness. We should have a more honest approach in education, where you have a clear standard that you apply and then test. If they fall short, what do you do? Humiliate and embarrass them? No, of course not. You provide the assistance so they can be strong in their area of weakness, and you direct your resources there.
I believe we have this cultural cringe and sense of embarrassment about failure, when we should really take it on board and use it as a lesson to craft a response so we can have improvement. If we keep doing the same thing in education - posing the same broad, benign language - and do not deal with the truth of the matter, we are going to continue with falling standards and ever-increasing expenditure and not getting the result. There are no markers in the ground here. There is a sense that the government is deeply committed to X, Y and Z. However, commitment is just like a feeling; you actually have to have something that is a result of your commitment and strong feeling about X, Y and Z. A result from that is something you can actually see.
You do not go into an exercise and say, ‘Yes, I am really committed’ and, when we do not get any results, then say: ‘That is okay because I am really committed’. We have to get way past that. It is time for some honest assessment of our effort as a government, in this case, to ensure your language matches your effort, your effort produces a result, and that result is the object of the exercise - not the language fluffing around and creating all sorts of impressions.
Strong teachers: the respect we must show our teachers within our culture and society is critical. The way government treated teachers, particularly in that last round of negotiations - you probably know if you are honest enough to assess it - has created a significant problem of trust and respect with government in the way they were handled as a profession. They were not understood nor respected in the way they were handled during that last negotiation. However you may want to excuse yourselves from that, the fact remains the profession was damaged by the way in which they were treated. You cannot have quality education if you have a dispirited and disrespected teaching profession - that must change. Curriculum, strong teachers who are valued and rewarded for their effort, and a capacity to measure performance – if teachers do not do particularly well, you should be able to find ways you can measure to assist and strengthen them so, together, we get some sense of pride in the way our endeavours produce results.
I have looked at some other nations that have a culture of testing - and it is quite healthy because they are not focused on protecting themselves and making excuses, but on getting results, getting achievements up and running. They want a sense of progress. You cannot have that if you do not check it. That is why I believe there needs to be a more honest, vigorous and rigorous approach to measuring a curriculum which is measurable in its core elements, so we can sense and identify progress. If there is no progress in certain areas, then we can bring our resources to bear to assist, so everyone can have a sense of success and achievement wherever possible, and as far as possible, in education.
Kids like that; they do not really like having sporting carnivals were there is no real point to it; everyone has a go, everyone wins a prize, a round of applause, there are no winners, there are no losers, there is no right and wrong, everyone is confused. It is time to tighten it up. You do not go to the Olympic Games and have everyone running around and getting a gold medal because they all tried really hard, they had a sense of commitment, and had a good attitude to it. That is not how the real world works. We have to frame our language and thinking in education on those principles. People do not want to be mucked around with; they want a sense of achievement they have confidence in being able to recognise and, if there is no achievement, give them a hand.
When it comes to attendance, we need to be a bit more courageous in this area. I know the Labor mindset is everyone has a story, and there is probably an excuse why they do not go to school - they have this, that, and the other. Every excuse you provide reduces that sense of personal responsibility. There is an ongoing responsibility for a parent who has to get their kids to school and, if we fluff around and provide excuses and a soft approach in the first instance, we reduce that personal responsibility and we do not get the level of care extended to the child because of the reduced parental responsibility. The kid thinks: ‘It may well be the case going to school is important, but I do not really have to go because mum and dad do not think it is important’.
That flows on to so many other ways in which they conduct themselves within our communities. You see it in the shopping centre, on the buses, the way they behave at the bus terminals and interchanges, and the way they respect our senior citizens - or disrespect in some cases, as we have seen tragically in Palmerston where very young kids have beaten up senior citizens. I believe the whole thing flows from not maintaining a sense of personal responsibility, or upholding standards, reinforcing those standards, and making sure we enforce what we describe as an important law or regulation. You have to enforce them, otherwise there is a sense of – I cannot think of the word in sociology – disconnection and a sense of nothing having any value. Sadly, we see that in the way many of them speak to teachers in classrooms and how they regard education.
I hope other members do the same as I do. We have community standards and we spend a large amount of money on schools. I see kids wandering around when they should be at school. I wind the window down and ask them where they are going, and when they are going to get to school, because they are running a bit late. Let them know there is a community out there that is watching and valuing something.
Going to parental responsibility, there has to be a consequence, ultimately. You cannot keep shielding people from parental responsibility; that is feeding the problem, not providing a solution.
Going to student behaviour, there needs to be a more courageous approach when it comes to misbehaviour in classrooms, otherwise it becomes almost impossible to maintain and defend a standard for those kids who are trying their very best, because their parents understand what is right and wrong, and are trying to get the kids to do the right thing, when it is chaos and anarchy in a classroom.
Too many times, I have seen kids wandering around a shopping centre during school hours. When I ask them, ‘Why are you not at school?’. they will say: ‘I have been suspended from school’. They do not look like they are having too hard a time, because they have all their shiny gear on and walk around like little gangsters thinking; ‘This is pretty cool. I am not sure when I will be going back’. I ask: ‘How long have you been off?’. They tell me a few days, that one is going back this time, another is going back another time. They are bold as brass walking around the shopping centre. They have, basically, been given a holiday for bad behaviour; really, we are feeding the problem. Sometimes, they go back to school at lunchtime and hang around the outskirts and give kids smokes and are little heroes around the school - pretty hard for teachers to police that sort of stuff when you are feeding the problem.
In my view, if a kid has stepped across the line to the point where they are suspended from school, they should be suspended to a place where their underlying problems are addressed. Many of these young boys, in particular, have difficulty reading. If these young lads are put in the care of a strong male who focuses them on basic reading, literacy and numeracy, and they start to get a handle on this sort of stuff, you could well see change. However, you need a really strict, clear, structured approach. They would respect that. That is why many kids go to the footy club. They like it because there are good, strong men around who have certain standards. We have to have that in education as well, otherwise we feed the problem.
Clontarf is a wonderful program. Gerard Neesham is doing a marvellous job and he will be remembered for the contribution he makes. I am very pleased the Territory government provides support to this program.
It is important that we strengthen our resolve in teaching languages - not talk about it, but ensure we provide a certain amount of capacity, and have targets and goals of how many kids are learning languages, particularly Indonesian, Tagalog, Japanese, and Mandarin. We should be increasing it, and have a goal of having so many kids learn a certain number of languages in a certain time. If it has a goal, it will have a purpose; it will help us to engage in our region. Set it as a standard we are all trying to reach, and celebrate it when we do, as a community.
Finally, going to bilingual. It was very interesting - and I thank the member for Braitling for pointing this out to me today - in a reply to the petition presented on 9 June related to …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I move that the Leader of the Opposition be granted an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr MILLS: Thank you, I appreciate that. On the point of bilingual education, it is a sad situation that we have such a complex issue that can easily, in debate, cause confusion because people have an instinctive response to it. In essence, bilingual has many different meanings. It is an area ripe for debate. Without clear leadership, particularly from government which is very clear about what it is trying to achieve and making sure its language is tight, we may end up confusing and discouraging the very people who need encouragement - those who are in the remote schools with the kids. It is good if they come to school. If they are at school they want to have as much meaning occur as possible, particularly when it comes to learning English. For anyone who has had anything to do with teaching or learning another language, you know there has to be a transaction between the language you speak and think in and the other language.
I am pleased to see in the fifth paragraph of the answer to my written question on bilingual programs in NT schools, this sentence:
That is such good news, and brings common sense to this debate which has caused concern in the bush and in places it should not. We should have a clear position and not allow these messages to spread, to gain currency in the northern suburbs, to get people saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes’. Many people do not understand this type of issue.
For the first time, I have seen it written quite clearly, that it is possible - and that is the whole objective if you want someone to learn English, as we all do; and they want to learn English - you are going to have to at least scaffold, particularly in those early years, from the language they bring into the classroom so they can understand the target language, which is English. That has been the position maintained by the Territory opposition from the beginning. I hope we have a clear position now so those in the bush, particularly those who have been caught up in this debate about bilingual programs, will be encouraged by that sentence contained in this letter signed by the Education minister on 18 July.
With those comments, and with thanks to the member for Barkly, I leave my comments at this stage. I commend the minister for Education for bringing this statement forward. I hope we can have a good debate about education, and change our language to honestly recognise that we cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results. The contents of the reviews, particularly those two recent reviews, raise messages which must be responded to; that being, the Chief Minister has asserted on a number of occasions our urban communities are doing as well as kids down south. The review does not agree with that, and that needs to be responded to.
I do not want to see failure, but you have to have an honest assessment before you can put in the planks for genuine improvement and a proper policy fix. You have to start with truth, for starters.
It was quite a damning review, the Ladwig and Sarra report, regarding the culture within the Education department. I hope it has been digested thoroughly, and there is noticeable change. The last thing we want is to visit our schools and feel they are struggling and resources are still not flowing out to the front line. As the former minister for Education, Syd Stirling, often said: ‘Nothing happens in education unless it happens in a classroom with children and a teacher in front of them’. That is where I want to see us put resources and strengthen local schools.
Madam Speaker, in this new spirit of cooperation and so on, our policies which were released at the last Territory election are available for the government if they want to take any of them on board. I am happy for them to do so, because we honestly believe they would produce a beneficial result, particularly at the front line, in the classrooms, in the schools, where we start to empower those schools to have greater autonomy over their own decision-making.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on the Future Strategic Directions for Education and Training in the Northern Territory.
In my country of birth - and it goes back 5000 years - there is a saying: ‘My parents gave me life, but my teachers gave me a good life’. My teachers, through education, gave me the ability to lead a good life, to learn about life, to be trained, to be educated, and to go out and make a living. That is how important education is.
Education and training is the No 1 priority as it changes lives, provides opportunities and expands horizons. Our government is committed to improving student outcomes. Education and training is an acute transformer in the Territory and the lives of all Territorians, irrespective of where they live. We have made mistakes in the past - I am not talking about our government, I am talking about our Australian governments. I recall when I was working at Danila Dilba, Indigenous women in their 50s and 60s used to tell me they grew up on the missions and they could read and write better than their children who go to state or private schools today. That made a big difference in their lives.
The cornerstone of making change is a robust education system in which students and schools can achieve their best. It is not only the students in the school; it is students, schools, teachers and parents. If you do not have all these links, nothing can be achieved. My wife is a teacher and, many times, she comes home and despairs because some parents see the school as the cheapest childcare service in the Northern Territory - they can leave the kids at school and go to work. Sometimes, when things happen and school does not operate, or the teachers have the audacity to suspend a child, these parents ring and abuse the teacher: ‘How dare you! My kid is going to be home now and what am I going to do? I cannot take them to work’. So it has to be teachers, students, schools and parents.
Our government’s goal is a smart, skilled and innovative Northern Territory where the potential of every child is realised; where every school is committed to ensuring our children get the education and training they need, and the students, parents, and community is engaged and involved. It is fundamental to our future, our future generations and, ultimately, the very prosperity of our Territory. This means students achieving or exceeding the national benchmark for literacy and numeracy. It also means senior secondary students graduating with either a VET Certificate II or above, or with a TER score to provide an opportunity to go to university.
Our government is committed to ensure we have in place quality strategies and programs for all stages of schooling anywhere in the Territory - quality people in partnerships on the ground focused on making a difference, and a system that provides strategic data-driven support focused on achievement of improvement in every area of education. Delivering a smart Territory through quality education and ongoing training builds on the range of initiatives implemented by this government, including: the establishment of the Teacher Registration Board; the Laptop for Teacher program using technology to assist our teachers and, ultimately, our students; major reforms through establishing the middle years of schooling as a distinct and important stage of schooling; introducing the school Accountability and Performance Improvement Framework to outline the expectations of parents, carers and schools to ensure schools are safe places in which to learn and work.
You cannot have proper education if you do not have adequate schools; you must have schools which are up-to-date. One of the biggest achievements in my time as a local member is the fact that $4m has been allocated to each of my primary schools, transforming them from very average to state-of-the-art schools in Alawa and Nakara. Some of the teachers told me they cannot believe this is the same school they drove into eight or nine years ago. These schools were built in 1973 and no major investment was made to any of them. As a matter of fact, even at Dripstone Middle School no major investment was made until now, when $3m has been expended. My wife has spent much time with the architects to design new, efficient science labs and classrooms which can actually accommodate today’s demands and requirements for proper education.
Also, with regard to creating partnerships, how are we going to keep kids at school? Kids are bored easily today; they have television, Internet Ipods and computer games - you name it. Their life is, unfortunately, electronic. Kids are bored easily going to school and having a teacher try to teach them the same way we used to teach in the past. There are two options: one is we make the education system state-of-the-art, contemporary, 21st century; and the other is give these kids who do not want to be at school an opportunity and reason to come to school.
The Clontarf Academy is very important. I was astounded to see kids who would not turn up at school because they were bored and did not want to be there, suddenly turn up in the morning, do the training, have breakfast, then go and attend the class because they wanted to be part of the Clontarf Academy. It is Clontarf or AFL, but there are other opportunities for kids to be involved and be part of teams. People want to belong to a particular group. The fact that we see gangs around town is a phenomenon of the human being as a social animal; it wants to be part of a group. When you give these kids a group, they will do incredible things - even go to school.
Other things are very different. In my Alawa school, one of the big attractions is the animal farm that was established where the kids grow their own vegetables and look after their own animals. Thanks very much to Phil Howie, an NT pastoralist, and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, for providing two Brahman calves. The kids are absolutely amazed. Today, kids in the cities do not know where milk or eggs come from; they come from the supermarket. In Alawa, the kids know how to grow their own vegetables and where the milk comes from. Also, establishing the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden initiative will provide opportunities for the kids to be outside, grow their own vegetables, cook, learn about nutritional value, and learn the science of cooking. That makes kitchens interesting.
At Taminmin High School, we are offering Certificate II and III in Beef Cattle Production. Every year, at the Darwin show, you can see the Taminmin bulls there with the kids attending them, and very proud when they receive awards.
My portfolio of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines offers enormous opportunities to directly support education, in particular, ongoing training. We have an Indigenous apprentice program established across the department for both school leavers and beyond who are seeking secure, full-time employment. Within the Fisheries Group we have Indigenous rangers, an opportunity for young Indigenous people to get training and do something different and useful for the communities and, more importantly, useful for Australia. Not long ago, these Indigenous rangers discovered some illegal Indonesian fishing boats hiding in the mangroves, and provided this information to Customs in order to have them intercepted.
Areas that employ an enormous number of Indigenous people are the pastoral industry and mining. In the pastoral industry, we have initiatives such as the 9 ha Ti Tree Research Farm, a small facility located in the Ti Tree horticultural development area. This research and demonstration farm has, historically, been used to undertake research, development and extension services to the Ti Tree grape producers. Now, it is used for training programs for Indigenous people interested in working in horticulture in various locations in Central Australia.
We also have Indigenous pastoral programs. Indigenous people used to be the backbone of the pastoral industry in the 1950s and 1960s. Enormous areas of land in Australia are owned by Indigenous people and this land could be productive, but has fallen into disrepair for the simple reason people have lost their skills. We are trying to bring those skills back. The Indigenous pastoral program is a joint initiative of the Northern Land Council, the Indigenous Land Corporation, our government, and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association. It was established to assist Aboriginal landowners implement pastoral enterprises and increase pastoral production from the Territory. A key initiative is providing training for entry into the pastoral industry which has led to a new memorandum of understanding extending the program through to 2011.
Shortage of skilled personnel, an issue for the cattle industry, initiated pre-employment training and, thus far, has provided job-ready young Indigenous people for the pastoral industry. Elsey Station is a very good example of this program actually running. They accept cattle from other people for agistment, and these cattle are managed by young Indigenous people.
In my department of Resources, a few years ago, I instigated a scholarship for geologists. One of the most difficult things in the Territory was finding a geologist. Territory kids were going down south, studying to be geologists, and never coming back. The idea was we would support them. If they go down south, we give them $12 000 a year for three years, for them to come back in the holidays and work in the department, or with mining companies here in the Territory. That gives them the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in the mining and petroleum industries. I have to say the results are impressive. These kids went down south, and will come back - have come back - to work here in the Territory.
I now turn to the Health sector, the biggest employer in the Northern Territory Public Service. Currently, it employs about 5700 people. There are enormous opportunities for employment in the Health sector, from Aboriginal Health Workers: midwives, nurses, doctors, and environmental health officers. Do not forget, this is the place where you can get experience you cannot get anywhere else. Our hospitals are the biggest hospitals in Australia.
Our emergency department is the busiest in Australia, with one admission every 10 minutes. If you link that to the high levels of chronic illness in the Territory, especially in the Aboriginal population, primary health services are very important. We have put money into the Health sector and increased the resources and staffing. We spend more than any other Australian jurisdiction on public hospitals - $1700 per head, compared to $1260 nationally. That is $500 per person more than the average national expenditure. We have more doctors - 1.6 doctors per 1000 people - when the Australian average is 1.2 doctors per 1000 people; and more nurses - 5.7 nurses per 1000 people, compared to the national average of five nurses.
We have programs for nurse training; we have an internationally-qualified nurse program. You cannot get nurses anywhere in Australia or in the world, so we now have resorted to importing nurses from overseas. We provided a bridging course through the CDU and the department of Health in 2009-10 to facilitate groups of 15 Indian nurses achieve English and clinical competencies so they can be registered as nurses and midwives in the Territory. We have a Graduate Diploma of Midwifery program. We had 16 students employed in 2009, and the 2010 recruitment commenced in June 2009.
We have the Graduate Diploma in Renal Nursing. There is a big problem with renal facilities in the Territory, with big opportunities for people to work in the area. In reality, we know very well if we grow our own they will stay here, and we are seeing that with midwives and nurses. We provide assistance; we provided the 2009 Study Assistance Program which was launched on 17 January 2009. We received 106 applications, and a total of $101 000 was allocated to both undergraduate and postgraduate nursing and midwifery students. We have a professional development allowance. Under a new agreement, Professional Development Allowances have increased up to $500 for those employed for one to five years, and $1500 for those employed in excess of five years.
We collaborate with education providers, including Charles Darwin University, the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, the Centre for Remote Health, the Menzies School of Health Research, and Henge Education to enrol nurses and midwives in short courses and undertake qualification to address training gaps. Now, we are looking at Indigenous midwives to bridge the gap that currently exists. The department is doing very good work in order to meet the demand in the Health sector and, of course, it will provide opportunities for Territorians.
Madam Speaker, we are committed to ongoing reform in improving education and training for all Territorians. The Chief Minister announced Future Strategic Directions For Education And Training to provide a clear direction forward in spelling out his government’s commitment and vision over the next three years. It will focus entirely on: programs to improve attendance, participation, and achievement at every level of schooling; recruitment and retention of quality staff and partnerships to get and develop the right people who know how to make a difference to commit to the Territory; and quality assistance to support our schools to achieve real and improved outcomes for very child.
Madam Speaker, as a father with two sons, one still coming through the school system, I have seen significant changes in the Territory’s schooling system since we came here in 1993. I recall when my son went to primary school, there was an Indonesian language course. He cannot remember a word now, despite seven years of Indonesian lessons - there was no real commitment. However, now we have a school of language kids go to because they actually want to learn, we see kids speaking Indonesian, Greek, Italian, and German. This program now runs in different schools, and there is a commitment.
I have to admit it has been very difficult for me to see my kids go through the current system. When my son asked for assistance with mathematics, I was unable to help him because the level of maths they teach now is much higher than I was taught when I was his age. We resorted to coaching because I do not understand mathematics the way they teach it now. However, with biology, physics, or chemistry, I am okay because nothing ever changes much. I have to admit, with mathematics, if I was sitting the exam he is sitting, I would fail.
Another thing which is very important is bilingual education. I know bilingual education generates a lot of debate; I understand and accept that. People do not want to lose their own language no matter how widespread or how small the group is that speaks the language - language is very important.
I come from a country where, before World War II, there were many pockets with their own language. One of the biggest language groups in Greece is a group of people living in northern Greece who descend directly from ancient Romanians; it has the same language structure as the Romanian language. When these Greek people speak to Romanians, about 85% to 90% of the language is the same. The Greek government has promised to maintain that language. In addition, there is an area in southern Italy which was colonised in the Byzantine era by Greeks. Even today, they speak a Greek dialect mixed with Italian, and the Greek government still gives money to support them. I say that because the Greek government is putting money into the Territory to maintain the Greek language of Greek descendants. They employ three teachers sent from Greece, and they have a university lecturer to support Greek language studies at the university.
It is important how this program is delivered, in two ways. It is delivered at different high schools; there are specific hours for Greek language and culture. More importantly, the Greek language and culture is taught on Saturday mornings at the Greek Language School in Nightcliff, supported by the Greek government and government through grants but, most importantly, by the teachers and the parents. If you want to teach your language, the best way to do it - instead of saying it is going to be at school and everyone is going to be taught in that language, which is going to fail - is put some effort into it yourself.
All Greek kids go to mainstream Australian schools; I say that from my own experience. All kids, no matter where they come from, go to a mainstream Australian school. However, come Saturday, all the kids of Chinese descent go to Alawa because they have the Chinese language school, those of Greek descent go to the Nightcliff Greek Language School, and all the kids of Italian descent go to the Italian Club, where they have their own Italian school.
So, it is very easy to say bilingual education should be this way. The reality is bilingual education should taught in such a way kids can learn the mainstream language, so they can advance in life and be employed, know how to read and write and, at the same time, be able to maintain their own language, the language of their parents.
It is very important that the issue of bilingual education is resolved. It is not going to be resolved in favour of people who have a vested interest in bilingual education, but in favour of the kids who can be exposed to two, three or four languages. They have the benefit of the English language and, at the same time, do not lose contact with the language of their parents.
In closing, I want to reiterate my support for the key message delivered by the Chief Minister today: education and training is this government’s priority. Underpinning a smart Territory is an effective education and training system centred on real student outcomes, for higher numbers of Territorians, which delivers: school attendance; literacy and numeracy levels at or above the national average; completing Year 12 and achieving a Tertiary Entrance Rank; exiting school with a completed VET Level II or III Certificate; graduating and moving to higher education; further training for future employment; undertaking school-based apprenticeships or traineeships; and participating in programs aligned with employer needs.
Madam Speaker, the ancient Greeks used to say: ‘My parents gave me life, but my teachers gave me a good life’, and that is what education is about. Education will give you a good life for the future.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I will briefly speak about this ministerial statement, A Smart Territory – it is very well named. I thought it was ‘a smart government’ but, then, I realised they did not make that mistake.
This report could have gone much further. There are a number of things not actually spoken about in this report. Delivering higher education outcomes in the bush is one of the biggest failures in the Northern Territory. The fact that people in the bush cannot receive an adequate Year 11 and 12 education should be a national disgrace. We have seen a great deal of publicity about the failures of the Minister for Housing and SIHIP, and those are not unwarranted reports. However, the inability for a child or a youth to get a proper education in the bush is a national disgrace. It is the biggest disgrace in the Northern Territory. The fact youths still cannot get Year 11 and 12 education in the majority of regions in the Northern Territory is a failure.
I have spoken in this parliament before about the need for boarding schools. I have spoken to the media about the need for boarding schools for primary, secondary, and VET education in certain areas and, perhaps, for preschool - although I am not completely sold on that. I would love to see boarding schools in areas such as …
Mr HAMPTON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The time clock has not been reset.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr Knight: We do not want you going for too long.
Mr GILES: I will start again. I will mention you again, member for Daly.
Madam Speaker, in talking about this statement about A Smart Territory, I actually thought it said ‘a smart government’ but, luckily, I did not get that wrong. It would have been an oxymoron if it had said ‘a smart government’, although someone has given the government a lifeline, albeit a noose.
I was saying it is a failure of all governments, not just this failed government, to provide secondary education in the bush. I believe there needs to be a number of boarding schools in reasonable locations which can provide proper education and respite for both children/youth and parents so that kids can go to school. I know this problem will not be solved by the Northern Territory government alone; it is a problem which needs to be solved by both Territory and federal governments, for several reasons, including the huge cost impediment and the ability of the NT government to fund it, no matter who is in power.
There are a number of other things the Territory government can do. One of the failures of the Northern Territory government was widely publicised late last year and this year - I spoke about it briefly in my budget reply speech – is the way the Northern Territory manages its NAPLAN test results. This is a government which says it is moving forward, yet, last financial year, their targets for Year 5 reading for Indigenous students was 46%. Now this government is talking about the achievements it can make but, this year, they want to downgrade that to 24%. This government realises it is underperforming in its policies, programs, and administration, so they have decided to reduce the targets. They have virtually reduced the targets by 50%. They are saying if 24% of Year 5 Indigenous students reach the national reading standard, they have had a win. I find it hard to believe 24% of students reaching national benchmark could be a success.
The same can be said for numeracy for Indigenous Year 3 students. It was 61% last year and, now, they have said: ‘We cannot achieve that so we will knock it down by 19% to 42%’. This government is preparing to give itself a report card that says 42% of Indigenous students in Year 3 passing numeracy is enough for success. I do not think it is at all. You need to set the benchmark high. Let us not forget that those Year 3 students would be eight years of age, I guess, which means they were born in the year this government came to power. This government has had eight years to get it right and they have clearly failed. They are admitting they have failed. Only 25% of Indigenous Year 9 students meet the national writing benchmarks.
If this document, A Smart Territory, was real they would try to address those things, rather than just put out another statement, make us talk in here and criticise the government for its inept approach to education while they run this spin, when we could be debating legislation to make improvements. This is another key failure and this statement is about that. This document could have spoken about the future of Batchelor College - we know Batchelor College is in trouble. What are they going to do with Batchelor? There is nothing about Batchelor in here at all - absolutely nothing. They could have spoken about the local school in my electorate – Braitling Primary School, which was recently broken into by a couple of youths, young kids, who actually go to school there. They caused copious amounts of damage and heartache to the students, the parents, the teachers, the school principal and the school council. Everyone involved has had their work and classrooms destroyed through youth crime.
What is the government doing about protecting our schools from youth crime? What is it going to do in a punitive approach to those youths who cause damage to those schools? I am told those two youths, who have now been caught, will be subject to youth diversion. What does youth diversion mean? We know this soft government takes a soft approach. What? They might have to write a letter to the school and say sorry?
The same thing happened at Araluen Christian School; kids broke in and caused damage. This is a common occurrence in Alice Springs, a location in the Territory that the Northern Territory government forgets, similar to the rest of Central Australia. I am actually quite surprised the member for Stuart is still a member of the Labor Party. I thought he might have spoken up against this new agreement made with the member for Nelson. I thought he would have stood up for Central Australia but, clearly, he has not. He is not even in the Chamber, which is unfortunate ...
Mr VATSKALIS: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, I remind you, you are not allowed to refer to the presence or absence of any member. I ask you to withdraw those comments.
Mr Conlan: He is hard to see, though.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr GILES: I withdraw, Madam Speaker. He is hard to see. It is hard to see how he has stood up for the people of Central Australia and his electorate, because he knows there are no goodies in this little document developed last week between the Chief Minister and the member for Nelson. There are no outcomes in there for Central Australia in education. There are no outcomes in that document for law and order. There is nothing in there for Health. There is no sealing of the Mereenie Loop. There is absolutely nothing. We used to have the thing called the Berrimah Line, now we have the Wood line or, maybe, the Nelson line. I am not sure what it is called.
The people in the northern suburbs have missed out too. We are all losers in this deal. We are now subjected to a half-baked, pulled-together government for the next three years that will not deliver anywhere in the Territory apart from the seat of Nelson. I would like a new aquatic park in my electorate ...
Mr Knight: You have one. You have a $16m aquatic centre.
Mr GILES: I would like to see my schools revamped and updated. I would like to see better work done in the bush, with private schools, boarding schools, and VET education so people can access the proper education they deserve - they have a right to an education. It is an absolute disgrace ...
Mr Knight interjecting.
Mr GILES: While we are talking about upgrading facilities for schools - I hear Blinky Bill in the corner over there making some noise. He said in estimates that administration of SIHIP was 15% and, now, he has talked about how it has come down to 11.4% or some amazing figure, and he thinks that is great. We know 11.4% is not the true figure - he will not tell us the true figure – we know it is not true. However, even if we took that as gospel, although we know it is not, let us ask ourselves if 11.4% is the member for Daly’s benchmark in administration for a project. If 11.4% is the benchmark for good administration of capital expenditure, why is it, then, that the federal government put a benchmark of 4% on administration of capital expenditure for the Education Revolution?
There is $14bn being spent around the country of borrowed money, borrowed from our children - debt. Why is it they can run at 4% and the Minister for Housing can only seem to get it down to 11.4% at best - if that is what it is? We know our profit margin is up to 35% for these alliance contractors; however, that is beside the point. How can the government say 11.4% project management administration is good? Who is making money out of that? What extra facilities could be built? The question is how much money has been taken out of the federal stimulus package to be spent bankrolling the inept, unfinancial government - the government which has put us $26 000 in debt for every man, woman and child, before we even started the budget year? How can that be?
I am sure the member for Nhulunbuy was a teacher in one of her previous guises, if I recall people's speeches - getting a nod there; I do not want to verbal you. She would be aware of the importance of appropriate facilities in schools, so kids have the occupational health standards, and their right to appropriate amenity and so forth. How is it that a school such as Corella Creek, in the Barkly region near Brunette Downs, has to close down at certain times because they have no water facilities available? Corella Creek is a small community and they recently opened their school but, because of problems with water supply in the community, lack of facilities and bad management of the portfolio of Housing - we know now there are four houses in Corella Creek that do not have access to water and the people have to go to a friend’s place or other areas to have a shower in DET water – this is just another failure of SIHIP. The school in Corella Creek has to close down because they do not have access to water. I do not see that written in A Smart Territory. If we had written this document if we were in power, we would have taken a different approach. We would have actually had some real outcomes rather than spin.
Those poor kids in Corella Creek - there are 23 kids there - have to leave school when the water supply cuts off because they cannot be at the school when there is no water, which is only fair. The question is: how come this keeps happening? What has this government done about ensuring the community of Corella Creek actually has water supply guaranteed on a permanent basis? It is what every member in this parliament expects – but if you live in Corella Creek, you can miss out on water. I am not sure if the member for Barkly, in whose electorate I think this is, is aware of this concern. It is a real concern and I encourage the government to get out and do something about it.
Perhaps the new Minister for Indigenous Policy might want to go out and do something. She has been the minister now for a little while. I have not seen a statement, a media release, heard of a house being built, heard of more kids going to school, seen the NAPLAN results yet, or the NAPLAN targets increased. Perhaps she thinks that it is okay for only 24% of Year 5 Indigenous students to actually pass the national reading benchmarks this financial year. Or maybe she thinks that is an achievement in itself. Well, I do not. They are great numbers if you like failure - and this government is attuned to failure. They are treating Education as they treat Health.
On page 41 of the 2030 vision, I quote from the focus area of Health and Wellbeing:
I am not really sure how speed limits come into health and wellbeing:
However, the next line is an interesting one:
I am not quite sure what that actually means:
Are they saying that we do not need to focus our attention to that? I am not quite sure what that means. Either it is not well written or they have completely taken their eye off the ball, as they have in education.
The fact remains, despite the ministerial statement presented today, when I first heard about the plan released on Friday by the government and the member for Nelson about the future of parliament, I must admit I thought we got rid of ministerial statements and little fluff pieces like this, but it appears they are still around, unfortunately.
Before I sum up about how this side of the Chamber, but one, and the rest of the Territory have no confidence in government, I want to touch briefly on those areas I have spoken about. The government has failed on NAPLAN, it has failed in its performance, it has also failed in setting its targets for next year. It has failed in securing education premises. Braitling Primary School is a case in point, where all children in two classes have to rebuild their education situation this year.
There is a lack of information in here about boarding - so we have improved education in the bush - nothing at all apart from fluff. Nothing about Batchelor; how it might link better to CDU, or what its financial sustainability will be in the future. There was a small section on bilingual - nothing revolutionary. There was nothing about how education infrastructure facilities will be improved. They did not touch on how much they are taking out of the Education Revolution dollars - the $14bn federal government package – which, I am sure, this government is pilfering like they pinched housing money.
Regarding housing money, we were told there would be 90 houses in Nguiu; now we are down to 29 houses. There were going to be houses in Tennant Creek; then they went back. Groote was the same, and this has happened all over the Territory. Only two weeks ago, the Chief Minister was saying by the end of next year there will be 25 houses under construction in the Territory; now it is by the end of next year. Was this the failure of the member for Daly running the project, or is the failure so bad the Chief Minister had to grab the reins, get control and get it back on track? Is that what happened?
Let us not discount the fact that this government was in charge of the shire failures when all those people were sacked. All the people from the bush who were sacked are now on the dole, doing nothing, thanks to you. You were also in charge of Power and Water when the lights went out …
Mr Bohlin: And continue to go out.
Mr GILES: And continue to go out. You are in charge of the power price hikes. You are in charge of SIHIP that has not built a house. It is just lucky for those people in schools – teachers, principals, school councils and, most importantly, the students - you are not in charge of the economic stimulus package in the Territory - that debt-ridden economic stimulus package. If you were in charge, we would not have a classroom built, or one of those lovely halls, or the interpretative centres and new science labs. We have money going out the door, and nothing happening. You would be standing here in 2013 saying they might get built and, hopefully, the government puts some more money in and we might be able to build the extra bits at the end, as you are doing with the 750 houses.
We are very lucky the member for Daly is not in charge of Education – or building things. Imagine that; imagine how bad he would be. This 24% target for Year 5 for reading would probably be 12%. We would be lucky to achieve it if the member for Daly was in charge. We can be thankful for small mercies. It is bad luck if you live on one side of the Daly River and you have to cross to go to school, or Wooliana, because you will not get there in the Wet Season. The member for Daly promised a bridge in 2005, and still has not built it - four years of failure …
Mr BOHLIN: Madam Speaker, I move an extension of time for my colleague, pursuant to Standing Order 77
Motion agreed to.
Mr GILES: Thank you very much for your indulgence, member for Drysdale.
If people have to cross there, it is a shame. I am very interested if the member for Daly could tell us what is happening at Wooliana School, and if parents are still able to get their kids to school. As I understand it, there is some turmoil there. I did not see anything on this fluff list I have talked about for 20 minutes instead of debating legislation, which is what we are all here for - if the other Chief Minister allows it.
I am also keen to know if is there is something in this document to tell us how the kids at Palumpa are going to get to school. For those on my side, you may recall that Palumpa is a community where kids had to wade through crocodile-infested and sewage-infested water - not much different to Utopia outside in the playground, and the shops and playgroup area where the member for Daly has failed on SIHIP again. At Palumpa, they need to raise the bridge and lengthen and widen it a little so, in the Wet Season, you can still get to school. It is a bit of a design fault but something needs to be done so the kids can get to school.
The Territory government would not fund it. I am not sure if they do not believe in fixing infrastructure; it is more about they cannot do it. $750 000 has been granted out of the Aboriginal benefits account to help with this bridge. It is going to cost about $1.5m - $300 000 for administration under the member for Daly’s program. They said to the Territory government: ‘You give us another $750 000 so we can then give you back $300 000 for the administration costs to fix that bridge so our kids can go to school.’ I did not see that in the document. This is about education; it is a very important point. The Territory government said: ‘We have heard Adam Giles is sniffing around at Daly and Palumpa, so we will give you $500 000’. You can correct me if I am wrong, but I understand the Treasurer has signed off on $500000, which was not quite enough because an extra $250 000 was needed to pay for the NT government’s administration costs. The shire council has put in $250 000 and now they have the $1.5m, and it sounds like this bridge is going to be built. It sounds like it is going to be raised, it is going to be widened and lengthened, and the kids do not have to swim through crocodile-infested and sewage-infested water to get to school. It is great – it is really good.
You know what the only problem is? The problem is, the only way they can deliver this is to give it to the project managers of SIHIP under the administration of this man, the member for Daly. The member for Daly is now in charge of raising the bridge at Palumpa, widening it, and lengthening it. That is exactly what is going to happen. While we sit around here and pontificate, and listen to the member for Daly dither about with his speech, the bridge is not being built and we are getting closer and closer to the Wet Season. I just wonder if those kids will be able to get to school in the Wet Season.
Everyone in the community says: ‘What is the difference between politics, Labor or Liberal, you all sound the same?’ Well, we all stand up and talk and we do a lot of similar things. However, there is a bit of difference - these guys like to talk, and we like to do. They like to talk and mutter, with spin, fluff, maladministration of funds, and all these types of things - but we do ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you cannot actually make that sort of point except by way of substantive motion. I ask you to withdraw that comment, thank you.
Mr GILES: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr GILES: I used wrong terminology. This is the mob which run programs and we cannot identify how much is being spent on administration or where it has gone. That is the point I was trying to make. Over here, we would not waste the money. We would not even think of ourselves as handout welfare providers; we would actually build houses. We would get out there and fix the schools. We would ensure septics were not overflowing. We would ensure crocodiles were not in the creek to attack the kids on the way to school. It is not rocket science. It may sound crazy, but I do not think kids should be swimming through crocodile-infested water to go to school.
I would also ensure that gave strong attention to law and order. I do not like my schools getting broken into. I do not like my principal to take on the responsibility of dealing with the teachers, the school council and those kids crying about their pictures on the walls being smashed up. This is a regular occurrence in Alice Springs, but this government forgot about anywhere outside Darwin a long time ago. They have now forgotten about anyone outside of Nelson. What I am most disappointed in - and the member for Greatorex, together with the members for Araluen and Macdonnell, might be interested in this - is that the member for Stuart did not stand up for Central Australia. That is what I am really disappointed in - education or otherwise.
My two colleagues over here might be interested to log on to territorytoday.com.au and vote in today’s poll. Today’s poll asks: ‘Should the member for Stuart resign because he did not stand up for Central Australia?’ I know which way you will vote. It is important, in education and everything else, because we need services and facilities there. While we struggle to get a toilet installed at Traeger Park, or $250 000 worth of shade at CDU - I mean CDU is an education facility – did you see that at the uni, member for Greatorex?
Mr Conlan: What is that?
Mr GILES: Shade for CDU in the …
Mr Conlan: No, I did notice that.
Mr GILES: No, I did not see that. But, we will build a new aquatic centre in Nelson.
Mr Hampton: What about the one in Alice? How much was that?
Mr GILES: The federal government dollars for the pool in Alice Springs is great ...
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: It is funny, the previous member for Goyder wanted to build a pool out - where was it being built?
Ms Purick: Still not there. Humpty Doo.
Mr GILES: Humpty Doo. He wanted to build a pool at Humpty Doo. He got a shovel and started to dig a hole. However, the pool is not there. The member for Nelson has been in power since Friday and, all of a sudden, we have a new aquatic centre. If I was in charge for one day, we would have a new stadium at Anzac Oval, toilets at Traeger Park, roundabouts at Larapinta and Lovegrove Drives, Police Citizens Youth Club at Larapinta, we would have land release, people would have a choice of the oncology unit, our streets would be safe, and there would be police on the beat. This is what would happen under us.
Madam Speaker, I sum up by saying this government has a lovely few pages of paperwork here. Whether they can deliver anything on the ground remains to be seen because I, like my other 10 colleagues and the member for Macdonnell – on whose behalf I am not speaking, but I presume - have absolutely no confidence in this government to administer the affairs of the Northern Territory; to systematically improve the management of education in the Northern Territory; and to administratively deliver the education infrastructure under the stimulus package in the required time frames, and at a 12% cost margin. For that reason, this statement has been another wasted opportunity in today’s parliament to debate something more important.
Mr KNIGHT (Housing): Madam Speaker, it is great to see what the lack of an education can cause. That contribution from the member for Braitling …
Ms Carney: Fine contribution.
Mr KNIGHT: He talked about law and order and about Braitling school and that it would be nice to have a fence around the Braitling school, which might have helped in the security of the school. The member for Braitling actually campaigned against having a security fence around the school. Good on you, member for Braitling, you have really helped the school out there.
He alluded to his little trip out to Port Keats and to Daly. I went out there last week and they were saying: ‘There was this bloke Giles out here. Who is he?’ I said: ‘You remember the bloke; he was running for the CLP in the 2007 election’. They said: ‘Oh yes, he is the one; the one who had his head right next to Mal Brough. He was the one, he was the one’. It was great to see the support …
Mr Giles: Mal Brough was the one who gave you the money for the housing program that you cannot finish.
Mr KNIGHT: … that the ‘no more sit down money’ member here actually got out there. There were 1000-odd people at Port Keats who voted. I think about 35 actually voted for Mr Adam Giles. They remember you out there. I had to give them a bit of a …
Members interjecting.
Mr KNIGHT: You did not tell them too loud. I am glad I was out there to inform them exactly who you were.
It also showed the member for Braitling has not even bothered to read the statement. He has not even bothered to look at the strategic plan. He, obviously, does not think much of education; he talked more about everything else except education. It is quite sad to see he spent all his time playing politics instead of talking about something very important like education and the new strategy around A Smart Territory. I do …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Giles: Keep talking about me ...
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Braitling!
Mr KNIGHT: You are sounding a bit upset; you do not seem to like it.
A member: Glass jaw.
Mr KNIGHT: Yes, he has a bit of a glass jaw. He likes to throw them, but he does not like to take them.
Mr Giles: I can take it all. Keep going; three more minutes and you are right.
Mr KNIGHT: They remember you out there.
Mr Giles: What about the member for Greatorex?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KNIGHT: Madam Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on the future of the strategic direction of education and training in the Northern Territory. A good education is fundamental to all Territorians. We know education changes lives and provides opportunities. As the Chief Minister said, we need a robust education system which is recognised for a culture of high expectations and high-performing people, programs, and processes. We want our children to achieve national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy. All Territory senior secondary students should be graduating with either a VET Certificate II or above, or a TER score which will get them into university. We need quality strategies and programs for all stages of schooling, and partnerships that are focused on making a difference for every student, as well as a system that provides strategic support. That is what this government is really committed to delivering.
We also need infrastructure such as schools and classrooms, and this government has a well established infrastructure plan that has commenced building new schools, major upgrades, improved repairs and maintenance programs, and additional classrooms and facilities. An unprecedented $235m has been invested by the NT and federal governments to improve and upgrade infrastructure and facilities in our schools.
In my electorate, several schools are reaping the benefits of the Primary Schools for the 21st Century Round 2 funding. At Adelaide River School, $250 000 is being invested in an outdoor learning area. As part of the funding from the Round 2 program, we all know that Berry Springs Primary School will have a multipurpose pavilion. The Lady of Our Scared Heart, the old school at Wadeye, will receive $2.5m for a library through Round 1. The Belyuen School will receive funding for an outdoor learning centre as well. Nganmarriyanga School at Palumpa received $850 000 for a multipurpose hall; and Peppimenarti will have a new classroom and outdoor living area thanks to this funding. These investments ensure children are given better facilities in which to learn.
This government is committed to ongoing reform and improvement in our education and training system, and our goals are set on real and improved student outcomes. Last month, the Chief Minister unveiled the education and training strategic plan for the next three years, saying he wants every child to leave school with the skills to go to university, or get an apprenticeship or a job. This plan is a practical, commonsense approach which will improve results as part of our plan for a smart Territory. This plan for better education and training is backed by concrete targets and resources. As the Chief Minister said, our children deserve better education and training, and that is what this plan delivers. This plan is essential to giving kids the best possible outlook for the future.
The three main themes are: the expectation of success; the meeting of clear numeracy and literacy targets; and improving attendance. These themes set us on a path to becoming a smart Territory and improving results with a focus on quality education. The plan focuses on: the development of quality programs to improve attendance, participation, and achievement at every level of schooling; the recruitment and retention of quality people and partnerships to develop the right people who are committed to the Territory and know how to make a real difference; and, last, the building of quality systems to support our schooling to achieve real and improved outcomes for every student.
An extremely important focus of this plan is Indigenous education initiatives through the A Working Future initiative. This focus will see the mapping of schools in the growth towns to their education and training needs, developing a strong education and training culture in the growth towns through partnerships with key employers; lifting the level of support provided to teachers and staff in remote areas; and to the expansion of the Clontarf Academies.
Wadeye, in my electorate, is identified as a growth town. The growth towns will offer a full range of education and training options from preschool through to Year 12, vocational education and training in the schools, and post school training. People in the towns and surrounding regions will be able to access the school’s and other services’ amenities, just like other people living in similar sized towns elsewhere in Australia. These initiatives will be extremely important to my electorate where there are a large number of Indigenous children.
The strategic plan focuses on the early years, the primary years, and the senior years, getting our young Territorians ready for success. For the early years, a range of innovative programs will be introduced, including the establishment of an integrated family hub in our growth towns that will deliver both health and education services. This will see parents assisted to develop the communication and language skills, as well as social and emotional skills, essential for laying a strong foundation for their children’s future.
I believe involving parents in the early learning environment is critical to making real inroads into numeracy and literacy in the bush. In the primary years, these stages build on numeracy and literacy and social skills developed in the early years. This government will focus attention on providing students with a positive learning environment, and key tools to help kids who are struggling to become engaged in school. Teachers will be provided with more support and curriculum options that are both engaging and rigorous, and improve the standard of attendance. In the senior years, this new direction will revamp training in schools, and provide coordinated delivery between senior secondary school and training providers. Senior schools will provide improved VET options to maximise student options to graduate work ready.
A school I regularly visit, which is excelling in this area, is Taminmin High School in the rural area. This government will resource schools to help them transition students from school to work. I am very pleased that Taminmin High School will be resourced to expand their program into schools. This will benefit many children in the rural area. Taminmin has an excellent VET program and, over the last four years, enrolments have grown significantly. In 2006, there were 162 enrolments; in 2007, 184; in 2008, 492; and in 2009 there were approximately 350 at Taminmin plus 200 remote students from 12 communities; 19 qualifications including a new Certificate III in Agriculture, which is a great result. Agriculture has been one of the major focus areas for Taminmin High School.
The school understands that articulation of academic studies with real practical skills provide the children with another career path. They have implemented pathways for students ranging from Certificate I in Agrifood (Pathways) in Year 9 to Certificate I in Rural Operations for Year 10; Certificate II for Rural Operations for Year 11; and Certificate III in Agriculture as a full-time, stand-alone qualification. Both Certificate II and III students were heavily involved in the Top End show circuit this year showing their cattle from Bunda Station and Colgardie Brahman Stud. I attended the Katherine and Darwin shows, and Taminmin, basically, cleaned up most of those areas. The future aim will be to have similar pathways and other qualifications, particularly in those areas recognised in the national and Northern Territory needs lists.
Madam Speaker, this government has agreed to targets which will close the gap for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. I commend the Chief Minister for setting clear targets across the system - targets in numeracy, literacy, attendance and exit qualifications. There will be clear pathways to achieve targets and accountability. Education targets should measure our progress and ensure all children receive the best education possible.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I speak today on A Smart Territory. There is definitely a lot of emphasis in the words ‘A Smart Territory’. When we talk about education, unfortunately, some of the plans from this government have failed. More importantly, I take the opportunity to talk about the fact I have five schools in my electorate area. I believe there is a need to talk on some of the great things occurring there, and some of the things that are not going so well. I have Driver Primary School, Durack Primary School, Palmerston Christian School, Palmerston High School - both Senior and Middle, so I could claim six - and the Palmerston Campus of Charles Darwin University.
As a former police officer, one of the things I highlight here is a fundamental failure, right across Australia, to set a standard. We teach and give our children so many rights. They have computer games at home that tell them they have the rights to this and that and, if they get into trouble they have all of these rights. What I suggest is, in the future, I would like to see an acronym I have named RORR; that is, let us teach our children firstly respect. If we teach our children to respect themselves as a human being, and respect their body and the way they treat themselves primarily, we can then expand on that so they understand to respect one another, respect the property and goods of other people, and respect their own property and goods so they have some values added to their life.
We would then move on to teach them some of their obligations in life - their obligations to the rest of the community. We all, as part of the community, have some form of obligation. Some would call that responsibility, and that is also deeply lacking. We will teach it through the way of an obligation; their requirement to do certain duties: you have to go to school; you have to pick up rubbish; you do not throw your rubbish on the ground - a broad understanding so they can understand how respecting themselves and others fall within their obligations in society to be law-abiding citizens, and to contribute to the greater Territory.
Then, we would teach them their rights. When we are teaching them their rights, we will teach them the most fundamental part of that is the right to be free from violence, abuse, other people stealing and damaging their property. Then, we would also add at the end, if they do find themselves in trouble - bearing in mind that if you followed the first three steps, you will not find yourself in trouble – you do have certain civil rights as well. However, the main thing is, of course, that you have a right to a peaceful, friendly, loving nature and society around you.
Then, we will apply some reasonableness to it, the last of the Rs. I believe if you apply an element of reasonableness to everything you do, the decisions you make - and we know that, sometimes, youth make rash decisions and we hear, as defence in court at times, ‘He did not really think that message through; he did not really think about it before he threw that brick through the window or through the car’, or ‘Before he stabbed that person, he did not think about it’. Get them to understand an element of reasonableness so, when they make a decision, they consider to themselves: ‘Is this a reasonable and rational decision I am about to take, and is it respectful of myself, my friends around me, and my community?’ Then, hopefully, it will have an impact on that person’s life which is far greater than simply telling them their rights and what they can get away with.
It is only a little thing but it will have a great impact on people. I want to personally continue to spread that thought so we will see it, eventually, hopefully, right across our schools. I know both Driver and Durack teach elements of this already; they certainly talk about respect at their school assemblies.
I will now talk briefly of some good work within our schools, particularly one I know of, a project upcoming to which I have given my support at the Driver Primary School. It is a different form of education; it is about a physical, hands-on aspect of teaching the students. They have applied for a grant through the government – so, if anyone is listening, I hope you support this grant - to develop a school garden at the Driver Primary School. This will enable students to have physical touching, and learn where the tomatoes or the zucchinis come from. Instead of, ‘Hey, we do not just get food from a shop, there is a place these come from’, and we can teach the children how this actually evolves. This is a fantastic project taken on by the Driver school. I hope, if the government is listening, they support it, because these are brilliant ideas.
I have seen people try them in remote communities. We have talked about it; I have heard it talked about today in earlier speeches. It is a very important part of life. If we can teach the most fundamental basics to our children - our future - they will become much greater people, having an understanding and appreciation of where things come from, and will have much greater respect.
I heard earlier of the Clontarf Academy. Palmerston High School is one of those lucky schools that has the Clontarf Academy. Michael McLean is running it there, doing a fantastic job. The lads out there really have connected with the young men in the Palmerston area, and they are doing some great jobs. Michael was telling me just the other day he is now seeing some great changes with some of the lads involved, because they come to school, they have had a shower and comb their hair, have clean clothes on, and have some respect. A strange word - it is very powerful, ‘respect’. To Michael and his team, and other Clontarf Academy members, plus the young students involved, good on you I say, and keep going with it because it is a great path.
Interestingly enough, there is some diversity to that, and it allows the kids to talk to different role models. Different students, not just those in the academy, see Michael and his crew as role models. They will talk and interact with them, and that interaction is brilliant to see.
Palmerston High School’s senior side has a fantastic kitchen facility - a commercial-grade kitchen facility where they do home economics, and it is brilliant. As a side to that, they have set up a coffee shop. There is a big area where we have assembly in the morning on Wednesdays and they have managed to get a coffee machine - a proper one, similar to the one in Speaker’s Corner Caf. The students run this coffee shop every couple of Wednesdays and sell, at very cheap prices, coffee and cakes they have made earlier. It gives the students an element of ownership; a respect in their workmanship whilst both working the machine, controlling the funds coming in, and serving the patrons - their fellow students and teachers - in a caf scenario. It teaches them a whole series of life skills so, when those young people leave, they have some skills they can add to the community, and an understanding of managing or running a small coffee shop. To see the pride in quite a diverse range of students there is fantastic. I am very proud to have spent some time with those kids because they are fantastic young students. It was a brilliant idea, and all credit to the school for pushing forward with it.
I want to make some negative comment, unfortunately. Although the Palmerston Senior School is a brilliant facility, with government management fees ripping money out of everything as they tend to, somehow, whilst they were managing it - or at least getting paid to manage it - they forgot to put gas taps in a science lab. They built a beautiful science lab, but there are no gas taps for the Bunsen burners so the kids can really get into learning the basics. It is bizarre that we are paying these people a management fee, yet, they fail to manage dismally. I can understand the concerns when millions of dollars are ripped out in management fees, and they could not get it right. I would love to see that fixed, because it is pretty sad they cannot go to the full length of science which I enjoyed when I was a young man. I suppose that is part of the outcomes, if you cannot get the outcomes you need - and gas taps in a school science lab is a pretty big outcome. It is a shame that was not fixed under a very poor management regime.
Unfortunately, Durack Primary School also has a negative, which is currently being fixed. We believe it is under the education building reform - federal money. They have a transportable double-sided classroom which had a very strange odour for quite some time and was not fit for occupancy but, instead of the government taking responsibility for it and replacing the building, or finding what the cause was - and really, it was a bizarre smell, and the identical building right next door has no smell whatsoever – the school has had to spend money from the building and education reform to replace that building. That is your responsibility; the money could have been better put towards infrastructure within the school, which would benefit the school; there is no doubt about that. Realistically, it is a wasted opportunity for that school to further expand. They are replacing a defunct building that is ruined, which should have come out of your pocket, then you would be really helping that school.
You would be really helping all the Defence families that use that school by ensuring they have the best facilities available. It is a shame they have had to go into that federal money which could have been a great opportunity to expand, instead of spending it on something you should have taken the responsibility to replace. However, you are too busy turning the spin out there. I noticed the Chief Minister was there the other day with some ASLAVs to talk with Defence families, but he was not putting his hand in his pocket saying, ‘No, no, no. Okay, we will pay for that’ - and he should have.
I have to say, Durack is a lovely school and Jo Wynn, the principal, has done a great job and has made some fantastic improvements. She has had trouble dealing with some of the kids because, unfortunately, one of the side effects of having a Defence-orientated family area is they are uprooted every two years. However, they have a Defence support person there who does a fantastic job as well. These are a few little things in my area.
A Smart Territory is an important thing. There is a lot of good things happening and from a lot of hard work from some very hard-working teachers across the Territory. It is a shame, when you guys drop the ball, you drop it like a clanger. When your organisations are managing funds, they do not actually manage anything or. if they do, they are not doing it in a professional manner. My God! Who could miss the fact that a science lab does not have gas taps? It might sound like a small thing, but to retrofit is going to cost a fortune.
The Territory is full of vibrant young people. We must get our education right. We must apply some respect, and an understanding of that word in our young people. We must get them to understand some of their obligations in life as they become young adults. We must teach them some of their rights so they understand they should be free from violence, and from having their property damaged by crooks. We should pass on some balance of reasonableness to those people because, if you bring some reasonableness to all the decisions you make in life, you will go a lot further than someone who has an axe to grind.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am very proud of my schools. I believe they have fantastic management and, with some continued support, they will go a lot further. It is a shame we did not get quite as much depth out of the Chief Minister when he talked; it was a lot of spin and not much action. I am there to support my schools and I will continue to support my schools, because they are the future for our students.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am a mere mortal who participates in this debate. I must say, I would like to get my hands on some of that water from Braitling, because it certainly turns you into a superhuman. However, there is a deficit in his vocabulary; he seemed to get stuck on ‘I’ and ‘my’.
As the minister supporting the Chief Minister on Education, I am honoured to support the statement. I feel disappointed in the member for Braitling for, once again, using the future of our Territory - our children, our students - as a political football. All I can say is: no respect.
I support the Chief Minister’s statement on the Future Strategic Directions for Education and Training in the Northern Territory. I would like members to consider this statement articulates a very powerful and important position from the Henderson government to improve education in the Northern Territory.
Education is not a static being; it is an evolving, living, moving organism. It represents our future, and represents diligence and respect. It was very interesting to listen to the Leader of the Opposition’s participation in the debate. He is, obviously, an educator with a very positive contribution. The member for Brennan made a positive contribution as a parent and participant in education.
My position in education is, now, as the minister assisting the Chief Minister on Education, the minister for youth affairs, a teacher, and a headmaster of some 30 years experience.
Education transforms the lives of tomorrow’s leaders, and the communities in which we live. Education and training is the No 1 priority of this Henderson government. Our goal is to build an even smarter, more skilled and innovative Territory. Building involves vision, planning, developing, and implementing. This statement articulates that position today. Every school works with the department and their community to ensure our children get good education and training and work to fulfil their potential. As the member for Barkly, I visit many schools, and I look forward to visiting many more schools around the Territory.
I share a little of the politics, particularly for the member for Braitling, because he wanted to talk politics. So, let us talk some politics. I came to this wonderful city of Darwin on a contract under the Country Liberal Party government to implement a major strategic change in education called Learning Lessons. I was involved in a dynamic team which had a great crossover into transport; I regularly caught the No 4 and No 10 bus. I boarded in Rapid Creek, and took a great interest in learning about the city. However, we were shut down and I was sent home. The project did not continue; the politics on the other side did not value it, vision it, or drive it forward. I returned and, once again, hit the grindstone in education back in the Barkly, and continued forward.
There was a big political difference. This statement today articulates another part in the evolution of doing it better. I am pleased to see the Leader of the Opposition supports that, which I also support today. I know the key to ensuring our regional and remote communities continue to evolve into towns, and servicing growth, requires skilled, smart people to drive the future. To achieve this, we need students at school longer, developing the skills and capacities to be work ready when they graduate.
I cannot overemphasise the importance of parents and schools working collaboratively to ensure students attend school all the time. This means students can aim to achieve or exceed the national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy. It is not a political football, but works towards achieving that goal and supporting the disadvantaged within our community to achieve the best possible results they can.
Secondary students need to aspire to graduate with either a Northern Territory Certificate of Education or a Vocation, Education and Training qualification in Certificate II or above. A TER score will take them to university. A combination of TER and VET will provide them with a future. For this to happen, the education and training system must provide effective support and expertise in our schools - our teachers, parents, and students. It is a holistic model this statement articulates today for the way forward. We must have a system that ensures we have in place quality strategies and programs for all stages of schooling, quality people and partnerships on the ground that are focused on making a difference for every student, and strategic- and data-driven support focused on achievement and improvement in every area of the education business. That is what this statement pulls together.
I pick up on some more points Chief Minister made in articulating our vision, our way forward: education is an evolving, developing, and one of the most important parts of governance we can perform.
Society as we know is changing; children are not the same any more. It was different in my time; it was different in the time of some of the younger members of this House. The kids that the Leader of the Opposition spoke about in his electorate – and I think he referred to them as a gangster culture – are different. That is why we need to keep pace with society and to keep evolving policy. That is what this policy articulates for a way forward. No spin; a very documented, strategic way forward developed by highly intellectual people. Of course, as the member for Drysdale said, the implementation is the challenging part; you do not always get it right but, without plan and vision, you go nowhere.
Territory teachers do a fine job. They do fine work, and that has been reflected by some of the members speaking tonight. However, they can do so much more. Parents have to be helped to develop communication and language skills, as well as the social and emotional skills essential for laying a strong foundation for their children’s future successes in learning. That is what this plan articulates very clearly. Parent partnerships are crucial foundation elements to any way forward in a post-modern education plan, which is what the Chief Minister is articulating here.
Children do not stop learning at the school gate, and parents play a part in continuing that learning - not only in cultural, social and emotional ways but, also, in academic ways. This must be further encouraged in the home, and parents need the tools to do this. This plan sets out the way forward with the Families as First Teachers Program, and family hubs as well. These are the lateral thinking directions we have considered and will implement. In my time as a teacher and headmaster, I constantly battled the problems of distance and having teachers with right skills in the right place at the right time.
Subject selection - the Leader of the Opposition is well versed in language education, and spoke very highly of it. I can talk about Tennant Creek High School, where modern technologies are used to develop and deliver Japanese language studies. This plan takes that concept, builds on it and articulates how we move forward and provide, in a distance mode, using the latest information and communication technologies. The government will step up the use of these learning technologies right across our education and training system. We will develop the virtual school model. I mention the virtual school model at Corella Creek - which the member for Braitling failed to share with the House today, but concentrated more on the political football in the field – a very good model working in a remote area to deliver education to Territory children who live in one of the remotest parts of Australia. We will develop the virtual school model for our regional and remote areas. I welcome this and am excited about it, because it will mean we can offer more courses to more students right across the Territory, particularly in the regional and remote areas.
Regarding the teacher shortage, these problems are not going away; it is getting harder to find teachers. It is not just a Territory problem or a Henderson government problem, it is an international problem, and rational thinking person would acknowledge that. Once again, this plan clearly articulates a way forward. We will not rest as we strive to get the right people in the right jobs. We will continue to work to recruit, retain, and develop our best people.
This means developing our Indigenous staff. We have to grow more of our own - more teachers, more leaders, more paraprofessionals. Nowhere is it harder to do than in regional and remote areas, but we are in there doing it. We are talking about a Territory-wide initiative. We are talking about a whole-of-community development initiative, and we are talking about a strategic plan which articulates that. Teachers and principals have to commit to communities for longer periods of time to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participation and achievement in our schools.
I note this plan will provide work to establish one-stop shops staffed with remote teacher support officers to work directly with teachers and principals in remote areas to ensure services and support are effective and timely. Importantly, this government’s plan stipulates the use of research and data to deliver effective induction and recall processes. We want teachers who understand what they are going into, and a system that delivers effective support and solutions. Central to a smart Territory are teaching teams who know which practices and programs make the difference for groups of students. We want teachers who understand the needs and challenges of our students, and an education system which reflects the needs of our community. This plan sets real goals. I have spent the majority or my working life with kids - setting goals, setting expectations, mentoring - and this is the key to ensuring our children achieve, aspire and dream.
For the member for Braitling, I quote from the strategic plan 2009-12, and highlight the area that he missed; a bit of research and digging deeper into the most important issue for the Northern Territory government in education. In a section under Higher Education, it talks about our Department of Education and Training, and about the strategic partnerships with the Charles Darwin University and the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. It talks about improving, training, accreditation, and English as a Second Language study. This is clearly articulated in the plan, and clearly the way forward to growing our own in the Territory.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I conclude with a very brief synopsis of the minister for Education’s plan for taking us forward: attendance; achieving literacy and numeracy levels at or above national averages; completing Year 12; achieving a TER, Tertiary Entrance Rank; exiting school with a completed VET Certificate II or III; graduating and moving to higher education, further training and employment; undertaking school-based apprenticeships or traineeships; and participating in adult learning, aligned with employer needs.
When I look back on my career, I look back with pride, with humility, with blood, sweat and tears. Let me tell you, I wish this was around when I was in the field. I wish this was around when Learning Lessons was in the field. I remember, member for Braitling, in 2001 there was a fairly significant change in the Northern Territory. I believe it was the Labor government that picked up Learning Lessons. Well, this plan goes further than Learning Lessons; it builds on Learning Lessons and takes us forward.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I just wish A Smart Territory had been around when I started. I wish it the best of luck, because this is the way forward. I thank the Chief Minister for his insight and presentation of this statement today in this House, to inspire, to lead, and to provide the vision which will deliver results in education and training.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the statement that outlines sound strategy for the future of education in the Territory. It places education and training as No 1 priority for government. It puts right up-front an emphasis - an important emphasis - on having high expectations of our students, teachers, and schools. To achieve our best, we must demand our best. A Smart Territory will not happen by accident. We want the best from our new Territorians, our young Territorians, and we have a responsibility to ensure they have an environment, a culture, in which they can achieve their best.
The Territory is growing at a rapid pace. We have a growing number of students, and a growing need for young Territorians to emerge from school ready and able to help build the Territory. The Chief Minister provided some examples of goals we must achieve for this to happen: a 90% attendance rate can only be achieved by parents, schools and communities working together; students achieving or exceeding national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy in Year 3, Year 5, Year 7 and Year 9; when a student leaves Year 12, they will have a VET Certificate II or above, or a Tertiary Entrance Rank that will get them into university.
As someone who went to school in Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Darwin – primary, secondary and tertiary – I saw a variety of different classrooms. I have spoken to the member for Barkly before about my time at Kargaru, a primary school not there any more. I remember - I think it was Year 4; I am sure my Mum will correct me if I get this wrong - we were doing maths lessons early in Term 1. We had the whole classroom looking away from the multiplication tables, because we were doing a test on our times tables. However, we were looking at the divisions - they had all the division tables up on the wall which no one in the classroom had been taught yet. I realised we could actually do the reverse - I guess it was almost cheating. But, it is just an example of going from one classroom in one town to another in another town in the Territory where what had been taught in one classroom was not at the same speed as other classrooms around the Territory. Even in Year 4, I found that a very interesting point.
To have a positive, competitive environment where everyone is trying to achieve their best, where there is a culture of expectation, you need a high attendance rate. I sat in classrooms where the attendance rate was low or all over the place; you were not getting the same kids in the classrooms each day. That is not a culture which helps achieve results; that is more about hanging out and causing trouble. It will be difficult to create a culture of achievement in every classroom in every school in the Territory, and that is why it is so important that we aim for it. That is why it is so important we create targets, as the Chief Minister has outlined, as I just mentioned, otherwise we never will achieve it. The Chief Minister is to be commended on setting this direction with the new Chief Executive, building on a series of reforms.
The Chief Minister’s statement went through quite a few reforms, such as: establishing a Teacher Registration Board in 2004 to help create and maintain professional standards in our teacher group; pioneering the Laptop Program for Teachers in 2004 as well; the establishment of middle schools in 2006; the School Accountability and Performance Improvement Framework in 2007 - I know the school councils love that; in 2007, the NT Safe Schools Code of Conduct; and in 2008, the Clontarf program, which I know all members of this House support strongly. The Leader of the Opposition spoke very highly of that in his contribution to this statement today.
There is also a massive infrastructure exercise going on. I am sure, as local members, we have seen it in all our schools, in our electorates. The figure is extraordinary - $235m between the federal and Territory governments. I know works are happening at Stuart Park Primary and Parap Primary Schools; they will deliver important improvements to how teachers deliver classes to their students. For example, at Stuart Park Primary School, they built a verandah off one wing outside the early primary school classrooms, and that has made an immediate difference. You can see much greater use by teachers of what is an excellent outdoor area. If you have been to Stuart Park, they have quite lush, tropical grounds, and verandahs have opened part of the school grounds not really used before. You can tell, immediately, teachers are taking their classes outside and delivering more classes in different environments, which is having a real impact on their students.
We have put a lot of money in - both the federal and the Territory governments - for infrastructure upgrades, and have made some significant steps, as outlined by the Chief Minister. However, there is more to be done. This Education and Training Strategic Plan 2009-12 which the Chief Minister has outlined is what will take us forward to ensure we are delivering the best possible education and training systems for Territorians.
The plan is built around three things; the recommendations from the Ladwig and Sarra report; changing the agency structure to better focus on students’ learning and achievement; and putting in place the national partnership agreement we have signed off on with the federal government. The plan focuses on three things to achieve the outcome of the best possible education and training system: the development of quality programs to improve attendance, participation and achievement at every level of schooling; the recruitment and retention of quality people and partnerships to get and develop the right people who are committed to the Territory and know how to make a difference; and the building of quality systems to support our schools to achieve real and improved outcomes for every student.
Three things - better programs; more people but, more importantly, people who want to stay in the Territory for longer, not just drop by for six or 12 months - I do not have a problem with people who want to come to the Territory for a year, but to make a difference over time, and education often takes time, it is better to be working with people who want to be here for a long time; and better support for the programs we want to deliver for the people who will be delivering them. Those three things make sense to me, and they are what we need to put in place to achieve these aims the Chief Minister outlined and I touched on earlier - attendance, achievement in literacy and numeracy, finishing Year 12 with a Certificate II or better in VET, good Tertiary Entrance Rank, and establishing a culture of high expectations for students and for teachers.
The plan is a three-year plan which is broken into the early years, and the primary, middle, and senior years of schooling. I believe all members will understand the importance of the early years. It is extraordinary how quickly young children can learn. There is no doubt this is an area where we can do more; it is probably an area where most governments can do more. This has also been recognised by the federal government, and we will need to work with the federal government to deliver outcomes in this area. The Chief Minister flagged in his contribution the partnership we are going to have with the federal government to build on delivering in the early years. I believe the Chief Minister, and the Henderson Labor government are best placed to deliver those outcomes with the current federal government, to better integrate health and education services, and to assist families to deliver education themselves from birth through to early years of schooling.
In the primary and middle years, I am interested in the strategies around attendance. I believe good attendance can lead to better engagement, which leads to better achievement. I know from my own personal experience going through a variety of different classrooms and environments in each of those classrooms. Good attendance often leads to a friendly, competitive environment that leads to better achievement - something I noticed going up and down the track as a kid. I am keen to work with the Chief Minister in those areas. The Chief Minister flagged curriculum pathways and resources that focus on improving attendance, achievement, and engagement, a scenario I am interested in having more information on, and very interested in working with the Chief Minister wherever I can.
Talking about attendance, in some respects that is what the senior years are all about - actually getting students to continue on in their senior years, and to complete those years and get a result of a Certificate II for VET or better, and to get a Tertiary Entrance Rank which gets them into university and the course they want to do. To get there, the strategic plan is searching for ways to make school more relevant and practical, leading to bankable outcomes for all students. We are going to work with all schools to provide strategies and programs that provide a clear pathway from Year 12 into further education, or a job. To make this happen there will be the introduction of a personal learning plan, and dedicated career advisors in every senior secondary school. Basically, we will be making sure all senior schools will be able to transition a student from school to work.
To make this plan work in the early, primary, middle and senior years, we are going to need quality people, the right people in the right jobs. We are very lucky with the quality of people we have in the Territory. However, we do need to do more in a small place like the Territory. Our population is growing, but we still are a small place, and we need to do more to recruit, retain, and develop our people.
The department has put in place measures to improve how we support our people. That is ongoing work. I have had good feedback on what the department has done to date to provide better support, and I wish them all the best in delivering what is going to be a very important and practical measure in achieving the outcomes the Chief Minister has outlined. We need to keep our people in the Territory for longer doing what they do. They do it well; I know they can deliver the outcomes the Chief Minister has outlined. They can deliver this plan.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend this statement to the house.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak on the Chief Minister’s statement, A Smart Territory.
I listened to many speakers, and I have a smile on my face every time the member for Barkly speaks. I have never heard a more passionate speaker, particularly how he feels about education, and all the years of his work teaching in and around the Barkly area. It always reinforces the need for people like the member for Barkly to continue that passion, and bring us back to thinking about how things were.
I was listening to him talk about Learning Lessons and why we reached the point of Learning Lessons, and how tough it was for the many communities and educators working in the system to deal with education way back then. The member for Nhulunbuy is also an educator. In 2001, I listened to the then member for Stuart, Dr Peter Toyne, and the former member for Nhulunbuy, Syd Stirling, when they talked about education, and the emotion of both of these men when the Labor Party came to government in 2001, and when we adopted all the recommendations from Learning Lessons and implemented that report to start turning around some of the neglect in many of our remote communities. I watched the former members for Nhulunbuy and Stuart, all those years in this parliament, argue with the CLP government of that time about how important it was to get the resources and the changes on the ground in those communities to try to turn things around.
Hence, we get to the present day. Many people, me included, are glad that attendance has become a pivotal part of any strategy we implement. We all know if you do not get kids to school nothing much is going to be achieved at all. In places like Maningrida, up until last year, we had fewer than 30% of the school population going to school; that is now turning around. They have made many changes with the teaching staff on the ground. The Chief Minister came out with me and we had a meeting with the traditional owners and parents in that community to discuss the issues of school attendance. It was an opportunity for the Chief Minister to listen to parents regarding what they wanted in their children’s education. In the broader community, people often think Aboriginal people do not want good education outcomes for their children, or they do not want their children to learn. That is not true. When you sit on the ground with many Aboriginal parents, they do want better education outcomes for their kids. If you talk to them, they will tell you that.
In my time as the Education minister, I recognise, reflecting on a number of things, particularly the debate on bilingual education and the implementation of that policy, maybe I could have taken a different approach. It is about inclusion; talking to parents and trying to get them to go forward. That is where this statement, particularly including parents as first teachers, is an important start. Unless we get parents involved in their kids’ education we are not going to get very far.
It is great to see some of those areas which have been worked on under Transforming Indigenous Education coming through in the DET strategic plan. The strategic plan, as the Chief Minister mentioned in his statement, will take on the key recommendations of the Ladwig and Sarra report. Having read that report, the new CEO of DET, in implementing the restructure within that department, will go forward, as the member for Barkly said, with a great vision, a great plan, which we all need. Hopefully, these things will be implemented.
Just quickly, to my electorate, one of the things I am looking forward to with a bit of excitement - and I have had some discussions with the Chief Minister as well as with ERA. Last week, the Chief Minister signed an agreement with Energy Resources Australia recognising the importance of education and training in achieving wellbeing for the people of Jabiru and Gunbalanya. The second part of the agreement is wishing to disseminate skills and career opportunities to the people of Jabiru and Gunbalanya to achieve this goal. This has been a long time in coming.
It will see two schools - Jabiru on one side of Cahill’s Crossing and Gunbalanya, an Aboriginal community in the other part of Western Arnhem Land - come together. They will still have their separate principals but will be overseen by one principal who will bring both schools closer together. It makes sense because ERA is now looking at the skills shortage in Jabiru and around Kakadu. They want to build the skills of the local Bininj or the young Aboriginal men and women, both in Jabiru as well as Gunbalanya. So, it makes sense, finally, to get ERA, probably the biggest employer of people in and around that region, wanting to be involved and having a big involvement in the school, looking at how they can support the government, the community, and traditional owners to develop a trade training centre so they can skill those young people as they go further.
It is going to be a really good thing. Talking to the principal at Gunbalanya and the Aboriginal teachers, they are excited by this. The traditional owners at Gunbalanya can finally see it being a road forward for their young people. You often hear in communities: ‘Why am I going to school?’ or ‘Why am I going to get this training? There are no jobs in these communities.
This agreement provides hope for those young Indigenous kids that there will be a job at the mine, with transport and tourism, or with natural resource management - all of those areas. Those young people will be able to get the training, so it will be transitioning kids from school to work, and it will be seamless. Having talked to David Paterson from ERA, they are excited, and want to also look at something like this for Nhulunbuy and some of the areas there. I will show the member for Nhulunbuy this agreement that was signed with ERA. It is a fantastic agreement. I know people out there are, for the first time, excited things are going to happen and will change on the ground in those communities; there may be some future for those young Bininj kids further down the track and they do need to go to school.
One area which was not in this statement, but something I have raised previously, is the issue of adult education. If we do not put our focus on adult education, we will continually see our system floundering, particularly with young children. There is much merit in trying to get those young parents or adults, who have left school early, back into the system to retrain them. This is a great strategy. We all need to work together to try to make things happen. People are cynical and say: ‘Oh, another statement, more promises’. Well, you have to have a vision and some path going forward.
This statement the Chief Minister and his department have outlined is a way forward. I look forward to working with the department to make some of those changes, particularly at Jabiru, Gunbalanya and Maningrida, so young kids in those regions do have a future and can become educated. We will give them the skills, and they will one day end up in jobs. If we can create and work with private enterprises and corporations such as ERA to create those jobs, this will be a great road forward for a lot of those young Aboriginal kids out there.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement.
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, we have heard from the Education minister the significance this government places on education. As the Chief Minister said, that is why this government has extended until Year 10 the requirement for compulsory schooling, as well as making it a requirement for all young Territorians either to remain at school, in training, or in work up to the age of 17. Our government does not want to see our young people being allowed to spend time adrift and directionless at this critical phase of their lives. We all know it is too easy for young people who are not effectively engaged in study, training, or work, to come off the rails. Education and training is vital for individual development, and developing the potential of our young people is also an essential investment in the Territory’s future.
Too often, too many of our children in remote regions do not attend school. However, this happens not just in our remote regions. We must work with parents and communities to improve attendance levels. While it is a challenge, as a government, we are committed to turning this situation around, and we must convince parents about the importance of getting their children to school. It is good, when I travel to places in my electorate, to see the tremendous amount of work that is being done by, not only the teachers in my communities, but the families. Yet, I am also equally conscious of the many frustrations; that kids need to have more, beyond school. Yes, it is one thing to get them to school and get them through, even to Year 12, but we must ensure we progress even further our young men and women right across the Northern Territory.
While we are now starting to see positive education results in the bush, I acknowledge there is still a long way to go. We have to look at the entire system, and consider how it is we might best engage the students in our remote communities. I have to say I was delighted when the Chief Minister announced in August last year, during the election campaign, the Labor government was committing to the Families as First Teachers Program. The Families as First Teachers focuses on setting children up to attend school. A similar program has had great success in New Zealand, and Kuranda in North Queensland.
As a result of the Kuranda District State College’s program, student enrolments have increased, and there have been record achievements in literacy and numeracy amongst Indigenous students. We must continue investigating innovative options like this if we are to turn around educational outcomes in the bush. Now, at long last, children are completing their schooling in the bush. I spoke on Friday about the number of young people who completed Year 12 in my own electorate in 2008. It is hard not to feel a sense of hope when you look at the pictures of these young people, such as the 17 members from the class of 2008 who completed Year 12 in the electorate of Arnhem.
It does not end there. These young people now have to be able to do something with the capacity they have demonstrated in passing Year 12. They have to move beyond Year 12 and ensure they make a go of their life. I believe we have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep that flame of hope alive in successful students in the bush. I would certainly like to see the establishment of a formalised support network for those who pass Year 12 in our remote regions. All of us in this House know the challenges of negotiating those teenage years and the early 20s. They can be pretty tough years. It is hard enough, I guess, in the suburbs of Darwin, and even in Alice Springs and Katherine. We all know many young people do get lost along the way. Too much effort goes into attaining academic achievement in the bush to let such positive gains slip away. We owe it to the mums, the dads, and the aunties, the uncles, the nannas, and the children themselves, not to see this effort squandered after schooling has been completed.
I would like to see our government establish a series of electorate-specific support networks for our bush graduates, to provide them a network which would give assistance for up to 10 years, or thereabouts, after they leave school. Some young people might not need it, but others will. I see this support mechanism providing mentoring for young people, while also allowing them the opportunity to meet with their peers on a regular basis, to share common experiences, and discuss the challenges confronting them as they attempt to move to the next phases of their lives. I certainly want to work with all my colleagues to make this prospect a reality.
As you know, I am now also the Minister for Indigenous Policy and, as such, I intend working to improve education outcomes amongst young Aboriginal Territorians. Earlier this year, the Productivity Commission released its fourth Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report, prepared at the request of the Council of Australian Governments. That report outlined how, across all indicators, there continues to be wide gaps in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and it highlighted the need for sustained and elevated effort to close the gap and significantly improve outcomes for Indigenous people.
On a more positive note, the report also highlighted the things that work. Some success and positive programs noted in the Territory include our mobile preschool program, the application in the Northern Territory of the National Accelerated Literacy program, and an increase in students completing the Northern Territory Certificate of Education.
One of the key issues in relation to Closing the Gap is that, across all the key indicators of the COAG report, outcomes for non-Indigenous people in Australia continue to improve. Making a real difference in closing the gap for Indigenous Territorians will require significant additional resources beyond those of the Territory government, over a sustained period.
The Chief Minister’s statement, and our key policy initiative of A Working Future, provides a solid framework for sustained and elevated effort. A Working Future offers a real opportunity for strong, effective, working relationships across government with local people, non-government organisations, and the business sector. Development of local plans, informed by local people, with local experts who will work with local people who know what works and what does not, and what the local priorities are. With a strong evidence-based reporting framework, we will know exactly what money is going where, what returns we are getting on investment, and how our work is making a difference.
Our vision is: within five years communities will develop into local economic and service delivery hubs, supporting small communities and outstations within the surrounding region; all kids will be attending vibrant schools and having access to a solid foundational education to maximise their life opportunities and choices; we will be seeing the benefits of targeted investment by government to address identified service and infrastructure gaps; and improved transport systems that better link towns across the Northern Territory. Long-term leases are in place to encourage private investment in home ownership and business enterprises; all private investment, with new and expanded local businesses servicing the town, and more jobs for residents; and local workforce development plans, matching local labour supply skills and a capacity for their jobs.
Under A Working Future, there is no intention to close existing schools, but there may be changes to the methodology in education service provision for children living in homelands outstations where there is currently no school, only a visiting teacher service. These are the issues I need to get my head across. I need to get out to all these communities once our session of parliament is complete. A Working Future will lead to improved choices for homeland parents and students. Where change is proposed, such as daily transport to the nearest school, upgrade of homeland learning centres to small schools, or residential programs for senior students, it will be for the purpose of improvement to arrangements.
A Working Future is also about Indigenous economic development and job creation. Growth of bush communities into townships will present key opportunities and challenges to engage more Indigenous Territorians and organisations in economic activity. Under A Working Future, the Northern Territory government, working in partnership across all levels of government, will facilitate the provision of infrastructure and government services.
As the Minister for Children and Families, I am also pleased our government has put in place important child protection measures which will assist in the development of young Territorians living in more remote regions. We must protect our children, no matter where they live. Our government is committed to the care and protection of children.
We have launched some important initiatives, including the Territory’s first Child Abuse Task Force, and the Territory’s first Children’s Commissioner. The Child Abuse Task Force, or CAT, is a joint initiative between Northern Territory Families and Children, the Northern Territory Police and Australian Federal Police. CAT North has 13 Northern Territory police officers, working with nine federal police agents, plus five child protection officers. CAT South has five Northern Territory police, and three child protection officers. We are currently looking to fill two additional positions for Federal Police agents, which have been allocated to CAT South.
In addition to the positions I have just detailed, the Child Abuse Task Force also includes a full member Aboriginal community resource team working on the development of child safety strategies on communities. This element is, obviously, of critical importance as an interface between the CAT units and the people in our more remote communities.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, as a government, we are committed to delivering a smart Territory through quality education and training. We are, though, realistic enough to recognise we will need to continue confronting significant challenges, particularly in our remote regions. Our government is committed to dealing with these challenges to help deliver and develop a smarter Territory.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support our Education minister’s statement about the future strategic direction of education and training in the Northern Territory. It is a subject which has been talked about a great deal during my first 12 months in this Chamber. I am encouraged the talk is translating into plans and action. It is, indeed, as the member for Barkly said, part of an ongoing evolution in education in the Northern Territory.
Education is at the very core of developing people and developing the Territory. It is the key to our future and the lives of all Territorians, especially our children. I have just revisited this morning the Territory 2030 strategy document released in April this year which, quite rightly, places education front and centre. I quote from that document:
As the Chief Minister said, we do, indeed, need a robust education system which has a culture of high expectations and high-performing people, programs and processes. I know I am not alone in welcoming the recommendations from the Ladwig and Sarra report which highlights these very things, and the fact we need to push for quality - quality programs, quality people and partnerships, and quality systems and support.
As a bush member, I especially welcome the focus on strengthening regionalisation. The East Arnhem region is unique in so many ways, and is certainly a long way from Darwin. A flyer recently released by the Department of Education and Training was distributed at Nhulunbuy High School Council meeting last week by Principal, Kath Middleton, who spoke enthusiastically about DET’s strategic plan for 2009 to 2012 and, in turn, all council members at the meeting embraced it.
I pay tribute to those people in my region who take up roles with the school councils and actively contribute to the school community and future planning. They are all volunteers who give up their time to attend committee meetings, strategic planning meetings, and subcommittee meetings which look at matters from finance to curriculum, to grounds maintenance, and to fundraising. I know the member for Brennan has had a very strong involvement with schools in his electorate well before he got into this job. I am sure all of us are involved currently in the schools in our electorate and their councils.
Quite rightly, Indigenous education and training must continue to be a priority. Under the stewardship of the member for Arafura during her time as minister for Education, we saw last year a refocus with the Transforming Indigenous Education initiative. At the core of this, and the success of any initiatives in Indigenous schools, is getting students to school. Regular attendance is absolutely essential for any child to learn. They need to be engaged in programs which are relevant, meaningful, and build on knowledge and skills. While a target of 90% school attendance might be a real challenge, I certainly do not think it is unrealistic. For the Leader of the Opposition, who talked about looking for measurable targets out of this document, well, there is one of them - 90% attendance is a very measurable target.
I have seen in my own electorate attendance at Shepherdson College at Galiwinku has increased dramatically in the last 12 months, and appears to have been sustained. This is due, in no small part, to strong and determined leadership within the school community, led by principal, Bryan Hughes, working closely and in collaboration with families and community members, as well as police, the health clinic, health workers, the East Arnhem Shire Sport and Recreation Officer, and the government business manager.
Shepherdson College has used some innovative programs to attract children to learning, if not necessarily to school itself - at least not in the short term. A bus has been fitted out with resources including computers to become a mobile classroom and is, of course, overseen by a teacher. It regularly visits the main beach where students spend their time, or other parts of the community where students may be. Over a period of time, many of those students have, eventually, returned to school.
Shepherdson College students have also benefited, from a unique partnership through a philathroponic organisation, one laptop per child, which saw the school take delivery of $90 000 worth of laptop computers in April this year. They provide teachers and students with another learning tool and an added incentive to attend class. On the subject of laptops, the Northern Territory’s initiative in 2004 to provide laptops for all teachers has been a very important step in education, as the Chief Minister said, enabling teachers to use learning technologies as part of their daily work. The ready access to this technology also underpins many of the recordkeeping and reporting systems which schools use, and increases efficiencies in order to give teachers the time for what they really need to do; that is, to teach.
As an ex-teacher, I can remember the days when, as a high school teacher, depending on my teaching load, I would have to prepare up to 120 handwritten reports on individual students in a term. If that was not bad enough, pity the poor senior teachers who had the job of then having to read all of the reports of many teachers with several classes. It certainly was a paperwork nightmare.
When I left teaching at the end of 1996, I was on the verge of becoming computer literate. At that time, Nhulunbuy High School had two computer labs and a smattering of computers around other classrooms. Just recently, I attended, with the Chief Minister, the opening of the new senior school at Palmerston High School. The members for Drysdale and Brennan were there as well. I was interested to go along, as it was my very first posting as a teacher when I moved to the Territory in 1987. At that time, it was the school’s second year of operation. I consider myself to be computer literate now but, walking into that campus a few months ago and seeing SMART Boards in every classroom and the dexterity with which teachers and students were using them, absolutely took my breath away. Indeed, if we want to be the smart Territory, we need to be smarter with how we use technology, and SMART Boards are definitely a part of it.
Another part of my electorate has seen the delivery of approximately 800 km of fibre-optic cable from Jabiru to Nhulunbuy, thanks to a partnership with Telstra, the government, Rio Tinto Alcan, and the Northern Land Council late last year. It provides the very platform for remote learning. With high-speed broadband access, we should be able to make much better use of e-learning. The member for Stuart talked about that.
The homeland learning centres in my region, which come under Yirrkala Homelands School and Shepherdson College, are places where school attendance levels are strong and learning outcomes solid. With the tyranny of distance, we need to be smarter in delivering best education outcomes for these children. I should add this is just as true for adults in remote homeland centres, whether they be teachers, Indigenous education workers, rangers, health workers, nurses, tradesmen, or whatever vocation they choose.
Actively supporting education, training and employment opportunities is also one of the cornerstones of A Working Future policy which aims to see Indigenous Territorians who live remotely have the opportunity to work on the country on their community; to have a real job and not be dependent on welfare; and to be self-determining and do the jobs which, at the moment, are done by non-Indigenous workers who fly in and fly out. Yolngu people in my electorate welcome the notion of growing our own. These are people who want to work, want their kids to work, and want to be in control of their lives, not forever dependent on others to do the jobs in their communities. This is capacity building.
I go back to the homeland learning centres and highlight the roles Indigenous teachers and Indigenous education workers do in delivering education and supporting visiting teachers. The Chief Minister came with me recently to three different homeland communities in north-east Arnhem Land. I wanted him to come to Garrthalala to see why homelands in my electorate are strong and vibrant places where people lead healthy lives. I also wanted him to meet Multhara Mununggurr, who has taught at the school at Garrthalala for many years and has provided years of tireless service and leadership to educating the young ones in her community. The irony of what the member for Braitling had to say about education in the bush from the CLP - which did so little for two-and-a-half decades to see secondary students complete Year 12 out in the bush - is staggering.
As the member for Stuart said, under a Labor administration and under the stewardship of my predecessor, Syd Stirling, as the first Labor Education minister, we saw the first Year 12 Indigenous graduates at Kalkarindji. Since then, we have had over 100 Indigenous students graduate, and this includes seven graduates last year with their NTCE from Garrthalala where there is a boarding facility which accommodates senior secondary students who fly in from surrounding homelands on a Monday morning, and home again on the Friday afternoon at the end of the school week.
Appropriate facilities, member for Braitling? Yes. They are critical. The Northern Territory government has progressively been doing this. Visit Yilpara at Blue Mud Bay, which is home to 150 people and where Djambawa Marawili is TO, and where two new teacher houses have been built and a $2m school upgrade is about to start now the land use agreement is in place. Yes, certainly, these appropriate facilities are at the heart of the Rudd government’s Building the Education Revolution. Millions will be spent in remote regions out of the $235m earmarked to be spent around the Territory.
I make a comment on the subject of bilingual education. First, Yirrkala Homelands School operates an ESL program, not bilingual, so students are recognised as second language learners and, obviously, perform successfully. Second, I listened with interest to the Leader of the Opposition’s comments about bilingual in reference to the response from the Chief Minister regarding a petition that was tabled this morning. In a briefing I had recently with the new CEO for the Department of Education and Training, Mr Gary Barnes, he hit the nail on the head when he said that so much of the debate around bilingual had been hijacked by the media into an either/or message, and it is simply not the case.
We talk broadly - too broadly, I think - about education and school being important because we want people to come out the other end and graduate and pass into the world of work, and be economically independent. We all know schools are much more important than that, and they are places that deliver much more. Schools are places where people learn to learn, and learn to think, and leave at the end, where learning, hopefully, is lifelong. Learning is not just something that happens at school during school times, and it is not just university graduates who are teachers. Hence, we have programs which this government has introduced, including the Parents as First Teachers Program. I am very proud to know Averil Blundell, the teacher heading up that program, because she is a long-term Arnhem Land teacher.
We, obviously, need to provide the appropriate resources to facilitate learning but, at the end of the day, it is the quality of the dedicated individuals who teach children. They do much more than teach, they nurture, and it is the quality of their teaching which is so critical. I am sure every member in this House will have a memory of a teacher who has played a strong role in shaping their lives. Recruiting and retention is important in the Territory, especially into remote areas.
Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister’s Smart Territory statement is not just spin. It talks of a plan and a strategy which is happening, is part of a broader vision for the Territory, and interlocks with other important policy documents, such as the A Working Future policy and the Territory 2030 statement. I commend this statement to the House.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all honourable members for their contribution to the statement. I know there is one thing everybody in this House is passionate about; that is, education. The importance of improving our education and training system is probably one of the few things both sides of this House can agree on. This government’s effort in delivering an education and training strategic plan is about real and improved outcomes for Territory students wherever they live in the Territory. We know this a great challenge. This education and training plan is about rising to the challenge and setting up a system that is ready, responsive and aligned with the needs of our students, our schools and, importantly, the Territory’s future.
We have heard a wide range of education issues raised here today on this important subject. There is insufficient time for me to address each and every discussion point that has been debated; therefore, I put on the table some generic responses to the general themes I have been hearing.
The first of these themes is about school performance. Due to the benefits of research and review, such as the Ladwig and Sarra report, we know school performance is improved where there are clear achievement standards in the core areas of attendance, literacy and numeracy, and Year 12 completion. My government sets these. All schools are provided with standardised and transparent systems for measuring student achievement and progress. My government’s plan addresses this. All teachers and school leaders are provided with access to high-quality advice, support and curriculum. My government’s plan will achieve this. School leaders work in partnership with their local communities to decide on the best local strategies for improving student achievement and attendance. My government’s plan lays the framework for this to happen.
Another theme of debate today has concerned the targets for improvements in education and training. It is important to state this government knows improvement across the education and training system is a long-term goal with targets that, at key points along the way, will be used to measure and report our progress, as well as inform the next steps. The education targets this plan described are essential. They are what the Territory must achieve to be in line with meeting or exceeding national averages by 2011 and, more importantly, maintaining these into the future; in line with the Territory and national targets for halving the gap of Indigenous achievement within a decade; and in line with the COAG Reform Agenda and Territory 2030 for improved NTCE training completions.
Another theme emerging from debate today has concerned curriculum. Curriculum is a central tool for improving student achievement. It not only outlines the content students need to learn, it also states the achievement standards required at each stage of schooling.
Curriculum is a key area of focus in this strategic plan. To ensure our schools have access to high-quality curriculum that takes on board recent improvements in teaching and learning, this government will: de-clutter the curriculum so teachers and principals can focus on those aspects of teaching and learning that will make a difference to student literacy and numeracy achievement; use e-learning technologies to expand the range of courses and subjects available to students completing the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training in remote and regional centres; develop teacher support materials in English, maths, science and history aligned with the national curricula; and partner with other Northern Territory government agencies to develop early childhood service hubs focused on improving the development of early literacy and communication skills young children need to be successful at school.
A critical theme emerging from the debate today concerns the quality of our school environments. Research tells us safe and orderly environments are critical to improving student attendance, engagement, and achievement. My government’s plan prioritises working with schools to develop school-wide approaches to making our schools positive places to learn; identifies positive learning centres that will cater for students whose behaviour is severely and persistently disruptive, including re-entry processes; and the use of ICT and other wraparound services. It also expands on the successful Clontarf Academy programs across more schools and communities, so more young Indigenous men feel comfortable to attend, learn and engage in their schooling.
It would be difficult to address every point which has been raised here. It is good to hear all our speakers are fully engaged in this important debate. I encourage all members opposite, should they have a specific education and training concern, to seek a briefing from my office, or contact me and I will respond. I am encouraged by the support I am hearing for our plan, proud that we are on the road to achieving real and improved outcomes across our education and training system.
The member for Arnhem talked with me about this idea of a mentoring program for Year 12 students who have graduated from remote communities, and how we can establish networks for those students so they can stay in touch, and also mentor other students coming through. I believe it is a great idea, and have asked the department to look at structuring such a support network across the Northern Territory. It is a really good idea.
To the member for Nhulunbuy, it was great to be out there the other day in those four homeland communities, particularly at Garrthalala. I was really impressed to see the boarding facilities there, and the passion for getting those students to achieve Year 12. I think there were seven students last year, at such a remote part of the Northern Territory, achieving their Year 12. It is a fantastic example of when people think about how we are going to deliver education in such a remote place and provide services, facilities, and quality teachers to get students there. It was a great result. With the high-speed broadband network we have put in place across the Top End with Telstra and Rio Tinto Alcan, I am looking forward to ensuring all our schools in those communities take early access of that improved technology.
Madam Speaker, with those words, I thank all members for their contribution to this statement. We will be debating education in many more sessions of parliament to come.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received the following letter from the Leader of the Opposition:
It is signed by the Leader of the Opposition.
Is the proposed discussion supported? It is supported.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, in a number of media conferences leading up to the events of Friday, reference was made to the problem that had brought us to this place, and that these matters needed to be attended to in this Chamber in order to provide a stable government. A stable government may not actually be what people want. They want a stable government, and a good government, that actually governs and produces results for effort. In those media conferences, people were wondering what was going to happen on Friday, with a fair assessment of the problems that had led us to that place. There was an expectation that something would change as a result of the debate.
Something has changed - the government is still the government; the Chief Minister is still the Chief Minister – but the political problem has been addressed by the support that was gained in the Chamber. However, the underlying problem is one that Territorians will still be watching. That is the need for a change of attitude in the performance of government; that is, a change from talk of money spent as though that is the achievement. It is moving to another paradigm which is talking about the problem we are responding to as government, the establishment of a policy framework to address that problem specifically, the resources to accompany that, and measurable outcomes.
The performance of the Territory Labor administration for the last eight years has demonstrated they do not understand nor operate in the second paradigm; that being, the recognition it goes beyond the expenditure of money to produce a result. We hear it so often in the language of the Territory government. If it is crime that is a problem, the answer provided is more police numbers. Yet, at a public forum in Palmerston, people were responding: ‘Yes, and more police - and then what? What will result from that?’ What do people want when they have a problem with crime? They want to feel safer in the street. The answer of more police is not actually the answer to the problem; it is a resolution of a political problem right here, right now, to create an impression of action.
People have had enough of that. They actually want a clear benchmark guideline; a determined effort to produce a measurable result. The aim is, in fact, to make people feel safer in the street. What you will do to achieve that? How they will know whether your policy is working? Because we will be able to measure it. You set a goal; something that is measureable, a standard. We have to move into that place.
We find the same, as has been mentioned a number of times, with the perpetual motion of announcements on certain commitments of government describing itself as being committed to things such as oncology units, Tiger Brennan Drive, or land release, and so on. These are all commitments, but the commitments do not result in action that is meaureable. That is very important.
I hope, flowing from Friday, there will be a change in the mindset and the accompanying action of the Territory government. People clearly describe a desire for change. The change they want to see is not necessarily just a change of the political activity in the Chamber. Because if it was changed, and everything stayed the same, they would not be satisfied. What they actually want is an improvement in the delivery of services.
What is now on the Chief Minister’s plate, on his watch - and all will be watching as the result of the deal that has been struck - is there will be a real change. What has been spoken of is a change in the parliament. There have been some vague references to political reform and the way we structure our business in here. I am saying clearly Territorians will want much more than that. They want to see a difference in the way government operates. Not so much the way they operate in parliament but, at the end of the day, they want to see a result in the street, they want to see houses built, they want to see a difference in the schools and the classrooms, and they want to see a difference - a measurable difference - in the hospitals. We now need to move to a benchmark and the setting of goals.
I know of a senior public servant, who is no longer working in the public sector, who reported a disturbing situation; that being, a head of department could fulfil their goals and come in under budget and, as a result of that, could have their allocation for next year reduced. They achieved their objectives, came in under budget and, next year, they have a reduced amount with which to operate. On the other hand, you can have another head of department who did not meet their objectives, came in over budget and, in the next year, would have an increased allocation. That, in one case, is a penalty for the one who has achieved the objectives – a reduction – and, on the other hand, it is a reward for those who fail to meet their objectives by increasing the allocation because they went over the budget. That, in broad terms, feeds a problem; it does not create a solution at all. That whole group, which came in under budget and achieved their objectives, would like a recognition and a reward, because the business here is to achieve the objectives. On the other hand, those who have not met their objectives and get recognition by going over budget and having an increased allocation, lose sight of the core objectives. That has to change.
What I am proposing, and will continue to talk about - and my team will continue to talk about - is the need to change the way we speak and think, as a government. I know the community is now looking for action - a result from the efforts of government.
We have talked about the oncology unit. In the debate on Friday, we spoke about the response - the appalling response which resulted in the Little Children are Sacred report and, ultimately, the intervention. That inertia, that casual approach, the conducting of a review rather than action was, in fact, the attitude of this government that we have seen for the past eight years, and are already seeing in the oncology unit. We see the evidence of it in the tragic events that led to the intervention. In many respects, it brought us to a situation we had to contend with yesterday. ‘Has anything changed?’, is really the underlying message.
The land release in Bellamack is another case in point. The government’s failure to deliver on its promises in anything remotely in a timely fashion is what people are wanting. They want to see a result from the administration, not another promise from the administration. This has to change. In this case, the project was first announced by the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, on 4 September 2007. For those who were here at the time, following the debate, the government held a very strong position against it; resisting the need for release of land. Then, there was a change, a dramatic shift, and this announcement on 4 September 2007. Hopefully, when the member for Nelson talks about wanting to eradicate spin from the government, he needs to look no further than Bellamack as an example of how spin is designed to be a smokescreen for a lack of action.
The first media release on this issue coincided with Clare Martin’s announcement on 4 September 2007. It was headed ‘New suburb for Palmerston’ - September 2007. Since then, the government’s media unit has had the spin cycle working overtime, with the following media releases updating media on the lack of action at Bellamack: 9 November 2007, ‘High level of interest in Bellamack’; 30 May 2007, ‘Tender called for Bellamack headworks’; 10 September 2008, ‘Bellamack developer announced’; 26 November 2008, ‘Seniors village for Bellamack’; 10 December 2008, ‘$5.7m Bellamack headworks under way’; 23 January 2009, ‘Bellamack development out on public exhibition’; and 1 June 2009, ‘Work at new Palmerston suburb begins’.
That is eight press releases on the topic of Bellamack, and not one single house built. It is not only SIHIP where the Territory government has raised expectations and failed to deliver on houses for Territorians - raising expectations, creating a media perception, and sustaining that perception. I remember it very clearly; I know the need is great. It was a political response, managed through the media cycle, to create the impression there was a solution.
I had people coming into my office who were very excited when they heard this grand announcement, with the accompanying glossy brochures. They came in wondering how they could put their name down for one. From 2007, 2008, 2009 - still not a house. They had their expectations. They were ordinary folk who wanted a house. They wanted to be able to put their pegs down somewhere in the Territory, particularly in Palmerston, the place they call their home, and their expectations were raised in 2007 with a grand announcement. What does failure to deliver once, twice, three times in the span of that period of time, and eight press releases, actually do? It reduces people’s trust or belief that government is there to actually do anything other than create impressions, then it breeds cynicism and is a pox on all of us – it breeds cynicism.
There are other examples, sadly, of government’s failure to deliver, including the Tiger Brennan Drive extension, another election promise which has been beset with delays and hold ups, and is still a monumental inconvenience for commuters travelling into Darwin from Palmerston and the rural area. I am sure you are going to get, rising from the other side, a stout defence, blaming other people like the federal government – and you will probably bring in other names - to create this impression it is not actually your responsibility. If you fail to set a target, a standard, and a goal, and tell the plain truth, you are going to end up perpetually in the realm of spin and deception, and creating cynicism within the electorate. That has to change, Madam Speaker.
Education standards in bush schools have declined considerably under Labor. There will be explanations for this, of course. However, those explanations must be couched in the truth, rather than couched in the language of excuse making and creating the impression you are not actually responsible for this, and not owning the responsibility which is beholden upon government. Explaining it away does not make one jot of difference, nor does it sustain the obligation you have to provide sound, good leadership and strengthen confidence in the community’s view of government - that government is there, not just to be stable so there are no little troubles, but it is a good government that actually delivers results.
The upgrade of the Alice Springs Hospital Accident and Emergency Unit is still no closer to beginning, despite significant federal government commitment to the project. The promise to develop an aquatic park in Palmerston is shaping as another project about which we do not know whether anything is really going to happen - no land identified, no discussions with council, and no apparent plan. The community has heard the promise. What does the promise mean? What is it worth? The Palumpa causeway, interestingly, was a 2005 election promise by the member for Daly - 2005. After pressure from the opposition, and the media, the government has finally announced money, but no work has been done. All of these are responses to a political problem rather than shifting your sense of obligation to achieve a result.
As I said before, departments are being rewarded for not sticking to their budgets. With no leadership from the executive, the Chief Minister is saying this program is required to be done in X time frame and, if it is not occurring, then we just shift it. We do not have any sense of drive or direction from the top. I understand there is a constant request for increased allocations. Are these allocations based on the demands of a public service that feels if they just had a little more money they would be able to get the result required, when the executive responsibility is to set the standards, set the goals, and set the time lines?
The attitude displayed by an anecdote from Paul Everingham’s time regarding the Bagot Road flyover encapsulates this well. The story is there was a need for a solution to that problem because there was no flyover. There was an intersection on the Stuart Highway and Bagot Road, going into town, with increased congestion, too many cars, and people getting annoyed because they could not get to work - and with plans for increased suburbs to be built feeding into Bagot Road. The problem required a solution. Clearly, the solution, with an eye for the future, was to build a flyover. The then Chief Minister, Everingham, called in two senior bureaucrats, one an engineer, the other one with responsibility for the funding allocation for Transport and Works. He told them: ‘This is the problem, and we need it fixed, and we need a flyover to fix the problem’. The engineer said: ‘It is very difficult to build those, Chief Minister. They are not often constructed; they are hard to build. I am not sure if we can do that’. The money man said: ‘It is very expensive, Chief Minister. We do not have the allocation necessary to build such a very expensive project’. He said: ‘Well, that is a damn shame because we need that problem fixed because there are going to be more houses out there. There are going to be more cars and we need the flyover built. It is going to be a bigger problem if we do not fix it now’.
If this was a Labor Chief Minister, he would say: ‘Well, I know there is a problem. Perhaps we can manage this by saying we are going to conduct a review. We will put a bit of money into a review and say we are now going to take this very seriously, and I am committed to doing something about this. We have a review under way. We will fly this bloke up from Tasmania. He is going to have a good look at this intersection’.
No, sorry, I have digressed. This was a Country Liberal Chief Minister. What he said was: ‘Well, that is a damn shame. Is that your final response because we have to have the flyover built?’ They said: ‘Yes, that is it’. And he said: ‘Well, that is a shame. Could you blokes sign these couple of bits of paper?’ ‘What are they, Chief Minister?’ He said: ‘Well they are your resignations. You see, I need a couple of blokes who can build a flyover’. They shifted their thinking. He accepted the responsibility, he was in charge and, blow me down, those two blokes went away and worked out how they could do it. They received leadership from the executive arm - the Chief Minister in this case - and the flyover is there today. That is the shift. That is the dynamic that needs to occur.
We talk about crime. The answer to crime is? A political response: more police. What about a policy fix that produces a goal that we are going to have an improvement in safety levels? Not just numbers of police because, ultimately, that does not produce the solution. The solution sought is safety in the streets, safety in the park, and a policy we can actually measure, and the number of arrests. Mitchell Street: you actually have a policy fix.
Madam Speaker, I propose this Territory government digs deep and we have a greater improvement than some organisational change in this Chamber. The community demands - in fact, requires - a significant change in the way government operates for them to be satisfied that change has, in fact, occurred.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I speak to quite an extraordinary matter of public importance placed before us here this evening. The Opposition Leader said a lot and, in another way, did not say very much at all. I am not going to say everything government does is perfect, every policy we have is perfect, and the implementation of every policy is perfect. Not at all. We can always do better, and we must always strive to do better. In regard to some of the issues the Opposition Leader raised, I will certainly attempt to put some of them to bed.
The opposition has two roles in the Westminster system: first, to keep the government to account - which is an important role - and, second, to provide an alternative government. The opposition has a role here in keeping us to account, and talks a lot about spin. That seems to be the new language for this term of parliament. However, we have just heard a statement by the Leader of the Opposition that there is no substance to government policy, we are not setting targets and, basically, the whole thing is a bit of drift and is being run by some evil spin machine.
Well, let us look at where the CLP are at the moment, in the substance of what stands for CLP policy. We have the CLP running television ads at the moment with the Leader of the Opposition talking about how terrible the government is. I saw one of those ads last night for the first time, and there was a website listed: terrysactiontimetable.com.au. I jumped onto the computer at home. This is a new website and I wondered what was on this website. In there, he was going to outline his vision for the future. So, I logged on, opened the first page, and there are 33 dot points under various headings: Law and Order, Education, Health, Housing, Government Accountability, Business and Indigenous. I thought: ‘Well okay, good luck, this is pretty good. Let us just see what the substance is around these great policy offerings the Leader of the Opposition is taking to the election’.
As I said in the House in the no confidence motion the other day, lots of rhetoric, lots of convoluted conspiracy theories, much dripping vitriol, but nothing of the opposition’s alternative vision for the Territory. We have 33 dot points under various headings and I will go through some of the dot points: reduce waiting times in hospitals - we would all love to do that, that is pretty good; fast-tracking land release - everybody is up for that; reform estimates - fair enough, we will look at how we do that; and plan now for the future. I thought under each of these dot points there might be a policy - there might actually be a plan as to how we are going to reduce possible waiting lists. You click on these dot points and guess what you get? Nothing! Nothing, just a statement: ‘We are going to reduce hospital waiting lists’. How? Where is the plan? Where are the targets? Where is the costing? Nothing - absolutely nothing. No targets, no time lines, no plans, no substance, just a dot point to say: ‘Trust me, if I was Chief Minister I would reduce waiting times in our hospitals’. No plan, no time line, no budget, no mapping – diddlysquat, nothing at all.
So, to say: ‘The government is terrible and the Territory is going to rack and ruin. I can provide a vision, I can provide an alternative’, you have a responsibility to do that. Nice pretty little website, spending lots of money on television ads but, when you scratch - you do not even have to dig; you just have to scratch - and nothing is there. Nothing but motherhood statements, and we know how complex these issues are.
Compare that to the commitments we made at the last election. First, we have our election commitments; second, we have ongoing strategies and plans such as our Jobs Plan, the Education Strategic Plan, our A Working Future policy to work with the Australian government on closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage, Territory 2030 that we are working on at the moment, and so on and so forth - specific commitments, real plans, real strategies, and budgets allocated to those. Are they perfect? Of course not. No plan, no policy, no implementation is ever perfect. However, at least they are there, you can see them, you can read them, and there are budgets allocated to those, as imperfect as they may be.
Each of the plans is fully funded. I have said that, for all the election commitments, I will report to the House every six months - no other government has done that before. Sixteen of the 94 commitments have been completed, a further 56 are under way, and all of those election commitments will be delivered by the next election. Included, obviously - if the Territory was such a terrible place – is the key issue for all of us of a strong economy and securing INPEX as a preferred development site for Darwin. They must have seen something about Darwin and the Northern Territory they liked. They must have seen something about a government that actually could deliver on its commitment, otherwise they would not be here ...
Mr Elferink: How happy were they when you dressed up the last election in their company’s name?
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, we have also – member for Port Darwin, you will get your say in a moment. We have also provided free buses for seniors and carers; improved the Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme by reducing motor vehicle registration costs and making driver’s licences free; built a Police Beat in Casuarina and Alice Springs with one to be finalised in Palmerston by Christmas; increased the Back to School payments; boosted ethnic facility grants; provided new bus services to Bayview, Cullen Bay and the Waterfront Precinct; released land at Bellamack, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Alice Springs, with land release in Johnston, Zuccoli, and Mitchell, and Nhulunbuy being prepared; protected the Daly River; and more under way. We also put together a comprehensive package tackling law and order.
The Leader of the Opposition made what I thought was a pretty absurd statement; that by having more police out there, you are not actually going to reduce crime. Let me point out to the Leader of the Opposition, if you really wanted to look at spin over substance, then you do not have to look much further back than the appalling neglect of the police force in the last Country Liberal Party term. Talking about spin over substance, the wonderful and much discredited mandatory sentencing legislation, where we had the previous Chief Minister, one Shane Leslie Stone, deciding that: ‘We have a problem with the budget. We do not have enough police officers out there to actually catch anybody committing a crime at all. So, what shall we do? We will pass legislation here that looks really tough that, if you commit a property offence, you will go to gaol’. Lo and behold, what happened? Huge public outcry, and the amount of property crime through the roof, particularly the northern suburbs of Darwin. How many people actually apprehended and went to gaol? Answer: very few, because there were not enough police officers out there to investigate crime scenes and bring people before the courts to secure a conviction.
As well as repeal what was pretty abhorrent legislation, we recruited. We had Jim O’Sullivan come in, recruited an extra 250 police officers and - lo and behold! - property crime has halved. Property crime has halved because you have dedicated police out there who can tackle recidivist offenders, and stay on their case. Tragically - and it is tragic - the prison population is higher now. It is tragic; it is not a sign of success at all. However, property crime has halved because there are extra police out there. To run some line that extra police does not equate to reduction in crime is a bit spurious.
Over the last two years, we have also changed legislation to give courts tougher sentencing options, particularly around violence issues; provided more tools to police to get their job done, through more police officers, better equipment, and the Police Beat program; established the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan that is tackling both crime and antisocial behaviour - and I commend members opposite who participated in that; provided greater coordination and more facilities for Palmerston as part of the Youth Action Plan being developed for that community; introduced three youth camps with a focus on tackling the underlining causes of crime - I certainly agree we can do more in that space; established new mechanisms to deal with antisocial behaviour; lifted the emergency housing and short-term housing effort to provide places for people to stay; and put in place clear alcohol restrictions aimed at reducing the harm caused by alcohol abuse. Of course, it is not perfect, of course, there is more to do, but it is a multifaceted policy approach. We are currently working on rolling out more police in the Police Beat program, and implementing our CCTV promises.
In the area of health, the government has clear and definite plans in place around several key areas. Work is under way on delivering the Super Clinic at Palmerston and I think, already, over 6000 people have attended that after-hours clinic since it was put in place. Significant work is being done on our hospitals, developing and growing them to reflect community needs in each region. The program we established in 2001 to bring more specialist services is well under way, with oncology being the latest facility being put into place. Work is being done on reducing waiting lists in our main hospitals. We now have over 600 more nurses and 179 additional doctors in our system - all part of our ongoing commitment to bring greater medical services to the Territory. Is it perfect? No, Madam Speaker, no health service is perfect. Ours is very busy but, certainly, there are far more specialist services in the Northern Territory now than there were seven or eight years ago.
Today we have been talking about the Education and Training Strategic Plan. I do not intend to go over that again, but the funding is there, the plan is there, and I am very keen to deliver on the strategic plan.
We have established an exciting policy framework in Indigenous affairs, and that has been contentious. It is always going to be a contentious area of policy, so great is the disadvantage. Many people have different policy approaches to that, but I can say, working with the Australian government, significant inroads are being made.
Our local government reform saw the reduction of 73 councils, many of them completely dysfunctional, down to eight shires in remote regions. Yes, there are problems bedding those shires down; it is still happening. However, it was major policy reform that escaped - and I am not being critical here, because it was very contentious and difficult – previous CLP administrations. We brought it in. Did it cause some pain? Yes, it did, but we had the courage to undertake the reforms.
In May this year, the government announced the establishment of A Working Future, a comprehensive Indigenous policy aimed at developing 20 growth towns across the Territory. The policy has now been accepted right across the public sector, with clear reporting mechanisms being put in place that will allow us to watch both the progress and activity in each of those towns and warn us when things are moving slowly.
A Working Future has received widespread praise from the federal government, and state and Territory colleagues at COAG, Infrastructure Australia Group and other policy makers. Are there critics out there? Of course, there are; it is major policy reform. It is major policy reform that no other government has actually had the courage to tackle. We tackled it. We are going to implement the policy. Are there going to be problems along the way? Yes, there will. Is it going to be contentious? Yes, it will, but we have the courage to implement those reforms, and we are committed to those reforms.
Let me turn to housing. I have accepted the issue of housing could have been handled better, particularly in our second term. We have corrected this now. We are moving fast to deliver more land, more housing, and more public housing. I agree with the member for Nelson, and everybody in this House, the issue of affordability is a very concerning issue. There are no silver bullets to this, there is no magic wand in the policy reform to this, and we are looking at all sorts of different approaches …
Mr Westra van Holthe: It is your failure to plan that has brought it on.
Mr HENDERSON: … to address the affordability issues.
I pick up on the interjection of the member for Katherine. It is not just a straight supply and demand issue. Land is a part of it, but it is not the only part of it. It is an area where I accept, in our second term, we were not as quick off the mark as we should have been. However, those plans are in place now. What we have is a 20-year land release program across the Territory, an accelerated land release program containing new approaches, including longer-term planning for headworks, parallel processing of approvals and design, auction of subdivisions with design and development approvals in place, and lots available off the plan.
We are also helping Territorians get into their first home. We are expanding the role of the Land Development Corporation to residential and affordable housing. We are looking to grow the rental market by appointing and working with a new affordable housing rental company to be established to provide quality and affordable rental to medium- and low-income earners. To introduce to the marketplace an affordable housing rental company, basically in the not-for-profit sector, shows the appetite for reform of my government, something that has never been attempted in the Northern Territory before. The first major redevelopment of housing stock will be the 200 units at Parap Gateway. The redevelopment will be a mixture of public housing and private units for low- to middle-income earners.
New public housing is an issue the member for Nelson wants us to progress, and we will. We are conducting a wide-ranging review into public housing. The review will include the type of housing provided, the option for non-government public housing management - another major reform which has not been attempted before; and, expanding the private sector’s role in social and needs-based housing.
We are going to be implementing transitional housing, offered to clients to prepare them for living in an urban centre. With an ageing population, there will be greater focus on seniors housing. A new seniors village has been announced at Bellamack, and as part of the redevelopment of the Parap Gateway units. More short-term accommodation will also be a focus, and SIHIP, which is being rolled out with the Australian government, is significant.
I absolutely refute what the Leader of the Opposition said today; there are no plans, there are no targets, and there are no budgets to any of these things. I accept everything could always be done better; that is what debate in this House is all about. The proposal and the commitment by me to introduce the Territory Council of Cooperation to the parliament is an opportunity for opposition members of this House to bring their ideas to the table through the council, particularly in the major areas of public policy. Let us look at how we can do things better. I am not closed to new ideas, and do not pretend that I, or my government, have all the answers. However, to come in here and say the ship of state is totally rudderless and there are no plans for anything, or no targets for anything, is palpably wrong.
In regard to the national partnership agreements that have been signed up to with the Commonwealth government - whether it is in health, education, or closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage, on improving remote service delivery across the Northern Territory - all of these agreements have very clear and specified targets for the Territory government to meet in regard to commitment for Commonwealth funding, and very clear reporting arrangements.
In the spirit of openness and transparency, I can offer to the Leader of the Opposition briefings on those national partnership agreements. Along with the agreements are very clear and signed off public implementation plans regarding how those agreements are to be implemented across the Northern Territory. I commend our hard-working public servants who have done an extraordinary job. We are a small jurisdiction with a small public service. Having to deliver on national partnership agreements and implementation plans, in the same way massive governments like New South Wales and Victoria do, they have done a commendable body of work. All of those national partnership arrangements have clear targets, clear implementation plans, and clear transparency arrangements around them.
I do not agree in any way, shape, or form with the assertions made by the Leader of the Opposition in this matter of public importance debate. He spoke for 20 minutes in an obtuse manner regarding a range of issues. I have done my best to deal with those tonight. I say to the Leader of the Opposition, it would be great if you practised what you preach, because …
Mr Mills: You had better read the website.
Mr HENDERSON: … when I go to the website, terrysactiontimetable.com …
Mr Mills: Read it.
Mr HENDERSON: … statements about reducing waiting times in hospitals, for example. We all want to do that. There is nothing on that website about how you are going to do it. May the debate continue.
Madam SPEAKER: Before I call the next member, I have received a document relating to pairs. The member for Casuarina is paired with the member for Araluen from 6 pm tonight until the rising of the Assembly. It is signed by the government Whip and the opposition Whip. I now table the document.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I support the Leader of the Opposition in this matter of public importance because I believe it is important to raise the failures of this arrogant and tired government.
I point out that we have just had a big statement on education. If the Chief Minister would like to read the website that he has talked about, terrysactiontimetable.com.au, it says:
I am sure the Chief Minister may have overlooked that bit.
Today, I will talk about Friday’s deal that was presented to this parliament, some of the failures to deliver, and the important need for reform. First, I start by talking about the agreement presented in parliament last week. We have an agreement with the member for Nelson, which is not an underlying philosophy of government, a policy agenda, or a serious action plan for reform. All we have is a token effort to look at parliamentary issues. I am sorry to say to the member for Nelson, it is just a token effort. The reason I say this it is because it does nothing to address the underlying fundamental issues that have infested this government.
One fundamental problem that has infested this government and its departments is the lack of leadership, lack of capacity, and lack of vision for the whole of the Territory. How is it the Health Minister is not made aware of the fundamental problems with his department? This is not a one-off; it is a recurring action. What happened to address the inaction of departments needed to take on the delivery of projects? Where are the timetables for action? Where are the uncompromising lines of directions from ministers that set out not only a clear policy objective, but also a clear timetable for action? Why is it every Cabinet meeting stops being a Budget Cabinet because departments are rewarded by giving them more and more every Cabinet meeting, rather than helped to budget and made to prepare budgets to endure the full year?
Now we have a shopping list of items brought forward by the member for Nelson and, I might add, a shopping list with some very significant items, not only geographically but, also, in areas of real need. We have a shopping list that would appear to be only what he could dream up on the day. We have a new Berrimah Line of deprivation; it is called the northern suburbs. The development of life blood is diverted and drained for one man’s political survival. The northern suburbs also now fail to exist since Henderson sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver. I fear, member for Nelson, you have allowed yourself to be sold a pup. You have allowed yourself to be compromised by something that does not represent a real solution to bring change. You signed up for tokenism and, very shortly, you will see how rotten this government is. On this side, along with Territorians everywhere, we can only hope when you see how bad this government is you have the courage to do the right thing and not continue to offer them lifelines.
Looking at the substantive issues and not getting things done, let us look at the Mereenie Loop Road in Central Australia. Look at the promises you got on that task. Where is the timetable for action? The timetable has already been broken. Where is a definitive statement from those opposite that the member for Nelson has given support to? Where are those time lines? Let us look at the time lines for a number of other areas: land release in Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, and Palmerston. We can make all these statements but nothing happens. Tiger Brennan Drive has been carrying on for years and years. The oncology unit is still not built. The port upgrade is being delayed, revote after revote. There is nothing in the way of alcohol rehabilitation reform, birthing services to Tennant Creek, or reduction in crime in Alice Springs. What happened to the police shopfront in Larapinta? Why do you not copy our policy on that? I am now told the police squad for February 2010 will be cancelled due to fiscal incompetence. I compare that to my points before about the Budget Cabinet.
Let us look at the rate of revoted works to assess how poorly the upgrade is continuing by this government. The difference is the Country Liberals are about action. We are about reform, setting targets, detailing the pathway to achieve such targets, and a time line for such action. What do we hear from this tired and arrogant Labor government? Where are the cost savings going to come from to meet the promises to the member for Nelson? We all know the Territory government has used the rivers of gold from the GST and are now struggling to make ends meet. What will be cut to meet the promises made to the member for Nelson? Or will there be just more debt loaded onto the Territory population - $26 000 for every man, woman, and child in the Northern Territory before we even started this financial year? All these projects will end up with yet another delay. Will these projects get another promise, with an excuse as to why they are delayed, another glossy brochure? What is the time line for these promises? Where is the action plan? We all know this government and its slogan: no ideas, no results.
Let us look again at the issue of education. We know there is a sincere lack of educational outcomes in Indigenous communities. We know the standards have been lowered rather than lifted to try to make this tired, arrogant, lazy government look like they have achieved. We know the NAPLAN results are going to be shocking. So, knowing all these things, where are the time frames for this change? What is actually going to make this change? Where is the government’s one-week, one-month, 100-days, one-term, one-year time line for change? What are the tools teachers need? When will we see the tutors in classrooms being supported? When we will see support for languages, librarians, physical education, and integrated training? We do not see it because this government does not have a time line, and does not have the leadership to direct what the policy agenda to specific outcomes are. Maybe there needed to be a leadership change on the other side.
We are here to see things get done. The adoption of mediocrity and political spin has become the solution, not an outcome of expectations for a specific time line.
What about health? Our hospitals are not funded on the basis of outcomes; they are funded on the basis of block funding; that is, we just keep funding year after year no matter the outcomes. This is tragic, as it does not see, nor promote, an attainment of efficiency within these departments. We have tucked in the corner areas of these department’s spin doctors and minister’s servants who add nothing to the outcomes for a different Territory but suck up resources. The spin must be cut; the glossy brochures must be wiped out.
When the Leader of the Opposition announced a process to get a funding model and a specific time frame to get that in place, what did those opposite do? They scoffed. This is not surprising because those opposite shut down the work that had been undertaken towards developing a funding model appropriate to the Territory as soon as they walked into this parliament to govern. What we need is real change to the operations of the government; a real change that gets into place a policy timetable that sees outcomes being put ahead of spin; a real change that invests in reforms and will see real change in an application of a culture shift to get things done - and doing so on time and on budget, delivering for Territorians.
The fact is the Henderson government has had eight years and cannot show what it has for it. Let us have a look: lower health outcomes; poor literacy standards; increased violent crime; higher house prices; higher grocery prices; and $26 000 debt for every man, woman and child in the Northern Territory. The Henderson government has had eight years to make a difference. He has had his go; his time is up.
What is needed is not another committee to add further process, potentially adding further delays, more costs, and more administration. We will have to wait and see what the actual structure of the committee is. We will have to see how open and accountable this committee is. We will have to see what powers this committee has. However, with this, we still do not have the commitment needed to reform the Territory government and the Territory Public Service so there is a clear focus on outcomes, and meeting budgets and time frames.
Madam Speaker, in summing up, I have said this government is not reformist. With the deal with the member for Nelson, we are rewarding a tired and arrogant government - a government with deep Cabinet divide, that has had a deal done to resurrect a struggling minister, a Chief Minister who has and continues to fail for Territorians. I can say the deal is not on. The need for renewal and good governance is now; we need to reform. Henderson has had his chance and failed to deliver results …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, I remind you that when you refer to a member, you refer to them by their title or their electorate.
Mr GILES: Sorry, Madam Speaker, I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr GILES: The Chief Minister has had his chance and has failed to deliver results. He has delivered only endless plans and rhetoric. He has held on to power for power’s sake, and not to deliver the services and outcomes the Territory and Territorians desperately need.
Over the coming weeks and months, as the Leader of the Opposition outlined before, the Country Liberals will release details of action plans outlining a series of policies designed to deliver real results and better outcomes for Territorians: Law and order: setting targets to reduce the level of violent assaults in the Territory; reducing the number of drunks on our streets; stopping the revolving doors of the Northern Territory Correctional system; stopping prisons being a holiday home; putting more police on the street; reducing the numbers of senior police officers who leave the police force; and getting repeat drink-drivers off the road. These are not just glossy statements; these will be fired up with action plans and time lines for getting things done. Territorians will know exactly what we are going to do and when we are going to do it.
In education, we will set real targets to improve literacy and numeracy of Territory children, not just lowering the standards we hope to achieve; identify ways of addressing behavioural problems in children before they get out of hand and become problems in our schools; and give teachers the support they need to deal with violent and destructive behaviour in their classrooms. These will all have action plans and time lines.
In health, we will reduce bed block in Territory hospitals and reduce the occupancy levels in Royal Darwin Hospital and Alice Springs to manageable levels, which I am sure my colleague, the member for Greatorex, will appreciate. We will be implementing measures to deliver elective surgery within recommended time frames; reducing waiting times in the Territory’s emergency departments; and, improving working conditions for Territory nurses to reduce attrition rates - something they all deserve.
All our policies we will introduce in time will be followed up by a firm commitment, action plan, and a time line that will set forth what we are going to do and when we will do it. We will hold ourselves accountable to Territorians.
In housing, we will fast-track land release, and I appreciate the Chief Minister has said he has not been completely successful - or words to that effect - over the last four years in land release. However, it is just not good enough; we are the most expensive place in the Territory to live. Housing prices are beyond reach for ordinary Territorians. We need action, and we need action now. We cannot let the Chief Minister stand in parliament and say he is going to take action. We cannot have the Housing Minister stand here and say he is going to take action, or Planning minister. It needs to happen, we need a time line, we need a commitment, we need results. That is what Territorians expect of us as politicians.
We will fast-track the building of Indigenous housing under SIHIP - something I am sure is completely an irrelevant statement to members opposite. We will reduce the level of destruction and vandalism to public housing. These are our assets, they are for all the community, and they should not be destroyed.
In government accountability, we will reform the Estimates Committee to improve accountability, and cut down on waste and inefficiencies throughout government. We will ensure government watchdogs have the resources to do their jobs, and that we improve the function of parliament. This is not rhetoric, this is not spin; this is part of our plan for the future. Territorians can rest assured we have a plan for the future, and we will be releasing all our details and our time lines in due course. In business, we will cut red tape for business and improve the procurement process. In Indigenous affairs, we will end the duplication and waste in programs for Indigenous advancement between all levels of government. We will make sure things hit the ground. We will deliver real solutions to bring economic development to Indigenous communities, something this government fails to understand or deliver completely - federally and on the Territory basis.
The Country Liberals will be presenting detailed action plans. This is what we aim to achieve; this is what we will achieve. We will put money and resources to it, and we will tell Territorians when we are going to achieve, and how we are going to achieve it. They will hold us to account, and we will deliver - not this spin machine we have now that does not deliver.
In summing up, we have seen good members of parliament on the other side come and go, previous ministers such as the previous member for Barkly, Elliot McAdam. These are the people who stood with principles and set forth those agendas. It is a pity we do not have a government full of Elliot McAdams any more. These people are bored; now is the time for the Country Liberals to stand up and take charge. All the good people have jumped off the sinking ship. It still has a captain at the helm being led along. However, this government is taking the approach, the former Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, was taking: ‘Give us a go, I have not had long enough, give us a go’.
Well, the fact is, this government has been here for eight long years in power. They have failed to deliver. Everything is falling around at their heels. Their members are jumping off sinking ships. We have no more Elliot McAdams.
Madam Speaker, I commend this matter of public importance to the House. I thank the Leader of the Opposition for bringing it on. Territorians can rest assured we do have an action for the future. We will release our detailed policies in the short term, and people will know exactly where we stand.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I have to say, the matter of public importance brought on by the Leader of the Opposition is really just a paragraph of spin. They are using their key messages: failure; fix the problems; implement timetables. That timetable for action is their latest bit of spin they are now spinning out …
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: You can see it on their website, you will hear it in their ads. Timetable for action is the latest spin tumbling out of the Country Liberal Party. Some of us have been around the Territory long enough to recognise CLP spin when we see it, when we hear it, and, indeed, when we read it. Talk about spin! Timetable for action is their latest bit of spin coming out, and they are going to get things done ...
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: Spin! What we saw instead was a whole lot of dummy spitting - member after member on Friday spitting the dummy - after the Independent member for Nelson announced he had struck an agreement with the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory to provide stable government for the people of the Northern Territory. They did their member-by-member dummy spit about that on Friday during the want of confidence debate. The best they can do is come in with a little spin for a matter of public importance. It is not a matter of public importance to deal with SIHIP. It is not a matter of public importance to deal with the broader issue of housing across the Territory, urban, regional and remote housing.
It is a little ‘timetable for action’ spin coming from the Leader of the Opposition. It is very clear they are back into the land of being rattled and deflated as a result of their pathetic attempts last week to undermine the stability of government in the Territory. They do not really care about delivering for Territorians. They just care about CLP attempts at grabs for power. When their little plan went awry because they made some arrogant assumptions of the views of an Independent member of this parliament, they all started to be very rattled.
It has been interesting. As you move around the community, consistently coming from the non-government sector, as well as the business sector, is a very diverse and broad spectrum of feedback. In the last couple of weeks, there was much concern about what was going to happen in Territory politics. One consistent message coming from a diverse range of people some of whom are, no doubt, card-carrying members of the CLP, was: ‘You have to stay in government; you are a good government …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! The Treasurer has the call.
Ms LAWRIE: They do not like to hear it. They do not like to hear it: ‘You are a good government. You have the experience, you understand what is needed to keep the Territory strong in these tough economic times’.
Look around us. We have seen jobs generated, we have seen greater funding flowing into the Territory from the Commonwealth than ever before - record levels of funding, which they like to call a windfall. What that means is we have gone down, fought the hard fight and got our fair share of funding from the Commonwealth. I will go to that bizarre anecdote - in talking about funding and the different style of government - from the Leader of the Opposition about flyovers a bit later.
In stark contrast to the rabble over there, who are busy reworking the numbers as to who is going to challenge the Leader of the Opposition now that it is on …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr Burns: And the deputy leader.
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, I reckon two are going up.
Mr Elferink: But you are wrong. I am not after his job, I am after hers.
Ms LAWRIE: Two are going at one - there is our tip.
It is very clear this government actually has a broad range of clear, articulated policies. Initiatives are being implemented right across the Territory. Many of these initiatives were outlined by ministers in last week’s debate. We recognise some of these initiatives are about rapid change; other initiatives are about generational change. We know you can do both. We know you actually can chew gum and walk at the same time. You can make dramatic rapid change, but you also have to bed in your fundamentals for generational change if you are truly to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage in the Territory.
We went to the public a year ago with a very clearly articulated range of policies, and the funding to back up those policies, and those election commitments are being progressed. We are the first government, one year into a four-year term, under the Chief Minister, to come in here and report to the parliament on the timetable for the election commitments, and on the delivery of the commitments - the first government to do this. The last time election commitments were provided to parliament was the June sittings. That document alone completely refutes any suggestion there is not a comprehensive series of plans being implemented. We have 94 election commitments. That is this government’s contract with the electors of the Northern Territory. We take that very seriously ...
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: They truly are a rabble; they cannot help themselves. Little wonder there is not a lot of faith in you lot over there ...
Mr Bohlin: There is no faith in you, I can tell you.
Ms LAWRIE: Well, bring it on.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms LAWRIE: The member for Drysdale, bring it on. What a Rhodes Scholar you have turned out to be, huh? What a Rhodes Scholar.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, 56 of our election commitments are under way, as tabled in the report to parliament in June. In just one year, 16 are already complete outcomes ...
Mr Tollner: Name them. Name the 16 that are completed.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: Cannot help themselves. Outside these commitments, significant initiatives have been put in place in just the last 12 months - critically important initiatives such as Territory 2030, a vision and a plan for where the Territory will go through to 2030. What is important about Territory 2030 is it actually is conclusive. A group of very significant Territorians, as well as some from interstate, have consulted with the people of the Territory. We are not just sitting back at our desks writing out all the things that should occur; we are genuinely listening to the Territory community regarding the 2030 vision.
Housing the Territory shows a comprehensive policy body of work - the most significant change. If you listen to the non-government organisations working in the sector, they have never seen anything like it. They have never seen such a dramatic housing policy reform introduced in the history of the Territory - the Housing the Territory strategy. A Working Future provides …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: This is how they operate. If they do not like what you are saying, they shout over you …
Ms Carney: We never like what you are saying – never, not once.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: Absolute arrogance. We listened to the contributions of the members opposite in an MPI, but they cannot help themselves …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members! Deputy Chief Minister, resume your seat momentarily. I remind you of Standing Order 51:
Deputy Chief Minister, you have the call.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. A Working Future is the most comprehensive policy reform in delivering services to regional and remote Territorians, turning communities into townships, making the tough decisions around the 20 towns that will be created out of A Working Future in the hub-and-spoke model of ensuring those towns service the communities surrounding them. No government in the history of the Territory has had the strength and the determination to significantly change and improve the lives of Indigenous Territorians as we have. A Working Future, as we have seen through public debate around the Territory, is highly contentious. As we heard from our Chief Minister, this government stands firm and committed to delivering improved outcomes for Indigenous Territorians, which is why we are committed to delivering on A Working Future. All this, in just 12 months since the last election.
However, what have we also seen since the last election? We have seen the global financial crisis. What have we done? The government has put in place comprehensive plans. We made the tough decisions to deal with the global financial crisis as best we could. What are the results we are seeing? We are seeing the best economic results of any jurisdiction in Australia. Not only are we riding through the global financial crisis, we are seeing growth and strength through the Territory economy.
We recognise we are not out of the woods yet, which is why we are so committed to the $1.3bn infrastructure investment that is about building schools, building roads, and building the community infrastructure required. Sitting in there is $108m for the actual infrastructure, the headworks that open up the new suburbs for the new housing, particularly in those Palmerston East suburbs.
One of the great strengths of the Henderson government is our ability - our proven ability - to work well with the federal Labor government. In the context of the Territory, if you understand anything about our funding arrangements and our economic realities, you need to be able to deliver with a strong, positive working relationship with the federal government of the day. I will go to that bizarre anecdote from the Leader of the Opposition on the Bagot Road flyover. He talked about Paul Everingham, the then Chief Minister of the Territory, and how he recognised the bottleneck of traffic occurring on Bagot Road and the Stuart Highway, and decided a flyover was very much needed. Some of us in the Chamber were around in those days and remember the situation.
The anecdote of how the CLP operates, coming from the Leader of the Opposition, who said he pulled together an engineering expert and a budget expert to say: ‘This is what we need to do. How can we do it? Make it happen’. Cutting his anecdote short, they said: ‘Well, you cannot do it. We do not have the funding for that’. He said: ‘Well, sign this bit of paper’. ‘What is that?’ ‘Oh well, that is your resignation letter’. That is how a CLP government deals with the public service in delivering critical infrastructure. What do they do? They threaten to sack them ...
Mr Mills: Rubbish!
Ms LAWRIE: Some of us were in the Chamber listening to the bizarre anecdote ...
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: I will give a contemporary flyover advice to the Chamber on what happens in Tiger Brennan Drive. We had designs occur …
Mr Tollner: Oh, do not go there!
Ms LAWRIE: You will hear the flapping of the gums from the former member for Solomon: ‘All of a sudden, it is $80m more for Tiger Brennan Drive because it is a few years late based on the 2003 figures versus the $110m program we are delivering’. What are the cost changes inherent in that program? What are the significant cost changes inherent in that program? What we have in that program is a flyover. Lo and behold! …
Dr Burns: Grade separation.
Ms LAWRIE: Grade separation is called a flyover. I can advise that when I became the Minister for Infrastructure, the department, at the time, provided me the advice which, essentially, went along the lines of: ‘Minister, there is only $13.7m in funding commitment from the Commonwealth, $30.7m in funding commitment from the Territory government. There is not enough in 2006 rates to deliver that project. Our advice would be to put that money against the different road projects because you will not get it’. I said to them: ‘What we need is not the single lane that 2003 was scoped and costed on - not the single lane highway. We need a dual lane and, going on the advice of the former Roads minister, which was very sound advice, we need a grade separation. We needed the flyover at the end, at Stuart Highway as well’. We also needed an overpass for the existing rail line heading across the port on Berrimah Road. We also, obviously, needed to improve what we call Stage 1 of Tiger Brennan Drive, which is the dual turning lanes - Wishart Road, Berrimah Road down into Tiger Brennan Drive as it exists.
Let us just have a look at what happened. I was presented with the wanted result: flyover, dual line Tiger Brennan Drive, as well as pedestrian and cycling access, as well as the overpass at the rail line crossing at Berrimah, as well as dual lane turning Wishart, Berrimah Road into Tiger Brennan Drive. However, I only had $13.7m. So, if you like, the bureaucratic answer was, ‘Well, the funding is just not there’. I said: to the engineers: ‘Go away and scope and design the project as I have just described it to you’. To the financial people, I said: ‘Leave it to me, that is my job; I get the funding’. What happened? We have the funding. We have the $110m project signed up, tenders out the door, under construction. We have had Berrimah Stage 1 completed, we are in Stage 2 now. We will have, at the last count, the overpass …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I was sitting here listening to the Treasurer waffle on talking nonsense - absolute errant nonsense. She seems to think nobody knows what went on in relation to Tiger Brennan Drive ...
Ms Lawrie: $38m, fully federally funded.
Mr TOLLNER: She knows there is at least one person in this place who was involved with the discussions at the time. What the minister has not informed this parliament is that the minister never had any plans - never had any plans. As late as 2007, she was trotting off down to Canberra, whingeing and bitching about ‘The Commonwealth is not putting up any money’. She went to see Mark Vaile, they had a little meeting together. A number of people were there, member for Karama. The federal Transport minister at the time, Mr Vaile, said to you: ‘Well, we are more than happy to pay our half, just show us the plans’. Did you have plans? No, you did not. You never had plans.
The fact was a flyover was always incorporated in it. Everybody knows that. All of a sudden now, she waltzes into this place, tries to change history, guild the lily that they have done some great job, when the reality is they sat on their hands for goodness knows how long and did absolutely nothing. What is more, I will tell you something else. Not only did they fail to do that, but they tried to take money out of that project and have it reallocated onto the Victoria Highway, because they stuffed up and did not have the money to do the job on the Victoria Highway. That is what happened.
I sit here and listen to this errant nonsense the member for Karama trots out. That is what this whole MPI is about; the fact that the Henderson Labor government has failed. They have failed. They have failed to fix the problems confronting Territorians, and implement a timetable for action to get things done across the Territory.
It is great to see my good mate here, the member for Daly, talk about timetables to get things done in the Territory. The member for Karama jumped up a little while ago and said, ‘Oh, nobody in this debate has mentioned SIHIP’. Well, I might mention SIHIP seeing nobody else has. Actually, I was sitting in the lobby a little while ago, just tuning into the ABC news. They had a story about a review on the Victorian bushfires, and how the Victorian government was looking into determining how things could be improved if there were bushfires in the future, and what they might have done wrong last time. Of course, the Victorian bushfires could be classed as an emergency. In actual fact, they were classed as an emergency. The whole of Australia recognised the Victorian bushfires were an emergency. We had firefighters from the Northern Territory go there. There were a number of firefighters from the Northern Territory go down. There was also a range of people from across the community who went to Victoria to fight the bushfires and to assist in the evacuation of people, because people recognised it was an emergency.
In 2007, we had our own emergency up here. It was a national emergency. The federal government responded, calling it a national emergency, and implemented the Northern Territory Intervention as part of that emergency response. It was seen as an emergency. It was seen as an emergency because some terrible things were happening in remote communities across the Northern Territory - absolute national emergency. This is where the evolution of SIHIP came about. The Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program was to build emergency accommodation.
Backtracking to the Victorian bushfires, I am just wondering whether we sent in the consultants to the bushfires. When the houses were burning, and there was fire everywhere and rotten dead logs and embers falling all over houses and that sort of stuff, was our response to that bushfire to say: ‘Gee whiz, we had better get some consultants in there. Let us consult with these people and see what they want to do’. I do not know, but that seems to be how the Northern Territory government responds to an emergency. They say: ‘Well hang on. Oh, just hold back, we have to consult. We have to consult’.
The other thing is, when they evacuated people out of the houses in Victoria, and all of those emergency workers came on board and were getting paid, I wonder if they put in parameters saying, ‘Oh, well, we really want Indigenous people to do the evacuations; to construct the emergency accommodation’. I do not know. In Victoria, they probably do not find that many Indigenous people. I bet London to a brick, as sure as God made little apples, they did not have a component in their emergency response requiring business and organisations to employ Indigenous people. I tell you why they did not: because they recognised it was an emergency.
Here we are in the Northern Territory, with an emergency on our hands, and we find every single reason under the sun not to react to it. Or at least the Northern Territory Labor government does - the same mob who get steamed up and pontificate how much they love Indigenous people and Indigenous culture, but refuse to do anything about it. It is absolutely disgusting ...
Mr Elferink: Take them to the High Court all the time.
Mr TOLLNER: Absolutely disgusting. The member for Port Darwin has a good point: take them to the High Court. Berate the Country Liberals for 27 years saying they opposed every land rights claim, and what has Labor done? Exactly the same thing. They seem to gloss over that. Talk about closing the gap. What a load of arrant nonsense! What have you done on any Aboriginal community? Nothing. Things are worse now than they were 30 years ago - a hell of a lot worse. They are worse than they were eight years ago. We are not saying the Country Liberals got things right at all. What we are saying is you are the people who stand up and bang on all the time about how much you love Indigenous Territorians, how you are working so closely with them and, meanwhile, things only get worse - absolutely worse.
The Treasurer jumped up a minute ago, going on about a plan to turn communities into townships ...
Mr Elferink: They did that with Soweto, if memory serves.
Mr TOLLNER: I bet even in Soweto there is a little commercial activity happening ...
Mr Elferink: There is actually. It is very little.
Mr TOLLNER: A little commercial activity. My idea of a township is when you go to town. I used to live in the bush in another state in Australia, in a little tiny place called Baralaba. About 150 to 200 people lived in the town. We would go to the nearest town which had about 1500 people. I went to Rockhampton when I was 12 years old and could not believe the place. I was blown away. Rockhampton, at the time, had about 40 000 people. We had hit the big smoke as far as I was concerned. My idea of a town was you went to town, you could buy your groceries, buy a cup of coffee. They had a caf where you could buy a hamburger. You could get a haircut at the hairdressers. You could buy some shirts, maybe some pants. You could go to the service station. There was a bit of private activity, private enterprise happening; people owned houses.
You go to these places, what is there apart from government-owned houses, community-owned store, and community-owned council? Is there anything in any of these places the community does not own? Any semblance of private activity, of private enterprise or endeavour? Zero. It is not what I call a township ...
Mr Elferink: Well, it works for North Korea.
Mr TOLLNER: It may well work for North Korea. However, the socialists on the other side of this place cannot see the reality that we need to be encouraging private enterprise and commercial activity in these remote communities. They do everything in their power to resist it ...
A member: Love the permit system.
Mr TOLLNER: They want the permit system; they do not want people going out there. They try to shove the problems under the counter, under the carpet. It is absolutely terrible. Every single time you turn up here you hear more and more nonsense. We sat here at Question Time today and heard the question to the Treasurer on the Access Economics report. The Treasurer jumped up and went on - bang, bang - about how wonderful the Territory is, and ‘We are doing a great job because we have a 2.2% growth rate compared to the rest of Australia at 2%. We are doing a great job. Labor is doing it good’. The fact of the matter is you do not have much to compare yourself to. Every other state in Australia is also a mendicant state of Labor people addicted to debt. You are not actually competing against much.
The thing that really hurts is it is not the government that generates this growth; it is people out there - people outside of this place. It is the hard-working businessmen, the mums and dads who own the small businesses, the shops, the contractors, the people in construction, people in mining, and people who work. They are the ones who make this place great. They are the ones who do that; not a whole bunch of mendicant government people sitting in this place. The best thing government can do for business is get out of the way and do nothing.
The Treasurer said: ‘We have done a great job, we have ridden through the global financial crisis, but we are not out of the woods yet’. I have news for the Treasurer. We are not even in the woods yet. We have just stepped in there, dark all around, cannot see a damn thing. What we do know in the Northern Territory is we now have $6bn worth of debt. We did not have that before this Treasurer lobbed. We have a $200m budget deficit and we are staring down the barrel of a $26 000 debt for every man, woman and child in the Northern Territory. That is even before you add on Rudd debt - the master debt created in this country. Goodness me, I think they are talking a half a trillion dollars of federal debt; something like that. By the time Rudd is gone we will have 15% or 20% unemployment in this country. When all the largesse from your big borrowing mate in Canberra is gone, what then? What do Territorians do then? Talk about out of the woods - we are not even in them! Well, we are in them.
The member for Nelson is the great saviour, the surrogate Chief Minister. That must be really grinding on the member for Karama. That must irk her something chronic – absolutely irk her something chronic. She has been sitting there sharpening the knives, slowly, carefully, making sure they are all ready to go. Looks like old Hendo - somebody said they threw him a lifeline and he actually got a hangman’s noose around his neck - did not realise it. The member for Karama is there waiting to kick him out the chair - hang the poor old Chief Minister ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, that reflection on the Chief Minister is highly unparliamentarily. I ask you to withdraw.
Mr TOLLNER: Sorry, Madam Speaker. What aspect of it?
Madam SPEAKER: Implying that someone is being hung is very unparliamentarily. I would like you to tone down your comments, thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: All right, Madam Speaker. I do not want to offend your sensitive ears – not at all. People talk about stabbing people in the backs, pulling out knives - it happens all over this place. However, I will not talk about hanging, Madam Speaker, if it offends.
Madam SPEAKER: It does.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw those comments.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr Conlan: Dead man walking.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, someone did describe him as a dead man walking. The last time I was in here I was talking about him giving us the death stare. He looked like he was waiting for someone to drop pennies in his eyes; give him the last rites.
The fact is this is a moribund government. They are a bunch of mendicants. They have no plans; they have no direction. They are too busy squabbling amongst themselves. Fortunately, now they have the member for Nelson who is going to try to guide them through this. Quite frankly, I do not hold out much hope for that. I believe the member for Nelson has no idea what he is doing either.
Madam Speaker, this government is useless. They have no idea how to fix the problems confronting Territorians, and they have no timetable to get things done right across the Territory. They are a shambles …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim your time has expired.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I am compelled to say a few things in relation to some of what has been said on the other side of the House this evening. First, I will deal with a couple of things the member for Karama said; that we are over here spitting the dummy. I find that quite amazing, when you are actually raising issues. This document was signed not by the Labor Party, but the Chief Minister with the other surrogate Chief Minister, Gerry Wood. When you express concerns, if that is spitting the dummy, then I do not know what we are all doing here. I spoke last Friday about issues I thought were very important and relevant to people in the Territory - to me, my family, my kids, my grandkids, other Territorians, and my constituents. I thought I was not spitting the dummy, simply pointing out the deficiencies of the government, the trouble they are in, and the inaction and paralysis that besets them. If the member for Karama thinks that is spitting the dummy, well, maybe we were spitting the dummy about very relevant facts and issues facing Territorians at this point in history.
I add to a few comments the member for Karama made in relation to the Paul Everingham story told earlier by the Leader of the Opposition in relation to the Bagot Road overpass. The member for Karama then informed the House of the issue and said: ‘That is the way the CLP deals with public servants’. Well, I recall, in my 28 years in the Territory, listening to people on different occasions saying if you do any development, the Territory cannot afford it. We talk about the Yularas, the ports, the railways, sports venues – regarding all of those things, from my recollection, people said: ‘Oh no, we cannot afford that. We cannot afford it’. If you sat and listened to Treasury - my understanding of Treasury officials is, if you talk to them, the first thing they do is say they cannot afford it, because they do not like parting with their money.
If you want to get things done, there is an old saying that you have to spend money to make money. The government in the Territory has been required to leave economic activity for quite some years. I am assuming that, once we reach a critical mass and private industry takes over, the government will be there to help facilitate the advancement of the Territory. However, I still think we have a good role to play in that.
The member for Karama also spoke about the fantastic feedback she had from a broad sector of the community, business, etcetera. I think I got it right. They were quoted as saying: ‘You are a good government and you need to stay in there’. Well, I would love to know which businesses the member for Karama was talking to, because I sat at the markets on Sunday and I did not find one person there who reckons they are doing anywhere near a decent job. Mind you, I do not know whether Labor supporters were talking to me, but there were a few I know who are Labor supporters; they are actually friends of mine. I have had some very interesting debates with them over the years. They are still good friends but they just vote the other side. I believe they are slightly misguided. They are extremely concerned about what is going on, and they expressed their concern to me.
These are Labor voters - not just business people, but Labor voters - who said: ‘Gee, I am really disappointed in my side, because you work so hard for them. They go and do all this stuff and I am disappointed’. I better check with them first, to see whether they are happy to talk to you, because I am sure they would like to tell the other side of the House some of the things as well. Maybe we can swap names of the businesses that reckon you are doing a fabulous job. The majority of people I have spoken to at supermarkets on Saturday mornings and the markets on Sundays are all extremely concerned about the direction the Territory is going.
You might get figures on how great things are but just let us have a look at building activity, for instance. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the March quarter building activity data, showed a 28.4% decline. Seasonally adjusted, that is a fall of 13.6%. In the March quarter, the building work being done in the Territory was $152.1m compared to $212.3m in the December quarter. The same time last year, the total was $177m, but I am told we are going ahead in leaps and bounds - great; outperforming everyone. Well, that is a backward step, if I my mathematics is correct.
Meanwhile, we have $672m tied up in SIHIP, with not one house being built. We have some concrete poured, apparently, in Groote Eylandt and then everything stopped. So, we have a concrete slab. If you have a concrete slab, at least it will be an outdoor smoking area, because there is no roof and there are no walls and you cannot do anything in relation to smoking. There is another one - smoking definitions. We cannot even get a smoking definition out of the government. All it takes - and I think I gave them a tip last week - is just ring up or e-mail, because we have this fantastic stuff called technology now. You do not even have to send a carrier pigeon; you can actually send them an e-mail and say: ‘Can you please e-mail your smoking definition because we desperately need one’. We have people up here who want to spend millions and millions and millions of dollars and help put these figures back to, perhaps, where they were - and what do we have? We do not even have a smoking definition ...
Mr Conlan: They want to build outdoor smoking areas.
Mr STYLES: Absolutely! Perhaps another little tip for the people listening up on the fifth floor: ring someone interstate and ask them to send you a smoking definition so that people who are ringing me - and these are businesses - that say, you should still be in government. They are the ones who are coming to my office, or ringing me saying: ‘Peter, can you please get something done about this smoking definition? We have massive work to do and we now have …’ – I cannot think of the date, but it is about five months – ‘… to do it in’. The government on the other side of the House is going to expect all these people to have all this stuff done.
Members talked about housing and other things that are going on. On 14 July, the Housing Minister, Rob Knight, announced that first homeowners will have to pay up to $60 000 more than the government originally said to purchase renovated former public housing units. Then, if we look a bit further down, we find cancellations - cancellation of contracts after cancellation of contracts. There is one – 2081744, cancelled; Darwin, various Territory Housing flat complexes; provision of security services for a period of 12 months. These are not huge things, but this is just a list of some of the small problems: request for a provision of a Milikapiti family centre, safe house for 24 months, cancelled – no safe houses there; request for a proposal for provision of targeted family support services for a period of 12 months, cancelled. The list goes on, and on, and on.
The other day, I heard the police recruit training squad of February next year has been cancelled. Why? Insufficient funds, financial mismanagement. Today, I hear that the running costs for the oncology unit have been stripped of 50% of their operating costs. Another reason to question what the government is doing in relation to their fiscal strategy. We seem to be running out of money. Everywhere, you hear people are running out of money.
I will go on to a couple of things the Chief Minister said. He talked about housing. Well, all I have seen is this government has driven up the cost of housing. He made a statement and said: ‘Oh, it is not just the land component’. However, when you talk to young people out there who are trying to buy a house, they say the price of land is astronomical. You go out and try to buy a block of land; some of them are up around the $300 000 mark. They just look at their incomes - even their combined incomes - and the fact they have a couple of young kids, and they are precluded from the housing market. Then they go and try to rent. There is the other problem. An average three-bedroom home, I quoted the other day, is $550 a week. When you look at people on low incomes in working families - who I hear the Australian Labor Party trying to champion, saying, ‘We are for working families’ - well, where is the relief in $550 a week? We used to have 7000-something public housing dwellings, and now we have 5000-something or less in 2007.
I hope you are building some more; I hope you have some plans. We hear they have plans. It is a bit like SIHIP. ‘Yes, we will have all these houses by 2013’. By 2013, we are supposed to have all these houses. Well, we still do not have any yet. When the Chief Minister said: ‘Well, let us look at where the CLP are’. I have some news for him; we are not actually the government, we are the opposition. Apparently, we are an arrogant opposition as well. However, we are trying to hold the government to account. You people are the government; you are the ones who say you have the plans. The problem is you have to have plans that work. It is great to have a plan. We all have plans, but do they work, and are they delivering to Territorians? Well, I say you are not. You are not delivering for Territorians, you are not delivering for me, and you are not delivering for my kids either. They are struggling trying to make a living, trying to settle here. They want to stay here because this is where their roots are, this is where their family is and this is where they want to be. But, this government is making it increasingly harder for families to stay together, and I find that really obnoxious. People have to send their kids to Adelaide just so they can rent a house, and we lose these trained people.
I was recently talking to a journalist. We were talking about websites, and about how Terry’s new website is supposedly full of conspiracies and ‘dripping vitriol’, to quote the Chief Minister. Holding the government to account, I do not know whether that is dripping vitriol and conspiracy, or just asking questions to get some answers. It seems to be a bit hard to get answers out of this government. The journalist said to me the other day he went to the Country Liberals website and had a look at their policies and found what they were about. He went to the ALP website and - nothing. Try to find what their policy is. There are plenty of statements about what they are going to do, but try to find their policy. He said it was very difficult. A tip for those listening on the fifth floor: you might like to have a look at that.
Each plan is fully funded: I heard recently that all the CEOs of all the government departments were told: ‘Come in for a meeting and we are going to tell you what is going on’. They got in there and found out the budget that was put out recently by the Treasurer is not happening the way it was supposed to happen. ‘We have found we do not have much money left; better start cutting some projects’. We heard the Treasurer saying each plan is fully funded, yet we have all these things starting to be cancelled. This list of things that have been cancelled just seems to go on and on. We start to find out from information flowing through the community that various things are being funded, but the money has been withdrawn from programs. I do not know how you are going to spin that one. That will be interesting. I will be happy to watch it.
The Chief Minister said the government is actually delivering. When you start cancelling things, and you start telling people, ‘We are not going to have this. We are not going to have this oncology unit; we are going to have half the funding there’, I do not know whether that is actually delivering. Perhaps the definition of ‘delivered’ and ‘delivering’ needs to be looked at.
Comment was made: ‘Yes, we have increased the Pensioner Carer and Concession Scheme registration rebate’. The problem is you increased it by $20 or $30, and you put the registration up roughly the same amount. The pensioners are saying: ‘That is good. They give it to you with one hand and take it off in the other’. These are some of the issues when you are looking at trying to give real help to seniors.
The smoking definition, we have discussed. I would really like someone to help those people. I am very happy to help out. I might ring someone interstate, get a smoking definition and e-mail it to you. I will e-mail a few of the definitions to you. Perhaps you can take your pick and save yourself a bit of time. You can do it over morning tea. Just pick one out of a hat.
Regarding more police reducing crime; the Chief Minister made a comment in relation to what the Leader of the Opposition said. It is about where you put your police resources, and supporting your police officers. Police officers who I know - and that is just about everyone, bar none - go out there every day to try to make the community a better place to live. The problem is, quite often through the courts, they do not seem to get the support they deserve. That is government policy. Government has to get out there and give real deterrents. They have to do things to support the police officers. When a police officer is standing outside nightclubs in Mitchell Street at 3 am looking for a bit of support, they want to know, when they tell people it is time to go home, they have some authority. Most of the police officers I know do not feel they are getting much support at all. They tell people to go home when they are under the influence; they tell people to take their friends home - and what do they get? A mouthful of exactly where they should go, and ‘run away and go and do your policing somewhere else’. If there is a scuffle, a disagreement, or people are arrested, people fight, they punch, they kick police officers. When they go to court, the police officers give evidence, people listen to them, and these people walk out the door and just laugh at the police. When you have a police force that is being laughed at and ridiculed, and do not feel they are supported, you wonder why violent crime is up. People out there think they can do whatever they like.
Mandatory sentencing: if I am correct, when the Labor government came into power, they had six people in Don Dale centre - six people. That is it. How many are in there now …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, your time has expired.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I definitely support this matter of public importance. It is particularly important to my electorate, which is why I am on my feet. Alice Springs has suffered enormously under this government, and it has suffered because the Henderson Labor government has failed to recognise, and failed to fix, their problems - the problems the people of Alice Springs and my electorate are confronting.
Furthermore, the government, when it bothers to come up with what it might call a timetable for action, never delivers on those timetables. At best, when on those rare occasions the government does recognise problems, it does not fix them. It has been a long litany of failure to recognise; there is a long list of failure to fix problems. With the information in front of me in relation to Alice Springs, I see a media release dated 7 December 2005, issued by then Chief Minister, Clare Martin. It is headed, ‘Government commits to vision for Alice’. It was called ‘having your say’. The government said it needed to maintain its commitment and ensure new and ongoing projects were realised. It referred to safety in the community; law and order; substance misuse; and, improved school attendance. That was followed a couple of years later by yet another media release by the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, saying she had launched a major new project to guide the development of Alice Springs into the future. That was called Moving Alice Ahead and, apparently, according to the then Chief Minister, it identified 11 key projects that would help build a safe, strong, secure future for our town.
Well, they are just media releases. The government was caught out for what they are when - and I will never forget it, and I am sure members who were there will not either - parliament sat in Alice Springs in April 2007. I was genuinely stunned and moved to see so many people at that event because they were seriously cranky with this government. Those hundreds of people, most of whom, in my view, had never been to a demonstration before in their life - they were the mums and dads of Alice Springs - turned up to give the government a serve - and, by God, the government deserved it. What have we seen since then, Madam Speaker? Well, we have seen a few more statements but, unfortunately, so little in results. So, in 2005, 2007 and, indeed, for years before that, those opposite said: ‘We care about you; we are going to do things’. Well, that is not true. They do not care and they do not deliver.
For instance, if one looks at the most recent crime statistics, there was a 32% increase in the rate of assault in Alice Springs in the March quarter. That was an enormous jump, and is symptomatic of the problems of this government. The assault rates in the Territory continue to rise, and they have risen significantly. In 2008, a media release dated 13 February 2008, by the then minister for Justice, the member for Johnston, proclaimed the government was, once again, taking an interest in youth crime and it was, once again, coming up with yet another plan to tackle youth crime. The media release said:
It went on to refer to family responsibility agreements and family responsibility orders.
Then, at estimates, only a few months ago, I asked the Minister for Children and Families how many parental responsibility agreements had been made. I do not have the figure in front of me but, from memory, it was less than 10. I asked how many parental responsibility orders had been made, and it was either none or a couple.
My point is: when this government actually gets to a point of recognising a problem, they will respond, but they do not fix. That is why the government is in the trouble it is in now. It hardly ever recognises its deficiencies. When it does, it does not address the problems adequately. It gets a good run in a newspaper or two, gets a good line on a radio station and, then, the history of this government is its members just walk away. I am on my feet because it affects the people I represent, the people of Araluen and, more broadly, the people of Alice Springs. They have had a gutful - an absolute gutful - of what they have seen from this government.
I remember, in 2007 - I had quite a bit to say in various speeches in 2005 and 2006 but, in particular, in February 2007 in an adjournment debate - in those days when we had a good 15 minutes to discuss issues in our electorate - I talked about some of the very real problems occurring in Alice Springs. The member for Stuart was one of the members of parliament who put his name to a joint media release. He described my comments as diatribe. He accused me of talking down the town in which I lived, which was laughable and he knew it - and he knows it now. To say it was vitriolic was something of an understatement.
In any event, only a couple of months later when the parliament sat in Alice Springs, government members must have been very surprised to see the people of Alice Springs turn out and get stuck into the government. It is clear to me that, in 2007, the government did not accept a word I said in relation to the very real concerns my constituents had about law and order, and a host of other issues. When government members turned up to parliament in April 2007, they heard from the people themselves - and very directly. You would think that, albeit in a fairly grudging way, the government did, ultimately, recognise the problems in our town. You would then go on to assume those problems would be fixed. They have not been - they just have not been. I believe that is why the government, at the last election in particular, did so badly.
I cannot remember the figures exactly, but I think the Labor bloke who ran against me got about 16% of the vote. I wonder if members of the Labor government are asking themselves why. You should ask yourselves why your candidate, the one who ran against me lost - I cannot remember the figures for my colleagues of Greatorex and Braitling – and why you did so badly in Alice Springs. You do so badly in Alice Springs because you do so badly in Alice Springs. You do not do enough in Alice Springs. You would think, two-and-a-half years later, you would see a change from this government in relation to Alice Springs matters.
When the member for Macdonnell was the Minister for Central Australia, we had a bipartisan working group and we achieved some outcomes. Along with the member for Arnhem, we sat, talked about some problems and brainstormed. Then, unfortunately, the member for Macdonnell was no longer the Minister for Central Australia and, after that, the bipartisanship ended. The member for Stuart went off and, essentially, did his own thing and, in recent times, completely killed off bipartisanship.
I would have thought it was a political win for Labor in Alice Springs to engage with the members for Braitling, Greatorex, and me to see if we could tackle some problems. Clearly, they do not even see it as a political must. Unfortunately, even worse, they do not even see it as a must in providing good government for all of the people in the Northern Territory and, in particular, for my part, the people of Alice Springs. Alice Springs might be below Darwin in geography, but we are equal with the people of Darwin; we deserve the same attention. You would expect government would, indeed, provide us with the same attention. However, you cannot dwell too much on that point because, in fact, this government does so badly for the people of Darwin as well.
Crime statistics in a range of areas are up. The youth justice changes 18 months or so ago, according to the media releases, suggested all sorts of things. However, it just did not materialise and that is very sad, to say the least. Once again, it shows that when, on those rare occasions the government recognises some problems, it does not actually fix them. I think the people of the Territory - and I know for sure the people of Alice Springs - are sick of it. Come up with some ideas, really fix the problems. Do not just announce it, or cut a ribbon and then walk away, actually come up with some fair dinkum solutions.
In relation to alcohol courts, for instance, I remember the debate - I think it was sometime in 2005. At the time, the bill was wrapped up with changes to tenancy laws. It was also announced by government that Territory Housing, or the government, would no longer tolerate bad public housing tenants and things would be done well. Indeed, the member for Braitling laughs, and so he should, because what a joke that one was. The same bill that came before the parliament had alcohol courts. I remember the debate. We told you they would not work. We just told you, and yet, once again, you would not listen. You probably fired off your usual chip on the shoulder, aggressive, vitriolic responses you have made yourselves famous for. Yet, what happened in estimates, only a few months ago? We started to ask some questions about the alcohol courts, and the minister for Justice grovelled along and said: ‘Oh no, we are going to change that’. Well, they should have changed it years ago. Blind Freddy could have told them the alcohol courts in the form proposed by government were not going to work, and - lo and behold! - they got there.
The government just has appalling form when it comes to not recognising problems or, on those occasions when it does recognise the problems, they still do not fix them. On those rare occasions, years down the track, when at estimates or something like that, the government is finally sprung and they say: ‘Oh yes, we always meant to fix it and we were going to get there eventually’ - not good enough. You people, especially the ministers, are happy to take the ministerial salaries but you are not prepared to do the work. Estimates was embarrassing in the sense that you would ask a minister a question and, then, the minister was like one of those clowns at the show with a big open mouth waiting for a ping pong ball to be shoved down it, looking at either the CEO or the deputy CEO saying, ‘What do I say now and tell me how to say it?’ You take the money, you should do the work. People expect that of you and, certainly, you would have thought your colleagues expect it of you. We know you do not have a huge backbench and you are probably not all jostling for positions in the way you ordinarily might, but do not dare take the money and then fail to deliver the results or, at very least, fail to do the work. It is just not good enough.
Madam Speaker, there are a range of areas. One in particular that is not talked about anywhere near enough in the parliament is the Fines Recovery Unit. In March 2009, I wrote to the minister for Justice, following up a letter I had written to her predecessor. Members may not be aware of this but, in 2007, 666 notices were issued and the total amount levied was $117 910, of which only $11 160 had been paid. Not very many of those outstanding fines have actually been recovered. I remember in 2001, or perhaps early 2002, Labor came up with a Fines Recovery Unit. That was worked on by the CLP. Labor took it, they implemented it and said: ‘We are going to get the unrecovered fines around the Territory and this is going to be a good model’.
In August 2008, the minister for Justice advised that 523 notices were issued and the total amount levied was $88 530, and only $6203 had been paid. In other words, less than 10% of monies levied had been paid. Members opposite talk about these tight financial times and how government has to be responsible with money. Well, why do you not try harder to get the money you are owed? Various fines and penalties are imposed or levied, yet government seemingly has no idea whatsoever as to how to recover them. Mediocrity reigns supreme with this government. Government seems to be of the view that a 10% recovery rate is fine. If you people were in business, your business would have closed a long time ago. It also sends a bad message. It says to people, ‘Do not bother paying your fines because not much is going to happen’.
The list is just endless, Madam Speaker. I have only seconds left. I support this matter of definite public importance. This is a government that fails to recognise and to fix the problems confronting Territorians and, in particular, my constituents.
Discussion concluded.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr KNIGHT (Housing): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr HAMPTON (Stuart): Madam Speaker, in talking about Katherine, I wish to speak tonight about the changing face of Katherine and Pine Creek. It is with great pride I extend my congratulations to the entrepreneurs of Katherine, in particular Tony Adams, the owner, and Dan Romeyn, the inspiration behind the renamed Stuart Hotel, formerly the Crossways/Commercial, an institution on the main street of Katherine for over 80 years.
The owner of the hotel, Mr Adams, had wanted to do something with this main street site for a couple of years, but the question was just what to do with it. His partner and employee, Dan Romeyn, thought a coffee shop was a way to go, something that had been absent from the main street for a number of years. Mr Romeyn went to work, and his vision of a coffee shop expanded into including a bistro capable of seating over 50 people under The Coffee Club franchise banner. In the process, the ugliest brick wall in the Northern Territory has vanished, replaced with 30 m of glass providing an uninterrupted view of the Stuart Highway as it makes its way through Katherine town.
Most members would be aware the newly-named Stuart Hotel is on the corner of Warburton Street and Katherine Terrace. What was formerly a popular gathering site for drinkers, has now been turned into alfresco dining, and completely changed the character of the terrace. As I walked into the new development on the opening day, it was hard to believe this magnificent dining establishment was once the notorious front bar of the Crossways Hotel.
During his break, Dan Romeyn, the manager and partner in the venture, spoke with us for a few minutes. He had looked at a number of franchises across Australia, but The Coffee Club was by far the best proposal. Mr Romeyn informed us he had a few knockers but, with the full support of his partners, everything was running very well.
Dan Romeyn came to Katherine as a young builder looking for opportunities in the north as a result of the Katherine flood. He found a lot of work, as did his wife. After settling down, his work emphasis changed and, subsequently, he spent many years working for the Katherine Isolated Children’s Service, a support group for children living out bush. Mr Romeyn’s life has changed once more, and he is now the manager of Katherine’s newest and most innovative business, The Coffee Club.
The Coffee Club employs 30 local people and is open seven days a week from 6.30 am to 10.30 pm. That is 30 local jobs created from this business. Thankfully, that popular lament of tourists, ‘You cannot get a coffee or a feed in Katherine on the weekend’, has been consigned to the dustbin of history.
Innovative businesses are not just restricted to Katherine. Last week, when visiting Pine Creek, the most northern town in my electorate, I had the pleasure of meeting with Sandie Peters, the proprietor of the newly established Pine Creek Railway Resort.
The resort, situated on Railway Terrace, was opened on 31 May, I believe by our Administrator, Hon Tom Pauling QC, and provides up to 18 upmarket rooms. The rooms, from the outside, are reminiscent of a 19th century caboose, whilst the inside is lined with pressed tin to give the appearance of a miner’s cottage, circa 1890s. A restaurant modelled on a rail carriage is in the last stages of construction, and it will be opened in time for next year’s tourist season. A magnificent resort-style pool is already operating and is attracting travellers from far and wide.
The resort will complement the railway history of Pine Creek, and will be an important addition to the railway theme the town is actively promoting. Ms Peters informed me that, eventually, they will offer a tourist information facility and, as Pine Creek is the gateway to Kakadu, I expect it to be well patronised.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I cannot speak highly enough of the entrepreneurial efforts of the people I have mentioned. Without new investments in the Northern Territory we will wither and die. To Ms Sandie Peters, Mr Tony Adams, and Mr Dan Romeyn, congratulations on your initiatives and courage; I wish you all success.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, I had a few things to bring up tonight in the adjournment debate, and I will get to those in a moment. I want to touch on the lovely contribution the member for Stuart made tonight. Unless my hearing has served me incorrectly, we actually have The Coffee Club in Katherine. We have several coffee shops, but it is actually The Coffee Club that has opened up on the main street of Katherine. I had the privilege of being there at 6.30 am on the first morning it opened, and the turnout was absolutely awesome. It was terrific to see a new business starting up in Katherine.
I am a bit surprised the member for Stuart has bothered to speak about new businesses opening in Katherine, because all it does, really, is pave the way for opposition members to talk about how businesses are opening in Katherine despite the fact the Northern Territory government - the current Labor government - is doing absolutely nothing for regional Northern Territory. They are so northern suburbs centric they need not even bother coming south of the Nelson line, because they are neither welcome, nor is their attendance appreciated.
I thank the member for Stuart for bringing that up and allowing me the opportunity to make those little corrections. Well done to The Coffee Club, as they are also sponsors of the Brisbane Broncos.
I get back to a few good news stories of events that have occurred recently in Katherine. First, I mention the Dragon Boat Challenge that happened on Saturday in Katherine. This initiative is part of the Katherine Festival. The Dragon Boats of the Northern Territory came down with four boats from Darwin. They brought a team, and there were three other teams that comprised Katherine locals. I really want to take my hat off to the people who become involved in this event and, by extension, through the organisation known as Dragons Abreast. They provide a highly important and vital support service for breast cancer survivors and victims. The event was extremely well attended. I appreciate the fact they took the time to come to Katherine.
Another event in Katherine over the weekend was a new initiative that was put together by Somerville - the Katherine Family Fishing and Fun Day. They had 120 entrants - which was an awesome effort - who went to the Katherine River and fished the day away. There were some terrific fish caught: bream, catfish, and we had one barramundi and a few cherabin as well. Congratulations to David and Suzette, the organisers. Well done! It is great to see initiatives in our town that are getting kids - because it was mostly targeted at the kids - out of the lounge rooms, off the couches, away from the television, and out into the fresh air doing something really positive.
The other event over the weekend was the Teddy Bears Picnic. That happened yesterday in Katherine. Again, a great initiative for people to bring the kids out, have a lot of fun, and get stuck into resurrecting some of the old teddy bears that are around the place. I think some of the older teddy bears date back now 50 or 60 years. It is terrific that some of the older folk in Katherine run a complimentary repair service. So, if anyone here has any teddy bears they want fixed up for next year, bring them on down. I applaud the Katherine Town Council for their involvement in it.
In particular, I mention Henry Higgins, who was the MC for the day. Well done to everyone, and we look forward to many more years of those types of events in Katherine. They are extremely important to the community. We have had artistic events as well. It is often said the health of a community can be measured by the health of the art industry occurring in that community. Well done to all.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, I must say it does feel quite lonely only having one side of parliament in the House, but anyway, we will keep going ...
Mr Elferink: We are waiting for the point of order.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you are aware that reference to the presence or the absence of members is not permitted. I ask you to withdraw.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I did not hear a point of order on this particular standing order and, in the absence of a point of order, I do not think there is anything objectionable to what the member has had to say.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: As Deputy Speaker, member for Port Darwin - and I have already seen the Speaker do it - I ask you to withdraw, thank you.
Mr GILES: Madam Deputy Speaker, I was saddened to see …
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I did not hear the member actually withdraw.
Mr GILES: I did withdraw.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, thank you.
Mr GILES: Madam Deputy Speaker, I was saddened to hear of reports of Braitling Primary School being broken into a week ago. Two young students from the school broke in over the weekend and caused terrible damage to a couple of classrooms, destroyed a lot of equipment, sprayed paint around everywhere and, generally, trashed the classrooms - if I could call it that.
Reportedly, it was just another occurrence in a long saga of vandalism at that particular school that has brought grief for not just the students but also the parents, the teachers, the principal, Sue Crowe, and the school council which does so much at the school. There has been a long campaign by the school council and the school to get a fence put up around that school. I have to say I am not a supporter of fencing schools because I believe schools are there for the whole community. However, the continued occurrence of law and order problems and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs have put Braitling Primary School and the school council in such a position they need to fence the school to keep it safe and free from vandalism.
It is a disgraceful thing that needs to happen. Just about every school in Alice Springs will now be fenced, with fences up to eight or nine feet high to keep people out, thus blocking off playground equipment, netball and basketball courts, and the cricket nets, leaving no sporting facilities at all available in the suburb of Braitling in Alice Springs. It is sad to see we have to fence our schools off like that. It is a position where there is no other choice but to fence the school. I commend the school council and the principal, Sue Crowe, and all the teachers involved for fighting for that.
However, I am very disappointed that it has actually come to this. We argue in here very often about the instances of antisocial behaviour and law and order. This is a situation where kids have come in, trashed the school once again and, now, the whole community suffers because of lack of access to facilities. That is very sad. However, we will continue to fight another day. We will continue to fight this government to get solutions to antisocial behaviour. We will continue to try to improve facilities in the electorate of Braitling, which includes Larapinta and Braitling. It is Braitling where some of these facilities are missed. I commend Sue Crowe and the school council and all the teachers who have done such a wonderful job in tidying the place up. I can only wait for Hardies Fencing to erect that fence as soon as possible to secure the school.
At the same time, I commend the Northside Parks Group for trying to facilitate access to the playground facilities, and Sue Crowe for working with Felicity, who heads up that organisation, in trying to ensure out-of-hours access. My daughter, as well as many other parents and their children, use those facilities, which will now be locked up on weekends. However, if we can come to some amicable position, it would be great, and beneficial to the community. I hope and pray that vandalism and antisocial behaviour do not continue at Braitling school. I thank the school council and the principal once again.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will talk about what I was up to Thursday night last week. I had the great privilege of getting along to the Tracks Dance Company production put together for the Darwin Festival. The production, called Endurance, was held at the velodrome in Millner. It is running from 12 to 23 August, and I encourage all members - opposition, government and Independents - if they can, to make the effort to get along to that production.
I was a little late getting there; I had another function on earlier. The production started at 8 pm. I did not arrive there until 8.30 pm, so I just tried to sneak in, in a very sly fashion, incognito, so to speak. However, I could not remain incognito; I was immediately grabbed by people there. They welcomed me very warmly. I have to say, they seemed thrilled I turned up to the Endurance production. To explain, it was like no other show I have ever seen. As I say, it was held at the velodrome. They divided the internal area of the velodrome into three parts, with walking tracks and lighting through it. It was three separate shows which all ran in conjunction. People would sit down and watch one and, then, stand up and move around and watch another.
The three shows were all stories about life in Darwin. One was about a mother and a daughter. Another was about a super hero and his lovable, but neglected, girlfriend; and there was another one about a young Asian and his newfound home. I have to say, this type of art is probably an acquired taste. However, there was no getting away from the fact these guys put a huge amount of work to into the production. It was quite a fantastic production - as I said, like nothing I have ever seen before. What must have complicated things was they had nine choreographers, I was told, working together to organise things. There were some 30 dancers.
The whole time the show was going, they had long-distance runners running around the velodrome. They tell me they ran something like 12 km or 15 km whilst the show went on. I could not believe these guys were just jogging around the scene. They had a range of body builders and fitness freaks - experts, I should say - and it really was something to behold. It was a great show. It was put together by two fellows, David McMicken and Tim Newth. They came up with this concept, put it together, and it was fantastic. I was warmly welcomed and had a great time while I was there, and I encourage all people in this Chamber to get along to see that particular show if they can.
The other thing it tells me is we really need to consider the arts more. We need to look at better resourcing of the arts. The Northern Territory has a fantastic diversity of people in the arts and shows that are put on. We see some of the bigger ticket items quite regularly. However, at a grassroots level, we have some fantastic talent here, and that was demonstrated very well at the Endurance production put on by Tracks.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I mention a number of people in the electorate of Johnston who have come to my attention through various activities.
First, I talk about some of the young people who are making a contribution through outstanding effort of determination to excel in their chosen field. Each school term, I donate a number of book vouchers to schools in my electorate, so teachers can recognise their students’ accomplishments by nominating them for my Quiet Achiever Award. At the end of Term 2, Peta Bonnell and Ben Jackson were the winners of the award at Wagaman Primary School. At Moil Primary School, Belinda Santos and Jason O’Meara were chosen for the award. At Millner Primary School, Troy Bilbil and Maddison Sloane were Term 2 winners. At Jingili Primary School, Jasmine Brocker-Johnston and Tahlia West were the two winners. I congratulate each and every one of the winners, and sincerely hope this recognition by their teachers of their good behaviour and hard work is a positive reinforcement of the values and qualities they need to succeed in life.
A few other young people in my electorate have also done themselves - and, indeed, the whole Northern Territory - proud. Last month, I sponsored a young fellow by the name of Jesse Browne, when he and his father, Andy, were raising money to allow Jesse to attend the UCI BMX world championships in Adelaide. I was absolutely thrilled to find out recently that ‘Jumping’ Jesse Browne raced like the champion I always thought he was. He finished with an outstanding world ranking of 11. It was a fantastic effort on the part of 8-year-old Jesse, and a tribute to the hard work and encouragement of his father, Andy.
I also recently sponsored two brothers from Millner who had been selected to represent the Northern Territory in Rugby. Trenton Smith was selected to the 2009 Combined Affiliated States Under 18 Squad to play in Newcastle, New South Wales. His younger brother, Chris, was picked for the School Sport NT Under 15 Squad in the Territory Titans that played in Adelaide. Both boys did the Territory proud, with Chris’ team being undefeated in every match, and winning the John Allen Trophy for Pool B. Six of the members of that squad were then selected for the Combined Affiliated State Team, including Chris.
Trenton’s team was in Pool A, and up against much stronger competition from larger state teams, but still managed a very credible performance. They had a draw against the ACT, lost only by two points to the highly-rated New South Wales team and, although less successful in some of their other matches, they showed their true Territorian grit, and we should all be proud of them for representing us so well.
Just last Wednesday, back rower Trenton’s Under 18 Combined Affiliated State Team, the Titans, met Great Britain at Richardson Park. In a thrilling game, the visiting Lions just escaped humiliation in the last moments in an 18 to 12 win, after an outstanding performance by Trenton’s team.
I also congratulate Chris and Trenton’s mother, Sandra Smith, for doing the hard yards to raise the funds to allow her sons to represent the Territory. I was touched by her gratitude for my small contribution. I know she has every reason to be so proud of her two sons.
It is not just young people who contribute so much in our society. There are people of all ages and walks of life who help to strengthen the ties that bind us together.
On 13 June, with other members, I attended the first anniversary celebrations of the multicultural community charity association at the FAANT community centre. It was a wonderful evening with food, music and dancing, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Performers on the night included Susana Lu-Dizon, Terry O’Neill, Melda, Neale, Jensine, Jessie Aguilando, Elyse Ruthenburg, Kat, Mannilyn. Without any doubt, the highlight of the evening was Mario and the PAMA (Pinoy Aussie Music Arts) kids. Congratulations to all the performers on their fantastic efforts.
I also thank the MCCCA President, Geoff Wood, and his committee, Norm Willoughby, Emma Neave, Nick Cook, Jessica Wood, Fe Willoughby, Rosemary Coffey, Espie Reid, Eva Perriman, Jerlyn Grimmett, and Alita Monticello for putting on such a great evening.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about a very special lady, Mrs Helen Armstrong, who many people know here as a fine schoolteacher in the Northern Territory. I have mentioned Helen before. She is the librarian at Bakewell Primary School. The last time I spoke about Helen was when she and another teacher won the Territory Division of the NITA Teacher of the Year Awards. Helen went on and was one of the top 10 finalists in Australia. What I would love to report tonight is Helen came into my office on Saturday and advised she was Teacher of the Year. It is pretty special that we have a teacher here in Palmerston, in Bakewell School, who won Teacher of the Year. So, the big gong - I think that is pretty special.
Part of Helen’s prize was that she got to attend space camp in Alabama in the United States, and she has only just come back from that camp. She was telling me how, while over there, the Teachers of the Year and all the state winners in the United States are treated. They are actually taken to the White House and they meet the President of the United States. Through sponsorships, there are cars these teachers win. I wonder if, in this country, we undervalue our teachers somewhat when you hear how other countries are treating their teachers with absolute respect. It is such a big honour to win Teacher of the Year in the United States, whether it is at the state level or right through to the top gong.
Congratulations to Helen, it is a marvellous achievement. We are very lucky to have a teacher of such quality in the Northern Territory.
I was in the shopping centre at Palmerston on Saturday, and I came across a young lady. Her name was Michelle. She is a blind lady, and she was there with her dog. It touched me the way she was sitting there alone at one of the tables, so I sat down and started to speak to her. I asked some of the challenges that she faces being blind. Some of her comments were very funny; other things, though, were of a serious nature. I said I would raise it in parliament, and I would also raise the issue, perhaps, with the Crime Prevention Committee we have with the City of Palmerston. Because so many government departments attend that meeting in Palmerston, it is probably a great forum.
One of the bug bears that she has - and many people who are blind and have guide dogs - is people patting their dogs. These dogs are working dogs. I know they are lovely, they are Labradors. However, at times she has run into things because people have reached out and patted her dog - the dog takes its eye off the ball, and they will often run into things. This is just because people pat the dog. Perhaps the government could look at some awareness program to help people who work with guide dogs. That includes people like police officers, ambulance officers, school students - everybody needs to know that, yes, they are a lovely animal, but they are certainly on the job and are working.
We have just finished Seniors Week and, together with the members for Blain, Drysdale, and Nelson, I attended the final function yesterday at the Woodroffe Primary School. It was a wonderful afternoon. I am happy to say I attended at least three events through Seniors Week. It was a fantastic week, and they sincerely enjoy all the frivolity and things that go on. They even enjoy a sing song - is that not right, member for Blain?
Mr Mills: Poor things.
Mr CHANDLER: Poor things, yes.
On a serious note, just two issues to finish up with. If the government would really like to help with the traffic issues in Palmerston, at the roundabout at Roystonea and University Avenue, if there was a slip lane put on Roystonea Avenue, the amount of cars that could get through there quicker in the morning would be fantastic. I am not sure if it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to do, but a slip lane on that roundabout would certainly ease the traffic flow on that particular stretch of road in the morning. Some mornings, the cars are backed up as far as the turnoff to Palmerston High School, so it goes back a couple of kilometres just to get round a roundabout. It is certainly busy.
Mitchell Creek is another area government needs to look at – the Crown land. I am talking about the fire issues. Recently, there was a fire at the end off Gosse Street, going down to the end of Wilton Court, near Mitchell Creek - it backs on to the suburb of Gunn. It is supposed to be looked after by the department which controls Crown lands. It is certainly not being managed well and needs to be looked into, particularly coming into the dryer part of the season when the winds get up and fires could be a real risk. The grass there needs to be managed.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to quickly go through some issues. Earlier, I spoke of schools in my area. I thought some things need further recognition. I will go first to Driver Primary School. I am reading from their website, so those who listen in can understand it has come from somewhere. There are three parts to it I really think is fantastic. First, the principal, Rob Presswell, has a great way of dealing with his teachers and students. They get together and have a fantastic time. They are part of the Palmerston city schools, which combines all schools together to talk about the way things are going, what to do, and the innovative side of teaching. That is a fantastic approach where everyone gets together and nuts things out so they can move forward.
I will just first go through the vision statement because I think it is pretty impressive:
That is a lovely way of looking at the way you are going to mould some of our youth as they grow up.
I will quickly touch on their school values. I put forward my idea of RORR, and these guys are already putting a lot of that into it. Under their School Values is:
That is really a beautiful statement because, if we teach our young kids some of these basic principles they will grow to be much better community-minded children and respect each other and their families.
The second part of their School Values is:
How many times have we heard the old story that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks? Well, every day I learn something more, and the day you stop learning is a sad day. It also has:
It is important to have such a trusting, learning community.
Their fourth School Value is:
That goes hand-in-hand with the element of reasonableness. If you try your best, you put a balance of reasonableness to life. They are basic principles and, if you consider that, you go a long way to making yourself a better person.
I will read the first line of their Collaborating Principles:
Three very important parts. You should always assess where you are going, how you are going, how you are doing something, and they do that. They reflect upon it, looking on themselves, to see if there are ways they can better themselves. I do that and many of my colleagues do that: setting goals, creating outcomes, and marking those outcomes. A lot of people can learn from that.
With five minutes left, I will keep going. I was at the Durack Primary School the other day at a school assembly, with Jo Wynn, the principal. There was a great deal of laughter when the Durack Primary School students put together a skit at the beginning of the primary school assembly. It was their version of the Morning Show. Everybody has a look at the Morning Show. Their version of the Morning Show had their own celebrities, singers and cricket players visit. They had the news and the weather. Their interpretation of life was a laugh. The way they dressed up and got into it was fantastic. The students there, under the leadership of Jo Wynn, are having a great deal of fun as well. That particular skit made me laugh quite hard. It was fun to see how they took the mickey out of our cricketers and some of our musicians around, not just this country, but the world. It was very ingenious of those young students to have done that.
If there had been more time, I would have read their school song because that is an interesting talk point about how their school, which is only now in its 11th year, was born from the dust. It is a new school, it is a vibrant school, and it is still growing and developing. Maybe tomorrow night I will read through their song.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Madam Deputy Speaker, I commemorate the memory of Police Sergeant Glen Huitson. It is hard to believe 10 years have passed since Glen was murdered whilst manning a roadblock near Old Bynoe Road on the morning of 3 August 1999. Everyone I have spoken to who knew Glen has described him in glowing terms and used such phrases as: a fine individual; one of nature’s gentleman; a true bush copper; one of the Territory’s finest; and a police officer committed to his job and his community, in particular, the Aboriginal community.
Glen successfully applied to join the Northern Territory Police Force as a constable and commenced employment on 12 January 1987. After completing six months recruit training, he commenced as a General Duties police constable in Alice Springs.
Glen’s service history with the Northern Territory Police included six years in Alice, two years at Daly River, two years at Kalkarindji, and Officer in Charge of the Adelaide River Police Station. During his service, he was consistently recognised as a model police officer, well respected by the communities in which he worked, and served by his peers within the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services.
There are two standout examples of Glen’s selfless commitment to helping others. One was his response to an incident in March 1994 at a community near Alice Springs where, in an effort to protect someone from having a billy can of boiling water thrown on them, he rushed to their aid and was scalded by the water himself. Glen received a commendation for bravery in respect to this incident. In February 1999, Glen disarmed a man armed with a loaded rifle who was threatening a busload of tourists and their driver. He single-handedly diverted the offender’s attention from the busload of people and, ultimately, negotiated a peaceful surrender. Glen was posthumously awarded a bravery medal for this incident.
I am sure members of this Assembly recall Glen received a police funeral with full honours on 7 August 1999. Glen is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two children, Joseph and Ruby. Whilst many remember Glen as a fine police officer, he was also a dedicated son, brother, husband, father and friend.
In recognition of his sacrifice in protecting the public, a memorial was erected at the site of the shooting. On the day of the official unveiling of the memorial cairn, I understand his young son then referred to the memorial as ‘daddy’s special rock’, a term which moved the hearts of several hundred people present to honour this man.
I thank Tom Finlay, who donated the memorial stone. Tom is a truly wonderful person in the Northern Territory who donates all the time.
On Monday, 3 August this year, a 10-year commemoration service was organised by the Northern Territory Police Association at Glen’s memorial at Old Bynoe Road. I congratulate Vince Kelly and all the Police Association members, and volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring that memorial area to a fantastic testament and commemoration of Glen’s life. The service was attended by a great many people. It is evident that the incident and, more importantly, Glen’s personality and character lives on in the memory of the Territory community.
I was pleased to join Glen’s family, the Administrator, other members of this Assembly, and many members of the Territory Police Force and wider community to pay my respects to Glen, and to help recognise his devotion to duty and his heroism.
There were a number of touching moments during the ceremony, such as when his wife and children laid the wreath, and also the thoughtful words of members of the Northern Territory Police, the Police Association, and representatives of the Daly River community who spoke with loving memory of his character and deeds.
The ceremony was also an opportunity to reflect on and recognise the dangerous work all police, on occasion, undertake when serving and protecting the Northern Territory community. Dating back to 1883, nine police officers have died during active service in the Territory, including Glen and two other officers who were murdered in separate incidents whilst on duty.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we should never forget the ultimate sacrifice these police officers and their families have made in the service of the Northern Territory.
Lastly, our thoughts, prayers and best wishes at this time go to Glen’s wife, Lisa and two children, Joseph and Ruby.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to add my comments to the comments of the Chief Minister. I was Glen Huitson’s first partner out of training. If memory serves me right, that would have been 1995. I have said since, and say it again now, although I had to teach Glen a little about being a policeman, he taught me a whole lot more about being a person. I miss him enormously still. In fact, I have an old Polaroid photo of us mucking around in the Property Office in the Alice Springs Police Station – me clowning around with an electric guitar and him standing in the background. I often hold that photograph and contemplate it, thinking about the things that could have been.
During my police career, I got the opportunity to look down the muzzle of a couple of guns pointed at me and, for different reasons, I never found myself where Glen found himself. To this day, I get a little upset at the thought of what happened. However, I am glad to see he is still remembered in such fond regard, and my love still goes to Lisa, Joseph, and Ruby.
I also implore the minister for Planning and Infrastructure to do the right thing, and start doing something about crossings and schools around my electorate. I have written to her; I have asked her a question. I have pleaded with her in the past to do something about crossings, particularly crossings in the area of St Mary’s, as well as the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre, of which I am the President, for the moment, and crossings at other schools around my electorate. I continue to be disappointed and dismayed that, almost a year ago when I asked this question, the Treasurer guaranteed she would look into it, and has done nothing at all in getting those crossings fixed to protect the kids who have to cross these busy roads on a daily basis.
I thank the Northern Territory Police, because I have approached the police about getting speed traps, particularly in the area of the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre. There have been several occasions when I have seen vehicles go through that 40 km/h zone at much faster than 40 km/h. The minister for Infrastructure has steadfastly failed to do anything - including talking to me - about getting crossings at some of these schools. I have heard they are council roads; council has responsibility for putting council crossings down. The fact is she said she would look into it; she said she would do something about it. I have implored her, and I am asking her again, to get off her backside and do something about this, potentially, very serious issue.
We have had several near misses at the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre, in particular, and I am terrified that one day - and one day soon - the worst will happen at that location. We need more than just a few speed traps set up there. We need crossings, and proper signage in front of that childcare centre, so we can protect our kids. We are talking about babies, toddlers, who occasionally run off across the road simply because they do not understand. All parents have to do is lose attention for a second, and you could lose the life of a child. I am not saying a crossing will prevent that from occurring, but a well-marked crossing clearing the traffic coming from both directions will make so much difference to the safety of the children that cross at the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre crossing, as well as well-marked clear crossings at both Cavenagh Street and Smith Street to deal with the students coming out of St Mary’s school.
I am deeply concerned the government still has not turned its attention to this particular issue. I do not know how often I have to raise this issue with the minister to get so much of an answer out of her. If she does not have the courage to say no, then do something about it. At the moment, what the minister is doing is stalling, stalling, stalling, and she is doing it at the expense of risk taken by parents and children who go to these locations. Again, I ask the minister - plead with the minister, implore the minister - for goodness sake, do something about this issue.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will speak about several events I have attended recently, and acknowledge the great work done by a number of people. Recently, I had the pleasure to be a speaker at a Stress Down Dinner, which is conducted by the people who run Lifeline. This is an essential community service, run by a bunch of fantastic people. The CEO of that organisation, Jane Johnson, spoke to me some time ago and asked if I would come along and speak at that function. This is a group of people, mainly from the Top End community, who support Lifeline and come along to a fundraising dinner. The list is way too long to go through tonight. A fantastic job is done by these people, led by Jane and the volunteers who give their time freely to the community.
They are right at the pointy end, on the end of a phone, when people are in states of absolute desperation. The number of people whose lives are saved because of the actions of these very giving and caring people needs to be recognised in some better way than simply mentioned at an annual dinner.
I hope that, in the future, the community can come up with some bipartisan award system where we can actually recognise the fantastic work done by these people. To Jane Johnson and her crew, who have probably, unknowingly - because you can never test this, I imagine - saved many lives of those who are at the absolute point of desperation in our community. Literally, the last line of defence is Lifeline. Congratulations to those people, and I thank Jane for the opportunity to go along and share some of the personal tragedies I have experienced through suicides, family bereavements and things like that.
The next function I was very fortunate to go to was the Darwin Cup. I will, perhaps, speak a little more on this further in the week or during the next sittings. I acknowledge the fantastic work done by the Darwin Turf Club and their huge team of volunteers who, every year, put together a fantastic event known as the Darwin Cup. In fact, the racing carnival, over a month, is a fantastic event because it brings numerous tourists to the Territory. Having walked around at the Cup talking to both interstate and overseas tourists who come here specifically to go to the Darwin Cup, it was gratifying to know the event is known far and wide.
There is another event that I would like touch on. Congratulations to the Palmerston City County Council for arranging the Australian Citizen of the Year to address the seniors in Darwin. It was conducted at Palmerston and was open to anyone who wanted to come along. There was a nice crowd there, and Mr Pat LaManna, who is currently the Senior Australian of the Year, spoke about his life; how he arrived in this country, almost with the backside out of his britches, had no money, but worked hard, had an ethic, wanted to succeed, and demonstrated that, in this country, you can go from nothing to a position of being comfortable and being able to help your fellow person. He spends an enormous amount of time now working for charities. On behalf of the people of the Northern Territory, I express my sincere thanks for him coming here and sharing his story and that of his wife, and the fantastic things they have been able to give back to the community. He shared his experience of what the community did for him and, of course, how he was able to give back to the community.
Madam Deputy Speaker, there are other issues I would like to speak on tonight but, given that we only have five minutes these days, it precludes me from mentioning some of the other fantastic community events.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
RESPONSES TO PETITIONS
Petitions Nos 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
16, 20 and 21
Petitions Nos 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
16, 20 and 21
The CLERK: Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 100A, I inform honourable members that responses to petitions Nos 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, and 21 have been received and circulated to honourable members. A copy of the response will be provided to the member who tabled the petition for distribution to the petitioners.
- Petition No: 10
Closure of Ward 2 Birthing Services – Gove
District Hospital
Date presented: 28 April 2009
Presented by: Ms Walker
Referred to: Minister for Health
Date response due: 13 August 2009
Date response received: 13 August 2009
Date response presented: 17 August 2009
Response
On 11 February 2009, Gove District Hospital announced that it could no longer provide a birthing service from 31 March 2009, due to an inability to recruit suitably qualified doctors with obstetrical skills. Although Gove District Hospital had no intention to close the maternity service, it was acutely aware of the national and international shortage of suitably qualified doctors.
This announcement was made early so that it could prepare the women in East Arnhem for a smooth transfer to the nearest centre should Gove District Hospital not be able to recruit doctors in time.
The closure of maternity services for the birthing of women in East Arnhem resulted in enormous pressure on the pregnant women, their partners and families, and resulted in some financial and social hardship. Gove District Hospital acknowledges and understands the strong cultural aspects of birthing and has worked extremely hard to restore birthing services in Nhulunbuy, focusing on the short- and long-term goals.
It was unfortunate that Gove District Hospital was unable to avoid a temporary closure from 1 April to 4 May 2009. The hospital has now been able to secure long-term locum cover until November 2009 and is looking to extend this to January 2010, in order that it can finalise a more permanent solution to the provision of maternity services for East Arnhem Land.
Given that the only reason for closure of maternity services has been a recruitment/retention issue, there has not been any community consultation about alternative models of care with the community
Petition No: 11
Indigenous Women’s Protest on the Closure of Ward 2 Birthing Service – Gove District Hospital
Date presented: 28 April 2009
Presented by: Ms Walker
Referred to: Minister for Health
Date response due: 13 August 2009
Date response received: 13 August 2009
Date response presented: 17 August 2009
Response
On 11 February 2009, Gove District Hospital announced that it could no longer provide a birthing service from 31 March 2009, due to an inability to recruit suitably qualified doctors with obstetrical skills. Although Gove District Hospital had no intention to close the maternity service, it was acutely aware of the national and international shortage of suitably qualified doctors.
This announcement was made early so that it could prepare the women in East Arnhem for a smooth transfer to the nearest centre should Gove District Hospital not be able to recruit doctors in time.
The closure of maternity services for the birthing of women in East Arnhem resulted in enormous pressure on the pregnant women, their partners and families, and resulted in some financial and social hardship. Gove District Hospital acknowledges and understands the strong cultural aspects of birthing and has worked extremely hard to restore birthing services in Nhulunbuy, focusing on the short- and long-term goals.
It was unfortunate that Gove District Hospital was unable to avoid a temporary closure from 1 April to 4 May 2009. The hospital has now been able to secure long-term locum cover until November 2009 and is looking to extend this to January 2010, in order that it can finalise a more permanent solution to the provision of maternity services for East Arnhem Land.
Given that the only reason for closure of maternity services has been a recruitment/retention issue, there has not been any community consultation about alternative models of care with the community
Petition No: 12
Territory Insurance Office Coolalinga Branch
Date presented: 28 April 2009
Presented by: Mr Wood
Referred to: Treasurer
Date response due: 13 August 2009
Date response received: 29 July 2009
Date response presented: 17 August 2009
Response
The TIO Board made a decision in February 2009 to merge its Coolalinga branch with the Palmerston branch effective from 1 May 2009.
The basis of this decision is that:
The consolidation of our branch network will improve our cost efficiency and enable further development of the types of alternative services now preferred by the majority of TIO customers.
TIO will continue to meet the needs of customers in a variety of ways:
TIO alternative access and service
- In addition to the Darwin, Katherine, and Alice Springs branches, TIO continues to provide a wide range of access and service to customers as follows:
Personal telephone service
- The TIO call centres operate six days a week and provide customers with the option to speak with a customer service representative and receive personal advice for:
- ATMs, Eftpos and Visa Access – withdrawals, purchases and payments
TIO operates a network of 14 ATMs throughout the NT for use by its customers
The ATM at Coolalinga will be retained after branch closure
The ATM at Casuarina will be retained and an additional ATM is being installed in the shopping centre
Card access for purchases, payments and extra cash out at all major stores
Visa Debit card access for purchases and bill payments worldwide.
Automated 24 hr services
Online banking for all information and transaction services
Phone banking for information and transaction services.
Mobile Banking and Insurance Services
TIO offers a mobile service to help customers with more complex loans and insurance services with two senior customer relationship managers available to meet customers anywhere anytime for appointments.
Over the past seven weeks, TIO has written personally to all our customers at Coolalinga advising them of the alternative access options and introducing them to our Mobile Relationship Managers.
TIO has also been assisting customers at Coolalinga to learn new ways to access banking and insurance services through personal demonstration of ATMs, Eftpos, Telephone and Internet banking.
TIO has received very favourable feedback from many customers who had not realised just how easy it is to use these services and the added convenience they offer.
- Petition No: 13
NT Operations Grant to Wagait Shire
Date presented: 6 May 2009
Presented by: Mr Wood
Referred to: Treasurer (referred to Minister for Local Government)
Date response due: 20 August 2009
Date response received: 27 July 2009
Date response presented: 17 August 2009
- Recent and significant reforms of local government across the Northern Territory have led to a reconsideration of the purpose and distribution methodology for all local government funding.
- For a number of years, the distribution of the Northern Territory Operational Grants (Grants) have not been managed according to objective factors such as population, geographic areas and service delivery locations. I have now made the decision to approve a fairer and more equitable distribution methodology for the Grants which now reflects the cost adjusters described in the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995 - population, dispersion and Aboriginality of the population.
The methodology is consistent with the achievement of the Northern Territory government Closing the Gap and A Working Future goals and recognises that the service delivery ‘location’; and ‘dispersion’ factors mean that large shires and those with dispersed service delivery locations have higher costs than smaller shires with less dispersed service delivery locations.
For 2009-10, the government distributed $20.7m in grants.
Wagait Shire Council received $145 017 for 2009-10, the same amount as 2008-09.
Local government councils receiving grants funding have also been provided forecasts over the next four financial years (2010-11, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14). The revised methodology will be implemented over these years to cushion the impact for councils that receive a smaller allocation over time. The time frame of four years will provide the councils with time to prepare and adjust to funding changes.
Councils are able to raise revenue through rates and encouraged to apply for grant funding under other programs by the Northern Territory government and Australian government.
Petition No: 14
Bilingual Programs in NT Schools
Date presented: 9 June 2009
Presented by: Mr Mills
Referred to: Minister for Education and Training
Date response due: 14 October 2009
Date response received: 20 July 2009
Date response presented: 17 August 2009
- On 9 June 2009, Petition No 14 was presented and read in the Legislative Assembly. The petition concerned Dharuktja Dhuwala Djambulu-Maypa Language has Many Layers of Meaning. I respond to the petition pursuant to Standing Order 100 as the Minister for Education and Training.
The petition read in the Legislative Assembly bore 12 signatures and called for the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly to maintain and strengthen support for bilingual programs in Northern Territory schools.
In October 2008, the former Minister for Education and Training announced that the first four hours in each school day would be taught in English in all schools across the Northern Territory. This announcement followed concern about the literacy and numeracy outcomes being achieved by Indigenous students.
English is the language of learning in Australia. It is the language on which success at schooling is measured, and it is the language of our economy. Proficiency in English literacy and numeracy is critical if students are to complete their schooling successfully and to progress into work, training or university.
The first four hours of English policy provides students in remote and very remote communities with increased opportunities to learn and practise their English literacy skills. Each school has the flexibility to implement this policy in a way that best meets the needs of their school and the local community. This policy does not preclude the use of a student’s first language; in fact, scaffolding of concepts taught in English using the home language is encouraged to assist in learning.
As part of the Transforming Indigenous Education package announced in 2008, the government has shown its commitment to furthering the career paths of Indigenous teachers and education workers through the Growing Our Own initiative. This initiative aims to build the Territory’s local Indigenous education workforce and increase the numbers of, and skills among, Indigenous school-based and corporate staff.
I am absolutely committed to working with communities to ensure that educational delivery is appropriate to the local needs so that all Northern Territory children are provided opportunities at school that will enable them to develop the skills required to participate fully in the economic and social development of the Northern Territory and the nation.
- Petition No: 16
Wooliana Road, Daly River Development
Date presented: 9 June 2009
Presented by: Mr Wood
Referred to: Minister for Planning and Lands
Date response due: 14 October 2009
Date response received: 7 August 2009
Date response presented: 17 August 2009
Response
On 1 May 2009, an application to develop NT Portions 2812 (377) and 2813 (401) Wooliana Road, Daly River, for the purpose of 40 multiple dwellings was lodged by Ausurv Pty Ltd on behalf of the landowner, Mr Gregory Meyer. The application was lodged in accordance with Interim Development Control Order No 20 which imposes development control for multiple dwellings at a density of greater than one dwelling per 8 ha. I am the consent authority for the application, as the Minister for Planning and Lands.
Public exhibition of the proposed development was undertaken in accordance with the requirements of the Planning Act. Twelve public submissions were received during the exhibition period and a public hearing was held on my behalf by Mr Peter McQueen at Wooliana School, Daly River, on 2 July 2009. Mr McQueen will shortly be providing me with a report which details all issues which have been raised through the consultation process.
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure will also be providing me with a report that details all matters that the Planning Act specified must be taken into consideration, including an assessment of land capability and public infrastructure.
In accordance with section 51(t) of the Planning Act, I will also take into account the petition when I consider the application and made a decision on the proposal.
Petition No: 20
Increase in power and water charges
Date presented: 19 June 2009
Presented by: Ms Purick
Referred to: Minister for Essential Services
Date response due: 19 October 2009
Date response received: 7 August 2009
Date response presented: 17 August 2009
Response
The Northern Territory government commissioned Mr Andrew Reeves, an expert in the regulation of utility companies, to undertake a review of the finances of the Power and Water Corporation. This followed the findings of the Mervyn Davies inquiry into the power failures of September and October 2008,
Mr Reeves’ key recommendation was to increase electricity, water and sewerage tariffs from 1 July 2009 to provide Power and Water with adequate revenues to become a financially and commercially sustainable business. This included a recommendation to increase electricity prices by 40% over three years from 1 July 2009 and water and sewerage prices by 60%.
As electricity is the largest component of utility bills for average Territorians, and to soften the impact on bills as much as possible, the government will be increasing electricity tariffs by 18% in 2009-10 and 5% in 2010-11 inclusive of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), with no increase above CPI in 2011-12. This is approximately half the increase recommended by Mr Reeves.
Even with the announced price increases, the Territory’s electricity and water prices will remain at the mid-level for Australian states and the Territory government will provide $65m to Power and Water in 2009-10 to subsidise utility costs for households, pensioners and small businesses.
The government will also ensure that pensioners are not affected and will increase pensioner’s concessions to offset the effect of the tariff increases for electricity, water and sewerage.
The increases are in line with utility rate increases in other states and are necessary to meet increasing demand, replace depleted and ageing assets and to meet higher community standards for reliability and environmental standards. By way of example, regulated electricity prices will increase by between 18% and 22% in New South Wales from 1 July 2009 and water and sewerage bills in Melbourne will increase by between 51% and 64% in addition to CPI over the next four years.
Petition No: 21
Construction of a prison in the Noonamah
area
Date presented: 19 June 2009
Presented by: Ms Purick
Referred to: Minister for Planning and Lands
Date response due: 20 October 2009
Date response received: 7 August 2009
Date response presented: 17 August 2009
Response
Thank you for your letter dated 24 June 2009 regarding Petition No 21 read in the Legislation Assembly expressing concern regarding the construction of a prison in the Noonamah area.
The government has decided to construct a new Correctional Services facility in the Darwin region.
Prior to selecting Weddell as the site for this facility, government considered a broad range of locations against essential criteria such as:
a reasonable travelling distance to courts and medical services and for emergency responses;
The site chosen at Bennetts Creek is zoned as Future Development (FD) under the Northern Territory Planning Scheme. Development of the Correctional facility can occur in the FD zone.
The construction of the Correctional facility will still need to comply with the requirement of a subdivision of the land as well as a development permit for the construction of the structures. When the design of the complex has been completed, such an application will be submitted and go through the normal public consultation process.
TABLED PAPER
Ministerial Reports Not Presented
Ministerial Reports Not Presented
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I received this letter from the Leader of Government Business, Dr Chris Burns:
- Madam Speaker,
In accordance with the proposed parliamentary reforms, government will not be presenting Ministerial Reports.
I table the letter.
NOTICE
Intention to Present a Bill
Intention to Present a Bill
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I give notice that today I will present a bill entitled Care and Protection of Children Amendment Bill 2009 (Serial 49) and deliver my second reading speech forthwith.
CARE AND PROTECTION OF CHILDREN AMENDMENT BILL
(Serial 49)
(Serial 49)
Bill, by leave, presented and read a first time.
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time.
This bill amends the Care and Protection of Children Act, specifically section 26, which sets out the mandatory obligations which require all Territorians to report suspected or actual harm or exploitation of our children. This section has not been without controversy since its commencement in December 2008.
The current provision makes it an offence for any person with a reasonable belief that a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, harm or exploitation, or is a victim of a sexual offence, to fail to report that belief. The primary function of section 26 of the act is to ensure that any person who reasonably believes that a child is being harmed or exploited must report those concerns. Harm and exploitation of children occurs in many forms. Physical violence, emotional abuse, neglect, maltreatment and sexual abuse are reportable under section 26. We want our children to be safe and, if they are not safe, we want to know about it so we can respond.
It has been well publicised that certain sections of the community have concerns about mandatory reporting requirements relating to children and sexual offences. Sexual offences encompass a number of different crimes, many of which can be committed against both adults and children. Some sexual offences are specifically directed towards protecting children from sexual predators.
Most people in the community are aware that it is unlawful to engage in sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16. The reasoning behind this law is simple: children are not equipped either physically or physiologically to deal with the very confronting issues a sexual relationship brings.
At the same time, the government recognises that many adolescents under the age of 16 years - the legal age of consent – do, in fact, engage in sexual activity. This is the reason government sought a review of section 26 of the Care and Protection of Children Act. In doing so, we are seeking to refine the balance between the need to protect our children from all types of harm and exploitation - including sexual harm and exploitation - with the need to ensure that our young people feel confident they can seek medical, psychological, and other support services they require in relation to their sexual health. This bill is about getting the balance right. I am confident the refined section 26 achieves that aim.
I turn now to the provisions of the bill. First, the bill does not remove mandatory reporting obligations on all persons in the Territory to report to the Department of Health and Families or police any reasonable belief that a child has suffered, or is likely to suffer, harm or exploitation. This obligation is mandatory, and failure to report carries a hefty fine. The fine could be as high as $22 000. We are serious about protecting our children from physical violence, neglect, maltreatment, and sexual abuse. This obligation to report has been clarified with respect to the commission of sexual offences against children. All persons must continue to report a reasonable belief that a child has been, or is likely to be, a victim of sexual offence, where the child is under the age of 14. I believe everyone agrees that children under the age of 14 are simply not equipped, physically or emotionally, to participate in and deal with the consequences of sexual activity. As a society, we are required to investigate all instances of sexual activity involving children under the age of 14.
I turn now to special-care relationships. The bill maintains a requirement on all persons to report a reasonable belief that a child under the age of 18 has been, or is likely to be, the victim of a sexual offence pursuant to section 128 of the Criminal Code. Section 128 of the Criminal Code relates to special-care relationships. Although the age of consent is 16 years, there are some circumstances where we say it is unacceptable for an adult to engage in a sexual relationship with a young person aged 16 or 17 years. These circumstances are determined by the nature of the relationship between the adult and the child. Examples of the special-care relationship are step-parents, sporting coaches, teachers, or other adults who have developed a relationship of trust with a young person, where there is the potential for a power imbalance to exist between the adult and the child. Hence, there is a mandatory obligation to report any reasonable belief that this type of sexual offence is occurring.
Next, I turn to modifications made to section 26 with respect to health practitioners. Health practitioners, by virtue of their profession, are often brought into contact with children and young people in a structured environment which enables and, at times requires, them to make appropriate inquiry and assessment of any potential harm and exploitation. This includes children who are 14 or 15 years of age. For this reason it is considered appropriate that health practitioners should have particular obligations to report harm, exploitation and sexual offences in relation to children and young people.
The bill creates additional mandatory reporting obligations for health professionals if they reasonably believe that a child aged 14 or 15 has been, or is likely to be, a victim of a sexual offence, and the age difference between the child and the sexual partner is greater than two years. This new provision means that health practitioners do not have to report sexual activity in adolescents aged 14 or 15, where the age difference between sexual partners is two years or less; that is, the sexual activity is occurring between adolescents of a similar age.
The bill envisages that certain other persons may also be given the same reporting obligations as health practitioners. These other persons will be clearly set out in regulation. It is envisaged that only specific types of employment will be included in the regulation. They may include those who, by reason of their profession, employment, or business operation, come into contact with children.
Importantly, the additional reporting obligations for health practitioners in relation to 14- and 15-year-olds do not apply to parents, extended family, friends, or other member of the community. Parents, extended family, friends, and other members of the community are still required to report a reasonable belief of sexual offences, including underage sex where the victim of the sexual offence is under the age of 14 years, or where a relationship of special care exists between the young person and the adult committing the sexual offence. Of course, we are all still required to report harm or exploitation of children of any age.
I also wish to say something about how people can find out more about their reporting obligations, and how they can make a report to the police or the Department of Health and Families. The Department of Health and Families has been working to put together a series of guidelines for health practitioners, people who work with children, or who work in or operate child-related services. These will be rolled out across the Territory and will be supported by education and training programs. Information about the legislative changes will be available to the public via the department’s website, community health centres, hospitals, and government offices. Health practitioners will receive letters and brochures clarifying and explaining to them the changes to this very important law.
In an effort to provide information to as broad a range of the community as possible, letters will also be sent to schools, non-government organisations, private service providers, and peak body organisations, in particular youth-focused organisations.
Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members and table a copy of the explanatory statement.
Debate adjourned.
MOTION
Pass Bill through all Stages
Pass Bill through all Stages
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families)(by leave): Madam Speaker, I move that the Care and Protection of Children Amendment Bill 2009 (Serial 49) pass through all stages on Thursday, 20 August 2009.
Motion agreed to.
MOTION
60th Anniversary of the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949
60th Anniversary of the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I move that this House –
- 1. notes the 60th anniversary of the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949;
8. recognises the extraordinary contribution made by many individual Australians, including Australian Red Cross members, volunteers and staff in the Northern Territory, for the practical carrying into effect of the humanitarian ideals and legal principles expressed in the conventions and additional protocols ...
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Speaker! I do not in any way wish to denigrate the motion itself. I am just surprised at the order of business. It was my understanding that we would be dealing with legislation prior to ministerial statements and such things as the normal order of business. I seek your guidance.
Madam SPEAKER: This is the advice I have received. I will just ask the Leader of Government Business.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, that was the advice I received also - in a procedural sense because it was not on the Notice Paper - to say that the most appropriate way to deal with it was in this particular order.
Madam SPEAKER: Chief Minister, I should have asked you to seek leave to move the motion prior to doing that. Perhaps that will determine it.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, I am just following advice from people. Without reading it through again, I seek leave to move a motion that the House take note of the motion.
Leave granted.
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, before I speak to the motion, we took this on advice as being the appropriate place to do this. I thought there was some communication last night about it.
Madam Speaker, 12 August this year marked the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions, and all parliaments throughout Australia, and many throughout the world, are speaking to similar motions during this time.
The Geneva Conventions, and their additional protocols, are at the core of international humanitarian law. The conventions seek to limit the effects of armed combat. They are designed to specifically protect people who are not taking part in the hostilities such as civilians, health workers and aid workers, and those who are no longer participating in hostilities such as wounded, sick, shipwrecked soldiers, and prisoners of war.
The International Red Cross, the Red Crescent Movement and the Australian Red Cross make a tremendous effort in the continuous application of these conventions to limit human suffering in times of armed conflict, and they should be congratulated for their work.
Australia is a country that very much respects and understands humanitarian rights and acknowledges these conventions. Australia and its many aid organisations have a good track record assisting those in need, including in situations where aid workers are themselves at risk.
In the Northern Territory’s recent history, we have acted with compassion and compulsion within the guiding principles of the conventions. We all remember 1999, when the people of Darwin, through government departments, the government of the day, and aid agencies, housed and cared for many East Timorese refugees flown into Darwin. It was an extraordinary time. Many of us participated in any way we could in responding to those refugees flown into Darwin. It was a tremendous act of kindness and humanitarianism to provide these people safe shelter whilst their homeland was going through enormous upheaval. It shows how important the Red Cross was in responding to these very traumatic events happening in East Timor.
Our Darwin-based ADF troops have performed humanitarian operations such as infrastructure development and capacity building around the world in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq and, closer to home in Timor–Leste, as well as the Solomon Islands. Our troops do a fantastic job when overseas, and represent their country with respect and dignity, and show the people whose country they are in the same respect and dignity.
It was only a couple of weeks ago we co-hosted, with Darwin City Council, the Welcome Home Parade for 1st Brigade which had been serving for some eight months in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor. I place on the record today my congratulations to all those returning soldiers, and the Commander of 1st Brigade, Brigadier Michael Krause. I had the fortune of attending the parade at Robertson Barracks before those troops were deployed, and spoke to soldiers who were being deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Timor - some on their second and even third deployment to Iraq - and also the Welcome Home Parade. The most moving aspect of talking to our soldiers was the fact they had a total commitment to assisting with the nation-building activities in those countries: wanting to do good work, to make a real contribution on the ground to help rebuild and build societies, structures, government structures, and security structures for the benefit of those people. That is part of what is happening around the world under the Geneva Conventions.
The Northern Territory has more humanitarian refugees per capita than other states and territories. Recent research at Charles Darwin University has shown that the annual percentage share of humanitarian stream migrants is nearly always twice as high in the Territory as it is nationally. The side product of this is it adds to our rich multicultural fabric when, and if, these people decide to stay in the Territory. Many of them do. All, or most of us, as members of parliament who represent urban seats, have refugees within our electorates, and I know all of us respond when we are called on to assist those refuges settle into the Northern Territory.
The Northern Territory is now training people to work in humanitarian fields through a CDU course, the Bachelor of Humanitarian and Community Studies, which aims to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to work with individuals, groups and communities in areas of reduced or limited infrastructure. Students are provided with the necessary skills to prepare them to work effectively in remote communities in Australia, disaster affected areas nationally and internationally, and in logistically supporting humanitarian aid agencies.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary, the Territory Branch of the Red Cross held a multimedia exhibition on 12 August called Humanity in the Midst of Conflict. It archived and detailed the impact of war on civilians around the world to remind us why we uphold the principles of the conventions. Hostilities continue in many countries around the world and, in each location, there will be health and aid workers helping affected people, including the wounded of both sides and defence people detained as prisoners of war. Recognition of, and compliance with, these conventions safeguards the wellbeing of these individuals.
I congratulate and thank all those Territorians who volunteer and contribute to Red Cross in any way. By the day-to-day implementation of these conventions, you are helping to make the world a better place.
Madam Speaker, I commend the motion to the House.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, the opposition, of course, supports this important motion - a motion referencing an agreement between and binding to nations.
Nations are made up of people, and people work together in communities. This community has exposure to this level of issue addressed by the Geneva Conventions, which came into being after World War II, through - as the Chief Minister referred - the Welcome Home ceremonies for those who have served in conflicts between nations, and how this nation has contributed to the bringing of peace.
I note the Chief Minister drew specific reference to the work of the Red Cross in our community. If these types of agreements are to have any substance it must be manifest in the way in which we, as individuals, respond to one another; how we involve and engage ourselves in organisations which are there to strengthen and promote community, and the principles upon which a good community is built. Otherwise, these motions are just abstract.
They must have a practical outworking in peoples lives, such as the attendance at commemorations of the 60th anniversary. I acknowledge the member for Katherine in attendance, representing the Territory parliament. I believe you were the only member there. It is good to see the parliament was represented at the community ceremonies. I understand the nature of a motion such as this is to reinforce our respect, as individuals albeit in the Territory, for the principles that have given rise to the agreement between nations.
It is important, I believe, to acknowledge the exposure that we have, as Territorians, to issues which are the subject of the Geneva Conventions such as Balibo Five, the movie which premiered last week. Members may be familiar with it. The nature of that conflict and the murder of journalists - five journalists at Balibo, and three other journalists and Roger East – should be the subject of the Geneva Conventions, it is strongly argued, as a matter of principle. I believe, as a practical outworking with these things, we should not forget the subject of the movie; a graphic and powerful confrontation of a nature that is a challenge to our response to the principles of the Geneva Conventions, a challenge to our own history, how this occurred in this nation, and how it is we have such a blind spot to such matters.
I commend those who have worked to bring this movie together, so that we can, as a nation, look at what occurred not far from here. For those who have not seen the movie, it is a timely reminder - I suggest at a time like this when we speak of Geneva Conventions - to have a practical application of this to weigh in our minds, our understanding of Australian history and how it is there was such a cover-up of that which occurred not far from here which was, effectively, a violation of Geneva Conventions - journalists being murdered, and young journalists at that.
We also need to acknowledge what this ugly terrorism is that we see within our own region. I am sure terrorists have no respect for the principles that are the content of the Geneva Conventions. It is important for us to look into the face of terrorism, and to recognise what really is the antidote to terrorism. One part of it is, of course, agreements between nations. However, will those which are the subject of these agreements comply with the agreements? Clearly, terrorists will not. It was remarked at Persona Indonesia - and quite astutely – when Colin McDonald leaned forward and said: ‘What a remarkable event this Persona Indonesia is. You have such a gathering of people, a cross-section of our community’. There was Jess Mauboy up there singing in Bahasa Indonesia, an African-American MC leading the show, a band from Kupang playing Country and Western music, Indigenous people down the front of the stage dancing to music from Lombok, locals wearing batik shirts and practising Bahasa Indonesia, and we were all there together. Colin also said: ‘This is the antidote to terrorism; the communities getting together’. Therefore, you cannot have just pure legal binding agreements without the substance you find within a community. The form is the letter, the words, that are used to shape an agreement, but the substance is when communities get to understand each other and work together. I believe we see that powerfully represented here in the Northern Territory.
These are things we can draw from this. Motions such as this could be quite empty but, really, in this is a challenge to each of us: how we actually live out the principles of the Geneva Conventions. Agreements have been signed, even recently in this parliament. How do we view the agreement, how do we work with the agreement, how do we understand the underlying principles that are the subject of the agreement? It goes all the way through to our practical workings on a day-to-day basis; how we react to opportunities to put money in the box of a lady who might be shaking a can representing the Red Cross, to watching a movie like Balibo Five, and how we respond to that as Australians. Do we honestly open our eyes and ask the hard questions, even of those who were, at the time, members of the Labor Party with Gough Whitlam, the former Prime Minister? What role did he have to play in that government at that time? These are difficult, but important, questions. If we do not take that approach, it effectively becomes just an academic exercise to pass a motion in here; we all stand behind it, someone turns up to a commemoration at the Supreme Court, that is good; we move on, turn the page. No, there is a challenge - always a challenge - in matters such as this.
Madam Speaker, with those words from the Territory opposition, we provide our support also for this important motion.
Ms LAWRIE (Justice and Attorney-General): Madam Speaker, as we have heard, last week marked the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Conventions are the basis of international humanitarian law, setting out international rules which seek to limit the effect of armed conflict on people with the aim of reducing suffering. The Geneva Conventions consist of four treaties and three protocols, which are most commonly referred to in the singular as the Geneva Convention. The Geneva Convention is the cornerstone of state behaviour in times of war, ameliorating the condition of the wounded and sick armed forces in the field and at sea, treatment of prisoners of war, and the protection of civilians.
The protocols deal with the protection of victims of international and non-international armed conflicts, and the adoption of a distinctive emblem for medical services: the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Australia ratified the Geneva Convention and has implemented domestic legislation. The laws are promoted by the International Red Cross and the Red Crescent movement, which have a specific mandate under international humanitarian law. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent movement is made up of 186 national societies, including the Australian Red Cross with more than one hundred million volunteers worldwide. The movement includes the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, which is the coordinating body; and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) which works mostly in areas of conflict.
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s mission is to prevent or reduce human suffering wherever it is found. Its fundamental principles are: humanity; neutrality; and independence. The movement has a long history beyond the Geneva Convention, beginning almost 140 years ago with the actions of one man.
On a hot June day in 1859, Jean Henri Dunant, a Swiss banker travelling on business in northern Italy, witnessed the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino, a horrifying and bloody conflict between 300 000 soldiers from Imperial Austria and the Franco-Sardinian Alliance. He witnessed men wounded in battle, lying where they fell for days, bleeding and tormented by thirst, hunger, flies, and burning heat; and dead being thrown into huge pits along with the seriously injured, but alive nonetheless. Amid the stench and sounds of pain and anguish, thieves moved from person to person, robbing both the wounded and dead. Dunant was moved by the sight of the appalling injuries and rallied villagers from the town of Castiglione delle Stiviere to assist and tend the wounded. These townsfolk were the first volunteers of Red Cross. Dunant was convinced the power of humanity could be engaged to alleviate suffering on a global scale. His account of Solferino led to the creation of today’s International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and the beginning of international humanitarian law.
The Australian Red Cross was founded in 1914, following the declaration of World War I, and has continued to work in Australia since that time. There are an estimated 60 000 volunteers and members delivering programs and support in Australia. The anniversary of the Geneva Conventions is a time to recognise and celebrate the work of the Australian Red Cross, the International Red Cross, and the Red Crescent Movement. I add my congratulations to those who dedicate their time to Red Cross. It is important to note that the Australian Red Cross President is Her Excellency, the Governor-General of Australia, Ms Quentin Bryce AC; the Chairman is Mr Greg Vickery AM; and their able Chief Executive Officer is Mr Robert Tickner.
I pay particular acknowledgement to the Northern Territory Red Cross. We know their Executive Director, Sharon Mulholland, is a tireless worker and is guided and supported by those very able volunteers who make up the Board of the Northern Territory Red Cross. Their Chairman is Deven Patel. He began his involvement with Red Cross in 1978, when he was doing an audit of Red Cross as a junior auditor with KPMG. I reference these acknowledgements from the information provided on the Australian Red Cross website.
Also in the Territory, board member Belinda Peacocke is a Divisional Representative to the National Red Cross Council. She has been involved in Red Cross NT since 2002, having actively participated in various youth programs.
We also have Foster Stavridis on the board who is a Divisional Representative to the National Red Cross Council. He has extensive corporate experience encompassing a number of fields of strategic business practices, and has undertaken significant project management assignments within the law enforcement environment.
Charles Burkitt is also on the board. He has extensive experience in financial markets, being an investment advisor for over 15 years, currently with ABN AMRO Morgans. He has a long, indirect family association with Red Cross NT, and has participated in fundraising events during this period.
Another board member is Kat Byron, the Youth Board representative. She has experience in the youth sector and, as a past Red Cross youth services employee and a current volunteer, Kat provides a young person’s perspective to Red Cross Territory activities.
Also on the board is Simon Lee. Simon has worked as a Japanese government bond trader, an army legal officer, a Northern Territory government prosecutor, and has, since July 2005, been a barrister practising privately at the bar in Darwin. He is a very active member of the Bar Association, having organised their recent Bar Association dinner.
Another board member is Kath Phelan. She has enormous experience in education and management in both the public and private sectors, and has a very strong interest in the welfare of young people. Kath is now retired. She was my former Principal at Nightcliff High School. She has been a volunteer and member of the Red Cross NT Board since 2006.
The other board member is Federal Court judge, His Honour Justice John Reeves. He was appointed as a Federal Court judge in November 2007. We know he has practiced significantly as a barrister in Darwin for some 20 years, and was appointed QC in 1997.
As you can see from the list of board members, the Northern Territory Red Cross is well served by very remarkable Territorians who are doing great volunteer work alongside Sharon Mulholland as their Executive Director. I give my thanks and gratitude as Attorney-General for the work they are doing.
Madam Speaker, the Geneva Convention is still very relevant today. It continues to provide an important framework for protecting civilians and those no longer participating in combat. With so many of our local forces serving in combat zones, we recognise how important this humanitarian movement is. I join with other speakers today in commending this motion. I congratulate the Red Cross in Australia and the Northern Territory for its service to society, both here in Australia, and also abroad.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Speaker, I will speak briefly to support this motion. Whilst, initially, I was somewhat surprised we in the Northern Territory jurisdiction would be discussing this motion, I have had cause to contemplate it in more detail. My initial reservation, of course, was based on the fact that the Northern Territory, as a jurisdiction, has never raised an army and has never gone to war. Naturally, that would be inappropriate. The Australian Constitution is quite clear as to which jurisdiction is responsible for raising an army and making the decision to go to war.
However, I cannot sit through this debate without making some observations, because the operation of the Geneva Convention is a reflection of what has happened in the second half of the 20th century and actually affects large numbers of people who live in Darwin.
We heard from the Attorney-General in relation to the circumstances which led to the formation of the International Red Cross. War is always a ghastly business. In that particular era, the rising nature of industrialised war was changing the way injuries were inflicted upon people, particularly in numbers, and the mechanical nature of the way war was fought. What was not changing was an almost medieval approach to what to do with those casualties once they had been afflicted. Clearly, the Red Cross was a response to that. The moral issues that surrounded the formation of the Red Cross and which were brought into sharp relief by the effects of the use of chemical warfare, particularly in World War I, but also more easily recognised weapons such as the machine gun and, after World War II, of course, with nuclear weapons, we have found ourselves in an environment where we question the nature of war itself and its reasons for existing.
War was once described as a mere extension of politics; it was what happened when debate and diplomacy failed, and was what you did next. I am not entirely sure I subscribe to that particular world view. I would like to read much more to be convinced war naturally has to be an extension of politics. I hope, in many respects, politics could avoid war.
Certainly, the experiences of my own family, which I have discussed before in this place - my mother’s internment in a concentration camp as a child, my father’s repeated arrests for the purposes of forced labour by Nazis - bring home the issues that reside within the nature of war. The way we deal with war, as humanity, is something at the forefront of my mind.
I read with interest not so long ago, a book called Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century in which there was a description of how bombing during World War II changed from an almost – I struggle to find the word – I will not say benign, but non-invasive strategy; that is, you targeted military targets exclusively, as was evidenced even by the initial Nazi raids on England, which attacked military installations only. In fact, the RAF was almost brought to its knees in the first days of the Battle of Britain, not because the Nazis were attacking London, but they had chosen to attack military targets in England.
What happened next was the then Prime Minister arranged, or insisted, that the retaliation for the attacks on England included an attack on Berlin - really a pinprick in the hide of an elephant if you consider the limited capacity of bombers in those days to inflict any serious damage. Like the Doolittle raid after Pearl Harbour, it was more symbolic than an intent to inflict damage. However, it set in motion a chain of events, to which Hitler’s response was to shift his bombing campaign from military targets in England - probably the worst military blunder of that particular battle – and turn the bombing campaign to London itself. While the initial attacks were meant to be on the docks only, the fact is they spread into what was to become known as The Blitz.
What happened then is a deterioration in the morality of what we did as nations - plural. Bombing became an abstract science; something which was done with an indifference to what you were actually doing. It is easy to press a button to open a set of bomb bay doors at 10 000 feet. By the time World War II was over, bombing was done in a strategic and methodical way, it was deliberately designed to destroy cities – the most famous example would probably be Dresden. It was done in a very clinical way, so much so women and children were considered to be legitimate military targets, because the women were running the drill press that built the bullets that shot soldiers and were part of the military machine. Therefore, the carpet bombing of a civilian population was a legitimate military action.
I believe it was General Curtis LeMay who said after World War II, if the Americans had lost the war and he had been put on trial for what he did in the firestorm of Tokyo, he would almost certainly have been convicted of being a war criminal.
Those wars and battles I have discussed so far were wars and battles of ideology. What has happened in the modern era, and I expect to see more of, is the nature of conflict will change. In 1990 or 1991, the most common form of government in the world had become the democracy – the liberal democracy, for lack of better words. It happened very suddenly. The Soviet Union and many of its republics became democratic nations in one fashion or another and, as a consequence, observers such as Francis Fukuyama – an unlikely name for an American philosopher – made comments about this being the age of the end of history. He pointed out there is no instance in history where two democracies have gone to war with each other.
Certainly, democracies have gone to war with totalitarian regimes, and regimes of that nature have gone to war with each other. However, with one possible exception last year, I cannot think of any instance - and I thought about this long and hard - of two well-established democracies going to war with each other. The possible exception is the conflict between Georgia and Russia last year - both nominal democracies. Then again, it was a very contained conflict; it did not spread in the way other wars have spread.
What that highlights is the nature of war itself, or the reasons for going to war have changed. If democracies do not go to war with each other, then what we will start seeing is the ideological battle of how we run government is will not be the source of war that it was in the last century. In the last century, it was left versus right, Nazism, absolutism and those types of things, versus the forces of democracy. If democracy is now so prevalent, the next question is: why do we have conflicts at all? I suspect, we will see more smaller conflicts dotted around the traps – which has been happening in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The forces arrayed against each other will be the forces of - for lack of a better word - reason against the forces of absolutism. We see this expressed in the way organisations such as the Taliban and Hamas engage in conflict with other people. This absolute world view - and I am not picking on Islamic organisations, they are just the ones that spring to mind at the moment - of conflict means we will find ourselves putting out hot spots where these forces of absolutism tend to rear their head. I believe one of the places we will continue to see many hot spots in the future will be Africa.
Having made those observations, what I ask myself is: what makes the people who hold the weapons, the guns, on our side more noble or more justified than people who hold the guns on another side? The more you examine that question, it gives you great pause. What I do know is those people who hold the guns in defence of us, ultimately, do so with a view to, eventually, putting those guns down. I have often thought about this issue and the best analogy I could come to is if someone was attacking me and I had a baseball bat and, on that bat was written the Declaration of Human Rights, what would I choose to do? Would I hit them with the bat, or would I read them the rights and hope they would see the light of day? The truth is you would hit them with the bat first and, having subdued them, you would try to enlighten them with what was written on it.
The people who do this for us are our young men and women in the forces who we see every day in our newspapers and on television sets, who puts their lives on the line and, on occasion, are killed. The federal Minister for Defence, minister Faulkner, recently made the observation it is likely, with the escalation of what is happening in Afghanistan at the moment, more soldiers will be killed and injured in the course of their duty. What are those soldiers fighting for? They are fighting to contain the forces of absolutism; those forces which would deprive us of our democracies, our freedoms, our liberties, and inflict upon us systems of governance which can be best described as medieval. If the Taliban regime was the yardstick by which to measure those forces of absolutism, then I balk at the idea of any such government being given life in the modern world.
This, then, brings me to the local issues which concern me most: what happens to those soldiers we know? Many of those soldiers who have fought and died or been injured have come from our electorates. The member for Nelson has Robertson Barracks in his electorate and I have Larrakeyah Barracks in mine. Recently, we were watching a Welcome Home Parade of so many soldiers from overseas who have fought, particularly in Afghanistan. They hold their weapons with the righteousness of a reasoned and democratic system to defend. They have every justification to hold those weapons, and they do so within rules of engagement and rules of war, something the other side do not.
I pray for the safety of those soldiers who defend our system of government. Even if they defend it overseas, I still support and pray for their safety and wish them the very best in their endeavours. I would like to see no other Australian soldier - or any other soldier for that matter - injured or suffer unnecessarily in the fighting. It is remarkable so few have been taken from us, considering what they have engaged in. From what I have seen on television, it is astonishing we have lost so few. Nevertheless, it is tragic to see it when it happens; to see those injured soldiers, even in the parade the other day, who could not march because of the injuries they received from IADs and other weapons.
Madam Speaker, I support this motion because I support the philosophies of humanity that have been introduced by the Geneva Conventions. I certainly encourage all members to contemplate how personal this stuff gets, because it affects people we know - people we meet in the street, in the pubs, will be people who have picked up weapons in defence of our nation and our system of government in places like Afghanistan. I believe they do so for the right reasons: for humane reasons and for the betterment of our world.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all honourable members for speaking in such full support of this motion commemorating the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Geneva Conventions. This is not just a document that sits in the United Nations, it is part of the Northern Territory and, in many ways, Territorians have supported Red Cross over many years.
As local members, all of us at some point have participated in the annual Red Cross Doorknock Appeal to raise money. On the occasions I have had the opportunity and the time to do it, I have always been overwhelmed by turning up to people’s doors and everyone is very free to give money or whatever they can, to support Red Cross.
I pay my respects and thanks to the extraordinarily hard-working board in the Northern Territory: Sharon Mulholland, the Executive Director - everyone knows Sharon’s great work; Deven Patel, as the Chair - Deven has taken it on recently, in 2006 I believe, and is a very passionate Chair of the local Northern Territory Board; Belinda Peacocke; Foster Stavridis; Charles Burkitt; Kat Byron; Simon Lee; Kath Phelan; and Hon John Reeves, Federal Court judge. To all those people, thank you for your time and your contribution to the board. To all the hard-working members of the Australian Red Cross in the Northern Territory and Red Cross supporters - you do a tremendous job, you support a tremendous cause, and it is fantastic the parliament has been able to speak in such full praise of the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions.
Motion agreed to.
CANCER (REGISTRATION) BILL
(Serial 46)
(Serial 46)
Continued from 11 June 2009.
Mr CONLAN (Greatorex): Madam Speaker, this bill appears to be pretty straightforward. I will add a few comments, and I have a few questions for the minister. I believe we will be going into committee stage with this, so I will not be taking all the 45 minutes.
In 1988, the Northern Territory was one of the first jurisdictions to introduce registration for recording and monitoring cancer diagnoses and deaths in Australia. Cancer medicine has progressed with remarkable advancements since the late 1980s. This bill is to reflect those advancements and enable the NTCR to continue to provide accurate information as more is known about cancer in the coming years. This legislation, I believe, allows the minister to declare new diseases as cancer for the purpose of inclusion of relevant details into the Cancer Registry.
The revised bill will allow registry data to be used for what is considered appropriate, at the discretion of the Chief Health Officer - that is part of the explanatory statement. I will flag a couple of questions and we can go into it.
This bill, essentially, has the support of the opposition, provided we can get some satisfactory answers, which I am sure the minister has. I have contacted the department regarding privacy. This is probably an area of the bill to do with privacy. From my understanding, the amended part of the act is to gather information from the past to provide a more complete Cancer Registry. What other information will be gathered to create a more complete registry? Do you expect to gather the same information from the past? Will we be gathering everything from now on to move forward to create a more complete register? Will we be able to access that information from the past?
I guess that feeds into some privacy issues. Do people have a choice? I see here the Registrar can request further information from the person who submitted information to a medical practitioner referred to within the information, or another medical practitioner, and the person must comply with that direction within seven days. Obviously, it is mandated that person must comply with that.
If we are allowing the department to access this information, demand information, where does it stop? Is there any protection for those people who do not want their names or the type of cancers identified?
An e-mail I received from the department said:
- The Cancer Register contains identifying details on all people diagnosed with cancer. This is consistent with the current Cancer (Registration) Act and with cancer registers in all other states and territories.
Essentially, that information and those privacy issues concern me. Does a person have a choice? For example, if someone has a pap smear and cervical cancer is detected, that person, for obvious reasons, might like information kept very private. What will happen to that information? How secure will that information be? Can people access the information in the future, and what guarantees can the minister give the particular information will remain totally private?
I know some stakeholders - that is, the Cancer Council - at first thought this information was de-identified but, after discussions with the department and your office, minister, it is now identifying details. The Cancer Council does, however, support the amendments to the act. They have said this will allow for more accurate data collection which will, in turn, inform our policymakers of service requirements.
An interesting point raised in line with the policymakers’ re-service requirements was whether in situ cancers will be considered as part of this data? This has been raised by the Cancer Council and Bosom Buddies in addressing the important issue. They have said expanding the diagnosis of cancer so it can possibly include in situ cancers which, you may well know - and it does say here - are those cancers that are contained and have not yet become invasive. To date, they have not been included in cancer statistics despite requiring patient bed days, surgery and, sometimes, radiotherapy. These types of cancers do require the resources of the Northern Territory Health department, the public purse, so I am wondering whether this act will allow for the data of in situ cancers to be collected.
We might save the rest for the committee stage; I believe it is relatively straightforward. I hope the minister can answer some of those questions because privacy is a big concern for us. Will people be protected? Will their details be guaranteed to be protected under this new act? If we are going back to the database to collect information to bring it up to speed, to move forward with a new data collection process to create a more complete registry, what sort of questions will be asked, and what is the limit of those questions? We will be asking much more regarding information those people will have to provide.
Mr WOOD (Nelson): Madam Speaker, my comments will be short. I thank the department for the briefing to my office. As the opposition shadow minister said, it is basically straightforward; it is about bringing data up-to-date. It is also about keeping in line with other Australian state and territory legislation. It is important we have that sort of data because these issues relating to cancer also relate to planning facilities for the future. Those facilities, whether it is oncology or whatever, are not cheap. Governments need to know where the best place is to put their money because they want to invest those dollars where research is required, or where medical facilities are required, to ensure they get best value for money.
I also understand the importance of the privacy matters that relate to the information which is gathered. As I said, the opposition shadow minister raised that issue and I believe it is very important; people certainly want to know those matters will not end up in the hands of people who really do not have the right to know about them.
Madam Speaker, my comments, basically, support this bill; I believe it is an important bill. Although it is relatively small, it has ramifications for the future which are important. Once again, I thank the minister’s department for giving a briefing on the subject.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Speaker, I support the Cancer (Registration) Bill 2009 which updates and replaces a 21-year-old act, the Cancer Registration Act 1988.
The bill is the instrument which allows the continuation of the Northern Territory Cancer Register to keep data on incidents of cancer which have been diagnosed in the Territory. I understand we are not the only place to keep that kind of information - other jurisdictions do too. It forms a valuable source of information for policy and planning and provision of services to people suffering from cancer.
As the minister explained in his introductory remarks, the Northern Territory register has special importance because it is the best source of information about cancer in the Indigenous population. The proposed bill addresses issues that have arisen in the collection of data. These issues have emerged as a result of changes to legislation nationally, and in the classification and management of cancer. It is difficult to properly plan and develop the best policies if the data at our disposal is not complete or accurate. The purpose of the original act, and of the new bill, is to ensure the Northern Territory Cancer Register includes all cancers occurring in the Territory.
The minister provided some clear examples of where problems exist under the current act; for example, cancers diagnosed by health care providers without a pathological test may not be included on the register, and the Australian government Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 makes it inappropriate for private health providers to disclose identifiable information to the Northern Territory Cancer Register. These issues are addressed in the bill before the House. The Cancer (Registration) Bill 2009 will require that hospitals notify cancer diagnoses and place them on the register, which already occurs in other Australian states and territories. The bill will also require private health care providers to respond to requests from the Cancer Registrar on incomplete or inconsistent information, which also occurs in other states and territories except South Australia.
There is no point in storing information unless you can use it to properly plan and develop policies. This is the second major issue the minister flagged and seeks to address in the proposed bill. The current act does not allow data that has been collected to be used to best advantage. This can include the example the minister gave of the contribution to development of national policy. The minister used the 2002 Australian government’s Radiation Oncology Inquiry as an example.
Madam Speaker, it is important the data we collect is used wisely and sensitively, and makes a difference in how we plan to provide for people with cancer in the Territory. That is why I commend this bill to the House.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I urge members to consider this bill very carefully because of the method government has used, in years gone by, to deal with people with cancer. Since its election in 2001, this government has not been friendly in any way or shown any compassion to cancer sufferers in the Northern Territory. It is an issue I became familiar with during 2001, having dealt with people who were afflicted with many types of cancer. At the time, and today, people in the Northern Territory, in the large part, were forced to travel interstate, often for long periods of time, to receive treatment for cancer. This treatment can take months. It is a massive disruption in people’s lives; having to go interstate, being away from family and friends and support networks.
I can only imagine the horror of having a doctor or specialist inform me that I have cancer. I imagine it would be a life-changing moment. After you have been given this diagnosis, you then have to, somehow or other, get on a plane. I have to say the support from government for people travelling interstate is not particularly great in relation to the cost of airline tickets. The small subsidy for travel and accommodation costs does not go a long way, particularly if a person has a family, a job, and mortgage repayments to deal with at the same time. It certainly makes a massive impact on one’s life. Over years of talking with people who have been through that situation, I have come to realise the major disruption it causes to people’s lives.
I can understand that is what motivated the Labor Party, in the lead-up to the 2001 Territory election, to make a commitment to build an oncology unit. Clearly, they were seeking people’s support, and identified an oncology unit as a need in the Territory. I suppose the Country Liberals, prior to the election, should have been more attuned to the population’s needs and should have done something about getting an oncology unit built. Let bygones be bygones. Labor certainly beat the Country Liberals to the mark, identifying that need in the community and making the commitment to constructing an oncology unit in the Northern Territory.
They even went as far as, in the mini-budget of 2002 …
A member: 2001.
Mr TOLLNER: 2001 was it? … to allocating money in that budget for the construction of an oncology unit. They allocated $14m in that budget. That was the estimated cost. They had several reports and reviews done and, on the best advice at that time, said they could go it alone and build Territorians an oncology unit. We know what happened then: Labor reneged on that promise; they turned their back on people with cancer. They said they could not possibly do it all off their own bat, they would actually require some support from the Commonwealth.
This is really, I suppose, what sparked my interest, as I was then the federal member for Solomon, and was keen to see the Commonwealth assist the Territory government in making an oncology unit a reality in the Northern Territory. In fact, I staked my job on it at the time. I said I would ensure the Commonwealth came through with some support funding. However, over the years, what we saw was the Territory government completely back away from their commitment. They backed away from the $14m they committed in the budget in 2001, to the stage now where the Northern Territory government is not putting up one red cent - not one red cent - for cancer treatment in the Northern Territory.
They are committing a block of land, which they say is worth X number of dollars, and that is their contribution. The totality of the funding for the oncology unit in the Northern Territory is coming from the Commonwealth. I understand it has been a long, drawn-out process. It may well be next year before the doors of that facility are finally flung open and it starts treating Territorians who have cancer. Territorians, particularly Top Enders, will be able to stay in their own location and have visits from people here. They will not have the same problems that are occurring now, where they have to travel thousands of kilometres for treatment, and family and friends will be a lot nearer and able to visit.
However, it is sometime next year we are talking about, almost a full decade - a full decade - since it was first promised ...
Mr Conlan: No, it was promised in 2001; in opposition.
Mr TOLLNER: In opposition. Well, there you go. It has taken the Labor Party in the Northern Territory a full decade to deliver on their 2001, or 2000 election commitment – a full decade. This is something they budgeted for in 2001. Now, they are not putting any money into it at all; the entire bill is being picked up by the Commonwealth.
I ask members: how do you feel about the commitment you get from Labor? How can they raise the hopes of people who are diagnosed with cancer by suggesting: ‘Yes, we will have something built here. We will have something here in the Northern Territory you will be able to use’? - raise their hopes and constantly dash them.
Over the period I was in the federal parliament, people on the other side accused the Commonwealth of not building it. They said it was the Commonwealth’s fault the unit was not built. The Commonwealth did not make the election commitment. The Commonwealth did not say they were going to build the unit all on their own. The Commonwealth always said they would simply support the construction of it. Later on, the Territory government said they could not do it all on their own; they realised they had mismanaged the books to the point where they could not afford to build an oncology unit. They could not afford to keep their own promises. Here we are now, toward the end of 2009, and we are still waiting for the opening of the oncology unit.
I look at other services we need in the Northern Territory. I believe it was identified formally in 2006, when the federal Coalition made an election commitment to assist in and provide funding for a cardiac facility in the Northern Territory to provide cardiac services from our hospital. There are as many people travel interstate – in fact, I believe there are more people - for cardiac services as for cancer services. There is a crying need in the Northern Territory to offer cardiac services at Royal Darwin Hospital. We should be able to do that.
It is not a big deal, once the oncology unit is completed. Certainly, it is much cheaper to provide cardiac services than to provide oncology services. Since the 2007 federal election, we have heard absolutely nothing – zero, nought - from the Territory government about providing cardiac services in the Northern Territory.
What is considered these days as a reasonably simple operation, like stenting - putting a stainless steel sleeve into somebody’s heart - cannot be done in the Northern Territory. People have to travel interstate. It is not even on the books. We look at Royal Darwin Hospital and see the great leaps and steps that have occurred over the last 10 years. Where have they come from? Not from the Territory government - not from the Territory government at all. We see the Territory government jumping up every time there is an announcement about the National Critical Care and Trauma Centre, or about oncology, taking credit for these things. I believe that is what the member for Nelson talks about when he talks about spin; the propensity of government to stand up and take credit for these things, and say it was all their hard work when, in fact, there is no contribution whatsoever. All the Territory government has to do is facilitate these things.
That is certainly the case with the oncology unit. The Territory government just has to facilitate the construction of it. They are not actually putting up their own money; they are putting up the Commonwealth’s money. Still, it has taken almost a decade for that to happen.
Mr Mills: Shame!
Mr TOLLNER: It is shameful – it is absolutely shameful. I feel we cannot let a bill like the Cancer (Registration) Bill 2009 pass without drawing members’ attention to this. I have spoken to my good friend, the member for Greatorex, our Health spokesperson, who tells me he has some concerns about the privacy of patients’ records. I have encouraged him, and I imagine he will question the minister on this aspect of the bill when it goes to committee stage.
__________________
Pairing Arrangement -
Members for Karama and Blain
Members for Karama and Blain
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, would you mind if I make an announcement that there is a pair arrangement I have just received which is signed by the government Whip and the opposition Whip for the members for Karama and Blain for the period 11.20 am until 2 pm today.
__________________
Mr TOLLNER: That is where we are at. I hope no one out there will take this bill on what it is shown to be, because the fact is this government has no commitment to people with cancer or cardiac issues. What this government is committed to is saving itself money so it can squirrel away funds somewhere else - goodness knows where. One day there will be a change of government, we will open the books, and we may get a few answers to where the money is going in the Northern Territory.
What they have a commitment to is getting a message out there - that is all they are committed to - and they are committed to their political highs because the only thing that matters for this government is being in government. They are not interested in providing services to people with cancer, or providing services to people with cardiac or respiratory problems - there are a range of other services we do not offer here - but they are interested in taking credit for every single little thing they can. I have outlined the National Critical Care and Trauma Centre which, every time there is a new piece of machinery or a doctor is appointed, the first one you hear from is the minister saying: ‘We have done this’, or ‘We have done that’. Every time there is an issue with the oncology unit, we do not have the federal Health minister, Nicola Roxon, coming up to make announcements – no. We do not even have the local member, Damien Hale, making the announcements.
I know about the media conference where Damien Hale was standing waiting to speak to the media and, bang, he is elbowed out of the way by the Territory minister, who had not put a single cent into the whole deal. However, it is a Territory minister who made the announcement and took the credit; it is not the embattled member for Solomon who gets to make any announcements here in the Northern Territory.
No, Madam Speaker, this government is all about spin. It is all about manipulating public perception of the job it is doing. I hope members will analyse this critically. I am not suggesting there are any funny bits in this bill. However, members should take an interest because this government does not do what it says it will. As I keep saying: look at what they do, do not listen to what they say - look at what they do. What they do in the Northern Territory is very little of anything except push their own barrow and blow their own trumpets.
Mr VATSAKLIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I am surprised to listen to the member for Fong Lim’s diatribe when we have the Cancer (Registration) Bill before us; it has nothing to do with the oncology unit, or who is delivering it. However, in one thing he was right: in 2006 he kept his word on delivering the oncology unit. We did not see it in the Territory then, and he did not keep his job. However, let us forget this for another day; this is about a new bill with regard to cancer registration.
Thank you very much to members for their comments, and I appreciate the comments about privacy. That was the first thing that struck me, the first thing I questioned. When you collect information, you have to be very careful how this information is collected, how it is kept, and who it is provided to.
One of the things I have to point out is that no extra personal information will be covered under this bill; it will be exactly as it was before. A similar situation exists with the Notifiable Diseases Act with information regarding name, date of birth, ethnicity, and everything that is relevant. That is very important because we have to know the people and where they are coming from, because then we are able to identify whether there is a particular type of cancer occurring in a particular area and we have clusters. Then, we know how to defend and provide the infrastructure to address this issue.
The register meets Northern Territory and national privacy legislation. The Northern Territory Information Commissioner has endorsed confidentiality will be maintained at all times. The information will be provided under the existing national and Territory guidelines only when people move from our jurisdiction to another jurisdiction. We can provide this information to their council authority so there is continuity. It is also for research. The way that research information will be handled has to comply with the Ethics Committee established in every state and territory and, also, nationally. It is not free for all; you cannot get information if you just go there and ask for it. There has to be a reason, and it is very strictly controlled.
Regarding your question about in situ cancer, cancer is defined under national agreements. This agreement does not include in situ cancers; therefore, they will not be included. However, this is a new bill, and this will provide for improved collection of information. It also expands on where the information comes from. Before, it was actually through the diagnosis of pathological tests and laboratories; now we have other areas. Also, due to improvement in medical science, we can now identify new types of cancers. That is included in this legislation.
The most important issue is - and I absolutely agree with the member for Greatorex - the patient’s confidentiality is paramount. I have asked that of the department, and I am satisfied that the information will be kept under strict control and not provided willy-nilly to anybody who asks for it. It has to comply with the national and Territory standards.
We now have an amendment which was actually identified when we finalised the operational requirements of the bill. We are trying to have information collected under the repealed act to be continuous with that collected under the proposed new act. The information we had before will be continuous with information we are collecting now. This includes provision for the Cancer Registrar to go back and ask health providers for further information in order to have a complete and accurate register. Also, the proposed amendments to the new clause 26 make this intention explicit within the act. It is not a policy change; it is to make this bill more workable and to ensure the information we have now, and had in the previous register, is the same, so we have a complete set of information in our registration bill.
Madam Speaker, it is not about cancer, it is not about treatment; it is about collecting appropriate information in order to make better decisions in the future.
Motion agreed to; bill read a second time.
In committee:
Mr CONLAN: Madam Speaker, could we take the bill as a whole, because I only have a couple of questions. Rather than go through clause by clause, can I just ask the minister a couple of questions and take the bill as a whole?
Madam CHAIR: We need to work through the amendments.
Clauses 1 and 2, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 3:
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Chair, I move amendment 16.1.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 3, as amended, agreed to.
Clauses 4 to 25, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 26:
Mr VATSKALIS: Madam Speaker, I move amendment 16.2.
Amendment agreed to.
Clause 26, as amended, agreed to.
Remainder of the bill, by leave, taken as a whole.
Mr CONLAN: Minister, regarding the information that will be gathered for this, can you tell us whereabouts it is stored and in what capacity?
Mr VATSKALIS: It is within the registry within the Health department in a secure IT file.
Mr CONLAN: Okay, so it is like a vault, or is it just files?
Mr VATSKALIS: Well no, it is an electronic, IT file.
Mr CONLAN: IT file?
Mr VATSKALIS: The same way sensitive information such as notifiable diseases, and other sensitive information, is stored. They are not locked away; they are put in a computer system with encryption and passwords which can be accessed only by authorised people in the department.
Mr CONLAN: You may have mentioned it in your speech; I did not quite pick it up. Do people have a choice about that information being identified? Is there any choice there?
Mr VATSKALIS: No. Under the current legislation, the information for all people diagnosed with cancer is collected. The new bill applies the same criteria. It is no different to other legislation like the Notifiable Diseases Act. People who have a notifiable disease are recorded, and have no choice of opting out of it. However, again, it is not something we actually use for any other purpose, only for our own policy development, treatment methods, conveying this information if they move from the Northern Territory, let us say to Western Australia, or if an authority or an organisation does research based on the information we can provide.
Mind you, we have the most complete Cancer Register for Indigenous people in Australia, and it will continue.
Mr CONLAN: Is there any way for the registrar to gather information from interstate? That is assuming most people are diagnosed in the Northern Territory even before they go interstate. Is it worth considering, or is it worthwhile for the registrar to be able to request such information from interstate, particularly if the person is diagnosed in the Territory?
Mr VATSKALIS: If people move from another jurisdiction to the Northern Territory, we can go back to the registrar and ask for their information so we have a complete set of data for that person who comes here. Again, it depends on the legislation they have in other states but, usually, when people with cancer move to the Territory we can go back to where they came from and ask for this information.
Mr CONLAN: What if they were diagnosed first in the Territory and then move interstate?
Mr VATSKALIS: If they are diagnosed in the Territory …
Mr CONLAN: Diagnosed here.
Mr VATSKALIS: … they are registered here, and if they move interstate, we already have the information here before they even go. This information does not disappear, it stays here. We will convey this information to the other authority.
Mr CONLAN: If they die interstate as a result of cancer, are we able to acquire that information as well?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, if it is registered. Our register is independent of the legislative provisions of other states. Some states can give it to us. Some states have certain requirements to give it to us.
Mr CONLAN: Madam Chair, I believe that is all I have.
Ms CARNEY: Minister, given the sensitivity of the information gathered, I believe it is important to outline this for the Parliamentary Record. Can you advise what security measures are in place to ensure the information on the register is kept private?
Mr VATSKALIS: The information is kept in an electronic file, in accordance with the provisions of the Northern Territory legislation and the national legislation.
Ms CARNEY: What exists to ensure the information does not fall into the wrong hands, or is not, inadvertently or otherwise, provided to people who should not be in receipt of it?
Mr VATSKALIS: The information is kept in a secure environment. It can only be accessed by people authorised by the Chief Medical Officer. Not everyone can access it.
Ms CARNEY: You say it is kept electronically. Does that mean it is security encrypted, coded, and all that sort of thing?
Mr VATSKALIS: The same way other relevant information is kept. A number of registers we have in the Health department are kept in the same way, in accordance with the national provisions.
Ms CARNEY: The information is only able to be accessed by the CMO or his or her delegate?
Mr VATSKALIS: That is what I am advised.
Ms CARNEY: Can you advise who those delegates are, or could be?
Mr VATSKALIS: The authorised person to access this information is the registrar.
Ms CARNEY: Can you advise who those people are likely to be?
Mr VATSKALIS: There are three people: the data manager, the registrar, and the statistician can access this information for statistics.
Ms CARNEY: They are the only three people authorised by the CMO to access or to disseminate this information? Correct?
Mr VATSKALIS: I am advised there are these three people.
Ms CARNEY: What are the penalties for the, inadvertent or otherwise, release of this information?
Mr VATSKALIS: As described in the general provisions of the Privacy Act.
Ms CARNEY: Can you please outline what those provisions are?
Mr VATSKALIS: Sorry, I do not have it in front of me. They are described in the Privacy Act. This is what would happen for breach of privacy.
Mr CARNEY: It is curious, minister, that you come in here and assure me, my colleagues and, indeed, the parliament to trust you and those three people. I am not saying that they should not be. However, given we are health consumers, and represent our electorates, who are also health consumers, they should receive something other than a reference by you to something in the Privacy Act. I ask that you obtain that information and provide it to the parliament. If you are unable to do so, I guess you have a couple of options. One is to ask your advisors to get that information; another one is to adjourn this debate. I believe members of parliament should satisfy themselves and you, as minister, with what the penalties are because it is an important public policy point, and I ask you to answer it.
Mr VATSKALIS: In Part 4, clause 4(13) Confidential Information, it specifies a person must not disclose information obtained by the person in the course of carrying out functions for the administration of this act. The maximum penalty is 10 penalty units.
Ms CARNEY: There is no period of imprisonment prescribed? It is just penalty units?
Mr VATSKALIS: Sorry?
Ms CARNEY: No period of imprisonment, just penalty units?
Mr VATSKALIS: No, it prescribes only penalty units.
Ms CARNEY: Only penalty units. Thank you. What capacity is there, if at all, for a health consumer to elect not to be on the register?
Mr VATSKALIS: As I explained before, there is no option for a person to opt out of being on the register.
Ms CARNEY: Why not?
Mr VATSKALIS: Well, establishing a register like that, you have to collect information from every person ...
Ms CARNEY: Can you speak up?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes. When you establish a register like that, you do it for the purpose of identifying persons, areas, type of cancers, in order to develop policy; a way to address this issue. If we start saying, ‘You can be in it but you do not have to if you do not want to’, then it compromises the integrity of the register, which then has no value in collecting the information.
Ms CARNEY: You would be aware, presumably as Health Minister, that there is ongoing research in relation to cervical cancer, I assume? Yes? I take it from your nodding head that is a yes, for Hansard?
Mr VATSKALIS: Yes, it is.
Ms CARNEY: I ask you to provide a rationale for the apparent inconsistency where women of the Territory, myself included, can elect - as I have elected - not to be on the PAP Smear Register. There are many reasons why I have elected not to be on it; privacy is one of them. How do you reconcile, on the one hand, in relation to PAP smears for cervical cancer, a health consumer can elect not to be on that register and, yet, you say with cancer, generally, a person does not have that right?
Mr VATSKALIS: Member for Araluen, a PAP smear is for screening purposes. This is for diagnosed cases of cancer. So, you can choose to be on the PAP Smear Register or not, because that is only for diagnosis to ascertain if the person has cervical cancer, or the possibilities. This is for diagnosed cases of cancer.
Ms CARNEY: All right. Thank you for outlining what the rationale is. Prior to hearing that - because we had discussed it - we could not work out exactly what the rationale was. So, thank you for answering that question. Whether it is satisfactory or not, frankly, I am not sure. In any event, why do you not, as a government, provide the opportunity for someone who elects not to be on the register? Why do you not provide them with that opportunity?
Mr VATSKALIS: As I said before, what is the point of having a register if you cannot have an accurate picture of what is happening in the Territory? There is no purpose in having it because it is deficient; if 10% of people decide to opt out, or 20%, then you do not have an accurate picture of the Territory. You cannot do proper planning for the future, for service delivery, identifying areas, identifying types of cancers. You have a complete register, or you do not have any at all.
Ms CARNEY: I do not know the answer to this. Are there other health registers in the Territory for other types of illnesses? If so, can you outline them? I am assuming the obvious one is a list going of swine flu victims, but what else is there? I am just wondering why this is a stand-alone part of public health policy.
Mr VATSKALIS: It is not the only register that is compulsory. The Notifiable Diseases Register is compulsory. Swine flu is notifiable, so all these cases are notified. I have been advised a register is compulsory by national requirements, so everyone has to be on it if they are diagnosed with cancer.
Ms CARNEY: Assuming you consulted with various agencies or stakeholders through the process, did you receive any advice or recommendations that health consumers have the right not to have their information on the register?
Mr VATSKALIS: My advice is that the Cancer Council, which we consult with, is fine with it.
Remainder of the bill agreed to.
Bill reported with amendments; report adopted.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a third time.
Motion agreed to; bill read a third time.
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT
Strategic Directions for
Education and Training
Strategic Directions for
Education and Training
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I make a statement on the future strategic directions for education and training in the Northern Territory. Education and training is the No 1 priority of my government. We know that education changes lives, it provides opportunities, and it expands horizons. Importantly, we know education and training not only changes the lives of individuals, but it can also transform communities. We know that education is the key to transforming the Territory and the lives of Territorians. This means we need a robust education system: a system recognised for a culture of high expectations and high-performing people, programs, and processes; a system focused on supporting our students and schools to achieve their best.
This government’s goal is a smart Territory, a smart, skilled and innovative Territory where the potential of every child is recognised, and where every school works with the department and their community to ensure our children get the education and training they need to fulfil their potential.
The Territory has grown and developed significantly over the last decade. Darwin is now a outward-looking, vibrant, tropical capital city. Palmerston is a rapidly-growing city of choice; Alice Springs is becoming recognised as Australia’s inland capital; and our regional and remote communities are rapidly evolving to be towns servicing growth areas. Now, more than ever, we need more skilled, smart people to drive our future. To achieve this we need students at school longer, developing the skills and capacities to be work ready when they graduate. This means parents and schools working collaboratively to ensure students attend school 90% or more of the time. This means students achieving or exceeding the national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, and senior secondary students graduating with either a VET Certificate II or above, with a TER score which will get them into university.
To get there, the education and training system must provide effective support and expertise to our schools, our teachers, our parents, and our students. We must have a system that ensures we have in place quality strategies and programs for all stages of schooling; a system that ensures we have quality people and partnerships on the ground focused on making a difference for every student, which provides strategic and data-driven support focused on achievement and improvement in every area of business.
The Territory government has an unrelenting focus on reforming and strengthening education and training at all levels. More than ever before, the government has significantly increased and expanded the resources in place - resources that specifically target improving the infrastructure of schools, as well as the quality of leadership and coordination that guides the performance of the education and training system.
In 2004, we established a Teacher Registration Board to effectively lead and sustain professional standards across the Territory teaching workforce. In 2004, we pioneered the Laptop for Teachers program, an innovation that enables our teachers to use learning technologies as part of their daily work, an initiative with significant impact and has been warmly appreciated by teachers across the Territory. In 2006, we reformed secondary education by establishing the middle years of schooling as a distinct and important stage of schooling in the lives of our young people.
In 2007, we introduced the school Accountability and Performance Improvement Framework to drive the achievement of improved results. This framework is now working to establish improved results in our schools. In 2007, we instituted the NT Safe Schools Code of Conduct. This code outlines the expectations of parents, carers and schools in ensuring schools are safe places to learn and work. It provides the much-needed policy and practical support the system required to drive and guide the quality of learning environments in our schools.
Since 2008, we have strategically collaborated with the Clontarf Football Academy to establish academies in schools in Darwin, Katherine and Alice Springs. This foundation uses evidence-based practices to improve the health, employment, education and life skills of Australia’s teenage Indigenous males.
In addition to all of this, we now have a well-established plan delivering infrastructure; a plan that has commenced building new schools, major upgrades, improved repairs and maintenance, as well as additional classrooms and facilities right across the Territory. This year, the Territory and federal governments combined will spend an unprecedented $235m to improve, upgrade and modernise the infrastructure and facilities in our schools.
This government is committed to the ongoing reform and improvement of our education and training system. The future direction of my government is centred on one clear goal: real and improved student outcomes. We recognise that, while we have made significant gains in recent times, there is much more to be done. Last month, I launched the next phase of our efforts to provide the best possible education and training system to Territorians: the Education and Training Strategic Plan 2009-12. It is attached to this ministerial statement. This plan provides a clear direction for education and training. It is designed to spell out my government’s vision, ideas and expectations for education and training over the next three years.
The strategic plan gives a clear path forward for every level of leadership and action throughout the system. The plan is the culmination of many things but, in particular, it takes on board the key recommendations of the Ladwig and Sarra report. It incorporates an agency structure and focus which is centred around student learning and achievement, and it puts into place the significant national partnership arrangements my government has signed with our federal partners.
The focus of the next three years will be an emphasis on the development of a quality system based on high expectations of success, with clear goals and expectations; a system which is strategically resourced to maximise the outcomes of students in remote, rural, and urban schools; promotes coherent curriculum pathways through the stages of schooling; promotes teacher learning and development in line with the outcomes we want for our students; and most importantly, provides every student with an orderly and supported environment.
To get there, my government’s strategic plan focuses on the development of quality programs to improve attendance, participation, and achievement at every level; the recruitment and retention of quality people in partnerships to develop the right people who are committed to the Territory and know how to make a difference; and the building of quality systems to support our schools achieve real and improved outcomes for every student.
Central to every aspect of the education and training plan, the government expects improvements in attendance, achievements in English, literacy and numeracy, as well as Year 12 completions and certifications, and the culture to establish high expectations for students, teaching, and schooling. These three core aims will underpin the effort of each school, each initiative, and each decision.
For the next three years, this government’s attention is focused on using the available research and data to improve the access, engagement and achievement in the early years, as well as primary years, middle years, and senior years of schooling.
The first eight years of a child’s life are critical to their education. It is in these years that a young child develops the confidence and behaviours which will influence their involvement in learning for the rest of their lives. The government will release a detailed reform plan for these early years in 2010. Essentially, we will closely integrate the delivery of health and education services, and focus resources on families. We will assist families in the educational development of their children from birth to the early years of schooling. This will deliver working partnerships across the Territory government and productive relationships with the federal government.
This government will introduce a range of innovative programs into these years. We will establish integrated family hubs in our growth towns which will deliver both health and education services, including the government’s election commitment to the Families as First Teachers program. Parents will be assisted to develop the communication and language skills, as well as the social and emotional skills essential for laying the strong foundation to their children’s future success in learning. We will work with our federal counterparts to build and sustain a system focused on quality care and learning. As part of our consideration of the details of this policy, the government will identify the resources to be directed to the early years of schooling to improve the achievement of our students across the curriculum and, importantly, in the national literacy and numeracy standards.
The primary and middle years of schooling are critical phases in a young person’s development and, as such, the education strategic plan will include strategies and programs to improve student engagement in achievements. These stages of schooling are critical stages; they build on the essential literacy, numeracy, ICT skills, and the social and emotional competence developed in the early years. These stages of schooling introduce students to more in-depth specialist learning, and develop their capacity to become lifelong learners.
To support and improve the standards of attendance, achievement, and engagement in schooling, the government will focus attention on providing students and teachers with curriculum options and resources that are both engaging and rigorous. We will use the opportunities provided by the work of the National Curriculum Board to strategically align the primary and middle years with the early and senior years, respectively. We will also continue to work on supporting schools to offer positive and engaging learning environments for students, including exploring the options provided by VET.
The government believes it is critical we keep more students at school longer. That is why we have extended the compulsory years of schooling to the end of Year 10, and introduced a requirement that all young people up to 17 years of age be at school, in work, or in training. The next three years of strategic action are focused on making school more relevant, practical, and focused on bankable outcomes for every student. This will ensure our senior secondary schools cater for the broad range of student needs, both now and into the future. We will work with schools to provide strategies and programs that will ensure every student has a clear pathway from the middle years into Year 10, and through to Year 12, to university, further education or training, or a job.
The Territory already leads the country in proactively supporting individual students to make choices that will maximise their options beyond schooling. The introduction of personal learning plans and dedicated careers advisors in every senior secondary school ensures that assistance with subject choices and pathways continues to improve student achievement at the completion of their schooling. The real focus of reform in these years is the government intends to lift the value of vocational education and training in the senior years.
The Northern Territory Certificate of Education will become the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training. This government expects vocational education and training offerings for students to be coordinated and targeted. The strategic plan will lead the way in making sure our schools give students opportunities to complete a proper qualification; a qualification I believe needs to be at least at Certificate II or III level. This new direction will revamp training in schools and provide coordinated delivery between senior secondary schools, Charles Darwin University, and other providers of training. Each senior school will provide improved VET options, and better VET timetabling to maximise student opportunities to graduate work ready. This government’s plan will resource schools to achieve this goal, but in a way that does not allow duplication of facilities and programs.
We will resource schools to help them transition students from school to work. In this day and age, schools have a responsibility that extends beyond the school fence. Helping transition students into work is one such responsibility. I expect a school like Taminmin High School, which has been outstanding in its application of this program, to be a model for other schools. Taminmin will be resourced to expand their programs into schools, particularly in the Top End growth towns.
To ensure a clear path is reinforced in key growth town schools, the government will enter into partnerships with key employers to provide employment guarantees to a number of successful students. In places such as Nhulunbuy, Groote Eylandt, Jabiru, and Yuendumu, where there are clearly large employers, a guarantee of employment will mean far greater success rates amongst students. It provides them with a clear path to a positive outcome; it gives their education a meaning as well as a purpose
Whilst we will be lifting the focus on VET, the government is also conscious of the need to continue to offer those who choose an academic pathway with the best possible education. To that end, the government intends to establish centres of excellence in maths, science, and engineering in selected senior secondary schools. We will partner with CDU to develop these centres of excellence, along with a centre of excellence in tourism and hospitality.
In late May, the government announced A Working Future, the government’s policy for the development of regional and remote areas of the Northern Territory. It identifies 20 towns across the Territory which will be the focus of growth throughout the Territory. To ensure improving education and training in these towns is a major focus, we will conduct a comprehensive mapping exercise of the education and training needs of six towns. We will assess those requirements, looking at children from birth through to post-school options. We will look at the industry, the jobs, and the employment needs of the community, and map our education response accordingly. Once this is completed, we will have a comprehensive plan for each school, with local and departmental buy-in which we can all implement. The towns involved in the initial plans are Lajamanu, Ngukurr, Umbakumba, Angurugu, Ntaria, Maningrida, Gunbalanya, and Jabiru.
The government will also step up the use of learning technologies right across our education and training system. We will develop a virtual school, based at Nightcliff Middle School, to deliver education across the Territory, and to improve student access to SACE-approved academic, and some VET courses, not available in their home school.
The government’s plan for education and training will emphasise getting the right people in the right jobs. It will consolidate our efforts to recruit, retain, and develop our best people. It will extend investment in Indigenous staff development, ensuring we build the Territory’s capacity to grow our own teachers, leaders and paraprofessionals. In addition, it will evaluate recruitment strategies, especially the recruitment of staff to remote schools.
This government wants teachers and principals keen to commit to communities for longer periods of time and, most importantly, committed to making a difference for Indigenous students and supporting the Territory’s objective to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participation and achievement in our schools. This government will streamline the levels of support we provide to teachers and staff in remote areas. One-stop shops, staffed with remote teacher support officers, will work directly with teachers and principals in remote areas to ensure services and support are effective and timely.
Importantly, government’s plan stipulates the use of research and data to deliver effective induction and recall processes. We want teachers who understand what they are going into, and a system that delivers effective support and solutions quickly. Central to a smart Territory is having high-performing schools staffed with teaching teams who know which practices and programs make a difference for which groups of students. We want teachers who understand the needs and the challenges of our students. Accordingly, this government’s plan will strengthen the quality teacher initiatives that have already commenced; we will continue in our efforts to grow our own, particularly through intensive effort in Indigenous teacher and childcare training. We will drive efforts to increase the numbers of Indigenous staff working as teachers, paraprofessionals, and across all business of schooling.
One of the most important partnerships in education is the partnership between families and schools. Educating the Territory’s young people takes the effort and energy of both family and teachers. Research from around the world tells us when families and schools work together to support children, students’ academic and wellbeing outcomes improve. In this area, our strategic plan includes improving engagement with parents and communities. It acknowledges the crucial role of school councils, parents and industry in developing quality education. As minister, I particularly support stronger training and information focused on ongoing improvements of this partnership.
The government particularly supports transparency in the operation of schools. This is why we will be part of the national plan to place school performance online and available to all. The strategic plan for education and training will further this agenda, as it sets real targets and measures to guide improvements in schools and the system. It details processes and structures which will make this progress public, allowing meaningful information to be available to the community.
This government has agreed to targets which will close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. We have done this as part of our national partnership agreement with the Commonwealth, and as part of our own vision and directions for government. Right across the system, targets will be set in numeracy, literacy, attendance and exit qualifications. Schools and the department will have clear pathways to achieve those targets and, importantly, accountability in publicly recording progress against them. This government’s agenda to structure and organise education and training so it is focused on real and improved student outcomes will drive improvements in data collection, management, and reporting. Data-driven decision-making will drive whole-of-agency effort and improvement.
This government’s agenda to structure and organise education and training is also focused on ensuring resources are placed where they are needed most. This plan puts an even greater emphasis on school education and training as the core function of the department.
I finish today with the message I started with: education and training is my government’s No 1 priority. Our vision, ideas and expectations for a smart Territory, for an effective education and training system, is centred on: real student outcomes with high numbers of Territorians attending school; achieving literacy and numeracy levels at or above the national averages; completion of Year 12; achieving a tertiary entrance rank; exiting schools with a completed Level II or III VET certificate; graduating and moving to higher education, further training or future employment; undertaking school-based apprenticeships or traineeships; and participating in adult learning aligned with employer needs.
Debate suspended.
MOTION
Note Statement - Strategic Directions for
Education and Training
Note Statement - Strategic Directions for
Education and Training
Continued from earlier this day.
Dr BURNS (Leader of Government Business): Madam Speaker, I am pleased this afternoon to speak in support of this important statement on the future of education in the Territory delivered by the Chief Minister. It is one of the most important ministerial statements delivered since I have been a member of this Assembly. It is absolutely crucial to the development and wellbeing of the Northern Territory.
In the Australian Labor Party, we believe every child and young adult, irrespective of race, religion, gender, parental income and place of living, is entitled to a quality education. Over the years, I have met many hard-working parents, teachers, school principals and students committed to achieving quality outcomes in education. When I move around the schools in my electorate of Johnston, I can see the dedicated school-based community striving for excellence in education. The Henderson Labor government supports this aspiration and has made record levels of investment in the education sector. Along with parents, teachers and students, we recognise that education is critically important to the future of the Territory and its people.
Education is important for many reasons. It helps children and young people to develop their potential as human beings and citizens. It creates a foundation for people to develop skills through further education and employment. It allows us to work productively as members of the broader community. It equips children and young people to experience and contribute to the rapidly changing and amazing world we live in. It builds a solid base of intellectual and vocational capacity, which will allow our country and our Territory to take its place as a leader and innovator in the community of nations. Education is all about an experience through which we learn about ourselves and others. A well-educated community is fundamental to our future’s prosperity. Employers in tourism and business sectors rely on skilled qualified workers and they have a critical interest in education, training and transition to work arrangements.
Earlier this month, it was my pleasure to attend the graduation of 13 apprentices from a cross-section of government agencies. Through successive Job Plans initiatives, the government has consistently provided opportunities for 90 to 120 apprentices a year. In 2007, the focus of the government’s apprenticeship program shifted to create more opportunities for Indigenous Territorians in skill shortage areas, and jobs in regional and remote Territory centres. I was delighted nine of the 13 new graduate apprentices are Indigenous Territorians. In 2008 alone, more than 2900 Territorians commenced apprenticeships and traineeships across all sectors.
The oil and gas industries will provide a critical focus for education and training opportunities in the future. I recently met with principals of the Wood Group, a major international player in the oil and gas industries, which has now acquired, as I understand it, the major interest in RANms, a very successful local company made up of quite diverse interests, such is their confidence in the future of Darwin and the Northern Territory in the INPEX project in oil and gas, and future oil and gas projects. The group has supported the establishment of specialised industry courses at the University of Aberdeen, which could be utilised as a model for specialised training in Darwin. I spoke to them at length on that issue, and they are very pleased to share their knowledge and expertise in this particular area.
It is also noteworthy that the Little Children are Sacred report identified education as fundamental to improving the wellbeing of remote Indigenous children, and in closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage.
The government is determined to address the ongoing challenge of delivering quality education in our unique geographic and demographic environment. The Chief Minister reaffirmed, in his statement today, that the government is committed to ongoing reform and improvement in our education and training system. Real and improved student outcomes are our overriding priority. The Education and Training Strategic Plan 2009-12 sets out a clear direction. Among other things, it takes on board the key recommendations of the Ladwig and Sarra report, which sets a broad-ranging reform agenda for the Department of Education and Training.
The Chief Minister outlined the key elements of our strategic plan, which focuses on: the development of quality programs to improve attendance, participation, and achievement at every level of schooling; the recruitment and retention of quality people and partnerships to develop the right people who are committed to the Territory, and who know how to make a difference; the building of quality systems; and support for our schools to achieve real and improved outcomes for every student.
The government expects improvements in attendance, achievement in English literacy, and numeracy, as well as Year 12 completions and certifications. The culture of establishing high expectations for students, teaching, and schooling are very important aims. As the Chief Minister said this morning, these three core aims will underpin the effort of each school, each initiative, and each decision.
We live in a global village which has seen amazing advances in science and technology in recent decades. There are incredible opportunities for our school leavers, trainees, and graduates to pursue careers in the Territory, nationally, and overseas. Education is a fundamental priority of the government. We will continue to work with students, teachers, and parents to deliver quality education and training.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend this very important statement to the House. Education, at every level, from kindergarten right through to Year 12 and to university, is a very important priority of this government - we are involved, and supporting, at every level. I commend the Chief Minister’s statement to the House.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, this is just another example of a fantastically choreographed finale of words – if Territorians could only believe it. Have we had a miraculous change in the last few days in this government? I would like to think so, but I do not think it is so. It has been said time and time again: ‘Judge them on what they do, not on what they say’.
Having had the fortune of being chair of a school council for many years, I know what it is like to deal with this government when it comes to funding and how it provides for our schools. In recent times, I have had a number of people from different school councils contact me because of relationships and networks I built up over that time, with some real problems that exist today, where school fundraising by the mums and dads, the carers of children, and school councils is used to prop up funding to pay for teachers who have been brought in when teachers are away. School councils and others contact me with information like this, with real concerns of why they should fundraise for their schools if the schools are using that money to do things this government should be paying for.
It is great to listen to the rhetoric from that side of the House, the government of the day, on education they do not deliver or another glossy example of how you say you do - but you do not. Territorians are sick and tired of hearing the lovely words that continue to flow and, yet, you just do not deliver. Like housing – you can talk about it repeatedly, but you do not deliver. People do not come into electorate offices with issues regarding housing, education, health, and law and order if you are getting it right. If you are getting it right we are not contacted, you are not contacted. However, it happens time and time again.
So, enough with the spin, enough with all the wonderful words that you are going to change the world. If it was only true, there would not be a person on this side of the House who would disagree with you; we would support you. We would shake your hands and thank you for making this a better Northern Territory. Do not come here and say you are going to do things when it is just either a media grab or to get through another 24 hours. Have some heart and do something for the Territory.
Mr HAMPTON (Central Australia): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am pleased to speak today in support of the Chief Minister’s statement on a smart Territory. Earlier today, the Chief Minister said education and training not only changes the lives of individuals, but can transform communities. I agree 100% with that wording.
A decent education can help individuals to achieve their potential. We need our children to be educated, especially here in the Territory where we have seen the impact skills shortages can have. The greatest thing we can do, both for our society and our children, is to educate them. I believe there are very few cultures around the world that do not place a huge emphasis on education, especially when all the statistics say the more educated you are the better your standard of living will be.
I am honoured to represent the people of Kalkarindji, which is in the electorate of Stuart. Kalkarindji achieved lasting fame in 1966 when it was the site of the Wave Hill walk-off led by Vincent Lingiari. This was a landmark in the land rights movement. Again in 2003, Kalkarindji was home to another revolution: Rhonda Rankin, Leanne Brown and Meshach Paddy completed Year 12 at the Kalkarindji CEC. They were the first Indigenous students to complete Year 12 in a remote school. The Kalkarindji CEC has honoured these three young people by naming classrooms after them. Since then, more than 100 Indigenous students have followed in their footsteps and completed their high school education in their own communities in remote parts of the Northern Territory. I can assure members the people of Kalkarindji are very proud of the achievements of their children, and I am sure this is what elders such as Vincent Lingiari would have expected to see flow from the fruits of the land rights movement.
I will touch on a few areas of particular interests to me as Minister for Central Australia. The creation of the Alice Springs Middle School was announced in February this year as a key part of the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan. The new school will operate across two campuses at Gillen and ANZAC Hill. Much work and planning by the school councils, staff, parents and students is going into the creation of the new middle school, which will be operational at the start of the 2010 school year. Budget 2009-10 includes $4.73m for capital works at the ANZAC Hill and Gillen campuses.
The creation of the Alice Springs Middle School will give students better subject choices, tailored programs to meet individual needs, and a better use of resources and infrastructure. It will also mean we have a better chance of getting kids to school and keeping them there, which will mean a better education for all our kids in Alice Springs.
As I said, the implementation of the new school is well under way. The new principal, Therese Hicks started her job on the 27 July, and I congratulate Therese on her appointment. Staff at both campuses are involved in designing and implementing teaching and learning programs for the new school, and students and parents are closely involved in the process. At the moment, they are involved in discussions on the new school logo and uniform. A reference group meets fortnightly to advise on matters relevant to the creation of the middle school, and includes teacher and parent representatives from both schools plus primary, principal and Indigenous representatives.
Students at the new middle school in Alice Springs will continue to benefit from ongoing youth support programs such as the Alice Springs Clontarf Football Academy and the Girls at the Centre Program. They will also benefit from the creation of a youth hub at the ANZAC campus which will provide after-hours activities and immediate access to support and integrated town-wide educational and youth services. The youth hub will be managed by the Youth Services Coordinator, Michael White, who is doing a fantastic job in bringing the youth hub project together. The ANZAC campus will also include a 30-bed residential facility to provide a safe environment for kids who cannot live at home. The Youth Action Plan supports children and families by making sure kids get the opportunity for a good education.
Local businesses in Alice Springs are also playing their part in making sure kids get a decent education by throwing their support behind the No School No Service initiative. Many retailers around town have the No School No Service posters and information displayed, and are enthusiastic about the voluntary code. Local retailers can refuse service to any school-age child under the age of 15 who is in a shop during school hours without a leave pass. The Alice Springs Chamber of Commerce has been very supportive and actively involved in developing the No School No Service scheme. Local schools have implemented a leave pass system to support the code, where all compulsory school-aged children are issued with a leave pass when they have permission to be away from school for part of the day without adult supervision. School truancy is often associated with antisocial behaviour and youth crime, and the No School No Service code, supported by a school leave pass system, will send a strong message that wagging school is not cool.
I turn to my portfolio of Information, Communications and Technology Policy. One of the government’s focuses in this area has been the development of electronic service delivery with an emphasis on e-learning. To be successful at electronic service delivery, government has must deliver a number of key elements and, without doubt, the priority has to be the communications infrastructure itself.
Last year, we saw 800 km of optical fibre laid across Arnhem Land from Jabiru to Nhulunbuy via Oenpelli, Maningrida, Ramingining, Gapuwiyak and Yirrkala. I acknowledge the Northern Territory government’s partners in this $34m project: Telstra, Rio Tinto Alcan, and the Northern Land Council. The project has been acknowledged independently being awarded the Australian Telecommunication User Group’s Excellence Award for Best Communications Initiative for Large Businesses in 2009. The fibre-optic cable has transformed communications in the region and has enabled the delivery of electronic services to the people of Arnhem Land. Schools, as well as health clinics and police stations, have access to high-speed broadband for the very first time.
Meanwhile, we are working on the major challenge of extending this access to other remote parts of the Northern Territory. While this work has been continuing, the Commonwealth has progressed its plans to build a National Broadband Network. The network will deliver 100 MB capacity via optical fibre to 90% of all premises in Australia, and a 12 MB capacity via wireless and satellite technology to the remaining 10%.
Over the past year, I have had several meetings, conversations, and exchanges of communication with Senator Conroy, the federal minister. He has made it clear the NBN is part of the strategy to develop a world-class digital economy. An integral part of this is the Commonwealth’s Digital Education Revolution which provides up to $100m to support high-speed broadband connections to Australian schools, funds to help schools buy or upgrade their information and communications technology for secondary students in Years 9 to 12, and access to ICT training for our teachers. It also provides online learning and access to help parents take part in their child’s education. The Digital Education Revolution is a five-year program with a total funding of $2.2bn. The pace of technological change is amazing. Over the past decade, we have seen exponential growth of the Internet, as well as the applications it can deliver.
At the heart of e-learning is the ability to deliver quality education in a portable way and, in the Territory, we were the pioneers in distance education with our School of the Air programs. With a single teacher hundreds of kilometres away from the students, e-learning offers a simple concept, but not just to children on cattle stations; all Territory children could benefit from these virtual classrooms. Last year, Darwin High School trialled a virtual delivery of Japanese language courses to students in Tennant Creek and Nhulunbuy. This year, the Centralian Senior Secondary College has successfully delivered philosophy courses. Next year, there are plans for a number of high schools to deliver courses to students in remote, regional and urban centres. These courses range from languages such as Japanese, Indonesian, Mandarin, ESL English, to hospitality, philosophy, chemistry, and specialist maths.
The Department of Education and Training is determined to take advantage of new technologies to deliver quality senior secondary and vocational education courses to students who cannot access these subjects in the schools they attend.
There are other positive aspects of e-learning, such as financial and environmental benefits. E-learning is still in its infancy and I believe it will have a huge part to play in the education of our children. My job is to ensure the infrastructure is in place to support this new type of teaching.
The Chief Minister briefly touched on the achievements of the Clontarf Football Academy. As the Minister for Sport and Recreation, I am very interested to see the positive impacts sport can bring in transforming the lives of a group of young people. The Clontarf Football Academy is a not-for-profit organisation which aims to improve education, health, life skills, self-esteem, and employment outcomes of young Indigenous men. It does this through the establishment of football academies. Participants must attend school regularly, apply themselves to study, and exhibit self-discipline and appropriate behaviour.
The Clontarf Football Academy kicked off in Alice Springs, and has since spread across the Territory to places such as Darwin, Palmerston and Katherine. There are more than 500 young men taking part, and their school principals have reported improved student attendance and behaviour. It is a great scheme, and I am very pleased the Territory government is contributing over $1m towards its success. Clontarf is a fine example of how sport can contribute to positive educational outcomes.
The government is currently developing its draft Sport and Active Recreation Policy following extensive public consultation. We want to ensure that sport and active recreation have a positive impact, rather than a negative impact, on educational outcomes. With this in mind, I am particularly impressed with the Central Desert Shire and its sporting carnival policy. In part, this reads:
- Today, many schoolchildren in the shire - our future employees - miss out on school for weeks at a time because sports carnivals are held during the school term. At the same time, there is a lack of organised activities for schoolchildren during the school holidays.
From 2010, the Council will support only those sports carnivals that are held during the school holidays and public holidays, in order to address both problems.
I believe this is a policy that could have a positive impact wherever it is rolled out. I intend to work constructively with my Cabinet colleagues, and with other local shires, and the minister for Arts, to ensure this policy is adopted across the Territory.
Finally, I make a brief reference to the government’s Environment NT School Project Grants. This year, 11 schools have succeeded in their applications for grants worth a total of $21 610. There were two subcategories for the grants: Sustainable Schools Projects, and the School Environmental Education Projects. An example of the first category is Alcoota School’s plan to create an orchard. Students will help design and create the orchard, planting trees and setting up an irrigation system using rainwater stored in water tanks. Students will learn how satisfying and fun it is to grow their own food.
In the School Environmental Education category, Wagaman Primary School was successful in getting a grant for its Bush Tucker Program. Children will be involved in all aspects of the garden, helping them to gain an awareness of ecosystems and the environment, and teaching them about the uses of plants and their importance to Indigenous cultures.
The Chief Minister envisages a smart, skilled and innovative Territory where the potential of every child is realised. Madam Deputy Speaker, I am very pleased to support the Chief Minister’s statement.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Deputy Speaker, regarding this statement regarding a smart Territory, no one would disagree with much of what is described in its broad intent and description of goals and aspirations regarding education. The one thing I draw attention to, quite specifically, is the language. It is, basically, the language of intentions and desires, conveying a sense of commitment and a desire for good things to occur in education.
However, we cannot stay in this place much longer. We need to start casting our language - particularly when it comes to policy, and all the resources around policy - in the language of specific outcomes which are clearly measurable. Once the resource is there, the issue is recognised - in this case, education standards as measured through NAPLAN – and we find results are as they are, then we should be able to provide a policy fix that can give you the capacity, as a leader, to determine what you can reasonably expect as an outcome or measurable achievement - whether it is an improvement in attendance, literacy or numeracy in specific years - and put benchmarks out there so we move beyond the broad, benign talk about things to very specific, discrete and measurable results.
In some of the reports, we head in that direction. However, this is not contained in the language of government. Take, for example, the word ‘reform’. ‘Reform’ means to reshape and, obviously, to reshape for a specific purpose. The purpose of education is to provide learning, equip people with the capacity to participate in future opportunities, also to enrich their lives, give them the capacity to assess, analyse and make clear judgments. That is the purpose of education. In the language of reform under the Labor government, reform has been passed off. Most people get the sense that something quite significant is occurring but, largely, the reform has been about buildings, buses and infrastructure. They are building programs. They are physical things. They help education to occur, but that is not a reform of education; that is a reform of infrastructure surrounding education.
Educational reform goes right to the core; that is the nature and the quality of your curriculum, the capacity of our teachers to teach that curriculum, and certain frameworks around the responsibilities that the education system and parents have, and how to reinforce those expectations and obligations. It is in that area reform should occupy its true place, rather than this general talk of reform, which is a spend on things which are not truly educational by their nature, but things around the school which are not educational reform. I will continue to talk about those things. It is time to focus on standards in education.
Members may be surprised to learn there is international discussion about the nature of curricula. It has been recognised by most jurisdictions that the experiment with the broad and abstract curriculum called the ‘outcomes based approach’ has failed. It gave rise to the approach - if anyone was at school in the late 1960s and early 1970s - where it was no longer the phonetic approach; it was a ‘look and say’, general whole-word approach. There was a shift more to the recognition of the effort or the attitude of students rather than the discrete and measurable objective learning.
A number of jurisdictions internationally had experimented with this approach, and it was a fad for a time. Many have abandoned it, but not in Australia. When the Australian system and results are compared internationally, the nation is slipping behind. We have certainly long been aware of the particular attitude of Asian countries, particularly students, and the value for learning and the support they get from the family. It is also the case in European countries as well.
Australia is losing its place. That is a fact, and why it has given rise to discussion about the nature of our curriculum. I believe it is necessary for us to move more courageously in that direction and recognise it is time for change. I am pleased the national curriculum discussion is also paying some reference to this. I only hope there is a strong move in this direction, because we desperately need it.
The traditional approach to learning is one that has produced results. You only have to go to remote communities and speak to the older people who were taught under an older, more traditional system. They are the ones who can read complex text, read The Australian, read the documents the young people bring them, because they have been taught to read. The young ones have difficulty and, in a large part, that has to do with the change in which the curriculum has been framed and how it is presented in the classroom. So, there are lessons there right under our nose; that the older ones know how to read because they were taught to read, and the younger ones have been exposed to a teaching method which has failed many students.
Internationally, Australia is losing its place. I believe it is most important we recognise the need to have the right approach to teaching literacy and numeracy, specifically for those who are falling behind, and particularly those in remote communities. It is time to talk about serious curriculum reform. If we are really going to talk about reforms in education - it is about curriculum; the provision of the tools for teachers to effectively teach. In my view, they need a more discrete syllabus approach which gives them discrete tools with which to teach the core subjects.
It may be a surprise to know many teachers spend their time, basically, writing lesson plans and curriculum. It is a broad framework in which they operate, so they are constantly spending their time creating lesson plans when, in fact, the bulk of the time should be focused on instruction in the basics and, then, there should be a little time for the other. However, a large amount of time - and any teacher would be very aware of this - is spent on lesson preparation when the core elements should already be there as tools for teachers to teach with. Why? Because their core business is teaching, not so much lesson preparation and writing curriculum and lesson programs. There should be a greater focus on the interaction between the teacher and the student guided by a very discrete syllabus-based approach. I believe we have to go that way because we are not making the gains we must. If we have an approach such as that, then we have the capacity for clear measurement.
I have been heartened by investigation of other jurisdictions. They do not have the same apprehension about regular, standardised testing. We, as a culture in this country, have always been against standardised testing because some kids might not do so well and they will feel bad about that. However, I believe Australians would recognise if they are playing a game of football or something like that, and they do not do particularly well, then what do they do? Go and cry and try another sport? No, they go and try a bit harder and the coach develops strategies to strengthen them at their point of weakness. We should have a more honest approach in education, where you have a clear standard that you apply and then test. If they fall short, what do you do? Humiliate and embarrass them? No, of course not. You provide the assistance so they can be strong in their area of weakness, and you direct your resources there.
I believe we have this cultural cringe and sense of embarrassment about failure, when we should really take it on board and use it as a lesson to craft a response so we can have improvement. If we keep doing the same thing in education - posing the same broad, benign language - and do not deal with the truth of the matter, we are going to continue with falling standards and ever-increasing expenditure and not getting the result. There are no markers in the ground here. There is a sense that the government is deeply committed to X, Y and Z. However, commitment is just like a feeling; you actually have to have something that is a result of your commitment and strong feeling about X, Y and Z. A result from that is something you can actually see.
You do not go into an exercise and say, ‘Yes, I am really committed’ and, when we do not get any results, then say: ‘That is okay because I am really committed’. We have to get way past that. It is time for some honest assessment of our effort as a government, in this case, to ensure your language matches your effort, your effort produces a result, and that result is the object of the exercise - not the language fluffing around and creating all sorts of impressions.
Strong teachers: the respect we must show our teachers within our culture and society is critical. The way government treated teachers, particularly in that last round of negotiations - you probably know if you are honest enough to assess it - has created a significant problem of trust and respect with government in the way they were handled as a profession. They were not understood nor respected in the way they were handled during that last negotiation. However you may want to excuse yourselves from that, the fact remains the profession was damaged by the way in which they were treated. You cannot have quality education if you have a dispirited and disrespected teaching profession - that must change. Curriculum, strong teachers who are valued and rewarded for their effort, and a capacity to measure performance – if teachers do not do particularly well, you should be able to find ways you can measure to assist and strengthen them so, together, we get some sense of pride in the way our endeavours produce results.
I have looked at some other nations that have a culture of testing - and it is quite healthy because they are not focused on protecting themselves and making excuses, but on getting results, getting achievements up and running. They want a sense of progress. You cannot have that if you do not check it. That is why I believe there needs to be a more honest, vigorous and rigorous approach to measuring a curriculum which is measurable in its core elements, so we can sense and identify progress. If there is no progress in certain areas, then we can bring our resources to bear to assist, so everyone can have a sense of success and achievement wherever possible, and as far as possible, in education.
Kids like that; they do not really like having sporting carnivals were there is no real point to it; everyone has a go, everyone wins a prize, a round of applause, there are no winners, there are no losers, there is no right and wrong, everyone is confused. It is time to tighten it up. You do not go to the Olympic Games and have everyone running around and getting a gold medal because they all tried really hard, they had a sense of commitment, and had a good attitude to it. That is not how the real world works. We have to frame our language and thinking in education on those principles. People do not want to be mucked around with; they want a sense of achievement they have confidence in being able to recognise and, if there is no achievement, give them a hand.
When it comes to attendance, we need to be a bit more courageous in this area. I know the Labor mindset is everyone has a story, and there is probably an excuse why they do not go to school - they have this, that, and the other. Every excuse you provide reduces that sense of personal responsibility. There is an ongoing responsibility for a parent who has to get their kids to school and, if we fluff around and provide excuses and a soft approach in the first instance, we reduce that personal responsibility and we do not get the level of care extended to the child because of the reduced parental responsibility. The kid thinks: ‘It may well be the case going to school is important, but I do not really have to go because mum and dad do not think it is important’.
That flows on to so many other ways in which they conduct themselves within our communities. You see it in the shopping centre, on the buses, the way they behave at the bus terminals and interchanges, and the way they respect our senior citizens - or disrespect in some cases, as we have seen tragically in Palmerston where very young kids have beaten up senior citizens. I believe the whole thing flows from not maintaining a sense of personal responsibility, or upholding standards, reinforcing those standards, and making sure we enforce what we describe as an important law or regulation. You have to enforce them, otherwise there is a sense of – I cannot think of the word in sociology – disconnection and a sense of nothing having any value. Sadly, we see that in the way many of them speak to teachers in classrooms and how they regard education.
I hope other members do the same as I do. We have community standards and we spend a large amount of money on schools. I see kids wandering around when they should be at school. I wind the window down and ask them where they are going, and when they are going to get to school, because they are running a bit late. Let them know there is a community out there that is watching and valuing something.
Going to parental responsibility, there has to be a consequence, ultimately. You cannot keep shielding people from parental responsibility; that is feeding the problem, not providing a solution.
Going to student behaviour, there needs to be a more courageous approach when it comes to misbehaviour in classrooms, otherwise it becomes almost impossible to maintain and defend a standard for those kids who are trying their very best, because their parents understand what is right and wrong, and are trying to get the kids to do the right thing, when it is chaos and anarchy in a classroom.
Too many times, I have seen kids wandering around a shopping centre during school hours. When I ask them, ‘Why are you not at school?’. they will say: ‘I have been suspended from school’. They do not look like they are having too hard a time, because they have all their shiny gear on and walk around like little gangsters thinking; ‘This is pretty cool. I am not sure when I will be going back’. I ask: ‘How long have you been off?’. They tell me a few days, that one is going back this time, another is going back another time. They are bold as brass walking around the shopping centre. They have, basically, been given a holiday for bad behaviour; really, we are feeding the problem. Sometimes, they go back to school at lunchtime and hang around the outskirts and give kids smokes and are little heroes around the school - pretty hard for teachers to police that sort of stuff when you are feeding the problem.
In my view, if a kid has stepped across the line to the point where they are suspended from school, they should be suspended to a place where their underlying problems are addressed. Many of these young boys, in particular, have difficulty reading. If these young lads are put in the care of a strong male who focuses them on basic reading, literacy and numeracy, and they start to get a handle on this sort of stuff, you could well see change. However, you need a really strict, clear, structured approach. They would respect that. That is why many kids go to the footy club. They like it because there are good, strong men around who have certain standards. We have to have that in education as well, otherwise we feed the problem.
Clontarf is a wonderful program. Gerard Neesham is doing a marvellous job and he will be remembered for the contribution he makes. I am very pleased the Territory government provides support to this program.
It is important that we strengthen our resolve in teaching languages - not talk about it, but ensure we provide a certain amount of capacity, and have targets and goals of how many kids are learning languages, particularly Indonesian, Tagalog, Japanese, and Mandarin. We should be increasing it, and have a goal of having so many kids learn a certain number of languages in a certain time. If it has a goal, it will have a purpose; it will help us to engage in our region. Set it as a standard we are all trying to reach, and celebrate it when we do, as a community.
Finally, going to bilingual. It was very interesting - and I thank the member for Braitling for pointing this out to me today - in a reply to the petition presented on 9 June related to …
Mr McCARTHY: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I move that the Leader of the Opposition be granted an extension of time, pursuant to Standing Order 77.
Motion agreed to.
Mr MILLS: Thank you, I appreciate that. On the point of bilingual education, it is a sad situation that we have such a complex issue that can easily, in debate, cause confusion because people have an instinctive response to it. In essence, bilingual has many different meanings. It is an area ripe for debate. Without clear leadership, particularly from government which is very clear about what it is trying to achieve and making sure its language is tight, we may end up confusing and discouraging the very people who need encouragement - those who are in the remote schools with the kids. It is good if they come to school. If they are at school they want to have as much meaning occur as possible, particularly when it comes to learning English. For anyone who has had anything to do with teaching or learning another language, you know there has to be a transaction between the language you speak and think in and the other language.
I am pleased to see in the fifth paragraph of the answer to my written question on bilingual programs in NT schools, this sentence:
This policy does not preclude the use of a student’s first language; in fact, scaffolding of concepts taught in English using the home language is encouraged to assist learning.
That is such good news, and brings common sense to this debate which has caused concern in the bush and in places it should not. We should have a clear position and not allow these messages to spread, to gain currency in the northern suburbs, to get people saying, ‘Yes, yes, yes’. Many people do not understand this type of issue.
For the first time, I have seen it written quite clearly, that it is possible - and that is the whole objective if you want someone to learn English, as we all do; and they want to learn English - you are going to have to at least scaffold, particularly in those early years, from the language they bring into the classroom so they can understand the target language, which is English. That has been the position maintained by the Territory opposition from the beginning. I hope we have a clear position now so those in the bush, particularly those who have been caught up in this debate about bilingual programs, will be encouraged by that sentence contained in this letter signed by the Education minister on 18 July.
With those comments, and with thanks to the member for Barkly, I leave my comments at this stage. I commend the minister for Education for bringing this statement forward. I hope we can have a good debate about education, and change our language to honestly recognise that we cannot keep doing the same thing and expect different results. The contents of the reviews, particularly those two recent reviews, raise messages which must be responded to; that being, the Chief Minister has asserted on a number of occasions our urban communities are doing as well as kids down south. The review does not agree with that, and that needs to be responded to.
I do not want to see failure, but you have to have an honest assessment before you can put in the planks for genuine improvement and a proper policy fix. You have to start with truth, for starters.
It was quite a damning review, the Ladwig and Sarra report, regarding the culture within the Education department. I hope it has been digested thoroughly, and there is noticeable change. The last thing we want is to visit our schools and feel they are struggling and resources are still not flowing out to the front line. As the former minister for Education, Syd Stirling, often said: ‘Nothing happens in education unless it happens in a classroom with children and a teacher in front of them’. That is where I want to see us put resources and strengthen local schools.
Madam Speaker, in this new spirit of cooperation and so on, our policies which were released at the last Territory election are available for the government if they want to take any of them on board. I am happy for them to do so, because we honestly believe they would produce a beneficial result, particularly at the front line, in the classrooms, in the schools, where we start to empower those schools to have greater autonomy over their own decision-making.
Mr VATSKALIS (Health): Madam Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on the Future Strategic Directions for Education and Training in the Northern Territory.
In my country of birth - and it goes back 5000 years - there is a saying: ‘My parents gave me life, but my teachers gave me a good life’. My teachers, through education, gave me the ability to lead a good life, to learn about life, to be trained, to be educated, and to go out and make a living. That is how important education is.
Education and training is the No 1 priority as it changes lives, provides opportunities and expands horizons. Our government is committed to improving student outcomes. Education and training is an acute transformer in the Territory and the lives of all Territorians, irrespective of where they live. We have made mistakes in the past - I am not talking about our government, I am talking about our Australian governments. I recall when I was working at Danila Dilba, Indigenous women in their 50s and 60s used to tell me they grew up on the missions and they could read and write better than their children who go to state or private schools today. That made a big difference in their lives.
The cornerstone of making change is a robust education system in which students and schools can achieve their best. It is not only the students in the school; it is students, schools, teachers and parents. If you do not have all these links, nothing can be achieved. My wife is a teacher and, many times, she comes home and despairs because some parents see the school as the cheapest childcare service in the Northern Territory - they can leave the kids at school and go to work. Sometimes, when things happen and school does not operate, or the teachers have the audacity to suspend a child, these parents ring and abuse the teacher: ‘How dare you! My kid is going to be home now and what am I going to do? I cannot take them to work’. So it has to be teachers, students, schools and parents.
Our government’s goal is a smart, skilled and innovative Northern Territory where the potential of every child is realised; where every school is committed to ensuring our children get the education and training they need, and the students, parents, and community is engaged and involved. It is fundamental to our future, our future generations and, ultimately, the very prosperity of our Territory. This means students achieving or exceeding the national benchmark for literacy and numeracy. It also means senior secondary students graduating with either a VET Certificate II or above, or with a TER score to provide an opportunity to go to university.
Our government is committed to ensure we have in place quality strategies and programs for all stages of schooling anywhere in the Territory - quality people in partnerships on the ground focused on making a difference, and a system that provides strategic data-driven support focused on achievement of improvement in every area of education. Delivering a smart Territory through quality education and ongoing training builds on the range of initiatives implemented by this government, including: the establishment of the Teacher Registration Board; the Laptop for Teacher program using technology to assist our teachers and, ultimately, our students; major reforms through establishing the middle years of schooling as a distinct and important stage of schooling; introducing the school Accountability and Performance Improvement Framework to outline the expectations of parents, carers and schools to ensure schools are safe places in which to learn and work.
You cannot have proper education if you do not have adequate schools; you must have schools which are up-to-date. One of the biggest achievements in my time as a local member is the fact that $4m has been allocated to each of my primary schools, transforming them from very average to state-of-the-art schools in Alawa and Nakara. Some of the teachers told me they cannot believe this is the same school they drove into eight or nine years ago. These schools were built in 1973 and no major investment was made to any of them. As a matter of fact, even at Dripstone Middle School no major investment was made until now, when $3m has been expended. My wife has spent much time with the architects to design new, efficient science labs and classrooms which can actually accommodate today’s demands and requirements for proper education.
Also, with regard to creating partnerships, how are we going to keep kids at school? Kids are bored easily today; they have television, Internet Ipods and computer games - you name it. Their life is, unfortunately, electronic. Kids are bored easily going to school and having a teacher try to teach them the same way we used to teach in the past. There are two options: one is we make the education system state-of-the-art, contemporary, 21st century; and the other is give these kids who do not want to be at school an opportunity and reason to come to school.
The Clontarf Academy is very important. I was astounded to see kids who would not turn up at school because they were bored and did not want to be there, suddenly turn up in the morning, do the training, have breakfast, then go and attend the class because they wanted to be part of the Clontarf Academy. It is Clontarf or AFL, but there are other opportunities for kids to be involved and be part of teams. People want to belong to a particular group. The fact that we see gangs around town is a phenomenon of the human being as a social animal; it wants to be part of a group. When you give these kids a group, they will do incredible things - even go to school.
Other things are very different. In my Alawa school, one of the big attractions is the animal farm that was established where the kids grow their own vegetables and look after their own animals. Thanks very much to Phil Howie, an NT pastoralist, and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association, for providing two Brahman calves. The kids are absolutely amazed. Today, kids in the cities do not know where milk or eggs come from; they come from the supermarket. In Alawa, the kids know how to grow their own vegetables and where the milk comes from. Also, establishing the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden initiative will provide opportunities for the kids to be outside, grow their own vegetables, cook, learn about nutritional value, and learn the science of cooking. That makes kitchens interesting.
At Taminmin High School, we are offering Certificate II and III in Beef Cattle Production. Every year, at the Darwin show, you can see the Taminmin bulls there with the kids attending them, and very proud when they receive awards.
My portfolio of Primary Industry, Fisheries and Mines offers enormous opportunities to directly support education, in particular, ongoing training. We have an Indigenous apprentice program established across the department for both school leavers and beyond who are seeking secure, full-time employment. Within the Fisheries Group we have Indigenous rangers, an opportunity for young Indigenous people to get training and do something different and useful for the communities and, more importantly, useful for Australia. Not long ago, these Indigenous rangers discovered some illegal Indonesian fishing boats hiding in the mangroves, and provided this information to Customs in order to have them intercepted.
Areas that employ an enormous number of Indigenous people are the pastoral industry and mining. In the pastoral industry, we have initiatives such as the 9 ha Ti Tree Research Farm, a small facility located in the Ti Tree horticultural development area. This research and demonstration farm has, historically, been used to undertake research, development and extension services to the Ti Tree grape producers. Now, it is used for training programs for Indigenous people interested in working in horticulture in various locations in Central Australia.
We also have Indigenous pastoral programs. Indigenous people used to be the backbone of the pastoral industry in the 1950s and 1960s. Enormous areas of land in Australia are owned by Indigenous people and this land could be productive, but has fallen into disrepair for the simple reason people have lost their skills. We are trying to bring those skills back. The Indigenous pastoral program is a joint initiative of the Northern Land Council, the Indigenous Land Corporation, our government, and the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association. It was established to assist Aboriginal landowners implement pastoral enterprises and increase pastoral production from the Territory. A key initiative is providing training for entry into the pastoral industry which has led to a new memorandum of understanding extending the program through to 2011.
Shortage of skilled personnel, an issue for the cattle industry, initiated pre-employment training and, thus far, has provided job-ready young Indigenous people for the pastoral industry. Elsey Station is a very good example of this program actually running. They accept cattle from other people for agistment, and these cattle are managed by young Indigenous people.
In my department of Resources, a few years ago, I instigated a scholarship for geologists. One of the most difficult things in the Territory was finding a geologist. Territory kids were going down south, studying to be geologists, and never coming back. The idea was we would support them. If they go down south, we give them $12 000 a year for three years, for them to come back in the holidays and work in the department, or with mining companies here in the Territory. That gives them the opportunity to develop skills and knowledge in the mining and petroleum industries. I have to say the results are impressive. These kids went down south, and will come back - have come back - to work here in the Territory.
I now turn to the Health sector, the biggest employer in the Northern Territory Public Service. Currently, it employs about 5700 people. There are enormous opportunities for employment in the Health sector, from Aboriginal Health Workers: midwives, nurses, doctors, and environmental health officers. Do not forget, this is the place where you can get experience you cannot get anywhere else. Our hospitals are the biggest hospitals in Australia.
Our emergency department is the busiest in Australia, with one admission every 10 minutes. If you link that to the high levels of chronic illness in the Territory, especially in the Aboriginal population, primary health services are very important. We have put money into the Health sector and increased the resources and staffing. We spend more than any other Australian jurisdiction on public hospitals - $1700 per head, compared to $1260 nationally. That is $500 per person more than the average national expenditure. We have more doctors - 1.6 doctors per 1000 people - when the Australian average is 1.2 doctors per 1000 people; and more nurses - 5.7 nurses per 1000 people, compared to the national average of five nurses.
We have programs for nurse training; we have an internationally-qualified nurse program. You cannot get nurses anywhere in Australia or in the world, so we now have resorted to importing nurses from overseas. We provided a bridging course through the CDU and the department of Health in 2009-10 to facilitate groups of 15 Indian nurses achieve English and clinical competencies so they can be registered as nurses and midwives in the Territory. We have a Graduate Diploma of Midwifery program. We had 16 students employed in 2009, and the 2010 recruitment commenced in June 2009.
We have the Graduate Diploma in Renal Nursing. There is a big problem with renal facilities in the Territory, with big opportunities for people to work in the area. In reality, we know very well if we grow our own they will stay here, and we are seeing that with midwives and nurses. We provide assistance; we provided the 2009 Study Assistance Program which was launched on 17 January 2009. We received 106 applications, and a total of $101 000 was allocated to both undergraduate and postgraduate nursing and midwifery students. We have a professional development allowance. Under a new agreement, Professional Development Allowances have increased up to $500 for those employed for one to five years, and $1500 for those employed in excess of five years.
We collaborate with education providers, including Charles Darwin University, the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education, the Centre for Remote Health, the Menzies School of Health Research, and Henge Education to enrol nurses and midwives in short courses and undertake qualification to address training gaps. Now, we are looking at Indigenous midwives to bridge the gap that currently exists. The department is doing very good work in order to meet the demand in the Health sector and, of course, it will provide opportunities for Territorians.
Madam Speaker, we are committed to ongoing reform in improving education and training for all Territorians. The Chief Minister announced Future Strategic Directions For Education And Training to provide a clear direction forward in spelling out his government’s commitment and vision over the next three years. It will focus entirely on: programs to improve attendance, participation, and achievement at every level of schooling; recruitment and retention of quality staff and partnerships to get and develop the right people who know how to make a difference to commit to the Territory; and quality assistance to support our schools to achieve real and improved outcomes for very child.
Madam Speaker, as a father with two sons, one still coming through the school system, I have seen significant changes in the Territory’s schooling system since we came here in 1993. I recall when my son went to primary school, there was an Indonesian language course. He cannot remember a word now, despite seven years of Indonesian lessons - there was no real commitment. However, now we have a school of language kids go to because they actually want to learn, we see kids speaking Indonesian, Greek, Italian, and German. This program now runs in different schools, and there is a commitment.
I have to admit it has been very difficult for me to see my kids go through the current system. When my son asked for assistance with mathematics, I was unable to help him because the level of maths they teach now is much higher than I was taught when I was his age. We resorted to coaching because I do not understand mathematics the way they teach it now. However, with biology, physics, or chemistry, I am okay because nothing ever changes much. I have to admit, with mathematics, if I was sitting the exam he is sitting, I would fail.
Another thing which is very important is bilingual education. I know bilingual education generates a lot of debate; I understand and accept that. People do not want to lose their own language no matter how widespread or how small the group is that speaks the language - language is very important.
I come from a country where, before World War II, there were many pockets with their own language. One of the biggest language groups in Greece is a group of people living in northern Greece who descend directly from ancient Romanians; it has the same language structure as the Romanian language. When these Greek people speak to Romanians, about 85% to 90% of the language is the same. The Greek government has promised to maintain that language. In addition, there is an area in southern Italy which was colonised in the Byzantine era by Greeks. Even today, they speak a Greek dialect mixed with Italian, and the Greek government still gives money to support them. I say that because the Greek government is putting money into the Territory to maintain the Greek language of Greek descendants. They employ three teachers sent from Greece, and they have a university lecturer to support Greek language studies at the university.
It is important how this program is delivered, in two ways. It is delivered at different high schools; there are specific hours for Greek language and culture. More importantly, the Greek language and culture is taught on Saturday mornings at the Greek Language School in Nightcliff, supported by the Greek government and government through grants but, most importantly, by the teachers and the parents. If you want to teach your language, the best way to do it - instead of saying it is going to be at school and everyone is going to be taught in that language, which is going to fail - is put some effort into it yourself.
All Greek kids go to mainstream Australian schools; I say that from my own experience. All kids, no matter where they come from, go to a mainstream Australian school. However, come Saturday, all the kids of Chinese descent go to Alawa because they have the Chinese language school, those of Greek descent go to the Nightcliff Greek Language School, and all the kids of Italian descent go to the Italian Club, where they have their own Italian school.
So, it is very easy to say bilingual education should be this way. The reality is bilingual education should taught in such a way kids can learn the mainstream language, so they can advance in life and be employed, know how to read and write and, at the same time, be able to maintain their own language, the language of their parents.
It is very important that the issue of bilingual education is resolved. It is not going to be resolved in favour of people who have a vested interest in bilingual education, but in favour of the kids who can be exposed to two, three or four languages. They have the benefit of the English language and, at the same time, do not lose contact with the language of their parents.
In closing, I want to reiterate my support for the key message delivered by the Chief Minister today: education and training is this government’s priority. Underpinning a smart Territory is an effective education and training system centred on real student outcomes, for higher numbers of Territorians, which delivers: school attendance; literacy and numeracy levels at or above the national average; completing Year 12 and achieving a Tertiary Entrance Rank; exiting school with a completed VET Level II or III Certificate; graduating and moving to higher education; further training for future employment; undertaking school-based apprenticeships or traineeships; and participating in programs aligned with employer needs.
Madam Speaker, the ancient Greeks used to say: ‘My parents gave me life, but my teachers gave me a good life’, and that is what education is about. Education will give you a good life for the future.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I will briefly speak about this ministerial statement, A Smart Territory – it is very well named. I thought it was ‘a smart government’ but, then, I realised they did not make that mistake.
This report could have gone much further. There are a number of things not actually spoken about in this report. Delivering higher education outcomes in the bush is one of the biggest failures in the Northern Territory. The fact that people in the bush cannot receive an adequate Year 11 and 12 education should be a national disgrace. We have seen a great deal of publicity about the failures of the Minister for Housing and SIHIP, and those are not unwarranted reports. However, the inability for a child or a youth to get a proper education in the bush is a national disgrace. It is the biggest disgrace in the Northern Territory. The fact youths still cannot get Year 11 and 12 education in the majority of regions in the Northern Territory is a failure.
I have spoken in this parliament before about the need for boarding schools. I have spoken to the media about the need for boarding schools for primary, secondary, and VET education in certain areas and, perhaps, for preschool - although I am not completely sold on that. I would love to see boarding schools in areas such as …
Mr HAMPTON: A point of order, Madam Speaker! The time clock has not been reset.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr Knight: We do not want you going for too long.
Mr GILES: I will start again. I will mention you again, member for Daly.
Madam Speaker, in talking about this statement about A Smart Territory, I actually thought it said ‘a smart government’ but, luckily, I did not get that wrong. It would have been an oxymoron if it had said ‘a smart government’, although someone has given the government a lifeline, albeit a noose.
I was saying it is a failure of all governments, not just this failed government, to provide secondary education in the bush. I believe there needs to be a number of boarding schools in reasonable locations which can provide proper education and respite for both children/youth and parents so that kids can go to school. I know this problem will not be solved by the Northern Territory government alone; it is a problem which needs to be solved by both Territory and federal governments, for several reasons, including the huge cost impediment and the ability of the NT government to fund it, no matter who is in power.
There are a number of other things the Territory government can do. One of the failures of the Northern Territory government was widely publicised late last year and this year - I spoke about it briefly in my budget reply speech – is the way the Northern Territory manages its NAPLAN test results. This is a government which says it is moving forward, yet, last financial year, their targets for Year 5 reading for Indigenous students was 46%. Now this government is talking about the achievements it can make but, this year, they want to downgrade that to 24%. This government realises it is underperforming in its policies, programs, and administration, so they have decided to reduce the targets. They have virtually reduced the targets by 50%. They are saying if 24% of Year 5 Indigenous students reach the national reading standard, they have had a win. I find it hard to believe 24% of students reaching national benchmark could be a success.
The same can be said for numeracy for Indigenous Year 3 students. It was 61% last year and, now, they have said: ‘We cannot achieve that so we will knock it down by 19% to 42%’. This government is preparing to give itself a report card that says 42% of Indigenous students in Year 3 passing numeracy is enough for success. I do not think it is at all. You need to set the benchmark high. Let us not forget that those Year 3 students would be eight years of age, I guess, which means they were born in the year this government came to power. This government has had eight years to get it right and they have clearly failed. They are admitting they have failed. Only 25% of Indigenous Year 9 students meet the national writing benchmarks.
If this document, A Smart Territory, was real they would try to address those things, rather than just put out another statement, make us talk in here and criticise the government for its inept approach to education while they run this spin, when we could be debating legislation to make improvements. This is another key failure and this statement is about that. This document could have spoken about the future of Batchelor College - we know Batchelor College is in trouble. What are they going to do with Batchelor? There is nothing about Batchelor in here at all - absolutely nothing. They could have spoken about the local school in my electorate – Braitling Primary School, which was recently broken into by a couple of youths, young kids, who actually go to school there. They caused copious amounts of damage and heartache to the students, the parents, the teachers, the school principal and the school council. Everyone involved has had their work and classrooms destroyed through youth crime.
What is the government doing about protecting our schools from youth crime? What is it going to do in a punitive approach to those youths who cause damage to those schools? I am told those two youths, who have now been caught, will be subject to youth diversion. What does youth diversion mean? We know this soft government takes a soft approach. What? They might have to write a letter to the school and say sorry?
The same thing happened at Araluen Christian School; kids broke in and caused damage. This is a common occurrence in Alice Springs, a location in the Territory that the Northern Territory government forgets, similar to the rest of Central Australia. I am actually quite surprised the member for Stuart is still a member of the Labor Party. I thought he might have spoken up against this new agreement made with the member for Nelson. I thought he would have stood up for Central Australia but, clearly, he has not. He is not even in the Chamber, which is unfortunate ...
Mr VATSKALIS: A point of order, Madam Speaker!
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, I remind you, you are not allowed to refer to the presence or absence of any member. I ask you to withdraw those comments.
Mr Conlan: He is hard to see, though.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr GILES: I withdraw, Madam Speaker. He is hard to see. It is hard to see how he has stood up for the people of Central Australia and his electorate, because he knows there are no goodies in this little document developed last week between the Chief Minister and the member for Nelson. There are no outcomes in there for Central Australia in education. There are no outcomes in that document for law and order. There is nothing in there for Health. There is no sealing of the Mereenie Loop. There is absolutely nothing. We used to have the thing called the Berrimah Line, now we have the Wood line or, maybe, the Nelson line. I am not sure what it is called.
The people in the northern suburbs have missed out too. We are all losers in this deal. We are now subjected to a half-baked, pulled-together government for the next three years that will not deliver anywhere in the Territory apart from the seat of Nelson. I would like a new aquatic park in my electorate ...
Mr Knight: You have one. You have a $16m aquatic centre.
Mr GILES: I would like to see my schools revamped and updated. I would like to see better work done in the bush, with private schools, boarding schools, and VET education so people can access the proper education they deserve - they have a right to an education. It is an absolute disgrace ...
Mr Knight interjecting.
Mr GILES: While we are talking about upgrading facilities for schools - I hear Blinky Bill in the corner over there making some noise. He said in estimates that administration of SIHIP was 15% and, now, he has talked about how it has come down to 11.4% or some amazing figure, and he thinks that is great. We know 11.4% is not the true figure - he will not tell us the true figure – we know it is not true. However, even if we took that as gospel, although we know it is not, let us ask ourselves if 11.4% is the member for Daly’s benchmark in administration for a project. If 11.4% is the benchmark for good administration of capital expenditure, why is it, then, that the federal government put a benchmark of 4% on administration of capital expenditure for the Education Revolution?
There is $14bn being spent around the country of borrowed money, borrowed from our children - debt. Why is it they can run at 4% and the Minister for Housing can only seem to get it down to 11.4% at best - if that is what it is? We know our profit margin is up to 35% for these alliance contractors; however, that is beside the point. How can the government say 11.4% project management administration is good? Who is making money out of that? What extra facilities could be built? The question is how much money has been taken out of the federal stimulus package to be spent bankrolling the inept, unfinancial government - the government which has put us $26 000 in debt for every man, woman and child, before we even started the budget year? How can that be?
I am sure the member for Nhulunbuy was a teacher in one of her previous guises, if I recall people's speeches - getting a nod there; I do not want to verbal you. She would be aware of the importance of appropriate facilities in schools, so kids have the occupational health standards, and their right to appropriate amenity and so forth. How is it that a school such as Corella Creek, in the Barkly region near Brunette Downs, has to close down at certain times because they have no water facilities available? Corella Creek is a small community and they recently opened their school but, because of problems with water supply in the community, lack of facilities and bad management of the portfolio of Housing - we know now there are four houses in Corella Creek that do not have access to water and the people have to go to a friend’s place or other areas to have a shower in DET water – this is just another failure of SIHIP. The school in Corella Creek has to close down because they do not have access to water. I do not see that written in A Smart Territory. If we had written this document if we were in power, we would have taken a different approach. We would have actually had some real outcomes rather than spin.
Those poor kids in Corella Creek - there are 23 kids there - have to leave school when the water supply cuts off because they cannot be at the school when there is no water, which is only fair. The question is: how come this keeps happening? What has this government done about ensuring the community of Corella Creek actually has water supply guaranteed on a permanent basis? It is what every member in this parliament expects – but if you live in Corella Creek, you can miss out on water. I am not sure if the member for Barkly, in whose electorate I think this is, is aware of this concern. It is a real concern and I encourage the government to get out and do something about it.
Perhaps the new Minister for Indigenous Policy might want to go out and do something. She has been the minister now for a little while. I have not seen a statement, a media release, heard of a house being built, heard of more kids going to school, seen the NAPLAN results yet, or the NAPLAN targets increased. Perhaps she thinks that it is okay for only 24% of Year 5 Indigenous students to actually pass the national reading benchmarks this financial year. Or maybe she thinks that is an achievement in itself. Well, I do not. They are great numbers if you like failure - and this government is attuned to failure. They are treating Education as they treat Health.
On page 41 of the 2030 vision, I quote from the focus area of Health and Wellbeing:
- To date, the ‘Territory lifestyle’ has in many ways been an impediment to good health and wellbeing. The culture of smoking, drinking and other substance misuse, and resistance to enforcement of measures known to reduce ill-health, such as speed limits …
I am not really sure how speed limits come into health and wellbeing:
- … on our roads and tobacco control, have helped to create a community that, in many ways, lacks cohesion and has failed to realise its potential.
However, the next line is an interesting one:
- Dealing with the large Indigenous population as the ‘problem that needs to be solved’ is also an important part of this mix. But this need not be the case.
I am not quite sure what that actually means:
- Dealing with the large Indigenous population as the problem … need not be the case.
Are they saying that we do not need to focus our attention to that? I am not quite sure what that means. Either it is not well written or they have completely taken their eye off the ball, as they have in education.
The fact remains, despite the ministerial statement presented today, when I first heard about the plan released on Friday by the government and the member for Nelson about the future of parliament, I must admit I thought we got rid of ministerial statements and little fluff pieces like this, but it appears they are still around, unfortunately.
Before I sum up about how this side of the Chamber, but one, and the rest of the Territory have no confidence in government, I want to touch briefly on those areas I have spoken about. The government has failed on NAPLAN, it has failed in its performance, it has also failed in setting its targets for next year. It has failed in securing education premises. Braitling Primary School is a case in point, where all children in two classes have to rebuild their education situation this year.
There is a lack of information in here about boarding - so we have improved education in the bush - nothing at all apart from fluff. Nothing about Batchelor; how it might link better to CDU, or what its financial sustainability will be in the future. There was a small section on bilingual - nothing revolutionary. There was nothing about how education infrastructure facilities will be improved. They did not touch on how much they are taking out of the Education Revolution dollars - the $14bn federal government package – which, I am sure, this government is pilfering like they pinched housing money.
Regarding housing money, we were told there would be 90 houses in Nguiu; now we are down to 29 houses. There were going to be houses in Tennant Creek; then they went back. Groote was the same, and this has happened all over the Territory. Only two weeks ago, the Chief Minister was saying by the end of next year there will be 25 houses under construction in the Territory; now it is by the end of next year. Was this the failure of the member for Daly running the project, or is the failure so bad the Chief Minister had to grab the reins, get control and get it back on track? Is that what happened?
Let us not discount the fact that this government was in charge of the shire failures when all those people were sacked. All the people from the bush who were sacked are now on the dole, doing nothing, thanks to you. You were also in charge of Power and Water when the lights went out …
Mr Bohlin: And continue to go out.
Mr GILES: And continue to go out. You are in charge of the power price hikes. You are in charge of SIHIP that has not built a house. It is just lucky for those people in schools – teachers, principals, school councils and, most importantly, the students - you are not in charge of the economic stimulus package in the Territory - that debt-ridden economic stimulus package. If you were in charge, we would not have a classroom built, or one of those lovely halls, or the interpretative centres and new science labs. We have money going out the door, and nothing happening. You would be standing here in 2013 saying they might get built and, hopefully, the government puts some more money in and we might be able to build the extra bits at the end, as you are doing with the 750 houses.
We are very lucky the member for Daly is not in charge of Education – or building things. Imagine that; imagine how bad he would be. This 24% target for Year 5 for reading would probably be 12%. We would be lucky to achieve it if the member for Daly was in charge. We can be thankful for small mercies. It is bad luck if you live on one side of the Daly River and you have to cross to go to school, or Wooliana, because you will not get there in the Wet Season. The member for Daly promised a bridge in 2005, and still has not built it - four years of failure …
Mr BOHLIN: Madam Speaker, I move an extension of time for my colleague, pursuant to Standing Order 77
Motion agreed to.
Mr GILES: Thank you very much for your indulgence, member for Drysdale.
If people have to cross there, it is a shame. I am very interested if the member for Daly could tell us what is happening at Wooliana School, and if parents are still able to get their kids to school. As I understand it, there is some turmoil there. I did not see anything on this fluff list I have talked about for 20 minutes instead of debating legislation, which is what we are all here for - if the other Chief Minister allows it.
I am also keen to know if is there is something in this document to tell us how the kids at Palumpa are going to get to school. For those on my side, you may recall that Palumpa is a community where kids had to wade through crocodile-infested and sewage-infested water - not much different to Utopia outside in the playground, and the shops and playgroup area where the member for Daly has failed on SIHIP again. At Palumpa, they need to raise the bridge and lengthen and widen it a little so, in the Wet Season, you can still get to school. It is a bit of a design fault but something needs to be done so the kids can get to school.
The Territory government would not fund it. I am not sure if they do not believe in fixing infrastructure; it is more about they cannot do it. $750 000 has been granted out of the Aboriginal benefits account to help with this bridge. It is going to cost about $1.5m - $300 000 for administration under the member for Daly’s program. They said to the Territory government: ‘You give us another $750 000 so we can then give you back $300 000 for the administration costs to fix that bridge so our kids can go to school.’ I did not see that in the document. This is about education; it is a very important point. The Territory government said: ‘We have heard Adam Giles is sniffing around at Daly and Palumpa, so we will give you $500 000’. You can correct me if I am wrong, but I understand the Treasurer has signed off on $500000, which was not quite enough because an extra $250 000 was needed to pay for the NT government’s administration costs. The shire council has put in $250 000 and now they have the $1.5m, and it sounds like this bridge is going to be built. It sounds like it is going to be raised, it is going to be widened and lengthened, and the kids do not have to swim through crocodile-infested and sewage-infested water to get to school. It is great – it is really good.
You know what the only problem is? The problem is, the only way they can deliver this is to give it to the project managers of SIHIP under the administration of this man, the member for Daly. The member for Daly is now in charge of raising the bridge at Palumpa, widening it, and lengthening it. That is exactly what is going to happen. While we sit around here and pontificate, and listen to the member for Daly dither about with his speech, the bridge is not being built and we are getting closer and closer to the Wet Season. I just wonder if those kids will be able to get to school in the Wet Season.
Everyone in the community says: ‘What is the difference between politics, Labor or Liberal, you all sound the same?’ Well, we all stand up and talk and we do a lot of similar things. However, there is a bit of difference - these guys like to talk, and we like to do. They like to talk and mutter, with spin, fluff, maladministration of funds, and all these types of things - but we do ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you cannot actually make that sort of point except by way of substantive motion. I ask you to withdraw that comment, thank you.
Mr GILES: I withdraw, Madam Speaker.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr GILES: I used wrong terminology. This is the mob which run programs and we cannot identify how much is being spent on administration or where it has gone. That is the point I was trying to make. Over here, we would not waste the money. We would not even think of ourselves as handout welfare providers; we would actually build houses. We would get out there and fix the schools. We would ensure septics were not overflowing. We would ensure crocodiles were not in the creek to attack the kids on the way to school. It is not rocket science. It may sound crazy, but I do not think kids should be swimming through crocodile-infested water to go to school.
I would also ensure that gave strong attention to law and order. I do not like my schools getting broken into. I do not like my principal to take on the responsibility of dealing with the teachers, the school council and those kids crying about their pictures on the walls being smashed up. This is a regular occurrence in Alice Springs, but this government forgot about anywhere outside Darwin a long time ago. They have now forgotten about anyone outside of Nelson. What I am most disappointed in - and the member for Greatorex, together with the members for Araluen and Macdonnell, might be interested in this - is that the member for Stuart did not stand up for Central Australia. That is what I am really disappointed in - education or otherwise.
My two colleagues over here might be interested to log on to territorytoday.com.au and vote in today’s poll. Today’s poll asks: ‘Should the member for Stuart resign because he did not stand up for Central Australia?’ I know which way you will vote. It is important, in education and everything else, because we need services and facilities there. While we struggle to get a toilet installed at Traeger Park, or $250 000 worth of shade at CDU - I mean CDU is an education facility – did you see that at the uni, member for Greatorex?
Mr Conlan: What is that?
Mr GILES: Shade for CDU in the …
Mr Conlan: No, I did notice that.
Mr GILES: No, I did not see that. But, we will build a new aquatic centre in Nelson.
Mr Hampton: What about the one in Alice? How much was that?
Mr GILES: The federal government dollars for the pool in Alice Springs is great ...
Members interjecting.
Mr GILES: It is funny, the previous member for Goyder wanted to build a pool out - where was it being built?
Ms Purick: Still not there. Humpty Doo.
Mr GILES: Humpty Doo. He wanted to build a pool at Humpty Doo. He got a shovel and started to dig a hole. However, the pool is not there. The member for Nelson has been in power since Friday and, all of a sudden, we have a new aquatic centre. If I was in charge for one day, we would have a new stadium at Anzac Oval, toilets at Traeger Park, roundabouts at Larapinta and Lovegrove Drives, Police Citizens Youth Club at Larapinta, we would have land release, people would have a choice of the oncology unit, our streets would be safe, and there would be police on the beat. This is what would happen under us.
Madam Speaker, I sum up by saying this government has a lovely few pages of paperwork here. Whether they can deliver anything on the ground remains to be seen because I, like my other 10 colleagues and the member for Macdonnell – on whose behalf I am not speaking, but I presume - have absolutely no confidence in this government to administer the affairs of the Northern Territory; to systematically improve the management of education in the Northern Territory; and to administratively deliver the education infrastructure under the stimulus package in the required time frames, and at a 12% cost margin. For that reason, this statement has been another wasted opportunity in today’s parliament to debate something more important.
Mr KNIGHT (Housing): Madam Speaker, it is great to see what the lack of an education can cause. That contribution from the member for Braitling …
Ms Carney: Fine contribution.
Mr KNIGHT: He talked about law and order and about Braitling school and that it would be nice to have a fence around the Braitling school, which might have helped in the security of the school. The member for Braitling actually campaigned against having a security fence around the school. Good on you, member for Braitling, you have really helped the school out there.
He alluded to his little trip out to Port Keats and to Daly. I went out there last week and they were saying: ‘There was this bloke Giles out here. Who is he?’ I said: ‘You remember the bloke; he was running for the CLP in the 2007 election’. They said: ‘Oh yes, he is the one; the one who had his head right next to Mal Brough. He was the one, he was the one’. It was great to see the support …
Mr Giles: Mal Brough was the one who gave you the money for the housing program that you cannot finish.
Mr KNIGHT: … that the ‘no more sit down money’ member here actually got out there. There were 1000-odd people at Port Keats who voted. I think about 35 actually voted for Mr Adam Giles. They remember you out there. I had to give them a bit of a …
Members interjecting.
Mr KNIGHT: You did not tell them too loud. I am glad I was out there to inform them exactly who you were.
It also showed the member for Braitling has not even bothered to read the statement. He has not even bothered to look at the strategic plan. He, obviously, does not think much of education; he talked more about everything else except education. It is quite sad to see he spent all his time playing politics instead of talking about something very important like education and the new strategy around A Smart Territory. I do …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr Giles: Keep talking about me ...
Madam SPEAKER: Order, member for Braitling!
Mr KNIGHT: You are sounding a bit upset; you do not seem to like it.
A member: Glass jaw.
Mr KNIGHT: Yes, he has a bit of a glass jaw. He likes to throw them, but he does not like to take them.
Mr Giles: I can take it all. Keep going; three more minutes and you are right.
Mr KNIGHT: They remember you out there.
Mr Giles: What about the member for Greatorex?
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr KNIGHT: Madam Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement on the future of the strategic direction of education and training in the Northern Territory. A good education is fundamental to all Territorians. We know education changes lives and provides opportunities. As the Chief Minister said, we need a robust education system which is recognised for a culture of high expectations and high-performing people, programs, and processes. We want our children to achieve national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy. All Territory senior secondary students should be graduating with either a VET Certificate II or above, or a TER score which will get them into university. We need quality strategies and programs for all stages of schooling, and partnerships that are focused on making a difference for every student, as well as a system that provides strategic support. That is what this government is really committed to delivering.
We also need infrastructure such as schools and classrooms, and this government has a well established infrastructure plan that has commenced building new schools, major upgrades, improved repairs and maintenance programs, and additional classrooms and facilities. An unprecedented $235m has been invested by the NT and federal governments to improve and upgrade infrastructure and facilities in our schools.
In my electorate, several schools are reaping the benefits of the Primary Schools for the 21st Century Round 2 funding. At Adelaide River School, $250 000 is being invested in an outdoor learning area. As part of the funding from the Round 2 program, we all know that Berry Springs Primary School will have a multipurpose pavilion. The Lady of Our Scared Heart, the old school at Wadeye, will receive $2.5m for a library through Round 1. The Belyuen School will receive funding for an outdoor learning centre as well. Nganmarriyanga School at Palumpa received $850 000 for a multipurpose hall; and Peppimenarti will have a new classroom and outdoor living area thanks to this funding. These investments ensure children are given better facilities in which to learn.
This government is committed to ongoing reform and improvement in our education and training system, and our goals are set on real and improved student outcomes. Last month, the Chief Minister unveiled the education and training strategic plan for the next three years, saying he wants every child to leave school with the skills to go to university, or get an apprenticeship or a job. This plan is a practical, commonsense approach which will improve results as part of our plan for a smart Territory. This plan for better education and training is backed by concrete targets and resources. As the Chief Minister said, our children deserve better education and training, and that is what this plan delivers. This plan is essential to giving kids the best possible outlook for the future.
The three main themes are: the expectation of success; the meeting of clear numeracy and literacy targets; and improving attendance. These themes set us on a path to becoming a smart Territory and improving results with a focus on quality education. The plan focuses on: the development of quality programs to improve attendance, participation, and achievement at every level of schooling; the recruitment and retention of quality people and partnerships to develop the right people who are committed to the Territory and know how to make a real difference; and, last, the building of quality systems to support our schooling to achieve real and improved outcomes for every student.
An extremely important focus of this plan is Indigenous education initiatives through the A Working Future initiative. This focus will see the mapping of schools in the growth towns to their education and training needs, developing a strong education and training culture in the growth towns through partnerships with key employers; lifting the level of support provided to teachers and staff in remote areas; and to the expansion of the Clontarf Academies.
Wadeye, in my electorate, is identified as a growth town. The growth towns will offer a full range of education and training options from preschool through to Year 12, vocational education and training in the schools, and post school training. People in the towns and surrounding regions will be able to access the school’s and other services’ amenities, just like other people living in similar sized towns elsewhere in Australia. These initiatives will be extremely important to my electorate where there are a large number of Indigenous children.
The strategic plan focuses on the early years, the primary years, and the senior years, getting our young Territorians ready for success. For the early years, a range of innovative programs will be introduced, including the establishment of an integrated family hub in our growth towns that will deliver both health and education services. This will see parents assisted to develop the communication and language skills, as well as social and emotional skills, essential for laying a strong foundation for their children’s future.
I believe involving parents in the early learning environment is critical to making real inroads into numeracy and literacy in the bush. In the primary years, these stages build on numeracy and literacy and social skills developed in the early years. This government will focus attention on providing students with a positive learning environment, and key tools to help kids who are struggling to become engaged in school. Teachers will be provided with more support and curriculum options that are both engaging and rigorous, and improve the standard of attendance. In the senior years, this new direction will revamp training in schools, and provide coordinated delivery between senior secondary school and training providers. Senior schools will provide improved VET options to maximise student options to graduate work ready.
A school I regularly visit, which is excelling in this area, is Taminmin High School in the rural area. This government will resource schools to help them transition students from school to work. I am very pleased that Taminmin High School will be resourced to expand their program into schools. This will benefit many children in the rural area. Taminmin has an excellent VET program and, over the last four years, enrolments have grown significantly. In 2006, there were 162 enrolments; in 2007, 184; in 2008, 492; and in 2009 there were approximately 350 at Taminmin plus 200 remote students from 12 communities; 19 qualifications including a new Certificate III in Agriculture, which is a great result. Agriculture has been one of the major focus areas for Taminmin High School.
The school understands that articulation of academic studies with real practical skills provide the children with another career path. They have implemented pathways for students ranging from Certificate I in Agrifood (Pathways) in Year 9 to Certificate I in Rural Operations for Year 10; Certificate II for Rural Operations for Year 11; and Certificate III in Agriculture as a full-time, stand-alone qualification. Both Certificate II and III students were heavily involved in the Top End show circuit this year showing their cattle from Bunda Station and Colgardie Brahman Stud. I attended the Katherine and Darwin shows, and Taminmin, basically, cleaned up most of those areas. The future aim will be to have similar pathways and other qualifications, particularly in those areas recognised in the national and Northern Territory needs lists.
Madam Speaker, this government has agreed to targets which will close the gap for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. I commend the Chief Minister for setting clear targets across the system - targets in numeracy, literacy, attendance and exit qualifications. There will be clear pathways to achieve targets and accountability. Education targets should measure our progress and ensure all children receive the best education possible.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Speaker, I speak today on A Smart Territory. There is definitely a lot of emphasis in the words ‘A Smart Territory’. When we talk about education, unfortunately, some of the plans from this government have failed. More importantly, I take the opportunity to talk about the fact I have five schools in my electorate area. I believe there is a need to talk on some of the great things occurring there, and some of the things that are not going so well. I have Driver Primary School, Durack Primary School, Palmerston Christian School, Palmerston High School - both Senior and Middle, so I could claim six - and the Palmerston Campus of Charles Darwin University.
As a former police officer, one of the things I highlight here is a fundamental failure, right across Australia, to set a standard. We teach and give our children so many rights. They have computer games at home that tell them they have the rights to this and that and, if they get into trouble they have all of these rights. What I suggest is, in the future, I would like to see an acronym I have named RORR; that is, let us teach our children firstly respect. If we teach our children to respect themselves as a human being, and respect their body and the way they treat themselves primarily, we can then expand on that so they understand to respect one another, respect the property and goods of other people, and respect their own property and goods so they have some values added to their life.
We would then move on to teach them some of their obligations in life - their obligations to the rest of the community. We all, as part of the community, have some form of obligation. Some would call that responsibility, and that is also deeply lacking. We will teach it through the way of an obligation; their requirement to do certain duties: you have to go to school; you have to pick up rubbish; you do not throw your rubbish on the ground - a broad understanding so they can understand how respecting themselves and others fall within their obligations in society to be law-abiding citizens, and to contribute to the greater Territory.
Then, we would teach them their rights. When we are teaching them their rights, we will teach them the most fundamental part of that is the right to be free from violence, abuse, other people stealing and damaging their property. Then, we would also add at the end, if they do find themselves in trouble - bearing in mind that if you followed the first three steps, you will not find yourself in trouble – you do have certain civil rights as well. However, the main thing is, of course, that you have a right to a peaceful, friendly, loving nature and society around you.
Then, we will apply some reasonableness to it, the last of the Rs. I believe if you apply an element of reasonableness to everything you do, the decisions you make - and we know that, sometimes, youth make rash decisions and we hear, as defence in court at times, ‘He did not really think that message through; he did not really think about it before he threw that brick through the window or through the car’, or ‘Before he stabbed that person, he did not think about it’. Get them to understand an element of reasonableness so, when they make a decision, they consider to themselves: ‘Is this a reasonable and rational decision I am about to take, and is it respectful of myself, my friends around me, and my community?’ Then, hopefully, it will have an impact on that person’s life which is far greater than simply telling them their rights and what they can get away with.
It is only a little thing but it will have a great impact on people. I want to personally continue to spread that thought so we will see it, eventually, hopefully, right across our schools. I know both Driver and Durack teach elements of this already; they certainly talk about respect at their school assemblies.
I will now talk briefly of some good work within our schools, particularly one I know of, a project upcoming to which I have given my support at the Driver Primary School. It is a different form of education; it is about a physical, hands-on aspect of teaching the students. They have applied for a grant through the government – so, if anyone is listening, I hope you support this grant - to develop a school garden at the Driver Primary School. This will enable students to have physical touching, and learn where the tomatoes or the zucchinis come from. Instead of, ‘Hey, we do not just get food from a shop, there is a place these come from’, and we can teach the children how this actually evolves. This is a fantastic project taken on by the Driver school. I hope, if the government is listening, they support it, because these are brilliant ideas.
I have seen people try them in remote communities. We have talked about it; I have heard it talked about today in earlier speeches. It is a very important part of life. If we can teach the most fundamental basics to our children - our future - they will become much greater people, having an understanding and appreciation of where things come from, and will have much greater respect.
I heard earlier of the Clontarf Academy. Palmerston High School is one of those lucky schools that has the Clontarf Academy. Michael McLean is running it there, doing a fantastic job. The lads out there really have connected with the young men in the Palmerston area, and they are doing some great jobs. Michael was telling me just the other day he is now seeing some great changes with some of the lads involved, because they come to school, they have had a shower and comb their hair, have clean clothes on, and have some respect. A strange word - it is very powerful, ‘respect’. To Michael and his team, and other Clontarf Academy members, plus the young students involved, good on you I say, and keep going with it because it is a great path.
Interestingly enough, there is some diversity to that, and it allows the kids to talk to different role models. Different students, not just those in the academy, see Michael and his crew as role models. They will talk and interact with them, and that interaction is brilliant to see.
Palmerston High School’s senior side has a fantastic kitchen facility - a commercial-grade kitchen facility where they do home economics, and it is brilliant. As a side to that, they have set up a coffee shop. There is a big area where we have assembly in the morning on Wednesdays and they have managed to get a coffee machine - a proper one, similar to the one in Speaker’s Corner Caf. The students run this coffee shop every couple of Wednesdays and sell, at very cheap prices, coffee and cakes they have made earlier. It gives the students an element of ownership; a respect in their workmanship whilst both working the machine, controlling the funds coming in, and serving the patrons - their fellow students and teachers - in a caf scenario. It teaches them a whole series of life skills so, when those young people leave, they have some skills they can add to the community, and an understanding of managing or running a small coffee shop. To see the pride in quite a diverse range of students there is fantastic. I am very proud to have spent some time with those kids because they are fantastic young students. It was a brilliant idea, and all credit to the school for pushing forward with it.
I want to make some negative comment, unfortunately. Although the Palmerston Senior School is a brilliant facility, with government management fees ripping money out of everything as they tend to, somehow, whilst they were managing it - or at least getting paid to manage it - they forgot to put gas taps in a science lab. They built a beautiful science lab, but there are no gas taps for the Bunsen burners so the kids can really get into learning the basics. It is bizarre that we are paying these people a management fee, yet, they fail to manage dismally. I can understand the concerns when millions of dollars are ripped out in management fees, and they could not get it right. I would love to see that fixed, because it is pretty sad they cannot go to the full length of science which I enjoyed when I was a young man. I suppose that is part of the outcomes, if you cannot get the outcomes you need - and gas taps in a school science lab is a pretty big outcome. It is a shame that was not fixed under a very poor management regime.
Unfortunately, Durack Primary School also has a negative, which is currently being fixed. We believe it is under the education building reform - federal money. They have a transportable double-sided classroom which had a very strange odour for quite some time and was not fit for occupancy but, instead of the government taking responsibility for it and replacing the building, or finding what the cause was - and really, it was a bizarre smell, and the identical building right next door has no smell whatsoever – the school has had to spend money from the building and education reform to replace that building. That is your responsibility; the money could have been better put towards infrastructure within the school, which would benefit the school; there is no doubt about that. Realistically, it is a wasted opportunity for that school to further expand. They are replacing a defunct building that is ruined, which should have come out of your pocket, then you would be really helping that school.
You would be really helping all the Defence families that use that school by ensuring they have the best facilities available. It is a shame they have had to go into that federal money which could have been a great opportunity to expand, instead of spending it on something you should have taken the responsibility to replace. However, you are too busy turning the spin out there. I noticed the Chief Minister was there the other day with some ASLAVs to talk with Defence families, but he was not putting his hand in his pocket saying, ‘No, no, no. Okay, we will pay for that’ - and he should have.
I have to say, Durack is a lovely school and Jo Wynn, the principal, has done a great job and has made some fantastic improvements. She has had trouble dealing with some of the kids because, unfortunately, one of the side effects of having a Defence-orientated family area is they are uprooted every two years. However, they have a Defence support person there who does a fantastic job as well. These are a few little things in my area.
A Smart Territory is an important thing. There is a lot of good things happening and from a lot of hard work from some very hard-working teachers across the Territory. It is a shame, when you guys drop the ball, you drop it like a clanger. When your organisations are managing funds, they do not actually manage anything or. if they do, they are not doing it in a professional manner. My God! Who could miss the fact that a science lab does not have gas taps? It might sound like a small thing, but to retrofit is going to cost a fortune.
The Territory is full of vibrant young people. We must get our education right. We must apply some respect, and an understanding of that word in our young people. We must get them to understand some of their obligations in life as they become young adults. We must teach them some of their rights so they understand they should be free from violence, and from having their property damaged by crooks. We should pass on some balance of reasonableness to those people because, if you bring some reasonableness to all the decisions you make in life, you will go a lot further than someone who has an axe to grind.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I am very proud of my schools. I believe they have fantastic management and, with some continued support, they will go a lot further. It is a shame we did not get quite as much depth out of the Chief Minister when he talked; it was a lot of spin and not much action. I am there to support my schools and I will continue to support my schools, because they are the future for our students.
Mr McCARTHY (Transport): Madam Deputy Speaker, I am a mere mortal who participates in this debate. I must say, I would like to get my hands on some of that water from Braitling, because it certainly turns you into a superhuman. However, there is a deficit in his vocabulary; he seemed to get stuck on ‘I’ and ‘my’.
As the minister supporting the Chief Minister on Education, I am honoured to support the statement. I feel disappointed in the member for Braitling for, once again, using the future of our Territory - our children, our students - as a political football. All I can say is: no respect.
I support the Chief Minister’s statement on the Future Strategic Directions for Education and Training in the Northern Territory. I would like members to consider this statement articulates a very powerful and important position from the Henderson government to improve education in the Northern Territory.
Education is not a static being; it is an evolving, living, moving organism. It represents our future, and represents diligence and respect. It was very interesting to listen to the Leader of the Opposition’s participation in the debate. He is, obviously, an educator with a very positive contribution. The member for Brennan made a positive contribution as a parent and participant in education.
My position in education is, now, as the minister assisting the Chief Minister on Education, the minister for youth affairs, a teacher, and a headmaster of some 30 years experience.
Education transforms the lives of tomorrow’s leaders, and the communities in which we live. Education and training is the No 1 priority of this Henderson government. Our goal is to build an even smarter, more skilled and innovative Territory. Building involves vision, planning, developing, and implementing. This statement articulates that position today. Every school works with the department and their community to ensure our children get good education and training and work to fulfil their potential. As the member for Barkly, I visit many schools, and I look forward to visiting many more schools around the Territory.
I share a little of the politics, particularly for the member for Braitling, because he wanted to talk politics. So, let us talk some politics. I came to this wonderful city of Darwin on a contract under the Country Liberal Party government to implement a major strategic change in education called Learning Lessons. I was involved in a dynamic team which had a great crossover into transport; I regularly caught the No 4 and No 10 bus. I boarded in Rapid Creek, and took a great interest in learning about the city. However, we were shut down and I was sent home. The project did not continue; the politics on the other side did not value it, vision it, or drive it forward. I returned and, once again, hit the grindstone in education back in the Barkly, and continued forward.
There was a big political difference. This statement today articulates another part in the evolution of doing it better. I am pleased to see the Leader of the Opposition supports that, which I also support today. I know the key to ensuring our regional and remote communities continue to evolve into towns, and servicing growth, requires skilled, smart people to drive the future. To achieve this, we need students at school longer, developing the skills and capacities to be work ready when they graduate.
I cannot overemphasise the importance of parents and schools working collaboratively to ensure students attend school all the time. This means students can aim to achieve or exceed the national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy. It is not a political football, but works towards achieving that goal and supporting the disadvantaged within our community to achieve the best possible results they can.
Secondary students need to aspire to graduate with either a Northern Territory Certificate of Education or a Vocation, Education and Training qualification in Certificate II or above. A TER score will take them to university. A combination of TER and VET will provide them with a future. For this to happen, the education and training system must provide effective support and expertise in our schools - our teachers, parents, and students. It is a holistic model this statement articulates today for the way forward. We must have a system that ensures we have in place quality strategies and programs for all stages of schooling, quality people and partnerships on the ground that are focused on making a difference for every student, and strategic- and data-driven support focused on achievement and improvement in every area of the education business. That is what this statement pulls together.
I pick up on some more points Chief Minister made in articulating our vision, our way forward: education is an evolving, developing, and one of the most important parts of governance we can perform.
Society as we know is changing; children are not the same any more. It was different in my time; it was different in the time of some of the younger members of this House. The kids that the Leader of the Opposition spoke about in his electorate – and I think he referred to them as a gangster culture – are different. That is why we need to keep pace with society and to keep evolving policy. That is what this policy articulates for a way forward. No spin; a very documented, strategic way forward developed by highly intellectual people. Of course, as the member for Drysdale said, the implementation is the challenging part; you do not always get it right but, without plan and vision, you go nowhere.
Territory teachers do a fine job. They do fine work, and that has been reflected by some of the members speaking tonight. However, they can do so much more. Parents have to be helped to develop communication and language skills, as well as the social and emotional skills essential for laying a strong foundation for their children’s future successes in learning. That is what this plan articulates very clearly. Parent partnerships are crucial foundation elements to any way forward in a post-modern education plan, which is what the Chief Minister is articulating here.
Children do not stop learning at the school gate, and parents play a part in continuing that learning - not only in cultural, social and emotional ways but, also, in academic ways. This must be further encouraged in the home, and parents need the tools to do this. This plan sets out the way forward with the Families as First Teachers Program, and family hubs as well. These are the lateral thinking directions we have considered and will implement. In my time as a teacher and headmaster, I constantly battled the problems of distance and having teachers with right skills in the right place at the right time.
Subject selection - the Leader of the Opposition is well versed in language education, and spoke very highly of it. I can talk about Tennant Creek High School, where modern technologies are used to develop and deliver Japanese language studies. This plan takes that concept, builds on it and articulates how we move forward and provide, in a distance mode, using the latest information and communication technologies. The government will step up the use of these learning technologies right across our education and training system. We will develop the virtual school model. I mention the virtual school model at Corella Creek - which the member for Braitling failed to share with the House today, but concentrated more on the political football in the field – a very good model working in a remote area to deliver education to Territory children who live in one of the remotest parts of Australia. We will develop the virtual school model for our regional and remote areas. I welcome this and am excited about it, because it will mean we can offer more courses to more students right across the Territory, particularly in the regional and remote areas.
Regarding the teacher shortage, these problems are not going away; it is getting harder to find teachers. It is not just a Territory problem or a Henderson government problem, it is an international problem, and rational thinking person would acknowledge that. Once again, this plan clearly articulates a way forward. We will not rest as we strive to get the right people in the right jobs. We will continue to work to recruit, retain, and develop our best people.
This means developing our Indigenous staff. We have to grow more of our own - more teachers, more leaders, more paraprofessionals. Nowhere is it harder to do than in regional and remote areas, but we are in there doing it. We are talking about a Territory-wide initiative. We are talking about a whole-of-community development initiative, and we are talking about a strategic plan which articulates that. Teachers and principals have to commit to communities for longer periods of time to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous participation and achievement in our schools.
I note this plan will provide work to establish one-stop shops staffed with remote teacher support officers to work directly with teachers and principals in remote areas to ensure services and support are effective and timely. Importantly, this government’s plan stipulates the use of research and data to deliver effective induction and recall processes. We want teachers who understand what they are going into, and a system that delivers effective support and solutions. Central to a smart Territory are teaching teams who know which practices and programs make the difference for groups of students. We want teachers who understand the needs and challenges of our students, and an education system which reflects the needs of our community. This plan sets real goals. I have spent the majority or my working life with kids - setting goals, setting expectations, mentoring - and this is the key to ensuring our children achieve, aspire and dream.
For the member for Braitling, I quote from the strategic plan 2009-12, and highlight the area that he missed; a bit of research and digging deeper into the most important issue for the Northern Territory government in education. In a section under Higher Education, it talks about our Department of Education and Training, and about the strategic partnerships with the Charles Darwin University and the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. It talks about improving, training, accreditation, and English as a Second Language study. This is clearly articulated in the plan, and clearly the way forward to growing our own in the Territory.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I conclude with a very brief synopsis of the minister for Education’s plan for taking us forward: attendance; achieving literacy and numeracy levels at or above national averages; completing Year 12; achieving a TER, Tertiary Entrance Rank; exiting school with a completed VET Certificate II or III; graduating and moving to higher education, further training and employment; undertaking school-based apprenticeships or traineeships; and participating in adult learning, aligned with employer needs.
When I look back on my career, I look back with pride, with humility, with blood, sweat and tears. Let me tell you, I wish this was around when I was in the field. I wish this was around when Learning Lessons was in the field. I remember, member for Braitling, in 2001 there was a fairly significant change in the Northern Territory. I believe it was the Labor government that picked up Learning Lessons. Well, this plan goes further than Learning Lessons; it builds on Learning Lessons and takes us forward.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I just wish A Smart Territory had been around when I started. I wish it the best of luck, because this is the way forward. I thank the Chief Minister for his insight and presentation of this statement today in this House, to inspire, to lead, and to provide the vision which will deliver results in education and training.
Mr GUNNER (Fannie Bay): Madam Deputy Speaker, I support the statement that outlines sound strategy for the future of education in the Territory. It places education and training as No 1 priority for government. It puts right up-front an emphasis - an important emphasis - on having high expectations of our students, teachers, and schools. To achieve our best, we must demand our best. A Smart Territory will not happen by accident. We want the best from our new Territorians, our young Territorians, and we have a responsibility to ensure they have an environment, a culture, in which they can achieve their best.
The Territory is growing at a rapid pace. We have a growing number of students, and a growing need for young Territorians to emerge from school ready and able to help build the Territory. The Chief Minister provided some examples of goals we must achieve for this to happen: a 90% attendance rate can only be achieved by parents, schools and communities working together; students achieving or exceeding national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy in Year 3, Year 5, Year 7 and Year 9; when a student leaves Year 12, they will have a VET Certificate II or above, or a Tertiary Entrance Rank that will get them into university.
As someone who went to school in Tennant Creek, Alice Springs and Darwin – primary, secondary and tertiary – I saw a variety of different classrooms. I have spoken to the member for Barkly before about my time at Kargaru, a primary school not there any more. I remember - I think it was Year 4; I am sure my Mum will correct me if I get this wrong - we were doing maths lessons early in Term 1. We had the whole classroom looking away from the multiplication tables, because we were doing a test on our times tables. However, we were looking at the divisions - they had all the division tables up on the wall which no one in the classroom had been taught yet. I realised we could actually do the reverse - I guess it was almost cheating. But, it is just an example of going from one classroom in one town to another in another town in the Territory where what had been taught in one classroom was not at the same speed as other classrooms around the Territory. Even in Year 4, I found that a very interesting point.
To have a positive, competitive environment where everyone is trying to achieve their best, where there is a culture of expectation, you need a high attendance rate. I sat in classrooms where the attendance rate was low or all over the place; you were not getting the same kids in the classrooms each day. That is not a culture which helps achieve results; that is more about hanging out and causing trouble. It will be difficult to create a culture of achievement in every classroom in every school in the Territory, and that is why it is so important that we aim for it. That is why it is so important we create targets, as the Chief Minister has outlined, as I just mentioned, otherwise we never will achieve it. The Chief Minister is to be commended on setting this direction with the new Chief Executive, building on a series of reforms.
The Chief Minister’s statement went through quite a few reforms, such as: establishing a Teacher Registration Board in 2004 to help create and maintain professional standards in our teacher group; pioneering the Laptop Program for Teachers in 2004 as well; the establishment of middle schools in 2006; the School Accountability and Performance Improvement Framework in 2007 - I know the school councils love that; in 2007, the NT Safe Schools Code of Conduct; and in 2008, the Clontarf program, which I know all members of this House support strongly. The Leader of the Opposition spoke very highly of that in his contribution to this statement today.
There is also a massive infrastructure exercise going on. I am sure, as local members, we have seen it in all our schools, in our electorates. The figure is extraordinary - $235m between the federal and Territory governments. I know works are happening at Stuart Park Primary and Parap Primary Schools; they will deliver important improvements to how teachers deliver classes to their students. For example, at Stuart Park Primary School, they built a verandah off one wing outside the early primary school classrooms, and that has made an immediate difference. You can see much greater use by teachers of what is an excellent outdoor area. If you have been to Stuart Park, they have quite lush, tropical grounds, and verandahs have opened part of the school grounds not really used before. You can tell, immediately, teachers are taking their classes outside and delivering more classes in different environments, which is having a real impact on their students.
We have put a lot of money in - both the federal and the Territory governments - for infrastructure upgrades, and have made some significant steps, as outlined by the Chief Minister. However, there is more to be done. This Education and Training Strategic Plan 2009-12 which the Chief Minister has outlined is what will take us forward to ensure we are delivering the best possible education and training systems for Territorians.
The plan is built around three things; the recommendations from the Ladwig and Sarra report; changing the agency structure to better focus on students’ learning and achievement; and putting in place the national partnership agreement we have signed off on with the federal government. The plan focuses on three things to achieve the outcome of the best possible education and training system: the development of quality programs to improve attendance, participation and achievement at every level of schooling; the recruitment and retention of quality people and partnerships to get and develop the right people who are committed to the Territory and know how to make a difference; and the building of quality systems to support our schools to achieve real and improved outcomes for every student.
Three things - better programs; more people but, more importantly, people who want to stay in the Territory for longer, not just drop by for six or 12 months - I do not have a problem with people who want to come to the Territory for a year, but to make a difference over time, and education often takes time, it is better to be working with people who want to be here for a long time; and better support for the programs we want to deliver for the people who will be delivering them. Those three things make sense to me, and they are what we need to put in place to achieve these aims the Chief Minister outlined and I touched on earlier - attendance, achievement in literacy and numeracy, finishing Year 12 with a Certificate II or better in VET, good Tertiary Entrance Rank, and establishing a culture of high expectations for students and for teachers.
The plan is a three-year plan which is broken into the early years, and the primary, middle, and senior years of schooling. I believe all members will understand the importance of the early years. It is extraordinary how quickly young children can learn. There is no doubt this is an area where we can do more; it is probably an area where most governments can do more. This has also been recognised by the federal government, and we will need to work with the federal government to deliver outcomes in this area. The Chief Minister flagged in his contribution the partnership we are going to have with the federal government to build on delivering in the early years. I believe the Chief Minister, and the Henderson Labor government are best placed to deliver those outcomes with the current federal government, to better integrate health and education services, and to assist families to deliver education themselves from birth through to early years of schooling.
In the primary and middle years, I am interested in the strategies around attendance. I believe good attendance can lead to better engagement, which leads to better achievement. I know from my own personal experience going through a variety of different classrooms and environments in each of those classrooms. Good attendance often leads to a friendly, competitive environment that leads to better achievement - something I noticed going up and down the track as a kid. I am keen to work with the Chief Minister in those areas. The Chief Minister flagged curriculum pathways and resources that focus on improving attendance, achievement, and engagement, a scenario I am interested in having more information on, and very interested in working with the Chief Minister wherever I can.
Talking about attendance, in some respects that is what the senior years are all about - actually getting students to continue on in their senior years, and to complete those years and get a result of a Certificate II for VET or better, and to get a Tertiary Entrance Rank which gets them into university and the course they want to do. To get there, the strategic plan is searching for ways to make school more relevant and practical, leading to bankable outcomes for all students. We are going to work with all schools to provide strategies and programs that provide a clear pathway from Year 12 into further education, or a job. To make this happen there will be the introduction of a personal learning plan, and dedicated career advisors in every senior secondary school. Basically, we will be making sure all senior schools will be able to transition a student from school to work.
To make this plan work in the early, primary, middle and senior years, we are going to need quality people, the right people in the right jobs. We are very lucky with the quality of people we have in the Territory. However, we do need to do more in a small place like the Territory. Our population is growing, but we still are a small place, and we need to do more to recruit, retain, and develop our people.
The department has put in place measures to improve how we support our people. That is ongoing work. I have had good feedback on what the department has done to date to provide better support, and I wish them all the best in delivering what is going to be a very important and practical measure in achieving the outcomes the Chief Minister has outlined. We need to keep our people in the Territory for longer doing what they do. They do it well; I know they can deliver the outcomes the Chief Minister has outlined. They can deliver this plan.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I commend this statement to the house.
Ms SCRYMGOUR (Arafura): Madam Deputy Speaker, I speak on the Chief Minister’s statement, A Smart Territory.
I listened to many speakers, and I have a smile on my face every time the member for Barkly speaks. I have never heard a more passionate speaker, particularly how he feels about education, and all the years of his work teaching in and around the Barkly area. It always reinforces the need for people like the member for Barkly to continue that passion, and bring us back to thinking about how things were.
I was listening to him talk about Learning Lessons and why we reached the point of Learning Lessons, and how tough it was for the many communities and educators working in the system to deal with education way back then. The member for Nhulunbuy is also an educator. In 2001, I listened to the then member for Stuart, Dr Peter Toyne, and the former member for Nhulunbuy, Syd Stirling, when they talked about education, and the emotion of both of these men when the Labor Party came to government in 2001, and when we adopted all the recommendations from Learning Lessons and implemented that report to start turning around some of the neglect in many of our remote communities. I watched the former members for Nhulunbuy and Stuart, all those years in this parliament, argue with the CLP government of that time about how important it was to get the resources and the changes on the ground in those communities to try to turn things around.
Hence, we get to the present day. Many people, me included, are glad that attendance has become a pivotal part of any strategy we implement. We all know if you do not get kids to school nothing much is going to be achieved at all. In places like Maningrida, up until last year, we had fewer than 30% of the school population going to school; that is now turning around. They have made many changes with the teaching staff on the ground. The Chief Minister came out with me and we had a meeting with the traditional owners and parents in that community to discuss the issues of school attendance. It was an opportunity for the Chief Minister to listen to parents regarding what they wanted in their children’s education. In the broader community, people often think Aboriginal people do not want good education outcomes for their children, or they do not want their children to learn. That is not true. When you sit on the ground with many Aboriginal parents, they do want better education outcomes for their kids. If you talk to them, they will tell you that.
In my time as the Education minister, I recognise, reflecting on a number of things, particularly the debate on bilingual education and the implementation of that policy, maybe I could have taken a different approach. It is about inclusion; talking to parents and trying to get them to go forward. That is where this statement, particularly including parents as first teachers, is an important start. Unless we get parents involved in their kids’ education we are not going to get very far.
It is great to see some of those areas which have been worked on under Transforming Indigenous Education coming through in the DET strategic plan. The strategic plan, as the Chief Minister mentioned in his statement, will take on the key recommendations of the Ladwig and Sarra report. Having read that report, the new CEO of DET, in implementing the restructure within that department, will go forward, as the member for Barkly said, with a great vision, a great plan, which we all need. Hopefully, these things will be implemented.
Just quickly, to my electorate, one of the things I am looking forward to with a bit of excitement - and I have had some discussions with the Chief Minister as well as with ERA. Last week, the Chief Minister signed an agreement with Energy Resources Australia recognising the importance of education and training in achieving wellbeing for the people of Jabiru and Gunbalanya. The second part of the agreement is wishing to disseminate skills and career opportunities to the people of Jabiru and Gunbalanya to achieve this goal. This has been a long time in coming.
It will see two schools - Jabiru on one side of Cahill’s Crossing and Gunbalanya, an Aboriginal community in the other part of Western Arnhem Land - come together. They will still have their separate principals but will be overseen by one principal who will bring both schools closer together. It makes sense because ERA is now looking at the skills shortage in Jabiru and around Kakadu. They want to build the skills of the local Bininj or the young Aboriginal men and women, both in Jabiru as well as Gunbalanya. So, it makes sense, finally, to get ERA, probably the biggest employer of people in and around that region, wanting to be involved and having a big involvement in the school, looking at how they can support the government, the community, and traditional owners to develop a trade training centre so they can skill those young people as they go further.
It is going to be a really good thing. Talking to the principal at Gunbalanya and the Aboriginal teachers, they are excited by this. The traditional owners at Gunbalanya can finally see it being a road forward for their young people. You often hear in communities: ‘Why am I going to school?’ or ‘Why am I going to get this training? There are no jobs in these communities.
This agreement provides hope for those young Indigenous kids that there will be a job at the mine, with transport and tourism, or with natural resource management - all of those areas. Those young people will be able to get the training, so it will be transitioning kids from school to work, and it will be seamless. Having talked to David Paterson from ERA, they are excited, and want to also look at something like this for Nhulunbuy and some of the areas there. I will show the member for Nhulunbuy this agreement that was signed with ERA. It is a fantastic agreement. I know people out there are, for the first time, excited things are going to happen and will change on the ground in those communities; there may be some future for those young Bininj kids further down the track and they do need to go to school.
One area which was not in this statement, but something I have raised previously, is the issue of adult education. If we do not put our focus on adult education, we will continually see our system floundering, particularly with young children. There is much merit in trying to get those young parents or adults, who have left school early, back into the system to retrain them. This is a great strategy. We all need to work together to try to make things happen. People are cynical and say: ‘Oh, another statement, more promises’. Well, you have to have a vision and some path going forward.
This statement the Chief Minister and his department have outlined is a way forward. I look forward to working with the department to make some of those changes, particularly at Jabiru, Gunbalanya and Maningrida, so young kids in those regions do have a future and can become educated. We will give them the skills, and they will one day end up in jobs. If we can create and work with private enterprises and corporations such as ERA to create those jobs, this will be a great road forward for a lot of those young Aboriginal kids out there.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support the Chief Minister’s statement.
Ms McCARTHY (Children and Families): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, we have heard from the Education minister the significance this government places on education. As the Chief Minister said, that is why this government has extended until Year 10 the requirement for compulsory schooling, as well as making it a requirement for all young Territorians either to remain at school, in training, or in work up to the age of 17. Our government does not want to see our young people being allowed to spend time adrift and directionless at this critical phase of their lives. We all know it is too easy for young people who are not effectively engaged in study, training, or work, to come off the rails. Education and training is vital for individual development, and developing the potential of our young people is also an essential investment in the Territory’s future.
Too often, too many of our children in remote regions do not attend school. However, this happens not just in our remote regions. We must work with parents and communities to improve attendance levels. While it is a challenge, as a government, we are committed to turning this situation around, and we must convince parents about the importance of getting their children to school. It is good, when I travel to places in my electorate, to see the tremendous amount of work that is being done by, not only the teachers in my communities, but the families. Yet, I am also equally conscious of the many frustrations; that kids need to have more, beyond school. Yes, it is one thing to get them to school and get them through, even to Year 12, but we must ensure we progress even further our young men and women right across the Northern Territory.
While we are now starting to see positive education results in the bush, I acknowledge there is still a long way to go. We have to look at the entire system, and consider how it is we might best engage the students in our remote communities. I have to say I was delighted when the Chief Minister announced in August last year, during the election campaign, the Labor government was committing to the Families as First Teachers Program. The Families as First Teachers focuses on setting children up to attend school. A similar program has had great success in New Zealand, and Kuranda in North Queensland.
As a result of the Kuranda District State College’s program, student enrolments have increased, and there have been record achievements in literacy and numeracy amongst Indigenous students. We must continue investigating innovative options like this if we are to turn around educational outcomes in the bush. Now, at long last, children are completing their schooling in the bush. I spoke on Friday about the number of young people who completed Year 12 in my own electorate in 2008. It is hard not to feel a sense of hope when you look at the pictures of these young people, such as the 17 members from the class of 2008 who completed Year 12 in the electorate of Arnhem.
It does not end there. These young people now have to be able to do something with the capacity they have demonstrated in passing Year 12. They have to move beyond Year 12 and ensure they make a go of their life. I believe we have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep that flame of hope alive in successful students in the bush. I would certainly like to see the establishment of a formalised support network for those who pass Year 12 in our remote regions. All of us in this House know the challenges of negotiating those teenage years and the early 20s. They can be pretty tough years. It is hard enough, I guess, in the suburbs of Darwin, and even in Alice Springs and Katherine. We all know many young people do get lost along the way. Too much effort goes into attaining academic achievement in the bush to let such positive gains slip away. We owe it to the mums, the dads, and the aunties, the uncles, the nannas, and the children themselves, not to see this effort squandered after schooling has been completed.
I would like to see our government establish a series of electorate-specific support networks for our bush graduates, to provide them a network which would give assistance for up to 10 years, or thereabouts, after they leave school. Some young people might not need it, but others will. I see this support mechanism providing mentoring for young people, while also allowing them the opportunity to meet with their peers on a regular basis, to share common experiences, and discuss the challenges confronting them as they attempt to move to the next phases of their lives. I certainly want to work with all my colleagues to make this prospect a reality.
As you know, I am now also the Minister for Indigenous Policy and, as such, I intend working to improve education outcomes amongst young Aboriginal Territorians. Earlier this year, the Productivity Commission released its fourth Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report, prepared at the request of the Council of Australian Governments. That report outlined how, across all indicators, there continues to be wide gaps in outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and it highlighted the need for sustained and elevated effort to close the gap and significantly improve outcomes for Indigenous people.
On a more positive note, the report also highlighted the things that work. Some success and positive programs noted in the Territory include our mobile preschool program, the application in the Northern Territory of the National Accelerated Literacy program, and an increase in students completing the Northern Territory Certificate of Education.
One of the key issues in relation to Closing the Gap is that, across all the key indicators of the COAG report, outcomes for non-Indigenous people in Australia continue to improve. Making a real difference in closing the gap for Indigenous Territorians will require significant additional resources beyond those of the Territory government, over a sustained period.
The Chief Minister’s statement, and our key policy initiative of A Working Future, provides a solid framework for sustained and elevated effort. A Working Future offers a real opportunity for strong, effective, working relationships across government with local people, non-government organisations, and the business sector. Development of local plans, informed by local people, with local experts who will work with local people who know what works and what does not, and what the local priorities are. With a strong evidence-based reporting framework, we will know exactly what money is going where, what returns we are getting on investment, and how our work is making a difference.
Our vision is: within five years communities will develop into local economic and service delivery hubs, supporting small communities and outstations within the surrounding region; all kids will be attending vibrant schools and having access to a solid foundational education to maximise their life opportunities and choices; we will be seeing the benefits of targeted investment by government to address identified service and infrastructure gaps; and improved transport systems that better link towns across the Northern Territory. Long-term leases are in place to encourage private investment in home ownership and business enterprises; all private investment, with new and expanded local businesses servicing the town, and more jobs for residents; and local workforce development plans, matching local labour supply skills and a capacity for their jobs.
Under A Working Future, there is no intention to close existing schools, but there may be changes to the methodology in education service provision for children living in homelands outstations where there is currently no school, only a visiting teacher service. These are the issues I need to get my head across. I need to get out to all these communities once our session of parliament is complete. A Working Future will lead to improved choices for homeland parents and students. Where change is proposed, such as daily transport to the nearest school, upgrade of homeland learning centres to small schools, or residential programs for senior students, it will be for the purpose of improvement to arrangements.
A Working Future is also about Indigenous economic development and job creation. Growth of bush communities into townships will present key opportunities and challenges to engage more Indigenous Territorians and organisations in economic activity. Under A Working Future, the Northern Territory government, working in partnership across all levels of government, will facilitate the provision of infrastructure and government services.
As the Minister for Children and Families, I am also pleased our government has put in place important child protection measures which will assist in the development of young Territorians living in more remote regions. We must protect our children, no matter where they live. Our government is committed to the care and protection of children.
We have launched some important initiatives, including the Territory’s first Child Abuse Task Force, and the Territory’s first Children’s Commissioner. The Child Abuse Task Force, or CAT, is a joint initiative between Northern Territory Families and Children, the Northern Territory Police and Australian Federal Police. CAT North has 13 Northern Territory police officers, working with nine federal police agents, plus five child protection officers. CAT South has five Northern Territory police, and three child protection officers. We are currently looking to fill two additional positions for Federal Police agents, which have been allocated to CAT South.
In addition to the positions I have just detailed, the Child Abuse Task Force also includes a full member Aboriginal community resource team working on the development of child safety strategies on communities. This element is, obviously, of critical importance as an interface between the CAT units and the people in our more remote communities.
Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, as a government, we are committed to delivering a smart Territory through quality education and training. We are, though, realistic enough to recognise we will need to continue confronting significant challenges, particularly in our remote regions. Our government is committed to dealing with these challenges to help deliver and develop a smarter Territory.
Ms WALKER (Nhulunbuy): Mr Acting Deputy Speaker, I support our Education minister’s statement about the future strategic direction of education and training in the Northern Territory. It is a subject which has been talked about a great deal during my first 12 months in this Chamber. I am encouraged the talk is translating into plans and action. It is, indeed, as the member for Barkly said, part of an ongoing evolution in education in the Northern Territory.
Education is at the very core of developing people and developing the Territory. It is the key to our future and the lives of all Territorians, especially our children. I have just revisited this morning the Territory 2030 strategy document released in April this year which, quite rightly, places education front and centre. I quote from that document:
- Education and a commitment to lifelong learning allow people to reach their potential and contribute fully to … the Territory.
…
The education system will need to reform to meet the challenges of the next 20 years. Accordingly, the Steering Committee has decided that education must be the centrepiece of the Territory 2030 strategy.
As the Chief Minister said, we do, indeed, need a robust education system which has a culture of high expectations and high-performing people, programs and processes. I know I am not alone in welcoming the recommendations from the Ladwig and Sarra report which highlights these very things, and the fact we need to push for quality - quality programs, quality people and partnerships, and quality systems and support.
As a bush member, I especially welcome the focus on strengthening regionalisation. The East Arnhem region is unique in so many ways, and is certainly a long way from Darwin. A flyer recently released by the Department of Education and Training was distributed at Nhulunbuy High School Council meeting last week by Principal, Kath Middleton, who spoke enthusiastically about DET’s strategic plan for 2009 to 2012 and, in turn, all council members at the meeting embraced it.
I pay tribute to those people in my region who take up roles with the school councils and actively contribute to the school community and future planning. They are all volunteers who give up their time to attend committee meetings, strategic planning meetings, and subcommittee meetings which look at matters from finance to curriculum, to grounds maintenance, and to fundraising. I know the member for Brennan has had a very strong involvement with schools in his electorate well before he got into this job. I am sure all of us are involved currently in the schools in our electorate and their councils.
Quite rightly, Indigenous education and training must continue to be a priority. Under the stewardship of the member for Arafura during her time as minister for Education, we saw last year a refocus with the Transforming Indigenous Education initiative. At the core of this, and the success of any initiatives in Indigenous schools, is getting students to school. Regular attendance is absolutely essential for any child to learn. They need to be engaged in programs which are relevant, meaningful, and build on knowledge and skills. While a target of 90% school attendance might be a real challenge, I certainly do not think it is unrealistic. For the Leader of the Opposition, who talked about looking for measurable targets out of this document, well, there is one of them - 90% attendance is a very measurable target.
I have seen in my own electorate attendance at Shepherdson College at Galiwinku has increased dramatically in the last 12 months, and appears to have been sustained. This is due, in no small part, to strong and determined leadership within the school community, led by principal, Bryan Hughes, working closely and in collaboration with families and community members, as well as police, the health clinic, health workers, the East Arnhem Shire Sport and Recreation Officer, and the government business manager.
Shepherdson College has used some innovative programs to attract children to learning, if not necessarily to school itself - at least not in the short term. A bus has been fitted out with resources including computers to become a mobile classroom and is, of course, overseen by a teacher. It regularly visits the main beach where students spend their time, or other parts of the community where students may be. Over a period of time, many of those students have, eventually, returned to school.
Shepherdson College students have also benefited, from a unique partnership through a philathroponic organisation, one laptop per child, which saw the school take delivery of $90 000 worth of laptop computers in April this year. They provide teachers and students with another learning tool and an added incentive to attend class. On the subject of laptops, the Northern Territory’s initiative in 2004 to provide laptops for all teachers has been a very important step in education, as the Chief Minister said, enabling teachers to use learning technologies as part of their daily work. The ready access to this technology also underpins many of the recordkeeping and reporting systems which schools use, and increases efficiencies in order to give teachers the time for what they really need to do; that is, to teach.
As an ex-teacher, I can remember the days when, as a high school teacher, depending on my teaching load, I would have to prepare up to 120 handwritten reports on individual students in a term. If that was not bad enough, pity the poor senior teachers who had the job of then having to read all of the reports of many teachers with several classes. It certainly was a paperwork nightmare.
When I left teaching at the end of 1996, I was on the verge of becoming computer literate. At that time, Nhulunbuy High School had two computer labs and a smattering of computers around other classrooms. Just recently, I attended, with the Chief Minister, the opening of the new senior school at Palmerston High School. The members for Drysdale and Brennan were there as well. I was interested to go along, as it was my very first posting as a teacher when I moved to the Territory in 1987. At that time, it was the school’s second year of operation. I consider myself to be computer literate now but, walking into that campus a few months ago and seeing SMART Boards in every classroom and the dexterity with which teachers and students were using them, absolutely took my breath away. Indeed, if we want to be the smart Territory, we need to be smarter with how we use technology, and SMART Boards are definitely a part of it.
Another part of my electorate has seen the delivery of approximately 800 km of fibre-optic cable from Jabiru to Nhulunbuy, thanks to a partnership with Telstra, the government, Rio Tinto Alcan, and the Northern Land Council late last year. It provides the very platform for remote learning. With high-speed broadband access, we should be able to make much better use of e-learning. The member for Stuart talked about that.
The homeland learning centres in my region, which come under Yirrkala Homelands School and Shepherdson College, are places where school attendance levels are strong and learning outcomes solid. With the tyranny of distance, we need to be smarter in delivering best education outcomes for these children. I should add this is just as true for adults in remote homeland centres, whether they be teachers, Indigenous education workers, rangers, health workers, nurses, tradesmen, or whatever vocation they choose.
Actively supporting education, training and employment opportunities is also one of the cornerstones of A Working Future policy which aims to see Indigenous Territorians who live remotely have the opportunity to work on the country on their community; to have a real job and not be dependent on welfare; and to be self-determining and do the jobs which, at the moment, are done by non-Indigenous workers who fly in and fly out. Yolngu people in my electorate welcome the notion of growing our own. These are people who want to work, want their kids to work, and want to be in control of their lives, not forever dependent on others to do the jobs in their communities. This is capacity building.
I go back to the homeland learning centres and highlight the roles Indigenous teachers and Indigenous education workers do in delivering education and supporting visiting teachers. The Chief Minister came with me recently to three different homeland communities in north-east Arnhem Land. I wanted him to come to Garrthalala to see why homelands in my electorate are strong and vibrant places where people lead healthy lives. I also wanted him to meet Multhara Mununggurr, who has taught at the school at Garrthalala for many years and has provided years of tireless service and leadership to educating the young ones in her community. The irony of what the member for Braitling had to say about education in the bush from the CLP - which did so little for two-and-a-half decades to see secondary students complete Year 12 out in the bush - is staggering.
As the member for Stuart said, under a Labor administration and under the stewardship of my predecessor, Syd Stirling, as the first Labor Education minister, we saw the first Year 12 Indigenous graduates at Kalkarindji. Since then, we have had over 100 Indigenous students graduate, and this includes seven graduates last year with their NTCE from Garrthalala where there is a boarding facility which accommodates senior secondary students who fly in from surrounding homelands on a Monday morning, and home again on the Friday afternoon at the end of the school week.
Appropriate facilities, member for Braitling? Yes. They are critical. The Northern Territory government has progressively been doing this. Visit Yilpara at Blue Mud Bay, which is home to 150 people and where Djambawa Marawili is TO, and where two new teacher houses have been built and a $2m school upgrade is about to start now the land use agreement is in place. Yes, certainly, these appropriate facilities are at the heart of the Rudd government’s Building the Education Revolution. Millions will be spent in remote regions out of the $235m earmarked to be spent around the Territory.
I make a comment on the subject of bilingual education. First, Yirrkala Homelands School operates an ESL program, not bilingual, so students are recognised as second language learners and, obviously, perform successfully. Second, I listened with interest to the Leader of the Opposition’s comments about bilingual in reference to the response from the Chief Minister regarding a petition that was tabled this morning. In a briefing I had recently with the new CEO for the Department of Education and Training, Mr Gary Barnes, he hit the nail on the head when he said that so much of the debate around bilingual had been hijacked by the media into an either/or message, and it is simply not the case.
We talk broadly - too broadly, I think - about education and school being important because we want people to come out the other end and graduate and pass into the world of work, and be economically independent. We all know schools are much more important than that, and they are places that deliver much more. Schools are places where people learn to learn, and learn to think, and leave at the end, where learning, hopefully, is lifelong. Learning is not just something that happens at school during school times, and it is not just university graduates who are teachers. Hence, we have programs which this government has introduced, including the Parents as First Teachers Program. I am very proud to know Averil Blundell, the teacher heading up that program, because she is a long-term Arnhem Land teacher.
We, obviously, need to provide the appropriate resources to facilitate learning but, at the end of the day, it is the quality of the dedicated individuals who teach children. They do much more than teach, they nurture, and it is the quality of their teaching which is so critical. I am sure every member in this House will have a memory of a teacher who has played a strong role in shaping their lives. Recruiting and retention is important in the Territory, especially into remote areas.
Madam Speaker, the Chief Minister’s Smart Territory statement is not just spin. It talks of a plan and a strategy which is happening, is part of a broader vision for the Territory, and interlocks with other important policy documents, such as the A Working Future policy and the Territory 2030 statement. I commend this statement to the House.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I thank all honourable members for their contribution to the statement. I know there is one thing everybody in this House is passionate about; that is, education. The importance of improving our education and training system is probably one of the few things both sides of this House can agree on. This government’s effort in delivering an education and training strategic plan is about real and improved outcomes for Territory students wherever they live in the Territory. We know this a great challenge. This education and training plan is about rising to the challenge and setting up a system that is ready, responsive and aligned with the needs of our students, our schools and, importantly, the Territory’s future.
We have heard a wide range of education issues raised here today on this important subject. There is insufficient time for me to address each and every discussion point that has been debated; therefore, I put on the table some generic responses to the general themes I have been hearing.
The first of these themes is about school performance. Due to the benefits of research and review, such as the Ladwig and Sarra report, we know school performance is improved where there are clear achievement standards in the core areas of attendance, literacy and numeracy, and Year 12 completion. My government sets these. All schools are provided with standardised and transparent systems for measuring student achievement and progress. My government’s plan addresses this. All teachers and school leaders are provided with access to high-quality advice, support and curriculum. My government’s plan will achieve this. School leaders work in partnership with their local communities to decide on the best local strategies for improving student achievement and attendance. My government’s plan lays the framework for this to happen.
Another theme of debate today has concerned the targets for improvements in education and training. It is important to state this government knows improvement across the education and training system is a long-term goal with targets that, at key points along the way, will be used to measure and report our progress, as well as inform the next steps. The education targets this plan described are essential. They are what the Territory must achieve to be in line with meeting or exceeding national averages by 2011 and, more importantly, maintaining these into the future; in line with the Territory and national targets for halving the gap of Indigenous achievement within a decade; and in line with the COAG Reform Agenda and Territory 2030 for improved NTCE training completions.
Another theme emerging from debate today has concerned curriculum. Curriculum is a central tool for improving student achievement. It not only outlines the content students need to learn, it also states the achievement standards required at each stage of schooling.
Curriculum is a key area of focus in this strategic plan. To ensure our schools have access to high-quality curriculum that takes on board recent improvements in teaching and learning, this government will: de-clutter the curriculum so teachers and principals can focus on those aspects of teaching and learning that will make a difference to student literacy and numeracy achievement; use e-learning technologies to expand the range of courses and subjects available to students completing the Northern Territory Certificate of Education and Training in remote and regional centres; develop teacher support materials in English, maths, science and history aligned with the national curricula; and partner with other Northern Territory government agencies to develop early childhood service hubs focused on improving the development of early literacy and communication skills young children need to be successful at school.
A critical theme emerging from the debate today concerns the quality of our school environments. Research tells us safe and orderly environments are critical to improving student attendance, engagement, and achievement. My government’s plan prioritises working with schools to develop school-wide approaches to making our schools positive places to learn; identifies positive learning centres that will cater for students whose behaviour is severely and persistently disruptive, including re-entry processes; and the use of ICT and other wraparound services. It also expands on the successful Clontarf Academy programs across more schools and communities, so more young Indigenous men feel comfortable to attend, learn and engage in their schooling.
It would be difficult to address every point which has been raised here. It is good to hear all our speakers are fully engaged in this important debate. I encourage all members opposite, should they have a specific education and training concern, to seek a briefing from my office, or contact me and I will respond. I am encouraged by the support I am hearing for our plan, proud that we are on the road to achieving real and improved outcomes across our education and training system.
The member for Arnhem talked with me about this idea of a mentoring program for Year 12 students who have graduated from remote communities, and how we can establish networks for those students so they can stay in touch, and also mentor other students coming through. I believe it is a great idea, and have asked the department to look at structuring such a support network across the Northern Territory. It is a really good idea.
To the member for Nhulunbuy, it was great to be out there the other day in those four homeland communities, particularly at Garrthalala. I was really impressed to see the boarding facilities there, and the passion for getting those students to achieve Year 12. I think there were seven students last year, at such a remote part of the Northern Territory, achieving their Year 12. It is a fantastic example of when people think about how we are going to deliver education in such a remote place and provide services, facilities, and quality teachers to get students there. It was a great result. With the high-speed broadband network we have put in place across the Top End with Telstra and Rio Tinto Alcan, I am looking forward to ensuring all our schools in those communities take early access of that improved technology.
Madam Speaker, with those words, I thank all members for their contribution to this statement. We will be debating education in many more sessions of parliament to come.
Motion agreed to; statement noted.
MATTER OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
Henderson Government Failures
Henderson Government Failures
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members, I have received the following letter from the Leader of the Opposition:
Madam Speaker
I propose for discussion this day the following definite matter of public importance:
The failure of the Henderson Labor government to recognise and fix the problems confronting Territorians and implement a timetable for action to get things done across the Territory.
Yours sincerely …
It is signed by the Leader of the Opposition.
Is the proposed discussion supported? It is supported.
Mr MILLS (Opposition Leader): Madam Speaker, in a number of media conferences leading up to the events of Friday, reference was made to the problem that had brought us to this place, and that these matters needed to be attended to in this Chamber in order to provide a stable government. A stable government may not actually be what people want. They want a stable government, and a good government, that actually governs and produces results for effort. In those media conferences, people were wondering what was going to happen on Friday, with a fair assessment of the problems that had led us to that place. There was an expectation that something would change as a result of the debate.
Something has changed - the government is still the government; the Chief Minister is still the Chief Minister – but the political problem has been addressed by the support that was gained in the Chamber. However, the underlying problem is one that Territorians will still be watching. That is the need for a change of attitude in the performance of government; that is, a change from talk of money spent as though that is the achievement. It is moving to another paradigm which is talking about the problem we are responding to as government, the establishment of a policy framework to address that problem specifically, the resources to accompany that, and measurable outcomes.
The performance of the Territory Labor administration for the last eight years has demonstrated they do not understand nor operate in the second paradigm; that being, the recognition it goes beyond the expenditure of money to produce a result. We hear it so often in the language of the Territory government. If it is crime that is a problem, the answer provided is more police numbers. Yet, at a public forum in Palmerston, people were responding: ‘Yes, and more police - and then what? What will result from that?’ What do people want when they have a problem with crime? They want to feel safer in the street. The answer of more police is not actually the answer to the problem; it is a resolution of a political problem right here, right now, to create an impression of action.
People have had enough of that. They actually want a clear benchmark guideline; a determined effort to produce a measurable result. The aim is, in fact, to make people feel safer in the street. What you will do to achieve that? How they will know whether your policy is working? Because we will be able to measure it. You set a goal; something that is measureable, a standard. We have to move into that place.
We find the same, as has been mentioned a number of times, with the perpetual motion of announcements on certain commitments of government describing itself as being committed to things such as oncology units, Tiger Brennan Drive, or land release, and so on. These are all commitments, but the commitments do not result in action that is meaureable. That is very important.
I hope, flowing from Friday, there will be a change in the mindset and the accompanying action of the Territory government. People clearly describe a desire for change. The change they want to see is not necessarily just a change of the political activity in the Chamber. Because if it was changed, and everything stayed the same, they would not be satisfied. What they actually want is an improvement in the delivery of services.
What is now on the Chief Minister’s plate, on his watch - and all will be watching as the result of the deal that has been struck - is there will be a real change. What has been spoken of is a change in the parliament. There have been some vague references to political reform and the way we structure our business in here. I am saying clearly Territorians will want much more than that. They want to see a difference in the way government operates. Not so much the way they operate in parliament but, at the end of the day, they want to see a result in the street, they want to see houses built, they want to see a difference in the schools and the classrooms, and they want to see a difference - a measurable difference - in the hospitals. We now need to move to a benchmark and the setting of goals.
I know of a senior public servant, who is no longer working in the public sector, who reported a disturbing situation; that being, a head of department could fulfil their goals and come in under budget and, as a result of that, could have their allocation for next year reduced. They achieved their objectives, came in under budget and, next year, they have a reduced amount with which to operate. On the other hand, you can have another head of department who did not meet their objectives, came in over budget and, in the next year, would have an increased allocation. That, in one case, is a penalty for the one who has achieved the objectives – a reduction – and, on the other hand, it is a reward for those who fail to meet their objectives by increasing the allocation because they went over the budget. That, in broad terms, feeds a problem; it does not create a solution at all. That whole group, which came in under budget and achieved their objectives, would like a recognition and a reward, because the business here is to achieve the objectives. On the other hand, those who have not met their objectives and get recognition by going over budget and having an increased allocation, lose sight of the core objectives. That has to change.
What I am proposing, and will continue to talk about - and my team will continue to talk about - is the need to change the way we speak and think, as a government. I know the community is now looking for action - a result from the efforts of government.
We have talked about the oncology unit. In the debate on Friday, we spoke about the response - the appalling response which resulted in the Little Children are Sacred report and, ultimately, the intervention. That inertia, that casual approach, the conducting of a review rather than action was, in fact, the attitude of this government that we have seen for the past eight years, and are already seeing in the oncology unit. We see the evidence of it in the tragic events that led to the intervention. In many respects, it brought us to a situation we had to contend with yesterday. ‘Has anything changed?’, is really the underlying message.
The land release in Bellamack is another case in point. The government’s failure to deliver on its promises in anything remotely in a timely fashion is what people are wanting. They want to see a result from the administration, not another promise from the administration. This has to change. In this case, the project was first announced by the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, on 4 September 2007. For those who were here at the time, following the debate, the government held a very strong position against it; resisting the need for release of land. Then, there was a change, a dramatic shift, and this announcement on 4 September 2007. Hopefully, when the member for Nelson talks about wanting to eradicate spin from the government, he needs to look no further than Bellamack as an example of how spin is designed to be a smokescreen for a lack of action.
The first media release on this issue coincided with Clare Martin’s announcement on 4 September 2007. It was headed ‘New suburb for Palmerston’ - September 2007. Since then, the government’s media unit has had the spin cycle working overtime, with the following media releases updating media on the lack of action at Bellamack: 9 November 2007, ‘High level of interest in Bellamack’; 30 May 2007, ‘Tender called for Bellamack headworks’; 10 September 2008, ‘Bellamack developer announced’; 26 November 2008, ‘Seniors village for Bellamack’; 10 December 2008, ‘$5.7m Bellamack headworks under way’; 23 January 2009, ‘Bellamack development out on public exhibition’; and 1 June 2009, ‘Work at new Palmerston suburb begins’.
That is eight press releases on the topic of Bellamack, and not one single house built. It is not only SIHIP where the Territory government has raised expectations and failed to deliver on houses for Territorians - raising expectations, creating a media perception, and sustaining that perception. I remember it very clearly; I know the need is great. It was a political response, managed through the media cycle, to create the impression there was a solution.
I had people coming into my office who were very excited when they heard this grand announcement, with the accompanying glossy brochures. They came in wondering how they could put their name down for one. From 2007, 2008, 2009 - still not a house. They had their expectations. They were ordinary folk who wanted a house. They wanted to be able to put their pegs down somewhere in the Territory, particularly in Palmerston, the place they call their home, and their expectations were raised in 2007 with a grand announcement. What does failure to deliver once, twice, three times in the span of that period of time, and eight press releases, actually do? It reduces people’s trust or belief that government is there to actually do anything other than create impressions, then it breeds cynicism and is a pox on all of us – it breeds cynicism.
There are other examples, sadly, of government’s failure to deliver, including the Tiger Brennan Drive extension, another election promise which has been beset with delays and hold ups, and is still a monumental inconvenience for commuters travelling into Darwin from Palmerston and the rural area. I am sure you are going to get, rising from the other side, a stout defence, blaming other people like the federal government – and you will probably bring in other names - to create this impression it is not actually your responsibility. If you fail to set a target, a standard, and a goal, and tell the plain truth, you are going to end up perpetually in the realm of spin and deception, and creating cynicism within the electorate. That has to change, Madam Speaker.
Education standards in bush schools have declined considerably under Labor. There will be explanations for this, of course. However, those explanations must be couched in the truth, rather than couched in the language of excuse making and creating the impression you are not actually responsible for this, and not owning the responsibility which is beholden upon government. Explaining it away does not make one jot of difference, nor does it sustain the obligation you have to provide sound, good leadership and strengthen confidence in the community’s view of government - that government is there, not just to be stable so there are no little troubles, but it is a good government that actually delivers results.
The upgrade of the Alice Springs Hospital Accident and Emergency Unit is still no closer to beginning, despite significant federal government commitment to the project. The promise to develop an aquatic park in Palmerston is shaping as another project about which we do not know whether anything is really going to happen - no land identified, no discussions with council, and no apparent plan. The community has heard the promise. What does the promise mean? What is it worth? The Palumpa causeway, interestingly, was a 2005 election promise by the member for Daly - 2005. After pressure from the opposition, and the media, the government has finally announced money, but no work has been done. All of these are responses to a political problem rather than shifting your sense of obligation to achieve a result.
As I said before, departments are being rewarded for not sticking to their budgets. With no leadership from the executive, the Chief Minister is saying this program is required to be done in X time frame and, if it is not occurring, then we just shift it. We do not have any sense of drive or direction from the top. I understand there is a constant request for increased allocations. Are these allocations based on the demands of a public service that feels if they just had a little more money they would be able to get the result required, when the executive responsibility is to set the standards, set the goals, and set the time lines?
The attitude displayed by an anecdote from Paul Everingham’s time regarding the Bagot Road flyover encapsulates this well. The story is there was a need for a solution to that problem because there was no flyover. There was an intersection on the Stuart Highway and Bagot Road, going into town, with increased congestion, too many cars, and people getting annoyed because they could not get to work - and with plans for increased suburbs to be built feeding into Bagot Road. The problem required a solution. Clearly, the solution, with an eye for the future, was to build a flyover. The then Chief Minister, Everingham, called in two senior bureaucrats, one an engineer, the other one with responsibility for the funding allocation for Transport and Works. He told them: ‘This is the problem, and we need it fixed, and we need a flyover to fix the problem’. The engineer said: ‘It is very difficult to build those, Chief Minister. They are not often constructed; they are hard to build. I am not sure if we can do that’. The money man said: ‘It is very expensive, Chief Minister. We do not have the allocation necessary to build such a very expensive project’. He said: ‘Well, that is a damn shame because we need that problem fixed because there are going to be more houses out there. There are going to be more cars and we need the flyover built. It is going to be a bigger problem if we do not fix it now’.
If this was a Labor Chief Minister, he would say: ‘Well, I know there is a problem. Perhaps we can manage this by saying we are going to conduct a review. We will put a bit of money into a review and say we are now going to take this very seriously, and I am committed to doing something about this. We have a review under way. We will fly this bloke up from Tasmania. He is going to have a good look at this intersection’.
No, sorry, I have digressed. This was a Country Liberal Chief Minister. What he said was: ‘Well, that is a damn shame. Is that your final response because we have to have the flyover built?’ They said: ‘Yes, that is it’. And he said: ‘Well, that is a shame. Could you blokes sign these couple of bits of paper?’ ‘What are they, Chief Minister?’ He said: ‘Well they are your resignations. You see, I need a couple of blokes who can build a flyover’. They shifted their thinking. He accepted the responsibility, he was in charge and, blow me down, those two blokes went away and worked out how they could do it. They received leadership from the executive arm - the Chief Minister in this case - and the flyover is there today. That is the shift. That is the dynamic that needs to occur.
We talk about crime. The answer to crime is? A political response: more police. What about a policy fix that produces a goal that we are going to have an improvement in safety levels? Not just numbers of police because, ultimately, that does not produce the solution. The solution sought is safety in the streets, safety in the park, and a policy we can actually measure, and the number of arrests. Mitchell Street: you actually have a policy fix.
Madam Speaker, I propose this Territory government digs deep and we have a greater improvement than some organisational change in this Chamber. The community demands - in fact, requires - a significant change in the way government operates for them to be satisfied that change has, in fact, occurred.
Mr HENDERSON (Chief Minister): Madam Speaker, I speak to quite an extraordinary matter of public importance placed before us here this evening. The Opposition Leader said a lot and, in another way, did not say very much at all. I am not going to say everything government does is perfect, every policy we have is perfect, and the implementation of every policy is perfect. Not at all. We can always do better, and we must always strive to do better. In regard to some of the issues the Opposition Leader raised, I will certainly attempt to put some of them to bed.
The opposition has two roles in the Westminster system: first, to keep the government to account - which is an important role - and, second, to provide an alternative government. The opposition has a role here in keeping us to account, and talks a lot about spin. That seems to be the new language for this term of parliament. However, we have just heard a statement by the Leader of the Opposition that there is no substance to government policy, we are not setting targets and, basically, the whole thing is a bit of drift and is being run by some evil spin machine.
Well, let us look at where the CLP are at the moment, in the substance of what stands for CLP policy. We have the CLP running television ads at the moment with the Leader of the Opposition talking about how terrible the government is. I saw one of those ads last night for the first time, and there was a website listed: terrysactiontimetable.com.au. I jumped onto the computer at home. This is a new website and I wondered what was on this website. In there, he was going to outline his vision for the future. So, I logged on, opened the first page, and there are 33 dot points under various headings: Law and Order, Education, Health, Housing, Government Accountability, Business and Indigenous. I thought: ‘Well okay, good luck, this is pretty good. Let us just see what the substance is around these great policy offerings the Leader of the Opposition is taking to the election’.
As I said in the House in the no confidence motion the other day, lots of rhetoric, lots of convoluted conspiracy theories, much dripping vitriol, but nothing of the opposition’s alternative vision for the Territory. We have 33 dot points under various headings and I will go through some of the dot points: reduce waiting times in hospitals - we would all love to do that, that is pretty good; fast-tracking land release - everybody is up for that; reform estimates - fair enough, we will look at how we do that; and plan now for the future. I thought under each of these dot points there might be a policy - there might actually be a plan as to how we are going to reduce possible waiting lists. You click on these dot points and guess what you get? Nothing! Nothing, just a statement: ‘We are going to reduce hospital waiting lists’. How? Where is the plan? Where are the targets? Where is the costing? Nothing - absolutely nothing. No targets, no time lines, no plans, no substance, just a dot point to say: ‘Trust me, if I was Chief Minister I would reduce waiting times in our hospitals’. No plan, no time line, no budget, no mapping – diddlysquat, nothing at all.
So, to say: ‘The government is terrible and the Territory is going to rack and ruin. I can provide a vision, I can provide an alternative’, you have a responsibility to do that. Nice pretty little website, spending lots of money on television ads but, when you scratch - you do not even have to dig; you just have to scratch - and nothing is there. Nothing but motherhood statements, and we know how complex these issues are.
Compare that to the commitments we made at the last election. First, we have our election commitments; second, we have ongoing strategies and plans such as our Jobs Plan, the Education Strategic Plan, our A Working Future policy to work with the Australian government on closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage, Territory 2030 that we are working on at the moment, and so on and so forth - specific commitments, real plans, real strategies, and budgets allocated to those. Are they perfect? Of course not. No plan, no policy, no implementation is ever perfect. However, at least they are there, you can see them, you can read them, and there are budgets allocated to those, as imperfect as they may be.
Each of the plans is fully funded. I have said that, for all the election commitments, I will report to the House every six months - no other government has done that before. Sixteen of the 94 commitments have been completed, a further 56 are under way, and all of those election commitments will be delivered by the next election. Included, obviously - if the Territory was such a terrible place – is the key issue for all of us of a strong economy and securing INPEX as a preferred development site for Darwin. They must have seen something about Darwin and the Northern Territory they liked. They must have seen something about a government that actually could deliver on its commitment, otherwise they would not be here ...
Mr Elferink: How happy were they when you dressed up the last election in their company’s name?
Mr HENDERSON: Madam Speaker, we have also – member for Port Darwin, you will get your say in a moment. We have also provided free buses for seniors and carers; improved the Pensioner and Carer Concession Scheme by reducing motor vehicle registration costs and making driver’s licences free; built a Police Beat in Casuarina and Alice Springs with one to be finalised in Palmerston by Christmas; increased the Back to School payments; boosted ethnic facility grants; provided new bus services to Bayview, Cullen Bay and the Waterfront Precinct; released land at Bellamack, Tennant Creek, Katherine and Alice Springs, with land release in Johnston, Zuccoli, and Mitchell, and Nhulunbuy being prepared; protected the Daly River; and more under way. We also put together a comprehensive package tackling law and order.
The Leader of the Opposition made what I thought was a pretty absurd statement; that by having more police out there, you are not actually going to reduce crime. Let me point out to the Leader of the Opposition, if you really wanted to look at spin over substance, then you do not have to look much further back than the appalling neglect of the police force in the last Country Liberal Party term. Talking about spin over substance, the wonderful and much discredited mandatory sentencing legislation, where we had the previous Chief Minister, one Shane Leslie Stone, deciding that: ‘We have a problem with the budget. We do not have enough police officers out there to actually catch anybody committing a crime at all. So, what shall we do? We will pass legislation here that looks really tough that, if you commit a property offence, you will go to gaol’. Lo and behold, what happened? Huge public outcry, and the amount of property crime through the roof, particularly the northern suburbs of Darwin. How many people actually apprehended and went to gaol? Answer: very few, because there were not enough police officers out there to investigate crime scenes and bring people before the courts to secure a conviction.
As well as repeal what was pretty abhorrent legislation, we recruited. We had Jim O’Sullivan come in, recruited an extra 250 police officers and - lo and behold! - property crime has halved. Property crime has halved because you have dedicated police out there who can tackle recidivist offenders, and stay on their case. Tragically - and it is tragic - the prison population is higher now. It is tragic; it is not a sign of success at all. However, property crime has halved because there are extra police out there. To run some line that extra police does not equate to reduction in crime is a bit spurious.
Over the last two years, we have also changed legislation to give courts tougher sentencing options, particularly around violence issues; provided more tools to police to get their job done, through more police officers, better equipment, and the Police Beat program; established the Alice Springs Youth Action Plan that is tackling both crime and antisocial behaviour - and I commend members opposite who participated in that; provided greater coordination and more facilities for Palmerston as part of the Youth Action Plan being developed for that community; introduced three youth camps with a focus on tackling the underlining causes of crime - I certainly agree we can do more in that space; established new mechanisms to deal with antisocial behaviour; lifted the emergency housing and short-term housing effort to provide places for people to stay; and put in place clear alcohol restrictions aimed at reducing the harm caused by alcohol abuse. Of course, it is not perfect, of course, there is more to do, but it is a multifaceted policy approach. We are currently working on rolling out more police in the Police Beat program, and implementing our CCTV promises.
In the area of health, the government has clear and definite plans in place around several key areas. Work is under way on delivering the Super Clinic at Palmerston and I think, already, over 6000 people have attended that after-hours clinic since it was put in place. Significant work is being done on our hospitals, developing and growing them to reflect community needs in each region. The program we established in 2001 to bring more specialist services is well under way, with oncology being the latest facility being put into place. Work is being done on reducing waiting lists in our main hospitals. We now have over 600 more nurses and 179 additional doctors in our system - all part of our ongoing commitment to bring greater medical services to the Territory. Is it perfect? No, Madam Speaker, no health service is perfect. Ours is very busy but, certainly, there are far more specialist services in the Northern Territory now than there were seven or eight years ago.
Today we have been talking about the Education and Training Strategic Plan. I do not intend to go over that again, but the funding is there, the plan is there, and I am very keen to deliver on the strategic plan.
We have established an exciting policy framework in Indigenous affairs, and that has been contentious. It is always going to be a contentious area of policy, so great is the disadvantage. Many people have different policy approaches to that, but I can say, working with the Australian government, significant inroads are being made.
Our local government reform saw the reduction of 73 councils, many of them completely dysfunctional, down to eight shires in remote regions. Yes, there are problems bedding those shires down; it is still happening. However, it was major policy reform that escaped - and I am not being critical here, because it was very contentious and difficult – previous CLP administrations. We brought it in. Did it cause some pain? Yes, it did, but we had the courage to undertake the reforms.
In May this year, the government announced the establishment of A Working Future, a comprehensive Indigenous policy aimed at developing 20 growth towns across the Territory. The policy has now been accepted right across the public sector, with clear reporting mechanisms being put in place that will allow us to watch both the progress and activity in each of those towns and warn us when things are moving slowly.
A Working Future has received widespread praise from the federal government, and state and Territory colleagues at COAG, Infrastructure Australia Group and other policy makers. Are there critics out there? Of course, there are; it is major policy reform. It is major policy reform that no other government has actually had the courage to tackle. We tackled it. We are going to implement the policy. Are there going to be problems along the way? Yes, there will. Is it going to be contentious? Yes, it will, but we have the courage to implement those reforms, and we are committed to those reforms.
Let me turn to housing. I have accepted the issue of housing could have been handled better, particularly in our second term. We have corrected this now. We are moving fast to deliver more land, more housing, and more public housing. I agree with the member for Nelson, and everybody in this House, the issue of affordability is a very concerning issue. There are no silver bullets to this, there is no magic wand in the policy reform to this, and we are looking at all sorts of different approaches …
Mr Westra van Holthe: It is your failure to plan that has brought it on.
Mr HENDERSON: … to address the affordability issues.
I pick up on the interjection of the member for Katherine. It is not just a straight supply and demand issue. Land is a part of it, but it is not the only part of it. It is an area where I accept, in our second term, we were not as quick off the mark as we should have been. However, those plans are in place now. What we have is a 20-year land release program across the Territory, an accelerated land release program containing new approaches, including longer-term planning for headworks, parallel processing of approvals and design, auction of subdivisions with design and development approvals in place, and lots available off the plan.
We are also helping Territorians get into their first home. We are expanding the role of the Land Development Corporation to residential and affordable housing. We are looking to grow the rental market by appointing and working with a new affordable housing rental company to be established to provide quality and affordable rental to medium- and low-income earners. To introduce to the marketplace an affordable housing rental company, basically in the not-for-profit sector, shows the appetite for reform of my government, something that has never been attempted in the Northern Territory before. The first major redevelopment of housing stock will be the 200 units at Parap Gateway. The redevelopment will be a mixture of public housing and private units for low- to middle-income earners.
New public housing is an issue the member for Nelson wants us to progress, and we will. We are conducting a wide-ranging review into public housing. The review will include the type of housing provided, the option for non-government public housing management - another major reform which has not been attempted before; and, expanding the private sector’s role in social and needs-based housing.
We are going to be implementing transitional housing, offered to clients to prepare them for living in an urban centre. With an ageing population, there will be greater focus on seniors housing. A new seniors village has been announced at Bellamack, and as part of the redevelopment of the Parap Gateway units. More short-term accommodation will also be a focus, and SIHIP, which is being rolled out with the Australian government, is significant.
I absolutely refute what the Leader of the Opposition said today; there are no plans, there are no targets, and there are no budgets to any of these things. I accept everything could always be done better; that is what debate in this House is all about. The proposal and the commitment by me to introduce the Territory Council of Cooperation to the parliament is an opportunity for opposition members of this House to bring their ideas to the table through the council, particularly in the major areas of public policy. Let us look at how we can do things better. I am not closed to new ideas, and do not pretend that I, or my government, have all the answers. However, to come in here and say the ship of state is totally rudderless and there are no plans for anything, or no targets for anything, is palpably wrong.
In regard to the national partnership agreements that have been signed up to with the Commonwealth government - whether it is in health, education, or closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage, on improving remote service delivery across the Northern Territory - all of these agreements have very clear and specified targets for the Territory government to meet in regard to commitment for Commonwealth funding, and very clear reporting arrangements.
In the spirit of openness and transparency, I can offer to the Leader of the Opposition briefings on those national partnership agreements. Along with the agreements are very clear and signed off public implementation plans regarding how those agreements are to be implemented across the Northern Territory. I commend our hard-working public servants who have done an extraordinary job. We are a small jurisdiction with a small public service. Having to deliver on national partnership agreements and implementation plans, in the same way massive governments like New South Wales and Victoria do, they have done a commendable body of work. All of those national partnership arrangements have clear targets, clear implementation plans, and clear transparency arrangements around them.
I do not agree in any way, shape, or form with the assertions made by the Leader of the Opposition in this matter of public importance debate. He spoke for 20 minutes in an obtuse manner regarding a range of issues. I have done my best to deal with those tonight. I say to the Leader of the Opposition, it would be great if you practised what you preach, because …
Mr Mills: You had better read the website.
Mr HENDERSON: … when I go to the website, terrysactiontimetable.com …
Mr Mills: Read it.
Mr HENDERSON: … statements about reducing waiting times in hospitals, for example. We all want to do that. There is nothing on that website about how you are going to do it. May the debate continue.
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Pairing Arrangements –
Members for Casuarina and Araluen
Members for Casuarina and Araluen
Madam SPEAKER: Before I call the next member, I have received a document relating to pairs. The member for Casuarina is paired with the member for Araluen from 6 pm tonight until the rising of the Assembly. It is signed by the government Whip and the opposition Whip. I now table the document.
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Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Speaker, I support the Leader of the Opposition in this matter of public importance because I believe it is important to raise the failures of this arrogant and tired government.
I point out that we have just had a big statement on education. If the Chief Minister would like to read the website that he has talked about, terrysactiontimetable.com.au, it says:
- Over the coming weeks and months, the Country Liberals will release details of an action plan outlining a series of policies designed to deliver better results for Territorians.
I am sure the Chief Minister may have overlooked that bit.
Today, I will talk about Friday’s deal that was presented to this parliament, some of the failures to deliver, and the important need for reform. First, I start by talking about the agreement presented in parliament last week. We have an agreement with the member for Nelson, which is not an underlying philosophy of government, a policy agenda, or a serious action plan for reform. All we have is a token effort to look at parliamentary issues. I am sorry to say to the member for Nelson, it is just a token effort. The reason I say this it is because it does nothing to address the underlying fundamental issues that have infested this government.
One fundamental problem that has infested this government and its departments is the lack of leadership, lack of capacity, and lack of vision for the whole of the Territory. How is it the Health Minister is not made aware of the fundamental problems with his department? This is not a one-off; it is a recurring action. What happened to address the inaction of departments needed to take on the delivery of projects? Where are the timetables for action? Where are the uncompromising lines of directions from ministers that set out not only a clear policy objective, but also a clear timetable for action? Why is it every Cabinet meeting stops being a Budget Cabinet because departments are rewarded by giving them more and more every Cabinet meeting, rather than helped to budget and made to prepare budgets to endure the full year?
Now we have a shopping list of items brought forward by the member for Nelson and, I might add, a shopping list with some very significant items, not only geographically but, also, in areas of real need. We have a shopping list that would appear to be only what he could dream up on the day. We have a new Berrimah Line of deprivation; it is called the northern suburbs. The development of life blood is diverted and drained for one man’s political survival. The northern suburbs also now fail to exist since Henderson sold his soul for 30 pieces of silver. I fear, member for Nelson, you have allowed yourself to be sold a pup. You have allowed yourself to be compromised by something that does not represent a real solution to bring change. You signed up for tokenism and, very shortly, you will see how rotten this government is. On this side, along with Territorians everywhere, we can only hope when you see how bad this government is you have the courage to do the right thing and not continue to offer them lifelines.
Looking at the substantive issues and not getting things done, let us look at the Mereenie Loop Road in Central Australia. Look at the promises you got on that task. Where is the timetable for action? The timetable has already been broken. Where is a definitive statement from those opposite that the member for Nelson has given support to? Where are those time lines? Let us look at the time lines for a number of other areas: land release in Katherine, Tennant Creek, Alice Springs, and Palmerston. We can make all these statements but nothing happens. Tiger Brennan Drive has been carrying on for years and years. The oncology unit is still not built. The port upgrade is being delayed, revote after revote. There is nothing in the way of alcohol rehabilitation reform, birthing services to Tennant Creek, or reduction in crime in Alice Springs. What happened to the police shopfront in Larapinta? Why do you not copy our policy on that? I am now told the police squad for February 2010 will be cancelled due to fiscal incompetence. I compare that to my points before about the Budget Cabinet.
Let us look at the rate of revoted works to assess how poorly the upgrade is continuing by this government. The difference is the Country Liberals are about action. We are about reform, setting targets, detailing the pathway to achieve such targets, and a time line for such action. What do we hear from this tired and arrogant Labor government? Where are the cost savings going to come from to meet the promises to the member for Nelson? We all know the Territory government has used the rivers of gold from the GST and are now struggling to make ends meet. What will be cut to meet the promises made to the member for Nelson? Or will there be just more debt loaded onto the Territory population - $26 000 for every man, woman, and child in the Northern Territory before we even started this financial year? All these projects will end up with yet another delay. Will these projects get another promise, with an excuse as to why they are delayed, another glossy brochure? What is the time line for these promises? Where is the action plan? We all know this government and its slogan: no ideas, no results.
Let us look again at the issue of education. We know there is a sincere lack of educational outcomes in Indigenous communities. We know the standards have been lowered rather than lifted to try to make this tired, arrogant, lazy government look like they have achieved. We know the NAPLAN results are going to be shocking. So, knowing all these things, where are the time frames for this change? What is actually going to make this change? Where is the government’s one-week, one-month, 100-days, one-term, one-year time line for change? What are the tools teachers need? When will we see the tutors in classrooms being supported? When we will see support for languages, librarians, physical education, and integrated training? We do not see it because this government does not have a time line, and does not have the leadership to direct what the policy agenda to specific outcomes are. Maybe there needed to be a leadership change on the other side.
We are here to see things get done. The adoption of mediocrity and political spin has become the solution, not an outcome of expectations for a specific time line.
What about health? Our hospitals are not funded on the basis of outcomes; they are funded on the basis of block funding; that is, we just keep funding year after year no matter the outcomes. This is tragic, as it does not see, nor promote, an attainment of efficiency within these departments. We have tucked in the corner areas of these department’s spin doctors and minister’s servants who add nothing to the outcomes for a different Territory but suck up resources. The spin must be cut; the glossy brochures must be wiped out.
When the Leader of the Opposition announced a process to get a funding model and a specific time frame to get that in place, what did those opposite do? They scoffed. This is not surprising because those opposite shut down the work that had been undertaken towards developing a funding model appropriate to the Territory as soon as they walked into this parliament to govern. What we need is real change to the operations of the government; a real change that gets into place a policy timetable that sees outcomes being put ahead of spin; a real change that invests in reforms and will see real change in an application of a culture shift to get things done - and doing so on time and on budget, delivering for Territorians.
The fact is the Henderson government has had eight years and cannot show what it has for it. Let us have a look: lower health outcomes; poor literacy standards; increased violent crime; higher house prices; higher grocery prices; and $26 000 debt for every man, woman and child in the Northern Territory. The Henderson government has had eight years to make a difference. He has had his go; his time is up.
What is needed is not another committee to add further process, potentially adding further delays, more costs, and more administration. We will have to wait and see what the actual structure of the committee is. We will have to see how open and accountable this committee is. We will have to see what powers this committee has. However, with this, we still do not have the commitment needed to reform the Territory government and the Territory Public Service so there is a clear focus on outcomes, and meeting budgets and time frames.
Madam Speaker, in summing up, I have said this government is not reformist. With the deal with the member for Nelson, we are rewarding a tired and arrogant government - a government with deep Cabinet divide, that has had a deal done to resurrect a struggling minister, a Chief Minister who has and continues to fail for Territorians. I can say the deal is not on. The need for renewal and good governance is now; we need to reform. Henderson has had his chance and failed to deliver results …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, I remind you that when you refer to a member, you refer to them by their title or their electorate.
Mr GILES: Sorry, Madam Speaker, I withdraw.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr GILES: The Chief Minister has had his chance and has failed to deliver results. He has delivered only endless plans and rhetoric. He has held on to power for power’s sake, and not to deliver the services and outcomes the Territory and Territorians desperately need.
Over the coming weeks and months, as the Leader of the Opposition outlined before, the Country Liberals will release details of action plans outlining a series of policies designed to deliver real results and better outcomes for Territorians: Law and order: setting targets to reduce the level of violent assaults in the Territory; reducing the number of drunks on our streets; stopping the revolving doors of the Northern Territory Correctional system; stopping prisons being a holiday home; putting more police on the street; reducing the numbers of senior police officers who leave the police force; and getting repeat drink-drivers off the road. These are not just glossy statements; these will be fired up with action plans and time lines for getting things done. Territorians will know exactly what we are going to do and when we are going to do it.
In education, we will set real targets to improve literacy and numeracy of Territory children, not just lowering the standards we hope to achieve; identify ways of addressing behavioural problems in children before they get out of hand and become problems in our schools; and give teachers the support they need to deal with violent and destructive behaviour in their classrooms. These will all have action plans and time lines.
In health, we will reduce bed block in Territory hospitals and reduce the occupancy levels in Royal Darwin Hospital and Alice Springs to manageable levels, which I am sure my colleague, the member for Greatorex, will appreciate. We will be implementing measures to deliver elective surgery within recommended time frames; reducing waiting times in the Territory’s emergency departments; and, improving working conditions for Territory nurses to reduce attrition rates - something they all deserve.
All our policies we will introduce in time will be followed up by a firm commitment, action plan, and a time line that will set forth what we are going to do and when we will do it. We will hold ourselves accountable to Territorians.
In housing, we will fast-track land release, and I appreciate the Chief Minister has said he has not been completely successful - or words to that effect - over the last four years in land release. However, it is just not good enough; we are the most expensive place in the Territory to live. Housing prices are beyond reach for ordinary Territorians. We need action, and we need action now. We cannot let the Chief Minister stand in parliament and say he is going to take action. We cannot have the Housing Minister stand here and say he is going to take action, or Planning minister. It needs to happen, we need a time line, we need a commitment, we need results. That is what Territorians expect of us as politicians.
We will fast-track the building of Indigenous housing under SIHIP - something I am sure is completely an irrelevant statement to members opposite. We will reduce the level of destruction and vandalism to public housing. These are our assets, they are for all the community, and they should not be destroyed.
In government accountability, we will reform the Estimates Committee to improve accountability, and cut down on waste and inefficiencies throughout government. We will ensure government watchdogs have the resources to do their jobs, and that we improve the function of parliament. This is not rhetoric, this is not spin; this is part of our plan for the future. Territorians can rest assured we have a plan for the future, and we will be releasing all our details and our time lines in due course. In business, we will cut red tape for business and improve the procurement process. In Indigenous affairs, we will end the duplication and waste in programs for Indigenous advancement between all levels of government. We will make sure things hit the ground. We will deliver real solutions to bring economic development to Indigenous communities, something this government fails to understand or deliver completely - federally and on the Territory basis.
The Country Liberals will be presenting detailed action plans. This is what we aim to achieve; this is what we will achieve. We will put money and resources to it, and we will tell Territorians when we are going to achieve, and how we are going to achieve it. They will hold us to account, and we will deliver - not this spin machine we have now that does not deliver.
In summing up, we have seen good members of parliament on the other side come and go, previous ministers such as the previous member for Barkly, Elliot McAdam. These are the people who stood with principles and set forth those agendas. It is a pity we do not have a government full of Elliot McAdams any more. These people are bored; now is the time for the Country Liberals to stand up and take charge. All the good people have jumped off the sinking ship. It still has a captain at the helm being led along. However, this government is taking the approach, the former Premier of New South Wales, Morris Iemma, was taking: ‘Give us a go, I have not had long enough, give us a go’.
Well, the fact is, this government has been here for eight long years in power. They have failed to deliver. Everything is falling around at their heels. Their members are jumping off sinking ships. We have no more Elliot McAdams.
Madam Speaker, I commend this matter of public importance to the House. I thank the Leader of the Opposition for bringing it on. Territorians can rest assured we do have an action for the future. We will release our detailed policies in the short term, and people will know exactly where we stand.
Ms LAWRIE (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I have to say, the matter of public importance brought on by the Leader of the Opposition is really just a paragraph of spin. They are using their key messages: failure; fix the problems; implement timetables. That timetable for action is their latest bit of spin they are now spinning out …
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: You can see it on their website, you will hear it in their ads. Timetable for action is the latest spin tumbling out of the Country Liberal Party. Some of us have been around the Territory long enough to recognise CLP spin when we see it, when we hear it, and, indeed, when we read it. Talk about spin! Timetable for action is their latest bit of spin coming out, and they are going to get things done ...
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: Spin! What we saw instead was a whole lot of dummy spitting - member after member on Friday spitting the dummy - after the Independent member for Nelson announced he had struck an agreement with the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory to provide stable government for the people of the Northern Territory. They did their member-by-member dummy spit about that on Friday during the want of confidence debate. The best they can do is come in with a little spin for a matter of public importance. It is not a matter of public importance to deal with SIHIP. It is not a matter of public importance to deal with the broader issue of housing across the Territory, urban, regional and remote housing.
It is a little ‘timetable for action’ spin coming from the Leader of the Opposition. It is very clear they are back into the land of being rattled and deflated as a result of their pathetic attempts last week to undermine the stability of government in the Territory. They do not really care about delivering for Territorians. They just care about CLP attempts at grabs for power. When their little plan went awry because they made some arrogant assumptions of the views of an Independent member of this parliament, they all started to be very rattled.
It has been interesting. As you move around the community, consistently coming from the non-government sector, as well as the business sector, is a very diverse and broad spectrum of feedback. In the last couple of weeks, there was much concern about what was going to happen in Territory politics. One consistent message coming from a diverse range of people some of whom are, no doubt, card-carrying members of the CLP, was: ‘You have to stay in government; you are a good government …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order! The Treasurer has the call.
Ms LAWRIE: They do not like to hear it. They do not like to hear it: ‘You are a good government. You have the experience, you understand what is needed to keep the Territory strong in these tough economic times’.
Look around us. We have seen jobs generated, we have seen greater funding flowing into the Territory from the Commonwealth than ever before - record levels of funding, which they like to call a windfall. What that means is we have gone down, fought the hard fight and got our fair share of funding from the Commonwealth. I will go to that bizarre anecdote - in talking about funding and the different style of government - from the Leader of the Opposition about flyovers a bit later.
In stark contrast to the rabble over there, who are busy reworking the numbers as to who is going to challenge the Leader of the Opposition now that it is on …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Dr Burns: And the deputy leader.
Ms LAWRIE: Yes, I reckon two are going up.
Mr Elferink: But you are wrong. I am not after his job, I am after hers.
Ms LAWRIE: Two are going at one - there is our tip.
It is very clear this government actually has a broad range of clear, articulated policies. Initiatives are being implemented right across the Territory. Many of these initiatives were outlined by ministers in last week’s debate. We recognise some of these initiatives are about rapid change; other initiatives are about generational change. We know you can do both. We know you actually can chew gum and walk at the same time. You can make dramatic rapid change, but you also have to bed in your fundamentals for generational change if you are truly to close the gap on Indigenous disadvantage in the Territory.
We went to the public a year ago with a very clearly articulated range of policies, and the funding to back up those policies, and those election commitments are being progressed. We are the first government, one year into a four-year term, under the Chief Minister, to come in here and report to the parliament on the timetable for the election commitments, and on the delivery of the commitments - the first government to do this. The last time election commitments were provided to parliament was the June sittings. That document alone completely refutes any suggestion there is not a comprehensive series of plans being implemented. We have 94 election commitments. That is this government’s contract with the electors of the Northern Territory. We take that very seriously ...
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: They truly are a rabble; they cannot help themselves. Little wonder there is not a lot of faith in you lot over there ...
Mr Bohlin: There is no faith in you, I can tell you.
Ms LAWRIE: Well, bring it on.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Ms LAWRIE: The member for Drysdale, bring it on. What a Rhodes Scholar you have turned out to be, huh? What a Rhodes Scholar.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: Madam Speaker, 56 of our election commitments are under way, as tabled in the report to parliament in June. In just one year, 16 are already complete outcomes ...
Mr Tollner: Name them. Name the 16 that are completed.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: Cannot help themselves. Outside these commitments, significant initiatives have been put in place in just the last 12 months - critically important initiatives such as Territory 2030, a vision and a plan for where the Territory will go through to 2030. What is important about Territory 2030 is it actually is conclusive. A group of very significant Territorians, as well as some from interstate, have consulted with the people of the Territory. We are not just sitting back at our desks writing out all the things that should occur; we are genuinely listening to the Territory community regarding the 2030 vision.
Housing the Territory shows a comprehensive policy body of work - the most significant change. If you listen to the non-government organisations working in the sector, they have never seen anything like it. They have never seen such a dramatic housing policy reform introduced in the history of the Territory - the Housing the Territory strategy. A Working Future provides …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order! Order!
Ms LAWRIE: This is how they operate. If they do not like what you are saying, they shout over you …
Ms Carney: We never like what you are saying – never, not once.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms LAWRIE: Absolute arrogance. We listened to the contributions of the members opposite in an MPI, but they cannot help themselves …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Honourable members! Deputy Chief Minister, resume your seat momentarily. I remind you of Standing Order 51:
- No Member may converse aloud or make any noise or disturbance, which in the opinion of the Speaker is designed to interrupt or has the effect of interrupting a Member speaking.
Deputy Chief Minister, you have the call.
Ms LAWRIE: Thank you, Madam Speaker. A Working Future is the most comprehensive policy reform in delivering services to regional and remote Territorians, turning communities into townships, making the tough decisions around the 20 towns that will be created out of A Working Future in the hub-and-spoke model of ensuring those towns service the communities surrounding them. No government in the history of the Territory has had the strength and the determination to significantly change and improve the lives of Indigenous Territorians as we have. A Working Future, as we have seen through public debate around the Territory, is highly contentious. As we heard from our Chief Minister, this government stands firm and committed to delivering improved outcomes for Indigenous Territorians, which is why we are committed to delivering on A Working Future. All this, in just 12 months since the last election.
However, what have we also seen since the last election? We have seen the global financial crisis. What have we done? The government has put in place comprehensive plans. We made the tough decisions to deal with the global financial crisis as best we could. What are the results we are seeing? We are seeing the best economic results of any jurisdiction in Australia. Not only are we riding through the global financial crisis, we are seeing growth and strength through the Territory economy.
We recognise we are not out of the woods yet, which is why we are so committed to the $1.3bn infrastructure investment that is about building schools, building roads, and building the community infrastructure required. Sitting in there is $108m for the actual infrastructure, the headworks that open up the new suburbs for the new housing, particularly in those Palmerston East suburbs.
One of the great strengths of the Henderson government is our ability - our proven ability - to work well with the federal Labor government. In the context of the Territory, if you understand anything about our funding arrangements and our economic realities, you need to be able to deliver with a strong, positive working relationship with the federal government of the day. I will go to that bizarre anecdote from the Leader of the Opposition on the Bagot Road flyover. He talked about Paul Everingham, the then Chief Minister of the Territory, and how he recognised the bottleneck of traffic occurring on Bagot Road and the Stuart Highway, and decided a flyover was very much needed. Some of us in the Chamber were around in those days and remember the situation.
The anecdote of how the CLP operates, coming from the Leader of the Opposition, who said he pulled together an engineering expert and a budget expert to say: ‘This is what we need to do. How can we do it? Make it happen’. Cutting his anecdote short, they said: ‘Well, you cannot do it. We do not have the funding for that’. He said: ‘Well, sign this bit of paper’. ‘What is that?’ ‘Oh well, that is your resignation letter’. That is how a CLP government deals with the public service in delivering critical infrastructure. What do they do? They threaten to sack them ...
Mr Mills: Rubbish!
Ms LAWRIE: Some of us were in the Chamber listening to the bizarre anecdote ...
Members interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: I will give a contemporary flyover advice to the Chamber on what happens in Tiger Brennan Drive. We had designs occur …
Mr Tollner: Oh, do not go there!
Ms LAWRIE: You will hear the flapping of the gums from the former member for Solomon: ‘All of a sudden, it is $80m more for Tiger Brennan Drive because it is a few years late based on the 2003 figures versus the $110m program we are delivering’. What are the cost changes inherent in that program? What are the significant cost changes inherent in that program? What we have in that program is a flyover. Lo and behold! …
Dr Burns: Grade separation.
Ms LAWRIE: Grade separation is called a flyover. I can advise that when I became the Minister for Infrastructure, the department, at the time, provided me the advice which, essentially, went along the lines of: ‘Minister, there is only $13.7m in funding commitment from the Commonwealth, $30.7m in funding commitment from the Territory government. There is not enough in 2006 rates to deliver that project. Our advice would be to put that money against the different road projects because you will not get it’. I said to them: ‘What we need is not the single lane that 2003 was scoped and costed on - not the single lane highway. We need a dual lane and, going on the advice of the former Roads minister, which was very sound advice, we need a grade separation. We needed the flyover at the end, at Stuart Highway as well’. We also needed an overpass for the existing rail line heading across the port on Berrimah Road. We also, obviously, needed to improve what we call Stage 1 of Tiger Brennan Drive, which is the dual turning lanes - Wishart Road, Berrimah Road down into Tiger Brennan Drive as it exists.
Let us just have a look at what happened. I was presented with the wanted result: flyover, dual line Tiger Brennan Drive, as well as pedestrian and cycling access, as well as the overpass at the rail line crossing at Berrimah, as well as dual lane turning Wishart, Berrimah Road into Tiger Brennan Drive. However, I only had $13.7m. So, if you like, the bureaucratic answer was, ‘Well, the funding is just not there’. I said: to the engineers: ‘Go away and scope and design the project as I have just described it to you’. To the financial people, I said: ‘Leave it to me, that is my job; I get the funding’. What happened? We have the funding. We have the $110m project signed up, tenders out the door, under construction. We have had Berrimah Stage 1 completed, we are in Stage 2 now. We will have, at the last count, the overpass …
Madam SPEAKER: Minister, your time has expired.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Speaker, I was sitting here listening to the Treasurer waffle on talking nonsense - absolute errant nonsense. She seems to think nobody knows what went on in relation to Tiger Brennan Drive ...
Ms Lawrie: $38m, fully federally funded.
Mr TOLLNER: She knows there is at least one person in this place who was involved with the discussions at the time. What the minister has not informed this parliament is that the minister never had any plans - never had any plans. As late as 2007, she was trotting off down to Canberra, whingeing and bitching about ‘The Commonwealth is not putting up any money’. She went to see Mark Vaile, they had a little meeting together. A number of people were there, member for Karama. The federal Transport minister at the time, Mr Vaile, said to you: ‘Well, we are more than happy to pay our half, just show us the plans’. Did you have plans? No, you did not. You never had plans.
The fact was a flyover was always incorporated in it. Everybody knows that. All of a sudden now, she waltzes into this place, tries to change history, guild the lily that they have done some great job, when the reality is they sat on their hands for goodness knows how long and did absolutely nothing. What is more, I will tell you something else. Not only did they fail to do that, but they tried to take money out of that project and have it reallocated onto the Victoria Highway, because they stuffed up and did not have the money to do the job on the Victoria Highway. That is what happened.
I sit here and listen to this errant nonsense the member for Karama trots out. That is what this whole MPI is about; the fact that the Henderson Labor government has failed. They have failed. They have failed to fix the problems confronting Territorians, and implement a timetable for action to get things done across the Territory.
It is great to see my good mate here, the member for Daly, talk about timetables to get things done in the Territory. The member for Karama jumped up a little while ago and said, ‘Oh, nobody in this debate has mentioned SIHIP’. Well, I might mention SIHIP seeing nobody else has. Actually, I was sitting in the lobby a little while ago, just tuning into the ABC news. They had a story about a review on the Victorian bushfires, and how the Victorian government was looking into determining how things could be improved if there were bushfires in the future, and what they might have done wrong last time. Of course, the Victorian bushfires could be classed as an emergency. In actual fact, they were classed as an emergency. The whole of Australia recognised the Victorian bushfires were an emergency. We had firefighters from the Northern Territory go there. There were a number of firefighters from the Northern Territory go down. There was also a range of people from across the community who went to Victoria to fight the bushfires and to assist in the evacuation of people, because people recognised it was an emergency.
In 2007, we had our own emergency up here. It was a national emergency. The federal government responded, calling it a national emergency, and implemented the Northern Territory Intervention as part of that emergency response. It was seen as an emergency. It was seen as an emergency because some terrible things were happening in remote communities across the Northern Territory - absolute national emergency. This is where the evolution of SIHIP came about. The Strategic Indigenous Housing Infrastructure Program was to build emergency accommodation.
Backtracking to the Victorian bushfires, I am just wondering whether we sent in the consultants to the bushfires. When the houses were burning, and there was fire everywhere and rotten dead logs and embers falling all over houses and that sort of stuff, was our response to that bushfire to say: ‘Gee whiz, we had better get some consultants in there. Let us consult with these people and see what they want to do’. I do not know, but that seems to be how the Northern Territory government responds to an emergency. They say: ‘Well hang on. Oh, just hold back, we have to consult. We have to consult’.
The other thing is, when they evacuated people out of the houses in Victoria, and all of those emergency workers came on board and were getting paid, I wonder if they put in parameters saying, ‘Oh, well, we really want Indigenous people to do the evacuations; to construct the emergency accommodation’. I do not know. In Victoria, they probably do not find that many Indigenous people. I bet London to a brick, as sure as God made little apples, they did not have a component in their emergency response requiring business and organisations to employ Indigenous people. I tell you why they did not: because they recognised it was an emergency.
Here we are in the Northern Territory, with an emergency on our hands, and we find every single reason under the sun not to react to it. Or at least the Northern Territory Labor government does - the same mob who get steamed up and pontificate how much they love Indigenous people and Indigenous culture, but refuse to do anything about it. It is absolutely disgusting ...
Mr Elferink: Take them to the High Court all the time.
Mr TOLLNER: Absolutely disgusting. The member for Port Darwin has a good point: take them to the High Court. Berate the Country Liberals for 27 years saying they opposed every land rights claim, and what has Labor done? Exactly the same thing. They seem to gloss over that. Talk about closing the gap. What a load of arrant nonsense! What have you done on any Aboriginal community? Nothing. Things are worse now than they were 30 years ago - a hell of a lot worse. They are worse than they were eight years ago. We are not saying the Country Liberals got things right at all. What we are saying is you are the people who stand up and bang on all the time about how much you love Indigenous Territorians, how you are working so closely with them and, meanwhile, things only get worse - absolutely worse.
The Treasurer jumped up a minute ago, going on about a plan to turn communities into townships ...
Mr Elferink: They did that with Soweto, if memory serves.
Mr TOLLNER: I bet even in Soweto there is a little commercial activity happening ...
Mr Elferink: There is actually. It is very little.
Mr TOLLNER: A little commercial activity. My idea of a township is when you go to town. I used to live in the bush in another state in Australia, in a little tiny place called Baralaba. About 150 to 200 people lived in the town. We would go to the nearest town which had about 1500 people. I went to Rockhampton when I was 12 years old and could not believe the place. I was blown away. Rockhampton, at the time, had about 40 000 people. We had hit the big smoke as far as I was concerned. My idea of a town was you went to town, you could buy your groceries, buy a cup of coffee. They had a caf where you could buy a hamburger. You could get a haircut at the hairdressers. You could buy some shirts, maybe some pants. You could go to the service station. There was a bit of private activity, private enterprise happening; people owned houses.
You go to these places, what is there apart from government-owned houses, community-owned store, and community-owned council? Is there anything in any of these places the community does not own? Any semblance of private activity, of private enterprise or endeavour? Zero. It is not what I call a township ...
Mr Elferink: Well, it works for North Korea.
Mr TOLLNER: It may well work for North Korea. However, the socialists on the other side of this place cannot see the reality that we need to be encouraging private enterprise and commercial activity in these remote communities. They do everything in their power to resist it ...
A member: Love the permit system.
Mr TOLLNER: They want the permit system; they do not want people going out there. They try to shove the problems under the counter, under the carpet. It is absolutely terrible. Every single time you turn up here you hear more and more nonsense. We sat here at Question Time today and heard the question to the Treasurer on the Access Economics report. The Treasurer jumped up and went on - bang, bang - about how wonderful the Territory is, and ‘We are doing a great job because we have a 2.2% growth rate compared to the rest of Australia at 2%. We are doing a great job. Labor is doing it good’. The fact of the matter is you do not have much to compare yourself to. Every other state in Australia is also a mendicant state of Labor people addicted to debt. You are not actually competing against much.
The thing that really hurts is it is not the government that generates this growth; it is people out there - people outside of this place. It is the hard-working businessmen, the mums and dads who own the small businesses, the shops, the contractors, the people in construction, people in mining, and people who work. They are the ones who make this place great. They are the ones who do that; not a whole bunch of mendicant government people sitting in this place. The best thing government can do for business is get out of the way and do nothing.
The Treasurer said: ‘We have done a great job, we have ridden through the global financial crisis, but we are not out of the woods yet’. I have news for the Treasurer. We are not even in the woods yet. We have just stepped in there, dark all around, cannot see a damn thing. What we do know in the Northern Territory is we now have $6bn worth of debt. We did not have that before this Treasurer lobbed. We have a $200m budget deficit and we are staring down the barrel of a $26 000 debt for every man, woman and child in the Northern Territory. That is even before you add on Rudd debt - the master debt created in this country. Goodness me, I think they are talking a half a trillion dollars of federal debt; something like that. By the time Rudd is gone we will have 15% or 20% unemployment in this country. When all the largesse from your big borrowing mate in Canberra is gone, what then? What do Territorians do then? Talk about out of the woods - we are not even in them! Well, we are in them.
The member for Nelson is the great saviour, the surrogate Chief Minister. That must be really grinding on the member for Karama. That must irk her something chronic – absolutely irk her something chronic. She has been sitting there sharpening the knives, slowly, carefully, making sure they are all ready to go. Looks like old Hendo - somebody said they threw him a lifeline and he actually got a hangman’s noose around his neck - did not realise it. The member for Karama is there waiting to kick him out the chair - hang the poor old Chief Minister ...
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, that reflection on the Chief Minister is highly unparliamentarily. I ask you to withdraw.
Mr TOLLNER: Sorry, Madam Speaker. What aspect of it?
Madam SPEAKER: Implying that someone is being hung is very unparliamentarily. I would like you to tone down your comments, thank you.
Mr TOLLNER: All right, Madam Speaker. I do not want to offend your sensitive ears – not at all. People talk about stabbing people in the backs, pulling out knives - it happens all over this place. However, I will not talk about hanging, Madam Speaker, if it offends.
Madam SPEAKER: It does.
Mr TOLLNER: I withdraw those comments.
Madam SPEAKER: Thank you.
Mr Conlan: Dead man walking.
Mr TOLLNER: Yes, someone did describe him as a dead man walking. The last time I was in here I was talking about him giving us the death stare. He looked like he was waiting for someone to drop pennies in his eyes; give him the last rites.
The fact is this is a moribund government. They are a bunch of mendicants. They have no plans; they have no direction. They are too busy squabbling amongst themselves. Fortunately, now they have the member for Nelson who is going to try to guide them through this. Quite frankly, I do not hold out much hope for that. I believe the member for Nelson has no idea what he is doing either.
Madam Speaker, this government is useless. They have no idea how to fix the problems confronting Territorians, and they have no timetable to get things done right across the Territory. They are a shambles …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim your time has expired.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Speaker, I am compelled to say a few things in relation to some of what has been said on the other side of the House this evening. First, I will deal with a couple of things the member for Karama said; that we are over here spitting the dummy. I find that quite amazing, when you are actually raising issues. This document was signed not by the Labor Party, but the Chief Minister with the other surrogate Chief Minister, Gerry Wood. When you express concerns, if that is spitting the dummy, then I do not know what we are all doing here. I spoke last Friday about issues I thought were very important and relevant to people in the Territory - to me, my family, my kids, my grandkids, other Territorians, and my constituents. I thought I was not spitting the dummy, simply pointing out the deficiencies of the government, the trouble they are in, and the inaction and paralysis that besets them. If the member for Karama thinks that is spitting the dummy, well, maybe we were spitting the dummy about very relevant facts and issues facing Territorians at this point in history.
I add to a few comments the member for Karama made in relation to the Paul Everingham story told earlier by the Leader of the Opposition in relation to the Bagot Road overpass. The member for Karama then informed the House of the issue and said: ‘That is the way the CLP deals with public servants’. Well, I recall, in my 28 years in the Territory, listening to people on different occasions saying if you do any development, the Territory cannot afford it. We talk about the Yularas, the ports, the railways, sports venues – regarding all of those things, from my recollection, people said: ‘Oh no, we cannot afford that. We cannot afford it’. If you sat and listened to Treasury - my understanding of Treasury officials is, if you talk to them, the first thing they do is say they cannot afford it, because they do not like parting with their money.
If you want to get things done, there is an old saying that you have to spend money to make money. The government in the Territory has been required to leave economic activity for quite some years. I am assuming that, once we reach a critical mass and private industry takes over, the government will be there to help facilitate the advancement of the Territory. However, I still think we have a good role to play in that.
The member for Karama also spoke about the fantastic feedback she had from a broad sector of the community, business, etcetera. I think I got it right. They were quoted as saying: ‘You are a good government and you need to stay in there’. Well, I would love to know which businesses the member for Karama was talking to, because I sat at the markets on Sunday and I did not find one person there who reckons they are doing anywhere near a decent job. Mind you, I do not know whether Labor supporters were talking to me, but there were a few I know who are Labor supporters; they are actually friends of mine. I have had some very interesting debates with them over the years. They are still good friends but they just vote the other side. I believe they are slightly misguided. They are extremely concerned about what is going on, and they expressed their concern to me.
These are Labor voters - not just business people, but Labor voters - who said: ‘Gee, I am really disappointed in my side, because you work so hard for them. They go and do all this stuff and I am disappointed’. I better check with them first, to see whether they are happy to talk to you, because I am sure they would like to tell the other side of the House some of the things as well. Maybe we can swap names of the businesses that reckon you are doing a fabulous job. The majority of people I have spoken to at supermarkets on Saturday mornings and the markets on Sundays are all extremely concerned about the direction the Territory is going.
You might get figures on how great things are but just let us have a look at building activity, for instance. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the March quarter building activity data, showed a 28.4% decline. Seasonally adjusted, that is a fall of 13.6%. In the March quarter, the building work being done in the Territory was $152.1m compared to $212.3m in the December quarter. The same time last year, the total was $177m, but I am told we are going ahead in leaps and bounds - great; outperforming everyone. Well, that is a backward step, if I my mathematics is correct.
Meanwhile, we have $672m tied up in SIHIP, with not one house being built. We have some concrete poured, apparently, in Groote Eylandt and then everything stopped. So, we have a concrete slab. If you have a concrete slab, at least it will be an outdoor smoking area, because there is no roof and there are no walls and you cannot do anything in relation to smoking. There is another one - smoking definitions. We cannot even get a smoking definition out of the government. All it takes - and I think I gave them a tip last week - is just ring up or e-mail, because we have this fantastic stuff called technology now. You do not even have to send a carrier pigeon; you can actually send them an e-mail and say: ‘Can you please e-mail your smoking definition because we desperately need one’. We have people up here who want to spend millions and millions and millions of dollars and help put these figures back to, perhaps, where they were - and what do we have? We do not even have a smoking definition ...
Mr Conlan: They want to build outdoor smoking areas.
Mr STYLES: Absolutely! Perhaps another little tip for the people listening up on the fifth floor: ring someone interstate and ask them to send you a smoking definition so that people who are ringing me - and these are businesses - that say, you should still be in government. They are the ones who are coming to my office, or ringing me saying: ‘Peter, can you please get something done about this smoking definition? We have massive work to do and we now have …’ – I cannot think of the date, but it is about five months – ‘… to do it in’. The government on the other side of the House is going to expect all these people to have all this stuff done.
Members talked about housing and other things that are going on. On 14 July, the Housing Minister, Rob Knight, announced that first homeowners will have to pay up to $60 000 more than the government originally said to purchase renovated former public housing units. Then, if we look a bit further down, we find cancellations - cancellation of contracts after cancellation of contracts. There is one – 2081744, cancelled; Darwin, various Territory Housing flat complexes; provision of security services for a period of 12 months. These are not huge things, but this is just a list of some of the small problems: request for a provision of a Milikapiti family centre, safe house for 24 months, cancelled – no safe houses there; request for a proposal for provision of targeted family support services for a period of 12 months, cancelled. The list goes on, and on, and on.
The other day, I heard the police recruit training squad of February next year has been cancelled. Why? Insufficient funds, financial mismanagement. Today, I hear that the running costs for the oncology unit have been stripped of 50% of their operating costs. Another reason to question what the government is doing in relation to their fiscal strategy. We seem to be running out of money. Everywhere, you hear people are running out of money.
I will go on to a couple of things the Chief Minister said. He talked about housing. Well, all I have seen is this government has driven up the cost of housing. He made a statement and said: ‘Oh, it is not just the land component’. However, when you talk to young people out there who are trying to buy a house, they say the price of land is astronomical. You go out and try to buy a block of land; some of them are up around the $300 000 mark. They just look at their incomes - even their combined incomes - and the fact they have a couple of young kids, and they are precluded from the housing market. Then they go and try to rent. There is the other problem. An average three-bedroom home, I quoted the other day, is $550 a week. When you look at people on low incomes in working families - who I hear the Australian Labor Party trying to champion, saying, ‘We are for working families’ - well, where is the relief in $550 a week? We used to have 7000-something public housing dwellings, and now we have 5000-something or less in 2007.
I hope you are building some more; I hope you have some plans. We hear they have plans. It is a bit like SIHIP. ‘Yes, we will have all these houses by 2013’. By 2013, we are supposed to have all these houses. Well, we still do not have any yet. When the Chief Minister said: ‘Well, let us look at where the CLP are’. I have some news for him; we are not actually the government, we are the opposition. Apparently, we are an arrogant opposition as well. However, we are trying to hold the government to account. You people are the government; you are the ones who say you have the plans. The problem is you have to have plans that work. It is great to have a plan. We all have plans, but do they work, and are they delivering to Territorians? Well, I say you are not. You are not delivering for Territorians, you are not delivering for me, and you are not delivering for my kids either. They are struggling trying to make a living, trying to settle here. They want to stay here because this is where their roots are, this is where their family is and this is where they want to be. But, this government is making it increasingly harder for families to stay together, and I find that really obnoxious. People have to send their kids to Adelaide just so they can rent a house, and we lose these trained people.
I was recently talking to a journalist. We were talking about websites, and about how Terry’s new website is supposedly full of conspiracies and ‘dripping vitriol’, to quote the Chief Minister. Holding the government to account, I do not know whether that is dripping vitriol and conspiracy, or just asking questions to get some answers. It seems to be a bit hard to get answers out of this government. The journalist said to me the other day he went to the Country Liberals website and had a look at their policies and found what they were about. He went to the ALP website and - nothing. Try to find what their policy is. There are plenty of statements about what they are going to do, but try to find their policy. He said it was very difficult. A tip for those listening on the fifth floor: you might like to have a look at that.
Each plan is fully funded: I heard recently that all the CEOs of all the government departments were told: ‘Come in for a meeting and we are going to tell you what is going on’. They got in there and found out the budget that was put out recently by the Treasurer is not happening the way it was supposed to happen. ‘We have found we do not have much money left; better start cutting some projects’. We heard the Treasurer saying each plan is fully funded, yet we have all these things starting to be cancelled. This list of things that have been cancelled just seems to go on and on. We start to find out from information flowing through the community that various things are being funded, but the money has been withdrawn from programs. I do not know how you are going to spin that one. That will be interesting. I will be happy to watch it.
The Chief Minister said the government is actually delivering. When you start cancelling things, and you start telling people, ‘We are not going to have this. We are not going to have this oncology unit; we are going to have half the funding there’, I do not know whether that is actually delivering. Perhaps the definition of ‘delivered’ and ‘delivering’ needs to be looked at.
Comment was made: ‘Yes, we have increased the Pensioner Carer and Concession Scheme registration rebate’. The problem is you increased it by $20 or $30, and you put the registration up roughly the same amount. The pensioners are saying: ‘That is good. They give it to you with one hand and take it off in the other’. These are some of the issues when you are looking at trying to give real help to seniors.
The smoking definition, we have discussed. I would really like someone to help those people. I am very happy to help out. I might ring someone interstate, get a smoking definition and e-mail it to you. I will e-mail a few of the definitions to you. Perhaps you can take your pick and save yourself a bit of time. You can do it over morning tea. Just pick one out of a hat.
Regarding more police reducing crime; the Chief Minister made a comment in relation to what the Leader of the Opposition said. It is about where you put your police resources, and supporting your police officers. Police officers who I know - and that is just about everyone, bar none - go out there every day to try to make the community a better place to live. The problem is, quite often through the courts, they do not seem to get the support they deserve. That is government policy. Government has to get out there and give real deterrents. They have to do things to support the police officers. When a police officer is standing outside nightclubs in Mitchell Street at 3 am looking for a bit of support, they want to know, when they tell people it is time to go home, they have some authority. Most of the police officers I know do not feel they are getting much support at all. They tell people to go home when they are under the influence; they tell people to take their friends home - and what do they get? A mouthful of exactly where they should go, and ‘run away and go and do your policing somewhere else’. If there is a scuffle, a disagreement, or people are arrested, people fight, they punch, they kick police officers. When they go to court, the police officers give evidence, people listen to them, and these people walk out the door and just laugh at the police. When you have a police force that is being laughed at and ridiculed, and do not feel they are supported, you wonder why violent crime is up. People out there think they can do whatever they like.
Mandatory sentencing: if I am correct, when the Labor government came into power, they had six people in Don Dale centre - six people. That is it. How many are in there now …
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Sanderson, your time has expired.
Ms CARNEY (Araluen): Madam Speaker, I definitely support this matter of public importance. It is particularly important to my electorate, which is why I am on my feet. Alice Springs has suffered enormously under this government, and it has suffered because the Henderson Labor government has failed to recognise, and failed to fix, their problems - the problems the people of Alice Springs and my electorate are confronting.
Furthermore, the government, when it bothers to come up with what it might call a timetable for action, never delivers on those timetables. At best, when on those rare occasions the government does recognise problems, it does not fix them. It has been a long litany of failure to recognise; there is a long list of failure to fix problems. With the information in front of me in relation to Alice Springs, I see a media release dated 7 December 2005, issued by then Chief Minister, Clare Martin. It is headed, ‘Government commits to vision for Alice’. It was called ‘having your say’. The government said it needed to maintain its commitment and ensure new and ongoing projects were realised. It referred to safety in the community; law and order; substance misuse; and, improved school attendance. That was followed a couple of years later by yet another media release by the then Chief Minister, Clare Martin, saying she had launched a major new project to guide the development of Alice Springs into the future. That was called Moving Alice Ahead and, apparently, according to the then Chief Minister, it identified 11 key projects that would help build a safe, strong, secure future for our town.
Well, they are just media releases. The government was caught out for what they are when - and I will never forget it, and I am sure members who were there will not either - parliament sat in Alice Springs in April 2007. I was genuinely stunned and moved to see so many people at that event because they were seriously cranky with this government. Those hundreds of people, most of whom, in my view, had never been to a demonstration before in their life - they were the mums and dads of Alice Springs - turned up to give the government a serve - and, by God, the government deserved it. What have we seen since then, Madam Speaker? Well, we have seen a few more statements but, unfortunately, so little in results. So, in 2005, 2007 and, indeed, for years before that, those opposite said: ‘We care about you; we are going to do things’. Well, that is not true. They do not care and they do not deliver.
For instance, if one looks at the most recent crime statistics, there was a 32% increase in the rate of assault in Alice Springs in the March quarter. That was an enormous jump, and is symptomatic of the problems of this government. The assault rates in the Territory continue to rise, and they have risen significantly. In 2008, a media release dated 13 February 2008, by the then minister for Justice, the member for Johnston, proclaimed the government was, once again, taking an interest in youth crime and it was, once again, coming up with yet another plan to tackle youth crime. The media release said:
- This comprehensive plan will ensure parents are accountable for their children’s behaviour.
It went on to refer to family responsibility agreements and family responsibility orders.
Then, at estimates, only a few months ago, I asked the Minister for Children and Families how many parental responsibility agreements had been made. I do not have the figure in front of me but, from memory, it was less than 10. I asked how many parental responsibility orders had been made, and it was either none or a couple.
My point is: when this government actually gets to a point of recognising a problem, they will respond, but they do not fix. That is why the government is in the trouble it is in now. It hardly ever recognises its deficiencies. When it does, it does not address the problems adequately. It gets a good run in a newspaper or two, gets a good line on a radio station and, then, the history of this government is its members just walk away. I am on my feet because it affects the people I represent, the people of Araluen and, more broadly, the people of Alice Springs. They have had a gutful - an absolute gutful - of what they have seen from this government.
I remember, in 2007 - I had quite a bit to say in various speeches in 2005 and 2006 but, in particular, in February 2007 in an adjournment debate - in those days when we had a good 15 minutes to discuss issues in our electorate - I talked about some of the very real problems occurring in Alice Springs. The member for Stuart was one of the members of parliament who put his name to a joint media release. He described my comments as diatribe. He accused me of talking down the town in which I lived, which was laughable and he knew it - and he knows it now. To say it was vitriolic was something of an understatement.
In any event, only a couple of months later when the parliament sat in Alice Springs, government members must have been very surprised to see the people of Alice Springs turn out and get stuck into the government. It is clear to me that, in 2007, the government did not accept a word I said in relation to the very real concerns my constituents had about law and order, and a host of other issues. When government members turned up to parliament in April 2007, they heard from the people themselves - and very directly. You would think that, albeit in a fairly grudging way, the government did, ultimately, recognise the problems in our town. You would then go on to assume those problems would be fixed. They have not been - they just have not been. I believe that is why the government, at the last election in particular, did so badly.
I cannot remember the figures exactly, but I think the Labor bloke who ran against me got about 16% of the vote. I wonder if members of the Labor government are asking themselves why. You should ask yourselves why your candidate, the one who ran against me lost - I cannot remember the figures for my colleagues of Greatorex and Braitling – and why you did so badly in Alice Springs. You do so badly in Alice Springs because you do so badly in Alice Springs. You do not do enough in Alice Springs. You would think, two-and-a-half years later, you would see a change from this government in relation to Alice Springs matters.
When the member for Macdonnell was the Minister for Central Australia, we had a bipartisan working group and we achieved some outcomes. Along with the member for Arnhem, we sat, talked about some problems and brainstormed. Then, unfortunately, the member for Macdonnell was no longer the Minister for Central Australia and, after that, the bipartisanship ended. The member for Stuart went off and, essentially, did his own thing and, in recent times, completely killed off bipartisanship.
I would have thought it was a political win for Labor in Alice Springs to engage with the members for Braitling, Greatorex, and me to see if we could tackle some problems. Clearly, they do not even see it as a political must. Unfortunately, even worse, they do not even see it as a must in providing good government for all of the people in the Northern Territory and, in particular, for my part, the people of Alice Springs. Alice Springs might be below Darwin in geography, but we are equal with the people of Darwin; we deserve the same attention. You would expect government would, indeed, provide us with the same attention. However, you cannot dwell too much on that point because, in fact, this government does so badly for the people of Darwin as well.
Crime statistics in a range of areas are up. The youth justice changes 18 months or so ago, according to the media releases, suggested all sorts of things. However, it just did not materialise and that is very sad, to say the least. Once again, it shows that when, on those rare occasions the government recognises some problems, it does not actually fix them. I think the people of the Territory - and I know for sure the people of Alice Springs - are sick of it. Come up with some ideas, really fix the problems. Do not just announce it, or cut a ribbon and then walk away, actually come up with some fair dinkum solutions.
In relation to alcohol courts, for instance, I remember the debate - I think it was sometime in 2005. At the time, the bill was wrapped up with changes to tenancy laws. It was also announced by government that Territory Housing, or the government, would no longer tolerate bad public housing tenants and things would be done well. Indeed, the member for Braitling laughs, and so he should, because what a joke that one was. The same bill that came before the parliament had alcohol courts. I remember the debate. We told you they would not work. We just told you, and yet, once again, you would not listen. You probably fired off your usual chip on the shoulder, aggressive, vitriolic responses you have made yourselves famous for. Yet, what happened in estimates, only a few months ago? We started to ask some questions about the alcohol courts, and the minister for Justice grovelled along and said: ‘Oh no, we are going to change that’. Well, they should have changed it years ago. Blind Freddy could have told them the alcohol courts in the form proposed by government were not going to work, and - lo and behold! - they got there.
The government just has appalling form when it comes to not recognising problems or, on those occasions when it does recognise the problems, they still do not fix them. On those rare occasions, years down the track, when at estimates or something like that, the government is finally sprung and they say: ‘Oh yes, we always meant to fix it and we were going to get there eventually’ - not good enough. You people, especially the ministers, are happy to take the ministerial salaries but you are not prepared to do the work. Estimates was embarrassing in the sense that you would ask a minister a question and, then, the minister was like one of those clowns at the show with a big open mouth waiting for a ping pong ball to be shoved down it, looking at either the CEO or the deputy CEO saying, ‘What do I say now and tell me how to say it?’ You take the money, you should do the work. People expect that of you and, certainly, you would have thought your colleagues expect it of you. We know you do not have a huge backbench and you are probably not all jostling for positions in the way you ordinarily might, but do not dare take the money and then fail to deliver the results or, at very least, fail to do the work. It is just not good enough.
Madam Speaker, there are a range of areas. One in particular that is not talked about anywhere near enough in the parliament is the Fines Recovery Unit. In March 2009, I wrote to the minister for Justice, following up a letter I had written to her predecessor. Members may not be aware of this but, in 2007, 666 notices were issued and the total amount levied was $117 910, of which only $11 160 had been paid. Not very many of those outstanding fines have actually been recovered. I remember in 2001, or perhaps early 2002, Labor came up with a Fines Recovery Unit. That was worked on by the CLP. Labor took it, they implemented it and said: ‘We are going to get the unrecovered fines around the Territory and this is going to be a good model’.
In August 2008, the minister for Justice advised that 523 notices were issued and the total amount levied was $88 530, and only $6203 had been paid. In other words, less than 10% of monies levied had been paid. Members opposite talk about these tight financial times and how government has to be responsible with money. Well, why do you not try harder to get the money you are owed? Various fines and penalties are imposed or levied, yet government seemingly has no idea whatsoever as to how to recover them. Mediocrity reigns supreme with this government. Government seems to be of the view that a 10% recovery rate is fine. If you people were in business, your business would have closed a long time ago. It also sends a bad message. It says to people, ‘Do not bother paying your fines because not much is going to happen’.
The list is just endless, Madam Speaker. I have only seconds left. I support this matter of definite public importance. This is a government that fails to recognise and to fix the problems confronting Territorians and, in particular, my constituents.
Discussion concluded.
ADJOURNMENT
Mr KNIGHT (Housing): Madam Speaker, I move that the Assembly do now adjourn.
Mr HAMPTON (Stuart): Madam Speaker, in talking about Katherine, I wish to speak tonight about the changing face of Katherine and Pine Creek. It is with great pride I extend my congratulations to the entrepreneurs of Katherine, in particular Tony Adams, the owner, and Dan Romeyn, the inspiration behind the renamed Stuart Hotel, formerly the Crossways/Commercial, an institution on the main street of Katherine for over 80 years.
The owner of the hotel, Mr Adams, had wanted to do something with this main street site for a couple of years, but the question was just what to do with it. His partner and employee, Dan Romeyn, thought a coffee shop was a way to go, something that had been absent from the main street for a number of years. Mr Romeyn went to work, and his vision of a coffee shop expanded into including a bistro capable of seating over 50 people under The Coffee Club franchise banner. In the process, the ugliest brick wall in the Northern Territory has vanished, replaced with 30 m of glass providing an uninterrupted view of the Stuart Highway as it makes its way through Katherine town.
Most members would be aware the newly-named Stuart Hotel is on the corner of Warburton Street and Katherine Terrace. What was formerly a popular gathering site for drinkers, has now been turned into alfresco dining, and completely changed the character of the terrace. As I walked into the new development on the opening day, it was hard to believe this magnificent dining establishment was once the notorious front bar of the Crossways Hotel.
During his break, Dan Romeyn, the manager and partner in the venture, spoke with us for a few minutes. He had looked at a number of franchises across Australia, but The Coffee Club was by far the best proposal. Mr Romeyn informed us he had a few knockers but, with the full support of his partners, everything was running very well.
Dan Romeyn came to Katherine as a young builder looking for opportunities in the north as a result of the Katherine flood. He found a lot of work, as did his wife. After settling down, his work emphasis changed and, subsequently, he spent many years working for the Katherine Isolated Children’s Service, a support group for children living out bush. Mr Romeyn’s life has changed once more, and he is now the manager of Katherine’s newest and most innovative business, The Coffee Club.
The Coffee Club employs 30 local people and is open seven days a week from 6.30 am to 10.30 pm. That is 30 local jobs created from this business. Thankfully, that popular lament of tourists, ‘You cannot get a coffee or a feed in Katherine on the weekend’, has been consigned to the dustbin of history.
Innovative businesses are not just restricted to Katherine. Last week, when visiting Pine Creek, the most northern town in my electorate, I had the pleasure of meeting with Sandie Peters, the proprietor of the newly established Pine Creek Railway Resort.
The resort, situated on Railway Terrace, was opened on 31 May, I believe by our Administrator, Hon Tom Pauling QC, and provides up to 18 upmarket rooms. The rooms, from the outside, are reminiscent of a 19th century caboose, whilst the inside is lined with pressed tin to give the appearance of a miner’s cottage, circa 1890s. A restaurant modelled on a rail carriage is in the last stages of construction, and it will be opened in time for next year’s tourist season. A magnificent resort-style pool is already operating and is attracting travellers from far and wide.
The resort will complement the railway history of Pine Creek, and will be an important addition to the railway theme the town is actively promoting. Ms Peters informed me that, eventually, they will offer a tourist information facility and, as Pine Creek is the gateway to Kakadu, I expect it to be well patronised.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I cannot speak highly enough of the entrepreneurial efforts of the people I have mentioned. Without new investments in the Northern Territory we will wither and die. To Ms Sandie Peters, Mr Tony Adams, and Mr Dan Romeyn, congratulations on your initiatives and courage; I wish you all success.
Mr WESTRA van HOLTHE (Katherine): Madam Deputy Speaker, I had a few things to bring up tonight in the adjournment debate, and I will get to those in a moment. I want to touch on the lovely contribution the member for Stuart made tonight. Unless my hearing has served me incorrectly, we actually have The Coffee Club in Katherine. We have several coffee shops, but it is actually The Coffee Club that has opened up on the main street of Katherine. I had the privilege of being there at 6.30 am on the first morning it opened, and the turnout was absolutely awesome. It was terrific to see a new business starting up in Katherine.
I am a bit surprised the member for Stuart has bothered to speak about new businesses opening in Katherine, because all it does, really, is pave the way for opposition members to talk about how businesses are opening in Katherine despite the fact the Northern Territory government - the current Labor government - is doing absolutely nothing for regional Northern Territory. They are so northern suburbs centric they need not even bother coming south of the Nelson line, because they are neither welcome, nor is their attendance appreciated.
I thank the member for Stuart for bringing that up and allowing me the opportunity to make those little corrections. Well done to The Coffee Club, as they are also sponsors of the Brisbane Broncos.
I get back to a few good news stories of events that have occurred recently in Katherine. First, I mention the Dragon Boat Challenge that happened on Saturday in Katherine. This initiative is part of the Katherine Festival. The Dragon Boats of the Northern Territory came down with four boats from Darwin. They brought a team, and there were three other teams that comprised Katherine locals. I really want to take my hat off to the people who become involved in this event and, by extension, through the organisation known as Dragons Abreast. They provide a highly important and vital support service for breast cancer survivors and victims. The event was extremely well attended. I appreciate the fact they took the time to come to Katherine.
Another event in Katherine over the weekend was a new initiative that was put together by Somerville - the Katherine Family Fishing and Fun Day. They had 120 entrants - which was an awesome effort - who went to the Katherine River and fished the day away. There were some terrific fish caught: bream, catfish, and we had one barramundi and a few cherabin as well. Congratulations to David and Suzette, the organisers. Well done! It is great to see initiatives in our town that are getting kids - because it was mostly targeted at the kids - out of the lounge rooms, off the couches, away from the television, and out into the fresh air doing something really positive.
The other event over the weekend was the Teddy Bears Picnic. That happened yesterday in Katherine. Again, a great initiative for people to bring the kids out, have a lot of fun, and get stuck into resurrecting some of the old teddy bears that are around the place. I think some of the older teddy bears date back now 50 or 60 years. It is terrific that some of the older folk in Katherine run a complimentary repair service. So, if anyone here has any teddy bears they want fixed up for next year, bring them on down. I applaud the Katherine Town Council for their involvement in it.
In particular, I mention Henry Higgins, who was the MC for the day. Well done to everyone, and we look forward to many more years of those types of events in Katherine. They are extremely important to the community. We have had artistic events as well. It is often said the health of a community can be measured by the health of the art industry occurring in that community. Well done to all.
Mr GILES (Braitling): Madam Deputy Speaker, I must say it does feel quite lonely only having one side of parliament in the House, but anyway, we will keep going ...
Mr Elferink: We are waiting for the point of order.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, you are aware that reference to the presence or the absence of members is not permitted. I ask you to withdraw.
Mr ELFERINK: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I did not hear a point of order on this particular standing order and, in the absence of a point of order, I do not think there is anything objectionable to what the member has had to say.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: As Deputy Speaker, member for Port Darwin - and I have already seen the Speaker do it - I ask you to withdraw, thank you.
Mr GILES: Madam Deputy Speaker, I was saddened to see …
Mr TOLLNER: A point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker! I did not hear the member actually withdraw.
Mr GILES: I did withdraw.
Madam DEPUTY SPEAKER: Member for Braitling, thank you.
Mr GILES: Madam Deputy Speaker, I was saddened to hear of reports of Braitling Primary School being broken into a week ago. Two young students from the school broke in over the weekend and caused terrible damage to a couple of classrooms, destroyed a lot of equipment, sprayed paint around everywhere and, generally, trashed the classrooms - if I could call it that.
Reportedly, it was just another occurrence in a long saga of vandalism at that particular school that has brought grief for not just the students but also the parents, the teachers, the principal, Sue Crowe, and the school council which does so much at the school. There has been a long campaign by the school council and the school to get a fence put up around that school. I have to say I am not a supporter of fencing schools because I believe schools are there for the whole community. However, the continued occurrence of law and order problems and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs have put Braitling Primary School and the school council in such a position they need to fence the school to keep it safe and free from vandalism.
It is a disgraceful thing that needs to happen. Just about every school in Alice Springs will now be fenced, with fences up to eight or nine feet high to keep people out, thus blocking off playground equipment, netball and basketball courts, and the cricket nets, leaving no sporting facilities at all available in the suburb of Braitling in Alice Springs. It is sad to see we have to fence our schools off like that. It is a position where there is no other choice but to fence the school. I commend the school council and the principal, Sue Crowe, and all the teachers involved for fighting for that.
However, I am very disappointed that it has actually come to this. We argue in here very often about the instances of antisocial behaviour and law and order. This is a situation where kids have come in, trashed the school once again and, now, the whole community suffers because of lack of access to facilities. That is very sad. However, we will continue to fight another day. We will continue to fight this government to get solutions to antisocial behaviour. We will continue to try to improve facilities in the electorate of Braitling, which includes Larapinta and Braitling. It is Braitling where some of these facilities are missed. I commend Sue Crowe and the school council and all the teachers who have done such a wonderful job in tidying the place up. I can only wait for Hardies Fencing to erect that fence as soon as possible to secure the school.
At the same time, I commend the Northside Parks Group for trying to facilitate access to the playground facilities, and Sue Crowe for working with Felicity, who heads up that organisation, in trying to ensure out-of-hours access. My daughter, as well as many other parents and their children, use those facilities, which will now be locked up on weekends. However, if we can come to some amicable position, it would be great, and beneficial to the community. I hope and pray that vandalism and antisocial behaviour do not continue at Braitling school. I thank the school council and the principal once again.
Mr TOLLNER (Fong Lim): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will talk about what I was up to Thursday night last week. I had the great privilege of getting along to the Tracks Dance Company production put together for the Darwin Festival. The production, called Endurance, was held at the velodrome in Millner. It is running from 12 to 23 August, and I encourage all members - opposition, government and Independents - if they can, to make the effort to get along to that production.
I was a little late getting there; I had another function on earlier. The production started at 8 pm. I did not arrive there until 8.30 pm, so I just tried to sneak in, in a very sly fashion, incognito, so to speak. However, I could not remain incognito; I was immediately grabbed by people there. They welcomed me very warmly. I have to say, they seemed thrilled I turned up to the Endurance production. To explain, it was like no other show I have ever seen. As I say, it was held at the velodrome. They divided the internal area of the velodrome into three parts, with walking tracks and lighting through it. It was three separate shows which all ran in conjunction. People would sit down and watch one and, then, stand up and move around and watch another.
The three shows were all stories about life in Darwin. One was about a mother and a daughter. Another was about a super hero and his lovable, but neglected, girlfriend; and there was another one about a young Asian and his newfound home. I have to say, this type of art is probably an acquired taste. However, there was no getting away from the fact these guys put a huge amount of work to into the production. It was quite a fantastic production - as I said, like nothing I have ever seen before. What must have complicated things was they had nine choreographers, I was told, working together to organise things. There were some 30 dancers.
The whole time the show was going, they had long-distance runners running around the velodrome. They tell me they ran something like 12 km or 15 km whilst the show went on. I could not believe these guys were just jogging around the scene. They had a range of body builders and fitness freaks - experts, I should say - and it really was something to behold. It was a great show. It was put together by two fellows, David McMicken and Tim Newth. They came up with this concept, put it together, and it was fantastic. I was warmly welcomed and had a great time while I was there, and I encourage all people in this Chamber to get along to see that particular show if they can.
The other thing it tells me is we really need to consider the arts more. We need to look at better resourcing of the arts. The Northern Territory has a fantastic diversity of people in the arts and shows that are put on. We see some of the bigger ticket items quite regularly. However, at a grassroots level, we have some fantastic talent here, and that was demonstrated very well at the Endurance production put on by Tracks.
Dr BURNS (Johnston): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I mention a number of people in the electorate of Johnston who have come to my attention through various activities.
First, I talk about some of the young people who are making a contribution through outstanding effort of determination to excel in their chosen field. Each school term, I donate a number of book vouchers to schools in my electorate, so teachers can recognise their students’ accomplishments by nominating them for my Quiet Achiever Award. At the end of Term 2, Peta Bonnell and Ben Jackson were the winners of the award at Wagaman Primary School. At Moil Primary School, Belinda Santos and Jason O’Meara were chosen for the award. At Millner Primary School, Troy Bilbil and Maddison Sloane were Term 2 winners. At Jingili Primary School, Jasmine Brocker-Johnston and Tahlia West were the two winners. I congratulate each and every one of the winners, and sincerely hope this recognition by their teachers of their good behaviour and hard work is a positive reinforcement of the values and qualities they need to succeed in life.
A few other young people in my electorate have also done themselves - and, indeed, the whole Northern Territory - proud. Last month, I sponsored a young fellow by the name of Jesse Browne, when he and his father, Andy, were raising money to allow Jesse to attend the UCI BMX world championships in Adelaide. I was absolutely thrilled to find out recently that ‘Jumping’ Jesse Browne raced like the champion I always thought he was. He finished with an outstanding world ranking of 11. It was a fantastic effort on the part of 8-year-old Jesse, and a tribute to the hard work and encouragement of his father, Andy.
I also recently sponsored two brothers from Millner who had been selected to represent the Northern Territory in Rugby. Trenton Smith was selected to the 2009 Combined Affiliated States Under 18 Squad to play in Newcastle, New South Wales. His younger brother, Chris, was picked for the School Sport NT Under 15 Squad in the Territory Titans that played in Adelaide. Both boys did the Territory proud, with Chris’ team being undefeated in every match, and winning the John Allen Trophy for Pool B. Six of the members of that squad were then selected for the Combined Affiliated State Team, including Chris.
Trenton’s team was in Pool A, and up against much stronger competition from larger state teams, but still managed a very credible performance. They had a draw against the ACT, lost only by two points to the highly-rated New South Wales team and, although less successful in some of their other matches, they showed their true Territorian grit, and we should all be proud of them for representing us so well.
Just last Wednesday, back rower Trenton’s Under 18 Combined Affiliated State Team, the Titans, met Great Britain at Richardson Park. In a thrilling game, the visiting Lions just escaped humiliation in the last moments in an 18 to 12 win, after an outstanding performance by Trenton’s team.
I also congratulate Chris and Trenton’s mother, Sandra Smith, for doing the hard yards to raise the funds to allow her sons to represent the Territory. I was touched by her gratitude for my small contribution. I know she has every reason to be so proud of her two sons.
It is not just young people who contribute so much in our society. There are people of all ages and walks of life who help to strengthen the ties that bind us together.
On 13 June, with other members, I attended the first anniversary celebrations of the multicultural community charity association at the FAANT community centre. It was a wonderful evening with food, music and dancing, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Performers on the night included Susana Lu-Dizon, Terry O’Neill, Melda, Neale, Jensine, Jessie Aguilando, Elyse Ruthenburg, Kat, Mannilyn. Without any doubt, the highlight of the evening was Mario and the PAMA (Pinoy Aussie Music Arts) kids. Congratulations to all the performers on their fantastic efforts.
I also thank the MCCCA President, Geoff Wood, and his committee, Norm Willoughby, Emma Neave, Nick Cook, Jessica Wood, Fe Willoughby, Rosemary Coffey, Espie Reid, Eva Perriman, Jerlyn Grimmett, and Alita Monticello for putting on such a great evening.
Mr CHANDLER (Brennan): Madam Deputy Speaker, tonight I talk about a very special lady, Mrs Helen Armstrong, who many people know here as a fine schoolteacher in the Northern Territory. I have mentioned Helen before. She is the librarian at Bakewell Primary School. The last time I spoke about Helen was when she and another teacher won the Territory Division of the NITA Teacher of the Year Awards. Helen went on and was one of the top 10 finalists in Australia. What I would love to report tonight is Helen came into my office on Saturday and advised she was Teacher of the Year. It is pretty special that we have a teacher here in Palmerston, in Bakewell School, who won Teacher of the Year. So, the big gong - I think that is pretty special.
Part of Helen’s prize was that she got to attend space camp in Alabama in the United States, and she has only just come back from that camp. She was telling me how, while over there, the Teachers of the Year and all the state winners in the United States are treated. They are actually taken to the White House and they meet the President of the United States. Through sponsorships, there are cars these teachers win. I wonder if, in this country, we undervalue our teachers somewhat when you hear how other countries are treating their teachers with absolute respect. It is such a big honour to win Teacher of the Year in the United States, whether it is at the state level or right through to the top gong.
Congratulations to Helen, it is a marvellous achievement. We are very lucky to have a teacher of such quality in the Northern Territory.
I was in the shopping centre at Palmerston on Saturday, and I came across a young lady. Her name was Michelle. She is a blind lady, and she was there with her dog. It touched me the way she was sitting there alone at one of the tables, so I sat down and started to speak to her. I asked some of the challenges that she faces being blind. Some of her comments were very funny; other things, though, were of a serious nature. I said I would raise it in parliament, and I would also raise the issue, perhaps, with the Crime Prevention Committee we have with the City of Palmerston. Because so many government departments attend that meeting in Palmerston, it is probably a great forum.
One of the bug bears that she has - and many people who are blind and have guide dogs - is people patting their dogs. These dogs are working dogs. I know they are lovely, they are Labradors. However, at times she has run into things because people have reached out and patted her dog - the dog takes its eye off the ball, and they will often run into things. This is just because people pat the dog. Perhaps the government could look at some awareness program to help people who work with guide dogs. That includes people like police officers, ambulance officers, school students - everybody needs to know that, yes, they are a lovely animal, but they are certainly on the job and are working.
We have just finished Seniors Week and, together with the members for Blain, Drysdale, and Nelson, I attended the final function yesterday at the Woodroffe Primary School. It was a wonderful afternoon. I am happy to say I attended at least three events through Seniors Week. It was a fantastic week, and they sincerely enjoy all the frivolity and things that go on. They even enjoy a sing song - is that not right, member for Blain?
Mr Mills: Poor things.
Mr CHANDLER: Poor things, yes.
On a serious note, just two issues to finish up with. If the government would really like to help with the traffic issues in Palmerston, at the roundabout at Roystonea and University Avenue, if there was a slip lane put on Roystonea Avenue, the amount of cars that could get through there quicker in the morning would be fantastic. I am not sure if it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to do, but a slip lane on that roundabout would certainly ease the traffic flow on that particular stretch of road in the morning. Some mornings, the cars are backed up as far as the turnoff to Palmerston High School, so it goes back a couple of kilometres just to get round a roundabout. It is certainly busy.
Mitchell Creek is another area government needs to look at – the Crown land. I am talking about the fire issues. Recently, there was a fire at the end off Gosse Street, going down to the end of Wilton Court, near Mitchell Creek - it backs on to the suburb of Gunn. It is supposed to be looked after by the department which controls Crown lands. It is certainly not being managed well and needs to be looked into, particularly coming into the dryer part of the season when the winds get up and fires could be a real risk. The grass there needs to be managed.
Mr BOHLIN (Drysdale): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to quickly go through some issues. Earlier, I spoke of schools in my area. I thought some things need further recognition. I will go first to Driver Primary School. I am reading from their website, so those who listen in can understand it has come from somewhere. There are three parts to it I really think is fantastic. First, the principal, Rob Presswell, has a great way of dealing with his teachers and students. They get together and have a fantastic time. They are part of the Palmerston city schools, which combines all schools together to talk about the way things are going, what to do, and the innovative side of teaching. That is a fantastic approach where everyone gets together and nuts things out so they can move forward.
I will just first go through the vision statement because I think it is pretty impressive:
- To be a hands-on, vibrant and engaging learning centre implementing new and innovative programs in a secure, collaborative and sustainable environment for our community.
That is a lovely way of looking at the way you are going to mould some of our youth as they grow up.
I will quickly touch on their school values. I put forward my idea of RORR, and these guys are already putting a lot of that into it. Under their School Values is:
- Respect - We care for ourselves, others, property and the environment.
That is really a beautiful statement because, if we teach our young kids some of these basic principles they will grow to be much better community-minded children and respect each other and their families.
The second part of their School Values is:
- Community of Learners - We work together to promote lifelong learning.
How many times have we heard the old story that you cannot teach an old dog new tricks? Well, every day I learn something more, and the day you stop learning is a sad day. It also has:
- Safe Learning Environment - We join together to create a fair, positive and trusting learning community.
It is important to have such a trusting, learning community.
Their fourth School Value is:
- Excellence - We always try our best in everything we do.
That goes hand-in-hand with the element of reasonableness. If you try your best, you put a balance of reasonableness to life. They are basic principles and, if you consider that, you go a long way to making yourself a better person.
I will read the first line of their Collaborating Principles:
- Maximise each child’s literacy and numeracy development through assessment, reflection and goal setting.
Three very important parts. You should always assess where you are going, how you are going, how you are doing something, and they do that. They reflect upon it, looking on themselves, to see if there are ways they can better themselves. I do that and many of my colleagues do that: setting goals, creating outcomes, and marking those outcomes. A lot of people can learn from that.
With five minutes left, I will keep going. I was at the Durack Primary School the other day at a school assembly, with Jo Wynn, the principal. There was a great deal of laughter when the Durack Primary School students put together a skit at the beginning of the primary school assembly. It was their version of the Morning Show. Everybody has a look at the Morning Show. Their version of the Morning Show had their own celebrities, singers and cricket players visit. They had the news and the weather. Their interpretation of life was a laugh. The way they dressed up and got into it was fantastic. The students there, under the leadership of Jo Wynn, are having a great deal of fun as well. That particular skit made me laugh quite hard. It was fun to see how they took the mickey out of our cricketers and some of our musicians around, not just this country, but the world. It was very ingenious of those young students to have done that.
If there had been more time, I would have read their school song because that is an interesting talk point about how their school, which is only now in its 11th year, was born from the dust. It is a new school, it is a vibrant school, and it is still growing and developing. Maybe tomorrow night I will read through their song.
Mr HENDERSON (Wanguri): Madam Deputy Speaker, I commemorate the memory of Police Sergeant Glen Huitson. It is hard to believe 10 years have passed since Glen was murdered whilst manning a roadblock near Old Bynoe Road on the morning of 3 August 1999. Everyone I have spoken to who knew Glen has described him in glowing terms and used such phrases as: a fine individual; one of nature’s gentleman; a true bush copper; one of the Territory’s finest; and a police officer committed to his job and his community, in particular, the Aboriginal community.
Glen successfully applied to join the Northern Territory Police Force as a constable and commenced employment on 12 January 1987. After completing six months recruit training, he commenced as a General Duties police constable in Alice Springs.
Glen’s service history with the Northern Territory Police included six years in Alice, two years at Daly River, two years at Kalkarindji, and Officer in Charge of the Adelaide River Police Station. During his service, he was consistently recognised as a model police officer, well respected by the communities in which he worked, and served by his peers within the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services.
There are two standout examples of Glen’s selfless commitment to helping others. One was his response to an incident in March 1994 at a community near Alice Springs where, in an effort to protect someone from having a billy can of boiling water thrown on them, he rushed to their aid and was scalded by the water himself. Glen received a commendation for bravery in respect to this incident. In February 1999, Glen disarmed a man armed with a loaded rifle who was threatening a busload of tourists and their driver. He single-handedly diverted the offender’s attention from the busload of people and, ultimately, negotiated a peaceful surrender. Glen was posthumously awarded a bravery medal for this incident.
I am sure members of this Assembly recall Glen received a police funeral with full honours on 7 August 1999. Glen is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two children, Joseph and Ruby. Whilst many remember Glen as a fine police officer, he was also a dedicated son, brother, husband, father and friend.
In recognition of his sacrifice in protecting the public, a memorial was erected at the site of the shooting. On the day of the official unveiling of the memorial cairn, I understand his young son then referred to the memorial as ‘daddy’s special rock’, a term which moved the hearts of several hundred people present to honour this man.
I thank Tom Finlay, who donated the memorial stone. Tom is a truly wonderful person in the Northern Territory who donates all the time.
On Monday, 3 August this year, a 10-year commemoration service was organised by the Northern Territory Police Association at Glen’s memorial at Old Bynoe Road. I congratulate Vince Kelly and all the Police Association members, and volunteers who worked tirelessly to bring that memorial area to a fantastic testament and commemoration of Glen’s life. The service was attended by a great many people. It is evident that the incident and, more importantly, Glen’s personality and character lives on in the memory of the Territory community.
I was pleased to join Glen’s family, the Administrator, other members of this Assembly, and many members of the Territory Police Force and wider community to pay my respects to Glen, and to help recognise his devotion to duty and his heroism.
There were a number of touching moments during the ceremony, such as when his wife and children laid the wreath, and also the thoughtful words of members of the Northern Territory Police, the Police Association, and representatives of the Daly River community who spoke with loving memory of his character and deeds.
The ceremony was also an opportunity to reflect on and recognise the dangerous work all police, on occasion, undertake when serving and protecting the Northern Territory community. Dating back to 1883, nine police officers have died during active service in the Territory, including Glen and two other officers who were murdered in separate incidents whilst on duty.
Madam Deputy Speaker, we should never forget the ultimate sacrifice these police officers and their families have made in the service of the Northern Territory.
Lastly, our thoughts, prayers and best wishes at this time go to Glen’s wife, Lisa and two children, Joseph and Ruby.
Mr ELFERINK (Port Darwin): Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to add my comments to the comments of the Chief Minister. I was Glen Huitson’s first partner out of training. If memory serves me right, that would have been 1995. I have said since, and say it again now, although I had to teach Glen a little about being a policeman, he taught me a whole lot more about being a person. I miss him enormously still. In fact, I have an old Polaroid photo of us mucking around in the Property Office in the Alice Springs Police Station – me clowning around with an electric guitar and him standing in the background. I often hold that photograph and contemplate it, thinking about the things that could have been.
During my police career, I got the opportunity to look down the muzzle of a couple of guns pointed at me and, for different reasons, I never found myself where Glen found himself. To this day, I get a little upset at the thought of what happened. However, I am glad to see he is still remembered in such fond regard, and my love still goes to Lisa, Joseph, and Ruby.
I also implore the minister for Planning and Infrastructure to do the right thing, and start doing something about crossings and schools around my electorate. I have written to her; I have asked her a question. I have pleaded with her in the past to do something about crossings, particularly crossings in the area of St Mary’s, as well as the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre, of which I am the President, for the moment, and crossings at other schools around my electorate. I continue to be disappointed and dismayed that, almost a year ago when I asked this question, the Treasurer guaranteed she would look into it, and has done nothing at all in getting those crossings fixed to protect the kids who have to cross these busy roads on a daily basis.
I thank the Northern Territory Police, because I have approached the police about getting speed traps, particularly in the area of the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre. There have been several occasions when I have seen vehicles go through that 40 km/h zone at much faster than 40 km/h. The minister for Infrastructure has steadfastly failed to do anything - including talking to me - about getting crossings at some of these schools. I have heard they are council roads; council has responsibility for putting council crossings down. The fact is she said she would look into it; she said she would do something about it. I have implored her, and I am asking her again, to get off her backside and do something about this, potentially, very serious issue.
We have had several near misses at the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre, in particular, and I am terrified that one day - and one day soon - the worst will happen at that location. We need more than just a few speed traps set up there. We need crossings, and proper signage in front of that childcare centre, so we can protect our kids. We are talking about babies, toddlers, who occasionally run off across the road simply because they do not understand. All parents have to do is lose attention for a second, and you could lose the life of a child. I am not saying a crossing will prevent that from occurring, but a well-marked crossing clearing the traffic coming from both directions will make so much difference to the safety of the children that cross at the Mitchell Street Childcare Centre crossing, as well as well-marked clear crossings at both Cavenagh Street and Smith Street to deal with the students coming out of St Mary’s school.
I am deeply concerned the government still has not turned its attention to this particular issue. I do not know how often I have to raise this issue with the minister to get so much of an answer out of her. If she does not have the courage to say no, then do something about it. At the moment, what the minister is doing is stalling, stalling, stalling, and she is doing it at the expense of risk taken by parents and children who go to these locations. Again, I ask the minister - plead with the minister, implore the minister - for goodness sake, do something about this issue.
Mr STYLES (Sanderson): Madam Deputy Speaker, I will speak about several events I have attended recently, and acknowledge the great work done by a number of people. Recently, I had the pleasure to be a speaker at a Stress Down Dinner, which is conducted by the people who run Lifeline. This is an essential community service, run by a bunch of fantastic people. The CEO of that organisation, Jane Johnson, spoke to me some time ago and asked if I would come along and speak at that function. This is a group of people, mainly from the Top End community, who support Lifeline and come along to a fundraising dinner. The list is way too long to go through tonight. A fantastic job is done by these people, led by Jane and the volunteers who give their time freely to the community.
They are right at the pointy end, on the end of a phone, when people are in states of absolute desperation. The number of people whose lives are saved because of the actions of these very giving and caring people needs to be recognised in some better way than simply mentioned at an annual dinner.
I hope that, in the future, the community can come up with some bipartisan award system where we can actually recognise the fantastic work done by these people. To Jane Johnson and her crew, who have probably, unknowingly - because you can never test this, I imagine - saved many lives of those who are at the absolute point of desperation in our community. Literally, the last line of defence is Lifeline. Congratulations to those people, and I thank Jane for the opportunity to go along and share some of the personal tragedies I have experienced through suicides, family bereavements and things like that.
The next function I was very fortunate to go to was the Darwin Cup. I will, perhaps, speak a little more on this further in the week or during the next sittings. I acknowledge the fantastic work done by the Darwin Turf Club and their huge team of volunteers who, every year, put together a fantastic event known as the Darwin Cup. In fact, the racing carnival, over a month, is a fantastic event because it brings numerous tourists to the Territory. Having walked around at the Cup talking to both interstate and overseas tourists who come here specifically to go to the Darwin Cup, it was gratifying to know the event is known far and wide.
There is another event that I would like touch on. Congratulations to the Palmerston City County Council for arranging the Australian Citizen of the Year to address the seniors in Darwin. It was conducted at Palmerston and was open to anyone who wanted to come along. There was a nice crowd there, and Mr Pat LaManna, who is currently the Senior Australian of the Year, spoke about his life; how he arrived in this country, almost with the backside out of his britches, had no money, but worked hard, had an ethic, wanted to succeed, and demonstrated that, in this country, you can go from nothing to a position of being comfortable and being able to help your fellow person. He spends an enormous amount of time now working for charities. On behalf of the people of the Northern Territory, I express my sincere thanks for him coming here and sharing his story and that of his wife, and the fantastic things they have been able to give back to the community. He shared his experience of what the community did for him and, of course, how he was able to give back to the community.
Madam Deputy Speaker, there are other issues I would like to speak on tonight but, given that we only have five minutes these days, it precludes me from mentioning some of the other fantastic community events.
Motion agreed to; the Assembly adjourned.
Last updated: 04 Aug 2016